With shares of International Business Machines�(NYSE:IBM) trading around $182, is IBM an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:
T = Trends for a Stock’s MovementIBM is an information technology company. The company operates in five segments: Global Technology Services, Global Business Services, Software, Systems and Technology, and Global Financing. Technology products and services are in high demand worldwide, as consumers want to be up to speed and companies always need the latest and greatest to stay ahead of the competition. Cloud computing has been hot in recent times, which has not been good news for IBM. Should the company want to hold on to its market share, it needs to make moves quickly and provide the technology products and services that worldwide consumers and companies demand.
Chinese PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd. agreed to buy IBM Corp’s low-end server business for $2.3 billion in what is set to be China’s biggest technology deal.�The long-awaited acquisition comes nearly a decade after Lenovo bought IBM’s loss-making ThinkPad business for $1.75 billion, eventually becoming the world leader in personal computers in 2012.�The sale of the low-end server operation — which still needs U.S. government approval — will allow International Business Machines to focus on its decade-long shift to more profitable software and services.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL)
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, operates in the insurance business in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company underwrites fixed annuities, including fixed index annuities and fixed rate annuities, as well as single premium immediate annuities. It also offers life insurance products comprising traditional ordinary and term, universal life, and other interest-sensitive life insurance products. The company markets its products through a brokerage distribution network of approximately 60 national marketing organizations and approximately 24,000 independent agents. American Equity Investment Life Holding Company was founded in 1995 and is based in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Louis Navellier]
American Equity Life (AEL) specializes in fixed-rate and index annuities, and business has been booming as cautious investors and savers look for places to put their money. The company has posted four consecutive positive earnings surprises, causing analysts to raise their estimates for 2014 in the past few months. The shares are still cheap when viewed thought the lenses of the P/E ratio, but more importantly, AEL has the type of solid fundamentals and investor demand that signify a potential winning stock. Shares of American Equity were upgraded to an ����grade back in August, and AEL remains a ��trong buy.��/p>
- [By U.S. News]
In at least one Texas bank and one Ohio credit union, 3D video banking is currently undergoing testing, according to TheFinancialBrand.com, a website for bank and credit union marketing executives. Three-dimensional video banking is similar to a consumer video conference with a bank representative –- only in this case, the executive looks like a living, breathing person sitting across from you. Thanks to theater surround sound, the representative also sounds as if they're in the same room. And since the consumer is interacting with a real person and not an automated hologram, the experience apparently isn't much different than the real thing. Banking and managing money isn't what it used to be. The 1970s and 1980s brought us the rise of the ATM. Consumers became acquainted with online banking during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. The 2010s are shaping up as the era of mobile banking. That was underscored Sept. 10-11 in New York City when Mitek Systems Inc. (MITK), a San Diego-based technology company, debuted its Mobile Photo Account Opening product at Finovate, a trade show where banking tech products are often unveiled. The product allows consumers to open a bank account within 60 seconds. If you have your bank's app, you can use your smartphone's camera to take a photo of the front and back of your driver's license, and presto, your new checking, savings or credit card account is open. Here's a look at other financial products and services personal financial experts think we'll be using in the future. Within 10 years. "The economic payments system will begin to 'know us,' either through biometrics, optical sensor or facial recognition," says Joshua Siegel, managing principal of StoneCastle Partners, a New York-based asset management firm that invests in banks. That's already happening to some extent with smartphones –- the new Apple (AAPL) iPhone 5S, for example, uses fingerprint scanning to unlock the phone. Meanwhile, some fi
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Koss Corporation(KOSS)
Koss Corporation, together with its subsidiary, Koss Classics Ltd., designs, manufactures, and sells stereo headphones and related accessories primarily in the United States and Europe. It offers a line of high-fidelity stereo headphones, speaker-phones, computer headsets, telecommunications headsets, active noise canceling stereo headphones, wireless stereo headphones, and compact disc recordings of American Symphony Orchestras under the Koss Classics label. The company sells its products through national retailers, international distributors, audio specialty stores, the Internet, direct mail catalogs, regional department store chains, discount department stores, military exchanges, and prisons under the Koss name. It also sells its products to distributors for resale to school systems, and directly to other manufacturers. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday after the market closed, small cap audio stock Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ: SKUL) reported earnings and began rising in after hours trading, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other audio stocks like mid cap Harman International Industries Inc (NYSE: HAR) and small caps Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS) and Parametric Sound Corp (NASDAQ: PAMT). I should mention that in�late 2012, Skullcandy had the dubious distinction of being the market�� most shorted stock (see: Long Live the Shorts or the Short Squeeze? SKUL, AM & UBNT) with short�interest of 86.47% and there would still be a lot of shorts out there who might start feeling the squeeze (Note: SKUL is at least no longer on the HighShortInterest.com list)
