For all the hand-wringing over the bond market�� 2013 performance, it has hardly been catastrophic. The most closely watched bond benchmark is down 2% so far this year, but some segments have delivered decent results. Take junk bonds. Through October 4, the Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II index returned 4.2%, and the average junk bond mutual fund gained 4.1%. Junk bonds held up reasonably well this year because their high yields insulate them somewhat from the perils of rising interest rates.
See Also: What Now for Bond Investors
One of the top-performing junk funds over the past year, Northeast Investors Trust (NTHEX), is one of the oldest (it opened in 1950) and one of the most aggressive. The fund can invest up to 20% of its assets in stocks, and it can employ leverage��hat is, use borrowed money to attempt to boost returns. The fund went to a 20% leveraged position last June after big selloffs in the stock and bond markets, says co-manager Bruce Monrad. As of early October, he says, the fund is no longer leveraged, though it does have 12% of its assets in stocks.
Top Asian Companies To Buy Right Now: Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.(CLF)
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., a mining and natural resources company, produces iron ore pellets, lump and fines iron ore, and metallurgical coal products. The company operates six iron ore mines in Michigan, Minnesota, and eastern Canada; two iron ore mining complexes in Western Australia; five metallurgical coal mines located in West Virginia and Alabama; and one thermal coal mine located in West Virginia. It also owns a 45% economic interest in a coking and thermal coal mine located in Queensland, Australia; and a 30% interest in Amapa, a Brazilian iron ore project in Latin America, as well as chromite properties in Ontario, Canada. The company, formerly known as Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Traders Reserve]
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) saw a decline in share value last year. The selling will likely continue in 2014.
From an energy perspective, the death of coal may have finally arrived. It�� a dirty, nasty and disgusting fuel source. The boom in natural gas as a reliable alternative has precipitated the fall. I�� be concerned about that 2.5% dividend. That�� really the only reason to own this stock and that number does not compensate for the collapse in profits here. Analysts expect the company to earn $3.01 per share this year. Next year that number is sliced by a third to $2.01 per share. I wouldn�� pay a double-digit multiple for this profit stream. It will likely get worse before it gets better. Dividend hunters can find yield elsewhere and in 2014 there will be more options to choose from.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) filed notice to close its Pinnacle coal mine. Wells Fargo’s Sam Dubinsky calls the move “prudent” but doesn’t do anything about its much larger exposure to iron ore. He explains:
ReutersWe view the exit as a mixed bag as the mine was lower than average cost, but also had high exposure to the seaborne market, which has significantly more pricing volatility than the domestic market…
We estimate iron ore represents ~85% of revenue and is in a multi-year structural downturn due to ramping global supply, which is expected to outpace incremental steel demand by over 3:1 over the next few years. With new supply coming online at <$50/MT and Chinese steel production slowing at a fast pace, we see no reason why iron ore pricing will recover and expect Cliffs to burn cash. The only saving grace in our view would be the sale of high cost Canadian operations, but we are not convinced the company can find a buyer during a downturn.
Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources have gained 0.6% to $14.28 at 3:02 p.m. today.
- [By Nicole Seghetti]
Fisher completely sold his position in mining company Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF ) . The stock has a high short ratio of nearly 25%, signaling that the market is betting Cliffs will post lackluster results. Given its subpar financial performance in recent quarters, this isn't startling. And since the company cut its dividend, the stock has become much less desirable for income investors.
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
However, some coal producers, such as Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF ) and Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU ) , fared relatively better due to the type of coal produced and the location of their operations.
Top Performing Stocks To Own Right Now: Prosensa Holding NV (RNA)
Prosensa Holding N.V., formerly Prosensa Holding B.V., is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of ribonucleic acid-modulating (RNA)-modulating, therapeutics for the treatment of genetic disorders. The Company�� primary focus is on rare neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders with a large unmet medical need, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy and Huntington�� disease. The Company�� clinical portfolio of RNA-based product candidates is focused on the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The Company�� platform technology allows the development of RNA-modulating therapeutics that either interferes with splicing (exon skipping, exon inclusion, or splice mutation correction), remove mutant RNA, or block RNA expression, for different indications.
DMD is a rare, severe muscle wasting disease that occurs in up to 1 in 3,500 male births. It is commonly diagnosed between the ages of three to five, when boys begin to show signs of impaired motor development. PRO044, the Company�� product candidate, addresses a separate sub-population of DMD patients. The Company developed PRO044 using its exon-skipping technology to generate a product candidate with the same mechanism of action that is used by drisapersen.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Orelli]
Ironically, phase 3 data from Sarepta's direct competitor -- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK ) and Prosensa's (NASDAQ: RNA ) drisapersen -- that's due in the fourth quarter could help the FDA answer the question about whether dystrophin is an acceptable surrogate endpoint. If increases in dystrophin correlate with clinical outcomes, it would support approving eteplirsen with less data. It's not clear to me whether Glaxo and Prosensa would have to share that correlation with the FDA -- the clinical phase 3 data should be sufficient for approval -- and if it does make those calculations whether the FDA could legally use it to support the approval of another drug since NDA data is proprietary while under patent.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
Anybody who knows at least something about Prosensa Holding NV (NASDAQ:RNA) will at least know the stock turned into a disaster a few weeks ago, plunging from a close of $24.00 on September 19th to a close of $7.14 on September 20th, thanks to the failure of its MS drug drisapersen, which was jointly developed with GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK). Such is the life of a company with only one drug anywhere close to being approved; drisapersen was in Phase 3 trials - RNA shares could have just as easily gained 70% rather than lost 70% had the drug worked.
