What Sterling's ban means for Clipper finances

  NBA Commissioner: Donald Sterling banned NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The NBA dropped a heavy hammer on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. He has been banned for life from the league. He was fined $2.5 million.

And league commissioner Adam Silver said he will work to force Sterling to sell the team.

What happens now to the finances of the team and to Sterling's personal fortune?

First, a sale would likely mean a huge payday for Sterling, who has become one of the most reviled team owners in sports.

But it's not clear that Silver will be able to force Sterling to sell. Such a move requires the support of 22 of the other 29 owners. Many of them might be nervous about setting such a precedent, although Silver said Tuesday he expects to win that vote.

The Clippers team is worth $575 million, up from the $12 million Sterling reportedly paid in 1981, according to estimates from Forbes, a leading source of data on the finances of professional sports teams. That valuation would mean a 12% annual gain.

The most recent NBA team to change hands was the Milwaukee Bucks. It sold for $550 million -- 35% more than the team's estimated worth.

As for the ongoing finances for the team, a dozen sponsors announced on Monday they had ended or suspended sponsorship deals. But it's not clear how many have actually stopped making payments to the team.

Sports marketing consultant Marc Ganis said it's unlikely that sponsor contracts would allow them to cancel due to comments made by Sterling or similar controversies.

"[Sponsors] don't want to be connected with a brand as reviled as the Clippers brand is at the moment," said Ganis. "But they still may be required to make payments by the existing contracts."

And some sponsors may return to the team now that the NBA has banned Sterling, Ganis said.

Indeed, Silver said Tuesday he is hopeful he will be able to win them back.

"I would say the marketing partners of the Clippers and partners of the entire NBA should judge us by our response to this incident," he said.

"I'm hopeful there will be no long-term damage to the league or to the Clippers organization," he said. "I can understand how upset [the corporate sponsors] are, and I'll do my best to bring them back into! the NBA family."

Even if the Clippers take a revenue hit, the team is well positioned to stay profitable.

The team already turns a healthy profit on relatively low revenue, according to sports business experts.

The Clippers brought in $128 million in annual revenue in the most recent year, according to the most recent estimates by Forbes. That places the team's revenue near the bottom among the NBA's 30 teams. But the Clippers still turned a $15 million profit, Forbes estimates.

"This is a team that historically had low revenue and low attendance, and made money in spite of that," said Ganis.

  Abdul-Jabbar on 'plantation mentality'

And its finances and attendance have improved considerably since the team moved into the Staples Center in 1999. The team has been profitable every year since, according to Forbes.

Before the move, the Clippers typically had the worst attendance in the league, averaging just over 10,000 fans a game.

Since Staples opened, attendance has averaged 17,162, even though the Clippers had only four winning seasons in 15 years.

And as the team became a winner the past three years, its average attendance reached 19,200 a game.

Even if some fans boycott the team next year, continued on-court success could keep most of the seats filled.

And with Sterling banned, it's likely that many angry fans will again embrace the Clippers.

A spokesman for the Clippers did not respond to a request for comment earlier in the day ahead of the announcement.

4 Stocks to Buy to Hedge Against Higher Gas Prices

Popular Posts: Store Your Cash In These 3 Self-Storage REITsMore Dividend Growth Ahead From KMI Stock3 Pros, 3 Cons For TRP Stock & The Keystone XL Pipeline Recent Posts: The Sun Is Setting for Chinese Solar Stocks 4 Stocks to Buy to Hedge Against Higher Gas Prices Store Your Cash In These 3 Self-Storage REITs View All Posts

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

Source: Flickr

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

The culprit? Lower supply here at home.

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

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

Valero (VLO)

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

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

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

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

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

Phillips 66 (PSX)

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

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You can add gasoline exporter to that list of achievements.

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

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

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

Enterprise Products Partners, LP (EPD)

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

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

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

United States Gasoline Fund (UGA)

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 Best Telecom Stocks For 2015

On this day in economic and business history ...

The company now known as Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) was first created when Bell Atlantic announced its acquisition of rival telecom GTE on July 28, 1998. The $52.8 billion megadeal immediately vaulted the as-yet-unnamed Verizon (it would be nearly two years before "Verizon" was chosen as the new telecom's corporate name) into the highest levels of American telecom power. Of course, a deal of this size prompted federal regulators to announce plans for a close examination, as Bell Atlantic was already the largest local phone company in the United States, and the two telecoms would also combine to serve 10.6 million wireless subscribers, nearly a sixth of the entire U.S. wireless market at the time.

It took two years for the deal to work its way through the regulatory process, and by the time the two companies officially merged into Verizon, they served 77 million wired-line subscribers. Verizon became the 10th-largest company by revenue in the U.S. in its first year of operation, and its wireless partnership has long held on to the subscriber lead, with more than 106 million subscribers reported in its 2012 fiscal year a nearly fivefold improvement over the 23 million subscribers reported after the merger closed. Verizon's importance to the engines of American prosperity earned it a spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) a mere four years after its creation.

5 Best Telecom Stocks For 2015: China Teletech Holding Inc (CNCT)

China Teletech Holding, Inc., formerly Guangzhou Global Telecom, Inc., incorporated on March 29, 1999, is a distributor of pre-paid calling card and integrated mobile phone handsets and a provider of mobile handset value-added services. The Company serves as one of principal distributors of China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile products in Guangzhou City. The Company is also developing an on-line refill platform with China Mobile to develop its on-line business in the Guangdong Province. On March 30, 2012, the Company acquired China Teletech Limited.

The Company operates its business through its subsidiaries in China: Guangzhou Renwoxing Telecom Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Global Telecommunication Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Rongxin Technology Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Rongxin Investment Co., Ltd. The Company also engages in the business of wholesale and distribution of mineral water, as well as trading of wine in China. The Company has cooperative distribution relationships with Panasonic, Motorola, LG, GE, Bird, Samsung corporations for their mobile handsets.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  HONG KONG (MarketWatch)-- Hong Kong stocks rose early Thursday, as China Mobile Ltd. shined on news of iPhone pre-orders hitting 1 million units. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) added 0.6% to 23,032.09. Market heavyweight China Mobile (HK:941) (CHL) rallied 0.9%, as the world's largest mobile carrier said it has received more than 1 million pre-orders for the iPhone before it goes on sale in the carrier's stores on Friday, at a time when Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook visited Beijing for future cooperation between the two giants. Telecom equipment shares also advanced, with ZTE Corp. (HK:763) (ZTCOF) rising 1.2%. Meanwhile, China Mobile's smaller rivals slipped, as China Unicom (HK:762) (CHU) dropped 0.7%, and China Telecom (HK:738) (CNCT) fell 0.5%. China South City Holdings (HK:1668) , a developer of logistics and trade centers, surged 56%, after the company announced that Internet giant Tencent Holdings (HK:700) (TCTZF) would invest about 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($195 million) for an almost 10% stake in the developer in order to expand their business online, including e-commerce and online payment services. Tencent Holdings (HK:700)

5 Best Telecom Stocks For 2015: j2 Global Inc (JCOM)

j2 Global, Inc., incorporated on December 14, 1995, is a provider of services delivered through the Internet. The Company provides cloud services to businesses of all sizes, from individuals to enterprises. The Company operates in two segments: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. The Company's Digital Media business segment consists of the Web properties and business operations of Ziff Davis, Inc. (Ziff Davis). The Company�� cloud services and solutions include fax, voice and unified communications, email and customer relationship management, online backup, global network and operations, and customer support services. In February 2013, it acquired IGN Entertainment, Inc. On November 9, 2012, the Company acquired Ziff Davis. Effective March 18, 2013, it acquired MetroFax Inc. In April 2013, the Company acquired Backup Connect BV.

Business Cloud Services

The Company's eFax and MyFax online fax services enable users to receive faxes into their email inboxes and to send faxes via the Internet. eVoice and Onebox provides the Company's customers a virtual phone system with various available enhancements. The Company's FuseMail service provides the Company's customers email, archival and perimeter protection solutions, while Campaigner provides its customers email marketing solutions. KeepItSafe enables the Company's customers to securely backup their data and dispose of tape or other physical systems. The Company's CampaignerCRM business provides customer relationship management solutions designed to increase the Company's customers' sales and increase efficiency. The Company also generates Business Cloud Services revenues from patent licensing and sales and advertising. The Company�� Business Cloud Services and solutions are of two types: direct inward-dial number (DID) -based, which are services provided in whole or in part through a telephone number and non-DID-based, which are its other cloud services for business. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had DIDs issued! to approximately 2.1 million paying subscribers.

The Company's services allow individuals to receive and send faxes as email attachments. In addition to eFax , the Company offers online fax services under a variety of alternative brands, including MyFax , eFax Plus , eFax Pro, eFax Corporate and eFax Developer . eVoice is a virtual phone system that provides small and medium-sized businesses on-demand voice communications services, featuring a toll-free or local company DID, auto-attendant and menu tree. With these services, a subscriber can assign departmental and individual extensions that can connect to multiple United States or Canadian DIDs, including land-line and mobile phones and Internet protocol (IP) networks. These services also include advanced integrated voicemail for each extension, unifying mobile, office and other separate voicemail services and improving efficiency by delivering voicemails in both native audio format and as transcribed text. Onebox is a unified communications suite. It combines the features of many of the Company's other branded services, plus added functionality, to provide a virtual office. Onebox includes a virtual phone system, hosted email, online fax, audio conferencing and Web conferencing.

