AT&T Kicks GoGo While It’s Down

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In-flight Internet service provider Gogo Inc. (GOGO) reports earnings in a couple of weeks, but that report has been relegated to the back pages today. That’s because AT&T (T) and Honeywell (HON) just challenged GoGo to a dogfight, and GOGO stock — already mired in big losses prior to today — is reeling hard.

AT&T announced today that it will be partnering with Honeywell to deliver in-flight Internet services — GoGo’s bread ‘n’ butter. Specifically, Honeywell will help provide some of the hardware, which will utilize AT&T’s LTE network to bring airline passengers 4G service.

The big challenge to GoGo: According to Bill Kircos, Honeywell’s vice president of global communications, “passengers should see faster and more consistent broadband connections and speeds while flying.” That’s a potentially huge change from the current environment, as GoGo’s service is only used by about 6% of customers on GoGo-enabled planes. (Which is good, because the company has admitted it doesn’t have the technology to service a full plane without bandwidth becoming an issue.)

While the AT&T-Honeywell product will offer broadband service, the technology still won’t hook customers up with AT&T’s network for voice service, nor will people be attached to their own data plans.

GoGo stock was off some 25% late Tuesday, bringing its year-to-date losses to around 45%.

However, there’s at least one good reason to think the selling in GoGo stock might be wildly overdone, at least in the short term.

Namely, GoGo is contracted out with several airlines — including Delta Air Lines (DAL) and American Airlines (AAL) — through 2020. Even William Blair senior analyst James Breen said of the new competition, “I don’t think it has an impact on Gogo’s results over the next 6 to 7 quarters.”

Plus, as Grant Martin over at Forbes points out, GoGo is bringing several new technologies into the market — specifically, ones that will allow for better speeds — which could help keep the AT&T-Honeywell solution from being a clear-cut better option for airlines once those contracts run out.

Today’s dip brought GoGo stock below just about every meaningful moving average, so in the extremely short term, GOGO could have even further weakness ahead.

Still, GoGo has oodles of time to respond, and GOGO stock is sitting almost 60% off its December high-water mark since its 2013 IPO.

A dip is certainly in the making. Those willing to make a speculative bet after a little stabilization on the part of GOGO could make out once the market realizes GoGo hasn’t actually been sentenced to death yet.

Kyle Woodley is the Deputy Managing Editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he was long T. Follow him on Twitter at @KyleWoodley.

Bull of the Day: HEICO Corp (HEI) - Bull of the Day

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Remember when the Fiscal Cliff was going to destroy defense-related stocks? That was so 40% ago, as my chart below shows comparing the iShares Dow Jones Aerospace & Defense index ETF (ITA) vs. the S&P 500 for the past year.One year ago, Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens told a House committee that deep Pentagon cuts slated to kick in January 2, 2012 would force his firm and others to fire employees and close factories. It was expected that those moves would hinder U.S. national security, erode defense firms' bench of highly skilled workers, and, of course, cut into weapons-makers' bottom lines.But the blows never came. In fact, with big guns like Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and Northrop Grumman (NOC), the ITA really took off in the past 5 weeks...This group has consistently been in the top 20% of the 265 industries ranked by Zacks, since before the election last fall. Given this outperformance, I was drawn to looking at one of the sub-industries of the Aerospace/Defense sector which currently ranks 24th of 265.A&D Equipment MakersIt makes sense that the suppliers of equipment to large Aerospace & Defense (A&D) companies would be doing well. I looked at these 3 Zacks #1 Rank stocks in the group:Orbital Sciences (ORB) is a leading space technology systems company that designs, manufactures, operates and markets a broad range of space-related products and services.Astronics Corporation (ATRO) is a manufacturer of specialized lighting and electronics for the cockpit, cabin and exteriors of military, commercial transport and private business jet aircraft.HEICO Corporation (HEI) is engaged primarily in certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space and electronics industries. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's a! irlines and airmotives as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide in addition to telecommunications, electronics and medical equipment manufacturers. I picked HEICO for "Bull of the Day" for two reasons. First, I like their projected earnings and sales growth of 19% and 13% respectively.Secondly, I like the fact they have a diverse mix of products, target markets, and customers, beyond A&D. In other words, commercial and general aviation, not just the space program or the military. They even serve computer, electronics, and healthcare markets.On May 22, the $2.9 billion company reported strong quarterly results and raised guidance. In the chart below, you can see the resulting breakout above $47 on strong volume.On May 24, upward EPS estimate revisions from analysts caused HEI to become a Zacks #2 Rank (Buy). On June 27, when HEI was still trading below $51, it became a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy).Head-to-Head on All the MetricsOne great resource in the Zacks Premium tools is the ability to compare industry peers on dozens of fundamental metrics. Here's a snapshot of these 3 companies from the Earnings view...What stands out is that HEICO is more expensive on a valuation basis. But if the global trends of commercial aviation expansion continue to favor the fortunes of companies like Boeing, HEICO should be along for the flight.But, what about that Boeing 787 fire at Heathrow on Friday? We'll get to that in a moment.Here is how HEICO structures itself in two primary business segments...The Flight Support group designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs, distributes and overhauls FAA-approved parts that extend over the entire aircraft, from the engines all the way to hydraulic, pneumatic, electromechanical, avionic, structures, wheels and brakes and even in! teriors.T! he Electronic Technologies group produces electrical and electro-optical systems and components serving niche segments of the aerospace, defense, communications, and computer industries. Boeing 787 Woes: Where There's Smoke...This week should be an interesting one for many of these A&D stocks after the damage to Boeing shares on Friday. A 787 runway fire at London's Heathrow airport sent the stock down over $8 (7.5%) in less than 20 minutes on the news.But BA shares bounced off of $99 to close just below $102, down only $5 (4.7%). Not terrible considering it just made new all-time highs Friday above $108, eclipsing the record highs set in July 2007 above that mark. The good news for HEI shares is that they only fell 1% and are still within 1% of their closing all-time high just below $55. Going forward, I would trade any of these A&D equipment makers in tandem with their large-cap A&D customers.In other words, as the big guns of the sector go, so go the suppliers. Right now, I like HEI the best for its sold growth, diverse products and customers, and a strong price chart.If Boeing can put out their fires, HEICO should be a good wing man.Kevin Cook is a Senior Stock Strategist with Zacks.com

4 Stocks to Buy to Hedge Against Higher Gas Prices

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That sucking sound you hear is more money going directly from your wallet and into your gas tank. That's right: Gas prices are once again on the move upward — just in time for your summer vacation plans.

Source: Flickr

According to AAA, a gallon of unleaded fuel hit an average of $3.67 this past Monday. That's about a 7-cent increase from last week and up from the $3.52 a gallon recorded last month. The automobile club predicts that gas prices per gallon will hit $3.75 by early summer before rising further during peak driving times.

The culprit? Lower supply here at home.

While energy companies aren't allowed to export crude oil, they can export finished and refined petroleum products. And that means gasoline. Recent data from the Energy Information Administration showed that energy firms in the U.S. exported about 3.6 million barrels worth of gasoline a day last week, according to the Wall Street Journal. That's an increase of about 25% for the same period last year. All in all, that's crimped domestic supplies of gasoline down to their lowest point for this time of year since 2011.

Lower supply due to exports plus rising demand equal higher gas prices for you and me. Yet, you don't have to take higher gas prices in stride. There are ways investors can hedge and profit from the upcoming pain at the pump. Here's four ways to do just that.

Valero (VLO)

As one of the nation's largest independent downstream players, Valero (VLO) is in a prime position to profit from exporting refined petroleum products and rising gas prices. In fact, VLO has made sending gasoline and diesel overseas one of its main pillars of profit.

Valero is responsible for about 20$ to 25% of all refined fuel exports from the U.S. and exports around 20% of all the diesel fuel and 8% of all the gasoline in produces.

During its last earnings report, VLO reported that it sent 193,000 barrels of diesel fuel and 91,000 barrels of gasoline overseas every day during the third quarter. More importantly, Valero has been working to increase that capacity even further and recently beefed up its terminal assets on the Gulf Coast.

Valero has also spent a hefty penny reconfiguring its refineries to run on more light sweet crude oil — the kind produced in the Bakken and Eagle Ford — rather than heavier, sour crude. That gives VLO higher profit margins since gas prices are tied to Brent-benchmarked crude.

VLO trades at just 9 times next year’s expected earnings, so it’s a cheap choice to hedge rising gas prices, and it also offers a 1.8% dividend yield for a little backside protection.

Phillips 66 (PSX)

As if ConocoPhillips (COP) spinoff Phillips 66 (PSX) needed any more positives. PSX is already becoming a major player in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and propane exports. Meanwhile, it's a major midstream and natural gas processor as well. All of these refining activities are boosting the firm's bottom line.

