Top Stocks For 2014, Best Stocks To Buy 2014: November 2013

11/30/2013

Why Facebook Investors Should Fret That Young Teen Users are Leaving the Nest

If Facebook (Nasdaq:FB) can't keep teenagers on its social networking site, perhaps it can just buy their attention.

The Menlo Park, Calif. company's shares dropped last month after Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman told analysts on the third quarter earnings call that the service "did see a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens." This group remains key to Facebook's prospects because marketers believe teenage use often presages wider popularity, particularly in technology and Internet industries. Without strong teenage use, Facebook risks losing growth to other platforms such as Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), Tumblr or those still percolating in the mind of a teenage coder.

Facebook has already bought one big teen platform, Instagram, paying $1 billion in cash and stock last year for its 100 million users. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook bid $3 billion for Snapchat, a two-year-old company with no revenue or earnings that has a smartphone app which delivers messages that disappear in 10 seconds or less. The Stanford University dropout who started Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, turned down the offer, holding out for $4 billion, the Journal reported.

That Facebook now is facing a decline in use by teenagers is ironic. CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched the social media site when he himself was a teen and an undergraduate at Harvard University. While his company now boasts 1.2 billion users, losing teens could suggest that the service may be losing relevance and that could hurt its ability to keep attracting advertisers, which provide the bulk of Facebook's $2 billion in quarterly revenue. MediaBistro reported in October that 61% of teens name Tumblr as their favorite social-media site, compared with 55% for Facebook. Facebook didn't comment on its use by teens.

Many of Facebook's users now are the parents of teenagers. "Teens have more and more environments in which it spend time through web-connected devices," said Brian Wieser! , an analyst with the Pivotal Research Group. David Kirkpatrick, the author of "The Facebook Effect," said teens are using "a range of things. My 21-year-old daughter, for instance, uses Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for different reasons at different times. The Internet is seen as a palate of options." Pinterest is a content-sharing service that permits its members to "pin" images, videos and related features to their pinboards

"The case for Facebook changes as you get older," said Janney Capital Markets analyst Tony Wible. "Facebook is an important communications tool for older people but a 13-year-old doesn't have the same need for it. Younger people are spending their time with a lot of other things in media, like Instagram, Snapchat and the latest app on their cell phones.Video games, like Grand Theft Auto are also popular with them, and movies had a good third quarter in terms of incremental growth of media consumption."

Charles Haddad, a journalism professor at Stony Brook University in Long Island, said that he is hardly surprised that young teens are migrating from Facebook. "It's ever easier for them to switch," said Haddad. "The more interconnected we become, the easier it is to be restless and try out a new service. And young people are born restless. They want to be first to discover the latest and greatest."

Now, Facebook has the challenging task of creating for young teens the illusion of a cyber-community, where they will want to gather and exchange information and gossip. "Communities are valuable to companies because of the number of potential connections inherent," said Mel Bergstein, the retired CEO of Diamond Technology Partners, a consulting group that assists companies in excelling on social media. For a company, he said, "the bottom line is, the more people in a community, the more valuable it is."

The Bottom Line

If Facebook hopes to recapture the young-teen market, Zuckerberg will have to change the way it views these users – and itself. And that may mean more billion-dollar bids for hot new apps without business plans developed by twentysomethings barely out of college.

As Kirkpatrick mused, "Zuck likes to refer to Facebook as a 'utility.' But what teenager is going to get excited about a utility?"

Disclosure - At the time of writing, the author did not own shares of any company mentioned in this article.

Monetary Stimulus Leaving Average Americans and Precious Metals Behind

Why is the average American falling behind in our economy?

Millions of Americans feel as though they are being left behind while the disparity between themselves and the rich continues to grow.

Over the last few years, the Federal Reserve has enacted the most aggressive monetary stimulus program in the central bank’s history. But even with the Fed’s trillions of new dollars thrown into the economy, most Americans do not feel any more financially secure or wealthier than before.

Now, when we look at the stock market, one could easily assume that the monetary stimulus brought on by our central bank is having a positive impact.

Let’s take a look at another country whose central bank has also been pushing a very easy monetary stimulus program for years; of course, I’m talking about the Japanese central bank.

11/29/2013

A Record Year for MLP IPOs

There were 14 MLP IPOs in 2007. Until this year, that was the record, but so far in 2013 there have been 15 MLP IPOs with perhaps more to come before year end. One of the more recent IPOs was Sprague Resources (NYSE: SRLP), which debuted on Oct. 25.

Sprague Resources is engaged in the purchase, storage, distribution and sale of refined petroleum products. The partnership also provides storage and handling services for a broad range of materials. Sprague is one of the largest independent wholesale distributors of refined products in the Northeast US, owning and/or operating a network of 15 terminals located throughout the Northeast. These have a combined storage capacity of 9.1 million barrels for refined products and other liquid materials, and 1.5 million square feet of materials handling capacity.

Sprague Resources operations map

Location of Sprague Resources LP’s terminals. Source: SRLP SEC filing

In the IPO, Sprague sold 8.5 million common units initially priced at $18, but the price has slipped since. The partnership forecasts a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.4125 per unit, or $1.65 per unit annually. As the most recent closing price of $17.60, that translates into a minimum annual yield of 9.4 percent.

Arc Logistics Partners (NYSE: ARCX) opened for trading on Nov. 6. This midstream partnership was formed by Lightfoot Capital to own, operate, develop and acquire a diversified portfolio of complementary energy logistics assets. The partnership is engaged in the terminalling, storage, throughput and transloading of crude oil and petroleum products. It intends to grow the business through the optimization, organic development and acquisition of terminalling, storage, rail, pipeline and other energy logistics assets that generate stable cash flows.

The 6 million common unit IPO opened flat at $19. ARCX plans to pay a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.3875 per unit each quarter, or $1.55 on an annualized basis. At the recent closing price of $19.04, this translates into an annual yield of 8.1 percent.

Midcoast Energy Partners (NYSE: MEP) is an Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP)-backed LP that went public on Nov. 7. The partnership is a pure-play US natural gas and NGL midstream business with a 39 percent controlling interest in Midcoast Operating, a limited partnership that owns a network of natural gas and NGL gathering and transportation systems, natural gas processing and treating facilities and NGL fractionation facilities primarily located in Texas and Oklahoma. Midcoast Operating also owns and operates natural gas, condensate and NGL logistics and marketing assets that support its gathering, processing and transportation business.

The business primarily consists of gathering unprocessed and untreated natural gas from wellhead locations and other receipt points, processing the natural gas to remove NGLs and impurities at processing and treating facilities and transporting the processed natural gas and NGLs to intrastate and interstate pipelines for transportation to customers and market outlets. The partnership also markets natural gas and NGLs to wholesale customers.

The IPO raised $333 million by offering 18.5 million shares at $18. This was below the expected range of $19 to $21. MEP’s partnership agreement provides for a minimum quarterly distribution of $0.3125 per unit for each whole quarter, or $1.25 per unit on an annualized basis. At the recent closing price of $17.83 this equates to an annual yield of 7.0 percent.

