'Very disturbing' trend #1: Long-term unemployment
About 3.5 million Americans have been out of a job for at least six months.
This group accounts for 35% of all the unemployed.
"That's a very disturbing trend, and something that we would like to be able to do something about," Yellen said to the Senate Budget Committee Thursday.
'Very disturbing' trend #2: Income inequality
Best Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: DryShips Inc (DRYS)
DryShips Inc. (DryShips), incorporated in September 2004, is a holding company engaged in the ocean transportation services of drybulk cargoes and crude oil worldwide through the ownership and operation of drybulk carrier vessels and oil tankers and offshore drilling services through the ownership and operation of ultra-deepwater drilling units. As of December 31, 2011, DryShips owned and operated two fifth generation ultra-deepwater, semi-submersible offshore drilling rigs, the Leiv Eiriksson and the Eirik Raude, and four sixth generation, advanced capability ultra-deepwater drillships, the Ocean Rig Corcovado, the Ocean Rig Olympia, the Ocean Rig Poseidon and the Ocean Rig Mykonos. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated four Aframax tankers, Saga, Daytona, Belmar, and Calida, and one Suezmax tanker, Vilamoura. On August 24, 2011, DryShips acquired all of their shares of OceanFreight Inc. On October 5, 2011, DryShips completed the partial spin off of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (Ocean Rig UDW). On November 3, 2011, the merger of Pelican Stockholdings Inc. (Pelican Stockholdings), its wholly owned subsidiary, and OceanFreight, was completed. In January 2013, it sold two of its tankers under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries, Esperona and Blanca.
As of December 31, 2011, DryShips operated its tankers under pooling arrangements that are managed by Heidmar Inc. As of March 6, 2012, the Company owned, through its subsidiaries, a fleet of 36 drybulk carriers, consisting of nine Capesize, 25 Panamax and two Supramax vessels, which have a combined deadweight tonnage of approximately 3.53 million deadweight tonnage and an average age of approximately eight years; six drilling units, comprised of two modern, fifth generation, advanced capability ultra-deepwater semisubmersible offshore drilling rigs and four sixth generation, advanced capability ultra-deepwater drillships, and five tankers, comprised of four Aframax and one Suezmax tankers.
The Company�� drybulk flee! t principally carries a variety of drybulk commodities, including major bulk items, such as coal, iron ore, and grains, and minor bulk items, such as bauxite, phosphate, fertilizers and steel products. During the year ended December 31, 2011, DryShips sold the drybulk vessel Primera; contracted for and completed the sale of the drybulk vessels La Jolla, Conquistador, Brisbane, Samsara and Toro; took delivery of its four sixth-generation, ultra-deepwater advanced capability sister drillships constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (Samsung), the Ocean Rig Corcovado, the Ocean Rig Olympia, the Ocean Rig Poseidon and the Ocean Rig Mykonos; took delivery of three newbuilding Aframax tankers, Saga, Daytona and Belmar, and one newbuilding Suezmax tanker, Vilamoura, and acquired four Capesize vessels, MV Robusto, MV Cohiba, MV Montecristo and MV Partagas, two Panamax vessels, the MV Topeka and the MV Helena. DryShips contracted for and completed the sale of the drybulk vessels Avoca and Padre, which were delivered to their new owners, on February 14, 2012 and February 24, 2012, respectively.
Drybulk Operations
The Company manages the deployment of its drybulk fleet between long-term and short-term time charters. A time charter is a contract to charter a vessel for a fixed period of time at a specified or floating daily or index-based daily rate and can last from a few days to several years. A spot charter refers to a voyage charter or a trip charter or a short-term time charter. Under a bareboat charter, the vessel is chartered for a stipulated period of time, which gives the charterer possession and control of the vessel, including the right to appoint the master and the crew.