You can add gasoline exporter to that list of achievements.

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Like Valero, PSX has continued to see the benefits of exporting gasoline and diesel — especially to a hungry South American market.

Phillips 66 currently has the capacity to export around 320,000 barrels of gasoline a day from its facilities in the Gulf. As of the fourth quarter of 2013, PSX was using that capacity to send around 190,000 barrels per day. While that was the fourth quarter in a row of rising export volumes, it still leaves plenty of room to raise it more. Also like Valero, PSX has been able to use light sweet crude to its advantage and profit from the rich crack spread.

Meanwhile, Phillips 66 shares, while not as cheap as VLO, still are decently valued at 10.5 times next year’s earnings on anticipated long-term growth of almost 10%. It also yields just less than 2% in dividends.

Enterprise Products Partners, LP (EPD)

It shouldn't come as a shock that midstream giant Enterprise Products Partners, LP (EPD) is one of the best ways to play rising gas prices. When you're one of the largest midstream master limited partnerships (MLPs) in the country, you have your hands in a variety of different energy commodities. That includes pipelines that transport refined gasoline to export terminals.

EPD owns three different pipelines that carry refined crude oil to two different Gulf Coast export terminals. Those terminals are within a short tanker trip to the rich Central and South American markets. At the same time, Enterprise is expanding those terminals to begin exporting more gasoline. The terminals will be able to tap into nearly 12 million barrels worth of storage capacity and be able to export 360,000 barrels per day of gasoline, diesel and other products when fully completed by the end of this year.

All in all, these moves should help EPD continue with its rich tradition of rising cash flows and dividends. EPD currently yields a very healthy 3.9%.

United States Gasoline Fund (UGA)

One of the best ways to hedge against rising gas prices is to directly bet on that happening. The exchange-traded fund boom has made it easy for anyone with a brokerage account to hedge their gasoline consumption.

The United States Gasoline Fund (UGA) is the way to do it.

UGA attempts to track the changes, in percentage terms, of spot gas prices. It does this by using RBOB gasoline futures contracts and other gasoline-related forwards/swaps traded on the NYMEX exchange. Essentially, UGA avoids investors the hassle of opening and owning a futures account and dealing with the resulting headaches.

UGA is proven to be pretty effective at tracking rising gasoline prices as well.

Over the last five years as gasoline has surged from recessionary lows, UGA has managed to tack on an impressive 208% gain. That gain has certainly made up for the rise in gas prices in that time. Expenses for UGA run 0.6% — or $60 per $10,000 invested — and investors will get a K-1 statement from the fund come tax time.

As of this writing, Aaron Levitt did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Apple's Earnings Surprise Fails to Propel Stocks Higher

Blue-chip stocks are lower today after mixed earnings results from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) competed with a report that new-home sales came in above expectations for the month of June. With roughly an hour left in the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is down by 41 points, or 0.26%.

Apple earnings
Investors have been eagerly awaiting the results of Apple's most recent quarter. Over the past 12 months, shares of the technology giant have floundered, down at one point by as much as 45% from the high of $705 per share set in September of last year.

The concern in this regard has been threefold. First, as smartphones become increasingly commoditized, Apple's famously rich gross margin has begun to show signs of vulnerability. As Bloomberg News recently reported, the average price of a smartphone has plunged to $375 from $450 at the beginning of last year.

The net result is that companies like Apple and Samsung are making far less on each unit they sell. In the first three months of 2012, for example, the iPhone maker's gross margin was a staggering 47.4%. Over the most recent three months, that figure has dropped to 36.9%.

Second, it's been three years since the company came out with an entirely new product line. The last line it introduced was the iPad, which debuted in April of 2010. Since then, it's been rumored that the company is working on wearable technology -- specifically an iWatch -- and refining its Apple TV offering, but the company has yet to confirm or deny any rumors. Click here for a take on the rumors by the Fool's resident Apple expert, Evan Niu.

And finally, albeit as a consequence of the previous two, Apple has struggled to find growth on both the top and bottom lines. In the most recent quarter, Apple's net income dropped on a year-over-year basis by 22%, while its revenue advanced by less than 1%.

Shares of Apple are nevertheless surging today, up by nearly 6% at the time of writing, thanks to better-than-expected sales of its flagship iPhone. As my colleague Tim Beyers noted, the company sold an impressive 31 million smartphones over the quarter -- a 20% improvement over the same period of last year.

To read more about Apple's earnings, check out Evan's take on how Apple is putting its money where its mouth is.

Caterpillar earnings
On the other end of the spectrum, shares of Caterpillar are dropping 2.7% today on the heels of its worse-than-expected earnings report. The industrial giant has struggled since infamous short-seller Jim Chanos announced to the world that he was taking a short position in the industrial heavyweight.

"I believe the commodities super-cycle built on the back of the Chinese construction boom is coming to an end," Chanos told an audience at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference last week.

And, at least thus far, Chanos appears to be onto something. For the three months ended June 30, the company's earnings and revenue fell by 40% and 16%, respectively, compared to the same month of last year. In addition, as my fellow Fool Dan Dzombak observed, "The company also cut its forecast for 2013 EPS from $7 to $6.50 and lowered its revenue guidance from $56 billion-$58 billion to $57 billion-$61 billion."

New-home sales
Finally, shares of the nation's largest homebuilders are all tanking today despite an upbeat reading from the Department of Commerce on new-home sales last month. According to the government, sales in June equated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000. That's 35% higher than in the same month last year and 8.3% up from May.

The reason homebuilders like D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI  ) and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL  ) are taking it on the chin, in turn, has to do with the trend in prices. To wit, the median price of a new home fell in June by nearly 5% from $262,800 in May to $249,700. And just like Apple's experience with falling iPhone sales, if this trend continues it will put pressure on these companies' margins, and thus their bottom lines.

Apple has a history of cranking out revolutionary products -- and then creatively destroying them with something better. Read about the future of Apple in the free report "Apple Will Destroy Its Greatest Product." Can Apple really disrupt its own iPhones and iPads? Find out by clicking here.

Tesla's Cars Are On The Move In China, But For How Long?

Just like the media had reported, Elon Musk really was in China on Tuesday. He was on hand to deliver Tesla's first eight units of the Model S to Chinese customers. Additionally, Musk was also apologizing to some unhappy consumers for the delayed delivery of their cars.

But most importantly, Musk was here to see through what may be his biggest challenge in China: To ensure Tesla drivers will have access to an adequate supply of electricity through a network of charging stations. Otherwise, his Model S is at risk of becoming a  piece of artwork sitting in the parking lot. (Garage is not a familiar word for Chinese as high-rise is common.)

On WeChat – the main information source for scores of Chinese these days – the focus of discussion has switched from curiosity to skepticism–can the Model S actually survive on China's roads? The catalyst for the change in sentiment came from Musk himself during an interview he gave to CCTV News in which he discussed the lack of adequate charging stations.

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Within 24 hours, the pundits were already detailing the complexities of China's power system and explaining why the task of building charging stations could turn out to be a major roadblock for Tesla going forward.

In order to ensure everything goes well, Tesla will have to overcome three big hurdles: the transmission of electricity from the grid to the charging stations that are owned by different companies, the approval of multiple levels of government officials and the lethargy of the state-owned grid operators.

English: Tesla Model S sedan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Easier said than done. And Tesla is not alone. Other Chinese carmakers that aspired to churn out electric vehicles that are even more friendly to the environment also ran into these very same issues. A case in point would be BYD BYD – Warren Buffet's pick. Even with the advantage of local knowledge, none of the domestic players have come up with a solution for these problems.

The key supplier of electricity to the charging units would likely be a company called NARI Group Corporation, a subsidiary of the State Grid and Sinopec, one of the oil giants, while the stations themselves would belong to a Beijing-based power generation company called Hanergy. In other words, Tesla will have to convince NARI, Sinopec and Hanergy to cooperate in finding a solution for Tesla's fuel problem. Moreover, the state-owned power grids may not be up to the task of producing the needed electricity to the network and require further investment and development.

Assuming that Musk could seal multiple deals with his various Chinese partners for the charging stations, he'll also need to win the support of countless government officials at the city, county and provincial levels. Tesla needs to convince the government at all tiers to facilitate the construction of charging stations in each of their territories he hopes to sell his cars.

Musk, in fact, is also busy trying to develop solar energy as another source of electricity, but then a new problem arises – a high cost would become a key concern.

Follow me on Twitter and on Forbes.