The Refining MLP Bloodbath

I warned last week that refiners would report relatively poor earnings for Q3, and refinery MLPs could take a hit, presenting a buying opportunity. On Nov. 6 Alon USA Partners (NYSE: ALDW) reported a loss for the third quarter of $16.1 million, or ($0.26) per unit, compared with net income of $120.4 million for the same period last year. Paul Eisman, CEO and president, cited the deteriorating margins that I discussed in last week’s issue: “Our third quarter results were impacted by a volatile and deteriorating margin environment resulting primarily from decreasing discounts for West Texas crude oil.”

As a result, the partnership announced that there would be no money available for a quarterly distribution. Unit prices fell nearly 10 percent immediately after the earnings release, and continued to drift lower from there before today’s 9 percent rebound.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners (Nasdaq: CLMT) also reported a net loss for the quarter of $34.8 million, or ($0.54) per diluted unit, compared with net income of $42.4 million, or $0.69 per diluted unit, for the same quarter in 2012. Units traded down nearly 13 percent for the week.

Northern Tier Energy (NYSE: NTI) will report earnings this week. The partnership closed last week down less than 1 percent, but interested investors should find a cheaper entry point this week as earnings will undoubtedly be disappointing.

(Follow Robert Rapier on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.)

11/28/2013

Analysis: NSA’s data grab ought to boost privac…

SEATTLE -- The latest revelation of how government spies tap into the personal data that U.S. consumers so blithely place into the control of the Internet's advertising giants is the most profound yet.

The Washington Post today outed an National Security Agency data snooping program, code-named MUSCULAR, that copies all traffic flowing between two of the largest online advertising giants: Google and Yahoo.

In the latest installment of revelations from Edward Snowden, the Post is reporting that NSA partnered with its British counterpart, GCHQ, to carry out MUSCULAR.

"This is the first real evidence of deep intrusions by NSA and GCHQ into the internal netwokrs of major internet companies," says Dave Jevans, chief technology officer of mobile security firm Marble Security. "By essentially copying all traffic that flows through these networks, the intelligence agencies can see everything that happens at these companies."

MUSCULAR appears to give government snoops access to not just contact lists and address books – last week's Snowden revelation – but all e-mail and business documents, including Google docs which is used by hundreds of thousands of companies.

It's unlikely the government does any data mining beyond the narrow parameters of ferreting out terrorists plots; NSA chief, Gen. Keith Alexander has said the surveillance programs that tap in commercial Internet traffic has helped curtail 54 terrorists attacks.

Yet the steady flow of revelations from the Snowden document may be having the effect of keeping convenience-minded consumers more attuned to the intensive harvesting of their every online move by Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Micorosoft, AOL and other major and minor players treating consumer privacy as a free profit-making resource.

Consumers and companies should not take this lightly. "We can assume a whole new level of threat," Jevans says. "The NSA and GCHQ must have insiders either working at Google and Yahoo, or in the datace! nters where their servers are housed."

Global companies could be susceptible to similar government snooping and should assess the security of data transfers between various datacenters. "This is going to add significant cost to the operation of these datacenters," Jevans says.

The large-scale collection of data that is happening through the MUSCULAR program would be illegal in the United States, but the operations take place overseas, where the NSA is allowed to presume that anyone using a foreign data link is a foreigner, the Washington Post explained.

Google and Yahoo did not immediately respond to requests for comment

Visa Offers More Cash Back: 19 Companies Increasing Dividends

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As earnings reports keep rolling in and the country emerges out of the debt ceiling crisis, companies from all industries are raising dividends in an attempt to attract investors.

Companies Increasing Dividends

A total of 19 companies raised their dividends this week, led by big names like Visa (V) and Honeywell (HON). (Note: All dividend yields are as of Oct. 25.)

Midwest utility holding company AEP (AEP) raised its quarterly dividend 2% to 50 cents per share, payable on Dec. 10 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8.
AEP Dividend Yield: 4.24%

Green Bay-based bank holding company Associated Banc Corp (ASBC) raised its quarterly dividend 12.5% to 9 cents per share, payable on Dec. 16 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2.
ASBC Dividend Yield: 2.19%

Bar Harbor, Maine based bank holding company Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) raised its quarterly dividend 1.6% to 32 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15. The increase marks the 10th consecutive quarter of dividend increases.
BHB Dividend Yield: 3.39%

Recreation products designer and manufacturer Brunswick (BC) raised its quarterly dividend 300% to 10 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 20. The action moves BC into paying its dividend quarterly instead of annually.
BC Dividend Yield: 0.22%

Specialized products and services supplier Cintas (CTAS) raised its quarterly dividend 20.3% to 77 cents per share, payable on Dec. 11 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8. The increase marks the 31st consecutive annual dividend increase.
CTAS Dividend Yield: 1.43%

Independent investment advisory firm Evercore Partners (EVR) raised its quarterly dividend 13.6% to 25 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 29.
EVR Dividend Yield: 1.9%

Property and casualty insurance holding company HCI Group (HCI) raised its quarterly dividend 22.2% to 27.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 20 to shareholders of record Nov. 15.
HCI Dividend Yield: 2.48%

Diversified technology and manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell (HON) raised its quarterly dividend 10% to 45 cents per share, payable on Dec. 10 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 21.
HON Dividend Yield: 2.06%

Utility operator Middlesex Water (MSEX) raised its quarterly dividend 1.3% to 18 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15. The increase marks the 41st consecutive annual dividend increase.
MSEX Dividend Yield: 3.53%

Motion and control systems manufacturer Parker-Hannifin (PH) raised its quarterly dividend 4.6% to 45 cents per share, payable on Dec. 6 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8. The increase marks the 57th consecutive annual dividend increase.
PH Dividend Yield: 1.55%

Automotive retail and transportation services giant Penske (PAG) raised its quarterly dividend 6.3% to 17 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 11.
PAG Dividend Yield: 1.72%

Phoenix-based bank holding company Pinnacle West (PNW) raised its quarterly dividend 4% to 56.75 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 1.
PNW Dividend Yield: 3.91%

Specialty chemical maker Stepan (SCL) raised its quarterly dividend 6% to 17 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 29. This marks the 46th consecutive annual dividend increase.
SCL Dividend Yield: 1.13%

Property management and financing real estate investment trust SL Green Realty (SLG) raised its quarterly dividend 52% to 50 cents per share. SLG did not release a payment or ex-dividend date for the new dividend.
SLG Dividend Yield: 2.04%

Upscale hotel property real estate investment trust Sotherby (SOHO) raised its quarterly dividend 12.5% to 4.5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 1, 2014 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 13.
SOHO Dividend Yield: 3.87%

Midstream oil and gas provider Targa Resources Partners (NGLS) raised its quarterly dividend 7% to 57 cents per share, payable on Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31.
NGLS Dividend Yield: 3.83%

Credit card and financial services company Visa (V) raised its quarterly dividend 21% to 40 cents per share, payable on Dec. 3 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15.
V Dividend Yield: 0.79%

Global apparel company VF (VFC) raised its quarterly dividend 21% to $1.05 per share, payable on Dec. 20 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10. VFC also announced a 4:1 stock split, effective on Dec. 20 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10.
VF Dividend Yield: 1.99%

Integrated municipal solid waste services company Waste Connections (WCN) raised its quarterly dividend 15% to 11.5 cents per share, payable on Nov. 19 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 5.
WCN Dividend Yield: 1.04%

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. For more payout winners, see previous weeks' lists of Companies Increasing Dividends.