- [By Jason Rivera]
Koss Corporation (KOSS) was no different because after looking over its balance sheet and profitability numbers I found substantial NOLs, little debt and reasonable profitability levels which usually are good signs that the company may be a good investment if the company is undervalued. This however is not an article about a company that I will ever invest in due to it being a grossly overvalued, dying company, which has major management concerns.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own Right Now: Franklin Covey Company (FC)
Franklin Covey Co. provides training and consulting solutions to address leadership, execution, productivity, trust, customer loyalty, sales performance, and education problems worldwide. The company also offers clients with training in management skills, relationship skills, and individual effectiveness, as well as personal-effectiveness literature and electronic educational solutions. In addition, it sells a suite of individual-effectiveness and leadership-development training products; and books, e-books, audio media, downloadable and paper-based tools, content-rich software applications for smart phones and other handheld devices, training accessories, and other related products. The company delivers its products and services through onsite presentations, facilitators, international licensees, e-learning, public workshops, custom solutions, intellectual property licenses, and media publishing methods to organizational clients, including corporations, governmental agenc ies, educational institutions, and other organizations, as well as individual clients. Franklin Covey Co. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: A. Schulman (NASDAQ: SHLM), Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC) and Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) Economic Releases Expected: US ISM manufacturing PMI, US redbook, British manufacturing PMI, German unemployment rate, French manufacturing PMI, Italian manufacturing PMI, Spanish manufacturing PMI and Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate decisionWednesday
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC), Franklin Covey Company (NYSE: FC), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Economic Releases Expected: French consumer confidence, German unemployment rate, Brazilian CPI, Canadian trade balanceWednesday
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)
Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top losers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF), down 4 percent, and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC), off 3 percent.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: CMS Energy Corp (CMS)
CMS Energy Corporation (CMS Energy) is an energy company operating primarily in Michigan. CMS Energy is the parent holding company of several subsidiaries, including Consumers Energy Company (Consumers) and CMS Enterprises Company (CMS Enterprises). Consumers is an electric and gas utility, and CMS Enterprises, primarily a domestic independent power producer. Consumers serves individuals and businesses operating in the alternative energy, automotive, chemical, metal, and food products industries, as well as a diversified group of other industries. CMS Enterprises, through its subsidiaries and equity investments, is engaged primarily in independent power production and owns power generation facilities fueled mostly by natural gas and biomass. CMS Energy operates in three business segments: electric utility, gas utility and enterprises, its non-utility operations and investments. EnerBank USA (EnerBank), a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS Energy, which provides unsecured consumer installment loans for financing home improvements.
CONSUMERS ELECTRIC UTILITY
Consumers��electric utility operations include the generation, purchase, distribution, and sale of electricity. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Consumers��electric deliveries were 38 billion kilowatt hour, which included Retail Open Access (ROA) deliveries of four billion kilowatt hour. Consumers��distribution system includes 413 miles of high-voltage distribution radial lines operating at 120 kilovolts or above; ,244 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines operating at 23 kilovolts and 46 kilovolts; 17 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines operating at 23 kilovolts and 46 kilovolts; 55,953 miles of electric distribution overhead lines; 10,112 miles of underground distribution lines, and substations with an aggregate transformer capacity of 24 million thousand volt-amperes.
At December 31, 2011, Consumers��electric generating system consisted of coal generation, oil/gas/st! eam generation, hydroelectric and gas/oil combustion turbine. At December 31, 2011, Consumers had contracts to purchase coal through 2014. At December 31, 2011, Consumers had 86% of its 2012 expected coal requirements under contract, as well as a 41-day supply of coal on hand. During 2011, Consumers purchased 53% of the electricity it provided to customers through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), seasonal purchases, and the Midwest Energy Market. Consumers offers its generation into the Midwest Energy Market on a day-ahead and real-time basis and bids for power in the market to serve the demand of its customers. Consumers is a net purchaser of power and supplements its generation capability with purchases from the Midwest Energy Market to meet its customers��needs during peak demand periods.
CONSUMERS GAS UTILITY
Consumers��gas utility operations include the purchase, transmission, storage, distribution, and sale of natural gas. Consumers��gas utility customer base consists of a mix of residential, commercial, and diversified industrial customers in Michigan�� Lower Peninsula. In 2011, deliveries of natural gas, including off-system transportation deliveries, through Consumers��pipeline and distribution network, totaled 337 billion cubic feet of gas, which included Gas Customer Choice (GCC) deliveries of 48 billion cubic feet of gas. Consumers��gas utility operations are seasonal. During 2011, 46% of the natural gas supplied to all customers during the winter months was supplied from storage.