FuseMail offers hosted email, email encryption and email archival services to businesses. These solutions are hosted offsite and seamlessly integrated into a customer's existing email system. The services include hosted email, VirusSMART virus scanning, CypherSMART encryption services, SpamSMART SPAM filtering and VaultSMART / PolicySMART archiving, which delivers a secure, scalable email archiving and customizable compliance tool to correspond with a company's retention policy. Campaigner is an email marketing service that enables businesses to easily create and send personalized one-to-one email communications to subscribers and customers to build better relationships. Campaigner also helps businesses increase the size of their mailing lists, compl! y with em! ail regulations like CAN-SPAM and get more emails to more inboxes. CampaignerCRM is a cloud-based CRM solution specifically designed to help small/medium-sized businesses close more deals, reduce the sales cycle and sell larger deals. CampaignerCRM has a sales checklist capability that gives sales representatives a step-by-step plan to closing a deal. With CampaignerCRM's Social CRM capabilities, companies can seamlessly integrate a customer's latest information from Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook directly into their Contact profile. KeepItSafe provides managed and monitored online backup solutions for businesses, using its ISO-certified platform.

The Company's Business Cloud Services business operates multiple physical Points of Presence (POPs) worldwide, a central data center in Los Angeles and several remote disaster recovery facilities. The Company connects its POPs to its central data centers through redundant, and often times diverse, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using the Internet. The Company's network is designed to deliver value-added user applications, customer support and billing services for the Company's customers anywhere in the world and a local presence for its DID-based service customers from thousands of cities in 49 countries on six continents. The Company offers DIDs covering all major metropolitan areas in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and such other major cities as Berlin, Hong Kong, Madrid, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Zurich. The Company has customers located throughout the world.

The Company's Business Cloud Services customer service organization supports the Company's cloud services customers through a combination of online self-help, email communications, interactive chat sessions and telephone calls. The Company's Internet-based online self-help tools enable customers to resolve simple issues on their own, eliminating the need to speak or write to the Company's customer service re! presentat! ives. The Company's Business Cloud Services segment customer service organization provides email support seven days per week, 24 hours per day to all subscribers. Paying subscribers have access to live-operator telephone support seven days per week, 24 hours per day. Dedicated telephone support is provided for corporate customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Live sales and customer support services are available in nine languages, including English, Spanish, Dutch, German, French and Cantonese.

Digital Media

The Ziff Davis portfolio of Web properties, including PCMag.com, ExtremeTech.com, Geek.com, ComputerShopper.com, LogicBuy.com and Toolbox.com features reviews of technology products, technology-oriented news and commentary, professional networking tools for IT professionals and online deals and discounts for consumers. The Company generates Digital Media revenues from the sale of display advertising targeted to in-market technology buyers and from the sale of customer leads to online merchants and business-to-business leads to IT vendors. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Digital Media Web properties attracted 345 million visits and 1.1 billion page views.

PCMag is a trusted online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news and buying guides. Toolbox.com is a network of online communities that allows experienced technology professionals to share collective knowledge and collaborate to resolve problems more efficiently. Toolbox.com includes professional networking tools, blogs, collaboration tools and reference guides. Geek.com is an online technology resource and community for technology enthusiasts and professionals. Its gaming site includes IGN.com and men's lifestyle site includes AskMen.com.

The Company competes with Google AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, AOL's Ad.com and Microsoft Media Network.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on j2 Global (Nasdaq: JCOM  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Dave and Donald Moenning]

  Internet Software & Services has been the place to be in 2013. In addition to Shutterstock (SSTK), just take a look at these constituents of this red-hot sub-industry: Pandora Media (P), Facebook (FB), j2 Global (JCOM), Yelp (YELP), CoStar Group (CSGP),LinkedIn (LNKD), etc. The list of superb stocks in the Internet Software & Services space goes on and on. Focusing on stocks in the top-performing sub-industries usually helps bullish trades, so today, let's take a closer look at Shutterstock Inc for a short-term long trade.

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  j2 Global Inc. (JCOM)

  One company that many readers may not be familiar with is j2 Global Inc. My purpose in featuring this aggressive candidate was to offer an example of a historically pure growth technology company that appears to be morphing into a dividend growth stock. But before I show that, I offer the following slide that provides an overview of j2 Global�� business.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Chorus Ltd (CNU)

Chorus Limited maintains and builds a network made up of local telephone exchanges, cabinets and copper and fiber cables. The Company has approximately 32,000 kilometers of fiber and 130,000 kilometers of copper cabling. These cables connect back to local telephone exchanges. Chorus fiber also connects mobile phone towers owned by mobile service providers. About 7,000 cabinets provide interconnection points for around 50% of the lines in its network. A range of these cabinets are mini telephone exchanges and have electronic broadband equipment installed in them. In some cases, retail service providers have chosen to install their own broadband equipment in an exchange and pay the Company for the rental of the access line. It offers a range of products delivered over its copper network and new products designed to provide access to the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) fiber network. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Watsa sold two stocks in the fourth quarter: Continucare Corp. (CNU) and First Place Financial Corp. (FPFC). He reduced Dell (DELL), one of his largest holdings, but almost 60%.

5 Best Telecom Stocks For 2015: Ziggo NV (ZIGGO)

Ziggo NV is the Netherlands-based provider of entertainment, information and communication through television, Internet and telephony services. The Company provides digital, interactive and high definition (HD) television, broadband Internet, data communication and telephony services to both private and corporate customers. To business customers, it offers services over the network. For home use and small business, they are provided through business bundles and packages, such as Office Basis, Internet Plus and All-in-1. Ziggo NV serves around 3 million households, with almost 1.8 million Internet subscribers, more than 2.2 million subscribers using digital television and about 1.4 million telephony subscribers. Additionally, it operates a music streaming service, Ziggo Muziek, and a fiber optic network. The Company is wholly owned by Zesko Holding BV and has several subsidiaries, such as Zesko BV, Ziggo Bond Company Holding BV and Ziggo Bond Company BV, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Ziggo NV (ZIGGO), a Dutch cable-television operator, advanced 4.5 percent to 29.58 euros, after Vodafone confirmed it approached Kabel Deutschland. Liberty Global Inc., which owns an 18 percent stake in Ziggo, had also considered bidding for the German company, two people familiar with the matter said in April.

5 Best Telecom Stocks For 2015: Rostelekom OAO (ROSYY)

Rostelecom is a telecommunications services provider and carrier of domestic long distance (DLD) and international long distance (ILD) traffic in the Russian Federation. The Company owns and operates a trunk telecommunications network and carries the bulk of Russia's long-distance and international traffic. The Company renders domestic and international long-distance telecommunications services to end users and provides traffic throughput services to Russian operators, including each of Russia's seven inter-regional companies (IRCs) and alternative operators. In addition, the Company provides telecommunications services to various government entities across Russia and ensures the operation of the ground-based network of television and radio broadcasting channels. In December 2008, through Westelcom, its wholly owned subsidiary, Rostelecom acquired an additional 15.2% interest in CJSC Incom (Incom). Subsequently Incom became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. In December 2008, it sold 10.87% interest in CJSC Expo-Telecom.

In February 2008, the Company sold its 10.97% interest in Golden Telecom. In March 2008, the Company sold its 10.30% interest in OJSC AVIANET. In July 2008, Rostelecom acquired a 68.42% interest in OJSC RTComm.RU (RTComm.RU). In September 2008, the Company sold its 15% interest in CJSC Transportation Digital Networks.

The Company has entered into service contracts with the IRCs and other operators of local and intra-regional networks to act as its regional agents. In this capacity, the Company�� agents bill end users, prepare, print and deliver invoices and collect payments from end users and perform customer service functions. Its trunk network, which transmits a Russia's domestic and international long-distance traffic, comprises approximately 150,000 kilometers of digital and analog lines.

The Company�� primary network consists of trunk cables linked to the IRCs networks and to its international exchanges for connections with for! eign operators, as well as a satellite communications network. As of December 31, 2008, the Company�� digital network comprised 49,987 kilometers, including 35,291 kilometers of fiber optic lines (FOLs) and 14,696 kilometers of digital radio-relay lines.

As of December 31, 2008, the Company owned 13 international exchanges, which allow for ILD traffic management, including four in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg (Lyuban) and one each in Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Kaliningrad and Murmansk. The combined capacity of these switches was 235,500 channels. In addition, the Company had 15 transit and six multi-transit domestic long-distance exchanges interconnected to its telecommunications network for traffic transit that provide access to DLD services to local users. The domestic long-distance exchanges and their connecting digital channels constitute an integrated services digital network (ISDN) with channel switches, to which the networks of IRCs and alternative operators are connected. The trunk exchanges of Moscow and Pavlov Posad route domestic long-distance traffic between switching centers, as well as directly to and from end users.

As of December 31, 2008, the Company�� domestic long-distance trunk network consisted of 675,300 digital and 900 analog channels. Rostelecom provides domestic and international ISDN services through 76 trunk exchanges. The Company has an open network of multimedia communications. Connected to this network are subscriber units in 76 Russian regions and 13 retail outlets.

