5 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now

5 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Vodafone Group PLC (VOD)

Vodafone Group Plc (Vodafone), incorporated in 1984, is a mobile communications company operating across the globe providing a range of communications services. The Company offers a range of products and services, including voice, messaging, data and fixed-line solutions and devices to assist customers in meeting their total communications needs. Vodafone has a global presence, with equity interests in over 30 countries and over 40 partner markets worldwide. It operates in three geographic regions: Europe, Africa and Central Europe; Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, and has an investment in Verizon Wireless in the United States. In October 2010, Vodafone Global Enterprise, the business within Vodafone, announced the acquisition of two telecom expense management (TEM) companies, Quickcomm and TnT Expense Management. In November 2011, the Company sold 24.4% interest in Polkomtel in Poland. In March 2012, Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications I nc. and Vodafone, purchased the operating assets of Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania from the Company. In April 2012, its Netherlands-based division, Vodafone Libertel BV, acquired Telespectrum-DJ. On October 31, 2012, the Company acquired TelstraClear Limited. In May 2013, Vodafone Group Plc announced launch of its carrier services business unit.

In Europe, the Company's mobile subsidiaries and joint venture operate under the brand name Vodafone. Its associate in France operates as SFR and Neuf Cegetel, and its fixed-line communication businesses operate as Vodafone, Arcor, Tele2 and TeleTu. Vodafone's subsidiaries in Africa and Central Europe operate under the Vodafone brand, or in the case of Vodacom and its mobile subsidiaries, the Vodacom and Gateway brands. Its joint venture in Poland operates as Polkomtel and its associate in Kenya operat! es as Safaricom. The Company's subsidiaries and joint venture in Fiji operate under the Vodafone brand, an d its joint venture in Australia operates under the brands V! odafone and 3. The Company's associate in the United States operates under the brand Verizon Wireless.

Vodafone has an international customer base with 370 million mobile customers across the world as of March 31, 2011. Vodafone also caters to all business segments ranging from small-office-home-office (SoHo) and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to corporates and multinational corporations. Through its subsidiaries, Vodafone directly owns and manages approximately 2,200 stores around the world. The Company also has around 10,300 Vodafone-branded stores run through franchise and exclusive dealer arrangements.

The Company's range of handsets covers all its customer segments and price points, and is available in a variety of designs. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), 14 new handsets were released under its own brand and it shipped 5.8 million. In addition to handsets, it supplies a range of connected smart devices. It suppl ies the iPhone in 19 markets. During fiscal 2011, the Company launched its USB stick based on 4G/LTE technology in Germany and Verizon Wireless launched in the United States.; Vodafone WebBox; a smartphone roaming data plan that allows the European customers to use their home data plan abroad for only 2 a day to access the Internet, emails and applications; the Android-powered Vodafone 845 and 945 devices; Vodafone TV services; Vodafone 252, which comes pre-loaded with Vodafone M-Pesa for mobile payment services and a prepaid balance indicator that helps customers to keep track of their phone credit to avoid overspending; Vodafone M-Pesa in South Africa, Qatar and Fiji; 3G services in India, and LTE services by acquiring LTE spectrum in Germany.

The Company is a carrier of mobile voice traffic in the world providing domestic, international and roam! ing voice! services to more than 370 million customers. Its networks sent and received over 292 billion text, pictur e, music and video messages during fiscal 2011. The Company ! serves mo! re than 75 million customers with data services, which allow access to the Internet, email and applications on their phones, tablets, laptops and netbooks. The Company provides a range of data products, including Machine-to-machine ('M2M') connections, which allow devices to communicate with one another via built-in mobile SIM cards; Third party billing; Financial services; Near field communication ('NFC'), and Mobile advertising. The Company, as of March 31, 2011, served 5.3 million M2M connections around the world. NFC allows communication between devices when they are touched together or brought within a few centimetres of each other. The Company has mobile advertising business in 18 countries with a range of capabilities. Over six million customers use its fixed broadband services in 13 markets to meet their total communications needs. In addition, through Gateway, it provides wholesale carrier services to more than 40 African countries. Other service revenue inc ludes business managed services, such as secure remote network access, and revenue from mobile virtual network operators generated from selling access to its network at the wholesale level. The Company's enterprise customers range from small-office-home-office ('SoHo') businesses and small to medium-sized enterprises ('SMEs'), through to domestic and multinational companies. The Company has 34 million enterprise customers accounting for around 9% of all customers and around 23% of service revenue. The Company focuses on SoHos and SMEs to provide customers with integrated fixed and mobile communications solutions. Vodafone Global Enterprise manages the communication needs of over 560 of the multinational corporate customers. It provides a range of managed services, such as Central Ordering, Device Manager, Spend Manager Solutions, Invoice Mana! ger, Voda! fone Neverfail and Telecoms management. The Company offers a range of total communications applications, as well as services for enterprise and consumer customers. Vodafone Alw! ays Best ! Connected software enables customers to stay connected to the Internet on the available connection wherever they are by automatically managing the switching between connection types including mobile broadband, Wi-Fi and LAN. Vodafone PC Backup is an online back-up and restores service that enables users to remotely store data securely and automatically via their Internet connection.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Vodafone (VOD) rose 5.4% after the European telecom giant announced today its performance was improving across its key European markets, despite a posting a lower profit for the first half of 2014.

• [By abirk]

  Verizon is seeing robust growth in wireless contracts and residential broadband Internet. In eight of the last nine quarters, the wireless communications giant has posted double digit growth in net income. Also, because Verizon now has full ownership of Verizon Wireless after purchasing the remaining 45% stake from Vodafone (VOD) it should be able to boost its sales going forward on the back of integration synergies.

• [By RichardCox]

  Reasons for weakness in SPY have come from both internal and external forces. Most recently, positives have been seen in collaborative discussions between Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD), helping support market sentiment and in Guess? Inc (GES), which posted strong rallies on improved quarterly profits. On balance, however, the negatives have carried more weight. Market uncertainty has seen significant increases based on potential military conflicts in Syria. This is being viewed alongside the increased possibility that the Federal Reserve is prepared to start removing monetary stimulus -- a driving factor that has helped SPY rally nearly 155% from the lows seen in the beginning of 2! 009.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Vodafone (VOD) fell 5.9% to $32.88, making it the Nasdaq 100′s biggest loser. Moody’s put Vodafone’s debt on review for a downgrade.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/5-best-telecom-stocks-to-watch-right-now-3.html

Top 5 Railroad Stocks To Watch For 2014

The massive supply of natural gas that has resulted from new drilling technologies applied to U.S. shale fields over the past few years has been a boon not only to consumers who use gas for heating their homes, but also to a variety of companies, including chemical, steel and fertilizer manufacturers, for whom energy costs are substantial.

The U.S. has been inundated with so much cheap natural gas, in fact, that trucking companies are increasingly switching over to gas-powered engines for their fleets, while auto manufactures are offering hybrid vehicles that have the ability to burn both compressed natural gas and gasoline.

And now, the next logical step of the natural gas-fueled transformation of the transport industry -- gas-powered locomotives -- looks to be in its early stages.

U.S. railroads show interest in natural gas
Since the 1950s, U.S. locomotives have been powered mainly by diesel. But with the combination of relatively low natural gas prices and the threat of more stringent emissions standards for locomotives slated to take effect in 2015, many of the nation's biggest rail companies are reconsidering their traditional fuel of choice.

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Buy Right Now: Rosetta Genomics Ltd (ROSG)

Rosetta Genomics Ltd., incorporated on March 9, 2000, is seeking to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests based on discovered group of genes known as microRNAs. The Company has established a clinical laboratory improvement amendment (CLIA)-certified laboratory in Philadelphia, which enables it to develop, validate and commercialize its own diagnostic tests applying its microRNA technology. In July 2011, the Company launched its fifth product - miRview lung. As of December 31, 2011, the Company launched five tests based on its five microRNA technologies: miRview mets; miRview mets2; miRview squamous; miRview meso, and miRview lung.

Rimonim Consortium

In January 2011, the Company joined the Rimonim Consortium, which is supported by the Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor of the State of Israel, or the OCS. The purpose of the consortium is to develop RNA interference, or RNAi, -based therapeutics.

Rosetta Green

Rosetta Green Ltd. is an Israeli subsidiary of the Company, which was established to leverage its capabilities into the areas of cleantech and plant biotech by using its microRNA technologies to develop plants and algae more suitable for various applications, such as feedstocks for biofuels and agriculture. Research at the Rosetta Green project has been shown to develop algal strains with oil content, to discover potential novel microRNAs from commercially-important algae and to identify drought-regulated microRNAs in plants.