Consumers��gas distribution and transmission system located in Michigan�� Lower Peninsula consists of 26,623 miles of distribution mains; 666 miles of transmission lines; seven compressor stations with a total of 150,635 installed and available horsepower, and 15 gas storage fields with an aggregate storage capacity of 307 billion cubic feet of gas and a working storage capacity of 142 billion cubic feet of gas. In 2011, Consumers purchased 70% of ! the gas i! t delivered from United States producers and 10% from Canadian producers. The remaining 20% was purchased from authorized GCC suppliers and delivered by Consumers to customers in the GCC program.
ENTERPRISES SEGMENT
CMS Energy�� enterprises segment, through various subsidiaries and certain equity investments, is engaged primarily in domestic independent power production and the marketing of independent power production. At December 31, 2011, CMS Energy had ownership interests in independent power plants totaling 1,135 gross megawatts or 1,034 net megawatts. CMS Energy Resource Management (ERM) purchases and sells energy commodities in support of CMS Energy�� generating facilities and continues to focus on optimizing CMS Energy�� independent power production portfolio. In 2011, CMS ERM marketed 17 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 2,417 gigawatt-hour of electricity.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Richard Stavros]
Meanwhile, the companies that are projected to be spending more in 2015 than they are presently include The AES Corp (NYSE: AES), Ameren Corp (NYSE: AEE), American Electric Power Co Inc (NYSE: AEP), CMS Energy Corp (NYSE: CMS), and Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU).
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Richard Stavros]
Michigan-based ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC) is the largest electric transmission company in the US. The company is in charge of the electric transmission system formerly owned by DTE Energy Holding Co (NYSE: DTE) and CMS Energy Corp (NYSE: CMS).
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc (LECO)
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., incorporated in 1906, is a manufacturer of welding, cutting and brazing products. Welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes. The Company's product offering also includes computer numeric controlled (CNC) plasma and oxy-fuel cutting systems and regulators and torches used in oxy-fuel welding, cutting and brazing. The Company operates in five segments: North America Welding, Europe Welding, Asia Pacific Welding, South America Welding and The Harris Products Group. On July 29, 2011, the Company acquired Techalloy Company, Inc. and certain assets of its parent company, Central Wire Industries Ltd. On July 29, 2011, the Company acquired Applied Robotics, Inc. (doing business as Torchmate) (Torchmate). On January 31, 2011, the Company acquired SSCO Manufacturing, Inc. (doing business as Arc Products) (Arc Products). On March 11, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of OOO Severstal-metiz: welding consumables (Severstal). In March 2012, the Company acquired Weartech International, Inc. In May 2012, the Company acquired Wayne Trail Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of automated systems and tooling, serving a range of applications in the metal processing market. In November 2012, ITT Corp sold its shape cutting product lines, including the Burny and Kaliburn brands to the Company. In January 2013, the Company acquired Tennessee Rand, Inc.
The North America Welding segment includes welding operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Europe Welding segment includes welding operations in Europe, Russia and Africa. The other two welding segments include welding operations in Asia Pacific and South America, respectively. The Harris Products Group includes the Company's global cutting, soldering and brazing businesses as well as the retail business in the United States. The arc welding power sources and wire feeding systems man! ufactured by the Company range in technology from basic units used for light manufacturing and maintenance to robotic applications for high volume production welding and fabrication. Three primary types of arc welding electrodes are produced: coated manual or stick electrodes; solid electrodes produced in coil, reel or drum forms for continuous feeding in mechanized welding, and cored electrodes produced in coil form for continuous feeding in mechanized welding.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Lincoln Electric Holdings (Nasdaq: LECO ) is expected to report Q1 earnings on April 23. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:
The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Lincoln Electric Holdings's revenues will grow 1.1% and EPS will grow 2.6%.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (KW)
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment and services company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and Japan. The company operates in two segments, KW Investments and KW Services. The KW Investments segment invests in real estate related assets, including multifamily, residential, and office properties, as well as loans secured by real estate. It invests in real estate assets and loans secured by real estate through joint ventures, separate accounts, commingled funds, and wholly owned investments. The KW Services segment provides a line of real estate services for the life cycle of real estate ownership and investment to clients, such as financial institutions, developers, builders, and government agencies. This segment offers auction and conventional sales, property management, investment management, asset management, leasing, construction management, acquisitions, dispositions, and trust services; property management services to real estate owners; and brokerage and marketing services. The company, principally through joint venture investments, also engages in acquiring, renovating, and reselling commercial and residential real estate, as well as investing in loan pools and discounted loan portfolios. As of December 31, 2012, its real estate and real estate related assets under management consisted of approximately 61 million square feet of properties, including ownership in 14,764 multifamily apartment units. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Midcaps CBRE Group Inc (NYSE: CBG) and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE: JLL) are probably the better known real estate services stocks with the latter surging 12.36% yesterday on impressive earnings, but small cap stocks Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc (NYSE: KW) and FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV) are also important real estate services providers that you may have overlooked. After all, real estate services stocks like the following would offer exposure to real estate by being invested in property as well as generating revenue from transactions, property management and other services: ��
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Von Roll Holding AG (ROH)
Von Roll Holding AG is a Switzerland-based holding company that focuses on products and systems for power generation, transmission and distribution, as well as high-tech materials. The Company diversifies its activities into three business segments: Von Roll Insulation; Von Roll Composites, and Von Roll Transformers. The Von Roll Insulation business segment covers the Company's products, systems and services related to insulation with focus on large generators, high-voltage motors, traction motors and transformers. The Von Roll Composites business segment covers the Company's heat and fire resistant cable insulations, composite materials, compression-molded tiles and solutions for ballistic protection. The Von Roll Transformers business segment covers the Company's complete solutions for power transmission and distribution, power transformers and special transformers. In June 2013, it acquired Albesiano Sisa vernici Srl. Advisors' Opinion:- [By The Part-time Investor]
The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:
Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Symrise AG (SY1)
Symrise AG is a Germany-based fragrances and flavors manufacturer. The Company diversifies its activities into two business divisions: Flavor & Nutrition and Scent & Care. The Flavor & Nutrition business division produces flavors in liquid, powder, granulated and paste form, providing individual flavors as well as complete solutions which, apart from aroma, can contain additional functional raw materials, colorants or microencapsulated components. The products are divided into the beverages, savory, sweet and consumer health groups. The Scent & Care business division is divided into Fragrances, Oral Care, Life Essentials and Aroma Molecules. The Fragrances products are divided into the Fine Fragrances, Personal Care and Household groups. The Life Essentials are used in the cosmetic ingredients market, and include Botanicals and Cosmetic Ingredients, among others. The Aroma Molecules are used in the aroma chemicals market, and include Sensates (Menthols), among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Inyoung Hwang]
Symrise AG (SY1) jumped 5.7 percent to 32.95 euros. The fourth-largest maker of flavors and fragrances pledged to remain one of the most profitable companies in its industry amid higher demand for aroma molecules and fragrances. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will be about 20 percent of sales in 2013 and will stay in the range of 19 percent to 22 percent in coming years, the company said today.
10 Best Information Technology Stocks To Watch Right Now: Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG)
Reaves Utility Income Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to provide dividend income and capital appreciation. W.H. Reaves & Co., Inc. (Reaves) serves as the Fund's investment adviser. ALPS serves as the Fund's administrator. The Fund intends to invest at least 80% of its total assets in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks, and debt instruments of companies within the utility industry. The remaining 20% of its assets may be invested in other securities, including stocks, money market instruments and debt instruments, as well as certain derivative instruments in the utility industry or other industries.
During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2005 (fiscal 2005), the common stock of electric utilities averaged about 47% of the Fund's portfolio. The telephone sector, particularly rural telecom, was a significant source of dividend income for the Fund, with an average yield of 5.75% in fiscal 2005. Telecommunications common holdings averaged about 19% of the Fund's portfolio during fiscal 2005. Preferred stock holdings, yielding 6.9%, accounted for 8.5% of the Fund's portfolio as of October 31, 2005. The top five holdings of the Fund, as of October 31, 2005, were Duke Energy (7.1%), Ameren Corporation (5.8%), Altria Group (5.4%), Great Plains Energy (5.1%) and AT&T (4.1%).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]
Harry Domash: Well, one that's really good for us has been Reaves Utility Income. It holds primarily US utility and telecom stocks and it's been a pretty good dividend raiser. The ticker is (UTG), paying about a 6.1% yield now and it's a good serial dividend increaser so it's a very good one.
If you're worried about rising interest rates then Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities, ticker (VTA), invests in below investment-grade floating rate bank loans. In other words, these are called senior loans.
They're bank loans that adjust their payouts based on prevailing interest rates, so if interest rates go up, these loans will pay higher dividends, so this is a good hedge if you are concerned about rising interest rates.
Another one that's really performed, and it's paying a 6.9% yield right now, Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities, ticker (GOF), that's actually Claymore Guggenheim, holds corporate and government backed, that it's mostly investment-grade and it's paying a 10.1% yield right now, which is pretty high. Those are three that I could recommend right now.
Steven Halpern: Well, we really appreciate you joining us today and sharing your expertise. Thank you.
Harry Domash: You're welcome.
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