Rostelecom�� main satellite communications network is operated by 16 nodal land-based stations located in Russia. The Company also operates a second satellite communications network, Reserv, which comprises one central and one periphery land-based station. To enable its operation, it leases channels from OJSC Gazcom, which operates earth satellite vehicle Yamal-200. The Company rents domestic and international fixed satellite chan! nels from! FSUE Space Communications, CJSC SatComLine, CJSC SvyazContactInform, OJSC YamalTelecom and CJSC Zond Holding, which are Russian satellite telecommunications companies that operate satellites in the FSUE Space Communications and Intelsat systems.

The Company competes with TransTelecom, Synterra, FSUE Space Communications, TeliaSonera and Golden Telecom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Halia Pavliva]

  The Bloomberg Russia-US gauge slipped 0.4 percent to 104.16, paring its advance this month to 7.7 percent. CTC Media Inc. (CTCM), the Nasdaq-listed Russian television company, rallied 2.6 percent to $12.86, the highest level since April 25. The stock has climbed 22 percent this month, making it the best performer on the Bloomberg-Russia gauge. VimpelCom is the second-biggest gainer on the index this month, followed by OAO Rostelecom (ROSYY), which has increased 17 percent after two months of declines.

AT&T Inc. (T) Q1 Earnings Preview: Price War To Hit New Subscribers?

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) will release the company's first-quarter 2014 financial results after the New York Stock Exchange closes on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. At 4:30 p.m. ET the same day, AT&T will host a conference call to discuss the results. The company's earnings release, Investor Briefing and related materials will be available at AT&T Investor Relations before the conference call begins.

Wall Street anticipates that telecom services company will earn $0.70 per share for the quarter, which is $0.06 more than last year's profit of $0.64 per share. iStock expects AT&T to top Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is $0.72, two cents more than expected.

[Related -How Installment Plans Impact EPS Of AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)?]

Sales, like earnings, are expected to rise, growing 3.4% year-over-year (YoY). AT&T's consensus revenue estimate for Q1 is $32.41 billion, more than last year's $31.36 billion.

AT&T Inc. (AT&T), is a holding company. The Company is a provider of telecommunications services. The services and products offered by the Company include wireless communications, local exchange services, long-distance services, data/broadband and Internet services, video services, telecommunications equipment, managed networking, wholesale services and directory advertising and publishing. AT&T operates in three segments: Wireless, Wireline, and Other.

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The cellular carriers have been going to it price wise lately, which could put the squeeze on margins in Q1; however, connecting tablets has been the butter for T's wireless bread lately. In 2013, Wireless accounted for 56% of AT&T's revenue, wireline data i.e. U-Verse 28%, Wireline Voice (landline) and other 16%.

[Related -T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS): How T-Mobile's ETF Plan Will Impact Rivals In Q1?]

Now, managements VIP plan calls for YoY growth of 2-3%. Those projections could face some challenges. According to Google Trends, search volume intensity (SVI) is down sharply in Q1 2014 versus Q1 2013. SVI decreased 29.73%. Although SVI has led us astray a few times in the past, it is possible that aggressive competitor pricing is taking its toll on T, or that the company is holding market share while new subscriber growth slows, maybe a lot.

U-verse queries, on the other hand, grew. Search volume intensity for the keyword "AT&T U-Verse" were up 7.35% year to year. Considering the way T's revenue pie is sliced, wireless could be a drag if trends are predictive.

While Google Trends are headed in one direction, analyst enthusiasm is headed in the other. In the last 30 days, 14 analysts upped their outlooks with six doing the same in the last week.

Wall Street should be too far off the mark as the communications giant's EPS tend to hug the consensus estimate. In the last 16 quarters, earnings beat by as much as $0.04 and missed by as much as -$0.03 but, on average reported EPS strayed less than a penny from the estimate.

Overall: The iEstimate suggests AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) earnings will hug the consensus once again; however, Google Trends say T could be struggling to add new subscribers to the wireless business due to stiff price competition. Meanwhile, U-Verse could be the source of our projected surprise if SVI is true. 

10 Worst “Strong Sell” Stocks This Week — RCII INFI QSII and more

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This week, these ten stocks have the worst year-to-date performance. Each of these also rates an “F” (“strong sell”) on Portfolio Grader.

Share prices of RentACenter, Inc. () are down 22.1% since the first of the year. Rent-A-Center operates in the rent-to-own industry in the United States. As of April 24, 2014, 18.7% of outstanding RentACenter, Inc. shares were held short. .

Since January 1, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. () has fallen 22.1%. Infinity Pharmaceuticals researches and develops cancer drugs. .

Shares of Quality Systems, Inc. () have dipped 22.3% since the first of the year. Quality Systems develops and markets healthcare information systems. Trade volume is up 199.2% from the previous week. The stock’s trailing PE Ratio is 133.70. .

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Since January 1, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. () has plunged 23.6%. American Eagle Outfitters designs, markets, and sells its own brand of low-price clothing, accessories, and personal care products for young adults. The stock has a trailing PE Ratio of 26.40. .

Since the first of the year, the price of Clean Energy Fuels () is down 29.2%. Clean Energy Fuels sells natural gas fueling solutions to its customers mainly in the United States and Canada. As of April 24, 2014, 19.9% of outstanding Clean Energy Fuels shares were held short. .

The price of Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. () is down 31.2% since the first of the year. Alpha Natural Resources produces, processes and sells steam and metallurgical coal. As of April 24, 2014, 22.5% of outstanding Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. shares were held short. .

Since the first of the year, Weight Watchers International, Inc. () has tumbled 35.5%. Weight Watchers is a provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of company-owned and franchise operations. As of April 24, 2014, 19.1% of outstanding Weight Watchers International, Inc. shares were held short. Shares of the stock are being traded at a very rapid pace, up 120.3% from the week prior. .

The price of UTi Worldwide () has fallen 39.5% since the first of the year. UTi Worldwide is a supply chain services and solutions company. As of April 24, 2014, 10% of outstanding UTi Worldwide shares were held short. .

Shares of Walter Energy () have slumped 46.6% since the first of the year. Walter Energy is a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal for the global steel industry. As of April 24, 2014, 13.3% of outstanding Walter Energy shares were held short. .

Shares of Aeropostale, Inc. () have slipped 47.1% since January 1. Aeropostale is a mall-based specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories. As of April 24, 2014, 28.5% of outstanding Aeropostale, Inc. shares were held short. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Financial industry groups oppose adding exam scores to BrokerCheck

Bloomberg, iStock, Gerardo Tabones

As Finra considers ways to improve BrokerCheck, two industry groups said they will oppose efforts to expand the database by adding brokers' scores on securities licensing exams.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. board will take the first step toward strengthening its broker database when it meets on Thursday to consider a rule requiring brokerages to adopt written procedures to verify the accuracy and completeness of the information it submits on the Form U4 for brokers joining the firm.

The U4 is the foundation of broker profiles on Finra's BrokerCheck system, which is designed to help investors find red flags that would indicate problems with brokers with whom they might do business. BrokerCheck has been criticized recently by investor-advocacy groups and federal lawmakers for containing inaccurate and incomplete information.

David Bellaire, executive vice president and general counsel at the Financial Services Institute Inc., said that background checks would not be new for the independent broker-dealers and financial advisers that belong to the organization.

“Many of our firms already perform routine credit and other background checks when they're recruiting and supervising financial advisers,” Mr. Bellaire said.

The FSI backs Finra's efforts to improve the accuracy of information in the Central Registration Depository and on BrokerCheck, Mr. Bellaire said. Information included on BrokerCheck is drawn from the CRD.

But the group will evaluate the frequency, detail and potential cost of Finra's new background-check requirements to determine whether it supports the proposal. The rule has not yet been posted on the Finra website.

“If the Finra proposal memorializes what our member firms are already doing, it would be helpful to set that standard for the whole industry,” Mr. Bellaire said.

In an interview earlier this month, Finra chairman and chief executive Richard G. Ketchum said that the industry-funded broker regulator is reviewing BrokerCheck to look for instances of underreporting and is considering adding more disclosure categories.

The database is supposed to include information about brokers' 10-year employment history, charges and convictions for felonies and investment-related misdemeanors, disciplinary actions, investment-related civil and judicial actions and proceedings, and customer-initiated complaints and arbitration.

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The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association has been pushing Finra to include more information on BrokerCheck, such as older bankruptcies, tax liens, firings and internal investigations of brokers at their firms and broker scores on securities examinations. That data can be found on the CRD but not on BrokerCheck.

! A major Wall Street industry group said that the PIABA idea goes too far.

“We're concerned about this notion that everything in the CRD should be published on BrokerCheck,” said Kevin Carroll, managing director and associate general counsel at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. “We don't think all that information is relevant and helpful to investors and could be prejudicial to brokers and their firms.”

For instance, Mr. Carroll opposes posting brokers' scores on securities licensing exams. He used the illustration of a broker who failed an exam the first time he took it but then passed later and has been conducting a successful business for many years.

“So, he failed the exam 15 years ago,” Mr. Carroll said. “What's the point? Are you saying he's not competent now? He's been performing [successfully for] over 15 years. There's more potential for that information to be misused and abused than to help investors make informed decisions.”

The FSI also opposes putting exam scores on BrokerCheck. Many brokers took the tests under the assumption that the goal was to pass rather than worrying about their score, Mr. Bellaire said.

“Now to disclose scores, and tell investors that they're a relevant and important component in their consideration, is misleading and unfair,” Mr. Bellaire said.

Both FSI and SIFMA said that they intend to talk to Finra about BrokerCheck changes.