The Company competes with Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc., Biotheranostics, Inc., Combimatrix Corporation, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Asuragen Inc., Exiqon A/S, Life Technologies Corporation, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co., Inc., Santaris Pharma A/S, and Regulus Therapeutics.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anthony Mirhaydari]

  For now, I continue to recommend investors maintain a cautious stance, focusing on the buying interest coming into safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasury bond and precious metals while booking profits in biotech stocks that have been red hot this month. The leveraged Direxion 3x Treasury Bond Bull (TMF) is up nearly 7% in my Edge Letter Sample Portfolio since it was added on Jan. 10. I just sold Tower Hill Mines (THM) and Rosetta Genomics (ROSG) for gains of 46% and 18% respectively.

Top 5 Railroad Stocks To Watch For 2014: SMART Technologies Inc.(SMT)

SMART Technologies Inc. designs, develops, and sells interactive technology products and solutions that enhance learning and enable people to collaborate worldwide. The company offers a range of SMART Board interactive whiteboards and displays, as well as other interactive products, such as interactive tables, interactive pen displays, student response systems, wireless slates, audio enhancement systems, document cameras, conferencing software, and a line of interactive learning software. Its portfolio of related attachment products include SMART Response, SMART Slate, SMART Document Camera, SMART Table, SMART Audio, and SMART Classroom Suite. SMART Technologies also provides free online learning resources, an online teacher community, and training and professional development. It sells its interactive whiteboards through a network of distributors and dealers to the education, business, and government markets. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Calgary , Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Smart Technologies (Nasdaq: SMT  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on May 16. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Smart Technologies's revenues will wither -22.4% and EPS will remain in the red.

• [By Michael Robinson]

  Smart Technologies (SMT)

  Smart Technologies is a company that literally lives up to its name. It's a supplier of interactive education tools, used by more than 40 million students, in more than 175 countries.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Smart Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: SMT) is a company that literally lives up to its name. It's a supplier of interactive education tools used by more than 40 million students in more than 175 countries.

Top 5 Railroad Stocks To Watch For 2014: Western Gas Equity Partners LP (WGP)

Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, incorporated on September 11, 2007, was formed to own three types of partnership interests in Western Gas Partners, LP (WES). WES is a limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had no independent operations. On January 13, 2012, WES acquired 100% interest of Mountain Gas Resources LLC (MGR). On August 1, 2012, WES acquired 24% interest of Chipeta Processing LLC (Chipeta).

WES is engaged in the business of gathering, processing, compressing, treating and transporting natural gas, condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil for Anadarko, as well as third-party producers and customers. The assets of WGP, through its partnership interests in WES, include thirteen gathering systems, seven natural gas treating facilities, ten natural gas processing facilities, two NGL pipelines, one interstate gas pipeline, one intrastate gas pipeline, and three separate interests in Fort Union, White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC (White Cliffs) and Rendezvous Gas Services, LLC (Rendezvous). These assets are located in East and West Texas, the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming), and the Mid-Continent (Kansas and Oklahoma). WES also has facilities under construction in South Texas and northeast Colorado. During the year ended December 31, 2011, WES completed the construction of a cryogenic processing train at its Chipeta facility , which had a designed capacity of approximately 300 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and was placed into service in October 2012.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  The exact same setup is potentially giving traders a reason to jump into shares of $8.5 billion midstream gas company Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP). Just like Flotek, WGP is forming a textbook channel up. And this week, Western Gas is testing trendline support.

  It's a little too early to call WGP's trendline buyable here. At some point, all trends eventually fail -- and when this one does, you don't want to be left holding the bag. A bounce this week will be a good indication that WGP can still catch a bid at this price level. When and if that happens, I'd recommend keeping a tight protective stop in place just below WGP's most recent swing low at $38.

  While the 50-day moving average has been crossing paths with WGP quite a bit in the last month, I'd recommend ignoring it. The average hasn't acted as a meaningful support or resistance level to date. In the case of this particular name, it's just not technically relevant.

Top 5 Railroad Stocks To Watch For 2014: Qiagen N.V.(QGEN)

QIAGEN N.V., through its subsidiaries, provides sample and assay technologies worldwide. It offers approximately 500 core consumable products, such as sample and assay kits, and automated instrumentation systems that empower customers to transform raw biological samples into molecular information. The company?s consumable products are used for plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) purification, and ribonucleic acid purification and stabilization; genomic and viral nucleic acid purification; nucleic acid transfection; polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification; reverse transcription; DNA cleanup after PCR and sequencing; and DNA cloning and protein purification. The company sells the digene HC2 HPV Test, a signal-amplified test for high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus. It also offers co-development services for companion diagnostics, technology licensing and patent sales services, and custom services, including whole genome amplification, DNA sequencing, and non- cGMP DNA production on a contract basis. The company?s instrumentation systems automate the use of sample and assay technologies into solutions for a range of laboratory needs enabling customers to perform nucleic acid sample preparation, assay setup, target detection, and other laboratory tasks. Its automated systems include QIAsymphony, a modular system; Rotor-Gene Q, a rotary real-time PCR cycler system; PyroMark, a high-resolution detection platform based upon the Pyrosequencing technology; QIAcube, a sample processing instrument; QIAxcel for nucleic acid separation in low- to high-throughput laboratories; and ESE-Quant Tube Scanners, an optical measurement device. The company serves customer classes, including molecular diagnostics laboratories; applied testing customers in fields, such as forensics, veterinary diagnostics, and food safety; pharmaceutical research and development groups, and academic researchers. QIAGEN N.V. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Venlo, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) shares declined 2.04% to $22.79 in pre-market trading after dropping 0.47% on Monday.

  CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) shares dropped 1.05% to $34.51 in pre-market trading. Analysts at UBS downgraded CSX from Buy to Neutral and lowered the price target from $40 to $38.

5 Best Prefered Stocks To Buy For 2015

5 Best Prefered Stocks To Buy For 2015: Lionbridge Technologies Inc.(LIOX)

Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. provides language, development, and testing services. Its Global Language and Content segment provides product localization services, such as creating foreign language versions of its clients? products and software applications, including the user interface, online help systems, and documentation; and content translation services, such as translating and maintaining clients? Web-based content, eLearning courseware and training materials, technical support, and sales and marketing information. It also offers technical authoring, eLearning courseware development, and production and integration of content; and global language and content services delivery. The company?s Global Development and Testing segment develops and maintains on-premise, SaaS, and smart phone and tablet applications, as well as provides Web production services. This segment also offers various testing services under the VeriTest brand, including managed test teams, test proc ess design, test automation, functional testing, performance testing, globalization testing, and product certification. In addition, it provides specialized search relevance, online content editorial, keyword optimization, and related services. Its Interpretation segment offers interpretation services for government business and healthcare organizations that require experienced linguists to facilitate communication. It provides interpretation communication services, such as onsite interpretation, over-the-phone interpretation and interpreter testing, training, and assessment services in approximately 360 languages and dialects. The company serves the technology, mobile and telecommunications, Internet and media, life sciences, government, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and aerospace sectors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' O! pinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Lionbridge (LIOX) is the kind of cheap, small-cap stock that investors love. This player has soared 60% in the last three months thanks to nice earnings and improving investor sentiment.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/5-best-prefered-stocks-to-buy-for-2015.html

Hot Medical Companies To Buy For 2015

Hot Medical Companies To Buy For 2015: DENTSPLY International Inc.(XRAY)

DENTSPLY International Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets dental consumable products, dental laboratory products, and dental specialty products worldwide. The company?s dental consumable products include dental sundries, such as dental anesthetics, prophylaxis pastes, dental sealants, impression materials, restorative materials, tooth whiteners, and topical fluoride; and small equipment, including high and low speed handpieces, intraoral curing light systems, dental diagnostic systems, and ultrasonic scalers and polishers used in dental offices for the treatment of patients. Its dental laboratory products comprise dental prosthetics, including artificial teeth, precious metal dental alloys, dental ceramics, and crown and bridge materials, as well as equipment, such as computer aided machining ceramic systems and porcelain furnaces used in the preparation of dental appliances by dental laboratories. The company?s dental specialty products consist of endodonti c instruments and materials, implants and related products, bone grafting materials, 3D digital implantology, and orthodontic appliances and accessories. Its customers include dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental laboratories, and dental schools. The company distributes its dental products directly to dental laboratories and dental professionals, as well as through distributors, dealers, and importers. DENTSPLY International Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang and William L. Watts]

  Dentsply International Inc. (XRAY) shares rose 3%. The stock was raised to buy from underperform at Bank of America, according to Benzinga.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Align have surged 24% to $57 at 12:37 p.m. Sirona Dental Sy! stems (SIRO) has risen 0.8% to $69.61, Dentsply International (XRAY) is up 0.1% at $45.44, Integra Lifesciences (IART) has gained 0.4% to $44.23 and Danaher (DHR) has fallen 0.3% to $72.13.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-medical-companies-to-buy-for-2015.html

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Own Right Now

Hold on to your umbrella: The world is getting windier. A new report projects a 34% wind-power production increase in the next three years, boosted higher by new tax-credit rules. Putting politics aside, let's look at three companies poised to profit from wind's pick-up.

