Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): How PS4, Xbox One Could Boost Amazon's Sales Growth?

It is gaming time folks! Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) keenly-awaited Xbox One has gone on sale Friday in more than a dozen countries including Australia, France, Britain, Brazil and the United States.

The Xbox One, which is considered as a significant upgrade from Xbox 360 and goes beyond gaming, comes just days after rival Sony (NYSE: SNE) selling more than a million PlayStation 4s (PS4) in 24 hours following the console's launch in the US and Canada.

Specifically, video game makers such as Electronic Arts and Activision are putting the icing on the cake by releasing new games for the new consoles including Battlefield 4, NBA Live 14, Madden NFL 25, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Skylanders Swap Force.

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The strong lineup of video game titles to support the launch of the new consoles should help uptake and boost the profitability of the basket of these sales.

Let's see how Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) could benefit from launch of these consoles.

There could be upside to Amazon's fourth quarter media unit sales given the long anticipated arrival of new consoles (Nov. 15th for the PS4 and Nov. 22nd for the Xbox One) and associated new game titles.

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Amazon's media segment accounts for about 29 percent of its overall sales. For the third quarter, the segment generated revenue of $5.03 billion, an increase of 9 percent from last year. In North America, the media unit's sales rose 18 percent to $2.61 billion.

In fact, the strong demand for the consoles not only benefit the fourth quarter but also provides an easy comparison for the bulk of 2014.

UBS analyst Eric Sheridan assumes that video game and console sales make up roughly 10-15 percent of Amaz! on's North American Media segment sales.

Currently Amazon has a market share of 10 percent in North American video game sales. If Amazon is able to increase its share to 12 percent in 2014, then this yields a roughly 165bps, 136bps and 79 bps, respectively, to the online retailer's North American sales growth in the fourth quarter 2013 and fiscal 2014.

Moreover, the recent bullish commentaries from the executives of Sony and Microsoft suggest that they have huge expectations from the launches, and this bodes well for Amazon.

Sony is targeting to sell 5 million PS4 units between its November 15th U.S. launch date and the end of the company's fiscal year on March 31st. Given that the company does not plan on launching the PS4 in Japan until February, most of this unit growth is expected to come from the

U.S. This compares with 3.6 million PS3 units sold over a similar time frame.

On its Oct. 31st earnings conference call, Sony's Chief Financial Officer commented, "compared to past platforms, the pre-orders that we have received for this new platform is much much much higher."

Here are the words of Yusuf Mehdi, SVP of Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, during a May 2013 interview with Official Xbox Magazine UK – "Every generation, as you've probably heard, has grown approximately 30%, so this generation is about 300 million units. Most industry experts think the next generation will get upwards of about 400 million units. We think you can go broader than a game console, that's our aim, and you can go from 400 million to potentially upwards of 1 billion units."

The more sales of consoles, the better for Amazon; thus, an uptick in video game-related sales should be a key driver for the stock. Though the video game sales represent only a small portion of sales for Amazon, they are nonetheless supportive of Amazon's potential to re-inflect both reported sales and unit growth.

Pearlstine returns to Time Inc. from Bloomberg

Norman Pearlstine has stepped down as Bloomberg's chief content officer and returned to his former employer, Time Inc., in time for the magazine publisher's spinoff from its parent company.

Time Inc. also said Thursday that Martha Nelson, the head of its editorial operations across 95 magazines, is leaving the company as part of a broader management overhaul.

Pearlstine served as editor-in-chief of Time Inc., a division of Time Warner, for ten years until he stepped down in 2005. He joined Bloomberg in 2008 to oversee its efforts to expand revenue opportunities by deploying newsroom resources in the emerging areas of television, radio and magazine.

Pearlstine, whose appointment as Time Inc.'s executive vice president and chief content officer is effective immediately, will have oversight of editorial policies and work with business and editorial teams to look for ways boost revenue.

As part of the restructuring, magazine editors will report to three division chiefs who will work closely with Pearlstine: David Geithner for Style & Entertainment, Evelyn Webster for Lifestyle and Todd Larsen for News and Sports.

"As a former Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc., it goes without saying that Norm will uphold the commitment to quality journalism no matter where we choose to play," said Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp, in a memo sent Thursday to employees. "He also knows how to move fast, work collaboratively and experiment relentlessly. With the headwinds facing our industry, we must approach our business through a more entrepreneurial lens and break free from bureaucracy."

Nelson worked for Time Inc. for more than 20 years, mostly in editorial operations. She was the founding editor of InStyle and worked to "revitalize" People, Ripp said.

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Bloomberg said it currently has no plans to replace Pearlstine. "Norm has been an invaluable advisor to me and our entire leadership team! , helping us successfully relaunch Bloomberg Businessweek and start new lines of business that continue to grow," said Bloomberg CEO Dan Doctoroff, in a statement. "His impact will last for years to come. We thank him and wish him well."

In March, Time Warner said it was getting out the magazine business by spinning off the publishing division as an independent, publicly traded company. The spinoff was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year but has been delayed until early 2014.

EHouse Global Acquires Liquid Nutritional Supplement Company, Nutraliquids (OTCBB:EHOS, OTCMKTS:CRWE)

EHouse Global, Inc. (EHOS)

Today, EHOS  has shed (-9.09%) down -0.01 at $.10 with 62,865 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:31PM EDT October 17, 2013).

EHouse Global, Inc. previously reported it has entered the growing liquid nutritional supplement industry through the acquisition of NutraLiquids LLC. Nutraliquids is an emerging leader in the dynamic single serve ready to drink liquid supplement market.

A study on the Dietary supplement industry shows supplement sales in the US exceed $26 billion, according to the “Nutrition Business Journal.” Concerns about health care and aging have led to increased sales in nutritional supplements. Vitamin supplements are traditionally offered as tablets or pills. Unfortunately, many vitamins that are in pill form contain a variety of preservatives and fillers that are designed to give them a longer shelf life. Over the past several years liquid supplements have gained rapid popularity. Studies indicate that Liquid vitamin supplements have an almost total absorption rate, often quoted as high as 98%, and research suggests that 90% of the nutrients taken in a tablet or pill form are going straight down your toilet.

EHouse Global, Inc. (EHOS) 5 day chart:

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (CRWE)

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (OTCMKTS:CRWE) (www.crownequityholdings.com) together with its digital network of Websites, offers advertising branding and marketing services as a worldwide online multi-media publisher.

Today, CRWE surged (+20.00%) up +0.0010 at $.0060 with 10,000 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:47PM EDT October 17, 2013).

CRWE daily range is at ($.006 – $.006) thus far and currently at $.0060 would be considered a (+445.45%) gain above the 52 wk low of $.0011.

Crown Equity Holdings Inc. (CRWE) 5 day chart:

Morningstar's ETF conference</font> iShares, Vanguard top Morningstar ETF awards"><font color=red>Morningstar's ETF conference</font> iShares, Vanguard top Morningstar ETF awards

In the exchange-traded-fund world, it's BlackRock Inc.'s iShares and The Vanguard Group Inc., followed by everyone else.

iShares was named the top provider of U.S. stock, international stock and taxable-bond ETFs at the second annual Morningstar ETF Awards. Vanguard was named the top provider of sector ETFs, the only other broad category.