“We want to work with them to make sure investors have access to information that's accurate and meaningful in their choice of a financial adviser,” Mr. Bellaire said.

Is the Worst Over for the Marvell Technology Group (MRVL)? XSD, SOXX & SOXL

There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for mid cap fabless semiconductor stock Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL) despite the fact that the company has lost a patent infringement battle with Carnegie Mellon University that could cost it $1.54 billion, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of semiconductor ETF benchmarks like SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA: XSD), iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector (NASDAQ: SOXX) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA: SOXL).

What Are Fabless Semiconductor Stocks and What is Marvell Technology Group?

The fabless model refers to the business model of outsourcing the manufacturing of silicon wafers with most semiconductor companies actually being fabless because of the high cost for a company to build their own manufacturing fab. Hence, these companies can concentrate on the design and marketing of chips while outsourcing the production to larger foundry companies.

Founded in 1995, mid cap Marvell Technology Group is a leading fabless semiconductor company that ships over one billion chips a year and has international design centers located in China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the US. Specifically, Marvell Technology Group's expertise in microprocessor architecture and digital signal processing, drives multiple platforms including high volume storage solutions, mobile and wireless, networking, consumer and green products.

As for potential performance peers, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF tracks the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index through approximately 51 holdings; the iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector tracks the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index through 31 holdings; and the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares seeks a return that is 300% of the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index though the use of leverage.

What You Need to Know or Be Warned About Marvell Technology Group

On April 1, Marvell Technology Group announced that the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued its judgment on the remaining motions in a lawsuit brought by Carnegie Mellon University (which claimed that at least nine Marvell circuit devices incorporated university owned patents, letting the company sell billions of chips without permission). Based on these decisions, the Court calculated the damages to Carnegie Mellon University, including enhancement, to total approximately $1.54 billion. Once a final judgment is entered, Marvell Technology Group intends to immediately appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, but the company noted that it has reached out to sureties who have indicated that they are willing to provide a bond without requiring Marvell to post collateral or otherwise harm its operations. 

Reuters noted that the payout is equal to 1.23 times the sum of the original $1.17 billion jury verdict (the third-largest in US patent litigation since 1995 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers in a June 2013 study)from December 2012, plus $79.6 million in damages for alleged infringements that the jury did not consider because it lacked recent financial information at the time. However, the judge also rejected the university's requests for double or triple damages that could have boosted the award to $3.75 billion because it would "severely prejudice" Marvell and perhaps threaten its survival.

Back in mid February, the Marvell Technology Group announced fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year 2014 earnings results with fourth quarter revenues rising 20% year over year to $932 million and GAAP net income coming in at $107 million verses $50 million while full year revenues rose 7% to $3.4 billion and net income came in at $325 million verses $307 million. The Chairman/CEO commented:

"Fiscal year 2014 was the start of a turnaround for Marvell as we delivered year over year growth in revenue and profits. We made good progress in a number of critical areas during the year. We are investing in advanced technologies that will help drive increased business opportunities and continued revenue and profit growth in all of our target end markets."

However and in the earnings call (which is available on Seeking Alpha here), management commented that the mobile business saw softer-than-initially-expected results, mainly due to product launch delays from some of customers. Nevertheless, management expects demand for mobile products to return to normal in the current quarter with the Chairman commenting: "…we are now well positioned to deliver strong growth in fiscal 2015."

Otherwise, it should be mentioned that Marvell Technology Group has a trailing P/E of 25.08 and a forward P/E of 13.39 along with s forward dividend of $0.24 for a 1.5% dividend yield and a 38% payout ratio. However, the last earnings report did note that:

Developments in on-going litigation could affect Marvell's ability to pay the dividend on March 27, 2014 under Bermuda law, where Marvell is incorporated. In such an event, the dividend payment could be delayed until such time as Marvell can meet statutory requirements under Bermuda law.

Share Performance: Marvell Technology Group vs. XSD, SOXX vs. SOXL

On Monday, mid cap Marvell Technology Group rose 1.22% to $15.80 (MRVL has a 52 week trading range of $9.46 to $16.65 a share) for a market cap of $7.95 billion plus the stock is up 14.8% since the start of the year, up 62.3% over the past year and up 51.6% over the past five years. Here is a look at the performance of Marvell Technology Group verses that of SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF, iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares: 

As you can see from the above chart, Marvell Technology Group started to underperform ETF benchmarks like the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF, iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares in late 2012.

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical charts for all four semiconductor investments:

The Bottom Line. Although its underperformed key semiconductor ETF benchmarks in recent years, mid cap Marvell Technology Group id definitely worth a closer look as it puts litigation behind it.

Risk of Stock Pullback Continues

Investors breathed a sigh of relief last week as major stock indexes recovered almost all their recent losses. Talk of a major downdraft faded.

Many money managers warned clients, however, that the risk of a sharp pullback has been delayed, not eliminated. Stocks still are expensive after last year's huge gains, making it hard for them to keep rising as the Federal Reserve reduces its support. The S&P 500 stock index last year rose 32% including dividends, its biggest gain since 1997.

"We continue to think we are going to see more volatility than we have in the past," said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust, which manages $915 billion in Chicago.

Markets have been so strong in recent years that major indexes haven't dropped 10% or more since September 2011. That is twice as long as usual. "Investors need to be positioned for that to happen at some point this year," Mr. McDonald said.

He is telling clients to keep needed cash in short-term and medium-term bonds, rather than in stocks.

So far, indexes have escaped the declines many money managers expect. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7% in January and early February and the S&P 500 dropped 6%, but both rebounded. Neither fell even 4% in the latest selling.

"I was a little surprised that we bounced back as quickly as we did" this month, said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Wealth Management, which oversees $130 billion.

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"I still look at this year as a transition period, from a market that was supported by easy money, by highly accommodative monetary policy, back to one that is based on fundamentals," he said. "All transitions are challenging but this will be sloppy to get through."

Because the Fed and other central banks have been holding interest rates low and stocks have been rising for so long, investors have forgotten what a normal market looks like, Mr. Dunigan said. As the Fed slowly allows interest rates to rise to more-normal levels over the next few years, he and others said, markets are likely to see more-normal volatility.

In an average bull market, the S&P 500 falls by 10% or more about once every 16 months, according to Ned Davis Research. It has been 31 months since the last 10% pullback, in September 2011.

The strains are showing. The Dow closed at a record 52 times last year but hasn't hit any records in 2014. The S&P 500 has hit eight records this year, after 45 last year. At the end of last week, the Dow was down 1% for the year and the S&P was up 0.9%, far from last year's pace.

Last year, the S&P 500 fell as much as 2% on only two days; it already has done so three times this year, says Mr. McDonald of Northern Trust.

Stock prices are high by historical standards, although not off the charts.

The S&P 500 trades at 16 to 18 times its component companies' earnings, depending on how the earnings are measured. That is above long-term averages of 15 to 16. At this level, stocks sometimes but not always have suffered declines. But the current price/earnings ratio is nowhere near the 35 to 40 range reached at the height of the 2000 tech-stock bubble.

A much-followed P/E measure maintained by Nobel Prize-winning Yale economist Robert Shiller, based on 10-year average earnings, is now well above its average historical level. But it isn't quite as high as when markets peaked in 2007 and is far from its 2000 level.

While fears of a decline are widespread, few money managers expect it to be severe or long lasting. One big reason: The Fed is determined to avoid recession and to keep financial markets stable, and investors feel it is foolish to fight the Fed.

Money managers increasingly are adopting a view dubbed "Tina" by Jason Trennert, founder of Strategas Research Partners. Tina stands for "there is no alternative" (to U.S. stocks).

Low interest rates are keeping some people from buying bonds. Although U.S. stocks are more expensive than European ones, many consider the U.S. economy stronger and safer. And with developing economies like China, Brazil and Russia facing problems, many U.S. investors are wary of those stocks.

"Where are you going to put your money, in cash at zero interest? Emerging markets still are suffering from their malaise and U.S. equities are looking kind of like a safe haven," said Janna Sampson, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments, which oversees $3.3 billion in Lisle, Ill.

Ned Davis Research has been warning for months that stocks could face a pullback in the middle of this year. It says the risks will heighten if stocks keep rising and investors become overly optimistic again. But its analysts, too, forecast that declines will be limited.

"Deeper bear markets generally are due to recessions," said the firm's global strategist, Will Geisdorf. Because the Fed is so supportive, "we see little threat of recession until 2016 or 2017."

Some investors are saying the market might escape a 10% decline this year. Instead it could suffer smaller pullbacks, as it already has been doing. Some term that a "sideways correction," meaning one where stocks don't fall heavily but fail to make significant gains for a long period.

One likelihood is that markets won't do what most analysts expect. Big pullbacks come when investors are overly optimistic and aren't expecting trouble. They stop hedging, move too heavily into stocks, get caught off guard by a decline and panic. Right now, it would take a sudden, unexpected shock to cause that kind of reaction.

Related: E.S. Browning has details on MoneyBeat.

Pandora Is Becoming an Auto Standard: What to Watch

Over the last five days, shares of Pandora (NYSE: P  ) are up 12% on news that Pandora is now featured in 23 major automotive brands and eight aftermarket suppliers. In this video, Motley Fool consumer goods analyst Blake Bos takes asks two questions: Will this affect Pandora's profits in a meaningful way and could this increased auto presence for the streaming Internet radio provider mean trouble for Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI  ) ? Blake discusses Pandora's plan for increased profits and what to watch to be sure it's on track, and talks about the differences between Pandora and Sirius.