11/27/2013

Seinfeld star's adviser Bambi Holzer sued by Finra over Provident deals

Bambi Holzer

Bambi Holzer is infamous in the securities industry as a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based broker who aggressively courted Hollywood stars as clients, along with the less glamorous rich, before and after the tech bubble burst in 2000.

She wrote books, made television appearances and counted as her most famous client former “Seinfeld” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who wound up suing Ms. Holzer and one of her numerous former securities firms in 2007 over a dispute concerning $4.4 million invested in annuities.

Now it appears that Ms. Holzer, who was sued last week by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., is facing the wrath of securities regulators for far less glamorous reasons: she allegedly lied to one of her former firms, Wedbush Securities Inc., about several clients' net worth when in 2008 she sold preferred shares of one of the series of deals issued by Provident Royalties LLC. She also allegedly failed to report a pending regulatory action on her employment history, according to Finra.

112-PAGE FINRA REPORT

Litigation is not new to the 55-year-old Ms. Holzer, who has worked for 10 securities firms in the past 30 years.

Indeed, her BrokerCheck report is a staggering 112 pages in length, which makes it a little longer than — but just as compelling as — Franz Kafka's 1915 novella “The Metamorphosis.” That tale is about a young traveling salesman who wakes one morning to discover he has been turned into a dung beetle. A broker with a clean record typically has a BrokerCheck report of six to eight pages. Reading one of these files is akin to staring at instructions for making oatmeal on the back of a box of Quakers Oats.

Ms. Holzer has 53 settled customer complaints, six more that were dismissed or denied, and four others still pending, according to BrokerCheck. The suit with Ms. Louis-Dreyfus eventually was settled; Ms. Holzer and her firm at the time, UBS PaineWebber Inc., paid out at least $11.4 million to settle dozens of investor claims that she misrepresented variable annuities by asserting they offered guaranteed returns, according to a 2009 Forbes article titled “Beware of Your Broker.”

After resigning from her last firm, Newport Coast Securities Inc., in August, Ms. Holzer was suspended by Finra in September. She could not be reached Thursday afternoon for comment.

'LOST HER SAVINGS'

Rex Beaber, her attorney in the Finra matters, says that Ms. Holzer lost her entire retirement savings, between $250,000 and $500,000, when she invested in Provident preferred shares along with nontraded real estate investment trusts and private real estate partnerships sponsored by Behringer Harvard Holdings. One of the largest fund raisers for nontraded REITS in the past decade, Behringer Harvard has seen several of its offerings slash dividends and collapse in value.

Ms. Holzer also invested her mother's portfolio in Provident and Behringer Harvard, Mr. Beaber said. “This isn't an evil person who says, 'To make the commission I'm goin! g to put money into'” private placements, he said. “She thought the history of these products would be their future.”

InvestmentNews readers over the past few years know, of course, about the damage to broker-dealers, advisers and clients caused by Provident. The purported oil-and-gas leasing company turned out to be a $485 million Ponzi scheme that contributed to the demise of dozens of small to midsize broker-dealers after the Securities and Exchange Commission shut Provident down in July 2009.

To date, Ms. Holzer is one of the most prominent brokers to be associated with selling Provident, which promised annual returns of 18% at a time when the housing market was falling apart and interest rates were collapsing. But it's not the Provident fraud that Finra is focused on in its latest complaint against Ms. Holzer; rather, the industry's self-regulator is focusing on the mundane details of how Ms. Holzer allegedly fudged documents involving six clients to whom she sold one of a series of private-placement offerings, Provident Shale Royalties 8, in 2008.

“In the course of obtaining supervisory approval of the Provident 8 transactions in March 2008, Holzer submitted to her firm net worth information for six of these customers, which Holzer knew or should have known to be false,” according to the Finra complaint, which is dated Oct. 18. Ms. Holzer's behavior allegedly violated the Finra rule pertaining to standards of commercial honor and principles of trade. The Finra alleges that she made unsuitable recommendations to seven clients who bought Provident 8 — a “speculative and illiquid investment,” according to the Finra complaint.

Wedbush Securities is not named in the Finra complaint.

'NO KNOWLEDGE'

Mr. Beaber, her lawyer, said that Ms. Holzer had no knowledge of her clients' net worth beyond what they told her. He also said that Wedbush Securities knew about the pending regulatory action because it was a public matter.

The clients exagg! erated th! eir net worth because they wanted to meet a $5 million net worth minimum that Wedbush required for such investments, Mr. Beaber said. Ms. Holzer's clients were desperate for the juicy returns, he said.

“In a number of instances, the clients wanted to qualify for the investment, and because they owned real estate, they just played up the value of real estate to meet the criteria,” he said. He added that one client's application for Provident was clearly inaccurate but likely the fault of an employee Ms. Holzer failed to oversee properly.

The plethora of Finra arbitrations is due to the fact she works with wealthy clients, Mr. Beaber said. Many saw positive returns through investing in private placements sold by Ms. Holzer but want redress due to the failures of Provident and Behringer Harvard.

The industry should keep a watch on what Ms. Holzer turns to next if she ever returns to the industry to sell securities or perhaps looks to sell insurance. Based on her voluminous track record of litigation, she might choose a product that could turn into a disaster, or perhaps a dung beetle, for investors.

Stocks breaking the all-time high barrier

A large and growing number of stocks are hitting all-time highs along with the broad market — a sign of underlying strength that could portend more gains ahead.

All told, 106 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 are at or within 2% of their all-time highs, a commentary on how the market isn't being held up by just a few runaway winners, but a swell of companies from a swath of industries that are hitting their strides.

Seeing broad leadership instead of just a few darlings comes as the S&P 500 on Tuesday hit another all-time high, the fourth in a row, capping a 23% gain this year. "We are nowhere near a market top because this rally has real internal strength in it," says Ken Winans of Winans Investments. "This bull run has room to run."

STOCKS: S&P rises to fourth consecutive record close

ASK MATT: Is S&P 500 good place to start investing?

A closer look at the companies at or approaching highs show that:

• Well-known consumer brands are big winners. Disney, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Starbucks are among the stocks that have blown the furthest into record ground. All three set new all-time highs Tuesday.

• The number of stocks hitting highs is at historic levels. More than 800 stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are at their highest levels over the past year, Winans says. Seeing that many stocks hit 52-week highs at the same time has only happened five other times since 1974, including 1982, 1986, 1997, 2003 and 2010, Winans says. Each of these periods were followed with powerful rallies.