Morningstar ranked the best-in-class ETFs in 40 categories, both for buy-and-hold investors and those who trade more frequently. Combined, iShares and Vanguard were named the best in class in 54 of the 80 categories Morningstar ranked.

“It's becoming increasingly difficult to compete in the core categories,” said Ben Johnson, director of passive fund research at Morningstar. “Over time, as these particular categories become more and more commoditized, it won't be winner takes all, but it will be winner takes most.”

For iShares and Vanguard, their size has enabled them to do so well in the awards, as they've passed the benefits of their scale on to investors, Mr. Johnson said.

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iShares and Vanguard are the biggest and third-biggest ETF companies, respectively, and combined, they manage more than $875 billion in ETF assets, or just over 57% of all ETF assets.

Even though newer entrants to the ETF world, such as Charles Schwab Investments, were able to nab some awards — the Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB) was named best large-cap-blend ETF in the investor category, for example — iShares and Vanguard aren't expected to lose their stranglehold on the top categories.

“The incumbents are firmly entrenched, and I don't see that changing anytime soon,” Mr. Johnson said.

One area where there could be a shake-up is between iShares and Vanguard.

Because Vanguard changed the underlying index of 22 of its ETFs last October, those ETFs weren't eligible for the main categories since they don't have a full year of tracking the new indexes, which Morningstar requires to be eligible.

The Financial Crisis in Paulson, Fuld, Geithner and Dimon's Own Words

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Five years ago on Sunday, Sept. 14, investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, a turning point in the 2008 financial crisis that caused tumult in esoteric credit markets to accelerate into a cascading global financial panic.

What began as a Wall Street-oriented catastrophe eventually reached all corners of the global economy. The U.S. fell into the sharpest recession since the Great Depression. In Europe, nations teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Millions of Americans lost their jobs and unemployment rates remain at historic highs in many developed market economies. The 2008 crisis has also spawned an overhaul of the global financial system as regulators work to ensure that future banking industry panics don't imperil ordinary citizens.

Five years ago, a handful of extraordinarily powerful bankers were racing to save the financial system after sowing the seeds of collapse. Bankers such as Richard S. Fuld of Lehman Brothers, John Mack of Morgan Stanley (MS) and John Thain of Merrill Lynch were working around the clock to save their firms. Government officials such as New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke meanwhile, were in the process of hatching was the biggest rescue -- or bailout -- in Wall Street's history. In a definitive New Yorker recount of the crisis, James Stewart called the crescendo of panic that began on Sept. 12, 2008, the Eight Days of the Financial Crisis. As Stewart concluded, there was a point during the economic tumult when unbridled fear conquered reason. Depending on one's views some acted decisively and heroically to curtail the panic. Others wonder why more bankers weren't prosecuted. There is also still widespread unease with the size of Wall Street's bailout and an ensuing concentration of wealth among the nation's economic elite not seen since the Gilded Age. TheStreet combed audio files made available by the Senate-appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission for perspectives from key players in the financial crisis. The FCIC's work stands as a definitive account of what brought the global economy to near collapse. Disclosures made by the Federal Reserve under the Freedom of Information Act also show the alarming scope of Wall Street's bailout. Transcripts still to be released by the Fed may yet shed more light on the crisis. Here are recounts of the crisis from Jamie Dimon, Richard S. Fuld, Tim Geithner, Lloyd Blankfein, Ken Lewis, Warren Buffett and David Einhorn. They recall issues such as the bailout of Bear Stearns, the failure of Lehman, the rescue of Merrill Lynch, and the near-collapse of AIG. God, Country, Lehman -- Written by Antoine Gara in New York. Follow @antoinegara

Don’t Ditch Bonds

Interest rate increases wreak havoc with bond returns. When interest rates rise, the principal values of older bonds decline as buyers flock into higher yielding new issues. But as inflation and interest rates creep upwards in the coming months, you’d be foolhardy to foresake bonds altogether. We explain why, as well as pinpoint a bond fund appropriate for this investment climate.

Let’s start with the graph below, from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which shows the effective federal funds rate—the Fed’s benchmark interest rate—since the 1950s.

Knowing that rising interest rates are bad for bonds, it comes as little surprise that the single worst one-year period for bonds was 1980, when the federal funds rate whipsawed from 14 percent to 8.5 percent then back up to 20 percent. In that year, the aggregate return on bonds was -15.5 percent, as investors struggled to get a handle on the direction of interest rates.

The worst 20-year period for bonds, again not surprisingly, was between 1961 and 1981 as the fed funds rate gradually drifted higher from about 2 percent to 20 percent. Over that period, the aggregate return on bonds was -40.8 percent.

But bonds don’t always respond negatively to increases in the fed funds rate. Looking at the trailing one-year returns of 10-year Treasury bonds, bonds typically hold their own even when the interest rate ticks up.

In fact, in the four instances that 10-year Treasuries had a negative return in the 30 years between 1983 and 2013 (1987, 1994, 1999 and 2009), the fed funds rate was only on the rise in 1994. Over the course of that year, the federal funds rate rose from 3.25 percent to 5.5 percent, shaving more than $600 billion over the value of the US bond market.

So why did the massacre happen in 1994?

After nearly three years of economic growth and relatively tame inflation, commodity prices were beginning to rise and inflationary pressures grew. In response, the Fed tightened interest rates just slightly by 25 basis points. The move came like a lightning bolt out of the blue and the hikes just kept coming.

Much like today, in 1994 investors were accustomed to a low interest rate world. While there was the added dilemma of high gearing in the bond market in those days, the real crux of the problem was that investors were ignoring signs of a return to healthy growth in the global economy.

That scenario should sound familiar to investors today.

There’s no denying that the US recovery since the Great Recession has been anemic, but it has led the global economic rebound. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its global growth forecast earlier this month by 0.1 percentage point to 3.7 percent, largely thanks to the fact that it bumped its outlook for US growth by 0.2 percentage point to 2.8 percent this year. While the picture on US jobs remains mixed, household net worth has regained the ground it lost in the recession, mostly because of improving home prices.

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The IMF also boosted its outlook for Japan, the euro zone and China and only shaved its forecasts for Russia (down 1 percent) and Latin America (down 0.1 percent).

The global growth picture for 2014 looks good overall, with many equity markets somewhat overvalued.

Nonetheless, Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen has signaled repeatedly that she intends to keep interest rates at their current levels through 2015, even as the Fed tapers off its bond purchases. At the same time, the European Central Bank is unlikely to back off its own near-zero percent interest rate policy and the Bank of Japan is still actively pouring stimulus money into that country’s economy.

Thanks to those easy money policies, inflation expectations are picking up.

The graph below shows the breakeven rate, or the spread between the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond and a comparable Treasury Inflation Protected Security (TIPS). When the spread widens, investors are betting on growing inflation.

As you can see, inflation worries have been growing since December, even as the US central bank has stuck to its guns on low interest rates. Odds are, when the rate increases finally happen, investors will be stunned all over again. Looking at the futures curve on Treasury bonds, most investors aren’t betting on a rate increase over the next couple of years.

So while interest rate increases are never good for the value of fixed-income securities, bonds take the worst hit when those increases are largely unexpected. If you pair that with growing inflation expectations as occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s, the effect is even worse, widening the drawdown by between -0.5 percent and -6.0 percent, according to Federal Reserve research.