Source: nexteraenergyresources.com�

Profitable projections
The Energy Information Administration recently released a report outlining its revised projections for wind production over the next few years. New wind generation accounted for more capacity increase than any other energy source in 2012, and it doesn't look to be slowing down.

After Congress approved an extension to the "Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit" in January, the cost-competitiveness of wind projects took a positive turn. In real terms, the EIA now expects wind production to increase as much as 34% by 2016.

Source: eia.gov�

Top 10 Logistics Stocks For 2015: Cosan Ltd (CZZ)

Cosan Limited (Cosan), incorporated on April 30, 2007, is a holding company. The Company is engaged in the production of ethanol and sugar, the marketing and distribution of fuel and lubricants in Brazil, and logistics services in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Company imports, exports, produces and sells ethanol, sugar, sugarcane and other sugar by-products. It distributes and sells fuel and other fuel by-products. The Company produces and markets electricity, steam and other co-generation by-products. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it operated 24 mills. On February 18, 2011, Cosan, through its subsidiary Cosan S.A. Acucar e Alcool acquired 100% of the voting corporate capital of Cosan Araraquara Acucar e Alcool Ltda., (Usina Zanin).

The Company operates in three in segments: sugar and ethanol (S&E), fuel distribution and lubricants (CCL) and sugar logistics (Rumo Logistica). The sugar and ethanol segment operates and produces a range of sugar products, including raw, organic, crystal and refined sugars and consumer products under the Da Barra and Uniao brands, which are sold to a range of customers in Brazil and abroad, as well as produces and sells hydrous, anhydrous and industrial ethanol, which are sold to the Brazilian market. The sugar and ethanol segment also includes energy co-generation activities and land development businesses. Its fuel distribution and lubricants segment includes the distribution and marketing of fuels, mainly through franchised network of service stations under the brand Esso throughout the national territory, and production, distribution and marketing of lubricants licensed from ExxonMobil International Holdings B.V.. Its sugar logistics segment provides logistics services for the transport, storage and port lifting of sugar.

Sugar and Ethanol segment

As of March 31, 2011 the Company leased 437,698 hectares, through 2,128 land lease contracts with an average term of five years. During fiscal 2011,! it harvested from owned or leased lands 27.4 million tons, of the sugarcane and purchased from third-party growers the 26.8 million tons of sugarcane. During fiscal 2011, its accumulated sugar extraction was 139.0 kilograms of total sugar recovered (TSR) per ton of sugarcane and its agricultural yield was 91.4 tons of sugarcane per hectare. It produces ethanol through a chemical process called yeasting. It produces and sells three types of ethanol: hydrous ethanol and anhydrous ethanol for fuel and industrial ethanol. It sells ethanol through gasoline distributors in Brazil mainly at the mill that sell it to retailers that then sell it at the pump to customers.

During fiscal year 2011, the Company sold 4.3 million tons of sugar. The Company produces a range of standard sugars, including raw sugar, crystal sugar and organic sugar, and refined sugars, including granulated refined white sugar, amorphous refined sugar, refined sucrose liquid sugar and refined inverted liquid sugar. Its Sao Francisco mill and the Da Barra mill produce refined sugar. It also sells industrial alcohol, which is used in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. It sells sugar to a range of customers in Brazil and in the international markets. Its customers in Brazil include retail supermarkets, foodservice distributors and food manufacturers, for which it sells refined and liquid sugar.

Fuel distribution and lubricants

The Company�� fuel distribution business is engaged in sourcing, storing, blending and distributing primarily gasoline, ethanol, diesel and fuel oil through its retail network of approximately 4,500 Esso and Shell-branded stations. During fiscal 2011, it sold approximately 1.03 billion liters of fuels, consisting of 96.0% diesel and 4.0% gasoline, ethanol and other fuels to its industrial and wholesale clients. During fiscal 2011, Cosan Combustiveise Lubrificantes S.A. (CCL) sold a total of 166.4 million liters of lubricants. Its lubricant operations consist of a wholly o! wned Lubr! icants Oil Blending Plant (LOBP), located in Rio de Janeiro, with annual production capacity of 1.4 million barrels of lubricants per year, including 48,000 barrels of grease per year.

Sugar Logistics

The Company owns and operates a sugar-loading terminal at the Port of Santos in the State of Sao Paulo through its subsidiary Rumo Logistica. It offers logistics solution to sugar producers located in the Center South of Brazil by transporting sugar from the mill by truck or rail to be loaded at its bulk sugar port terminal in Santos. It also offer sugar storage services.

The Company competes with Copersucar, Sudzucker AG, Petrobras, Ultrapar S.A., Shell Brasil Ltda. and AleSat Combustiveis S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Partnership outlook
  I am still hoping that Codexis will be tapped by Raizen, a joint venture between Shell and sugar giant Cosan (NYSE: CZZ  ) , as its exclusive cellulase enzyme provider. Raizen has not been shy about its cellulosic ethanol ambitions -- planning a 10 million gallon per year facility -- but has yet to choose an enzyme technology. Investors should be careful not to assume that Codexis is a lock for the partnership (Raizen is the largest investor in Codexis), but with more than 580 million gallons of first-generation ethanol capacity the opportunity is enormous.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Lesson learned
  The financial situation at Amyris is less than enviable. Whereas fellow industrial biotech company Solazyme has hit every major milestone and had no problem raising funds, Amyris has had to take the more dilutive route for shareholders. Still, large commercial partners Total (NYSE: TOT  ) and Cosan (NYSE: CZZ  ) haven't backed down in their support of the company. Total upped its investment in Amyris during several rough patches in the past year after incurring significant paper losses on the roughly 20% stake in the company. Total even has its own webpage for the partnership, which speaks to its long-term vision for Amyris' platform, especially in renewable diesel.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Cosan (NYSE: CZZ) is estimated to post its Q1 earnings at $0.16 per share.

  ViaSat (NASDAQ: VSAT) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.11 per share on revenue of $348.98 million.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  ADM's renewable-fuel business grabs most of the attention from investors. The drought has also had a big impact in this segment as well, as ADM has had to idle ethanol production facilities because of low corn supplies following the drought. Moreover, with sugar-based ethanol competitors Bunge (NYSE: BG  ) and Cosan (NYSE: CZZ  ) already benefiting from pricing disparities between sugar and corn, prospects of potential tariffs on U.S. ethanol in Europe could give Brazilian sugar-based ethanol a competitive advantage, further hurting ADM.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: GASFRAC Energy Services Inc (GFS)

GASFRAC Energy Services Inc. (GASFRAC) is an oil and gas service company, whose business is to provide liquid petroleum gas (LPG) fracturing services to oil and gas companies in Canada and the United States of America. As of December 31, 2011, GASFRAC had three 32 tons and nine 100 tons sand storage vessels, 47 fracturing pumpers, 150 LPG storage tanks and related equipment. GASFRAC�� services are marketed and operated under the name of its wholly owned subsidiary GASFRAC Energy Services Limited Partnership. The Company has commercialized the use of LPG as the fracturing fluid. The Company�� subsidiaries include GASFRAC Services GP Inc., GASFRAC US Holdings Inc., GASFRAC Inc., GASFRAC Energy Services (US) Inc. and GASFRAC Luxembourg S.a.r.l. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  G4S Plc (GFS) dropped 1.7 percent to 225.6 pence. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reiterated its ��onviction sell��recommendation on the provider of security services, citing continued pressure on its profit margin in the second quarter.

• [By Sarah Jones]

  G4S Plc (GFS) sank 15 percent to 260 pence. The security company reported a lower operating margin for the first quarter, citing challenging economic and trading conditions in continental Europe. It expects the margin trend to continue for the full year.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: Zargon Oil & Gas Ltd (ZARFF.PK)

Zargon Oil & Gas Ltd. (Zargon), formerly Zargon Energy Trust, is engaged in the business of oil and natural gas exploration, exploitation, development, acquisition and production in Canada and the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Zargon�� average daily production were 9,879 barrels of oil equivalent. Its properties are concentrated within the Western Provinces in Canada and in North Dakota in the United States. Its Williston Basin core area encompasses a portion of southeast Saskatchewan, southwest Manitoba and three counties of North Dakota. During 2010, it accounted 51% of its oil and liquids production. During 2010, its Alberta Plains South core area contributed 27% of its oil and liquids production. In June 2012, the Company sold 275 barrels of oil per day pertaining to all of its southwest Manitoba assets and selected properties in the Elswick area of southeast Saskatchewan. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MLP Trader]

  Here are the current top five companies in the list:

  CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5X

  Of the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.