Pandora has won millions of devotees among music fans but few supporters on Wall Street. The online jukebox seems to be redefining the way we consume music, a transformation that's only likely to grow. But high royalty rates and competition from all corners threatens to silence the company. Can Pandora translate success with its listeners into a prosperous business model that will deliver for investors? Learn about the key opportunities and potential pitfalls facing the upstart radio streamer in The Motley Fool's premium research report. All you have to do is click here now to subscribe to this invaluable investor's resource.

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Is Google Glass Already Dead?

It's been an interesting few months for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Glass. Still in the midst of being tested by its "Explorers," Glass has received mixed reviews from users and few warm fuzzies from the public.

I wrote in an earlier article that people just need time to get used to the idea of wearable computing -- but I'm starting to question whether we'll ever reach that point. With public bans on Glass already abounding and even new negative terminology created for people who wear Glass (look it up -- this is a family publication!), Google Glass may never get the chance to take off.

Glass half empty
News that Google banned the device at its own shareholders' meeting surfaced a few days ago, but according to a BGR article, Google said it didn't ban the device; it just doesn't allow recording devices at the meeting. A Google representative told BGR that several people were wearing the device in the meeting, presumably while not recording.

At Tesla's annual shareholders meeting last week, an attendee not only was wearing Google Glass but did so while asking Elon Musk a question during the Q&A time. While it wasn't clear whether or not he was recording or snapping pictures, no one asked him to remove the device even while talking with the company CEO.

But others haven't been so kind.

Ceasars Entertainment has already instituted a ban on the device from its gambling floors nationwide, and other casinos have done the same or are at least talking about it. Hospitals have discussed adding Glass to its list of other recording devices that aren't allowed in their facilities. A dive bar in Seattle was the first to ban the device (mainly for publicity reasons), and legislators in West Virginia have proposed banning the device while driving.

In a Scientific American article last month, David Pogue wrote: "If Google's not careful, Glass will go the way of the Segway. It will be another stunning technology achievement, ultimately doomed to nichehood by the pure awkwardness, the attention-grubbing self-centeredness, of using it in public."

Herein lies the problem. Glass is an innovative device, and it could potentially transform the way we interact with the world -- if we choose to accept it. If we find the technology too creepy or too invasive, then it won't live long enough to transform or change anything.

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Breaking the Glass barrier
The concern over Glass isn't unwarranted, if only for the fact that the device that is always pointed at someone or something -- making it easier than a phone to capture video or pictures.

With Glass expected to go on sale to consumers next year, Google investors should take note of the public skepticism of the device -- as well as the hesitancy from businesses and legislators. Even if a large group of consumers are interested in Glass, they may be cautious to purchase a device that so far has received less than a warm welcome and may not even be usable in the ways they want.

Then again, maybe we're all overthinking it.

Even if Glass fails, Google is on a path of innovation that can't be stopped. Besides its everyday offerings of email, online ads, and the Android OS the company has its hand in online shopping delivery services, autonomous vehicles, and much more. That's why it's more important than ever to understand each piece of Google's sprawling empire. In The Motley Fool's new premium research report on Google, we break down the risks and potential rewards for Google investors. Simply click here now to unlock your copy of this invaluable resource.

Judge: GM need not tell owners to park recall cars

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A Texas judge has denied an order that would force owners to stop driving more than 2 million General Motors small cars under recall for defective ignition switches.

The lawsuit, filed in Corpus Christi, Tex., asked a judge to compel GM to issue a "park it now" order to owners of Chevrolet Cobalts abd HHRs, Saturn Ions and Skys, and Pontiac G5s and Solstices, mostly from 2003 through 2007 model years.

Defective ignition switches found in those vehicles have been linked to 31 crashes and 13 deaths. Ignition keys, especially when attached to key chains with multiple other keys, can can slip into accessory mode while the car is drive, shutting power to air bags, power steering and braking.

Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi deferred the matter to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, which has been involved in the recall since mid-February or before.

GM CEO Mary Barra has repeatedly said the recalled vehicles are safe to drive if all but the ignition key is removed from the key chain.

Replacement parts have started arriving in dealerships, but it will take months to make repairs on all 2.6 million recalled vehicles.

GM has said it will take a $1.3 billion charge in the first quarter related to the cost of the recall.

Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibus are shown at the Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township, Mich. Both models are being recalled, covering most model years from 2004 to 2009, as part of the 1.3 million vehicles that General Motors plans to fix to correct a power steering problem.  (Photo: Paul Sancya AP)View Fullscreen Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, including most 2004 to 2009 models. is being recalled. Here it's seen in an ad from 2003  (Photo: Chevrolet)View Fullscreen Chevrolet HHR's are seen on display at a Chevrolet dealership in San Jose, Calif.  (Photo: Paul Sakuma AP)View Fullscreen 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts are being recalled. This is a 2009 model  (Photo: Chevrolet)View Fullscreen 2008 Chevrolet Malibu LT. X08CH_MA023 (United States)  (Photo: GM Chevrolet)View Fullscreen 2009 Saturn Aura is among the vehicles being recalled  (Photo: GM Wieck)View Fullscreen This is the 2006 Saturn Ion, one of the models subject to the recall  (Photo: GM Wieck)View FullscreenLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:ReplayAutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

3 Pharmaceuticals to Profit on Obamacare

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Although the political battles over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will not end anytime soon, one thing is certain: More people with health insurance coverage translates into higher sales of prescription medicines and other innovative treatments, and that’s good news for pharmaceuticals.

Source: Flickr

Pharmaceuticals are attractive even independent of ACA concerns, thanks to their size and stability, not to mention dividends.

Even before Obamacare’s individual mandate took effect, total spending on medicines in the U.S. rose 4.2% to $329.2 billion last year, according to a study on medicine use and healthcare costs released by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics this week.

Factors driving the growth included drug price increases, greater use of the healthcare system, higher spending on new medicines and a reduction in the impact of patent expirations. And transformations in disease treatment will continue to be a game changer for Big Pharma companies. The IMS study noted that these new offerings promise fewer doctor visits and hospitalizations, better outcomes and reduced use of long-term care facilities – all objectives of Obamacare.

In a global medicine market that IMS predicts will break the $1 trillion sales threshold this year, investors looking for growth and income can find a lot of ways to play the sector. When it comes to pharmaceuticals, I like large, stable companies with strong pipelines and a dividend yield of at least 2.7%. Pharmaceuticals that have been roughed up by the market in recent weeks are an added value.

That said, here are three pharmaceuticals to cash in on Obamacare and other industry trends:

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)

Market Cap: $280 billion
Current Dividend Yield: 2.7%

If you're looking for pharmaceuticals that have taken their share of lumps over the past few years, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) must be near the top of your list.

Massive quality-control problems in products ranging from common over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin to high failure rates in hip prostheses and recalls of insulin syringes have weighed on JNJ stock since 2009, triggering thousands of lawsuits and a tarnished reputation.

But CEO Alex Gorsky is working to revive JNJ's fortunes and reputation, settling lawsuits and moving the company forward. JNJ's quarterly earnings of $1.54 a share, which it reported on Tuesday, easily beat Wall Street's expected $1.48 EPS. Revenue for the quarter was $18.11 billion, a hair above analysts' expected $18 billion.

JNJ has a well-diversified product line and strong international sales; the company's drug pipeline includes innovative treatments like Vokanamet for Type 2 diabetes. Last month, JNJ announced its' Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit would team with biotech startup Alector on Alzheimer's treatments.

JNJ had a tough start to 2014, dropping nearly 9% between Jan. 17 and Feb. 4, but JNJ stock has rebounded nicely since then, gaining more than 8% since early March.

Sanofi (SNY)

Market Cap: $137 billion
Current Dividend Yield: 3.7%

Patent expirations have been a real problem for pharmaceuticals in recent years — and Paris-based Sanofi (SNY) has felt its share of pain on that front, particularly after its clot-busting drug Plavix went off patent two years ago.

More recently, the FDA delayed the launch of SNY's multiple-sclerosis drug Lemtrada; the company plans to resubmit that application in the second quarter. That said, SNY's blockbuster diabetes drug Lantus racked up $7.5 billion in sales last year alone and sales have grown by double-digit rates over the past couple of years.

Although Sanofi faces a patent cliff on the drug as early as next year, U300 is in late-stage clinical trials and has demonstrated even greater success in controlling blood sugar levels — particularly at night. SNY also is making a major play for emerging markets: most notably Africa.

Sanofi already has had a rough start to 2014, losing nearly 11% between Jan.1 and Feb. 6.  Although the stock has recovered that lost ground in the past seven weeks, SNY still looks affordable, trading at just 13 times forward earnings.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)

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Market Cap: $81 billion
Current Dividend Yield: 2.9%

According to the latest Express Scripts Drug Trend Report released last week, Hepatitis C treatments are projected to grow by 100% this year — and by 200% in each of the next two years.

That’s one great reason why pharmaceuticals like Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) are challenging Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) powerful Hep C franchise. It didn’t hurt BMY that the FDA gave its combination daclatasvir (DCV) and asunaprevir (ASV) drug its “breakthrough therapy designation” in February.