But even as the Fed walks a tightrope over interest rates, investors can’t abandon bonds either.

The temptation is to dump bonds in this type of environment, but they still add diversification value and a steady stream of income to your investment portfolio. That’s particularly true when you own well-diversified bond funds where managers can spread their bets and “upgrade” their holdings as the investment environment evolves.

Reexamine your asset allocation to determine if you should shorten the average duration (a measure of interest rate sensitivity) of your holdings. But don’t abandon bonds altogether, because they typically offer lower volatility than stocks and throw off predictable income.

Consider adding bond funds that offer interest rate and inflation hedges to your portfolio.

We take issue with the way the US government calculates inflation, but TIPS still look increasingly attractive in the current environment. With the general consensus being that headline US inflation will likely reach 2.5 percent this year even by the official measure, TIPS will put last year’s loss as an asset class well behind them.

While there are several exchange-traded funds (ETFs) devoted to TIPS, my favorite is PIMCO 1-5 Year US TIPS Index (NYSE: STPZ).

This ETF has one of the lowest durations of any of the TIPS funds at 2.7 years, so it won’t take much of a ding based on shifting interest rates.

There are cheaper TIPS funds available, but this one’s expense ratio of 0.20 percent is average for its category. It’s also worth the slightly higher expense because its short duration also means that its performance is more correlated to shorter-term inflation expectations, which is precisely what we want in the current climate.

With solid inflation hedging characteristics and little interest rate sensitivity, PIMCO 1-5 Year US TIPS Index is a terrific hedge up to 60.

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Caterpillar Dealer Sales Continue to Suffer: The Elusive Turnaround

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) continues to struggle in its sales of heavy equipment. We have now seen the release of its fourth-quarter sales trends, and the trend is not Caterpillar’s friend. About the only good news is that the rate of decline in most instances was a lower one.

Industrial sales under the Power Systems unit was the only bright spot, but even then the Power Systems total sales were lower in December than in November. Caterpillar seems expensive considering the decline it has faced. After all, it is trading at 15 times expected 2014 earnings.

The reason that Caterpillar is not so expensive is that the 2013 expected earnings of $5.49 per share and 2014 expected earnings of $5.78 per share compare to $8.90 per share in 2012. The flat sales growth of 0.9% to $55.3 billion expected in 2014 is actually down from $65.9 billion in 2012. That means that when things do signal even the hint of a turn, Caterpillar suddenly could be trading at 10 times forward earnings. At that point, a massive rally can take place. Investors often have to pay up on today’s numbers if they want to catch a turnaround in the next year (or two).

Caterpillar shares are not liking the news, and another down day for the stock market is not helping matters. Shares were down 2.15 at $86.64 shortly after the market opened on Friday. The consensus price target is just shy of $93, and the 52-week trading range is $79.49 to $99.70.

As a reminder, Caterpillar’s stock peak was close to $115 back in early 2012. We have included the SEC filing charts to show how the declines are almost universal.

Source: SEC Filing

Facebook Loses When It Tries To Be Twitter

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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's so weird when stuff like this happens ...

Call me a lost cause loser, but -- literally -- the first thought that entered my mind when I woke up Sunday morning was ... Facebook (FB) is failing miserably and will continue to fail miserably at curating its users' news feeds.

Not more than an hour later, I got online and came across two stories that, by some sort of synchronicity, got right at what I was thinking. I could claim original thought and not cite these articles, but I'm not a hack. Plus they're two solid reads well worth your time.

Both moved my noodling along, ultimately leading me to conclude that something I wrote in August 2012 -- Twitter Will Live and Facebook Will Die -- will end up playing itself out. Facebook has no business competing with Twitter (TWTR). And it's making a grave strategic error trying to do so. In Business Insider's Blogger Nails A Major Problem With Facebook's Newsfeed, Paul Szoldra cites the experience of a social media star who chides Facebook for keeping content from you. Simply put, if you follow somebody or are friends with them on FB, you only see a fraction of what they post. On some level, this makes no sense. But, as Kurt Wagner shows over at Mashable in How to Curate Your Facebook News Feed, you can take control over your news feed and create, for yourself, more relevant personalization. As the need for a How to Curate Your Facebook News Feed article shows, Facebook is doing an awful job at personalization. Anybody with a Facebook page knows this firsthand. Whose feed isn't littered with irrelevant ads, stories from the same news outlets over and over and over again and political rants from whacked out high school friends you thought you unfollowed during the last election. The (well-done) Mashable tutorial shouldn't be necessary because Facebook shouldn't even be trying to, in Mark Zuckerberg's words, be "the best personalized newspaper in the world." As I argued in the above-linked August 2012 piece, why is Facebook emulating Twitter -- the long-established modern day version of the newspaper: Facebook is a sustainable fad. In other words, it serves a purpose. It has a much brighter future than its bandwagon-jumping critics think. But, it will never be in Twitter's league in any capacity, from being useful to making the smooth transition to an IPO ... When I claim Facebook will die, I'm talking five, 10, 15, maybe 20 years from now. In our world, that's an eternity. Twitter, meantime, is everything the television news networks wish they could be -- instant, relevant and used heavily by a relatively young audience. Here's the problem at Facebook ...

Stock quotes in this article: FB, TWTR 

 
It's not serving its purpose well. It's so far from its righteous incarnation, I'm not sure it even truly knows what its purpose is. It doesn't understand what it is or how to best exist.

Facebook is the tabloid newspaper. The place where you share that poll about what city you should live in, the 8-year old who nailed Piano Man on the first try or the business guy who played with the autistic kid he sat next to on an airplane for two hours. That is stuff worthy of distributing and sharing. No question. But it doesn't make Facebook the newspaper it thinks it is or should become.

Mark Zuckerberg has allowed himself to be misled by the Internet meme that news outlets are seeing increasing amounts of traffic from Facebook. That's happening. And It's huge traffic. But it's also very specialized traffic from a relatively small selection of viral publishers. It's not the type of traffic that should lead Facebook on a path it has shown, repeatedly, it doesn't know how to navigate.

Be the tabloid. And be the place where grandparents see pictures of their grandkids, friends "reconnect" and stay "in touch" and people present the lives they like to make their "Facebook friends" think they're living. In other words, don't try to be something you're not. Be the low-brow tabloid rag, the 40 years burning down the road high school yearbook. There's lots of opportunity there. Sometimes you have to take what your users give you -- even if they're a bit squirrely. Don't try to be something you're not or something that takes what you are (and should be) and screws it all up. In this regard, Twitter, clearly, has been observing and learning from Facebook's response to it and subsequent mistakes. It has -- acting pretty much in complete opposition to Facebook's trajectory -- followed its naturally occurring emergence as a social force. It is the newspaper. It is the second screen. These functions came to Twitter naturally -- not as meme, but as reality -- and, now, Twitter nurtures these functions quietly, but effectively. It's, as my little league baseball coach, Mr. Teaman, liked to say, playing the ball, not letting the ball play it.  Sure Twitter has a smaller user base than Facebook. But that doesn't matter, probably because that won't last long, but also because Twitter has a more focused and, if you're an advertiser looking to target certain types of people, sophisticated user base than Facebook. Intuitively we think Facebook has the edge because it knows more about its users than Twitter does. But not so fast ... As tech companies get better with data (see Your Social Media Friends Are Idiots But We Can Fix That), that's not going to matter as much. On the basis of who you follow, who follows you and the things you're Tweeting about (what articles are you reading and retweeting, what TV shows are you watching, what's your favorite sport, what type of music do you listen to), Twitter continues to hone its ability to predict the ads that will most likely resonate with you. Being smaller -- more niche, so to speak -- could actually help convince advertisers that they're making a smart play, not the present throw a bunch of stuff at Facebook's one billion users and see what sticks strategy. Follow @rocco_thestreet --Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.

