There isn't much that the stock market dislikes more than uncertainty; and there are few pieces of legislation to have worked their way through Congress with more question marks than the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known also as Obamacare.
This health reform bill, which will greatly expand the number of insured individuals in the U.S. while also capping insurers' profits, is set to go into full effect in just under six months... or so we thought.
Source: White House on Flickr.
A crushing blow to the U.S. labor force
Having just this weekend examined the merits of whether the federal government was ready to handle the technological, staffing, and educational aspects of setting up the complex health insurance data center and leading 34 separate state health exchanges, we received what I consider to be devastating news last night from the White House. According to the Obama administration, it will be announcing later this week a postponement to the health care law requirements (known as the employer mandate) for medium-to-large business for one additional year, until Jan. 1, 2015.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Midlands Minerals Corporation(MEX.V)
Midland Minerals Corporation, a junior exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. It engages in the exploration of gold, precious metals, diamonds, and other resources in the continent of Africa. It has interests in Sian-Praso property, which covers an area of approximately 157 square kilometers located on the northwest of Accra, Ghana; and Kaniago property that consists of an area of approximately 25.5 square kilometers located on the Asankrangwa Gold Belt, Ghana. The company also has interests in Lwenge, Kishapu, Lalago, Vukene, and Itilima properties in the Lake Victoria Goldfields area in Tanzania; and Tamota, Mziha East, Ruanda, and Turian East properties in the Handeni area in Tanzania. Midlands Minerals Corporation is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Valmont Industries Inc.(VMI)
Valmont Industries, Inc. produces and sells fabricated metal products, pole and tower structures, and mechanized irrigation systems in the United States and internationally. The company?s Engineered Infrastructure Products segment offers steel and aluminum poles and structures, to which lighting and traffic control fixtures are attached for applications in streets, highways, parking lots, sports stadiums, and commercial and residential developments; and roadway safety systems, including guard rail barrier systems, wire rope safety barriers, and crash attenuation barriers to redirect vehicles and to prevent collisions between vehicles. This segment also provides structures and components for the wireless communication market, as well as for the erection of infrastructure, industrial, and commercial access systems. Its Utility Support Structures segment offers tapered steel and pre-stressed concrete poles for high-voltage transmission lines, substations, and electrical dist ribution, as well as produces hybrid structures, which are structures with a concrete base section and steel upper sections. The company?s Coatings segment provides metal coating services, such as hot-dipped galvanizing, anodizing, powder coating, and e-coating. Its Irrigation segment offers mechanical irrigation equipment and related service parts under the Valley brand. The company also manufactures forged steel grinding media for the mining industry, tubular products for industrial customers, and electrolytic manganese dioxide for disposable batteries; and distributes industrial fasteners. It serves state and federal governments, contractors, utility and telecommunications companies, commercial lighting fixtures manufacturers, and large farms, as well as the general manufacturing sector. The company sells its products through direct sales force, independent and commissioned sales agents, and independent dealers. Valmont Industries, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headqua rtered in Omaha, Nebraska.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ong Kang Wei]
The above snapshot shows the Glassdoor page for Valmont Industries (VMI), a company that I was looking into previously. I like looking at various metrics shown on the page, with its overall rating and what employees think of the CEO bearing the most significance to me. Other metrics I would advocate taking a look at are: What percentage of employees would recommend the job to a friend; and also how optimistic the employee is about the company's future (not shown in picture).
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Valmont Industries (NYSE: VMI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Monica Gerson]
Valmont Industries (NYSE: VMI) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $2.43 per share on revenue of $800.97 million.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.75 per share on revenue of $3.47 billion.
- [By Jacob Roche]
Valmont Industries (NYSE: VMI ) reported impressive first-quarter earnings recently, with operating income rising 43% on strong sales and increasing margins. The growth in sales was largely due to the company's Utility Support Structures and Irrigation segments, which each had 25% sales growth.
Top 5 Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Imperial Tobacco (ITYBY.PK)
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (Imperial Tobacco), incorporated on August 6, 1996, is a tobacco company. Through the Company�� total tobacco portfolio it provides consumers a range of brands and products, including cigarettes, fine cut tobacco, cigars and snus. Its total tobacco portfolio includes fine cut tobacco, cigars, rolling papers and tubes. Its non-European Union (EU) markets consist of Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Asia and markets of the United States and Australasia. Its international cigarette brands include Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes and West. It offers services across the whole logistics value chain to its customers, including order reception, storage and stock management, order preparation, transport and distribution, invoicing and collection and customer services. Its business has two aspects: tobacco logistics and non-tobacco logistics. Imperial Tobacco comprises two distinct businesses: Tobacco and Logistics. The Tobacco business comprises the manufacture, marketing and sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products, including sales to (but not by) the Logistics business. The Logistics business comprises the distribution of tobacco products for tobacco product manufacturers, including Imperial Tobacco, as well as a range of non-tobacco products and services. The Logistics business is run on an operationally neutral basis.Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Sino Grandness Food Ind Gp Ltd (JS5.SI)
Sino Grandness Food Industry Group Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the production and sale of canned vegetables and fruits primarily in Europe, the United States, and the People�s Republic of China. The company offers canned asparagus, canned long beans, canned mushrooms, sweet corn, artichoke, and bamboo shoots; and fruits, such as lychees, pineapples, peaches, apricots, and mandarin oranges. It also provides bottled juices, including mixed-fruit and vegetable-fruit juices. The company sells its products through distributors and retailers. Sino Grandness Food Industry Group Limited was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People�s Republic of China.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Hays(HAS.L)
Hays plc operates as a specialist recruitment company. It provides temporary and permanent placement recruitment services, including qualified, professional, and skilled recruitment to public- and private-sector markets. The company specializes in various areas, including accountancy and finance, construction and property, information technology, life sciences, sales and marketing, banking and capital markets, contact centers, education, engineering and manufacturing, executive, financial services, health and social care, human resources, legal, energy, oil and gas, office professionals, retail, purchasing, resources and mining, and telecom industries. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the Asia Pacific, continental Europe, and Latin America. Hays plc is based in London, the United Kingdom.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (TTNP)
Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated in February 1992, is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics primarily for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The Company is focused primarily on clinical development of products that include Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction; Iloperidone: for the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, and Spheramine for the treatment of advanced Parkinson�� disease. Titan Pharmaceuticals is directly developing its product candidates and also utilizing corporate partnerships, including a collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany (Bayer Schering) for the development of Spheramine to treat Parkinson�� disease, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Vanda) for the development of iloperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.