BMY also is raising the ante in its HIV franchise: last week, it submitted a new drug application to the FDA for a fixed-dose combination of atazanavir sulfate and a boosting agent known as cobicistat that can increase the level of certain HIV-1 medicines in the blood and make them more effective. If approved, atazanavir sulfate and cobicistat could offer patients living with HIV-1 a single tablet that eliminates the need to take a boosting agent in a separate tablet.

BMY shares are down 8% so far this year, and although its forward P/E of nearly 29 doesn't look cheap, I still rank it a buy now for the growth prospects and the stability. BMY has a beta of only 0.36 — that indicates it is 64% less volatile than the broader market.

As of this writing, Susan J. Aluise did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Top Services Stocks For 2015

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.

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.

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

Blackstone Group

Blackstone Group (BX) is an alternative asset manager and a provider of financial advisory services. This stock closed up 3.8% to $23.70 in Monday's trading session.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: Koninklijke Ahold NV (AHONY)

Koninklijke Ahold N.V. (Ahold), incorporated on April 29, 1920, is engaged in the operation of retail food stores in the United States and Europe through subsidiaries and joint ventures. Ahold�� retail operations are presented in four segments: Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover, Giant-Carlisle, Albert Heijn and Albert/Hypernova. During the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010 (fiscal 2009), it operated 2,909 stores. On February 8, 2010, Ahold�� Giant-Carlisle acquired 25 stores from Ukrop�� Super Markets.

Franchisees operated 783 of the Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall stores, 463 of which were either owned by the franchisees or leased independently from Ahold. Of the 2,446 stores, 20% were company-owned and 80% were leased. Ahold�� stores range in size from 20 to over 10,000 square meters. Albert Heijn is a food retailer in the Netherlands. Etos is a health and beauty retailer in the Netherlands. Gall & Gall is a wine and liquor specialist in the Netherlands. Stop & Shop is a supermarket brand, operating in six states in the northeast United States. Giant-Landover is a supermarket brand, operating in four states in the mid-Atlantic United States. Peapod is an online grocery delivery service working in partnership with Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover. It also serves the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, and the northern areas of Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  As mentioned, Kroger is still swallowing Harris Teeter and has said it needs time to make more acquisitions. Royal Ahold (NASDAQOTH: AHONY  ) is also said to be leery about doing large acquisitions these days, while Cerberus recently finished acquiring the Albertsons and Acme chains from SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU  ) �for $3.3 billion.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: ExlService Holdings Inc.(EXLS)

Exlservice Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides outsourcing and transformation services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its outsourcing services include claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business processing, policy servicing, trades/sub-account transactions, add-on processing, premium audit, billing and collection, and customer services in insurance and healthcare sector; back-office processing for customer operations, metering-related services and billing, debt recovery operations, imbalance management, and account management services in utilities sector; and servicing and processing various banking products, including residential mortgage lending, retail banking, credit cards, consumer finance, commercial lending, and investment management in banking and financial services sector. The company?s outsourcing services also co mprise processing transactions, including supply chain management, warehousing, transloading, transportation management, and international logistics services in transportation and logistics sector; managing and improving operational, financial, and analytical functions for travel management companies; and finance and accounting services, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, inter-company reconciliations, financial and statutory reporting, treasury management, and tax compliance. In addition, it offers transformation services consisting of decision analytics services, including data filtering, organization and synthesis, management information system reporting, trend and variance analysis, statistical and econometric modeling, and economic and financial markets research; finance transformation services; and operations and process excellence services. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

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

• [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 Exlservice Holdings (Nasdaq: EXLS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Internet Companies To Invest In Right Now: Time Warner Cable Inc(TWC)

Time Warner Cable Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cable operator in the United States. It offers video, high-speed data, and voice services over its broadband cable systems to residential and commercial customers. The company provides a range of video services, including on-demand, high-definition (HD), and digital video recorder (DVR) services; residential high-speed data services with connection to the Internet; wireless mobile broadband Internet services; and digital phone services to residential customers. It offers video programming tiers and music services; high-speed data, networking, and transport services; and commercial digital phone service to small and medium-sized businesses under the Time Warner Cable Business Class brand. Further, Time Warner Cable Inc. sells advertising to various national, regional, and local customers. As of June 30, 2011, the company served approximately 14.5 million residential and commercial customers in the New Yor k State, the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California, and Texas. Time Warner Cable Inc. is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Calia]

  Comcast Corp.(CMCSA) is much more likely to work with Charter Communications Inc.(CHTR) on a bid for Time Warner Cable Inc.(TWC) than to pursue an offer on its own, said a person familiar with the situation–a major boost to Charter’s hopes of winning the takeover battle.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) said recently it is willing to take on more debt to make the right acquisition. That acquisition could be another cable company. The consensus price target is pegged at $126. Investors are paid a 2.3% dividend.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Time Warner Cable provides entertainment, voice, and high-speed data services to a growing customer base in the United States. The company lost 215,000 video subscribers in the fourth quarter. The stock has been pulling back in recent times and is currently trading sideways. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenues have been rising which has produced conflicting feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, Time Warner Cable has been an average year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Time Warner Cable does this quarter.

• [By Steve Sears]

  New stocks in what Goldman calls the “Hedge Fund VIP list,”�include Actavis (ACT), Baidu (BIDU), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Crown Castle International (CCI), Entergy Louisiana (ELB), �Equinix (EQIX), Facebook (FB), Fleetcor Technologies (FLT), W.R. Grace (GRA), MetLife (MET), Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), Micron (MU), Time Warner Cable (TWC), and Time Warner (TWX).

Top Services Stocks For 2015: Pacer International Inc.(PACR)

Pacer International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides asset-light transportation and logistics services primarily in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, South America, and Africa. It operates in two segments, Intermodal and Logistics. The Intermodal segment offers intermodal rail transportation, local cartage and trucking, intermodal marketing services, container capacity, on-site operational services, and door-to-door shipment management services. As of December 31, 2011, its equipment fleet consisted of 1,592 double-stack railcars, 18,183 containers, and 12,783 chassis. The Logistics segment provides highway brokerage, warehousing and distribution, international freight forwarding, ocean and air shipping, and supply chain management services, as well as offers non-vessel-operating common carrier to end-user customers. The company markets and supports its services to cargo owners, steamship lines, truckload carriers, truck brokers, and freight forwarders , as well as other third party transportation service providers, such as intermodal marketing companies, third-party logistics companies, and shippers? agents through its direct sales and customer service representatives. Pacer International, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO) shot up 7.06 percent to $30.01 after the company announced its plans to acquire Pacer International (NASDAQ: PACR) in a deal valued at $335 million.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: AutoNation Inc (AN)

AutoNation, Inc. (AutoNation), incorporated on May 30, 1991, is an automotive retailer in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had three operating segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. As of December 31, 2011, it owned and operated 258 new vehicle franchises from 215 stores located in the United States, predominantly in metropolitan markets in the Sunbelt region. Its stores sell 32 different brands of new vehicles. The core brands of vehicles that it sells, representing approximately 90% of the new vehicles that it sold during the year ended December 31, 2011, was manufactured by Ford, Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Chrysler. The Company offers a diversified range of automotive products and services, including new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and automotive repair and maintenance services , and automotive finance and insurance products, which includes the arranging of financing for vehicle purchases through third-party finance sources. The Company retailed approximately 400,000 new and used vehicles through its stores in 2011. It acquired one automotive retail franchise and related assets during 2011.

Domestic segment consists of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Its Import segment is comprised of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured primarily by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. Its Premium Luxury segment is consists of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured primarily by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus. The franchises in each segment also sells used vehicles, parts and automotive repair and maintenance services, and automotive finance and insurance products. For the year ended December 31, 2011, Domestic revenue represented 34% of total revenue, Import revenue represented 37% of total revenue, and Premium Luxury revenue represented 28% of total revenue. Corporate and other is consist of its other businesses, incl! uding collision centers, e-commerce activities, and an auction operation, each of which generates revenues, as well as unallocated corporate overhead expenses and retrospective commissions for certain financing and insurance transactions that it arranges under agreements with third parties.

The Company�� stores acquires vehicles for retail sale either directly from the applicable automotive manufacturer or distributor or through dealer trades with other stores of the same franchise. it acquires used vehicles from customer trade-ins, auctions, lease terminations, and other sources. It recondition used vehicles acquired for retail sale at its stores��service facilities and capitalize costs related thereto as used vehicle inventory. Through its VVOs, which are located on existing store facilities, it sells vehicles that it would have traditionally wholesaled with an average retail price lower than that of used vehicles it typically retail. Used vehicles that the Company do not sell at its stores or VVOs generally are sold at wholesale prices through auctions.

The Company offers a variety of automotive finance and insurance products to its customers. The Company arranges for its customers to finance vehicles through installment loans or leases with third-party lenders, including the vehicle manufacturers��and distributors��captive finance subsidiaries, in exchange for a commission payable to the Company. It also offers its customers various vehicle protection products, including extended service contracts, maintenance programs, guaranteed auto protection (GAP, this protection covers the shortfall between a customer�� loan balance and insurance payoff in the event of a casualty), tire and wheel protection, and theft protection products. The vehicle protection products that its stores offers to customers are underwritten and administered by independent third parties, including the vehicle manufacturers��and distributors��captive finance subsidiaries. The Company sells t! he produc! ts on a straight commission basis; however, it also participate in future underwriting profit for certain products pursuant to retrospective commission arrangements. Commissions that it receives from these third-party providers may be subject to chargeback, in full or in part, if products that it sells, such as extended service contracts, are cancelled. Its stores also provide a range of vehicle maintenance, repair, paint, and collision repair services, including warranty work that can be performed only at franchised dealerships and customer-pay service work. The Company has entered into framework agreements with vehicle manufacturers and distributors. It operates each of its new vehicle stores under a franchise agreement with a vehicle manufacturer or distributor.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  AutoNation (NYSE: AN  )
  Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG  )

  Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  AutoNation (NYSE: AN  ) reported earnings on April 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), AutoNation beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Sally Jones] ng>Predictability: 1 out of 5 Stars

  Up 9% over 12 months, AutoNation Inc. has a market cap of $5.86 billion; its shares were traded at around $48.20 with a P/E ratio of 17.70. The company does not pay a dividend.