Stock quotes in this article: FB, TWTR  Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks. Rocco Pendola is a columnist for TheStreet. Whenever possible, Pendola uses hockey, Springsteen or Southern California references in his work. He lives in Santa Monica.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies For 2014

Jim Fink, editor of Roadrunner Stocks, highlights a trio of small cap favorites; he also explains a conservative income strategy using put spreads.

Steve Halpern: We are here today with Jim Fink, Editor of Roadrunner Stocks. How are you doing, Jim?

Jim Fink: I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Steve Halpern: First, let's start with your stock market outlook. You recently pointed out that the current bull market is now the sixth longest of the past 113 years. Do you expect this trend to continue, or is it time for a correction?

Jim Fink: Well, sixth longest means there are five longer, and so, it definitely can go longer. I think it will go longer in the intermediate term, but in the short-term, I think a correction is becoming more likely.

It just seems that with the troubles in Washington, with the government shutdown, the October 17 deadline for a debt ceiling extension, there's a lot of potential conflict coming down the line over the next two to four weeks.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies For 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies For 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top 5 Medical Companies For 2014: Rackspace Hosting Inc(RAX)

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. operates in the hosting and cloud computing industry. It provides information technology (IT) as a service, managing Web-based IT systems for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises worldwide. The company?s service suite includes dedicated hosting comprising customer management portal and other management tools that manage data center, network, hardware devices, and operating system software; and cloud computing that enables customers to provide and manage a pool of computing resources, as well as delivery of computing resources to business when they need them. It offers cloud servers, cloud files, and cloud sites, as well as cloud applications, such as email, collaboration, and file back-ups; and hybrid hosting that provides a combination of dedicated hosting and cloud computing services. The company also offers customer support services. It sells its service suite through direct sales teams, third-party channel partners, an d online ordering. The company was formerly known as Rackspace.com, Inc. and changed its name to Rackspace Hosting, Inc. in June 2008. Rackspace Hosting, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy The market may have rallied remarkably this year, but there are plenty of stocks that never got the memo. Dozens of stocks are hitting fresh 52-week lows these days, and some of them aren't as bad as their low stock prices would seem to suggest. Last week, I took a look at five stocks that didn't deserve to be hitting new 52-week highs. Now it's time to flip things around and look at five stocks that hit new 52-week lows last week that are prime candidates to bounce back. Dice Holdings (DHX) 52-Week Range: $6.83-$10.43 Dice operates several industry-specific career and employment websites, including the namesake Dice.com for tech jobs, ClearanceJobs.com for jobs that require security clearance, and Rigzone.com for jobs in the oil industry. It's a novel approach to helping folks in specific sectors network, and naturally this is magnetic to potential employers. The success of LinkedIn (LNKD) may have taken some of the shine off Dice, but the company's still finding ways to grow. Analysts see revenue climbing at a slightly better than 6 percent clip this year and again in 2014. Kinder Morgan (KMI) 52-Week Range: $32.30-$41.49 Kinder Morgan watches over the country's largest network of natural gas pipelines. Thanks to its reputation as a cleaner energy source than coal or petroleum (and the massive upsurge in U.S. production thanks to the fracking boom), natural gas is a growing source of domestic energy. Even commercial vehicles are starting to be powered by liquefied natural gas. Kinder Morgan is growing, but it has missed Wall Street's profit targets in each of the three past quarters. That's been enough to scare off some investors. However, the falling share price has also made Kinder Morgan's healthy dividend that much more compelling. The stock's yield of 4.6 percent is too rich to ignore here. Liquidity Services (LQDT) 52-Week Range: $20.37-$44.40 Liquidity Services prides itself as a problem solver. It runs a marketplace for items that need to b

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Real money was on the line then as it is now, which means any one of the five stocks you see below could ruin my investment strategy. None has fit that description more in recent weeks than Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) . The stock recently set a new 52-week low amid concerns over intensifying competition.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) has seen share prices plummet 48% in just five months. Many investors glanced at the roller-coaster chart and decided to cash out, but Fool contributor Anders Bylund ran in the opposite direction.

• [By Investometrica]

  First, I compare the stock performance of Salesforce.com with other competitors. Although some competitors are not exactly in the same business, all of them have either a cloud computing or CRM component in their revenue: Citrix Systems (CTXS), Rackspace (RAX), SAP (SAP), Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), Amazon (AMZN) and VMware (VMW). Salesforce.com's one year stock performance, 13.51%, is far from the top (that is, SAS, with 31.19%) gainer. On one hand, things could have been worse, as a good number of competitors show negative returns. On the other hand, we should notice that the current stock price level has not changed that much since early 2011 ($39.2 per share). This stagnation is hard to ignore.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies For 2014: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) shares climbed 5.80% to $23.53. The volume of EZchip Semiconductor shares traded was 635% higher than normal. EZchip Semiconductor's PEG ratio is 1.57.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of EZchip (NASDAQ: EZCH  ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $15.3 million, topping the Street's forecast of $15.1 million. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.23, which was right on target with expectations.

Startup Takes On Consumer Financial Education

LearnVest, an online financial planning startup, announced Friday that it had acquired $16.5 million in new funding. It attained the funding from initial investor Accel Partners, as well as new investors American Express Ventures; Claritas Capital; Ed Mathias, the founding member of The Carlyle Group; and Todd Ruppert, former CEO and president of T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services. The company has raised $40 million since launching three years ago.

The firm, based in New York and founded by Alexa von Tobel, provides basic money management advice to consumers through its website and an iPhone app launched in September. A team of certified financial planners provide portfolio analysis and guidance on how to implement recommendations with other providers.

“We are passionate about making financial planning—dare I say it—an exciting consumer product,” von Tobel said in a statement. “We’re eager to use this latest investment to focus on scaling LearnVest Planning’s award-winning technology and to provide widespread access to our team of certified financial planners.”

LearnVest offers three pricing tiers, each with a monthly subscription of $19. The least expensive option offers one-on-one help setting a budget. The next option helps consumers create a five-year plan, and the top level provides actual guidance on investing.

With the additional funding, the firm has opened a new office in Phoenix to serve as a training and hiring center for the firm’s financial planners. It will also invest in consumer-facing tools for its platform.

Additionally, LearnVest is partnering with Workplace Solutions to offer financial wellness programs as an employee benefit.

“We fully believe in the power of our Action Program to make America financially healthy. We all have questions about our money and need someone to help guide us in the right direction, with actionable unbiased advice,” says von Tobel. “That’s what LearnVest Planning is providing for people nationwide.”

Best Performing Companies To Watch For 2014

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But following the Dow Jones (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) or any of its 30 components makes things much easier for the average market participant. Stocks such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) or Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are both very stable companies and have easy-to-understand business models in terms of how they make money.

To learn more, check out the video.

The best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of.�Click here now�to keep reading.