Top 5 Energy Stocks To Own Right Now: BG Group PLC (BRGYY)

BG Group plc (BG Group), incorporated on December 30, 1998, is a natural gas company. The Company is engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil. he Company operates in two business segments: Exploration and Production (E&P) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The Company manages its business on an integrated basis across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Central and South Asia, and Australia. The Company has interests in more than 20 countries on five continents. In June 2014, GasLog Ltd. acquired three LNG carriers from an affiliate of BG Group plc.

Exploration and Production

E&P consists of exploration, development, production and marketing of hydrocarbons with a focus on natural gas. BG Group�� Upstream segment covers exploration and production activities for gas, oil and liquids, plus liquefaction operations associated with integrated LNG projects.

Liquefied Natural Gas

BG Group�� LNG activities combine liquefaction and regasification facilities with the purchasing, shipping, marketing and sale of LNG. The Company has interest in liquefaction facilities in Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago. BG Group�� LNG Shipping & Marketing segment covers the purchasing, shipping, marketing and sale of LNG, as well as the Group�� interests and capacity in regasification facilities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David O��ara]

  LONDON --
  
  BG Group
  BG Group's� (LSE: BG  ) (NASDAQOTH: BRGYY  ) profits will soar as more oil and gas production comes onstream. Earnings per share is forecast to rise by 30% in 2013. Another 19% increase is expected next year. More modest dividend growth is expected, with the payout forecast to hit $0.31 in 2014.

• [By CNNMoney Staff]

  British oil and gas firm BG Group (BRGYY) was another weak spot, with shares plunging 15% after the company warned investors that it faces challenging business conditions.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  We see the greatest share price discounts to�sum-of-the-parts valuation for BG (BRGYY), Statoil (STO) and Repsol (REPYY), while ExxonMobil (XOM) still trades at small premium to our SoP valuation. The Gordon growth model approach points to Total and BP being clearly the cheapest of the supermajors. Chevron is penalised by its ongoing capital intensity in 2017; for reference, if we had used 2018 estimates it would emerge as one of the better value stocks in the sector.

• [By Jan-e- Alam]

  GasLog (NYSE: GLOG  ) shares have come under pressure recently, as the news of the recent transaction between Teekay LNG Partners (NYSE: TGP  ) and BG Group (NASDAQOTH: BRGYY  ) raised growth concerns among investors. I will get to the details of the transaction and why I think the deal was not for GasLog later, but let's first take a look at GasLog and why I think the company stands to benefit from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) boom.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now

This first month of the year has been successful for EXCO Resources Inc. (XCO) as three hedge fund managers have invested in it. They are: Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio), which added the stock at an average price of $4.88 and currently holds 17.538.912 shares, Wilbur Ross (Trades, Portfolio) also added the stock at $4.74 holding 51.107.800 shares and finally, Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio) at an average price of $4.99 and 45.251.182 shares of the stock.

Raising Equity

The company is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the exploration, exploitation, development and production of onshore U.S. oil and natural gas properties with a focus on shale resource plays. The company�� principal operations are conducted in certain key U.S. oil and natural gas areas including East Texas, North Louisiana, Appalachia and the Permian Basin in West Texas. In addition to its oil and natural gas producing operations, the company owns 50% interests in two midstream joint ventures located in East Texas, North Louisiana and Appalachia.

Best Oil Companies To Buy For 2015: Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL (CBN)

Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL is a Lebanon-based joint stock company that operates in the construction materials industry sector. The Company is engaged in the production and sale of white cement. The Company is a 65.99% owned by Holcim (Liban) SAL. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CanadianValue]

  Nigeria�� reformed banking system has provided many foreigners with an attractive means to invest in the fast-growing domestic economy. The banking industry is important, not only because of the rise of microfinance, but because of the move by banks into consumer banking. Until recently, banks were mainly financing large businesses or the government through bond purchases. Following a banking crisis in 2008, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an audit of the commercial banking sector. All banks that failed the audit had their CEOs replaced. The state-owned Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) was created to purchase non-performing loans and recapitalize the unhealthy banks. A recent review of the country�� banks by the IMF showed a dramatic increase in profits for the industry in 2012, while the capital adequacy ratio was above the minimum requirement of 10% and non-performing loans were below the mandated threshold of 5%5.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now: Holcim Ltd (HOLN)

Holcim Ltd (Holcim) is a Switzerland-based holding company that specializes in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of building materials. The Company operates four business segments, including Cement, Aggregates, Other construction materials and services, and Corporate. The Cement segment is engaged in the development of cement and comprises clinker and other cementitious materials, among others. The Aggregates business segment includes crushed stone, gravel and sand. The Other construction materials and services business segment comprises ready-mix concrete, concrete products, asphalt, construction and paving, and trading, among others. Additionally, other construction materials and services segment provides environmental services, including waste management, among others. The Corporate segment is engaged in holding activities and general management. It operates through subsidiaries in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, North America, Africa and Middle East regions. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Holcim Ltd. (HOLN) lost 0.9 percent to 68.15 francs in Zurich. Bank of America Corp.�� Merrill Lynch unit cut its rating on the world�� largest cement maker to underperform, similar to a sell recommendation, from neutral. Merrill Lynch cited the company�� exposure to emerging markets.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now: CEMEX SAB de CV (CX)

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CEMEX), incorporated on January 20, 1931, is a global cement manufacturer with operations in North America, Europe, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Company is a holding company engaged through the operating subsidiaries in the production, distribution, marketing and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and clinker. As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� cement production facilities were located in Mexico, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Latvia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Egypt, the Philippines and Thailand.

The Company manufactures cement through a closely controlled chemical process, which begins with the mining and crushing of limestone and clay, and, in some instances, other raw materials. The clay and limestone are then pre-homogenized, a process which consists of combining different types of clay and limestone. The mix is typically dried, then fed into a grinder, which grinds the various materials in preparation for the kiln. The raw materials are calcined, or processed, at a very high temperature in a kiln, to produce clinker. Clinker is the intermediate product used in the manufacture of cement.

Ready-mix concrete is a combination of cement, fine and coarse aggregates, admixtures (which control properties of the concrete including plasticity, pumpability, freeze-thaw resistance, strength and setting time), and water. The Company is a supplier of aggregates primarily the crushed stone, sand and gravel, used in virtually all forms of construction.

Mexican Operations

During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Mexican operations represented approximately 21% of the Company�� net sales. CEMEX Mexico is a direct subsidiary of CEMEX and is both a holding company for some of the operating companies in Mexico and an operating company involved in the manufacturing and ma! rketing of cement, plaster, gypsum, groundstone and other construction materials and cement by-products in Mexico. CEMEX Mexico, indirectly, is also the holding company for the international operations. The Company owns Tolteca, Monterrey, Maya, Anahuac, Campana, Gallo, and Centenario brands in Mexico. As of December 31, 2009, the Company owned 100% of CEMEX Mexico.

The Company competes with Holcim Ltd., Sociedad Cooperativa Cruz Azul, Cementos Moctezuma, Grupo Cementos Chihuahua and Lafarge Cementos in Mexico.

U.S. Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� operations in the United States represented approximately 19% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX, Inc. As of December 31, 2009, CEMEX had a cement manufacturing capacity of approximately 17.9 million tons per year in the United States operations. As of December 31, 2009, the Company operated 14 cement plants located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. As of December 31, 2009, it also had 48 rails or water served active cement distribution terminals in the United States. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had 336 ready-mix concrete plants located in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington and aggregates facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

Spanish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the operations in Spain represented approximately 5% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held approximately 99.8% of CEMEX Espana, the main operating subsidiary in Spain. The cement activities in Spain are conducted by CEMEX Espana. The ready-mix concrete activities in Spain are conducted by Hormicemex, S.A., a subsidiary of CEMEX Espana, and the aggregates activities in Spain ar! e conduct! ed by Aricemex S.A., also a subsidiary of CEMEX Espana.

U.K. Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� operations in the United Kingdom represented approximately 8% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, it held 100% of CEMEX Investments Limited, the holding subsidiary in the United Kingdom. The Company is a provider of building materials in the United Kingdom with vertically integrated cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and asphalt operations. It is also a provider of concrete and precast materials solutions, such as concrete blocks, concrete block paving, roof tiles, flooring systems and sleepers for rail infrastructure.

The Company competes with Lafarge, Heidelberg, Tarmac, and Aggregate Industries in the United Kingdom.

German Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the operations in the Rest of Europe consisted of the operations in Germany, France, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria and Hungary, as well as the other European assets. The Company is a provider of building materials in Germany, with vertically integrated cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and concrete products operations (consisting mainly of prefabricated concrete ceilings and walls). It maintains a network for ready-mix concrete and aggregates in Germany. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Deutschland AG, the holding subsidiary in Germany.

The Company competes with Heidelberg, Dyckerhoff, Lafarge, Holcim and Schwenk in Germany.

French Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX France Gestion (S.A.S.), the holding subsidiary in France. It is a ready-mix concrete producer and aggregate producer in France. As of December 31, 2009, the Company operated 239 ready-mix concrete plants in France, one maritime cement terminal located in LeHavre, on the northern coast of France, 20 land distribution centers and 42 aggregates quarries.

The Company competes with Lafarge, Holcim, Italcementi, Vicat, Lafarge, Italcementi, Colas (Bouygues) and Eurovia (Vinci) in France.

Irish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held approximately 61.2% of Readymix Plc, the operating subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland. The operations in Ireland produce and supply sand, stone and gravel, as well as ready-mix concrete, mortar and concrete blocks. As of December 31, 2009, we operated 43 ready-mix concrete plants, 27 aggregates quarries and 15 block plants located in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. The Company imports and distributes cement in the Isle of Man.

The Company competes with CRH, the Lagan Group and Kilsaran in the Republic of Ireland.

Polish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Polska Sp. z.o.o. (CEMEX Polska), the holding subsidiary in Poland. It is a provider of building materials in Poland serving the cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates markets. As of December 31, 2009, CEMEX operated two cement plants and one grinding mill in Poland, with a total installed cement capacity of three million tons per year. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated 39 ready-mix concrete plants and nine aggregates quarries in Poland. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated 10 land distribution centers and two maritime terminals in Poland.

The Company competes with Heidelberg, Lafarge, CRH and Dyckerhoff in Poland.

Southeast European Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Hrvatska d.d. (Hrvatska), the operating subsidiary in Croatia. As of December 31, 2009, it operated three cement plants in Croatia, with an installed capacity of 2.4 million tons per year. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated ten land distribution centers, three maritime cement terminals, eight ready-mix concrete facilities and one aggregates quarry! in Croat! ia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Even now, though, it's far from clear whether the recent rebound has staying power. Earlier this month, peer Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC  ) reported 5% lower shipments of aggregates, although rising prices helped offset the impact, and the company noted double-digit-percentage increases in shipments to hot housing areas including Arizona, California, and Florida. Similarly, Cemex (NYSE: CX  ) posted a substantial loss for its March quarter on with 5% lower revenue, but the Mexican company pointed to strength in the U.S. and Asian markets as offsetting weakness in Mexico, Europe, and Latin America.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Vulcan have gained 7.6%, and given a lift to other cement makers today, including Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), which has risen 4.9% and reports earnings on Thursday, Cemex (CX), which has advanced 1.5%, and Texas Industries (TXI), which is up 4.9%.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now: Boral Ltd (BLD)

Boral Limited (Boral), is engaged in the manufacture and supply of building and construction materials in Australia, the United States and Asia. The Company�� operating segments include Construction Materials & Cement, Building Products, Boral Gypsum, and Boral USA. The Construction Materials & Cement is engaged in quarries, concrete, asphalt, transport, landfill, property, cement and concrete placing. The Building Products segment is engaged in Australian bricks, roof tiles, masonry, timber products and windows. The Boral Gypsum involves Australian and Asian plasterboard. The Boral USA is engaged in Bricks, cultured stone, roof tiles, fly ash, concrete and quarries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Ballard Power (BLD), which designs and manufactures hydrogen fuel cells, slumped 15 percent to C$1.42, the biggest decline since March. The company yesterday said it will sell about 9 million units at $1.40 a unit for proceeds of about $12.6 million. The cash generated will be used to fund working capital, support growth and general corporate purposes, the company said.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now: Eagle Materials Inc (EXP)

Eagle Materials Inc., incorporated on January 27, 1994, manufactures and distributes gypsum wallboard and also manufactures and sells cement. Gypsum wallboard is distributed throughout the United States with particular emphasis in the geographic markets nearest to its production facilities. The Company sells cement in six regional markets, including northern Nevada and California, the greater Chicago area, the Rocky Mountain region, the Central Plains region and Texas. Its gypsum wallboard business is supported by its recycled paperboard business, while its cement business is supported by its concrete and aggregates business. The Company operates in Cement and Concrete and Aggregates, and Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments. As of March 31, 2013, the Company operated six cement plants (one of which belongs to its joint venture company), five gypsum wallboard plants, one recycled paperboard plant, seventeen concrete batching plants and four aggregates facilities. The Company�� products are used in the construction and renovation of houses, roads, bridges, commercial and industrial buildings and other, newer generation structures like wind farms.

Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Operations

The Company�� cement production facilities are located in or near Buda, Texas; LaSalle, Illinois; Laramie, Wyoming; Sugar Creek, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fernley, Nevada. The Company�� cement subsidiaries are wholly-owned except the Buda, Texas plant, which is owned by Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP, a limited partnership joint venture owned 50% by the Company and 50% by Lehigh Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG. Its LaSalle, Illinois plant operates under the name of Illinois Cement Company; the Laramie, Wyoming plant operates under the name of Mountain Cement Company; the Fernley, Nevada plant operates under the name of Nevada Cement Company and its Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants operate under the name Central Plains Cement Com! pany. The Company produces and distributes ready-mix concrete from Company-owned sites north of Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas and the greater Kansas City area. The Company�� activities in its frac sand business are in the Utica, Illinois area and in south Texas. The Company sells aggregates to building contractors and other customers engaged in a variety of construction activities.

Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard Operations

The Company owns five gypsum wallboard manufacturing facilities. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� gypsum wallboard production totaled 1,950 million square feet. Total gypsum wallboard sales were 1,909 million square feet during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013). The Company also manufactures alternative products, including containerboard grades (such as linerboard and medium) and lightweight packaging grades (such as bag liner). In addition, recycled industrial paperboard grades (tube/core stock and protective angle board stock) are produced to maximize manufacturing efficiencies. The Company�� manufactured recycled paperboard products are sold to gypsum wallboard manufacturers and other industrial users.

The Company competes with USG Corporation, National Gypsum Company and Koch Industries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Tomorrow, Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Hot Construction Material Stocks To Watch Right Now: Texas Industries Inc (TXI)

Texas Industries, Inc., incorporated on April 19, 1951, is a supplier of construction materials in the southwestern United States. The Company operates in three segments: cement, aggregates and consumer products. Its cement segment produces gray portland cement and specialty cements. The Company�� cement production and distribution facilities are concentrated primarily in Texas and California. Its aggregates segment produces natural aggregates, including sand, gravel and crushed limestone. The Company�� consumer products segment produces ready-mix concrete. It is also a supplier of natural aggregates and ready-mix concrete in Texas and northern Louisiana and in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As of May 31, 2013, the Company had 123 manufacturing facilities in five states.

Cement Segment

The Company produces specialty cements, such as masonry and oil well cements. Its cement production facilities are located at Midlothian, Texas, south of Dallas/Fort Worth, Hunter, Texas, between Austin and San Antonio, and Oro Grande, California, near Los Angeles. It also operates a cement terminal and packaging facility at its Crestmore plant near Riverside, California, and the Company operates its gray portland cement grinding facility on an as needed basis. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), it produced approximately 4.3 million tons of finished cement. The Company shipped approximately 4.4 million tons during fiscal 2013, of which 3.8 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers.

Aggregates Segment

The Company�� operations are conducted from facilities primarily serving the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin areas in Texas; the southern Oklahoma area, and the Alexandria and Monroe areas in Louisiana. The Company produced approximately 14.2 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013. It shipped approximately 14.8 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which 11.3 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers! . The Company shipped approximately 1.0 million cubic yards of lightweight aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which approximately 0.9 million cubic yards were shipped to outside trade customers.

Consumer Products Segment

The Company�� ready-mix concrete operations are situated in three areas in Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area of north Texas, the Austin area of central Texas and from Beaumont to Texarkana in east Texas), in north and central Louisiana, and in southwestern Arkansas. It is also a 40% partner in a joint venture that has ready mix concrete operations in the northern part of central Texas area centered around Waco, Texas. It shipped approximately 2.8 million cubic yards of ready-mix concrete during fiscal 2013. The Company manufacture and supply a substantial amount of the cement and aggregates raw materials used by our ready-mix plants. The Company also marketed its Maximizer packaged concrete mixes in southern California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI  )
  In spite of the steady rebound in the construction industry, certain companies look predisposed to underperform. Take Texas Industries as a perfect example. It provides heavy construction aggregates to the commercial construction industry while also acting a cement supplier to the consumer segment. Although its orders, and even to some remote extent its pricing power for cement, has improved modestly as the housing sector has rebounded, Texas Industries is still turning only marginal profits. In fact, looking toward next year you'd see a forward P/E approaching 500!