Despite the Dow's Fall, a Few Stocks Still Posted Gains

After three consecutive days of setting new all-time highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) slid lower today, closing short of yesterday's high by 32 points, or 0.21%, and now rests at 15,451. Following suit, the other two major indexes also moved lower today. as the S&P 500 lost the most, with 0.37%, and the Nasdaq shed 0.25%.

The declines came on a day when two of the Dow's components released earnings before the markets opened: Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola. Neither company impressed investors, as Coke fell 1.9%, while Johnson & Johnson closed flat for the session. We might have expected the strong homebuilder sentiment report or the positive industrial production numbers to have moved markets upward in spite of the drop in these stocks, but it was not to be today.

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There were a few shining stars within the Dow, however. The biggest winner on the index today was Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) , whose shares rose 1.29%. The company is scheduled to release quarterly earnings tomorrow, and investors may have been trying to jump in before tomorrow's release. My colleague Dan Caplinger noted earlier today the release will be a big one for the company, as it will be a great opportunity for investors to learn about new CEO Brian Krzanich's strategic vision for the company.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) rose 0.88% after the release of the strong homebuilder confidence and industrial production numbers, the latter of which takes into account not only output from U.S. factories but also from mines and utility companies. And since Caterpillar is a big player in the mining equipment field, investors surely saw this report as good news for the company.

Another of the Dow's big winners was AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , which saw shares rise 0.93% today. The likely catalyst was a Wall Street Journal indicating that the wireless company will soon offer a plan for customers to upgrade their cell phones on a more frequent basis. This move may be an attempt to stop customers from leaving the No. 2 wireless carrier for T-Mobile, which recently announced a similar plan.  

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Netflix Wants to Stretch Its Lead Against Amazon With This Recent Move

Shares of online streaming maven Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  )  were up significantly today (about 7% as of the end of the trading day) as yesterday after the bell the company reported both better-than-expected earnings as well as a planned price increase that should help Netflix fight to maintain its lead against Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) .

Today's move still doesn't erase some of the recent losses that Netflix shares have suffered. Shares remain down roughly 10% over the last month and still sit below their all-time high of $454.88 from the beginning of March. However, with its shares still up well over 400% from early 2012 and considering the strength of yesterday's report, it's safe to say that times are good for Netflix and its shareholders.

Netflix by the numbers
In virtually every sense, the first quarter of 2014 was an unabashed success for Netflix.

Source: Netflix.

Netflix's revenue growth remains robust, increasing 36.5% during the quarter, and the inherent operating leverage in Netflix's model translated to even better bottom-line results for it. All told, Netflix's net income ballooned from $3 million in last year's Q1 to $53 million in this year's Q1.

Subscriber growth also remains brisk on both the domestic and international fronts for Netflix. For the quarter, Netflix managed to add 2.25 million net subscribers to its U.S. streaming business, ending the period with a grand total of 35.7 million domestic streaming members. International members increased by 1.75 million, lifting Netflix's international subscriber base to 12.7 million.

Going forward, Netflix guided that it expects continued execution on both the domestic and international fronts, although some seasonality in the coming months could lead to slowing subscriber growth in the short-term. Nevertheless, the main theme remains unchanged: Netflix is clicking on all cylinders.

And in the same vein, Netflix also announced one major move that should help it stave off increased competition from other streaming services, like Amazon's Prime.

Netflix ups the ante against Amazon
Netflix also took some time to humble-brag its superiority to other TV-based networks and streaming competitors. Netflix specifically cited a Morgan Stanley research report ranking it as second behind HBO's original programming, with about 17% of respondents identifying Netflix as the best service for original content. For comparison's sake, Amazon didn't crack the top 6, even as Amazon notches original content wins of its own with series like Alpha House.

And apparently Netflix plans to continue to press its advantage over other streaming rivals like Amazon by increasing prices for new streaming subscribers by $1 to $2 depending on geographic region. This will help Netflix greenlight more original content, as well as acquire new, exclusive rights to other third-party content, both of which should help pull new streaming subscribers toward Netflix and away from Amazon Prime's admittedly compelling value proposition.

In fact, Netflix specifically noted that with streaming competitors following its lead in original content, plus the ramp-up from traditional networks in response, competition for the kind of quality creative talent required to bring flagship series to market has never been higher. Netflix hopes that this price increase will help keep it ahead of the pack.

Up, up, and away
Netflix said it believes it can reach an eventual subscriber base between 60 million and 90 million U.S. subscribers in the years ahead, so there's plenty of growth on the horizon for the streaming pioneer.

Netflix's shares are by no means cheap, as they currently trade at roughly 130 times its last 12 months' earnings. However, Netflix has continued to prove that it is indeed a truly special company with the rare mix of talent, vision, and execution required to dominate a market with its recent earnings release, and that's certainly worth investors' attention.

Your cable company is scared, but you can get rich
You know cable's going away. But do you know how to profit? There's $2.2 trillion out there to be had. Currently, cable grabs a big piece of it. That won't last. And when cable falters, three companies are poised to benefit. Click here for their names. Hint: They're not Netflix, Google, and Apple. 

 

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's secret gastric band surgery in�February�has stolen front-page headlines today. His weight is often the target of comedic fodder, but it was a legitimate concern surrounding his overall health.

This news has gotten the political media stirring that the governor is planning a White House run in 2016, but here at the Fool we're more concerned with investing than with politics. With more than 200,000 stomach-shrinking procedures performed per year, is there money to be made for investors?

In this video, Motley Fool health-care analyst David Williamson takes a closer look at the companies and highlights why this may be no slam-dunk for investors.

What could be a slam-dunk for investors is a stock working to eradicate the macro trend Warren Buffett called "the tapeworm that's eating at American competitiveness." Find out what Buffett was referring to in our free report: "What's Really Eating at America's Competitiveness." Just click here for free, immediate access.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: ATP Oil And Gas Corp (AOB)

ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, incorporated in 1991, is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had estimated net proved reserves of 118.9 Million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe), of which approximately 75.9 MMboe (64%) were in the Gulf of Mexico and 42.9 MMBoe (36%) were in the North Sea. The reserves consisted of 78.6 Million barrels (MMBbls) of oil (66%) and 241.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas (34%). Its proved reserves in the deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico account for 62% of the Company�� total proved reserves and its proved reserves on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf account for 2% of its total proved reserves. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired three licenses in the Mediterranean Sea covering potential natural gas resources in the deepwater off the coast of Israel (East Mediterranean). On August 17, 2012, ATP Oil And Gas Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Company�� natural gas reserves are split between the Gulf of Mexico (57%) and the North Sea (43%). Of its total proved reserves, 8.3 MMBoe (7%) were producing, 19.0 MMBoe (16%) were developed and not producing and 91.6 MMBoe (77%) were undeveloped. The Company�� average working interest in its properties at December 31, 2011, was approximately 81%. The Company operates 92% of its platforms. At December 31, 2011, in the Gulf of Mexico, it owned leasehold and other interests in 38 offshore blocks and 49 wells, including 23 subsea wells. The Company operates 43 (88%) of these wells, including 100% of the subsea wells. In the North Sea, it also had interests in 13 blocks and two Company-operated subsea wells. As of March 15, 2011, the Company owned an interest in 13 platforms, including two floating production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, the ATP Titan at its Telemark Hub and the ATP Innovator at its Gomez Hub. It operates the ATP Innovator and the ATP Titan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Most of the Chinese companies that I purchased now reside on the Pink Sheets or have disappeared altogether, but at one time they all traded on major US exchanges. One of them (AOB), even received the honor of ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in 2007, and people say that crime does not pay.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: Monarch Casino & Resort Inc (MCRI)

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (Monarch), incorporated in 1993, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Road Motor Inn, Inc. (Golden Road), owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa(the Atlantis), a hotel/casino facility in Reno, Nevada. Monarch�� other wholly owned subsidiaries, High Desert Sunshine, Inc. (High Desert) and Golden North, Inc. (Golden North), each own separate parcels of land located adjacent to the Atlantis. The Company owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, which is located approximately three miles south of downtown in the area of Reno, Nevada. The Atlantis features approximately 61,000 square feet of casino space; a hotel with 824 guest rooms and suites; ten food outlets; an enclosed year-round pool with waterfall; an outdoor pool; a health spa; two retail outlets offering clothing and resort gift shop merchandise; a full service salon for men and women; an 8,000 square-foot family entertainment center; and approximately 52,000 square feet of banquet, convention and meeting room space. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired 1.5 acre parcel of developable land contiguous to the Riviera Black Hawk Casino.

In April 2012, it acquired Riviera Black Hawk, Inc.