• They're not just the individual investor darlings. The companies that are blazing with the most gusto aren't the high-profile tech stocks that individual investors have been infatuated with, but lesser-known companies such as industrial coatings maker PPG, hard drive makers Seagate and Western Digital, shipper United Parcel Service, defense company Northrop Grumman and discount retailers TJX and Dollar Tree. On the other ! hand, Apple, a favorite stock among individual investors, is still 26% away from its all-time high of $705 set last year.

• Former stars of last market high left out. Stocks such as Cisco Systems, JDS Uniphase and Yahoo were the pace leaders when the market last raced to new highs in the late 1990s. But all these stocks are nowhere near their all-time highs, remaining 72%, 99% and 73% away from new ground, respectively. Some former darlings, though, have returned for encore performances, including online retailers Amazon.com, which set an all-time high Tuesday, and Priceline.com, which is 2% away from its high.

Seeing so many companies hit all-time highs "is a very healthy sign and one that should encourage further buying," says Jack Ablin of BMO Private Bank.

S&P 500 stocks up the most from their previous all-time highs:

• PPG Industries, 1.8%

• Walt Disney, 1.6%

• Chipotle Mexican Grill, 1.6%

• Scripps Networks Interactive, 1.4%

• FedEx, 1.4%

Source: S&P Capital IQ, USA TODAY research

11/26/2013

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014

About�a week ago, Wall Street was biting small cap pet stock Petmed Express Inc (NASDAQ: PETS) for not living up to its earnings expectations�- meaning it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock�and compare its performance with other pet stocks like mid cap PetSmart, Inc (NASDAQ: PETM) and small cap VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ: WOOF). I should also mention that we have recently added Petmed Express to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because we think the stock is undervalued in the pet space and has tremendous growth potential�moving forward.

What is Petmed Express Inc?

Small cap Petmed Express was founded in 1996 and is America�� largest pet pharmacy, delivering prescription and non-prescription pet medications and other health products for dogs and cats at competitive prices direct to the consumer through its 1-800-PetMeds toll free number and on the Internet through its website at www.1800petmeds.com. The company is a�licensed pharmacy to dispense prescription medications in all 50 states with over 3,000 SKUs, including a variety of private label products all made in the United States.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lisa Levin]
EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) shares climbed 5.80% to $23.53. The volume of EZchip Semiconductor shares traded was 635% higher than normal. EZchip Semiconductor's PEG ratio is 1.57.
[By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of EZchip (NASDAQ: EZCH ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $15.3 million, topping the Street's forecast of $15.1 million. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.23, which was right on target with expectations.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) was also up, gaining 7.16 percent to $24.11 after a Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced a new product that would not threaten the company as previously thought. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) were down 16.05 percent to $9.91 after the company lowered its Q3 forecast.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Texas Instruments Incorporated(TXN)

Texas Instruments Incorporated engages in the design and sale of semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. The company?s Analog segment offers high-performance analog products comprising standard analog semiconductors, such as amplifiers, data converters, and interface semiconductors; high-volume analog and logic products; and power management semiconductors and line-powered systems. Its Embedded Processing segment includes DSPs that perform mathematical computations to process and enhance digital data; and microcontrollers, which are designed to control a set of specific tasks for electronic equipment. The company?s Wireless segment designs, manufactures, and sells application processors and connectivity products. Its Other segment offers smaller semiconductor products, which include DLP products that are primarily used in projectors to create high-definition images; and application-specific integrated circuits. This segment also provides handhe ld graphing and scientific calculators, as well as licenses technologies to other electronic companies. The company serves the communications, computing, industrial, consumer electronics, automotive, and education sectors. Texas Instruments Incorporated sells its products through a direct sales force, distributors, and third-party sales representatives. It has collaboration agreements with PLX Technology Inc.; Neonode, Inc.; and Ubiquisys Ltd. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dividends4Life]
Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) engages in the design, manufacture, sale of semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. September 19th the company increased its quarterly dividend 7% to $0.30 per share. The dividend is payable November 18, 2013, to stockholders of record on October 31, 2013. The yield based on the new payout is 3.9%.
[By Alyssa Oursler]
But a few dreamy stocks have have provided double rewards for loyal shareholders so far in 2013.�Texas Instruments�(TXN),�Seagate Technology�(STX),�Paychex�(PAYX),�Lockheed Martin�(LMT) and Blackstone Group (BX) are five dividend stocks that have been anything but sleepy so far this year.
[By Chuck Saletta]
Speaking of results ...
Right now, quarterly earnings season is well under way, which provides a perfect opportunity for one of those "check in from time to time" moments. While the iPIG portfolio did nothing last week, several of its picks did report, and those quarterly confessionals can help determine whether the companies are still worth owning. To summarize key results:
United Technologies (NYSE: UTX ) reported decent numbers, with net earnings ahead of expectations but growth driven more by acquisitions than by organic improvements in its existing businesses. Given the company's conglomerate setup, growth by bolt-on acquisitions isn't surprising, but over the long haul, it'd be better to see its businesses growing internally as well as through acquisitions. The news at Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE: MSA ) wasn't quite as good, with both revenues and net earnings falling from year ago levels on a tough environment for the mining businesses it supports. That's a risk well known to the company and its shareholders, though, and while the weaker results did knock the company's stock down, the business has ridden through tough cycles before. It looks capable of riding through this one, too. Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS ) , on the other hand, reported earnings that beat expectations on an operating basis, before restructuring charges knocked it down to a net loss. Given that the company is in the very seasonal toy business, that loss in an off-peak quarter is much less of a concern than it would have been in the make-or-break holiday quarter. UPS (NYSE: UPS ) kept on trucking, with a better-than-expected January and strength from eCommerce helping the company turn in an 8% growth in net reported earnings per share. Overall, UPS is operating efficiently, though its future success is tied to its ability to continue delivering more packages. As long as its e-commerce business continues to grow, though, UPS is wel
[By Eric Volkman]
Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN ) results for the company's Q1 have been released. For the quarter, revenue was nearly $2.89 billion, an 8% decline from the $3.12 billion in the same period the previous year. Net income moved in the other direction, advancing to $362 million ($0.32 per diluted share), or 37% over Q1 2012's $265 million ($0.22).

Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Marshall Hargrave]
In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: KongZhong Corporation(KONG)

KongZhong Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless interactive entertainment, media, and community services to mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China. It also involves in the development, distribution, and marketing of consumer wireless value-added services, including wireless application protocol, multimedia messaging services, short messaging services, interactive voice response services, and color ring back tones. In addition, it offers interactive entertainment services, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat, and message boards; and through Kong.net offer news, community services, games, and other interactive media and entertainment services; and sells advertising space in the form of text-link, banner, and button advertisements. Further, the company develops and publishes mobile games, including downloadable mobile games and online mobile games cons isting of action, role-playing, and leisure games. As of December 31, 2009, it had a library of approximately 300 internally developed mobile games. Additionally, it develops online games; and provides consulting and technology services, as well as media and net book services. The company was formerly known as Communication Over The Air Inc. and changed its name to KongZhong Corporation in March 2004. KongZhong Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 wireless services player that looks poised for a big spike higher is KongZhong (KONG), which is a provider of WVAS and mobile games to mobile phone users and a wireless media company providing news, content, community and mobile advertising services through its wireless Internet sites in the PRC. This stock is off to a hot start in 2013, with shares up sharply by 53%.

