The New York-based information technology juggernaut, IBM Corp. (IBM), made two announcements on Tuesday that resonated well among shareholders.
First, the company’s board of directors approved an additional $15 billion to be used for stock repurchases. This brings the total amount designated for share buybacks to over $20 billion, seeing as how there were approximately $5.6 billion left at the end of September 2013 from the prior repurchase authorization. According to company officials, IBM expects to request another repurchase authorization at the October board meeting in 2014.
Top Wireless Telecom Companies To Buy For 2015: Neutra Corp (NTRR)
Neutra Corp. incorporated on January 11, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company�� business and registered office is located in Sarasota, Florida. The Company�� intended private label products consists of aging, cognitive support, antioxidants/flavonoids, circulatory support, detoxification support, endocrine support, essential fatty acids, gastrointestinal support, immune support, men�� health, minerals, mood/sleep support, multiples, musculoskeletal support, neurological support, proteins/amino acids, vitamins, women�� health and veterinary products. The Company�� product focuses to research and development in a range of areas, such as weight-loss, detox, men�� health, acid-alkali pH balance, anti-aging, sleep disorders, autism, pain management with the use of medical cannabis products, and air space sanitation derived by nutraceutical technology.
The Company focuses to market and sell nutraceutical supplement products to health practitioners. It focuses direct marketing and sales towards Members of the American Association for Health Freedom (American Association for Health Freedom has merged with Alliance for Natural Health) www.anh-usa.org; American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, www.naturopathic.org; American Association of Oriental Medicine, www.aaom.org, and American College for Advancement in Medicine, www.acamnet.org. It also focuses direct marketing and sales towards American Holistic Medical Association, www.holisticmedicine.org; American Dietetic Association, www.eatright.org, and American Herbalist Guild, www.americanherbalistsguild.com.
The Company competes with Thone Research, The Vitamin Company, Nutraceutical International Corporation, Protocol For Life, Medagenics and Standard Process.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, NTRR surged (+19.45%) up +0.068 at $.420 with 22,114 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:17AM EDT July 11, 2013).
As Neutra Corp. works to deliver new innovations to the U.S. medical marijuana industry, the market for those innovations continues to grow. Last week, lawmakers passed a bill to make New Hampshire the 19th state to approve medical marijuana (MMJ) prescriptions for patients with chronic or terminal illnesses.
The legislation will make New Hampshire the 19th state to legalize MMJ, in addition to the District of Columbia. Five more states have legislation pending to legalize prescriptions, according to ProCon.org.
- [By CRWE]
Today, NTRR has shed (-5.26%) down -0.020 at $.360 with 14,150 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:46AM EDT July 3, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.
Neutra Corp. through a key new partnership with an innovative cannabis delivery systems provider in the medical marijuana industry, is poised to make an impact in the lucrative $52 billion pain management market.
With partner Field of View Technologies, LLC, exploring new technology in cannabis delivery systems, NTRR is ready to provide much-needed smokeless delivery systems to those most in need: patients forced to live with debilitating pain.
A recent study by Columbia University found that smoke-free cannabinoid medication was effective in treating pain. Smokeless delivery systems can be administered orally, by injection or topically, giving the patient the choice of treatment method as NTRR and Field of View set the pace in the potentially lucrative pain management market.
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: CapitalSource Inc (CSE)
CapitalSource Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides financial products to small and middle market businesses in the United States. It offers depository products and services, such as savings and money market accounts, individual retirement account products, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides senior secured real estate and asset-based loans, and cash flow loans, which have a first priority lien in the collateral securing the loan. Its asset-based loans are collateralized by specified assets of the client, primarily the client�s accounts/notes receivable, inventory, and machinery; and real estate loans are secured by senior mortgages on real property. The company focuses on providing equipment loans and leases; loans to healthcare providers; commercial real estate and multifamily real estate loans; loans secured by timeshare, auto, and other consumer receivables; student loans; traditional life insurance premium finance loans; and loans to technology companies, small businesses, dentists, physicians, pharmacists, and optometrists, as well as to companies in the physical security, government security, and public safety sectors. It operates through 21 retail bank branches in southern and central California, as well as lending offices in the United States. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of CapitalSource (NYSE: CSE ) soared 20% today after bank holding company PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW ) agreed to acquire the financial services specialist in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion.
- [By Paul Ausick]
PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW) is a small cap regional bank that mainly serves southern California. A likely merger with CapitalSource Inc. (NYSE: CSE) enhances the outlook for the coming year, bringing the bank�� assets to more than $10 billion. The bank�� stock closed at $41.66 on Friday in a 52-week range of $24.27 to $42.69. Sterne Agee projects 2014 EPS of $2.80, up 43% compared with estimated 2013 earnings. The implied gain to the target price of $48.00 is about 15% and the forward P/E ratio is 14.9.
- [By Eric Volkman]
CapitalSource (NYSE: CSE ) and PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW ) are soon to be one and the same. The two companies have agreed to merge, both announced in a joint press release. CapitalSource investors will receive a cash payout of $2.47 and 0.2837 shares of PacWest common stock for each CapitalSource share they hold. This values the latter's stock at $11.68 per share, a nearly 19% premium to its most recent closing price. The total transaction value is estimated at roughly $2.3 billion.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
The recently announced PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW) and CapitalSource Inc. (NYSE: CSE) merger was called a beacon in an otherwise dim bank M&A landscape so far in 2013 as it was only a $2.3 billion deal total. So far, 2013 looks to register lower in banking M&A activity than the lean years of 2011 and 2012 at only about $9.1 billion in total so far, versus almost $17 billion for each of the past two years. There are only 13 pending transactions that exceed $100 million, and two of these are expected to close imminently.
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: George Risk Industries Inc (RSKIA)
George Risk Industries, Inc. (GRI), incorporated on February 21, 1961, is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of computer keyboards, push button switches, burglar alarm components and systems, pool alarms, thermostats, EZ Duct wire covers and water sensors. GRI is a diversified manufacturer of electronic components, consisting of the security industries variety of door and window contact switches, environmental products, proximity switches and custom keyboards. The Company operates in two segments: security alarm products and security alarm products GRI�� security burglar alarm products comprise approximately 84% of net revenues and are sold through distributors and alarm dealers/installers. These products are used for residential, commercial, industrial and government installations. Its products include security products/ magnetic reed switches, data entry peripherals, pushbutton switches, custom engraved keycaps and proximity sensors.
The security segment has approximately 3,000 customers. One of the distributors, ADI accounts for approximately 40% of the Company's sales of these products. The keyboard segment has approximately 800 customers. Keyboard products are sold to original equipment manufacturers to their specifications and to distributors of off-the-shelf keyboards of proprietary design. GRI owns and operates its main manufacturing plant and offices in Kimball, Nebraska with a satellite plant 40 miles away in Gering, Nebraska.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon]
So, I think of simple industries as food, entertainment, etc. And anything where logistics provide a competitive advantage. I mentioned a company I own shares of ��George Risk Industries (RSKIA) ��before. Its advantage is the ability to deliver a cheap product on time. They can't produce the product for less than the competition. If the purchase price was huge relative to what the end customer was purchasing as part of the same activity (the end customer is construction in this case) price competition would be important. Instead, delivery is important.
- [By Geoff Gannon] n. When it traded around $4.50 (it�� now more like $7.50 a share) it was a net-net with a good business and a moat. There were risks ��customer concentration for one ��and it was no blue chip. There was no diversification of product lines, customers, geography, industry, etc. It was closely tied to U.S. construction activity.
All this means it was no blue chip. Not that it didn�� have a moat. I felt it did. And certainly not that it wasn�� a high quality business. It demonstrably was (unleveraged returns on tangible equity were around 30%). And it was a net-net. In fact, it was a net cash stock at one time.
So they do happen. But they are rare. The usual distinction with net-nets is not between companies like that ��companies which may have a moat, do earn good returns on capital, etc. ��but between companies that are legitimate and illegitimate businesses.
A legitimate business is ��in my mind ��a historically profitable one. It is likely to have positive retained earnings (there are exceptions to this rule ��but it�� a good first check). It should have more years of profits (6 or more) than losses in the last 10 years. And it should be self-financing.
Compare this to an illegitimate business. The least legitimate businesses are those that ��while publicly traded ��have never turned a profit and can�� self finance. They may be net-nets ��but they are net-nets because they have issued stock in the past and then seen their share prices drop. Retained earnings are often negative.
There are other factors to consider. Is the business old or young? Is depreciation ��and other accounting ��especially conservative or aggressive? Are taxes especially conservative or aggressive? And is share issuance dilutive or not.
I think a legitimate business tends towards LIFO accounting, quicker depreciation, higher taxes paid as a percentage of reported income, and lower share issuance. There are exceptions. Many
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: LifeLock Inc (LOCK)
LifeLock, Inc., incorporated on April 12, 2005, is a provider of proactive identity theft protection services for consumers and identity risk assessment and fraud protection services for enterprises. It operates in two segments: consumer segment and an enterprise segment. In its consumer segment, the Company offer identity theft protection services to consumers on a monthly or annual subscription basis. In its enterprise segment, it offer identity risk assessment and fraud protection services to enterprise customers who pay the Company based on their monthly volume of transactions with it. It protects its consumer subscribers, whom it refers to as its members, by monitoring identity-related events, such as new account openings and credit-related applications. It also provides remediation services to its members in the event that an identity theft actually occurs. On March 14, 2012, the Company acquired ID Analytics, Inc. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Lemon Inc.
Consumer Business
The Company protects its members by proactively monitoring identity-related events, such as new account openings and credit-related applications, which may present a risk of identity theft. If it detects that a member�� personally identifiable information is being used, the Company sends notifications and alerts, including proactive, near real-time, actionable alerts, to the member via text message, phone call, or e-mail through its LifeLock Identity Alert system that allows the member to confirm valid or unauthorized identity use.
Enterprise Business
The Company delivers on-demand identity risk assessment and authentication information about consumers to its enterprise customers in their daily transaction flows. Its enterprise customers utilize this information in real time to authenticate their customers, assess their risk profile, and enhance the enterprise�� decision making process on which to base account opening, le! nding, credit, and other risk-based decisions. By integrating its services into their business processes, its enterprise customers can reduce potential financial losses from identity fraud. Information generated from the transaction flow at its enterprise customers is transmitted back to its data repositories, which continually enhances the LifeLock ecosystem and helps strengthen the services the Company can provide to its customers in the future.
The Company competes with Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, Affinion, Early Warning Systems, Intersections and LexisNexis.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Luke Jacobi]
LifeLock (NYSE: LOCK) was also down, falling 17.57 percent to $10.70 after the company announced Friday that it had halted its mobile wallet service, shocking the street.
- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
AFP/Getty Images/Gabriel Bouys Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a luxury electric car maker ramping up its production to sandwich makers failing to make dough rise, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Tesla Motors (TSLA) -- Winner The Model S isn't cheap, but Tesla is selling enough of them to impress investors. Shares of the maker of plug-in electric vehicles raced to a new high after announcing that it delivered 6,892 cars in its latest quarter. Things will get even better in 2014 as Tesla expects to sell and deliver 35,000 vehicles. Tesla will need to ramp up its production -- currently, roughly 600 cars a week -- to closer to 1,000 Model S and new Model X cars by the end of the year. Conn's (CONN) -- Loser It isn't easy running a consumer electronics store these days. Shares of Conn's plunged 43 percent on Thursday after warning that its holiday quarter results will fall well short of its earlier expectations. If that seems like a significant drop for a mere miss, let's dive a little deeper. Conn's also warned that it's suffering from higher loan delinquencies than usual. Conn's provides in-house consumer credit on its appliances, furniture, mattresses, and consumer electronics, so revealing that 8.8 percent of its loan portfolio hasn't made a payment in more than 60 days is problematic. Conn's, which has stores in the Southwest, blames cold weather for disrupting payments, but things are never as simple as that. Conn's was holding up better than its peers that had imploded earlier this year on reports that the holidays weren't so jolly this time around. Now we know that Conn's is merely mortal, and that way too many of its customers last year aren't current on their payments. Candy Crush Saga -- Winner The company behind "Candy Crush Saga" filed to go public this week. Dublin-based King Digital Entertainment is hoping
- [By Rick Munarriz]
LifeLock (NYSE: LOCK ) has been a beneficiary over the years, as folks turn to the company to monitor potential ID breaches. It scored another strong quarter, with revenue climbing 30% and adjusted profitability more than doubling.�
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
LifeLock Inc. (NYSE: LOCK) has only been public for about 15 months. It is a high beta stock, trading at 55-times expected trailing earnings and almost 48-times expected 2014 earnings. The driving force here is that identity theft and organized global fraud against consumers is forcing everyone to buy identity protection services. Target was the worst recent news on this front, but there are literally dozens of other companies who have had data breaches on their millions of customers. LifeLock shares hit a new high of $20.83 on Friday and closed up 1.6% at $20.41 on the day. This one is up about 150% from its IPO in late 2012.
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: Capital One Financial Corporation(COF)
Capital One Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for the Capital One Bank (USA), National Association (COBNA), and Capital One, National Association (CONA), which provide various financial products and services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It offers consumer and small business credit card lending, national closed end installment lending, and the international credit card lending services. The company also provides various non-interest bearing and interest-bearing deposits, including demand deposits, money market deposits, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and other consumer time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises credit card loans; consumer loans, such as auto, home, and retail banking loans; and commercial loans, including commercial and multifamily real estate, middle market, specialty lending, and small-ticket commercial real estate loans. In addition, the company provid es mortgage banking, treasury management, and depository services. It primarily serves consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients through branches, the Internet, and other distribution channels. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sally Jones]
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF): Sold OutUp 18% over 12 months, Capital One Financial Corp. has a market cap of $39.36 billion and trades with a P/E of 9.50. The current share price is $67.24.
- [By Holly LaFon]
In the Financials sector, the Fund has significant investments (13.9% of Fund assets) in companies with a U.S. consumer banking focus (e.g., checking accounts, savings accounts, credit cards, home and personal loans). Capital One (COF), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Bank of America (BAC) are among the Fund's largest positions within this category. While each company has diversified lines of business and derives its profitability from numerous customers, U.S. consumer banking has emerged as a dominant theme as a result of our bottom-up research process. For each investment opportunity, we consider the balance between company fundamentals (what we are buying) and valuation (what we are paying). The higher the valuation, the stronger the company fundamentals must be for us to invest. Although U.S. consumer banks are trading broadly in-line with their historical discount to the market, we believe that the quality of bank earnings today is superior to the quality of earnings ten years ago. After several years of intense regulatory scrutiny, most banks now have higher capital, better liquidity, fewer competitors, and the ability to improve profitability. In our opinion, banks could enter a period of loan growth, expanding margins, and positive operating leverage, while maintaining charge-offs below historical levels. Lastly, cyclical factors could work in their favor. For example, higher short-term rates and a steeper yield curve could increase the value of banks with low-cost deposits. Capital One (the Fund's largest position at 4.0%) is a consumer finance firm with credit card, auto lending, and banking businesses. The company has a strong franchise, attractive growth opportunities, and a disciplined management team with a solid track record and long-term focus. Capital One has grown market share while achieving high return on equity through its data analytics, which have led to sophisticated marketing and strong underwriting. Its acquisitions of ING Direct and HSBC's credi
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3)
Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA, formerly Centennial Asset Participacao Corumba SA, is a Brazil-based company involved in the oil and natural gas industry. The Company and its subsidiaries are primarily engaged in the research, mining, refining, processing, trade and transportation of oil and natural gas. The Company�� subsidiaries participated in a number of concessions in the Brazil and Colombia. On November 21, 2013, processing of judicial recovery was approved for the Company and OGX Petroleo e Gas SA, following decision of the Corporate Court of Capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Suhartono]
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,004.66. OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3) plunged to a record low in Sao Paulo as two people with knowledge of the matter said the oil producer is considering filing for bankruptcy protection within a month. India�� rupee snapped a three-day gain. Polish yields sank to an eight-week low on bets Zyta Gilowska�� successor on the central bank�� rate-setting panel will be reluctant to tighten monetary policy in 2014.
- [By Rajhkumar K Shaaw]
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index retreated 0.3 percent to 1,027.27, extending its weekly slump to 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) slid to the lowest level in seven weeks as Great Wall Motor Co. (601633) tumbled 10 percent after earnings missed analysts��estimates. Oil company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3) sank 19 percent, pacing losses in Brazil�� Ibovespa. The rupiah strengthened the most since Sept. 19.
Top 10 Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: Bazaarvoice Inc (BV)
Bazaarvoice, Inc., incorporated on May 25, 2005, connects businesses together to amplify the authentic voices of people where they shop. The Company�� solutions, which are primarily provided through Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, enable clients to capture and display online word of mouth about specific products and services, channel content into all the places where it will influence a purchase both within and outside its network, which it refers to as syndication, and use business insights so they can act on what consumers want.
Bazaarvoice Conversations Platform
The Company�� Conversations platform provides capabilities to capture, manage and display online word of mouth. Consumers interact with its solutions as they view or author consumer reviews, questions, photos, videos, long-format narratives and other forms of consumer-generated content. Content that is displayed by its Conversations platform is styled to match its clients��brand, preserving important branding elements of its clients��businesses. Content collected and managed by its Conversations platform is used by its clients in a range of applications, including their online Websites, mobile-optimized Websites, mobile applications, social networks, in-store kiosks, physical in-store displays, printed flyers, email and other forms of online and offline media. The Company�� Conversations platform allows clients to capture, manage and display consumer reviews about their products and services on their Websites and mobile-optimized Websites; allows clients to facilitate question and answer conversations between consumers, or between consumers and brand representatives, on their Websites; allows clients to collect consumer testimonials about their products and services and display these stories on their Websites; enables consumers to read or write reviews, product questions, product answers, or stories on its clients��pages on social networking Websites and easily share this content with the peopl! e they influence the most-their social network friends or followers, and provides third-party developers with tools to build products or extend its platform on behalf of its clients, which enables the Company to expand the use of its platform by leveraging applications built by third-party developers.
Bazaarvoice Connections Solutions
The Company�� Conversations clients are connected through its SaaS platform to form a network. The Company offers network syndication and brand engagement solutions to facilitate the sharing of online word of mouth among its clients and to enable brands to directly interact with consumers on its retail clients��Websites. BrandVoice enables brands to enter into distribution relationships allowing them to display review content from their brand Websites on retail Websites within its network, which it refers to as syndication. BrandAnswers enables brands to interact directly with consumers on retail websites within its network to answer questions and provide suggestions on alternative products that may better meet that consumer�� needs. Brand Response enables brands to interact with consumers by responding to reviews posted on retail Websites within its network.
Bazaarvoice Analytics Solutions
The Company�� Conversations platform includes its Intelligence solution, which is it enhanced analytics solution, and a Workbench Analytics solution, which provides analytics and self-service administration tools. Intelligence allows clients to derive sophisticated market, consumer and product insights in a timely manner from the underlying data it collects on their behalf through its platform. Workbench Analytics provides basic analytics capabilities that allow its clients to generate reports highlighting simple ratings trends, text analysis and product and service issue identification.
Bazaarvoice Media
The Company�� Bazaarvoice Media sells advertising on behalf of retailers, brands and agencie! s, and pr! ovides capabilities that incorporate consumers��authentic opinions in advertising campaigns, creating advertisements that are trusted, relevant and targeted. Bazaarvoice Media sells advertising on retail Websites, utilizing its relationships and knowledge of the intricacies of the retail environment. It develops custom programs for brands to reach consumers while they are in the shopping environment, while also selling to non-retail brands, such as within the automotive and financial industries, that wish to reach the engaged shopper within this channel. Word of Mouth Advertisements provides brands with the ability to increase engagement with their advertising through the inclusion of authentic consumer sentiment. Mobile Advertising enables brands to reach consumers on their mobile devices.
The Company competes with Pluck, Reevoo, Gigya, Viewpoints, Google and Facebook.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eddie Staley]
Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV) tumbled 11.52 percent to $7.30 as the US District Court in the Northern District of California ruled against the company's acquisition of PowerReviews. Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) was down, falling 13.88 percent to $36.66 after the company reported a 7.4% drop in same-store sales at Kmart and Sears for the nine-week period ended January 6. The department store expected to post a loss for the fourth quarter and full year.
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