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) was down, falling 4.36 percent to $65.78 after Longbow Research downgraded the stock from buy to neutral.

  Commodities
  In commodity news, oil traded down 1.37 percent to $97.07, while gold traded up 1.73 percent to $1,223.10. Silver traded up 3.69 percent Thursday to $20.09, while copper fell 0.34 percent to $3.39.

Best Companies To Buy For 2015

Best Companies To Buy For 2015: Emerge Energy Services LP (EMES)

Emerge Energy Services LP, incorporated on April 27, 2012, owns, operates, acquires and develops a diversified portfolio of energy service assets. The Company operates in two segments: Sand segment, and Fuel Processing and Distribution segment. Sand segment consists of mining and processing frac sand, a component used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells. The Company's frac sand facilities are located in New Auburn, Wisconsin, Barron County, Wisconsin and Kosse, Texas. Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of acquiring, processing and separating the transmix that results when multiple types of refined petroleum products are transported sequentially through a pipeline. The Company's Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of its operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and Birmingham, Alabama.

Sand Segment

The Company's Wisconsin sand reserves at its New Auburn and Barron facilities provide t he Company access to a range of sand that meets or exceeds all API specifications and includes a concentration of 16/30, 20/40 and 30/50 mesh sands. The Company's New Auburn dry plant facility has a rated production capacity of 4,200 tons per day, or roughly 40 rail cars, and has on-site rail car loading facilities capable of loading up to approximately 10,000 tons of frac sand into rail cars per day. The Company also has 4.5 miles of existing rail track that connects its facility to the Union Pacific rail line and provides the Company with shipping access to all of the shale basins in the United States and Canada with direct access to areas of oil production in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and the western United States. The Company's Barron facility consists of a sand mine and a wet plant on land. This facility has a rated production capacity of 8,800 tons per day, or roughly 80! rail cars, and has on-site rail car loading facilities capable of loading up to approximately 1 0,000 tons of frac sand into rail cars per day. The Company ! also mine frac sand at its facility in Kosse, Texas that is processed into a high-quality, 100 mesh frac sand, generally used in dry gas drilling applications.

Fuel Processing and Distribution Segment

The transmix industry consists of businesses that process and separate transportation mixture, which is the liquid interface, or fuel mixture, that forms when multiple types of petroleum products are transported sequentially through a pipeline. Pipeline operators send large batches of different fuel products (such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel) through the same pipeline, in sequence, to receiving terminals. The Company's Fuel Processing and Distribution segment consists of its facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area and in Birmingham, Alabama, which are operated by Direct Fuels and AEC, respectively.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  The fracking revolution has created enormous opportunities for Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) across the oil and gas industry. Upstream MLPs like BreitBurn Energy Partners (NASDAQ: BBEP) and Legacy Reserves (NASDAQ: LGCY) produced the oil and gas. There was a huge new requirement for sand in the fracking operations, and this encouraged new MLPs like Emerge Energy Services (NYSE: EMES) and Hi-Crush Partners (NYSE:HCLP) — both of which have more than doubled in price over the past 12 months. Fracking also requires large volumes of water, which Cypress Energy Partners (NYSE: CELP) provides.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  MLPs that specialize in sand for hydraulic fracturing, like Hi-Crush Partners (NYSE: HCLP) and Emerge Energy Services (NYSE: EMES),  have shown outstanding performance since their IPOs, but if there is any slowdown in business each could be in for a sharp correction.

• [By R! obert Rap! ier]

  The top performing MLP of the first half was Emerge Energy Services (NYSE: EMES), a supplier of sand used in hydraulic fracking (+146 percent). The second leading gainer with a gain of 110 percent was Phillips 66 Partners (NYSE: PSXP), which IPO'd a year ago and consists of midstream assets dropped down from its sponsor, Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX).

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-companies-to-buy-for-2015.html

Top 5 Cheapest Companies For 2014

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images NEW YORK -- The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States dropped 13 cents in the past two weeks to its cheapest in nearly four years, according to the latest Lundberg survey released Sunday. Gasoline prices fell to $2.94 a gallon of regular grade gasoline, its lowest level since December 2010, according to the survey conducted on Nov. 7. The decline in price is largely driven by lower crude oil prices, which declined further during the period, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the survey. "Crude oil dominates what gasoline prices are and what gasoline prices will do," Lundberg said, noting that the direction of crude oil prices in the coming weeks and months will dictate whether gasoline prices will continue to fall further or begin trending upward. "If they don't decline further, then this will be the end or nearly the end of this very steep price drop," she said. The gasoline price is down about 28 cents from a year ago, and has dropped 78 cents from a 2014 peak of $3.72 in May. The highest price within the survey area was recorded in San Francisco at $3.27 a gallon, with the lowest in Memphis at $2.65.

Top India Stocks For 2015: CapitalSource Inc (CSE)

CapitalSource Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides financial products to small and middle market businesses in the United States. It offers depository products and services, such as savings and money market accounts, individual retirement account products, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides senior secured real estate and asset-based loans, and cash flow loans, which have a first priority lien in the collateral securing the loan. Its asset-based loans are collateralized by specified assets of the client, primarily the client�s accounts/notes receivable, inventory, and machinery; and real estate loans are secured by senior mortgages on real property. The company focuses on providing equipment loans and leases; loans to healthcare providers; commercial real estate and multifamily real estate loans; loans secured by timeshare, auto, and other consumer receivables; student loans; traditional life insurance premium finance loans; and loans to technology companies, small businesses, dentists, physicians, pharmacists, and optometrists, as well as to companies in the physical security, government security, and public safety sectors. It operates through 21 retail bank branches in southern and central California, as well as lending offices in the United States. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss the recent announcement of PacWest Bancorp's (NASDAQ: PACW  ) intention to buy CapitalSource (NYSE: CSE  ) .

Top 5 Cheapest Companies For 2014: MediSwipe Inc (MWIP)

MediSwipe Inc., formerly Cannabis Medical Solutions Inc., incorporated in February 18, 1997, offers a transaction processing and security solutions for the medical and healthcare industries, using traditional, Internet Point-of-Sale (POS), e-commerce and mobile (wireless) payment solutions. The Company's electronic payment processing suite of services will enable clients to accept all credit cards, in store or online, debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards and ACH check drafts for payment whether a retail, service, mail-order or Internet merchant. The Company�� card-based processing services enable merchants to process both traditional card-present, or swipe, transactions, as well as card-not-present transactions. The Company also operates online payment processing services, gift and loyalty card program programs and prepaid debit cards for consumers through 800 Commerce Inc., the Company's subsidiary, under the domain name www.800Commerce.com .

The Company offers MasterCard prepaid cards branded with corporations��brands. The Company offers a line of merchant services for the healthcare sector, including, Visa, MasterCard and merchant accounts, debit & credit card transaction processing, cash advance, gift/loyalty card programs and POS terminals through its��private banking network. 800 Commerce electronic payment processing and additional services enables the Company's clients to accept all credit cards, as well as debit and ATM cards for payment whether a retail, service, mail-order or Internet merchant. The 800 Commerce Suite of e-Commerce Services Include Merchant Processing Customized Solutions; Private Label Gateway; Credit Card Acceptance; Debit/ATM Card Acceptance; Private Label Debit Card Issuance; Internet Processing; Gift, Payroll and Loyalty Cards; Check Services; Wireless/Mobile Payment Platforms; Web Development and consulting, and ACH.

The Company competes with First Data Corporation, Total System Services, Global Payments, Authorize.net and Bank! of America's BA Merchant Services.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  But it doesn’t end there. Investors should run away from all OTC marijuana stocks, including Medical Marijuana (MJNA), Cannabis Science (CBIS), CannaVest (CANV), MediSwipe (MWIP) and GreenGro Technologies (GRNH). As the SEC warns:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  MediSwipe (MWIP) has tripled, with MWIP stock up 200%. Cannabis Science (CBIS) is closing in on quadrupling, as CBIS stock gained 273%. And GreenGro Technologies (GRNH)? Brace yourself, because GRNH stock is up over 1,000% … including an 18% so far today.