The Atlantis Casino offers approximately 1,450 slot and video poker machines; approximately 39 table games, including blackjack, craps, roulette and others; a race and sports book; keno and a poker room. The Atlantis includes three contiguous high-rise hotel towers with 824 rooms and suites. The Atlantis includes three contiguous high-rise hotel towers with a total of 824 rooms and suites. The first of the three hotel towers contains 160 rooms and suites in 13 stories. The 19-story second hotel tower contains 278 rooms and suites. The third tower contains 386 rooms and suites in 28 stories.

The Atlantis hotel rooms feature designs and furnishings consistent with the Northern Nevada market, as well as nine-foot ceilings (most standard hotel rooms have eig! ht-foot ceilings), which create an open and spacious feel. The third hotel tower features a four-story waterfall with an adjacent year-round swimming pool in a climate controlled, five-story glass enclosure, which shares an outdoor third floor pool deck with a seasonal outdoor swimming pool and year round whirlpool. A full-service salon (the Salon at Atlantis) overlooks the third floor sundeck and outdoor seasonal swimming pool and offers salon-grade products and treatments for hair, nails, skincare and body services for both men and women. A health spa is located adjacent to the swimming areas, which offers treatments and amenities. The hotel rooms on the spa floor are designated as spa rooms and feature decor that is themed consistent with the spa. Certain spa treatments are also available in spa floor hotel rooms. The hotel also features glass elevators rising the full 19 and 28 stories, of the respective towers providing views of the Reno area and the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The Atlantis has eight restaurants, two gourmet coffee bars and one snack bar. It includes 160-seat Atlantis Steakhouse gourmet restaurant; the 200-seat upscale Bistro Napa featuring a centrally located wine cellar; the Oyster Bar restaurant in the Sky Terrace offering fresh seafood, soups and bisques made to order; the Sushi Bar, also in the Sky Terrace, offering a variety of fresh raw and cooked sushi specialties, including all-you-can-eat lunch and dinner selections. The Oyster Bar and Sushi Bar can accommodate up to 139 guests; The 178-seat 24-hour Purple Parrot coffee shop; the 122-seat Cafe Alfresco restaurant serving a full menu, pizzas prepared in a wood-fired, brick oven and a variety of gelato deserts; the 170-seat Manhattan Deli restaurant specializing in piled-high sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts; two gourmet coffee bars, offering specialty coffee drinks, pastries and desserts made fresh daily in the Atlantis bakery; a snack bar and soda fountain serving ice cream and arcade-style refreshmen! ts.

The Sky Terrace is a structure with a diamond-shaped, blue glass body suspended approximately 55 feet, and spanning 160 feet across, South Virginia Street. The Sky Terrace connects the Atlantis with additional parking on its 16-acre site across South Virginia Street from the Atlantis. The structure rests at each end on two 100-foot tall Grecian columns with no intermediate support pillars. The interior of the Sky Terrace contains the Oyster Bar, the Sushi Bar, a video poker bar, banks of slot machines and a lounge area with oversized leather sofas and chairs.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Monarch Casino & Resort (MCRI) fell 15% to $18.71 after revenue missed forecasts today.

  Stamps.com (STMP) fell 6.2% today ahead of its earnings results. It beat earnings after the close today.

• [By Vanina Egea] ong>Risks and Valuation

  Although the Chinese government will maintain its gambling restrictions in the mainland over the next decade, Sand Corp�� market share and leverage in fixed costs will continue to riel in strong revenue growth from this region. Fiscal 2013 marked a 24.80% revenue increase ($13.8 billion) and operating margins continue to expand at the same pace. Despite the inherent risk of an economic slowdown in Asia or a recession in the U.S., which could put a halt to leisure spending, the company is well prepared to balance out any short-term losses. The casino operator�� EBITDA growth of 65.30%, for example, is an impressive result when compared to the industry�� average of 4.90%.

  Looking forward, earnings per share are expected to continue their fast-paced upward trend, having jumped from $1.56 in 2011 to $2.79 at the end of fiscal 2013. The 21.6% return on equity, as well as 1.80% dividend yield should also be attractive to shareholders and future investors. Although Las Vegas Sand Corp is currently trading at a 24% price premium relative to the industry average of 22.60x trailing earnings, I feel very bullish about this firm�� long term profitability, given its strong market position in Asia.

  Disclosure: Vanina Egea holds no position in any stocks mentioned.

  
  Also check out: Andreas Halvorsen Undervalued Stocks Andreas Halvorsen Top Growth Companies Andreas Halvorsen High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Andreas Halvorsen keeps buying
  About the author:Vanina EgeaA fundamental analyst at Lone Tree Analytics

  Visit Vanina Egea's Website

5 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.(PNK)

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns, develops, and operates casinos, and related hospitality and entertainment facilities in the United States. It operates casinos, such as L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana; River City Casino and Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri; Boomtown New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana; Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana; Boomtown Bossier City in Bossier City, Louisiana; and Boomtown Reno in Reno, Nevada. The company also operates River Downs racetrack in southeast Cincinnati, Ohio. As of May 26, 2011, it operated seven casinos and one racetrack. The company was formerly known as Hollywood Park, Inc. and changed its name to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. in February 2000. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Time to make the switch
  If I could name a sector that I'd certainly tread lightly around considering that consumers are tightening their wallets, it would be the casino sector. Casino companies rely on loose wallets and vacations to drive profits. This is why I feel it could be the time to say goodbye to casino and race track operator Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK  ) near its 52-week high.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: Statoil ASA (STO)

Statoil ASA (Statoil), incorporated on September 18, 1972, is an integrated energy company primarily engaged in oil and gas exploration and production activities. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had business operations in 41 countries and territories. Effective from January 1, 2011, the Company�� segments were Development and Production Norway; Development and Production International; Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy; Fuel & Retail, Other. As of 31 December 2011, the Company had proved reserves of 2,276 million barrels (mmbbl) and 3,150 billion cubic meters (bcm) (equivalent to 17,681 trillion cubic feet (tcf)) of natural gas, corresponding to aggregate proved reserves of 5,426 mmboe. In December 2011, the Company acquired Brigham Exploration Company. On April 14, 2011, Statoil's formation of a joint venture and sale of 40% of the Peregrino field off the coast of Brazil to the Sinochem Group was closed. With effect from January 2011, Statoil formed a joint venture with PTTEP of Thailand in its oil sands business and, as part of that transaction, sold PTTEP a 40% interest in the leases in Alberta, Canada. Statoil retains 60% ownership and operatorship of the oil sands project. In June 2012, the Company divested its 54% interest in Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA to Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Development and Production Norway

Development and Production Norway (DPN) consists of the Company�� field development and operational activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Development and Production Norway is the operator of 44 developed fields on the NCS. Statoil's equity and entitlement production on the NCS was 1.316 mmboe per day in 2011, which was about 71% of Statoil's total production. Acting as operator, DPN is responsible for approximately 72% of all oil and gas production on the NCS. In 2011, its average daily production of oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) on the NCS was 693 mboe, while its average daily gas production on the NCS was 99.1 mmcm (3.5 b! illion cubic feet (bcf)). The Company has an ownership interests in exploration acreage throughout the licensed parts of the NCS, both within and outside its production areas. It participates in 227 licenses on the NCS and is the operator for 171 of them. As of 31 December 2011, Statoil had a total of 1,369 mmbbl of proved oil reserves and 444 bcm (15.7 tcf) of proved natural gas reserves on the NCS. Total entitlement liquids and gas production in 2011 amounted to 1,316 mmboe per day.

Statoil's NCS portfolio consists of licenses in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. It has organized its production operations into four business clusters: Operations South, Operations North Sea West, Operations North Sea East and Operations North. The Operations South and Operations North Sea West and East clusters cover its licenses in the North Sea. Operations North covers the Company�� licenses in the Norwegian Sea and in the Barents Sea, while partner-operated fields cover the entire NCS and are included internally in the Operations South business cluster. During 2011, it two Statoil-operated oil discoveries: the Aldous discovery (PL265) in the North Sea and the Skrugard discovery (PL532) in the Barents Sea. The Aldous Major South discovery in PL265 on the Utsira Height in the Sleipner area is situated 140 kilometers west of Stavanger and 35 kilometers south of the Grane field. The Skrugard discovery is located about 250 kilometers off the coast from the Melkoya LNG plant in Hammerfest.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� fields under development included the Gudrun, Valemon, Visund South, Hyme, Stjerne, Vigdis North-East, Skuld, Vilje South, Skarv, and Marulk. In 2011, the Company�� total entitlement oil and NGL production in Norway was 252 mmbbl, and gas production was 36.2 bcm (1,287 bcf). The main producing fields in the Operations South area are Statfjord, Snorre, Tordis, Vigdis, Sleipner and partner-operated fields. Operations North Sea East is a gas area tha! t also co! ntains quantities of oil. The area includes the Troll, Fram, Vega, Oseberg and Tune fields. The Company�� producing fields in the Operations North area are Asgard, Mikkel, Yttergryta, Heidrun, Kristin, Tyrihans, Norne, Urd, Alve, Njord, Snohvit and Morvin.