If you take a look at the chart for KongZhong, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last two months, with shares plunging lower from its high of $14.92 to its recent low of $7.78 a share. During that downtrend, shares of KONG have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of KONG into oversold territory, since its current relative strength index reading is 30.21. Shares of KONG are now starting to spike higher off its recent low of $7.78 a share and off its 200-day moving average of $7.95 a share. This spike could be signaling that the downside volatility for KONG is over in the short-term and the stock is ready to trend higher.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KONG if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $8.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 519,857 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then KONG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to its 50-day moving average at $11.33 a share.

Traders can look to buy KONG off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $7.78 a share. One can also buy KONG off strength once it takes out $8.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
[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 Kongzhong (Nasdaq: KONG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, as well as onshore and in the shallow waters offshore the Gulf Coast Basin. As of December 31, 2009, the company had estimated proved reserves of 1,931 thousand barrels of oil and 167,361 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. It owned working interests in 9 net producing oil wells and 277 net producing gas wells. PetroQuest Energy was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jon C. Ogg]
PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NYSE: PQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

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

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

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

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

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Keith Speights]
2. Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN )
Achillion recently experienced a delay in the game that it had hoped to play. The FDA placed a clinical hold on hepatitis C drug sovaprevir after patients in a phase 1 drug-drug interaction study with the drug combined with ritonavir-boosted atazanavir were found to have elevated liver enzyme levels. Shares dropped 25% in one day as a result.
[By Lauren Pollock]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN), Active Network Inc.(ACTV) and Harvest Natural Resources Inc.(HNR)

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: OCZ Technology Group Inc(OCZ)

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes computer components for computing devices and systems worldwide. It primarily offers solid state drives, flash memory storage, memory modules, thermal management solutions, AC/DC switching power supply units, and computer gaming solutions. The company?s products are used in industrial equipment and computer systems; computer and computer gaming solutions; mission critical servers and high end workstations; personal computer (PC) upgrades to extend the useable life of existing PCs; high performance computing and scientific computing; video and music editing; home theatre PCs and digital home convergence products; and digital photography and digital image manipulation computers. OCZ Technology Group, Inc. offers its products to retailers, on-line retailers, original equipment manufacturers, systems integrators, and distributors. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, Califo rnia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
The not-so-great and wonderful OCZ
There was no company-specific news that caused solid-state-drive maker OCZ Technology (NASDAQ: OCZ ) to fall almost 8% Wednesday. But an article that appeared on Seeking Alpha �questioning whether the company had six months or less to live before it filed for bankruptcy seemed to coincide with its fall.

Top 10 Small Cap Companies To Own For 2014: Sky-mobi Limited(MOBI)

Sky-mobi Limited engages in the operation of a mobile application store in the People?s Republic of China. It works with handset companies to pre-install its Maopao mobile application store on handsets and with content developers to provide users with applications and content titles. The users of its Maopao store could browse, download, and purchase a range of applications and content, such as single-player games, mobile music, and books. The company?s Maopao store enables mobile applications and content to be downloaded and run on various mobile handsets with hardware and operating system configurations. It also operates a mobile social network community, the Maopao Community, where it offers localized mobile social games, as well as applications and content with social network functions to its registered members. The company owns proprietary mobile application technology in the cloud computing, the MRP format, and SDK development environment. As of March 31, 2011, it had entered into cooperation agreements with approximately 523 handset companies to pre-install Maopao. The company was formerly known as Profit Star Limited and changed its name to Sky-Mobi Limited in October 2010. Sky-mobi Limited was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Roberto Pedone]
Another stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Sky-mobi (MOBI), which, through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of a mobile application platform embedded on mobile phones to provide mobile application store and services in the People�s Republic of China. This stock has been red hot so far in 2013, with shares up a whopping 88%.

If you look at the chart for Sky-mobi, you'll notice that this stock recently formed a triple bottom chart pattern at $3.31, $3.28 and $3.40 a share. That bottoming pattern occurred over the last two months. Shares of MOBI have now started to uptrend and flirt with its 50-day moving average of $3.76 a share. That move is quickly pushing MOBI within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MOBI if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.71 to $3.83 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 145,934 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MOBI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $4.96 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give MOBI a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $5.55 to $6.13 a share.

Traders can look to buy MOBI off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $3.40 to $3.28 a share. One can also buy MOBI off strength once it takes out that breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

11/25/2013

Where Are Treasurys Heading? Just Watch Gold

South Korea World Markets Lee Jin-man/AP The spot gold price may have baffled investors since its move south last December, but analysts at Citi (C) now see the precious metal being a leading indicator of U.S. Treasurys. Gold is about to enter "phase two" of its bear market, according to the investment bank, after a brief rally and its downside target is now $1,111 an ounce from its current price of $1,231. As well as this bearish outlook, it now sees gold being a leading indicator of U.S. Treasury bills. "Gold prices fell before and after [U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke's warning about tapering in May, they then stopped falling in July, well ahead of the September [Federal Open Market Committee] 'no taper.' In fact, by the time of the September FOMC decision gold was falling again," analysts at the bank said in a research note released Monday. "Gold seems to anticipate monetary policy developments earlier than USTs. This is possibly because gold has, in the end, no intrinsic worth and no yield and is therefore hyper-sensitive to U.S. and global monetary policy." Citi's research shows that gold now has a roughly 60-day lead over 10-year Treasury yields. This suggests yields will be 2.9 percent by late January, it said, or 3.25 percent if gold hits $1,111. Often seen as a hedge against inflation, gold traditionally has had an inverse relationship to interest rates with demand for the precious metal increasing when rates are low. Last December was seen as a key turning point for gold prices with the commodity losing its close relationship with Fed policy announcements. In the 10 years up until last December, gold had surged around 400 percent, with the help of low interest rates, extra Fed liquidity and concerns over the global economy. Then on Dec. 12 , the Fed announced that it would buy $45 billion in additional Treasurys every month, on top of the $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities it already purchases, taking the total size of its quantitative easing program to $85 billion a month. Instead of this being bullish for gold, the precious metal actually posted a surprise fall of 1 percent. Michael Derks, chief strategist at FxPro who now no longer works for the company, said at the time that the rules surrounding the price of gold had suddenly changed.

Scramble seen for Apple’s latest iPad mini

Get ready to line up again if you want one of the new iPads that Apple is expected to unveil Oct. 22.

CEO Tim Cook and his lieutenants will be in San Francisco that day to announce a slew of refreshed gadgets before the crucial holiday shopping season gets underway. Top billing is expected to be a new iPad mini with the crisper "Retina" display that is already on the bigger tablets.

However, Apple manufacturers have reportedly struggled to make a lot of the smaller Retina displays, so supplies of the new tablet may be limited. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek reckons there may be as few as two to five million new iPad minis available when they hit stores, likely in early November. That could produce another scramble as Apple fans try to get one before they sell out.