Best Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Alturas Minerals Corp (ALT.V)

Alturas Minerals Corp. engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Peru and Chile. The company�s principal properties include the Chapi Chapi-Utupara copper-gold project located in the Apurimac copper-gold belt in southern Peru; the Sombrero copper-gold project situated in south-central Peru; the Huajoto gold-silver-zinc-rare earths property located in central Peru; and the La Corina copper-gold project situated in La Corina district, Chile. Alturas Minerals Corp. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Best Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Washington H Soul Pattison & Co Ltd(SOL.AX)

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the mining of coal; and provision of consulting services in Australia. The company involves in the exploration, development, production, processing, and transportation of coal. It has interests in the Colton project, an open cut coking coal resource located near Maryborough; and the Elimatta project, a thermal open cut coal deposit located in the northern Surat Basin in Australia. The company also engages in the production of copper sulphate and copper concentrates. In addition, it provides corporate advisory services relating to mergers, strategic advice, equity capital markets, private equity, restructuring, and debt advisory services. Further, the company invests in the field of building products, equity investments, telecommunications, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited was founded in 1872 and is based in Sydney, Austral ia.

Hot Casino Stocks To Invest In 2014: Emblaze Systems Ltd(BLZ.L)

Emblaze Ltd. engages in the research and development of technology for advanced wireless and cellular solutions and products worldwide. It provides push email and personal information management synchronization to mobile users. The company was formerly known as GEO Interactive Media Group Ltd. and changed its name to Emblaze Ltd. in 1998. Emblaze Ltd. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Herzeliya Pituach, Israel.

Best Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Northgate Minerals Corporation(NXG)

Northgate Minerals Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in exploring, developing, processing, and mining gold and copper deposits in Canada and Australia. Its principal producing assets include 100% interests in the Fosterville and Stawell Gold mines in Victoria, Australia; and the Kemess South mine located in north-central British Columbia, Canada. The company was formerly known as Northgate Exploration Limited and changed its name to Northgate Minerals Corporation in May 2004. Northgate Minerals Corporation was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Best Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Telecom Argentina SA (TEO)

Telecom Argentina SA (Telecom) is an Argentina-based company primarily engaged in the provision of national fixed-line telecommunication services, international long-distance service, data transmission and Internet services and mobile telephony. The Company also offers such solutions as online business and Web hosting, virtual private network (VPN), mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft and Blackberry, toll-free telephone numbers, call centers and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) line, as well as other services mainly aimed at corporate clients. The Company�� subsidiaries are structured in two business segments: Fixed Telephony, comprising Telecom Argentina USA Inc and Micro Sistemas Sociedad Anonima, and Mobile Services, including Telecom Personal SA, Nucleo SA and Springville SA. As of December 31, 2010, the Company�� majority shareholder was Nortel SA, 54.74% of its interest.

Voice, Data and Internet

Telecom Argentina owns a local telephone line network, public long-distance telephone transmission facilities and a data transmission network in the Northern Region. Telecom Argentina also owns a network in the Southern Region. Voice, data and Internet services consists of basic telephone services, international long-distance services, data transmission and internet services, information and communication technology services and other basic telephone services. Telecom Argentina provides basic telephone services, including local and domestic long-distance telephone services and public telephone services. Telecom Argentina provides international telecommunications service in Argentina, including voice and data services and international point-to-point leased circuits.

Telecom Argentina provides data transmission and Internet connectivity services, including traditional dial-up and broadband connections, asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) dedicated lines, private networks, national and international broadcasting signal transport and videoconfe! rencing services. Telecom Argentina provides Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services and value-added solutions. Other services provided by Telecom Argentina include supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller identification (ID), voice mail, video calls and itemized billing, and telecommunications consulting and telecommunications equipment and maintenance services.

Telecom Argentina is a provider of Basic telephone services in the Northern Region and provides Basic telephone services in the Southern Region. Telecom Argentina�� fixed-line telephone network includes installed telephones and switchboards, a network of access lines connecting customers to exchanges and trunk lines connecting exchanges and long-distance transmission equipment.

The Company competes with Grupo Telmex Argentina, Telephone2, Impsat, IPlan, Comsat, Telecentro, Telefonica, Netizen, Gigared, UOL, Ertach, Telecentro and Cablevision.

Wireless Telecommunication

Telecom Argentina provides wireless services through its subsidiaries in Argentina and Paraguay. Its subsidiary Telecom Personal S.A. (Telecom Personal) provides wireless telephone service throughout Argentina via cellular and personal communications service (PCS) networks. Telecom Personal�� service offerings include global system for mobile communications (GSM) and 3G wireless communication over universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS)/high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) networks (including general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced data for GSM evolution (EDGE) and HSDPA high-speed wireless, videoconferencing, full track download, multimedia messaging, online streaming, corporate mailing and BlackBerry solutions) and sale of wireless communication devices (cellular phones, 3G modems, 3G hotspots, wireless Internet and netbooks). The Company also provides cellular and PCS services in Paraguay through Nucleo S.A., a subsidiary of Telecom Pers! onal.

The Company competes with Telecom Personal, Telefonica Moviles, America Movil, Telefonica Celular del Paraguay S.A. and Hola Paraguay S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Reese, Founder and CEO, Validea.com And Validea Capital Management]

  As you might imagine, the portfolio will tread into areas of the market others ignore, because of its contrarian bent. Right now, its holdings include some very unloved firms, including several financials, emerging market stocks, and much-maligned BP. Here's a look at five of the stock in our Dreman portfolio:

  Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)
  
  BP Plc (BP)
  
  Telecom Argentina SA (TEO)
  
  China Mobile Limited (CHL)
  
  Vale SA (VALE)
  
  

  Subscribe to Validea here��/P>

Lumia 1020 Unveiled With 41MP Camera - Analyst Blog

To regain its position in the smartphone race, Nokia Corporation (NOK) has unveiled the much-hyped Lumia 1020 with a 41 megapixel (MP) smartphone camera. Lumia 1020 runs on Microsoft Corporation's (MSFT) Windows Phone8 operating system (OS).

Lumia 1020 comes with a high resolution 41MP camera with image-stabilization technology, which enhances clarity. The 41MP phone is backed up with six Carl Zeiss optical lenses that allow sharp images even in low lights. The company claims that the new phone will allow users a digital camera-like experience in a smartphone.

Nokia's 808 PureView phone launched last year contained a 41MP camera, while its flagship Lumia 920 possesses the image stabilization feature. This latest smartphone offering is considered by some an improvement on Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhones' 8MP and Samsung Galaxy S4's 13MP cameras.

Dual capture is another intriguing feature of the smartphone, which records two versions of the image simultaneously. It takes a high resolution 38MP image, which can later be edited for larger prints and also captures a 5MP picture that can be easily shared on social networks.

Lumia 1020 possesses a 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, a 4.5 inch display and 32 GB storage capacity. The U.S. version comes with Microsoft's SkyDrive along with AT&T's storage service, which is quite important for such a high feature smartphone. Inspite of such a high resolution camera the smartphone lacks on the zooming front.

Lumia 1020 is available in white, yellow and black and will be launched in the U.S. on 26 Jul, 2013, with pre-orders from 16 Jul, 2013. AT&T Inc. (T) will offer the phone at $300, which is bit on the higher side than normal flagship smartphones. Lumia 1020 will come with a two-year contract. The latest Lumia is expected to be available in China and Europe by Sep 2013.