Offshore Drilling Operations
In January 2012, following the completion of the contract with Tullow Oil plc (Tullow Oil) contract, discussed below, the Eirik Raude commenced a contract with Anadarko Cote d��voire Company (Anadarko) for the drilling of two wells offshore West ! Africa. I! ts offshore drilling operations consist of the Ocean Rig Corcovado, the Ocean Rig Olympia, the Ocean Rig Poseidon and the Ocean Rig Mykonos. As of December 31, 2011, the Ocean Rig Corcovado was employed under a three-year contract, plus a mobilization period, with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras Brazil) for drilling operations offshore Brazil. The Ocean Rig Olympia is operating under contracts to drill a total of five wells for exploration drilling offshore Ghana and the Ivory Coast. The Ocean Rig Poseidon commenced a contract with Petrobras Tanzania, a company related to Petrobras Oil & Gas B.V. (Petrobras Oil & Gas).
The Ocean Rig Mykonos commenced a three-year contract, plus a mobilization period, with Petrobras Brazil, on September 30, 2011, for drilling operations offshore Brazil. DryShips�� wholly owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig AS, provides supervisory management services, including onshore management, to its operating drilling rigs and drillships. DryShips also has contracts to provide offshore drilling services and drilling units.
Tanker Operations
The Company employs its Aframax tankers Saga, Daytona, Belmar and Calida, in the Sigma tanker pool, which consists of 46 Aframax tankers, with fourteen different pool partners. It employs its Suezmax tanker, Vilamoura, in the Blue Fin tanker pool, which consists of 18 Suezmax tankers with eight different pool partners.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By FinanceGuru]
DryShips (DRYS) price continues to dip a bit - making me continually wonder when the right time is going to be to step in and buy. When is DRYS going to be prime for the picking? In the midst of some bearish headlines (BDI falling, short interest rising), it's looking more and more like now might be the time to start a position in DRYS.
Top Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: BT Group plc (BT)
BT Group plc provides communications solutions and services worldwide. It engages in the provision of networked IT services; and local, national, and international telecommunications services for use at home, at work, and on the move. The company also offers broadband and Internet products in the United Kingdom (U.K.), as well as TV and converged fixed/mobile services. It operates in four segments: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale, and Openreach. The BT Global Services segment provides managed networked IT services to multinational corporations, domestic businesses, and national and local government organizations. The BT Retail segment offers broadband, telephony, and TV services, as well IT and telephony for small to medium sized businesses in the United Kingdom. It also provides video and telephone conferencing, CCTV, and alarm systems. This segment serves corporate, small and medium enterprises, consumer, and wholesale markets in the U.K., the Republic of Ire land, and Northern Ireland. The BT Wholesale segment provides voice, broadband, and data communications services, including managed services for fixed and mobile network operators, Internet service providers, and telecoms resellers in the U.K. The Openreach segment connects communications providers? customers to their local telephone exchange, giving them access to the U.K. network. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was founded in 1981 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CNBC]
Paul Sakuma/APOracle President Mark Hurd Mark Hurd, one of the rumored leading contenders to replace Steve Ballmer as chief executive of Microsoft, told CNBC that he is "not planning" to move from his current job as president at technology company Oracle. Hurd is one of several technology executives whose name has been linked with one of the biggest jobs in the industry, since it emerged that Steve Ballmer is stepping down from Microsoft (MSFT). Other high-profile names connected to the job include Alan Mulally, chief executive of Ford Motor (F), and Stephen Elop, the former Nokia (NOK) CEO who has rejoined Microsoft to head up its mobile devices division. Hurd told CNBC he is "very happy" at Oracle (ORCL) -- but did not deny that he had been contacted by Microsoft. Asked how he would fix the challenges facing the computer giant, he said: "Microsoft needs to work on their own business." Hurd was previously chief executive of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) where he was credited with helping turn around the company's fortunes through an aggressive cost-cutting program. He stepped down in 2010 the wake of sexual harassment allegations but was eventually cleared of all charges. Larry Ellison, the Oracle chief executive, gave Hurd his job at Oracle within a month of his departure from HP. He also publicly compared Hurd's firing to Apple's (AAPL) board firing Steve Jobs in 1985. The board of HP said that Hurd had not violated company policy on sexual harassment, but he had broken its policy on business standards by submitting inaccurate expense claims. Oracle has just announced a deal with U.K. telecom giant BT Group (BT), which will use its human resources "cloud" technology for its near-90,000 employees around the world. Revenues at Oracle, one of the world's biggest software companies, for the first quarter disappointed some analysts when they were announced in September. Sales for the three months to Aug. 31 came in at $8.37 billion, against analysts' average fo
- [By Roland Head]
Two companies that do are�BT Group� (LSE: BT-A ) (NYSE: BT ) and�J Sainsbury� (LSE: SBRY ) (NASDAQOTH: JSAIY ) .