"It's not a bad thing for Apple to have people lined up at their stores and have products in short supply," said Van Baker, lead Apple analyst at research firm Gartner. "It can damage the business if it persists, but for a short period of time limited supply creates more excitement and buzz and more people want the product."

Apple needs all the excitement it can muster because the company's share of the tablet market has been sliding as cheaper tablets running Google's Android operating system become more popular.

Android will have 49.6% of the worldwide tablet sector this year, while Apple will have 48.6% -- making 2013 the first year Android will lead, according to Gartner estimates. In 2011, Apple's share was almost two-thirds and Android was below 30%.

A revived iPad line is crucial for Apple because Wall Street has begun to think of the company as a "one product" story again, Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes, wrote in a recent note to investors.

Apple seemed to address this issue in the invitation it sent out for the Oct. 22 event, saying "We still have a lot to cover." That was interpreted as either a hint that a new type of iPad cover is coming, or that the company will unveil lots of new products.

"It may be more the latter," Baker said. "There are more things to talk about."

In addition to the new iPad mini, Apple is likely to release a new version of its larger iPad. Misek expects this to be about 20% thinner and 30% to 50% lighter.

Apple may also unveil a new line of MacBook Pro laptops that will have Intel's Haswell chips inside to help increase battery life.

The company may also release details of its new OS X Mavericks operating system and roll out a new Mac Pro desktop computer.

Misek also said Apple might unveil a software developer kit, or SDK, for its Apple TV set-top box. This would let developers write applications for the platform, possibly as a stepping-stone to an eventually iTV product from the company.

iPhone 5S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4: As Good as Gold in Brazil

If you live in Brazil and want to purchase the latest Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5S, you'll pay the equivalent of $1,585 for the 16 GByte model that costs about $200 (with a contract) in the U.S. The new PlayStation 4 from Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) costs about $400 in the U.S. and a whopping $1,850 in Brazil. And the Xbox One from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) that was launched Friday and costs around $500 in the U.S. will sell for $1,016 in Brazil.

The Motorola division of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) launched its low-cost Moto G model in Brazil earlier in November and the base 8 Gbyte unlocked version is expected to cost the equivalent of $280 ($179 in the U.S. when it becomes available next year).

Part of the problem, at least for the iPhone, is that Apple does not have a contract with any Brazilian carrier, so there are no subsidized phone prices. An iPhone 5S that costs about $199 to manufacture (not including software and marketing costs) and sells unlocked in the U.S. for $649 should probably not cost more than twice what it does in Brazil. Ah, but then, there are Brazilian taxes.

According to a Sony spokesperson, the base price for a PlayStation 4 on arrival in Brazil is $468. Taxes of one sort or another add more than $1,100 and the rest is retailer profit. Some 63% of the cost of a PlayStation 4 in Brazil goes to pay a variety of taxes.

The onerous taxes are intended to encourage companies to bring manufacturing operations to the world's fifth most populous country where they will support jobs and the local economy.

Apple is looking to circumvent the whole tax issue by building a plant in Brazil with its Taiwan-based manufacturing partner Foxconn. Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have also announced plans to build plants in Brazil. Under Brazilian law products manufactured in Brazil do not pay the hefty taxes for imported finished goods.

Brazil's economy, like other emerging economies over the past few years, has been booming, but inflation is beginning to take a toll on the country's spending power. Unemployment is rising as domestic demand falters, and foreign investment plans could be slowed or abandoned altogether.

11/24/2013

3 Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Stocks Ready to Break Out

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today.

Fairway Group

Fairway Group (FWM) sells fresh, natural and organic products, prepared foods and hard to find specialty and gourmet offerings. This stock closed up 10.6% at $24.47 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 388,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 146,163

Volume % Change: 190%

>>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Big Gains

From a technical perspective, FWM soared sharply higher here right off some near-term support at $22.03 and back above its 50-day at $24.02 with strong upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of FWM within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if FWM manages to take out Monday's high of $25.67 to $25.93 and then once it clears more key overhead resistance levels at $27.31 to its all-time high at $28.87 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FWM as long as it's trending above support at $22.03 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 146,163 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then FWM will set up to enter new all-time-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $33 to $35.

Buckeye Partners

Buckeye Partners (BPL) owns and operates refined petroleum products pipeline systems. This stock closed up 0.76% at $66.43 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 1.67 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 407,520

Volume % Change: 189%

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

From a technical perspective, BPL trended modestly higher here with strong upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of BPL within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if BPL manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $66.96 to its 50-day moving average at $67.19 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BPL as long as it's trending above Monday's low of $65.02 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 407,520 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then BPL will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from September that started just above $70. If that gap gets filled with volume, then shares of BPL will set up to re-test its 52-week high at $73.44.

Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming (PENN) is a diversified, multi-jurisdictional owner and manager of gaming and pari-mutuel properties. This stock closed up 0.95% at $56.05 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 1.77 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 858,142

Volume % Change: 170%

>>5 Stocks Hedge Funds Love This Fall

From a technical perspective, PENN spiked higher here right above some near-term support at $54.97 with strong upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months, with shares moving higher from its low of $48.70 to its recent high of $57.44. During that move, shares of PENN have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of PENN within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if PENN manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $56.67 to $57.44 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PENN as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $54.40 or above its 200-day at $53.53, and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 858,142 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then PENN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $59.93.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

11/23/2013

4 Really Long-Term Stocks for Kids

It's a great idea to get children interested in investing early, and buying some stocks for them is a great way to accomplish that. I'd recommend using a very long-term buy-and-hold strategy focused on high-quality, sustainable businesses. I'd forgo dividends and focus on long-term appreciation (just my personal opinion). Stocks that I'd recommend for this strategy include Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) , Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B ) , CarMax (NYSE: KMX ) , and Markel (NYSE: MKL ) . All are great companies that I'd be happy to hold for a decade.

Investment strategy: really long-term holding
Children, by nature of their young age, should have an ultra-long-term investing horizon and limited access to tax-sheltered accounts. Thus, a sound strategy is to pick a few quality companies and hold them for as long as possible. All capital-gains taxes will be deferred, you won't need to monitor the account too frequently, and it sets a good example for the children. Hopefully, they'll see firsthand the power of buy-and-hold investing, and they'll never fall into the folly of trading.

I'd also recommend individual stocks, as opposed to mutual funds or ETFs. Most investment planners will say that an index fund is a more efficient choice, but it doesn't offer the same learning opportunity as individual stocks. It's a lot harder to get excited about an index fund than about an actual business. I'd suggest diversifying as much as possible while keeping trading costs below 1%-2% of the total portfolio. And, if you can regularly add small amounts over time, that's all the better.

Stock selection criteria: sustainability and reinvestment opportunities
If you're planning to hold stocks for a decade or longer, it's important to find sustainable businesses -- those that by nature of their competitive position and industry will thrive for years. You don't want to invest in a new fad or technology that might be hot now but could be gone in a few years. You want to avoid products or industries with a high level of obsolesce. Management should be capable and honest if you're going to trust them with your money for decades.