Development and Production International

Development and Production International (DPI) is responsible for the development and production of oil and gas outside the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). In 2011, the segment was engaged in production in 12 countries: Canada, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, Nigeria, Iran, Algeria, Libya, Azerbaijan, Russia and the United Kingdom. In 2011, DPI produced 28.9% of Statoil's total equity production of oil and gas. Statoil has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya and Iran) and Europe and Asia (the Faeroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). The main sanctioned development projects in which DPI is involved are in the United States, Angola and Canada. The Brigham Exploration Company acquisition added production of approximately 21 mboe per day (as of December) to Statoil's production and gave access to 1,500 square kilometers (375,000 acres) in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin.

The Company has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya and Iran), and Europe and Asia (the Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). It completed 16 wells in 2011. Five were announced as discoveries: the Mukuvo and Lira discoveries in Angola, the Gavea and Peregrino South discovery in Brazil and the Logan discovery in Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Statoil acquired in! terests i! n six new licenses in Indonesia in 2011. Statoil has activities in the United States, with approximately 300 exploration leases in the GoM and 66 in Alaska. It is also an operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Statoil is operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland (11,138 square kilometers). It has exploration licenses in Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania. The Company has licenses in Libya, Iran, Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. In 2011, Statoil's petroleum production outside Norway amounted to an average of 334 mboe per day of entitlement production and 534 mboe per day of equity production.

The Company has activities in the United States Gulf of Mexico, the Appalachian region, south-west Texas, the Williston Basin, off the East Coast of Canada and in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. It also has a representative office in Mexico City. Offshore, the Company has production interests in Hibernia and Terra Nova, and interests in two development projects. Its development and production activities in South America and sub-Saharan Africa comprise the Peregrino operatorship in Brazil, the Petrocedeno project in Venezuela, the Agbami offshore field in Nigeria and four Angolan offshore blocks. Statoil's development and production in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, primarily encompassed Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Iran and Iraq. The Company�� Development and Production in Europe and Asia primarily comprises Azerbaijan, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy (MPR) is responsible for the transportation, processing, manufacturing, marketing and trading of crude oil, natural gas, liquids and refined products, and for developing business opportunities in renewables. It runs two refineries, two gas processing plants, one methanol plant and three crude! oil term! inals. MPR is also responsible for marketing gas supplies originating from the Norwegian state's direct financial interest (SDFI). In total, it is responsible for marketing approximately 80% of all Norwegian gas exports. In 2011, Statoil sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. The Natural Gas business cluster is responsible for Statoil's marketing and trading of natural gas worldwide, for power and emissions trading and for overall gas supply planning. In 2011, the Company sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the NCS on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. In addition, it sold 5.5 bcm (0.2 tcf) of gas originating from its international positions, mainly in Azerbaijan and the United States, of which 2.7 bcm (0.1 tcf) was entitlement gas. As technical service provider (TSP), Statoil is responsible for the operation, maintenance and further development of the Karsto gas processing plant on behalf of the operator Gassco.

Statoil is the seller of crude oil, operating from sales offices in Stavanger, Oslo, London, Singapore, Stamford and Calgary and selling and trading crude oil, condensate, NGL and refined products. Statoil holds the lease for the South Riding Point crude oil terminal in the Bahamas, which includes, oil storage as well as loading and unloading facilities. It also operates the Mongstad terminal and has shared ownership with Petoro. The Company is a majority owner (79%) and operator of the Mongstad ref! inery in ! Norway, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. It is the sole owner and operator of the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 118,000 barrels per day. In addition, it has rights to 10% of production capacity at the Shell-operated refinery in Pernis in the Netherlands, which has a crude oil distillation capacity of 400,000 barrels per day. The Company�� methanol operations consist of an 81.7% interest in the gas-based methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway, which has a design capacity of 0.95 million tons per year. It also operates the Oseberg Transportation System (36.2% interest), including the Sture crude oil terminal.

Technology, Projects and Drilling

Technology, Projects and Drilling (TPD) is responsible, as a global service provider to Statoil, for delivering projects and wells and for providing support through global expertise, standards and procurement. TPD is also responsible developing and implementing new technological solutions. Statoil's research and development portfolio is organized in seven programs covering the upstream building blocks. The research and development organization operates and develops laboratories and test facilities and has an academia program that addresses cooperation with universities and research institutes.

Global Strategy and Business Development

Global Strategy and Business Development (GSB) was established in 2011, with its main office in London. GSB sets the direction for Statoil and identifies, develops and delivers opportunities for global growth.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe gives a run down of the results of the most recent auction. Some companies spent a lot more than others, and one company -- BP (NYSE: BP  ) -- was peculiarly absent from the event. Also, Tyler explains why Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) and its joint venture partner Samson Oil & Gas were willing to fork over almost $82 million for one block in the Walker Ridge section of the Gulf.

• [By Rich Smith]

  General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) is helping Norway's Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO  ) go green -- and make some green in the process.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Now more than ever, a comfortable retirement depends on secure, stable investments. Unfortunately, the right stocks for retirement won't just fall into your lap. As part of an ongoing series, I'm looking today at 10 measures to show whether Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) makes a great retirement-oriented stock.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Several of these countries already have significant control over prices in certain regions of the world. For example, both Gazprom and Norway's Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) are responsible for 40% of Europe's natural gas market, all of which is sold on those lucrative oil-indexed contracts.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: (CG)

The Carlyle Group is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led buyouts, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings. The firm typically invests in agriculture, aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer, retail, industrial, infrastructure, energy, power, healthcare, software, technology, real estate, financial services, transportation, business services, telecommunications, and media sectors. Within the industrial sector, the firm invests in manufacturing, building products, packaging, chemicals, metals and mining, forestry and paper products, and industrial consumables and services. In consumer and retail sectors, it invests in food and beverage, retail, restaurants, consumer products, consumer services, personal care products, direct marketing, and education. W ithin aerospace, defense, business services, and government services sectors, it seeks to invest in defense electronics, manufacturing and services, government contracting and services, information technology, distribution companies. In telecommunication and media sectors, it invests in cable TV, directories, publishing, entertainment and content delivery services, wireless infrastructure/services, fixed line networks, satellite services, broadband and Internet, and infrastructure. The firm seeks to hold its investments for four to six years. In the healthcare sector, it invests in healthcare services, outsourcing services, companies running clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies , managed care, pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical related services, healthcare IT, medical, products, and devices. It seeks to invest in companies based in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South America. The firm seeks to invest in food, financial, and healthcare industries in Western China. In the real estate! sector, the firm seeks to invest in Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States with a target on Florida and Atlanta. It typically invests between $5 million and $50 million for venture investments and between $50 million and $1 billion for buyouts. It typically holds its investments for three to five years. Within automotive and transportation sectors, the firm seeks to hold its investments in for four to six years. The firm originates, structures, and acts as lead equity investor in the transactions. The Carlyle Group was founded in 1987 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia with additional offices across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG  ) -- up 775%
  Specialty investment firm Carlyle Group, which focuses on leveraged buyouts, equity investments, and leveraged financings, just to name a few of its services, was the big winner for income investors with an announced payout of $1.40, up 775% from its previous payout of $0.16 per share.

• [By Tess Stynes]

  Asset management firm The Carlyle Group LP(CG) agreed to invest $200 million over three years to fund an oil-and-gas exploration companies offshore drilling programs in New Zealand and the Union of the Comoros.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: Essential Innovations Technology Corp (ESIV)

Essential Innovations Technology Corp., incorporated on April 4, 2001, is a development-stage company, focused towards research and development, commercialization and market entry strategies for the intellectual property that it has acquired in regards to multiple green and environmental technology applications such as fluid heating, electricity generation and water treatment/purification.