Top Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY)
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norway-based company engaged in a number of activities along the aluminum industry�� value chain. The Company is organized into six segments; the Bauxite & Alumina segment includes the Company�� mining activities, sourcing arrangements and alumina commercial operations; the Primary Metal segment consists of aluminum production, re-melting and casting activities; the Metal Markets segment includes sales and distribution activities relating to products from metal plants, metal sourcing and trading activities; the Rolled Products segment comprises operations of the Company�� rolling mills; the Extruded Products segment focuses on delivering solutions to the building and construction, transportation, and engineered products industries and includes aluminum building systems and precision tubing activities, and the Energy segment is responsible for managing the Company�� captive hydropower production and external power sourcing arrangements to the aluminum business. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Corinne Gretler]
Norsk Hydro (NHY) ASA slumped the most in one year after Vale SA sold a stake in the aluminum maker. UniCredit SpA (UCG) and Infineon Technologies AG added at least 1 percent each after posting quarterly profit that beat projections. Henkel AG rose 2.1 percent as third-quarter profit beat analysts��estimates.
Top Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Unifirst Corporation(UNF)
UniFirst Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. It also rents industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, and restroom supplies comprising air fresheners, paper products, and hand soaps, as well as other non-garment items. In addition, the company provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies; decontaminates and cleans work clothes that may have been exposed to radioactive materials; and services special clean room protective wear. Further, it offers a range of garment service options, including full-service rental programs in which garment s are cleaned and serviced; lease programs in which garments are cleaned and maintained by individual employees; and purchase programs to buy garments and related items directly. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, and others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes, as well as government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies, and utilities operating nuclear reactors. The UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is based in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [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 UniFirst (NYSE: UNF ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Eric Volkman]
UniFirst (NYSE: UNF ) is getting ready to issue a pair of dividend payouts. The company has declared quarterly common stock distributions for both its regular and its Class B shares. For the former, the firm will hand out $0.0375 per share, while for the latter $0.03 will be disbursed. Both will be paid on October 1 to holders of record as of September 10.
Top Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cardinal Financial Corporation(CFNL)
Cardinal Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Cardinal Bank that provides banking products and services to commercial and retail customers in Virginia and greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It primarily engages in accepting deposits and originating loans. The company?s deposit products include commercial and retail checking accounts, money market accounts, individual retirement accounts, regular interest-bearing savings accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its lending portfolio comprises commercial and industrial loans, commercial mortgage loans, residential mortgage loans, construction loans, home equity lines of credit, and consumer loans. The company also offers courier, telephone and Internet banking, and automatic teller machine services, as well as traveler?s checks, coin counters, wire services, and safe deposit box services. In addition, Cardinal Financial Corporation, through its other subsidiaries, involves in the origination an d acquisition of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region, as well as provides a construction-to-permanent loan program; offers retail securities brokerage and asset management services; and provides trust, estate, custody, investment management, and retirement planning services. It operates 26 banking offices. Cardinal Financial Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Bank holding company Cardinal Financial (CFNL) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 8 cents per share, payable on Feb. 24 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 6.
CFNL Dividend Yield: 1.88% - [By Ben Levisohn]
Cardinal Financial (CFNL) has gained 5.8% to $17.47 after it was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
Weatherford International (WFT) has dropped 6.3% to $14.75 before the open of trading after it announced the departure of its CFO in an 8-K filing. Wells Fargo and Raymond James both cut Weatherford’s shares as a result of the change.
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