And I know this is a bit controversial, but I prefer to avoid dividend payers. For small accounts, say $1,000, it really doesn't do much good to receive a 2.5% annual dividend (or $25 per year). That cash will probably just sit in the account, as it's not large enough to justify a trading commission to reinvest. And for larger accounts, dividends can create tax hassles -- you could end up paying the "Kiddie Tax" if investment income exceeds $1,900. So instead of dividend payers, I prefer companies that have ample room to profitably reinvest cash in their own businesses to drive long-term share appreciation.

One final consideration: If you can match a good investment opportunity with the child's interests, that's all the better. Part of the reason for investing for children is to give them a real-life lesson on business, saving, investing, and the like. If shares of their favorite store help them get interested, that's worth considering. Of course, children's interests will probably change frequently as they grow older. Keep that in mind.

My favorites: Amazon.com, Berkshire Hathaway, CarMax, and Markel
Amazon.com isn't an Internet fad -- it's a well-run retailer with a solid competitive position. Its leading position and huge size make it unlikely to be displaced. And even at its current size ($70 billion in annual revenue), it still has plenty of room to grow. Retail sales in the United States exceed $4 trillion annually, but e-commerce accounts for only 6% of that figure. Over the coming decades, more and more people will do their shopping online, and Amazon.com will be the natural beneficiary. Most people agree that CEO Jeff Bezos is a genius, and his strategy is to build the value of the business for the long term. That involves reinvesting heavily in the business and new growth initiatives, which means sacrificing short-term profits for long-term value.

Berkshire Hathaway is built to last. In addition to cash, stocks, bonds, and an array of profitable insurance operations, the company owns a diversified set of operating businesses, ranging from Dairy Queen to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. As whole, those businesses, which Warren Buffett has hand-selected, have a long-history of profitability, a strong competitive position, and talented managers. The company has never paid a dividend, but Buffett has been able to reinvest profits at a high rate of return, thus increasing the value of the business. Under Buffett's watch, book value per share has grown nearly 20% annually for nearly 50 years -- doubling the growth of the stock market during that period. Of course, Buffett is 83 years old. He's still sharp, and it's fully possible that he'll still be running the business when he's 100. But eventually he'll step away, and he is truly irreplaceable. I doubt we'll ever see another business leader with his talent. But he's recruited other very capable people, bought sustainable businesses, and created a culture and organizational structure that will outlive him.

CarMax is the nation's largest used-car dealer. It has a unique model for the industry -- a large selection of late-model cars, no-haggle pricing, and friendly, helpful salespeople. This approach has caught on with customers, 93% of whom would recommend CarMax to their friends. The company is growing: Management plans to open 10 to 15 stores annually over the next few years. It has lots of room to grow. Even as the market leader, it has only 123 stores and a 3% market share in late-model used-car sales. Used-car sales don't make up a fast growth market, but CarMax is consistently taking share at the expense of other dealers. I'd expect the company to continue opening new stores and pushing out less consumer-friendly dealers for decades. The company doesn't pay a dividend, as it's wisely reinvesting most of its cash into new stores and growth.

Markel is a specialty provider of property and casualty insurance. It has an impressive track record of writing profitable insurance and growing book value per share. Over the past 10 years, it's combined ratio has averaged 96, and book value per share has increased 230%. It has a strong team of managers, including Vice Chairman Steve Markel, a member of the founding family, and Chief Investment Officer Tom Gayner, a widely admired investor. The company is following the Berkshire Hathaway blueprint -- using insurance profits and float to acquire public and private businesses. The company doesn't pay a dividend, as it uses profits to reinvest in its business, generally at high rates of return.

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Judge Declares Tax Exclusion For Clergy Housing Payments Unconstitutional

Freedom From Religion Foundation Logo

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has won a stunning victory in the United States District Court For The Western District Of Wisconsin where Judge Barbara Crabb has ruled that a substantial tax benefit enjoyed by many thousands of clergy – ministers, priests, rabbis, imams and others – is unconstitutional. Code Section 107(2) provides that the gross income of a "minister of the gospel" does not include:

the rental allowance paid to him as part of his compensation, to the extent used by him to rent or provide a home and to the extent such allowance does not exceed the fair rental value of the home, including furnishings and appurtenances such as a garage, plus the cost of utilities.

The Christian terminology, lack of gender neutral language and brevity indicate that this has been part of the Code for a while. The exclusion for in-kind housing for "ministers of the gospel" 107(1), which remains untouched by the decision, goes back to 1921. The exclusion was extended to cash allowances in 1954. In 2002, the limitation "to the extent such allowance does not exceed the fair rental value of the home …….." was added.

How Big Is This?

Judge Crabb's ruling will not solve the deficit. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation Estimate of Federal Tax Expenditure the exclusion is worth about $700,000,000 per year. The estimate is not broken down between in-kind, which remains intact, and cash, declared unconstitutional. Over the decades, churches have moved away from owning parsonages to paying cash allowances, so I would hazard a guess that more of the lost revenue comes from the cash allowance. We might be talking half a billion or so until we get into "dynamic scoring", since it is likely that there will be a resurgence in the popularity of providing housing in-kind. One of the reasons that in-kind housing went out of favor was that ministers were missing out on the practically automatic wealth increase that came with home ownership. Those were the days.

How Does Something Unconstitutional Stay Around For So Long?

3 Biotech Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines to treat cancers by regulating cell signaling with small molecules. This stock closed up 8.5% to $2.79 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.58-$2.81

52-Week Range: $2.51-$24.59

Thursday's Volume: 9.66 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 11.93 million

From a technical perspective, ARIA spiked sharply higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $2.70 with decent upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of ARIA within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ARIA manages to take out Thursday's high of $2.81 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $2.82 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ARIA as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.58 or above more support at $2.33 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 11.93 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ARIA will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from October that started just above $4.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals

Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments for infectious diseases. This stock closed up 9.7% to $2.92 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.71-$2.95

52-Week Range: $2.26-$10.17

Thursday's Volume: 5.40 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 2.86 million

From a technical perspective, ACHN skyrocketed higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $2.85 with monster upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of ACHN within range of triggering another big breakout trade. That trade will hit if ACHN manages to take out Thursday's high of $2.95 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $2.98 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ACHN as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.71 or above more key support levels at $2.52 to $2.44 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 2.86 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ACHN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its gap down day high from September at $3.62. Any high-volume move above $3.62 will then give ACHN a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started at $7.50.