- [By Sean Williams]
What: Shares of Prosensa (NASDAQ: RNA ) , a clinical-stage developer of RNA-modulating therapeutic agents for genetic disorders, jumped as much as 50% after reporting additional clinical findings on drisapersen at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.
Top Performing Stocks To Own Right Now: Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd (STBFY)
Suntory Beverage & Food Limited is principally engaged in the manufacture and sale of beverages and food. The Company operates in two geographical segments. The Domestic segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of various soft drinks within Japan, such as coffee drinks, mineral water, green tea drinks, tea drinks, carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, functional beverages, milk beverages, and food for specified health use, as well as syrup for general and business usage. The International segment is engaged in the manufacture and sale of carbonated drinks, fruit juice drinks, health food, seasoning, tea-based beverages and others, with operations in Europe, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. As of May 29, 2013, the Company had 80 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies. On October 15, 2013, the Company acquired Lucozade Ribena Suntory Limited. On December 12, 2013, the Company acquired Suntory Beverage & Food Europe Limited. Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Whiskey has become increasingly cool and popular thanks to the whole cocktail movement, something that�� good for big whiskey stocks like Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (OTCMKTS: STBFY), Diageo plc (NYSE: DEO) and Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE: BF.B) who�also produce a wide variety of�liquors and beverages. In fact,�a recent episode of the�Daily Ticker�cited these stats from a USA Today article:
- [By Charles Sizemore]
Let�� start with Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (STBFY),which recently completed its acquisition of�Beam Inc., formerly the purest play on bourbon. Beam was the owner of the eponymous Jim Beam brand, as well as the higher-end Maker�� Mark and Knob Creek and the lower-end Old Crow.�Suntory is Japan�� leading spirits company, though most Americans will be unfamiliar with its Japanese whisky brands, such as Yamazaki and Hakushu. (Note for booze snobs: Japanese whisky��ike Scotch and Canadian whisky��s correctly spelled ��hisky.��American bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and Irish whiskey are correctly spelled ��hiskey.��
Top Performing Stocks To Own Right Now: SP Bancorp Inc.(SPBC)
SP Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for SharePlus Federal Bank that provides community banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes residential mortgage loans secured by residential real estate; commercial real estate and home equity loans, including lines of credit and home improvement loans; consumer loans consisting primarily of automobile loans; and commercial business loans. The company also provides brokerage services for the purchase and sale of non-deposit investment and insurance products through a third-party brokerage arrangement. It provides its services through seven branches, four of which are located near the Bank's headquarters in Plano, Texas; two branches are located in Louisville, Kentuc ky; and one branch is located in Irvine, California. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
SP Bancorp (NASDAQ: SPBC) shares touched a new 52-week high of $28.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by Green Bancorp for $46.2 million in cash.
Top Performing Stocks To Own Right Now: USA Mobility Inc.(USMO)
USA Mobility, Inc. provides wireless communications solutions to the healthcare, government, enterprise, and emergency response sectors in the United States. The company provides one-way and two-way messaging services. One-way messaging consists of numeric and alphanumeric messaging services. The numeric messaging services enable subscribers to receive messages that are composed entirely of numbers, such as a phone number. The alphanumeric messages may include numbers and letters which enable subscribers to receive text messages. Its two-way messaging services enable subscribers to send and receive messages to and from other wireless messaging devices, including pagers, personal digital assistants and personal computers. USA Mobility also offers voice mail, personalized greeting, message storage and retrieval, and equipment loss and/or maintenance protection to its one-way and two-way messaging subscribers. In addition, the company provides mobile voice and data services t hrough third party providers, which include BlackBerry devices and global positioning system location applications. Further, it offers machine to machine telemetry solutions for various applications that include asset tracking, utility meter reading, and other remote device monitoring applications. USA Mobility serves businesses, professionals, management personnel, medical personnel, field sales personnel and service forces, members of the construction industry and construction trades, real estate brokers and developers, sales and service organizations, specialty trade organizations, manufacturing organizations, and government agencies. The company is based in Springfield, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sally Jones]
USA Mobility Inc. (USMO): ReducedUp 26% over 12 months, USA Mobility has a market cap of $307.81 million; its shares were traded at around $14.22 with a P/E ratio of 13.10. The dividend yield of USMO is 3.52%.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Among the sector stocks, 8x8 (NASDAQ: EGHT) was down more than 2.2 percent, while USA Mobility (NASDAQ: USMO) tumbled around 2.5 percent.
Top Headline
Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) swung to a loss in the fourth quarter. Tiffany posted a quarterly loss of $103.6 million, or $0.81 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $179.6 million, or $1.42 per share. Excluding special items, it earned $1.47 per share. Its revenue climbed to $1.30 billion versus $1.24 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $1.51 per share on revenue of $1.31 billion. For fiscal year 2014, Tiffany projects earnings of $4.05 to $4.15 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $4.27 per share.
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