The Company will focus its activities on development and commercialization of two primary technologies. The first technology is a method for the design of equipment used in the heating of a variety of fluids such as oil, water (to steam). The second technology is a method for the combined mechanical heating and transport of fluids. As of October 31, 2011, the Company had no operations. As of October 31, 2011, the Company had no revenue.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap green stocks Essential Innovations Technology Corp (OTCBB: ESIV), Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW) and Kleangas Energy Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS: KGET) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters ��either because they were sinking, because of paid promotions or a combination of both. However, there aren�� many green stocks out there that have actually produced some green for investors in the form of profits. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about all three green small cap stocks to help you decide whether any have the potential for long-term success:

  Essential Innovations Technology Corp (OTCBB: ESIV) Announces New Distribution Agreements

  Small cap Essential Innovations Technology Corp aims to provide eco-friendly lifestyle enhancement solutions for the betterment of energy, water, air and health as the company holds the exclusive global manufacturing, distribution and applications rights to the ��ximius Technologies - Extraordinary solutions for an ever-changing World.' On Friday, Essential Innovations Technology Corp sank 22.79% to $0.0525 for a market cap of $909,953 plus ESIV is up 4,275% over the past year and up 50% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS)

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Denmark-based company active within the wind power industry. The Company operates within four business areas: Finance, Sales, Manufacturing & Global Sourcing, and Technology & Service Solutions. The Finance business area focuses on business support services. The Sales business area is divided into six geographical units: Americas, Asia Pacific & China, Central Europe, Mediterranean, Northern Europe and Offshore. The Manufacturing & Global Sourcing business area is engaged in the manufacturing of assembly, blades, components, controls and generators. The Technology & Service Solutions business area is responsible for the engineering solutions, platform and product management, as well as service engineering, among others. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated globally through a network of subsidiaries located in Denmark, Germany, Italy, China, the United States, Spain, Estonia, Sweden and Norway. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Pato Kehoe]

  Within the power infrastructure segment, GE is especially keen on advancing in clean-energy products, such as gas and wind turbines. Wind turbines have contributed significantly to generating a solid competitive advantage, even allowing the firm to surpass the Danish industry giant Vestas Wind Systems (VWS), thanks to superior customer care and manufacturing expertise. Hence, the road seems paved for continued success in this new industry sector, which is bound to continue growing as clean energy becomes more popular.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) surged 11 percent to 66.30 kroner, its highest price since February 2012. Credit Suisse Group AG raised the world�� biggest wind-turbine maker to neutral from underperform, citing benefits from cost cuts.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: BancorpSouth Inc (BXS)

BancorpSouth, Inc., incorporated on February 17, 1982, is a financial holding company. Through its principal bank subsidiary, BancorpSouth Bank (the Bank), the Company conducts commercial banking and financial services operations in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri and Illinois. As of December 31, 2012, the Company and its subsidiaries had total deposits of $11.1 billion. The Bank conducts a general commercial banking, trust and insurance business through 284 offices in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Missouri and Illinois. The Bank and its subsidiaries provide a range of financial services to individuals and small-to-medium size businesses. On July 2, 2012, the Company purchased certain assets of The Securance Group, Inc.

The Bank operates investment services and insurance agency subsidiaries, which engage in investment brokerage services and sales of other insurance products. The Bank�� trust department offers a range of services, including personal trust and estate services, certain employee benefit accounts and plans, including individual retirement accounts, and limited corporate trust functions.

Lending Activities

The Bank�� lending activities include both commercial and consumer loans. The Bank offers a range of commercial loan services including term loans, lines of credit, equipment and receivable financing and agricultural loans. A range of short-to-medium term commercial loans, both secured and unsecured, are made available to businesses for working capital (including inventory and receivables), business expansion (including acquisition and development of real estate and improvements), and the purchase of equipment and machinery. The Bank also makes construction loans to real estate developers for the acquisition, development and construction of residential subdivisions.

The Bank�� lending activities consists of the origination of fixed and adjustable! rate residential mortgage loans secured by owner-occupied property located in the Bank�� primary market areas. In addition, the Bank offers construction loans, second mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit. The Bank finances the construction of individual, owner-occupied houses on the basis of written underwriting and construction loan management guidelines.

The Bank makes residential construction loans to individuals who intend to erect owner-occupied housing on a purchased parcel of real estate. The Bank sells its mortgage loans with terms of 15 years or more in the secondary market and either retains or releases the right to service those loans. Non-residential consumer loans made by the Bank include loans for automobiles, recreation vehicles, boats, personal (secured and unsecured) and deposit account secured loans. The Bank also issues credit cards.

Investment Activities

As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� held-to-maturity and available-for-sale securities included the United States Government agency securities, taxable obligations of states and political subdivisions, tax-exempt obligations of states and political subdivisions, government agency issued residential mortgage-backed securities, government agency issued commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and other securities. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� available-for-sale securities totaled $ 2.4 billion. Investments in tax-exempt securities totaled $455.1 million as of December 31, 2012.

Source of Funds

Deposits originating within the communities served by the Bank are the primary source of funding. As of December 31, 2012, the Company and its subsidiaries had total deposits of $ 11.1 million. The Bank offered deposits, such as noninterest bearing demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, savings deposits and other time deposits. The Company had federal funds purchased and securities sold under agreement to repurc! hase of $! 414.6 million as of December 31, 2012.

Subsidiary Activities

The Bank�� insurance service subsidiary serves as an agent in the sale of title insurance, commercial lines of insurance and a full line of property and casualty, life, health and employee benefits products and services and operates in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and Illinois. The Bank�� investment services subsidiary provides brokerage, investment advisory and asset management services and operates in certain communities in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Todd Campbell]

  Now, thanks to rebounding home prices, those same banks are back in growth mode again, suggesting an investment opportunity in market share leaders, such as BancorpSouth, Inc. (BXS).

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: Delaware Investments Dividend & Income Fund Inc. (DDF)

Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund, Inc. is a close-ended balanced mutual fund launched by Delaware Management Holdings, Inc. It is managed by Delaware Management Business Trust. The fund invests in the public equity and fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest 65 percent of its corpus in stocks and 35% in fixed income securities. The fund primarily invests in value stocks of large cap companies. It also invests in convertible securities, preferred stocks, other equity-related securities, and real estate investment trusts. For the fixed income component of the fund�s portfolio the fund invests in high yield corporate bonds rated BB or lower in terms of quality. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P 500 Index. Delaware Investments Dividend and Income Fund, Inc. was formed on March 25, 1993 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2015: MSCI Inc (MSCI)

MSCI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides a suite of performance, risk management, and corporate governance products and services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Performance and Risk, and Governance. The Performance and Risk segment offers investment decision support tools, including equity indices, real estate indices and benchmarks, portfolio risk and performance analytics, and credit analytics, as well as environmental, social, and governance products. Its products are used in various investment processes, including portfolio construction and rebalancing, performance benchmarking and attribution, risk management and analysis, regulatory and client reporting, index-linked investment product creation, asset allocation, social responsibility assessment, environmental stewardship, investment manager selection, and investment research. The Governance segment provides corporate governance products and services, and specialized financial research and analysis services to institutional investors and corporations. It facilitates the voting of proxies by institutional investors and provides in-depth research and analysis to help inform voting decisions and identify issuer-specific risk; and offers global equity security coverage, and integrated products and services, including proxy voting, policy creation, research, vote recommendations, vote execution, post-vote disclosure, and reporting and analytical tools. This segment also provides class action monitoring and claims filing services to aid institutional investors in the recovery of funds from securities class action settlements. The company offers its products and services under the MSCI, MSCI ESG, Barra, RiskMetrics, ISS, FEA, IPD, and CFRA brands. Its clients include asset owners, institutional and retail asset managers, and financial intermediaries. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) seems to have halted its slide.� The index bottomed out year-to-date on February 3, when it was down 11.2 percent. Since then, it has gained 1.5 percent, but bargains in the emerging markets still abound.
  
  As I discussed in �� Plan, Not a Panic��two weeks ago, emerging markets are in much better economic shape today than they were even just a few years ago, much less during the currency crisis that peaked in 1998. Foreign exchange reserves are generally much more robust, budget deficits are narrower if they exist at all and, so far at least, the full-blown currency war that many were predicting last year isn�� likely to breakout.
  
  With rationality finally setting in, this is a terrific time to do a little bargain hunting in the emerging markets.
  
  The most obvious play here is the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index itself. Covering China (18.8 percent of assets), South Korea (16 percent), Taiwan (12 percent) and Brazil (10.2 percent) with smaller positions spanning Asia and Europe, the fund is most exposed to any shift in sentiment.
  
  The fund is currently trading at just 10.2 times forward one-year earnings, well below its average of about 18 times over the past two decades. On a price-to-sales basis it is even more attractive valued at just 1.03 times; the last time the index was this cheap on a sales basis was early 2009.
  
  So while there are always dangers in trying to call a bottom to any market move, valuations alone are attractive enough to start pulling bargain hunters back in.
  
  A broadly diversified play on an emerging market turnaround, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a great buy up to 45, which leaves plenty of room to run back to the average.
  
  For those who can tolerate a bit more risk, you can also drill down and make more country-specific bets.
  
  At this point my favorite would be iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSE: EWY).
  