Top 5 Cheapest Companies For 2014: Star Bulk Carriers Corp.(SBLK)

Star Bulk Carriers Corp. operates as a shipping company providing seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector worldwide. Its vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal, and grain; and minor bulks, such as bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. The company has an operating fleet of 15 dry bulk carriers consisting of 7 Capesize and 8 Supramax dry bulk vessels with a combined cargo carrying capacity of 1,625,945 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's certainly no Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) or Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK), in terms or market cap or revenue. In fact, even with the drybulk shipping industry it's a somewhat obscure name. Yet, FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE) may well be the stock with the most near-term potential upside, now that it's gotten over a key technical hump.

Top 5 Cheapest Companies For 2014: HSN Inc. (HSNI)

HSN, Inc., an interactive multi-channel retailer, provides retail experiences through various platforms, including television, online, mobile, catalogs, and retail and outlet stores. It markets and sells a range of third party and private label merchandise primarily in the United States. The company�s HSN segment offers jewelry, apparel and accessories, beauty and wellness products, housewares, home fashions, electronics, culinary, and fitness and other products directly to consumers through television home shopping programming broadcast on the HSN television networks, HSN.com Website, its mobile applications, and outlet stores. Its Cornerstone segment provides home furnishings, including indoor/outdoor furniture, window treatments, and other home related goods under the Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Grandin Road, and Improvements brands; and apparel and accessories under the Garnet Hill, TravelSmith, and Chasing Fireflies names through various branded catalogs and related Web sites. As of February 21, 2013, this segment distributed approximately 300 million catalogs; and operated 8 separate digital sale sites, and 11 retail and outlet stores. HSN, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  Diller then spins off some of these entities into public companies, as he did with Home Shopping Network (HSNI) and timeshare company Interval Leisure Group (IILG). The company�� 52 week high was $80.64, it trades right now at $66. I�� love to make this one of my stocks to buy in the below the $50 mark, but IACI would be a bargain under $55.

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Invest In 2014

GasLog Partners (GLOP) is a limited partnership firm which owns, operates and acquires LNG carriers under long-term charter of five years or more. The company has an initial fleet of three LNG carriers with long-term contracts scheduled to expire in 2018 and 2019.

GasLog (GLOG) is the parent company of GasLog Partners. The company is an owner, operator and manager of LNG carriers and works as a part of LNG logistics chain. In April 2012, the company had a fleet of 10 LNG carriers and since then GasLog has increased its capacity by 111% to 21 fully owned ships.

This article discusses the investment positives for the recently listed GasLog Partners. The investment conclusion is that the company is a strong buy for the long term.

Key Investment Positives:�Modern Fleet with Visible Growth

GasLog Partners��initial fleet consists of three LNG carriers with contract expiry in 2018 and 2019. In addition to this, GasLog Partners has the option to purchase 12 LNG carriers over the next three years.

Top Value Stocks To Buy For 2015: GFI Group Inc. (GFIG)

GFI Group Inc. provides wholesale brokerage, clearing, electronic execution, and trading support products for financial markets. The company offers brokerage and trade execution services, clearing services, market data and trading platform, and other software products to institutional customers. The company provides brokerage services in fixed income derivatives, bond instruments, and other related products; financial instruments, including foreign exchange options, exotic options, non-U.S. Dollar interest rate swaps and options, repurchase agreements, forward and non-deliverable forward contracts, and government and municipal bond options; cash-based and derivative equity products, such as the U.S. domestic and international equity stocks, global depositary receipts, American depositary receipts, and equity derivatives; and cash-based and derivative commodity, and energy products comprising oil, natural gas, biofuel, electricity, wet and dry freight derivatives, dry physi cal freight, precious metals, coal, property derivatives, emissions, ethanol, and soft commodities. It also offers clearing, brokerage, settlement, and back-office services to proprietary traders, brokers, market makers, and hedge funds; provides capital to start-up trading groups, small hedge funds, market-makers, and individual traders; licenses multi-asset class electronic trading and order management software to brokers, exchanges, and traders in the commodities, fixed income, currencies, and equities markets; and offers FENICS Professional, a suite of price discovery, price distribution, trading, risk management, and straight-through processing components. The company primarily serves investment and commercial banks, large corporations, asset managers, insurance companies, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms in the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Asia. GFI Group Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  CME Group (NYSE: CME) has agreed to acquire GFI Group (NASDAQ: GFIG) for $4.55 per share and will immediately sell it's wholesale brokerage and clearing business back to a group led by GFI Management. CME will retain GFI Group's Trayport which provides trading software in the European energy markets as well as FENICS, a provider of price discovery, analytics, risk-management and workflow connectivity services for over the counter foreign exchange options markets. Shares of CME Group gained 0.44 percent, closing at $75.83 while shares of GFI Group surged to new 52-week highs of $4.50 before closing the day at $4.47, up 43.73 percent.

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Invest In 2014: General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP)

General Growth Properties, Inc is an equity real estate investment trust. The firm invests in the real estate markets of the United States. It engages in owning, managing, leasing, and redeveloping high-quality regional malls. General Growth Properties, Inc was founded in 1986 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  S&P Dow Jones Indices said General Growth Properties Inc.(GGP) will join the S&P 500 index, replacing Molex Inc.(MOLXA), a move that sent the real-estate investment trusts’ shares 4.3% higher to $21.15 premarket.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  REITs such as Simon Property Group (SPG) and General Growth Properties (GGP) have enterprise values that are 20 times EBITDA, while LTM stock putters along at slightly less than nine times EBITDA.

• [By George Putnam]

  General Growth Properties (GGP) became the largest real-estate bankruptcy in history in early 2009, when it was unable to support its massive debt load.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  General Growth Properties (GGP) gained 2.6% to close at $20.82 after S&P Dow Jones Indices said late Wednesday that it would add the real-estate investment trust to the S&P 500 index next week,

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Invest In 2014: MarketAxess Holdings Inc (MKTX)

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MarketAxess), incorporated on April 11, 2000, operates an electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. The Company�� over 1000 active institutional investor clients (firms that executed at least one trade in the United States or European fixed-income securities through its electronic trading platform, during the year ended December 31, 2012) include investment advisers, mutual funds, insurance companies, public and private pension funds, bank portfolios, broker-dealers and hedge funds. The Company�� 87 broker-dealer, market-maker clients provide liquidity on the platform and include most of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading. Through its Corporate BondTicker service, MarketAxess provides fixed-income market data, analytics and compliance tools that help its clients make trading decisions. In addition, it provides Financial Information eXchange (FIX) message management tools, connectivity solutions and ancillary technology services that facilitate the electronic communication of order information between trading counterparties. The Company�� revenues are primarily generated from the trading of the United States high-grade corporate bonds. In March 2013, it announced acquisition of Xtrakter Limited.

The majority of the Company's revenues are derived from monthly distribution fees and commissions for trades executed on its platform that are billed to its broker-dealer clients on a monthly basis. The Company also derives revenues from technology products and services, information and user access fees, investment income and other income. During 2012, the Company�� broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued United States corporate bonds and approximately 72% of the underwriting of newly issued European corporate bonds. MarketAxess�� electronic trading platform provides access to the liquidity provide! d through the participation on its platform of 87 broker-dealer market making clients, including all of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading, and over 1000 active institutional investor firms. In addition to services directly related to the execution of trades, the Company offers its clients several other services, including information services, straight-through processing, and technology products and services. MarketAxess offers Application Programming Interface (API) services to its broker-dealer clients for pre-trade, trade negotiation and post-trade services.

The United States High-Grade Corporate Bonds

The United States corporate bond market consists of three categories of securities: investment-grade debt (so-called high-grade); debt rated below investment-grade (so-called high-yield), and debt convertible into equity (so-called convertible debt). The Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond business consists of the United States dollar-denominated, investment-grade debt issued by corporations for distribution in the United States. Both domestic and foreign institutional investors have access to the United States high-grade corporate bond trading on its electronic trading platform. During 2012, its broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued the United States corporate bonds. The Company offers its institutional investor clients access to a range of inventory of the United States high-grade corporate bonds, which is provided and updated daily by its broker-dealer clients.

Eurobonds

The European high-grade corporate bond market consists of a range of products, issuers and currencies. MarketAxess Europe Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary, offers European secondary trading functionality in the United States dollar- and Euro-denominated European corporate bonds to its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients. The Company also offers its clients to trade in other European! high-gra! de corporate bonds, including bonds issued in Pounds Sterling, floating rate notes, European government bonds and bonds denominated in non-core currencies. In the Eurobond credit market, defined as including European high-grade, high yield and government bonds, 23 broker-dealers utilize the Company�� platform.