Immunomedics

Immunomedics (IMMU) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. This stock closed up 9.2% to $3.90 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $3.60-$3.93

52-Week Range: $2.11-$7.35

Thursday's Volume: 1.03 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.26 million

From a technical perspective, IMMU spiked sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $3.50 with decent upside volume. This stock has been dowtrending badly for the last month and change, with shares dropping from its high of $7.35 to its recent low of $3.28. During that move, shares of IMMU have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, the sharp move higher for IMMU on Thursday could be signaling that the downside volatility for IMMU is over in the short-term.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IMMU as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $3.50 or at $3.28 and then once it sustains a move or close above resistance at $3.94 to its 200-day moving average at $4.19 with volume that hits near or above 1.26 million shares. If we get that move soon, then IMMU will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 50-day of $4.93 or at $5.50 to $6.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

11/22/2013

Theme Park Stocks Produce Thrilling News for Investors (SEAS, SIX, FUN & IFLM)

Theme park stocks SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (NYSE: SEAS), Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE: SIX), Cedar Fair, L.P. (NYSE: FUN) and Independent Film Development Corporation (OTCMKTS: IFLM) have been producing a steady floe of news this week along with some pretty good returns for investors (for the most part) since the start of the year or longer. Just consider the following news:

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc Reports Earnings and Battles Bad Publicity. Last Wednesday, SeaWorld Entertainment, which has a diversified portfolio of 11 destination and regional theme parks that are grouped in key markets across the United States, reported record revenue of $538.4 million for an increase of 3% for an increase of $16.1 million and record net income of $120.2 million for an increase of $27.9 million or 30%. The CEO noted that the third quarter is an extremely important period for SeaWorld Entertainment as the summer travel season accounts for a significant portion of full year revenue and earnings. Results also showed that SeaWorld Entertainment had made headway in efforts to stem falling attendance as admissions shrank 3.6% during the quarter verses a 9.5% drop for the previous three months. The company blamed bad weather in July and fewer discounts for the attendance drop. However, SeaWorld Entertainment has also been the subject of a critical documentary about the treatment of its killer whales with former SeaWorld Employee John Hargrove recently discussing the documentary and the company's legal battle with the OSHA. For retail investors, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc is down about 8.7% since its IPO earlier this year and the controversial documentary along with the company's response to it have not helped investors.

Six Flags Entertainment Approves a Big Stock Repurchase Plan. Last Wednesday, Six Flags Entertainment Corp, the world's largest regional theme park company with 18 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada, approved a stock repurchase plan for the repurchase of $500 million of its stock. The press release noted that since February 2011, Six Flags Entertainment Corp has repurchased nearly $800 million worth of stock and has approximately $14 million available under its current plan. Otherwise, Six Flags Entertainment Corp has a market cap of $3.53 billion plus shares are up 21.3% since the start of the year and up 298% since May 2010.

Cedar Fair, L.P. is Upgrading Some of Its Theme Parks. Cedar Fair, L.P., one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world that owns and operates 11 amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels, has announced that its Knott's Berry Farm has two major projects for 2014, Camp Snoopy's area beautification and the revitalized Calico Mine Ride, which are slated to open early summer of 2014. Camp Snoopy celebrated its 30th anniversary this year while the Calico Mine Ride, which was designed by industry pioneer Bud Hurlbut, opened in Ghost Town in November 1960 and was quickly recognized as one of the world's most immersive "dark rides." In addition, Cedar Fair, L.P.'s CEO was on CNBC to say that King's Island will open the longest inverted coaster in the world ("Think of like a ski lift as a roller coaster, right, called banshee…") next spring. He also commented that while "staycations" came about due to the economy, they have allowed a whole new generation to discover how much fun a road trip can be plus consumers are still asking for the chance to have fun for just a few days. Cedar Fair, L.P. is up 40.4% since the start of the year and its up 291.1% over the past five years.

Independent Film Development Corporation Outlines Its Unique Theme Park Plans. Los Angeles based Independent Film Development Corporation, which intends to develop genre themed studio style resorts, is an up and coming small cap theme park stock that has recently announced an exclusive broker agreement with Beverly Hills based Camden Realty Group (CRG) for assistance in finding and acquiring suitable properties for development nationwide with the first project being the "Hilltop Manor Theme Resort and Production Studios."

This genre theme park and resort is planned for New York's Catskill Mountains and will be dedicated to the horror and science fiction genres of film and television. Current plans call for a luxurious 320 room 4 or 5 star hotel plus an old fashioned hedge maze; a lake with a "monster" living in it along with an island with castle ruins; and a number of rides having an "overall theme of the mysterious, the unexplained and the supernatural" with the overall park being a "place where people will be able to collectively celebrate things that go bump in the night." Independent Film Development Corporation's shares are up 425% since last January.

Contrary Trio to Bet Against Shorts

These outperformers have seen a significant spike in short interest; in light of their technical prowess, they could end up benefiting from this increase in skepticism, making them fodder for potential bullish trades, suggests Terri Stridsberg of Schaeffer Investment Research.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been an outperformer on the charts, gaining nearly 43% year-to-date, and about 62.5% on a year-over-year basis.

What's more, the stock tagged a new multi-year high of $14.83 yesterday. Meanwhile, the equity's late August/early September pullback was contained by its 40-week moving average, which has acted primarily as a floor since late May.

However, there is still plenty of skepticism levied against the passenger airline. Short interest soared by more than 94% during the past two weeks, and now represents over four days' worth of pent-up buying pressure, at LUV's average pace of trading.

Should the shares continue to trek higher, they could benefit from a wave of short-covering activity down the road.

Elsewhere, the brokerage bunch is divided toward Southwest Airlines Co., as the security maintains six strong buy endorsements, compared to four holds, and two sell or worse suggestions.

Additionally, the stock's average 12-month price target of $15.46 reflects expected upside of just 6% to LUV's current perch at $14.59.

This leaves plenty of room for a round of upgrades and/or price-target hikes, which could end up serving as tailwinds for the airline concern.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has enjoyed a banner 2013, boasting a year-to-date advance of more than 57% to trade at $16.70.

Furthermore, the shares have outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by roughly 11 percentage points during the past three months. Also, a look at the charts reveals that the $16.60-$16.80 area has emerged as an area of support in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, the stock continues to be pummeled by pessimists. During the latest reporting period, ATVI saw a 28.7% spike in short interest, bringing the number of shares sold short to almost 11 million.

This ample amount of available sideline cash could fuel a short-squeeze scenario, should the equity continue along its upward trajectory.

Meanwhile, data from the International Securities Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, and NASDAQ OMX PHLX shows a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.83 for Activision Blizzard, confirming puts bought to open have nearly doubled calls during the past two weeks.

In fact, this ratio ranks higher than 95% of similar readings taken over the past year, signaling speculators have been snapping up puts over calls at a near-annual-high pace. An unwinding of these bearish positions could add more fuel to ATVI's tank.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) has also been a solid performer on the technical front, climbing more than 48% so far this year—and outshining the SPX by about 15 percentage points over the most recent three month time frame—to hover at $75.76.

The security also reached a fresh record peak of $78.62 on September 19, and the subsequent pullback was cushioned by its 40-day moving average.

Even so, the clothing designer remains surrounded by naysayers. KORS saw a 24.5% jump in short interest over the past couple of weeks, and now these pessimistic positions account for a healthy 4.3% of the stock's available float.

With north of 6.4 million shares currently sold short, the security could be poised for further gains, should this group of skeptics hit the exits.

Also, Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) for Michael Kors checks in at 1.02, conveying puts slightly outweigh calls among options expiring in the next three months.

This ratio registers in the 77th annual percentile, implying near-term traders are more put heavy toward the equity than usual right now.

This host of put positions—particularly at the underfoot October 72.50 and 75 strikes, which collectively hold open interest of 3,054 contracts—could end up translating into options-related support in the short term.

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