Nokia has lost its leading position in the smartphone race, as iPhone and Android-based smartphones have captured the larger part of the mar! ket. The tie-up with Microsoft has failed to make a positive impact as the company does not feature in IDC's top 5 smartphone manufacturers' list.

Lack of applications in the Windows OS as compared to iOS and Android is mainly attributable for the poor performance. We believe that the latest offering is an attempt by the Finnish giant to make it to the top 5 spot in the smartphone business. Although the smartphone eliminates the need to carry a point-and-shoot camera, it remains to be seen whether the company can lure customers to choose superior imaging over popular applications.

Nokia currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

If Alcatel Can Keep This Up, The Turnaround Can Work

These are still very early days, but if the second quarter is any sign, Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE:ALU) latest restructuring efforts may bring this company (and stock) back into relevancy. There is still plenty than can go wrong, but the carrier spending environment is looking better by the month, and will likely put some significant tailwinds into Alcatel's sales. While I definitely missed out on the early jump in these shares, a pathway to $3.50 (or higher) for the shares is at least worth talking about today.

Solid Second Quarter Earnings, On A Relative Basis At Least
Alcatel-Lucent's second quarter results wouldn't have passed muster for a company like Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) or Huawei, but they weren't bad for a company that badly needs to re-establish its credibility with the Street.

Revenue rose 2% as reported (or 4% in constant currency) from last year, or 12% versus the first quarter. That was good for a 3% beat, as the company saw surprising strength in edge routing (leading to IP revenue growth above 20%) and better than expected results in LTE (leading wireless to 5% sequential growth.

Margins likewise improved. Gross margin increased only slightly from last year, but improved 250bp sequentially. More importantly, gross margin beat the average estimate by more than 150bp. Adjusted operating income was positive (unlike the year-ago and quarter-ago results), and Alcatel's slim positive operating margin was almost 300bp higher than expected.

SEE: A Look At Corporate Profit Margins

A New Focus On Growth Products, Just As The Cycle Turns Positive Again
There have been a lot of false dawns with predictions of better telecom carrier spending, but it looks like conditions are finally, legitimately, getting better. Other equipment providers like Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) and Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) have been seeing demand improving, as have Juniper (Nasdaq:JNPR) and Cisco. Results haven't been quite as strong as Ericsson (Nasdaq:ERIC) or Nokia Siemens, but then there too are some margin/mix improvement stories at work.

SEE: How To Pick The Best Telecom Stocks

As seen with Ciena and Infinera (and in recent announced wins), 100G is pretty strong for Alcatel-Lucent right now, and I would expect this market to get better over the next year or two. I still have my doubts about Alcatel's ability to compete, but I also don't believe that the company has to gain share to still benefit from this growing market. Edge routing, too, is looking quite a bit stronger for Alcatel as data traffic grows. As with 100G, I have my doubts that Alcatel-Lucent can grow share against its rivals (in this case, Cisco, Juniper, and Huawei), but once again Alcatel-Lucent doesn't have to "win" edge routing to still benefit from it.

We'll see what happens in wireless. Although Alcatel gets a lot of flack from bears (myself included in the past) for its share losses in LTE, a global share of around 15% to 17% is still good enough to allow the company to benefit from upcoming rollouts. The real question here may be margin, though, and Alcatel management could well face some difficult decisions with respect to how it bids on business.

On a somewhat related note, I thought it was rather interesting that Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) chose to partner with, and invest in, Alcatel for 3G/4G small cells. Qualcomm seems to be turning into something of an angel investor these days (at least between investments in struggling companies with good IP like Sharp and now Alcatel), and these small cell products won't roll right away, but it's hard not to see this move as something of an affirmation of Alcatel's IP and ability to endure.

The Bottom Line
I have long been very critical and skeptical towards Alcatel-Lucent, in large part because prior management line-ups couldn't execute their way out of a broom closet. And again, this is only one quarter and one where most of Alcatel-Lucent's comparables have sounded pretty positive on the market trends. So there's still a great deal of work left to do (and much to prove), but it's a good start.

I now expect Alcatel to return to positive free cash flow in 2015, and although liquidity is going to be tight for some time, improving financial performance over the next two years ought to create additional refinancing opportunities (though likely with higher base interest rates).

I'm still looking for long-term revenue growth in the neighborhood of 3% from Alcatel, well below Ciena and Infinera, but only a bit below Cisco. I'm more optimistic, though, that Alcatel can pull long-term free cash flow margins back into the mid-to-high single digits, though, and that leads to a discounted fair value (even with an elevated discount rate) of about $3.50. That's enough to make these shares worthy of consideration (something I wasn't sure I'd say again) even after this big run, and if the company continues to execute, those targets could head higher as the turnaround continues.

Disclosure – At the time of writing, the author had no positions in any stocks mentioned.

Top 5 Gold Companies To Invest In 2014

A balanced retirement portfolio should have a good chunk allocated to the energy sector. But with hundreds of natural gas and oil stocks to choose from, it can be difficult to sift through the bunch and determine who the winners and losers will be.

I've found a way to sidestep that task. There's only one stock I need to own to get exposure to energy: National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV  ) . Two years ago, I tabbed the company for my retirement portfolio. As you can see, it has underperformed since then, but read on to see why it's one holding I don't lose any sleep over.

NOV Total Return Price data by YCharts.

The nuts and bolts of energy
During the Gold Rush of the 1840s and '50s, millions of prospectors moved west in the hopes of striking it rich. In the end, very few would actually make any real profit -- there just wasn't enough gold to go around. In many ways, that's how I view today's natural gas and oil stocks, especially the smaller plays.

Top 5 Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: First Majestic Silver Corp.(AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the production, development, exploration, and acquisition of mineral properties with a focus on silver in Mexico. The company owns interests in La Encantada Silver Mine comprising 4,076 hectares of mining rights and 1,343 hectares of surface land located in Coahuila; La Parrilla Silver Mine consisting of mining concessions covering an area of 69,867 hectares; and San Martin Silver Mine comprising approximately 7,841 hectares of mineral rights and approximately 1,300 hectares of surface land rights located in Jalisco. It also holds interests in Del Toro Silver Mine consisting of 393 contiguous hectares of mining claims and an additional 129 hectares of surface rights located in Zacatecas; Real de Catorce Silver Project comprising 22 mining concessions covering 6,327 hectares located in San Luis Potosi state; and Jalisco Group of Properties consisting of mining claims totalling 5,240 hectares located in Jalisco. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Despite the weakness seen in precious metals a few weeks ago, silver has been relatively stable ever since mid-April, with the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) trading in a dollar-wide range ever since. With the presidents of the Chicago and Philadelphia Federal Reserve banks��releasing conflicting statements, turmoil may be just around the corner. Miners like Pan American (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) are still facing operating challenges, while silver streaming darling Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) struggles as well.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  It is no secret that precious metals companies have been taking a pounding for some time now. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD  ) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) , the gold and silver ETFs, have been hard hit and operating companies like First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) have been hit even harder. Through all of these struggles, and in some cases because of them, one precious metals company continues to look attractive for the long term: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) .