Emerging Markets Bonds

Emerging markets bond market includes the United States dollar, Euro or local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations domiciled in a developing country. These issuers are located in Latin America, Asia, or Central and Eastern Europe. The agency bond market includes debt issued by a United States government-sponsored enterprise. 59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade emerging markets bonds. During 2011, 414 institutional investor clients utilized its electronic trading platform to trade emerging markets bonds. These institutional investor clients are located in the United States and Europe. MarketAxess also allows its institutional investor clients to transact Euroclear-eligible local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations in countries that include Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Crossover and High-Yield Bonds

59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade crossover and high-yield bonds. Trading in crossover and high-yield bonds uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Agency Bonds

41 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade agency bonds. Trading in agency bonds uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Credit Default Swaps

MarketAxess offers trading on its platform for CDS indices and single-names in both the United States and Europe through its traditional RFQ proto! col. Nine! of the Company�� broker-dealer clients are providing streaming, executable CDS index prices. In addition, it incorporated the request-for-market protocol and the streaming markets/click-to-trade protocol into an updated single-screen user interface, giving clients their means of execution.

Asset-Backed Securities

12 of its United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade asset-backed securities. Trading in asset-backed securities uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Preferred Securities

17 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade preferred securities. Trading in preferred securities uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Corporate BondTicker

Corporate BondTicker provides TRACE data and enhances it with MarketAxess trade data and analytical tools to provide professional market participants with a set of corporate bond price information. The data include trade time and sales information, including execution prices, as well as MarketAxess-estimated, spread-to-Treasuries, for trades disseminated by the TRACE system. The data also include actual execution prices and spread-to-Treasury levels for United States high-grade corporate bond trades executed on the MarketAxess platform. Corporate BondTicker is integrated directly into the MarketAxess electronic trading platform and can be accessed, either when viewing securities inventory or when launching an inquiry. Corporate BondTicker is also available through the Internet for non-trading professional market participants, including, among others, research analysts and rating agencies, who can log in and access the information via an easy-to-use browser-based interface.

The Company provides Corporate BondTicker as an ancillary service to its trading clients and also to other industry parti! cipants. ! It derives revenues from its Corporate BondTicker service by charging for seat licenses per user at its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients, through distribution agreements with other information service providers and through bulk data sales to third parties. The Company also offers a set of reports designed to review and monitor credit trading activity for institutional investor clients. Its compliance product provides a printed history of each inquiry submitted through the MarketAxess trading platform.

Technology Services

Through MarketAxess�� Greenline Financial Technologies, Inc. (Greenline) subsidiary, it provides integration, testing and management solutions for FIX-related products and services. The FIX protocol is a messaging standard developed for the electronic exchange of securities transaction information. It also provides technology consulting and customized development services to its clients. In addition, the Company provides gateway adapters to connect order management and trading systems to fixed-income trading venues.

The Company competes with Thomson TradeWeb, Bloomberg and The New York Stock Exchange

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Dumortier, CFA]

  MarketAxess (NASDAQ: MKTX  ) published its third-quarter results�(link opens a PDF) this morning, and as the following table shows, the numbers were disappointing -- by Wall Street's standards. The fixed-income trading platform missed on both revenues and earnings per share. Those misses have short-term investors spooked today, and shares are down around 5.5%. Long-term investors, on the other hand, ought to be a little more sanguine. I don't see any signs that the business franchise is impaired, and, although investors will need to continue monitoring potential competitors and, particularly, structural developments in the bond markets, the latest set of results are well within the bounds of normal business fluctuations.

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Invest In 2014: Firstbank Corporation(FBMI)

Firstbank Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services. It accepts checking, savings, and time deposits. The company also provides commercial, mortgage, agricultural, real estate, real estate mortgage, real estate construction, home improvement, automobile, and consumer loans. In addition, it offers trust, security brokerage, and title insurance services, as well as armored car services. The company operates 53 branch offices in central Michigan. Firstbank Corporation was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Alma, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  A great example of these small banks with big potential is Firstbank Corp. (FBMI), a $155 million market-cap stock that operates 53 branch offices in central Michigan. Firstbank provides commercial banking products and services, including traditional deposit accounts and loans tailored to meet the needs of its business customers. FBMI also offers trust, security brokerage and title insurance services, and even armored car services. This bank stock has been rated an “A” all year, and the fundamentals just keep getting better. FBMI shares remain a “strong buy” at current prices.

GMO Protests Aren't Enough to Slow Monsanto Down

Are the anti-GMO protests really going anywhere? Activist voices against genetically modified organisms might have pitched louder in recent months, but farmers don't seem to be paying much heed.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest data, genetically modified seeds comprised a whopping 90% of the total corn acreage planted this year. That's up 2 percentage points from last year. Furthermore, seed varieties that were both pest- and herbicide-resistant covered 71% of the acreage, a significant jump from 52% covered last year.

Monsanto's genetically modified seeds at work. Image source: Company website

If anyone's making money hand over fist, it's the companies that are behind the altered seeds. Monsanto's (NYSE: MON  ) latest quarterly report is proof.

Despite relatively cool weather and the resultant delayed start to the planting season this year, Monsanto sold as many corn seeds in its last quarter as it had a year ago, when planting got off to a flying start. Its third-quarter corn seed and traits sales were flat at $1.5 billion year over year, suggesting solid demand for its products. Encouraged, Monsanto is even aiming for record corn volumes for the full year.

Watch out for DuPont (NYSE: DD  ) and Syngenta (NYSE: SYT  ) , which will release quarterly numbers later this month. DuPont recently lowered its second-quarter earnings guidance, but that's because of the delayed planting and has nothing to do with GMOs. In fact, its engineered seeds are selling well, as evidenced by the 14% year-over-year jump in its first-quarter sales from the agriculture business. If the companies report good seed sales in their upcoming results, it might as well confirm the growth of the GMO story. 

Yet when it comes to controversial issues such as GMOs, there's much more to it than a couple of quarterly numbers. The greater percentage of genetically modified seeds planted in the U.S. this year could give the seed companies a compelling reason to increase research and development spending on biotechnology, thereby boosting the GMO business substantially, especially since the USDA seems more than happy to help. There were several cases in recent months in which the government favored Monsanto. Earlier this year, the USDA also approved Syngenta's corn trait, Agrisure Duracade, which is the company's fourth corn trait in six years and should hit the markets next year.

But the bigger news is that it's not just the U.S. where genetically engineered seeds are harvesting a success story. Nor is it restricted to corn. In what could change the dynamics of farming in Brazil, China has agreed to import three new GE soybean varieties from the nation. China alone imports nearly 70% of the soybeans grown in Brazil.

Agriculture-specialist consulting company Celeres projected (link opens a PDF) the area covered by GM crops in Brazil to increase 14% in the crop year 2012-2013, with soybeans taking the lead in adopting the technology. Nearly 89% of the total planted soybean area is expected to belong to the GM category. With the most populous country favoring GM crops, Brazilian farmers might be inclined to buy more of the altered seeds. Meanwhile, Monsanto and the rest can easily laugh all the anti-GMO chatter off.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2015

Monsanto is obviously one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Chinese approval. The company was waiting to launch its pest-and-herbicide resistant Intacta RR2 Pro soybean trait. With the approval secured, Monsanto has already set an ambitious initial target of 3 million acres for the product this year. The peak soybean planting in Brazil begins in October, so Monsanto has enough time to promote and distribute Intacta. That's not all. Through Monsanto, other companies can get dip their hands into the opportunity as well.

As a licensee of Monsanto, Syngenta can directly benefit as Monsanto spreads its wings in Brazil. DuPont is already targeting 30% higher soybean capacity in Brazil this year. With the company having settled long- pending lawsuits over patents with Monsanto recently, DuPont's foray into GMOs and Latin American markets could only get bigger. Monsanto has agreed to  license its next-generation soybean traits to DuPont in return for royalty payments. Though the agreement caters to the U.S. and Canadian markets, it could just be the beginning.

Another company likely to jump into the GMO race even more aggressively following the latest USDA data and China's move is Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW  ) . The diversified company that gets 11% of sales from agricultural sciences recently got a big boost when it struck a deal with Monsanto to cross-license insect and herbicide-resistant corn product technology. Dow has already made huge headway in Argentina last year by launching the first-ever five-trait corn, Powercore. As for soybeans, winning Canada's approval for its herbicide-tolerant soybean, Enlist E3, last month counts among Dow's major achievements.

With each passing day, the tailwinds for the GM crop business appear to be getting stronger, even as the march against Monsanto, and others, gathers steam. Whether the health-conscious like it or not, China's nod for Brazilian imports will inevitably cause GMOs to infiltrate more and more homes, even those that still haven't tasted the controversy. For Monsanto investors, it's great news, but not so much for those who disagree with the company's practices.

Need a break from controversies? Want to get away from the volatile biotech sector? Try diversifying into dividend-paying stocks. The Motley Fool's special free report "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks." is a great place to start. Just click here to access your free copy of the report today.