  Sout

Noodles & Company's Overcooked IPO

The following video is from Monday's Investor Beat, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Jason Moser and Matt Argersinger dissect the hardest-hitting investing stories of the day.

Investors saying the stock market has gotten out of control have some more fodder at their disposal. Just two days after its IPO, shares of Noodles & Company have more than doubled. In our lead story, Jason and Matt discuss whether this stock is the next Chipotle or the next sign of the apocalypse.

Also, our analysts discuss why InterDigital, Zynga, Facebook, and Apple made moves on today's market and why they'll be watching shares of Constellation Brands and Intuit very closely over the coming week.

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It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

Is Now a Great Time to Buy Abbott Laboratories Stock?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT  ) stock is down almost 8% since the end of May. Is now a good time to buy? Let's take a look.

Anatomy of a pullback
There's no question that Abbott started 2013 with a bang. The year began with the spinoff of AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV  ) . By the latter part of May, shares were up more than 20%. Then came the slide.

ABT data by YCharts

What happened? Although the company announced first-quarter results just days before the decline, those results weren't at fault. Abbott reported solid if not spectacular numbers for the period.

Instead, a primary culprit in this case appears to be the drag of the overall market. The S&P 500 index is down 4% since late May. Abbott's drop has been larger, but there haven't been any negatives specific to the company that appear to have contributed to the decline.

Relatively speaking
We could look at several aspects of Abbott Laboratories stock and conclude that now is definitely a great time to buy. The trailing price-to-earnings multiple of below 11 seems to be attractive. Abbott boasts a return on equity of more than 25%, a number nearly any company would be happy to claim.

It might be beneficial to examine things a little more closely, though. That P/E multiple just shy of 11 actually is near the highest level over the past five years. And most of those five years included the growth engine of Humira, which now solely belongs to AbbVie and not Abbott.

Abbott's dividend yield isn't nearly as appealing as its spin-off, either. AbbVie sports a forward yield of 3.7%. Abbott Laboratories stock yields only 1.5%.

The one company that probably compares best with Abbott in terms of business models also looks like a more compelling buy. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  ) is up nearly 17% year to date -- much better performance than Abbott Labs. J&J's dividend yield of 3.1% also ranks higher.

On the other hand, J&J's stock is valued more highly than Abbott's -- with a trailing P/E of nearly 23. J&J also doesn't stack up as well on another important metric. Its return on equity of 15.76% stands well below that of Abbott.

Foolish take
My view not long ago was that Abbott was a decent stock pick. I haven't changed that opinion.

The company's nutrition products group continues to perform well. Emerging markets, in particular, hold a lot of promise. If Abbott could get its established pharmaceuticals and medical-devices segments firing on all cylinders, it should really do well.

The recent pullback presents a positive in that Abbott Laboratories stock is even more attractively valued. However, because much of the decline is due to the overall market climate, continued macro concerns could bring shares down even more.

Over the long run, though, I like Abbott. Sure, there are health-care stocks that probably present better opportunities. But is now a good time to buy Abbott Laboratories stock? This Fool says "yes."

Abbott Labs has changed forever after losing its branded pharmaceutical business to a spinoff. If you're a current investor, or might be buying shares soon, make sure you truly understand the stock by reading The Motley Fool's comprehensive premium report on Abbott Labs. The report outlines all of the must-know opportunities and risks, along with a full year of analyst updates to keep you up to speed. Best of all, you can claim this report today by clicking here now.

Why Are So Many Boomers Working Longer?

Market watchers — or at least those pundits who are required to provide a reason for why the markets go up or down on a given day — love to speculate beforehand on the monthly employment figures, and then react quickly when the Department of Labor releases them. Those pundits, and their audiences, might be better served by looking at longer ranges of data on employment, such as the recently released Labor-force Participation Rates of the Population Ages 55 and Older, 2013, by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

That report was written by EBRI’s Craig Copeland and considers data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with EBRI’s own Retirement Confidence Survey. It concludes that labor force participation rates have increased for older Americans from the 1990s to the present, while the participation rate has fallen for younger Americans. That raises the question of why older Americans are working longer, and whether, as has been surmised, older Americans are “taking” jobs from younger Americans. As Copeland writes, “it appears either that older workers filled the void left by younger workers’ lower participation, or that higher older-worker participation limited the opportunities for younger workers or discouraged them from participating in the labor force.”

Before getting into that issue, some definitions are in order. First, the "labor force participation rate" measures those individuals in a specific age group who are “working or actively pursuing work,” which Copeland points out “is different from the share of those actually working who fall into a specific category.”

Second, let’s define the scope of the issue. Copeland says that the percentage of civilian, noninstitutionalized Americans near or at retirement age (age 55 or older) in the labor force increased from 29.4% in 1993 to 40.3% in 2013. In the report’s summary, Copeland writes:

To return to the question of whether older people are "crowding out" younger people from jobs, it’s beyond the scope of the EBRI research to answer, but it turns out it has already been definitively addressed by researchers at Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. The answer is no.

A 2012 paper by Alicia Munnell and April Yanyuan Wu, Are Aging Baby Boomers Squeezing Young Workers Out of Jobs?, is a serious academic work, discussing the “lump of labor” theory (the original "crowding out" theory from the mid-19th century), reviewing and analyzing the data, testing the theory, including a separate test “for the Great Recession” and exploring the "causal relationship between the labor force activity of the old and the young.” The conclusion? “This horse has been beaten to death. An exhaustive search found no evidence to support the lump of labor theory in the United States. In fact, the evidence suggests that greater employment of older persons leads to better outcomes for the young — reduced unemployement, increased employment and a higher wage.” Moreover, these “patterns are consistent” for both men and women and for groups with different education levels, and were no different during the financial crisis, or Great Recession if you prefer.

So why should you care, as an advisor and/or as a member of this society? First, American workers are “undergoing a significant period of aging that appears likely to continue,” the EBRI paper points out. As evidence, Copeland cites EBRI’s most recent Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), which found that “a growing percentage of workers expect to retire at later ages both because of the reasons described above [for health insurance, to pay down debt and to save longer for retirement] and/or because of an increased desire to continue to work.”

Older people want to work longer, at least those who enjoy their work, which in turn is directly correlated to how much education a worker has. “Overall, as workers’ educational attainment increased, their labor-force participation rate also increased,” Copeland reports. For example, in 2012, “60.7% of individuals with a graduate or professional degree were in the labor force, compared with 23.9% of those without a high school diploma.”

So that’s the entire labor force. What about older people and education? How did the financial crisis affect these workers?

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“The recent economic downturn did not alter the trend of older workers in the labor force,” writes Copeland, “rather, it appears that this remained the trend, as more opportunities for older workers exist that correspond to their increased educational attainment. In fact, the increase in the percentage of those 55 or older in the labor force increased with the higher incidence of more highly educated people in this age group.” 

So baby boomers, who are more highly educated than previous generations, are working longer. Millennials — those age 25 to 32 — are the most highly educated generation in American history: 34% have at least a bachelor’s degree. Let’s compare boomers with millennials. A Feb. 2014 survey by Pew Research found  that way back in 1979, “when the first wave of baby boomers were the same age that millennials are today,” the typical high school graduate earned about three-quarters (77%) of what a college graduate made. “Today, millennials with only a high school diploma earn 62% of what the typical college graduate earns.” That same study compared educational levels of prior generations at the same age as millennials: only 13% of 25- to 32-year-olds in 1965 had a college degree; of the ‘early’ boomers who were age 25 to 32 in 1979, 24% held college degrees.

However, actual worker earnings have stayed nearly flat for each cohort of 25- to 32-year-olds since 1965: from $30,892 in 1965 to  $35,000 in 2012 (in 2012 dollars).

So here’s where we stand. The boomer clients you have now are more likely to work longer, for a number of reasons but buttressed by the fact that they like to work (sound familiar, advisors?), which is positively correlated to being better educated.

The generations that follow the boomers will be even better educated, and so are more likely to work even longer and for the same reasons. One big caveat: the Affordable Care Act may make it less necessary for older workers to be employed merely for the health insurance they want and need. So we’ll have to see how that will play out.

But maybe Social Security is a little healthier than we thought. If you continue to work into older age, you’ll still be paying your Social Security taxes (as will your employer, of course); and you’ll be paying income tax if you take Social Security benefits while you’re still working, depending on your total income.

Yes, not everyone is able to work due to health issues as they age, but higher longevity added to more educated people working longer will be a net benefit to the Social Security system and to society. And remember, old people are not keeping young people down, at least when it comes to jobs.