Probuphine
Probuphine is the first product to utilize the Company�� ProNeura long-term drug delivery technology. Probuphine is designed to provide continuous, long-term therapeutic levels of the drug buprenorphine, an approved agent for the treatment of opioid addiction. In December 2007, the Company completed enrollment in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center Phase III clinical study of Probuphine in the treatment of opioid addiction. This 150 patient study, which is being conducted in the United States, will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of treatment with Probuphine versus placebo in reducing opioid addiction over 24 weeks of treatment. This study is part of a registration directed program intended to obtain marketing approval of Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction in Europe and the United States.
Iloperidone
Iloperidone was evaluated in a Phase III program comprising over 3,500 patients at more than 200 sites in 24 countries, administered and funded by Novartis Pharma AG (Novartis). In three completed efficacy studies conducted by Novartis, ilop! eridone statistically reduced the symptoms of schizophrenia compared to placebo. Iloperidone has also been investigated in three 12-month safety studies, which confirm safety and tolerability. A dose dependent increase in the Q-T Corrected (QTc) interval was observed and investigated further in a clinical study, and no clinically significant adverse events were observed. In September 2007, Vanda submitted a new drug application (NDA) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for iloperidone. The NDA for iloperidone was officially accepted for review by the FDA in November 2007.
Spheramine
Spheramine is a cell-based therapeutic that utilizes the Company�� cell-coated microcarrier (CCM) technology, which enables the development of cell-based therapies for minimally invasive, site-specific delivery to the central nervous system of therapeutic factors precisely where they are needed. Spheramine consists of microcarriers coated with human retinal pigment epithelial cells that are intended to enhance brain levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in certain brain regions in Parkinson�� disease, leading to movement disorders. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the preliminary efficacy and safety of Spheramine, including blinded studies in a primate model of Parkinson�� disease. In June 2007, enrollment was completed in a current multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Spheramine in Parkinson�� disease. This Phase IIb clinical study enrolled 71 patients with advanced Parkinson�� disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stages III and IV) to further evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of Spheramine.
Bayer Schering, the Company�� corporate partner for worldwide development and commercialization of Spheramine, is funding the clinical development program for Spheramine. Under an agreement, Bayer Schering has received exclusive, worldwide development, manufacturing and commercialization rights, and, in ad! dition to! the clinical and manufacturing development funding and milestone payments, Bayer Schering will pay Titan Pharmaceuticals a royalty on future product sales.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, TTNP surged (+2.76%) up +0.018 at $.689 with 152,996 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:02PM EDT October 1, 2013).
Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. previously reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the request for a meeting to discuss Probuphine庐. The meeting is scheduled for November 19, 2013. The FDA has designated this as a Type C meeting and has requested the submission of briefing materials by October 7, 2013.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Gresham Computing(GHT.L)
Gresham Computing plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides real time financial and software solutions to banks and corporates in the United Kingdom and internationally. Its solutions include Clareti Cash Reporting Software that gives banks real-time availability of cash transaction data; Clareti Virtual Accounts, a client money/cash management system, which enables true STP and real-time reconciliation of receipts into virtual accounts or sub-accounts, all linked to a real bank account; Clareti Integration, an integration product that provides managed connectivity, data transformation, and integration workflow functions in a single distributed architecture; and Clareti Supply Chain Finance, a payment and information service that manages the opposing forces of buyer creditor-days and supplier receivable-days. The company also offers Clareti Banking, a real-time solution for core banking operations, front office business functionality, and self-service banking systems; Clareti Lending, a Web-enabled loan and card origination solution; and Clareti Systems Management that enhances the data and operations management of Fujitsu Open VME systems. Gresham Computing plc was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Best High Tech Companies To Own For 2014: Tyco International Ltd.(Switzerland)
Tyco International Ltd. provides security products and services, fire protection and detection products and services, valves and controls, and other industrial products worldwide. The company?s Tyco Security Solutions segment designs, sells, installs, services, and monitors electronic security, productivity, and lifestyle enhancement systems for residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers. This segment also designs, manufactures, and sells security products, including intrusion, security, access control, electronic article surveillance, and video management systems. Its Tyco Fire Protection segment designs, manufactures, sells, installs, and services fire detection and fire suppression systems, and building and life safety products for commercial, industrial, and governmental customers. The company?s Tyco Flow Control segment designs, manufactures, sells, and services valves, pipes, fittings, valve automation, and heat tracing products for general proce ss, energy, and mining markets, as well as the water and wastewater markets. Tyco International Ltd. was founded in 1960 and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
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