  Incorporated in 1991, AutoNation Inc. is an automotive retailer in the US. The company owns and operates 265 new vehicle franchises from 221 stores located in the United States, as of December 31, 2012. AutoNation Inc. offers a range of automotive products and services, including new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and automotive services, and automotive finance and insurance products. The company also arranges financing for vehicle purchases through third-party finance sources.

  The company reported financial results for the third quarter of 2013 with a 14% year-over-year increase in revenue at $4.5 billion. Operating income was reported at $187 million, also up 14% compared to the third quarter of 2012. AutoNation reported net income for the third quarter of 2013 at $93 million, up from $82 million in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings of $0.75 per share were also up 14% over $0.66 per share in the third quarter of 2012.

  The company�� total vehicle sales have also increased by 14% over the same quarter of 2012, and the nation�� largest automotive retailer plans to buy a Honda store and a Hyundai store in Chicago, Illinois, set for completion in the last quarter of 2013, bringing in additional annual revenue of $85 million.

  AutoNation�� chairman and CEO Mike Jackson, commented in a company press release, ��e delivered double-digit growth in EPS and operating income in the third quarter of 2013 compared to the prior year, driven by gross profit growth in all of our business sectors.��/p>

  Tracking share price, revenue and net income:

  [ Enlarge Image ]

  Edward Lampert�� average 12-month return is currently 34.5%. His top buys, sells and holdings in graphic summary:

  GuruFocus Real Time Pic

Top Services Stocks For 2015: 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 Services Stocks For 2015: United Continental Holdings Inc.(UAL)

United Continental Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo air transportation services. As of February 24, 2011, it operated a total of approximately 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on 6 continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, as well as in Washington, D.C. The company was formerly known as UAL Corporation and changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc. on October 1, 2010. United Continental Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers and Erin Miller]

  While regulators aren't taking jets out of service to comply with the order, investors can hardly be blamed for being nervous in the wake of troubles with the 787. Leading 737 filers such as Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV  ) and United Continental (NYSE: UAL  ) should remain unaffected.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  United Continental (UAL) was supposed to be the loser among the soon-to-be big-three airlines. Not today, however.

  Bloomberg

  United’s shares have gained 4.9% to $38.17 today at 1:53 p.m., while Delta Air Lines (DAL) has dropped 0.1% to $27.97, AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) has advanced 0.4% to $12.25 and US Airways (LCC) is down 0.7% at $24.23.

  United’s rise is being attributed to its investor day presentation where it outlined its plan to cut costs. Bloomberg has the details:

  United Continental Holdings Inc. climbed to the highest price since 2008 after the world�� biggest airline said it would cut $2 billion in annual spending.

  Half the savings will come from a 7 percent reduction in fuel expense as it flies newer, more efficient planes such as�Boeing Co.�� (BA) 787 Dreamliner and existing aircraft are equipped with winglets to boost conservation. At a presentation in New York today, the Chicago-based carrier also said it expects to boost fee revenue by $700 million a year…

  United�� plan, which includes an unspecified return of cash to shareholders in 2015, was outlined after a series of operational issues snarled flights and drove away some customers and four public computer disruptions since the airline switched to a new reservation system in March 2012.

  S&P Capital IQ’s Jim Corridore calls it a great plan with one tiny problem-execution. He writes:

  UAL today is outlining plans to cut costs, increase profitability and enable the return of cash to shareholders by 2015. UAL will redeploy aircraft out of some Asia markets to more profitable routes, plans to cut fuel consumption, and improve productivity. UAL aims to improve profitability from current levels by 2X-4X over the next four years. We are very positive on these stated goals, but where UAL has run into problems over the past two years is in execution of its stated plans. We would like to see some traction on these plans.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: K12 Inc (LRN)

K12 Inc. (K12), incorporated in December 1999, is a technology-based education company. K12 offers curriculum, software systems and educational services designed to facilitate individualized learning for students primarily in kindergarten through 12th grade, or K-12. The Company provides a continuum of technology-based educational products and solutions to districts, public schools, private schools, charter schools and families. Its products include Curriculum, Pre-K and K-8 Courses, Online School Platform-Learning Management System, High School Courses, Innovative Learning Applications, School Management Systems and PEAK12. Its managed public schools includes Full-time virtual schools and Blended schools, which includes Flex schools, Passport schools, Discovery schools and Other blended schools. Its institutional Business includes K12 curriculum, Aventa curriculum, A+ curriculum, Middlebury joint venture, Pre-kindergarten and Post-secondary. Its international and private pay business includes Managed private schools, The Keystone School, George Washington University Online HS, K12 International Academy, IS Berne, WEB and Independent course sales (Consumer). In April 2011, it acquired the operations of the International School of Berne (IS Berne).

Curriculum

K12 has the digital curriculum portfolio for the K-12 online education industry. The K12 curriculum consists of online lessons, offline instructional kits and materials, and lesson guides and other ancillaries. The Company offers a catalog of courses designed to teach concepts to students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as curriculum for use in post-secondary online programs. A single year-long K12 course generally consists of 120 to 180 instructional lessons. Each lesson is designed to last approximately 45 to 60 minutes, although students are able to work at their own pace. With the acquisition of the curriculum portfolios of KCDL (Aventa), AEC (A+) and Kaplan Virtual Education (KVE), as well as the MI! L joint venture, the Company has nearly 700 courses across kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school, including world languages. This combined portfolio contains over 100,000 hours of instructional content and over one million visual, audio and interactive instructional elements in the Company's asset repository.

The Company's K12 online lessons or curricula are accessed through a learning management platform, which the Company calls its Online School (OLS) for K- 8students and the eCollege platforms for high school students, as well as a number of other common industry platforms for students who access Aventa and A+ curricula. Many of the Company's courses utilize learning kits in conjunction with the online lessons to maximize the effectiveness of its learning systems. In addition to receiving access to the Company's online lessons through the Internet, each K-8 student receives a shipment of materials, including textbooks, art supplies, laboratory supplies (such as microscopes, scales, science specimens) and other reference materials which are referred to and incorporated in instruction throughout its curriculum. The Company's courses are generally paired with a lesson guide. Lesson guides work in coordination with the online lessons and include overview information for learning coaches, lesson objectives, lesson outlines and activities, answer keys to student exercises and suggestions for explaining difficult concepts to students.

Pre-K and K-8 Courses

From pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, the Company's courses are generally categorized into seven major subject areas: English and language arts, mathematics, science, history, art, music and world languages. The Company's curriculum includes all of the courses that students need to complete their core kindergarten through 8th grade education; a new pre-K offering students to core subjects through cross-curricular thematic units, building initial and fundamental relationships among concepts. Its learning! systems ! offer the flexibility for each student to take courses at different grade levels in a single academic year, providing flexibility for students to progress at their own level and pace within each subject area.

The first phase of the Company's K12 second generation elementary language arts program is designed to deliver interactivity and make instruction even more engaging while integrating rewards, interactive practice and a virtual world. The Company's Fundamentals of Geometry and Algebra course completes its K-8 math offering. These courses support students at various skill levels through targeted, timely remediation, embody the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and include media integration. In addition, the flexibility of the Company's learning systems allows the Company to tailor its curriculum to state specific requirements. For example, the Company has developed 62 courses specifically created for the public schools standards in 13 states. In addition to the ongoing evolution of the Company's K-5 Math+ program, the Company has also created over 80 custom Math+ sequences to serve specific state needs. The Company continues to migrate K12 K-8 courses from its legacy content management system (CMS) to its new CMS.

Online School Platform-Learning Management System

For the Company's K12 curriculum users in grades K-8, the Company provides a learning management system, its OLS platform. The OLS platform is an adaptive, intuitive, Web-based software platform that provides access to the Company's online lessons, its lesson planning and scheduling tools, as well as its progress tracking tool which serves a key role in assisting parents and teachers in managing each student's progress. The OLS is also the central structure through which students, parents, teachers and administrators interact using K-mail and Class Connect (the Company's integrated synchronous session scheduler). Students, parents and teachers can access the Company's online tools and lessons through t! he OLS fr! om anywhere with an Internet connection. The Company licenses a third-party learning management system for uses in its high school program.

High School Courses

The curriculum available to high school students is broader and varies from student to student. Students also are able to select from a range of electives. The Company has augmented its lab program for lab science courses with the creation of alternate kit-free science labs for the formerly kit-based high school science labs in order to provide a more flexible and robust lab program across its physical science, earth science, biology, chemistry and physics courses. The Company's overall lab program includes traditional kit-based labs based on either shipped-in or household materials, virtual labs, video-based labs, data-collection and data-manipulation labs, and field studies. Across all subject areas, the K12 core curriculum accounts for approximately 90% of the Company's high school course enrollments. It also offers curriculum marketed as its Aventa Learning by K12 product line. Aventa courses are written to national academic standards and each of Aventa's 22 AP courses has been reviewed and approved by The College Board. Aventa's online courses are developed by subject matter experts designed by multimedia teams and delivered by high school instructors. Aventa classes are primarily delivered over the Internet and use a variety of interactive elements to keep students engaged throughout.