IPO market is casualty of stock market pullback

Weibo, better known as China's answer to Twitter, was the big winner among five initial public offerings that made their debuts Thursday. Yet, it wasn't exactly a high-flying performance to make investors chirp.

The IPO market, which is coming off its best year since 2000, is showing unmistakable signs of returning to earth — the latest casualty of last week's stock market plunge, which prompted investors to dial back risk-taking.

That slowdown may take some of the excitement out of the coming IPO for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which could submit its official filing to U.S. regulators as early as next week. . It's being widely touted as the biggest IPO since Facebook raised more than $16 billion in May 2012.

The five IPOs that started trading Thursday posted an average return of just 8.7%, below the average 17% first-day pop so far this year and for 2013, according to IPO investment advisory firm Renaissance Capital.

Chinese microblogging site Weibo jumped 19.1%. Three of the deals were priced below their projected range, while two priced at the low end of the range. Chinese real estate site Leju rallied 18.6%, but travel industry player Sabre, sporting goods retail chain Sportsman's Warehouse and drugmaker Vital Therapies all finished flat or with low single-digit percentage gains.

The fact that Weibo had to price its IPO at $17, which was the bottom end of the $17 to $19 range, and slash the number of shares it was offering by more than 3 million, signals that the IPO market is coming back to earth, says Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital. She called it a "necessary correction."

The days of eye-opening day one pops, such as the 206.7% gain that Dicerna Pharmaceuticals posted on Jan. 30, and Castlight Health's 148.8% jump on March 14, seem to be fading.

The IPO market has lost some of its luster since a major correction in high-price biotech and Internet stocks last week. As the stock market goes, so goes the IPO market, says John Fi! tzgibbon, founder of IPOScoop.com. Last week, the Nasdaq suffered its worst weekly swoon in nearly two years and was down 9% from its recent high before rebounding.

"You need a healthy stock market to have a good IPO market," says Fitzgibbon. "The market (turbulence) is what put this (IPO rally) to bed this week. Without the wind at your sails, you can't go anywhere."

The more bearish tone is best illustrated by the recent performance of the Renaissance IPO Exchange Traded Fund. At its 2014 high on March 5, it was up 8.4% for the year. But it has since given up all

In the past week, the IPO market has gone from a seller's market favoring the bankers to a buyer's market that favors individual investors, says Josef Schuster, founder of IPOX Schuster.

The IPO window, he adds, hasn't closed completely, but if bankers want to get deals done, they'll have to price the shares more conservatively going forward. Alibaba's IPO might not be as gargantuan as many analysts believe due to the recent market jitters, he adds.

"It is definitely going to hurt Alibaba on its initial valuation," said Schuster.

Fed: Economy sees gains after rough winter

The nation's economy largely emerged from a weather-related winter slump over the past six weeks, but cold and stormy conditions continued to dampen growth somewhat, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

The Fed's "beige book," named for the color of its cover, suggests that the labor market and economic data could reveal further catch-up effects in April as consumers and businesses unleash pent-up demand and hiring accelerates. The beige book provides an anecdotal snapshot of the economy that could foreshadow broader gains in market-moving reports.

From early March through mid-April, 10 of 12 Fed bank districts reported an expanding economy — a marked improvement from the eight regions reporting growth in the previous report. Growth was "modest or moderate" in the Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco regions. New York and Philadelphia "rebounded from weather-related slowdowns." In the Chicago area, the Fed simply said growth "had picked up."

But activity slowed in the Cleveland and St. Louis regions, the report said.

FIRST TAKE: Signs of a spring stirring?

Consumer spending increased broadly, with New York bouncing back "strongly from weather-depressed levels." St. Louis reported "a number of store openings and plans for future openings." And sales of cars and light trucks, in particular, perked up as the milder weather drew consumers into dealerships, the Fed said.

But cold weather continued to hold down sales in the Cleveland area.

Tourism, meanwhile, "was generally positive" in many areas, including Philadelphia, Atlanta and Kansas City. In New York, Broadway theater sales picked up because more shows were playing, but "cold weather had decreased travel."

A similar dynamic played out in manufacturing. Production generally improved, with moderate growth in the Chicago and Minneapolis districts and manufacturing gaining "some momentum" in San Francisco. But in nine areas — including Boston, New York! , Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas — "lingering winter weather hampered business activity, but the impact was less severe than earlier this year."

In the Chicago area, steel production returned to normal, but food manufacturers in the Boston, Richmond and Dallas areas faced a weather-related drop in demand.

The housing recovery, which is even more dependent on weather, was mixed. Home sales were solid in the Kansas City, Dallas and Richmond areas. But home sales and listings fell in Chicago mainly because of cold weather. Brokers "were optimistic that activity would improve in coming months."

Housing starts, meanwhile picked up moderately in the Boston and San Francisco areas and modestly in the New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta regions. Apartment building drove the increases in several regions. Construction declined, however, in Cleveland, St. Louis and Minneapolis.

Loan demand also ticked up in most areas, though volumes fell in the St. Louis region. The credit quality of borrowers increased sharply in New York and Dallas.

The labor market was mixed, the Fed said, as employment increased modestly to moderately in the New York, Chicago and Minneapolis districts. But firms in Philadelphia and Atlanta said they planned to make capital purchases before hiring.

Employers in the New York, Cleveland, Richmond, Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas regions said they had difficulty finding skilled workers.

The Investing Diet: Six Tips For A Healthier Portfolio

For many people, whenever investing comes up, their eyes gloss over. Either they can't relate to the topic, feel insecure or are bored to tears.

On the other hand, food is a much more fun topic that people know a lot more about. Fortunately, food and investing have a surprising amount of similarities. If you know all about what a proper diet should contain, then you are a long ways toward understanding what your investment portfolio should look like as many of the guidelines are the same. Indeed, the comparisons with food can help you better comprehend and remember the key principles of investing. Let's take a look at the more important examples:

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A broad range of ingredients keep you portfolio healthy. As researchers now know, a natural mixture of "old fashioned" meals that our grandmothers made often delivered the wide-ranging diet of vegetables, carbohydrates and proteins that are most beneficial to our health. The same goes with prudent investing in a broad mixture of styles and asset classes, including stocks, bonds, REITS and commodities. This combination will reduce volatility over your lifetime while allowing you to capture the growth that eventually comes from each asset class.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) Q2 Earnings Preview: Put Down, But Guidance Up?

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 10:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, April 10, 2014 to discuss financial results for the second quarter ended March 1, 2014. The Company will also discuss various business initiatives and expectations for fiscal 2014. After some prepared remarks by management, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions.

Wall Street anticipates that the discount retailer will earn $0.90 per share for the quarter, which is $0.31 less than last year's profit of $1.21 per share. iStock expects FDO  to hit Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is $0.90, too.

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Sales, like earnings, are expected to dip, slipping 4.2% year-over-year (YoY). Family Dollar Stores' consensus revenue estimate for Q2 is $2.77 billion, lower than last year's $2.89 billion.

Family Dollar Stores operates a chain of self-service retail discount stores primarily for low- and middle-income consumers in the United States. As of April 2, 2014, it operated approximately 8,100 stores in 46 states.

Intriguingly, unusually large put volume moved its way through the options pits on Tuesday. Specifically, 10,816 April $62.50 put options traded. Some investor(s) is betting big (roughly $4,500,000) on FDO.  We get the sense that the trade is a hedge against an open position in the stock, which means whoever might be worried about the stock taking a hit. However, it just speculation on our part.

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[Related -Wal-Mart's woes highlight retail sector weakness]

The put player might have a point as FDO shares dropped eight of the last 13 quarterly checkups. The stock's price was chopped an average of -5.05% with a range of -0.03% to -11.54%.  For the most part, earnings misses and on-target results equaled bearish EPS price-sensitivity seven of the nine misses/on-target announcements.

On the flip side, the handful of green reactions in the last 13 quarters averaged a gain of 3.71% with a max run of 9.41% and minimum of 0.22%.

Wall Street gurus aren't so positive on the stock either.  The consensus estimate started the quarter at a buck twelve. Since, it's dropped to $0.90 with a half-dozen analysts lowering their estimates in the last 30 days.

While the put player and analysts are bearish, Google Trends for the keyword "Family Dollar" are mildly bullish in comparison. Search volume intensity (SVI) is flat YoY, which could mean sales and earnings come in slightly stronger than expected.  Also, SVI for the start of Q3 is up 17% and could be a major positive for forward guidance.

Overall: Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) has a history of hugging Wall Street's consensus, like the iEstimate. Despite what looks like an options bet against FDO, Google Trends hint at a quarter that's got a chance to be a little better than expected, but not much. However, management's forward looking guidance could be positive, which could give the stock a boost; albeit, most likely a small one based on recent history.