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  In terms of individual companies, there are several good choices, but these can behave very differently. Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) , for example, missed revenue expectations and beat earnings expectations in its last earnings release. But despite the beat, EPS shrank considerably from a year earlier on a GAAP basis. The stock has been fairly flat ever since. Conversely, First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) reported strong revenue growth and a small bump in profits, sending the stock higher since the announcement. First Majestic reported increased cash costs and tightening margins, largely driven by lower silver prices. Each of these companies faces pressure from increasing production costs and environmental concerns.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  While many precious-metals companies have been in a slump of late, there is one that belongs perpetually in your portfolio: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) . The company is not like other miners -- including Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) -- in that it has a unique business plan that insulates it against many of the vagaries of the mining business. Moreover, because silver will always have a significant industrial demand component, even with the heightened volatility you see in the silver market, maintaining exposure to silver is appropriate.

Top 5 Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Clash of the titans
  When bears are raging on the gold bullion market, it's not surprising to see gold stocks getting mauled as well. Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  ) was the biggest loser in the sector, losing a quarter of its market cap on no company-specific news, though a report last Friday indicated that a large number of hedge funds had recently dumped their positions in the mid-tier miner. Yet it wasn't all that much better among the majors, either, as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) fell almost 13% and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 14%.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] ating price of the commodity, along with the geopolitical risks involved in mining in African nations such as Ghana, are just two of the obstacles the firm is facing. In addition, as one of the smallest gold mining firms in the industry, with a market cap of just $122 million, Golden Star has had a very difficult time financing its latest expansion projects. With share prices tumbling towards all-time lows, gurus such as Steven Cohen, Chuck Royce and Arnold Schneider have already sold out their positions in the troubled firm.

  Why Have Gurus Lost Faith in Golden Star?

  Despite aggressive expansion over the past decade, the Toronto-based gold mining firm has not been able to take advantage of its increased production output. Gold prices might have exploded over a ten-year period, yet the recent six-month decline has put a huge strain on Golden Star. The expedited maturation of its mines is particularly troubling, since the accelerated extraction rates, which allowed for short-term profits, are now falling considerably. The impact of the company�� excessive overproduction on profits and growth is clear: decreasing gold reserves mean less production, and thus reduced revenue for the gold miner. When the decline in metal prices are taken into account, the outlook is even more grim.

  In addition to overexpansion at the wrong time, Golden Star�� position has weakened due to its comparably less efficient operations. Unlike industry peers, such as IamGold Corp. (IAG) or Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), the majority of the Toronto-based miner�� assets contain refractory ore, which is far more expensive to extract than non refractory ore. And, in an attempt to switch production to the lower cost gold ore, and thus increase margins, Golden Star has depleted its mines��non refractory ore. With low reserves and mounting cash costs, the firm inevitably turned to new acquisitions.

  Overpriced Acquisitions and Geopolitical Risk

  The purchase

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Bridges favorite stocks include Goldcorp, Newmont, Eldorado Gold (EGO) and New Gold (NGD).

  Note, however, that these recommendations are all qualified in one way or another. Investors should keep that in mind before going all in on the gold miners.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Even bad news has failed to dent the rise in gold stocks today. NewGold (NGD), for instance, has gained 1.8% to $7.49 despite the fact that the wall of one of its mines collapsed. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

Top 5 Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Newmont Mining Corporation(Holding Company)

Newmont Mining Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and production of gold and copper properties. The company?s assets or operations are located in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico. As of December 31, 2009, it had proven and probable gold reserves of approximately 93.5 million equity ounces and an aggregate land position of approximately 27,500 square miles. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Top 5 Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  As a result, Chidley and team upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and�Yamana Gold (AUY) to Neutral from Underweight, and raised Barrick Gold (ABX), Goldcorp (GG) and Iamgold (IAG) to Overweight from Neutral.�Gold Fields (GFI) was downgraded “due to increased risk and also reduced expectations for the South Deep operation,” Chidley says.

• [By Daniel Putnam]

  The second factor working in gold stocks��favor is that analysts are growing optimistic again. Yesterday, HSBC put out a bullish note on gold and upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Yamana Gold (AUY), Barrick Gold, Iamgold (IAG), and Goldcorp. Most gold stocks are ranked ��old��or ��uy��(as opposed to ��trong Buy�� by the majority of analysts, meaning that there�� plenty of room for continued positive news flow on this front.

• [By vaninaegea]

  In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?

• [By Patricio Kehoe] e, has cash costs of $912 per ounce, and Agnico Eagle�� costs do not even reach the $700 per ounce mark. Hence, it comes as little surprise that revenue has been decreasing steadily, since gold prices are hovering around the $1300 mark at best. As the company is hemorrhaging money, investment gurus the like of John Burbank and Seth Klarman have decided to sell their entire stake in the firm. I agree with this bearish stance, and recommend investors stay away from Kinross Gold.

  Any Long Term Investment?
  
  If you were to follow Jean-Marie Eveillard�� purchases, one would be inclined to see good growth prospects for Agnico Eagle, and thus believe in this stock�� potential. And, you wouldn�� be wrong, as the firm has been growing at a steady pace, with no end in sight to its expansion possibilities. However, with a 171% price premium, investors might be better off waiting until a more favorable entry-point is available. Nevertheless, as a long-term investment, I feel highly optimistic and would thus even consider paying the additional cost.

  Disclosure: Patricio Kehoe holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
  
  Also check out: Jean-Marie Eveillard Undervalued Stocks Jean-Marie Eveillard Top Growth Companies Jean-Marie Eveillard High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Jean-Marie Eveillard keeps buying John Burbank Undervalued Stocks John Burbank Top Growth Companies John Burbank High Yield stocks, and Stocks that John Burbank keeps buying
  The Strategy of Ben Graham ��Warren Buffett�� Mentor From 1923 to 1957 Warren Buffett�� mentor, Ben Graham, followed a strategy of investing in net-nets. He said: ��t always seemed, and still seems ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price less than the...net current assets alone��he results should be quite satisfactory. They were so in our experience, for more than 30 years.��br> Today net-nets are rare. They are collected under Gu

VMware Earnings Aren't Growing Fast Enough

VMware (NYSE: VMW  ) will release its quarterly report on Tuesday, and on its face, expectations of double-digit percentage growth would seem to be more than adequate to keep investors happy. But in the high-growth world of cloud computing, investors demand much more, and without faster growth in VMware earnings, the stock could well keep trading near three-year lows well into the future.

VMware's expertise in virtualization software has given it a strong position in the cloud-computing space, as businesses seek to improve the efficiency of their IT systems. Yet the company has faced the tough task of defending its leadership role in the space against a rising tide of competition. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with VMware over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on VMware

Analyst EPS Estimate	$0.77
Change From Year-Ago EPS	13.2%
Revenue Estimate	$1.23 billion
10 Best Energy Stocks For 2014 Change From Year-Ago Revenue	9.7%
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters	4

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Can VMware earnings finally perk up this quarter?
Analysts have actually gotten a bit more optimistic about VMware earnings in the past few months, holding their estimates for the June quarter steady but raising their full-year 2013 calls by a nickel per share. That hasn't done much to help the stock, though, as shares have fallen almost 8% since mid-April.

VMware faces huge amounts of competition in the virtualization and cloud space, as industry goliaths duke it out for the hosting niche that Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) Amazon Web Services currently occupies. For its part, VMware and majority owner EMC (NYSE: EMC  ) announced more details in April about its Pivotal spinoff, with the venture formally starting April 1 and including assets from both VMware and EMC that will give users an alternative to being locked into proprietary systems from Amazon or other companies. General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) bought into the venture, buying a 10% stake at prices that value the company at roughly $1.05 billion.

To try to drive new business, VMware has also looked to some smart strategic partnerships. Joining with partners including Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) , Red Hat, and Dell back in March, VMware become part of a project to let hospitals use Linux servers to implement IT solutions. The project hits at the key health-care segment, which has huge potential especially for smaller hospitals that often escape the notice of more dedicated IT services companies.

VMware also took steps to streamline its operations. The company sold off its Zimbra unit to privately held Telligent Systems last week, saying that Zimbra's email and collaboration products needed a different owner in order to maximize their potential.

Still, the key for VMware is to find new ways to differentiate itself from the growing pack of competitors serving the cloud-computing and virtualization space. Especially as new initiatives like Big Data start to emerge, VMware needs to stay relevant to hold its position.

In the VMware earnings report, watch for the company to flesh out its growth strategy not just for the immediate future but for years to come. Without a strong vision of where the company's going, VMware is vulnerable to the same doubts that have held its growth back in recent quarters.

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Stocks to Watch: Alcoa, Sears, YRC Worldwide

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Friday’s session are Alcoa Inc.(AA), Sears Holdings Corp.(SHLD) and YRC Worldwide Inc.(YRCW)

Alcoa  swung to a steep fourth-quarter loss as the aluminum maker recorded a $1.72 billion impairment charge tied to two acquisitions made over a decade ago. Adjusted profit Alcoa reported for the latest period wasn’t as strong as analysts expected, though the top line exceeded expectations. Shares dropped 6.6% to $9.98 premarket.

AngioDynamics Inc.(ANGO) swung to a modest fiscal second-quarter loss but achieved break-even per-share results as the medical-device maker’s revenue improved more than expected, pushing shares up 6.5% to $19.15 premarket.

Baker Hughes Inc.(BHI) warned a disruption to its business in Iraq will reduce its fourth-quarter profit by about $80 million. The oil-field services company, which resumed operations by the end of December, had warned in November that it suspended operations in Iraq following a protest incident at a facility belonging to one of its units. Shares edged down 2.2% to $50.66 premarket.

Fifth & Pacific Cos.(FNP) unveiled a plan to change its name to Kate Spade & Co., the second time the clothing maker has changed its moniker since 2012, with the latest move tied to its narrow focus on the designer brand. Shares dropped 8.2% to $29.25 premarket as the company also issued a fiscal-year sales outlook that missed Wall Street expectations.

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Five Below Inc.(FIVE) cut its fiscal fourth-quarter outlook as the discount retailer blamed bad weather for its weaker-than-expected sales for the holiday season, sending shares down 7.8% to $40.20 premarket.

Francesca’s Holdings Corp. raised the low end of its fourth-quarter outlook, after the retailer said it experienced a positive finish for the holiday season. “After a lackluster start to the holiday selling season beginning the week of Thanksgiving, we ended the season stronger,” said Chief Executive Neill P. Davis. Shares surged 16% to $21.03 premarket.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.(PSUN) cut its fiscal fourth-quarter outlook as the teen-focused specialty retailer cited a “choppy” holiday season. PacSun said same-store sales for the holiday period were flat on a continuing-operations basis, and up 1% if online sales are included. Shares dropped 17% to $2.83 premarket.

Sears projected adjusted losses for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year that badly miss Wall Street’s expectations, as the struggling department-store operator warned of continued same-stores sales weakness. Shares declined 11% to $37.80 premarket.

Hilltop Holdings Inc.(HTH) offered to buy the rest of SWS Group Inc.(SWS) that it doesn’t already own, valuing the financial-services company at about $231 million. Hilltop, a regional banking and insurance company, offered $7 a share, a 16% premium over Thursday’s close. SWS surged 19% to $7.20 premarket, topping the offer price.

YRC Worldwide failed to win a contract extension from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, weakening the struggling trucking company’s prospects of completing a financing deal. Shares plunged 22% to $12.30 premarket.

As an investor, Yellen plays it safe

Janet Yellen Bloomberg News

New Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen soon will have more influence over Wall Street and the economy than anyone else in the world, but in her personal portfolio, she looks a lot like an average investor.

The incoming Fed leader, who was confirmed by the Senate on Monday, puts her assets largely in bond and equity index funds and blue chip stocks, according to her financial disclosure on file in the Government Ethics Office.

The way she selects her investments suggests that as a longtime Federal Reserve official, she didn't want to send loud signals to the market. Ms. Yellen had been Fed vice chairman and prior to that, head of the Fed's San Francisco bank.

“What jumps out at me is the conventionality of it,” said Arthur Grant, president and chief executive of Cadaret Grant & Co. Inc. “This looks like a quintessential asset allocation strategy. She knew it would be scrutinized for her philosophy of investing.”

Investment advisers described Ms. Yellen, 67, as largely avoiding risk while still participating in the market.

“She's taking the long view,” said Dave O'Brien, owner of O'Brien Financial Planning. “It looks prudent.”

See Janet Yellen's investment portfolio

Most of the joint assets owned by Ms. Yellen and her husband, George Akerlof, are held in the Akerlof and Yellen Family Trust. A former professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Ms. Yellen, and Mr. Akerlof, also a Berkeley professor, participate in the school's defined-contribution plans, which allocate investments among Fidelity funds and investments owned by the university.

Elsewhere in her portfolio, Ms. Yellen shows a strong preference for Vanguard, owning nine of the company's funds. This proclivity demonstrates one of the weaknesses of her portfolio — putting too much money into too few fund companies — according to advisers.

“I'm a Vanguard guy, but I also use some bond managers who are tactical,” Mr. O'Brien said. “I'd do a little bit more diversification.”

Not only is Ms. Yellen's portfolio largely centered on products offered by a handful of companies — Vanguard, Fidelity and TIAA-CREF — it also contains funds that sometimes duplicate each other on their individual holdings, according to Joseph Kelly, a certified financial planner at Valic Financial Advisors Inc.

“They're making the common mistake that most investors do — because they have a lot of holdings, they think they're diversified,” Mr. Kelly said. “There are so many choices out there. Why not spread some of the risk?”

Mr. Kelly also notes that Ms. Yellen does not! own exchange-traded funds and has little international exposure. He would recommend that she hedge her portfolio a bit by adding commodities, real estate investment trusts, utilities and foreign bonds.

“I get the impression [Ms. Yellen and Mr. Akerlof] are so busy with their lives, they're not paying attention to their portfolio as closely as I think they should,” Mr. Kelly said. “Some minor tweaking would really optimize their return and minimize any volatility.”

Fed rules prohibit Ms. Yellen from buying or selling securities during the seven days prior to a meeting of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee. She cannot hold a security for fewer than 30 days, other than shares of a money market fund.

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In taking a risk-averse investing approach, Ms. Yellen is essentially showing confidence in the Fed's ability to manage the economy.

“One of the things she's not doing is making a bet against bonds,” Mr. Grant said.

She's also someone who eschews yield-chasing through the hottest new Wall Street instrument.

“She may be able to explain how these complex investments work, but her portfolio shows she doesn't believe they're the right thing for her,” Mr. O'Brien said.