The Company has A+ courseware, which is in use in over 5,000 public and private K-12 schools, charter schools, colleges, correctional institutions, centers of adult literacy, military education programs and after-school learning centers. The A+nyWhere Learning System provides an integrated offering of instructional software and assessment for reading, mathematics, language arts, science, writing, history, government, economics and geography for grade levels K-12. In addition, AEC provides assessment testing and instructi! onal cont! ent for the General Educational Development (GED) test. AEC products are designed to provide for LAN, WAN and Internet delivery options and support Windows and Macintosh platforms. Spanish-language versions are available for mathematics and language arts for grade levels 1-6.

The Company offers online world language courses and summer immersion language instruction programs through its MIL joint venture. In addition to offering powerspeaK12 language courses, this venture also offers innovative, online language programs for high school and middle school students based on the Middlebury College pedagogy. The new courses use instructional tools such as animation, music, videos and other elements that immerse students in new languages. Beginner French, Chinese and Spanish for high school students, as well as Chinese, French, Latin, Spanish and German courses for middle and high school students are available and additional courses are in development. The joint venture has expanded the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA), a foreign language immersion summer program for middle and high school students, which includes a day academy for middle school students, as well as the Company's four-week residential academy with instruction in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish at multiple college campuses.

Innovative Learning Applications

The Company has created tools that allow for more rapid mobile and tablet curriculum or content deployment across platforms for deeper markets penetration. Seven additional mobile applications were delivered during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), for a total of 15 applications available for download. These apps have been downloaded over 400,000 times. It offers applications for the iPhone, Android phones and Android tablet marketplaces, adapting many of its curriculum features for the mobile application space. An active educational games initiative is delivering new methods for engagement, practice and r! eview of ! K-12 concepts, including narrative/immersive styles, rewards, persistent data, complex algorithms. The Company has delivered a total of nine interactive games and an innovative review and practices portal called Noodleverse. Noodleverse includes over 1,700 activities and is designed for K-2 students in conjunction with a new language arts program.

The Company has delivered alternatives for its educational partners who desires materials-free curriculum. This includes converting over 59 existing materials-based high school Science labs into interactive virtual labs and video lab This laboratory is performed at a lab bench with all the materials and with the same procedures high school students would use in a physical chemistry laboratory. During fiscal 2012, the Company had converted 35 K12 textbooks used across 57 courses into an electronic format, including textbooks, reference guides, literature readers and lab manuals. This digital delivery ability enables the Company to offer options to the Company's customers through interactive online books that enhance the student's reading experience reinforce the student's learning approach and create a new method for delivering book and print materials. Each offline book is converted into an electronic book format with a custom user interface to be viewed through a standard Web browser or a commercially available electronic reader (Kindle and Nook).

The Company has learning management systems and can build courses that are adaptive, which enable individualized learning experiences as the course adapts at key points to student behavior and input. The Company's MARK12 reading remediation product captures individual students' successes and challenges as they practice phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, accuracy and fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The program serves the individual student more exercises, practice and review in areas of difficulty. During fiscal 2012, the Company launched a pilot program for school year call! ed Nation! al Math Lab, designed as a controlled study with randomly selected treatment and control groups from a pool of students in grades 5-10 identified as significantly below grade level in math. The Company continues to explore opportunities to enhance student engagement through strategic use of relevant multimedia. Multimedia is specifically used as appropriate for the subject matter.

School Management Systems

School Management Systems (SAMS) is the Company's student information system. SAMS is integrated with the OLS and several other systems, including the Company's Online Enrollment System that allows parents to complete school enrollment forms online and its order management system that generates orders for learning kits and computers to be delivered to students. SAMS stores student-specific data and is used for a range of functions, including enrolling students in courses, assigning progress marks and grades, tracking student demographic data, and generating student transcripts. The Company has TotalView a range of online applications that provides administrators, teachers, parents and students a unified view of student progress, attendance, communications, and learning kit shipment tracking. TotalView includes a means of documenting student engagement in required classroom activities, identification of those students struggling with grade level state content standards, and previous year's performance on state tests. TotalView also includes K-mail, the Company's internal communications system. Through K-mail, administrators and teachers can communicate electronically with learning coaches and students. TotalView also includes an enrollment processing and tracking tool that allows it to closely monitor and manage the enrollment process for new students.

PEAK12

The Company has an online learning solution called PEAK12. This solution simplifies a district's management of online learning by consolidating multiple solutions on a single platform. It allow! s adminis! trators and teachers to manage enrollments, programs and performance tracking, alerts and reporting across multiple online solutions from a single solution. In addition, through the PEAK12 library, districts can search, build, provision and publish content or course modifications or new course solutions using various online learning assets. PEAK12 provides unparalleled capabilities for districts wanting to operate multiple solutions or catalogs from a single place and offers personalization features that can be managed at the district, school or teacher level.

The Company competes with DeVry, Inc., Pearson PLC, White Hat Management, LLC, National Network of Digital Schools Management Foundation Inc., Apex Learning Inc., Compass Learning, E2020 Inc., OdysseyWare, PLATO Learning, Inc., Rosetta Stone Inc., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson PLC., The Laurel Springs School, the National Connections Academy and Florida Virtual School.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Less than two weeks after losing CFO Harry Hawks, K12 (NYSE: LRN  ) has named a replacement. James Rhyu will take up that post, and also serve as executive vice president starting in early June.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One stock that's starting to trend within range of triggering a major breakout trade is K12 (LRN), which offers proprietary curriculum and educational services created for online delivery to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. This stock has been a top target of the bears over the last three months, with shares down sharply by 43%.

  If you take a look at the chart for K12, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways for the last month, with shares moving between $19.47 on the downside and $21.62 on the upside. Shares of LRN have now just started to spike higher back above its 50-day moving average of $20.09 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of K12 within range of triggering a major breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LRN if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $20.77 to $21.17 a share, and then once it takes out more key overhead resistance at $21.62 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 volume of 519,295 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then LRN will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone form October that started just above $28 a share. This stock could easily make a monster move if it breaks out into that gap with volume, just like CNDO did.

  Traders can look to buy LRN off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $19.47 or around $19 a share. One can also buy LRN off strength once it starts to take out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: Franklin Covey Company (FC)

Franklin Covey Co. provides training and consulting solutions to address leadership, execution, productivity, trust, customer loyalty, sales performance, and education problems worldwide. The company also offers clients with training in management skills, relationship skills, and individual effectiveness, as well as personal-effectiveness literature and electronic educational solutions. In addition, it sells a suite of individual-effectiveness and leadership-development training products; and books, e-books, audio media, downloadable and paper-based tools, content-rich software applications for smart phones and other handheld devices, training accessories, and other related products. The company delivers its products and services through onsite presentations, facilitators, international licensees, e-learning, public workshops, custom solutions, intellectual property licenses, and media publishing methods to organizational clients, including corporations, governmental agenc ies, educational institutions, and other organizations, as well as individual clients. Franklin Covey Co. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected: IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC), Franklin Covey Company (NYSE: FC), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Economic Releases Expected: French consumer confidence, German unemployment rate, Brazilian CPI, Canadian trade balance

  Wednesday

• [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 Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top Services Stocks For 2015: Trinity Industries Inc.(TRN)

Trinity Industries, Inc. provides products and services to the industrial, energy, transportation, and construction sectors primarily in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Sweden. The company?s Rail Group manufactures and sells railcars, including auto carrier, box, gondola, hopper, intermodal, specialty, and tank cars; and railcar components, such as couplers and axles. This group also offers repair and coating services. It primarily serves railroads, leasing companies, and industrial shippers of various products. Trinity Industries? Railcar Leasing and Management Services group leases tank cars and freight cars to industrial shippers and railroads operating in petroleum, chemical, agricultural, and energy industries with a fleet of 54,595 owned or leased railcars; provides management and administrative services; and manages railcar fleets on behalf of third parties. The company?s Construction Products group produces ready mix concret e; produces and distributes construction aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt rock, and specialty sands and gravel; manufactures highway products and other steel products for infrastructure related projects; supplies ready mix concrete; and provides hot-dip galvanizing services for fabricated steel materials. It primarily serves contractors and subcontractors in the construction and foundation industry. Trinity Industries? Inland Barge group manufactures inland barges; and fiberglass reinforced lift covers. It serves commercial marine transportation companies. The company?s Energy Equipment group manufactures structural wind towers, tank containers, and tank heads for pressure vessels; fertilizer containers; and tank heads for non-pressure vessels, LPG tanks, and utility, traffic, and lighting structures. It serves turbine producers, as well as industrial plants, utilities, residences, and small businesses. The company was founded in 1933 and is he adquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN  ) is rolling a higher dividend down the rails. The company has declared a distribution of $0.13 per share of its common stock. This will be paid on July 31 to shareholders of record as of July 15.�That amount represents an 18% improvement over the previous payout, which was handed out at the end of April and totaled $0.11 per share.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee