First Take: GoDaddy pulls up its Super Bowl dra…

This Super Bowl, GoDaddy finally will be playing the prude.

No more GoDaddy Girls. No more uncomfortable TV censors. No more outraged parents asking themselves: What on earth is this stuff doing on the Super Bowl? And while Danica Patrick is returning to GoDaddy's Super Bowl advertising for the ga-zillionth time, no more racy role for her, either.

Sorry Miley Cyrus, but GoDaddy, the company that almost single-handedly turned Super Bowl advertising into soft porn, has finally come to the corporate realization that at some point, sex actually doesn't sell. Particularly when it's predictable, gratuitous and, well, boring.

GODADDY: Not bringing sexy back

Over the years, GoDaddy and its racy Super Bowl spots have devolved into little more than a sophomoric wink, wink. It's one thing to wink at a pickup bar. It's another thing to wink in front of the nation's biggest annual TV audience exceeding 100 million viewers.

Any time you're a company known for its babes with big bumps — and you're not Playboy, Penthouse or Hooters — you've got a problem. Oh sure, the GoDaddy girls put a virtually unknown GoDaddy on the map a decade ago and gave it instant name recognition, but at what price? Super Bowl after Super Bowl, GoDaddy dug itself deeper into the muck, concocting sometimes absurd ways to tease Super Bowl viewers into not only watching its ads, but then, jumping onto its website to click away and be teased some more.

At the beginning, it was nothing more than a shrewd branding gamble. And it worked — for a while. Just get enough people to notice you, and maybe remember your name, at all costs: even if one of those costs is your very reputation. Heck, you can worry about all the baggage that comes with it later on.

Well, the baggage piled up. It piled GoDaddy right into a creative corner. And now, after 10 Super Bowls of pushing sex, sex and more sex, Go Daddy wants to wiggle its way out.

It won't be easy. But it had to happen.

Of course, G! oDaddy can't be blamed for all of the Super Bowl's tasteless commercials. Tacky Super Bowl advertising has been around for years . But GoDaddy quickly, and easily, stole the spotlight.

Never mind that two years ago — at one of its Super Bowl ad shoots at its headquarters in Phoenix — GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons told USA TODAY, with a straight face, "Any sex in the ads is manufactured in the minds of the viewer."

Right. (Wink, wink.)

Year after year, GoDaddy's ads ranked near — if not, at — the very bottom of USA TODAY'S Super Bowl Ad Meter consumer poll. Parson's loved it. He couldn't care less about the polls, he said. What he most cared about was driving people to his company's website.

But the one-trick pony has lost its step. The GoDaddy girls have become yesterday's news. So, GoDaddy must venture out into the real world of corporate branding this Super Bowl and find something else to stand for besides babes in tight T-shirts.

Imagine that. Ten Super Bowls and tens of millions of dollars after its first big splash, GoDaddy must move beyond the sizzle and finally pull together something for Super Bowl Sunday that every other serious player has before it: a game plan ... that's more than skin deep.

Top 5 Growth Companies To Own For 2014

In the U.S., advances in drilling technologies, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, have brought about a veritable energy renaissance.

Thanks to staggering production growth from shale oil plays previously thought inaccessible, U.S. oil output is the highest it's been since at least 1998. Some experts are even suggesting that the shale revolution could help bring about energy independence as early as 2020.

But while the U.S. may have been a first-mover in applying advanced drilling technologies to shale fields, it's not the only nation endowed with vast shale reserves. In fact, China may hold 1,275 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. If accurate, that's nearly 50% more than America's 862 trillion cubic of recoverable reserves. �

Will China and other countries around the world see the same success with shale drilling that America has?

A global shale revolution?
Probably not any time soon. According to Andrew Brown, head of international oil and gas production at Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) , shale development in the rest of the world won't proceed as quickly as it has in North America.

Top 5 Growth Companies To Own For 2014: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)

TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  For those looking to invest in real estate stocks, highly recommended is the Dr. Housing Bubble blog. In a recent posting, the "Dr." pointed out that there was a "Lost Generation" when it came to household income. That has not happened for those investing in staffing industry stocks such as Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE: TBI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

• [By idahansen]

  The entire demand labor industry should do well as the US Department of Labor just reported that 169,000 more jobs were added to the American economy. The more work there is, the more demand there is for the services of staffing solutions firms such as Labor SMART, Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), and Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI).

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  When looking at small cap stocks, it is useful to compare the company with others that have expanded in both share price and size. For those considering investing in the $100 billion staffing industry, the growth of TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) shows what could be the potential path for Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC), as both operate in the $29 billion demand labor sector. Other firms have done well in the staffing industry include Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) and ManPower Group (NYSE: MAN).

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  Even though the stock market rallied on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and Standard & Poor's 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) surging, the long term winners will be stocks in the staffing industry such as Paychex(NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Robert Half (NYSE: RHI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

Top 5 Growth Companies To Own For 2014: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

Hot Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of medical device company Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR  ) sank 12% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations. �

Top 5 Growth Companies To Own For 2014: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ast produces, distributes and sells weight and health management products with the brand names Medifast, Take Shape for Life, Hi-Energy Weight Control Centers and Woman�� Wellbeing.

  Its return on assets in the third quarter of 2011 was 19.6%, which has been increasing in the past several years. The average return on assets for the specialty retail industry is 10.48% for the trailing 12 months.

  The company�� total assets amounted to $94 million in 2010, which increased from $62.8 million in 2009. Net income also increased to $19.6 million in 2010 from $12 million in 2009.

  Boston Beer Inc. (SAM)

  Boston Beer Inc. is the largest brewer of handcrafted beers in America. Boston Beer is a growing company that recently saw a large increase in its return on assets. It increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 29.7% in 2011, and was negative as recently as 2008. The average return on assets for the beverages industry in the trailing 12 months is 9.47%.

  In 2011, the company�� total assets increased to $272.5 million from $258.5 million in 2010. Net income increased to $66 million from $50 million.

  Alliances Resources Partners (ARLP)

  Alliance Resources Partners is a coal producer and marketer primarily in the eastern U.S. Its ROA has been increasing since 2008 and increased to 22.5% in 2011 from 21.4% in 2010. The average return on assets for the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry in the trailing 12 months is 24.47%.

  In 2011, its total assets increased to $1.7 billion from $1.1 billion in 2010. Its net income increased to $389 million from $321 million.

  Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS)

  Factset researches global market trends and develops analytical tools for investors. Of all of GuruFocus��5-star predictable companies, it has the highest return on assets at 27%. ROA has been increasing over the past several years. The average return on assets for the software industry for the trailing 12 m

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) saw its stock down 5% in evening trading on Tuesday after the weight loss player had soft sales and guided expectations lower. Shares were still indicated down about 5%, but volume has not yet started.

Top 5 Growth Companies To Own For 2014: Crocs Inc.(CROX)

Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Brumley]

  The next Crocs (CROX) earnings announcement is coming after the market closes Wednesday, Oct. 30, and if this report is anything like most Crocs earnings updates … well, investors have a 50-50 shot at hearing good news.

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  According to Yahoo finance, Crocs, Inc. (CROX) will release its third quarter financial results on Monday, October 21, 2013; however, the company's investor's relations page makes no note of any impending announcements. That being said, CROX normally reports Q3 EPS around October 24th. So, next Thursday-ish instead of Monday is possible.

European Stocks Rise to 10-Week High as KPN Jumps on Bid

European stocks advanced to their highest level since May as mining companies rallied after a report showed Chinese industrial production increased at a faster-than-expected pace.

A gauge of commodity producers posted its biggest increase in almost 11 months. Royal KPN NV soared the most in 15 months after billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil SAB offered to take over the Dutch phone company. Nestle SA fell for a third day, for the largest drag on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

The Stoxx 600 added 0.6 percent to 305.92 at the close of trading, extending its advance this week to 0.6 percent. The equity benchmark has rallied 11 percent from a low on June 24 as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England said interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time.

"With the upcoming end of the earning season, the market focus will shift back to the macro side where we most recently have seen clear signs of improved economic conditions," said Anja Hochberg, head of investment strategy at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich. "In China, we observe stabilizing data after the more recent weakness."

The Stoxx 600 climbed yesterday as faster-than-expected Chinese exports outweighed concern that the Federal Reserve will reduce its bond purchases this year.

National benchmark indexes advanced in all 18 western-European markets today. France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent and Germany's DAX gained 0.2 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 increased 0.8 percent.

Chinese Economy

In China, a report from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial output rose 9.7 percent in July from a year earlier, more than the 8.9 percent median forecast compiled by Bloomberg. The world's second-largest economy grew at an annualized pace of 7.5 percent in the three months through June, the fifth consecutive quarter that gross domestic product has grown by less than 8 percent.

Fresnillo Plc and Randgold Resources Ltd., which both mine precious metals, rose 8.2 percent to 1,035 pence and 6.8 percent to 4,722 pence, respectively. Lonmin Plc jumped 7.7 percent to 350.5 pence. The Stoxx 600 Basic Resource Index added 4.6 percent, the best performance of the 19 industry groups in the European equity benchmark.

KPN (KPN) surged 16 percent to 2.32 euros as America Movil offered 2.40 euros a share for the company. The price -- a 20 percent premium to KPN's close yesterday -- would value the stake that America Movil doesn't already own at 7.2 billion euros ($9.6 billion). The Mexican mobile-phone operator has a 29.8 percent holding in KPN. An agreement between the two companies to limit America Movil's stake to 30 percent expired after KPN agreed last month to sell its German business E-Plus to Telefonica SA.

Telekom Austria

Telekom Austria AG, which is also partly owned by America Movil, soared 8.7 percent to 5.73 euros.

Stockmann Oyj rallied 6 percent to 12.01 euros as second-quarter net income of 19.5 million euros exceeded the average analyst projection of 15.4 million euros. The owner of department stores in Finland and Russia also reiterated its guidance for the year.

Rheinmetall AG advanced 4.5 percent to 37.54 euros as the German maker of armored vehicles said its defense business won 66 percent of its orders from non-European countries in the first half of 2013. The unit obtained 46 percent of orders from outside Europe in the year-earlier period.

Sky Deutschland AG gained 0.8 percent to 6.60 euros. Credit Suisse Group AG initiated coverage of the broadcaster with an outperform rating, meaning that investors should buy the shares. Credit Suisse said that German households will probably buy Sky's services at a faster rate over the next few years. The company has exclusive rights to screen Bundesliga football matches. The new Bundesliga season starts tonight.

Nestle Retreats

Nestle slipped 1.3 percent to 62.45 Swiss francs. Deutsche Bank AG cut its price estimate for the maker of Nescafe by 4.8 percent to 60 francs. The world's largest food company yesterday reported its slowest first-half sales growth in four years.

Fugro NV (FUR) slumped 5.8 percent to 43.90 euros, the worst performance on the Stoxx 600. The world's biggest deepwater-oilfield surveyor said first-half earnings before interest and taxes amounted to 133 million euros, compared with 154 million euros a year earlier. Fugro said that

The volume of shares changing hands on the Stoxx 600 was 15 percent greater than the average of the past 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Try This Weird Trick to Find See the Future for Schawk

There's no foolproof way to know the future for Schawk (NYSE: SGK  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can, at times, suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like Schawk do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is Schawk sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plotted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. Schawk's latest average DSO stands at 76.2 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 76.4 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does Schawk look like it might miss its numbers in the next quarter or two?

The numbers don't paint a clear picture. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, Schawk's year-over-year revenue shrank 1.5%, and its AR dropped 2.1%. That looks OK. End-of-quarter DSO decreased 1.6% from the prior-year quarter. It was up 7.2% versus the prior quarter. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

Looking for alternatives to Schawk? It takes more than great companies to build a fortune for the future. Learn the basic financial habits of millionaires next door and get focused stock ideas in our free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich." Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add Schawk to My Watchlist.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is expected to report its third quarter financial results on�Oct.15. The company would discuss the results for the third quarter via live stream video on the same day at at�2:00 p.m.�Pacific/5:00 p.m.�Eastern Time.

California-based Yahoo is in a transition phase under the watchful eyes of CEO Marissa Mayer, who joined Yahoo from rival Google, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in July 2012.

Wall Street expects Yahoo to earn 33 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The consensus estimate implies a decrease of 5.7 percent from both last year as well as the second quarter of 2013 when it earned 35 cents a share.

Yahoo has managed to beat the Street view in all of the past four quarters, at a rate between 14 and 58 percent. The consensus view has dropped by a penny in the past 90 days while one analyst has raised the earnings view in the last one month.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Skechers U.S.A. Inc.(SKX)

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of footwear for men, women, and children in the United States and internationally. The company offers various products comprising casuals, such as boots, shoes, and sandals for men, as well as slip-ons, lug outsole and fashion boots, and casual sandals for women; dress casuals; relaxed fit for men; sandals; and casual fusion under the Skechers USA brand name. It also provides a line of sport footwear for men and women, including men?s lifestyle athletic footwear, lightweight women?s sneakers, and sport sandals under the Skechers Sport brand name. In addition, the company offers men?s and women?s casuals, field boots, hikers, and athletic shoes under the Skechers Work brand name; and a range of infants, toddlers, boys, and girls? boots, shoes, and sneakers under the Skechers Kids brand name. Further, its product line includes Skechers Active products, such as casual everyday and sport fusi on sneakers for females; Tone-ups and Tone-ups Fitness products comprising casual and athletic-inspired sandals for women, as well as sneakers; Shape-ups toning footwear for men and women; and Skechers Resistance Runner technical shoes for runners. Skechers U.S.A. markets its products through department and specialty stores, athletic and independent retailers, and boutiques, catalog and Internet retailers, as well as through own e-commerce Website and retail stores. As of February 15, 2011, it operated 105 concept stores, 99 factory outlet stores, and 40 warehouse outlet stores in the United States, as well as 28 concept stores and 16 factory outlets internationally. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Associated Press]

  Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed criminal and civil charges against fired KPMG partner Scott London for conspiracy to commit securities fraud through insider trading. The 24-page affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that London, 50, of Agoura Hills, Calif., provided confidential information about KPMG clients Herbalife (NYSE: HLF  ) , Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX  ) , Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK  ) , RSC Holdings, and Pacific Capital to Bryan Shaw, a close friend, from late 2010 until last month. Prosecutors allege that Shaw made more than $1.2 million in illicit profits by trading in advance of company announcements on earnings results or mergers.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: The Cushing MLP Total Return Fund(SRV)

Cushing MLP Total Return Fund is a closed-end mutual fund launched by Swank Capital, LLC. The fund is managed by Swank Energy Income Advisors L.P. It invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe with a focus in United States. The fund typically invests in MLPs, Other Natural Resource Companies, and global commodities. It primarily invests in the securities of MLPs, other equity securities, debt securities, and securities of non-U.S. issuers employing a fundamental analysis. Cushing MLP Total Return Fund was formed on May 23, 2007 and is domiciled in Dallas.

Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Deswell Industries Inc.(DSWL)

Deswell Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of injection-molded plastic parts and components, electronic products and subassemblies, and metallic molds and accessory parts for original equipment manufacturers and contract manufacturers. The company produces various plastic parts and components for the manufacture of consumer and industrial products, including plastic component of electronic entertainment products; cases for flashlights, telephones, paging machines, projectors, and alarm clocks; toner cartridges and cases for photocopy and printer machines; parts for electrical products, such as air-conditioning and ventilators; parts for audio equipment; cases and key tops for personal organizers and remote controls; double injection caps and baby products; parts for medical products comprising apparatus for blood tests; laser key caps; and automobile components. Its electronic products include audio equipment, such as digital audio workstation, digital or analogue mixing consoles, instrument amplifiers, signal processors, firewire/USB audio interfaces, keyboard controllers, and speaker enclosures; high end home theatre audio products comprising 7.1-channel audio-visual Hi-Fi stereo receivers-amplifiers; complex printed circuit board assemblies; and telecommunication products consisting of VoIP keysets for business communications. The company?s metal products include metallic molds and accessory parts used in audio equipment, telephones, copying machines, pay telephones, multimedia stations, automatic teller machines, and vending machines. In addition, it distributes audio equipment. The company sells its products in the United States, the People?s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Holland, Norway, and Germany. Deswell Industries, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Jewett-Cameron Trading Company(JCTCF)

Jewett-Cameron Trading Company, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the warehouse distribution and direct sale of wood products and specialty metal products to home centers and other retailers primarily in the United States. It operates in four segments: Industrial Wood Products; Lawn, Garden, Pet, and Other; Seed Processing and Sales; and Industrial Tools and Clamps. The Industrial Wood Products segment processes and distributes industrial wood products; and provides treated plywood to boat manufacturers and the transportation industry. The Lawn, Garden, Pet, and Other segment wholesales wood products, including fencing and landscape timbers; and manufactures and distributes specialty metal products comprising dog kennels, proprietary gate support systems, perimeter fencing, and greenhouses. The Seed Processing and Sales segment processes, distributes, and sells agricultural seeds to distributors. The Industrial Tools segment imports and distributes products, inclu ding pneumatic air tools, industrial clamps, and saw blades. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in North Plains, Oregon.

5 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Pervasive Software Inc.(PVSW)

Pervasive Software, Inc. provides embeddable software and SaaS services for data management, data integration, B2B exchange, and analytics. Its embeddable Pervasive PSQL database engine provides database reliability in a near-zero database administration environment for packaged business applications. Pervasive Software?s multi-purpose data integration platform, available on-premises and in the cloud, accelerates the sharing of information between multiple data stores, applications, and hosted business systems, and allows customers to re-use the same software for diverse integration scenarios. Pervasive DataRush is an embeddable parallel-processing platform enabling data-intensive applications, such as claims processing, risk analysis, fraud detection, data mining, predictive analytics, sales optimization, and marketing analytics. The company serves customers in approximately 150 countries. Pervasive Software, through Pervasive Innovation Labs, also invests in the explorat ion and creation of solutions for the data analysis and data delivery challenges. Pervasive Software, Inc. has a strategic alliance with A.D.A.M. Inc. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas with additional offices in Greenville, South Carolina; Brussels, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; Paris, France; and London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Pervasive Software(R) Inc. (NASDAQ:PVSW), a global leader in cloud-based and on-premises data innovation, reported that it is in receipt of an unsolicited non-binding letter from Actian Corporation proposing to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Pervasive common stock for $8.50 per share in cash.

Asian Stocks Extend Weekly Drop as Earnings Disappoint Investors

Asian stocks fell, extending the regional gauge's first weekly decline in three weeks, as forecasts from Canon Inc. to Posco disappointed investors.

Posco, South Korea's biggest steelmaker, sank 1.2 percent in Seoul after cutting its 2013 sales forecast. LG Electronics Inc. (066570) lost 3.7 percent after its third-quarter operating profit and sales missed estimates. Canon retreated 1.4 percent in Tokyo as the camera maker trimmed its earnings outlook. AMP Ltd. tumbled 3.1 percent in Sydney after Australia's largest life insurer and pension manager said fourth-quarter operating profit will fall by as much as A$65 million ($62.5 million).

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 0.9 percent to 141.67 as of 1:24 p.m. in Tokyo, extending this week's fall to 1.2 percent. The gauge climbed to a five-month high on Oct. 22 amid speculation the Federal Reserve would delay tapering stimulus, pushing its earnings multiple to 13.8 times estimated profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"The earnings numbers are not fantastic," Evan Lucas, Melbourne-based market strategist at IG Ltd. said by phone. "Many of the export-driven Japanese companies like Canon had the weakening yen supporting them earlier in the year but that is now stagnating. People are starting to reassess those shares that have had that support."

Of 73 companies in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have reported quarterly results this earnings season and for which Bloomberg compiles estimates, 60 percent posted profit that missed expectations.

Regional Gauges

Japan's Topix index today fell 1.9 percent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 percent and New Zealand's NZX 50 Index advanced 0.6 percent. South Korea's Kospi index dropped 0.8 percent even after data showed the nation's economy expanded more than forecast last quarter. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 0.5 percent and China's Shanghai Composite declined 1 percent. Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.2 percent and Taiwan's Taiex Index retreated 0.9 percent.

Fed policy makers are scheduled to meet Oct. 29-30, when they will evaluate the strength of the recovery with a less complete set of figures than usual due to the 16-day partial government shutdown that caused the suspension of reports and collection of data.

Best Low Price Stocks For 2014

Japanese consumer prices climbed in September from a year earlier, a fourth monthly gain. The Topix surged 40 percent this year through yesterday, the largest rally among 24 developed equity markets tracked by Bloomberg.

Posco lost 1.2 percent to 317,500 won and LG Electronics retreated 3.7 percent to 67,500 won. Canon declined 1.4 percent to 3,085 yen and AMP slumped 3.1 percent to A$4.785. Great Wall Motor Co. sank 6.1 percent to HK$45.50 in Hong Kong after its third-quarter profit missed analysts' estimates.

Among rising shares, Murata Manufacturing Co. gained 2.6 percent to 7,790 yen after net income topped the electronic-component maker's forecasts.

The Most Popular Video Sites in America

Online video has radically changed the way Americans consume media. People want to watch when it is convenient for them, not when network programmers want them to. The industry's term for it is "video everywhere" — from the largest plasma screens to the smallest smartphones. And while online video is ubiquitous, only a small number of companies dominate this new world.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) sites, led by YouTube, accounted for nearly 88% of the 189 million unique U.S. viewers registered by video sites in September. The video behemoth was more than twice as large as Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), the second largest site. YouTube, in effect, defines the entire industry.

Click here to see what video sites have the most viewers

YouTube has such a vast audience partly because it was among the first to offer a comprehensive platform for online video posting, viewing and sharing. Those early (and largely amateur) videos have been joined by polished, professional ones that have attracted a much wider audience, both to YouTube and a growing number of online video sites. The content that these consumers view ranges from short clips to full-length movies available to rent or own. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Hulu are examples of the full-length video option.

YouTube's model will be nearly impossible for any competitor to duplicate. The company owns its own advertising network and has begun its own paid video subscription service. The site is also the leading music video publisher as a result of its VEVO channel. The site is also well positioned in the video everywhere world. According to the company, mobile makes up nearly 40% of YouTube's total number of video streams.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014

Portal companies like Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) are trying to overcome collapsing revenues for display advertising. Their latest business model aims to appeal to marketers who use video ads. These video ads can command 10 times more revenue than display ads. Online publishers and advertisers both benefit from the fact that commercials frequently already have been created for broadcast and cable TV.

24/7 Wall St. examined the top 10 video sites in America based on comScore's September 2013 report, "September 2013 U.S. Online Video Rankings." According to comScore, a video is defined as "any streamed segment of audiovisual content, including both progressive downloads and live streams." For long-form content (e.g., television episodes with ad pods in the middle), each segment is counted as a distinct video stream. Video views include both user-initiated and auto-played videos that are viewed for longer than three seconds.

These are the most popular video sites in America.

A Fool Looks Back

After 34 years, Carnival  (NYSE: CCL  ) CEO Micky Arison is stepping down as CEO of the world's largest cruise-ship operator.

Carnival's new CEO is Arnold Donald. He's a longtime board member, so he naturally knows the company and its present challenges well. He lives in St. Louis, ironically enough, far removed from the coastal ports that Carnival relies on for most of its sailings. 

This may be a peculiar time to step down. Carnival has had its shares of mishaps at sea since early last year, but the cruise line was starting to sail past floating blunders. Even the maligned Carnival Triumph resumed sailing earlier this months after months of repairs and updates.

So is this really the right time for Carnival to be letting someone else steer the ship?

Arison's Miami Heat won another NBA title a week earlier, so at least he's going out a winner on one front.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

Smith & Wesson  (NASDAQ: SWHC  ) posted strong quarterly results this week. Sales rose a hearty 38%, and earnings soared even higher. That's not a surprise. Firearms are in hot demand as consumers fear that ownership restrictions will be tightened.  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) can't catch a break. Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Ittai Kidron became the latest to get cold feet, lowering his price target from $480 to $460 and reducing his iPhone 5 shipment projections for the current quarter. Apple wasn't the only former tech darling to get talked down this week. Maxim Group's Echo He lowered his price target on Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU  ) to $75. The concern here is that margins will continue to come under pressure as competition intensifies. 

Top 5 Dividend Companies To Own For 2014

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Australia stocks rise to fresh post-crisis highs

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks rose in early Monday trading, helped by Wall Street's gains Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) climbing 0.8% to 5,362.40 after closing the previous session at its highest level since before the start of the 2008 financial crisis. Miners were broadly improving, as Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) rose 1.3%, BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) added 0.9% ahead of its quarterly production report Tuesday, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) also climbed 0.9% despite a loss for gold at the end of last week. Financials saw gains as well, with many analysts now tipping the U.S. Federal Reserve to maintain its current level of easing through the end of the year. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) advanced 1.1%, while Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) and Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) (MCQEF) rose 1.2% each. On the downside, shares of Qantas Airways Ltd. (AU:QAN) (QUBSF) fell 4.2% after the company warned of rough business conditions on Friday.

Jim Cramer's Top Stock Picks: PNRA NOW AOL STJ GOOG CMG

Top 10 Financial Companies To Watch For 2014

Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are some of the hot stocks Jim Cramer talked about on Friday's "Mad Money" on CNBC:

PNRA data by YCharts

Panera Bread (PNRA): Cramer said he's hearing rumors this casual dining chain may disappoint when it reports next week.

NOW data by YCharts

ServiceNow (NOW): With cloud computing all the rage, Cramer said this little-known speculative stock could be a buy on weakness.

AOL data by YCharts

AOL (AOL): Just in time for Halloween, Cramer said this Internet darling is back from the dead and turning itself around.

STJ data by YCharts

St. Jude Medical (STJ): Cramer said this company's medical devices have winning technology and investors should pay attention.

GOOG data by YCharts

Google (GOOG) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Both these big-cap growth names have had big rallies, but Cramer said they can still be bought because they now have accelerating revenue growth.

To read a full recap of "Mad Money" on CNBC, click here.

To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here. To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC. -- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C. To email Scott about this article, click here: Scott Rutt Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottRutt or get updates on Facebook, ScottRuttDC

At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had no position in stocks mentioned. Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC Universal or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money." None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.

General Electric (GE) Mulls Further Restructuring

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- General Electric (GE) executives, after reporting third-quarter earnings, revealed they would continue restructuring initiatives to boost efficiency.

"We continue to have good opportunities for restructuring throughout the company and I would expect us to do some in the fourth quarter," said CEO Jeffrey Immelt during a conference call. "If we have gains, we expect those to be offset with restructuring."

CFO Jeffrey Bornstein added that the more simplified GE becomes, the more cost-efficient and customer-centric it will be.

"Every day we identify more opportunities to do what we do smarter -- more shared services, a smaller manufacturing footprint, rationalizing capacity, executing our functions in a more consolidated way," he said. Third-quarter revenue was $35.73 billion, lower than an estimated $35.96 billion and down 1.5% from $36.25 billion a year ago. Restructuring in GE Capital, the company's financial arm, and negative currency exchanges contributed to the decline. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company recorded operating earnings 3% lower than the year-ago quarter to $3.7 billion, or 36 cents a share. Excluding restructuring expenses and other one-time charges, operating earnings was 40 cents a share. GE also reported a record $229 billion of backlog in equipment and services which puts the company in good stead for the fourth quarter and into 2014. Shares were up 3.5% to $25.55 by market close Friday, leading the S&P 500 which gained 0.65%.  TheStreet Ratings team rates General Electric Co as a Buy with a ratings score of B. The team this to say about its recommendation: "We rate General Electric Co (GE) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins, increase in stock price during the past year, notable return on equity and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated." You can view the full analysis from the report here: GE Ratings Report Written by Keris Alison Lahiff.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now

On a slow day for defense contractors, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A  ) took home the Pentagon gold Wednesday.

After bidding for the rights to develop and manufacture an aircrew training system for the new KC-46 Boeing aerial refueling tanker, Berkshire subsidiary�FlightSafety International won a $78.4 million contract to produce the system. FlightSafety could have as long as until 2026 to complete work on the contract if all option-year extensions are exercised.

Berkshire's single contract win accounted for more than half the $149.4 million in contracts awarded Wednesday. Of the rest, only one went to another publicly traded company. General Dynamics' (NYSE: GD  ) Advanced Information Systems subsidiary won $31.5 million in the form of a five-year performance-based logistics requirements contract to support six mission computers used on F/A 18 E/F, EA-18G, and AV-8B aircraft. The completion date on this contract is April 2018.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Clash of the titans
  When bears are raging on the gold bullion market, it's not surprising to see gold stocks getting mauled as well. Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  ) was the biggest loser in the sector, losing a quarter of its market cap on no company-specific news, though a report last Friday indicated that a large number of hedge funds had recently dumped their positions in the mid-tier miner. Yet it wasn't all that much better among the majors, either, as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) fell almost 13% and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 14%.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  )
  It's simple physics: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. When gold prices nosedived earlier this week, gold miners with historically higher operating costs took the brunt of the hit. For the most part, that meant that development-stage miners, and those operating in Africa, where labor and political costs make cost-effective mining a challenge, took it on the chin. Possibly no stock was hammered more than Golden Star Resources, a gold miner in Ghana, which lost about one-quarter of its value on Monday alone.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Claude Resources Inc.(CGR)

Claude Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal properties, as well as production and marketing of minerals in Canada. It primarily explores for gold in northern Saskatchewan and northwestern Ontario. The company holds interests in the Seabee gold mine located at Laonil Lake, northern Saskatchewan; and the Madsen property that consists of 6 contiguous claim blocks totaling approximately 10,000 acres, located in the Red Lake Mining District of northwestern Ontario. It also holds interest in the Amisk Gold project, which covers an area of 13,800 hectares in the province of Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Saskatoon, Canada.

5 Best Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We re-established an investment in CME Group, Inc. (CME) during the period. CME is the largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace in the U.S. Its exchanges support trading across a variety of asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, foreign exchange and metals. We believe CME has the opportunity to significantly accelerate its growth rates due to the eventual normalization of interest rates and the attendant interest rate volatility. CME's interest rate trading volumes (ADV) have been depressed as a result of the Fed's zero interest rate policy and low interest rate volatility. For example, interest rate ADV was 4.8 million in 2012compared to 7.1 million in 2007, before the financial crisis. However, given the Fed's recent policy statements (discussed above), market participants are starting to anticipate an end to quantitative easing (QE). On May 30, CME experienced record volume for interest rate derivatives with ADV of 19.4 million. With the globalization of CME's business, a host of new products, and the regulatory requirement for interest rate swaps to be cleared on an exchange, we believe CME's interest rate volumes can surpass their prior peak, significantly driving earnings growth for the company.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  CME Group (NASDAQ: CME  ) is staying consistent for the moment in terms of shareholder payouts. The company has declared a dividend for its Q2 of $0.45 per share, to be paid on June 25 to shareholders of record as of June 10.�That amount matches CME Group's previous distribution, which was paid at the end of March.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  But even with markets trading in a range since July, there was plenty of action in individual stocks, even as earnings season nears an end. CME Group (CME), for instance, gained 4% to $74.44, its biggest move two months, after the exchange operator said trading volume in its Brent crude oil futures contracts climbed above 100,000 for the first time on Aug. 8. CME is trying to woo traders away from IntercontinentalExchange’s (ICE) dominant futures contract. Xerox (XRX), meanwhile, finished up 3.4% at $10.49 after Citigroup upgraded its stock to Buy from Neutral and the company announced that it would acquire a Canadian company.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: First Majestic Silver Corp.(AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the production, development, exploration, and acquisition of mineral properties with a focus on silver in Mexico. The company owns interests in La Encantada Silver Mine comprising 4,076 hectares of mining rights and 1,343 hectares of surface land located in Coahuila; La Parrilla Silver Mine consisting of mining concessions covering an area of 69,867 hectares; and San Martin Silver Mine comprising approximately 7,841 hectares of mineral rights and approximately 1,300 hectares of surface land rights located in Jalisco. It also holds interests in Del Toro Silver Mine consisting of 393 contiguous hectares of mining claims and an additional 129 hectares of surface rights located in Zacatecas; Real de Catorce Silver Project comprising 22 mining concessions covering 6,327 hectares located in San Luis Potosi state; and Jalisco Group of Properties consisting of mining claims totalling 5,240 hectares located in Jalisco. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  It is no secret that precious metals companies have been taking a pounding for some time now. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD  ) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) , the gold and silver ETFs, have been hard hit and operating companies like First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) have been hit even harder. Through all of these struggles, and in some cases because of them, one precious metals company continues to look attractive for the long term: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) .

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Newmont Mining Corporation(Holding Company)

Newmont Mining Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and production of gold and copper properties. The company?s assets or operations are located in the United States, Australia, Peru, Indonesia, Ghana, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico. As of December 31, 2009, it had proven and probable gold reserves of approximately 93.5 million equity ounces and an aggregate land position of approximately 27,500 square miles. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Goldcorp Incorporated(GG)

Goldcorp Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  As of 3:00 PM New York time yesterday, shares of Newmont Mining were down 3.65%; Goldcorp (GG) was lower by 2.85%; Yamana Gold (AUY) was off 2.84%; Barrick Gold (ABX) had dropped 3.17%, and Randgold (GOLD) had declined 1.37%. Goldcorp and Yamana Gold are members of my Jubak's Picks portfolio.

• [By Jack Adamo]

  Steven Halpern: No, that's very helpful. One of the stocks you hold is Goldcorp (GG), in your model portfolio. What's your outlook for Goldcorp?

• [By Itinerant]

  In a series of recent articles we investigated the country risk of various mining jurisdictions in which US-listed precious metal miners are active. We collated country risk ratings for these countries from eight different sources and averaged these ratings into compounded country risk scores. The most recent results from this work can be found in this article. Most definitions of country risk include factors such as political risk, exchange rate risk, economic risk, sovereign risk, transfer risk, socio-economic risk and others. Depending on the source, various contributing factors of country risk are weighted differently. Readers interested in the specific definitions are encouraged to follow the links to our sources given in this article. We used our compounded country risk score to evaluate country risk exposure for selected gold and silver mining companies using 2011 production results and reserve statements. As 2012 data becomes available we are providing updates and in the present article we would like to do so for Goldcorp (GG).

• [By Rich Smith]

  Today's high cash-cost of digging through 9.4 tons of dirt in hopes of extracting a golf-ball's weight of pure gold explains why most of the major gold miners -- from low-cost producer Barrick, all the way up through Kinross (NYSE: KGC  ) , Newmont (NYSE: NEM  ) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) -- are currently in a negative free cash flow state. (Well, the high cost plus the relatively lower prices that miners are getting for their gold today).

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Bridges favorite stocks include Goldcorp, Newmont, Eldorado Gold (EGO) and New Gold (NGD).

  Note, however, that these recommendations are all qualified in one way or another. Investors should keep that in mind before going all in on the gold miners.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Even bad news has failed to dent the rise in gold stocks today. NewGold (NGD), for instance, has gained 1.8% to $7.49 despite the fact that the wall of one of its mines collapsed. The Wall Street Journal has the details:

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  The stock market liked what it heard Wednesday, August 7, from Thompson Creek Metals (TC) after the close in New York. Second quarter adjusted net earnings of 8 cents a share crushed the Wall Street consensus of a penny a share. Revenue climbed 3.8% to $117.8 million versus expectations for revenue of just $1.3.8 million. The company also said that its new Mt. Milligan mine is on schedule with a start-up for the concentrator expected this month, with first ore-feed by mid-August. The company said it expects commercial production to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, with production ramping to full capacity over the next twelve months.

Southern California RIA looks to acquire

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An independent financial advisory firm in Southern California with $1.4 billion in assets under management is opening its wallet and looking for deals.

Torrance, Calif.-based EP Wealth Advisors Inc. is looking to acquire other firms in Southern California, according to the president of the fee-based registered investment adviser.

“We've been able to achieve strong organic growth and were fortunate for that, but part of why I was hired in 2011 — two years ago — was to institutionalize the business and achieve additional growth,” said the president, Patrick Goshtigian, in an interview. “It allows us to provide an opportunity to benefit from the scale we're starting to achieve and provides a mechanism by which they can achieve some succession planning or just take advantage of that scale and be able to focus more on their clients and growth of their client base.&#

Can China Build A De-Americanized World?

"As U.S. politicians of both political parties are still shuffling back and forth between the White House and the Capitol Hill without striking a viable deal to bring normality to the body politic they brag about, it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanized world," writes Liu Chang in Xinhua, China's official news outlet. But can China build a de-Americanized world? Can China lead the global economy?

As we wrote in previous pieces, the answer is most likely not, as China lacks four conditions that make its economic growth sustainable.

First, China doesn't have an "infinite" world market frontier for its manufacturing products, as its genuine expansion to world markets comes at a time when capitalism is already approaching its last frontier, having conquered almost every market around the world.

This means that China is pushing against capitalism's last frontier, and, therefore, it has little room to maneuver before clashing with other world market players that are already well positioned in the global market.

But what about China's domestic frontier?

If the magnitude of a domestic market of a country is measured by the size of her population, China is a large resource (labor) and product (consumer) market. Yet a large population alone is not sufficient to propel the country's economic development, and China's experience attests to that. China already had a large population at the beginning of the fourteenth century, in the middle of the 19th century, and the early 1950s, but it missed all three opportunities to rise to world economic leadership.

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But aren't things different today?

Certainly they are, as evidenced by the country's robust growth, which has turned her into the world's second largest economy at a record time. The trouble, however, is that low per capita income, persistent income inequalities, low population density, high illiteracy rates, and fragmented administrative structure make China's  domestic market a collection of separate local markets rather than a single integrated market.

The second missing condition is an indigenous resource –entrepreneurship – which China has yet to nurture and nourish.

To be fair, entrepreneurship flourishes in rural areas of China, where farmers are turning into entrepreneurs and wages are determined by market forces. Entrepreneurship is also flourishing in southeast coastal regions, where individuals have amassed fortunes by exporting low-cost Chinese-made products. Companies such as Panda Electronics, Huawei Technologies Haier Group, Little Swan, and Lenovo are developing new products — becoming the next Cisco, IBM IBM +1.13%, and Apple AAPL +1.85%.

Unfortunately for China, these companies are the exception rather than the rule. In the Chinese economy today, entrepreneurship is about producing, marketing and merchandising standard products invented and innovated elsewhere.

That's why China has yet to develop blockbuster products like the iPhone and the iPad and create sustainable competitive advantages in the global economy.

The third condition?  The right cocktail of markets and government, which deploys each system in areas of the economy where it excels, rather than the areas where each fails — as is the case currently in China. The government is absent from the "common" areas of the economy, where markets either fail or are inadequate –like the environmental protection and occupational safety, patrolling of streets and highways, and protection of citizens from financial fraud.

At the same time, the government is present in the state–owned enterprises and town-village enterprises as owner, entrepreneur, and manager, producing goods as varied as steel, laundry powder, and aluminum. The government is present in "privatized" enterprises and owns sufficient shares to control their management. The government is also present in the banking industry, controlling almost every major bank rationing credit by political fiat rather than by market forces.

Finally, China requires a new business mind-set that places the consumer rather than the government bureaucrat at the center of the economic universe; lets entrepreneurs make choices as to how economic resources will be deployed; and allows professional managers to implement these choices.

The bottom line: A large population, a large labor force, and a dose of markets may be the necessary condition for leading the global economy. The sufficient condition is an open market frontier, genuine entrepreneurship, the right cocktail of markets and government, and a new business mindset — all of which China seems to lack at this point.

Will Exelon's Big Bounce Last?

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

As the biggest operator of nuclear power plants in the country, Exelon had a big competitive advantage over its fossil-fuel-focused rivals when coal and natural gas prices were high. In recent years, though, low nat-gas prices have largely left Exelon behind. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Exelon over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on Exelon

Analyst EPS Estimate	$0.68
Change From Year-Ago EPS	(20%)
Revenue Estimate	$6.18 billion
Change From Year-Ago Revenue	28%
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters	2

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Will Exelon justify its big share-price rebound this quarter?
Over the past few months, analysts have cut back on their views of Exelon's earnings potential. They reduced their earnings-per-share calls by a nickel not just for the first quarter but for the full 2013 and 2014 years as well. But the stock has been on a roller-coaster ride, gaining more than 25% since late January after falling roughly the same amount during the fourth quarter of 2012.

The big news for Exelon investors during the quarter came in February, when the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings. The utility posted revenue that was well short of the growth that investors had expected after Exelon's merger with Constellation Energy last year. Even worse, Exelon guided down its 2013 earnings per share from $2.85 in 2012 to a range of $2.35-$2.65 for 2013, and slashed its dividend by 40%.

What's arguably more troubling is the relative lack of a firm growth strategy for Exelon. Rival NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE  ) expects to spend an average of almost $6 billion per year over the next four years on projects designed to increase earnings and therefore dividend payout potential, while Dominion (NYSE: D  ) is aiming to produce 5%-6% earnings growth per year by spending $3 billion annually on new utility projects. By contrast, Exelon's spending on solar is relatively small and its investment on wind is almost nonexistent.

Still, rising natural gas prices have likely been the major cause for Exelon's recent share-price rise. With gas prices now double what they were at last year's lows and the nat-gas tracking United States Natural Gas ETF (NYSEMKT: UNG  ) up more than 45% in the past year, Exelon's nuclear fleet is finally starting to look a bit more attractive compared to its peers.

In Exelon's quarterly report, the keys to look for will be details on the company's growth strategy, especially as it relates to renewable energy. As other utilities have moved aggressively to shore up growth opportunities, Exelon needs to make sure it doesn't get left behind.

As the nation moves increasingly toward clean energy, Exelon is perfectly positioned to capitalize on having the largest nuclear fleet in North America. This strength, combined with an increased focus on balance sheet health and its recent merger with Constellation, places Exelon and its resized dividend on a short list of the top utilities. To determine if Exelon is a good long-term fit for your portfolio, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's premium research report on the company. Simply click here now for instant access.

Click here to add Exelon to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

3 Top Yielding Electric Utility Stocks

Investors looking for income and capital appreciation potential for the long term may want to consider electric utility stocks. If you look at the Dow Jones Utility Average over the last twelve months, you would see that utility stocks have dropped by 1.28%, partially due to fears of rising interest rates, partially due to the concern about competition from solar roof panels, and partially due to the fears about the reduction in electrical usage from fluorescent and LED light bulbs.

This may be a buying opportunity for contrarian income investors looking to get into  utilities. There are dozens of electric utilities to choose from with over 20 providing yields of 4% or more, according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

For example, TECO Energy, Inc. (TE) sports a yield of 5.3%. This electric and gas utility holding company provides electricity to West Central Florida. The stock trades at 20 times trailing earnings and 15.4 times forward earnings.The company has raised its dividend every year since 2006.

Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (TEG) serves the Wisconsin, Michigan, and Chicago areas. It has a P/E ratio of 14.3, a forward P/E ratio of 15.7, and offers a generous yield of 4.9%.

Black Hills Corporation (BKH) provides electricity to customers in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana. It trades at 15.5 times earnings with a forward P/E of  19.7. The stock pays a yield of 3.1.

To see a list of dozens of high yield electric utilities, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.  The list has the PE. the forward PE, the PEG, and the yield for these stocks.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Posted-In: Dividends Markets Trading Ideas

Originally posted here...

  Around the Web, We're Loving... Learn to Use Trading Platforms Like Hedge Fund Traders do Rumsfeld: Denial of Benefits to Fallen Soldiers' Families 'Inexcusable' Come See How the Pro's Trade in this Exclusive Webinar Facebook, Baidu Lead Big Caps Beating Shutdown What Should You Know About AMZN? Most Popular Short Sellers Pile On Facebook and Google (FB, GOOG, ZNGA) CORRECTION: Micron Falls After Confusion on Better-Than-Expected Q4 Results (MU) Jim Chanos Talks Long, Short And Ugly Trades Jefferies Reiterates Buy on Amarin Corporation on Continued Positive Outlook iPhone 5C Might Be 50% Less Popular Than Apple Anticipated A Sell Signal Worth Paying Attention To Related Articles () EPR Properties Acquires Camelback Mountain Resort Chino Commercial Terminates Formal Agreement with Comptroller of the Currency Apple Adds Insult to BlackBerry's Injury by Poaching Its Employees Through LinkedIn Market Wrap For Friday, October 11: Markets Rebound Near Pre-Shutdown Levels Benzinga Weekly Preview: Earnings Season Gets Into Full Swing PriveCo's Tom Nardone Says Don't Get Screwed By Bad Customers View the discussion thread. Partner Network #marketfy-ae-block { display: none; border: 2px solid #0a3f75; overflow: hidden; width: 300px; height: 125px; text-align: center; background-color: #45719E; position: relative; z-index: 1; } #marketfy-ae-block a { display: block; width: 300px; height: 125px; position: relative; z-index: 2; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text { color: #f9fc99; padding: 0px 0 0 0; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text-start { font-size: 12px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown { padding: 5px 0 5px 0; font-size: 26px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup { padding: 5px 47px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup:hover { background-color: #457a1a; } #marketfy-ae-block #marketfy-ae-block-logo { display: block; padding: 3px 0 0 0; margin: 0; } #marketfy-ae-block-logo { text-indent: -9999px; } #marketfy-ae-block-free { display: block; position: absolute; top: 7px; right: -23px; width: 80px; height: 16px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; opacity: 1; -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg); -moz-transform: rotate(45deg); -ms-transform: rotate(45deg); transform: rotate(45deg); font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #333333; background-color: yellow; z-index: 500; text-shadow: 1px 1px #999999; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow { position: relative; width: 60px; height: 60px; z-index: 10; margin: -80px 0 13px -21px; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow img { height: 60px; width: auto; } Marketfy's International
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Hackers Hit Adobe Hard, & 6 More Things You'll Want to Know

Bloomberg via Getty Images Software maker Adobe revealed today that had been hacked back in August, and that the cyber criminals made off with a huge chunk of data about 2.9 million of its users, including encrypted credit card data, as well as source code for the company's products. Adobe, best known for its Photoshop and Acrobat applications, didn't notice the breach until an outside security expert spotted some of their data on a server that had been used by hackers. • House Speaker John Boehner has reportedly told Republicans that he will not let the U.S. default, and he's allegedly willing to ignore the so-called "Hastert rule" to increase the debt ceiling if he has to. Boehner's now hoping to swing a combined deal that passes a budget bill and raises the debt limit. • Could one man -- besides John Boehner -- resolve our debt limit problem? Maybe: For a brief time, an East Texas man was the world's richest person, with a bank balance of more than $4 trillion. Naturally, this bank error in his favor was rapidly remedied. • Speaking of the debt ceiling -- and a lot of people are speaking about the debt ceiling -- you'll hear over and over from politicians and pundits that "The United States has never defaulted on its debts." Not true. This is not our first trip down Default Lane. • Ford (F) sold just 2,049 fewer vehicles in the U.S. than General Motors (GM) in September, putting it within a hair of beating the market leader. It's only outsold GM four times in the past two decades, but it may just pull it off again in October. • In today's economy, a lot of people are working more than one job to make ends meet. Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), is moving in the other direction: He has given up the job of chairman of its main bank subsidiary, JPMorgan Chase Bank. Nothing to see here, just getting into compliance with a new internal policy on employees holding multiple roles.

Hoping Carl Icahn Pulls Apple Buyback Off

I'm a big believer in Apple. In its current products, its management team, the possibility of future products. It makes tons of profits, continues to show strong growth in revenues and profits. Best of all, I continue to think its price is very reasonable and its P/E ratio is among the more attractive ones out there. So of course, I did take a longer term position and have done very well with it (stock is up over 25% from that point). Owning Apple isn't as "cool" as it was a year or two ago but that is when more contrarian investors, activist investors jump in which is exactly what Carl Icahn ended up doing. He strongly believes in Apple's value and is very involved in trying to help Apple reach that point. The one thing that would unlock value is for Apple to put its incredible stack of cash to work. How? A big dividend is interesting and would help the case of Apple as a core dividend play but I do agree that a stock buyback is much more interesting. Decrease the number of shares outstanding to increase the value of the existing shares (in terms of the price, revenues/share and EPS). I could hold on to my shares for a couple of decades without paying any taxes.

It's interesting how Mr. Icahn has been tweating about his progress… He's certainly getting his point across. How many shares does one need to own to have coffee with Apple's CEO, Tim Cook? Based on CharityBuzz, that number is staggering… like $610,000

10 Best Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now

[ Enlarge Image ]

Disclaimer: Long Apple (AAPL)

Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From an electric car maker winning an eye-opening safety rating to a streaming company backtracking on a controversial usage cap again, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. General Motors (GM) -- Winner The country's leading automaker has been bouncing back with strong sales in recent quarters, but it's always been a few steps behind some of its more consumer tech-savvy rivals in assessing smartphone integration with its dashboards. Well, GM is hoping to make up for lost ground by becoming the first car manufacturer to team up with Powermat Technologies to start offering wireless charging mats for smartphones in cars. This is a pretty big deal, especially as drivers rely on their phones more and more for everything from streaming entertainment to telematics. This kind of data slurping also bleeds smartphone batteries. Now drivers will have an easier way to charge their phones on the open road than fumbling for USB or electric chargers. Pandora Media (P) -- Blunder Caps aren't a good look on Pandora. The leading music-streaming service revealed Thursday that it will be eliminating the 40-hour monthly cap that it applies to mobile freeloaders. Getting rid of the cap is probably a smart move. Pandora went through this two years ago, eventually realizing that it was losing listeners as it tried to get them to pay up. The same thing was starting to happen now as growth was slowing considerably. The average number of hours streamed by the typical listener has been declining since the cap kicked in, and the end result is that Pandora's share of the overall radio listening market has suffered. Tesla Motors (TSLA) -- Winner You won't find too many stocks as hot as Tesla this year, and apparently the car is even hotter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded Tesla's Model S with a spectacular overall vehicle safety score. It's the agency's highest score to date, making Tesla's costly sedan the safest car in the country. (.) Naturally that won't be enough to make the electric car the driving choice of the masses when you start at more than $70,000 before a federal tax credit. It will take a few years before Tesla rolls out the more accessibly priced cars for mainstream consumers. However, there are people out there that value safety at any cost, and that's why this safety rating should drum up more sales for the Tesla Model S sedan. Walmart Stores (WMT) -- Blunder After surprising investors with a decline in same-store sales earlier this month, Walmart knows that it will have to try harder to win back shoppers. This week Walmart revealed that it will be beefing up its layaway plans by expanding it to include more products and eliminating the $5 that customers pay to initiate the layaway program. It's easy to question the merits of layaway. Why prepay for a product over the span of two to three months? Isn't it easier to just stash money away under a pillow? Well, it's never that easy for the consumers that resort to layaway. However, Walmart makes the blunder list this week because even as Walmart is promoting that it's doing away with the $5 initiation fee, it's also tacking on a $10 cancellation fee that wasn't there last holiday season. Netflix (NFLX) -- Winner Showtime currently has the exclusive rights to movies put out by Weinstein's TWC and Dimension Films studios during the pay TV window that begins shortly after a theatrical release is available on DVD or pay-per-view. That will change come 2016, as Netflix has just locked up exclusive streaming rights to the movies that the studios will put out starting that year. These are interesting times in the pay TV industry, as consumers are finally having a say in the content that they actually want to pay for. Netflix may have been an unlikely leader in this revolution. Just a few years ago it was merely mailing out DVDs and Blu-ray discs to movie buffs. However, Netflix has embraced streaming to be the disruptor instead of the disrupted. It's paying off again this week with another content deal.

Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Energy Report]

  JH: One of the areas where the U.S. for decades has been the leading technological power is in small nuclear reactors. We've used them on our aircraft carriers and on our nuclear submarines safely and efficiently. The U.S. has an advantage in understanding small modular nuclear reactors. One of the companies that we have followed for a long time that's working on that is Babcock & Wilcox Co. (BWC). There's also Fluor Corp. (FLR), which is working on small modular nuclear reactors. President Obama and the Department of Energy are funding research on the implementation of small modular nuclear reactors.

Hot Canadian Companies To Own For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Investors also�bid up shares of Under Armour (UA) to $80.31, a 1.5% rise. And athletic-gear retailer Finish Line (FINL) jumped 7.3% to $24.02 following their own earnings homerun.

• [By Steve Symington]

  If you've ever lamented the day you had to give up your stylish 1990s workout gear, the creative minds at Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) have something awesome for you.

• [By Philip Saglimbeni]

  The consumer retail segment is one of my favorite areas to invest in, as it remains a relatively easy business for investors to evaluate and understand. For the most part, all that is necessary for a successful investment in the retail industry is a consistently strong and unique core product line that has the potential for significant expansion. While there are numerous mid-cap companies that I feel offer this kind of aggressive growth, one of which I own in Under Armour Inc. (UA) and another that I'd like to own in Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS), there are surprisingly not many small-cap companies that meet this criteria.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

  Here are the iPhone 5 suppliers getting a solid boost in demand.

Best Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  Brazil's oil production numbers are up, but the 3.8% jump in April over the previous month doesn't sound as pretty when compared to year-over-year production, which is still down 4.9%. With Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) bringing several of its aging offshore rigs back on line after maintenance, the renaissance of Brazil's oil business will not be found in its production numbers... not yet.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Chevron�and Salesforce.com. Other new holdings of interest include Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) , which has seen its stock fall over the past few years. The company is weighed down by a lot of debt, but there are also promising signs from it, such as rising production numbers as some offshore rigs are brought back into service. Some are hopeful that solid car sales in Brazil will boost Petrobras' business.