Miami, Fl.-based Opko Health (NYSE: OPK ) took a 10% stake in Russian peer pharmaceutical firm OAO Pharmsynthez, Opko announced Thursday.
Like the name sounds, Pharmsynthez is a drugmaker and, in fact, the only life sciences company currently trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange. (The "OAO" simply refers to the Russian words for "joint stock company," the Russian designation for a public corporation). It manufactures and sells branded pharmaceutical products, primarily in Russia and the Baltics.
Opko described its stake-purchase as part of a $60 million, two-stage financing project, whereby Russian state-owned corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies first invested $26.1 million in Pharmsynthez, followed by Opko's larger investment.
Going forward, Opko plans to partner with Pharmsynthez in the development and marketing of several of its own products for sale in Russia and other East European countries, specifically:
The companies will also collaborate on R&D projects.
Top 5 Machinery Stocks To Watch For 2015: Centene Corporation (CNC)
Centene Corporation provides multi-line healthcare programs and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Medicaid Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Medicaid Managed Care segment provides Medicaid and Medicaid-related health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children�s health insurance program, long-term care, foster care, and Medicare special needs plans, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs. Its health plans provide primary and specialty physician care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, transportation assistance, emergency and urgent care, vision care, prenatal care, dental care, laboratory and x-ray services, immunizations, prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs, home health and durable medical equipment, behavioral health and substance abuse services, therapies, social work services, care coordination, and 24-hour nurse advice line. The Specialty Services segment manages behavioral healthcare for members; provides health insurance to individual customers and their families; implements life and health management programs; offers long-term care services to the elderly and people with disabilities; and administers routine and medical surgical eye care benefits through its network of eye care providers. It also offers telehealth services; and claims processing, pharmacy network management, benefit design consultation, drug utilization review, formulary and rebate management, specialty and mail order pharmacy services, and patient and physician intervention services, as well as provides care management solutions that automate the clinical, administrative, and technical components of care management programs. The company offers its services through primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers. Centene Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Centene (NYSE: CNC ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Holly LaFon]
Importantly, we like the industry in which Centene (CNC) competes. Some of our investors might recall that one of our prior investments, Amerigroup, was acquired in 2012 by Wellpoint at a val uation that allowed us to achieve a return on investment of greater than 100% over the roughly one - year time period that we owned the shares. Medicaid managed care companies not only save states money but also offer better service; therefore, more states a re letting managed care companies run their Medicaid programs. To that end, states are expanding both the geographies carved out to managed care companies and the types of programs. The next phase of growth will come from the dual - eligible population. D uals (or dual - eligible population) are 8.3mm 3 people in the U.S. that are eligible to receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits (mainly low - income seniors). According to the Kaiser Foundation, Duals accounted for almost 40% of Medicaid spending although they made up only 15% of the Medicaid population. We believe there are ample growth opportunities for CNC and other companies to meet the challenges of managing these disparate Medicaid members for the foreseeable future.
- [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 Centene (NYSE: CNC ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Vanguard Energy Index ETF (VDE)
Vanguard Energy ETF, formerly known as Vanguard Energy VIPERs, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Energy Index Fund (the Fund). The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) US Investable Market Energy Index (the Index), an index of stocks of large, medium and small United States companies in the energy sector, as classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).
This GICS sector is made up of companies whose businesses are dominated by activities, such as the construction or provision of oil rigs, drilling equipment, and other energy-related service and equipment (such as seismic data collection), or companies engaged in the exploration, production, marketing, refining and/or transportation of oil and gas products. The Fund seeks to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING.COM]
I like the idea of investing in a group of the largest integrated energy companies, oil and gas explorers/producers, and energy equipment and services. It's like a call option on energy with no expiry date. One of the best alternatives in this sector is the Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSE: VDE).
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Alpha Natural Resources inc. (ANR)
Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in producing, processing, and selling steam and metallurgical coal in the United States. The company has mining operations in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Wyoming. As of December 31, 2011, it owned or leased approximately 4.7 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves; and operated 145 mines in northern and central Appalachia and the Powder River basin. The company is also involved in repairing and reselling equipment and parts used in surface mining; manufacturing particulate scrubbers and filters for underground diesel engine applications; rebuilding underground mining equipment; and providing coal and environmental analysis, and degassing services. In addition, it engages in the sale of non-strategic assets, such as timber, gas, and oil rights, as well as the lease and sale of non-strategic surface properties and reserves; coal brokerage; and road construction business. The company serves electric utilities, steel and coke producers, industrial customers, and energy traders and brokers. Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Abingdon, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Matt DiLallo]
Just for some additional perspective on how important coal is to the economy we'll take a look just a little farther south in West Virginia. In that state, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR ) has about 6,700 employees but its coal business supports about 23,450 total jobs. The average worker in West Virginia takes in about $38,000 per year, whereas the average coal industry employee takes home $85,000 per year. Coal exports are a big economic driver for the state by supporting nearly 24,000 jobs and contributing $3 billion in economic value.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Hyundai Motor Co (HYMLF.PK)
HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY is a Korea-based automobile manufacturer. Along with its subsidiaries, the Company operates in three business divisions: vehicle division, financial division and other business division. Its vehicle division manufactures passenger cars under the brand names of Centennial, Genesis, Veloster, Azera, Sonata, i40, Elantra, Accent, i30cw, i20, ix20 and others; sport utility vehicles (SUVs) under the brand names of Veracruz, Santa Fe and Tucson, and commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses, special vehicles and bare chassis, as well as provides automobile maintenance services and related components. Its financial division mainly provides automobile financing services and credit card services. Its other business division includes construction of railways and others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Quoth the Raven]
It was reported this morning that Hyundai's (HYMLF.PK) CEO, John Krafcik, has gone on the record and said that the U.S. government shutdown could affect the U.S. automobile market negatively. He's made a headline that's been picked up by news organizations across the board this morning. It echoes sentiments from executives at both Ford and GM. Autonews.com reported:
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ)
WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Index (The Index).
The Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of dividend-paying companies incorporated in Japan, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and that meet other requirements necessary to be included in the WisdomTree DEFA Index. The Fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Philip Springer, President, Retirement Wealth Management, Inc.]
The other alternative is WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ). As the name suggests, it's the better alternative when the yen is declining. This fund is up 23% so far in 2013, compared with 15.5% for the iShares ETF.
- [By Tom Aspray]
The recent plunge in China (FXI) puts it down 8% and even the hedged Yen Japan ETF (DXJ) has lost almost 5% in just a week or so.
In last week's column, Souring Sentiment Will Help Stocks, I discussed how the sentiment needed to become more negative in order to create a good buying opportunity. Last week's action is a step in the right direction as despite the market bullishness in December, I thought that the risk was high and that only selective buying was warranted.
- [By KIPLINGER]
Investors seeking to cash in on the Japanese stock market face a Catch-22. The government is trying to goose the economy by, among other things, lowering the value of the yen, a move designed to make Japanese exporters more competitive (see Japan�� Rebound Is for Real). But a falling yen harms U.S. investors because money they have in Japanese securities translates back into fewer bucks. Enter WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ), an exchange-traded fund that invests in the stocks of dividend-paying Japanese firms that have a market value of at least $100 million.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: CoStar Group Inc (CSGP)
CoStar Group, Inc. (CoStar), incorporated on February 2, 1998, is a provider of information, analytics and marketing services to the commercial real estate industry in the United States and United Kingdom. The Company�� suite of online service offerings includes information about space available for lease, comparable sales information, tenant information, information about properties for sale, Internet marketing services, analytical capabilities, information for clients' Websites, information about industry professionals and their business relationships, data integration and industry news. Its service offerings span all commercial property types, including office, industrial, retail, land, mixed-use, hospitality and multifamily. In April 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of LoopNet, Inc.
The Company�� subscription-based information services consist primarily of CoStar Property Professional, CoStar Tenant, CoStar COMPS Professional and FOCUS services. CoStar Property Professional, CoStar Tenant, and CoStar COMPS Professional are generally sold as a suite of similar services and through its mobile application, CoStarGo, and consists of its primary service offering in its United States operating segment. FOCUS is its primary service offering in its International operating segment. As of January 31, 2013, our database of real estate information covered the U.S., London, England and other parts of the U.K., and contained information about approximately 1.6 million sale and lease listings; approximately 4.2 million total properties; approximately 9.0 billion square feet of sale and lease listings; Approximately 5.8 million tenants; approximately 1.9 million sales transactions valued in the aggregate at approximately $4.5 trillion, and approximately 13.8 million digital attachments, including building photographs, aerial photographs, plat maps and floor plans.
CoStar Property Professional
CoStar Property Professional (CoStar Property) is the Company�� fl! agship service. It provides subscribers an inventory of office, industrial, retail and multifamily properties and land in markets throughout the United States and United Kingdom, including for-lease and for-sale listings, historical data, building photographs, maps and floor plans. Commercial real estate professionals use CoStar Property to identify available space for lease, evaluate leasing and sale opportunities, value assets and position properties in the marketplace. Its clients also use CoStar Property to analyze market conditions by calculating current vacancy rates, absorption rates or average rental rates, and forecasting future trends based on user selected variables. When used together with CoStar Connect, CoStar Property enables subscribers to share space surveys and transaction-related documents with their clients, accessed through their corporate Website. CoStar Property, along with all of CoStar�� other core information, analytics and marketing services, is delivered solely via the Internet.
CoStar COMPS Professional
CoStar COMPS Professional (COMPS Professional) provides coverage of comparable sales information in the United States and United Kingdom commercial real estate industries. COMPS Professional offers subscribers numerous fields of property information, access to support documents (deeds of trust) for new comparables, demographics and the ability to view for-sale properties alongside sold properties in three formats, plotted on a map, aerial image or in a table.
CoStar Tenant
CoStar Tenant is a detailed online business-to-business prospecting and analytical tool providing commercial real estate professionals with the commercial real estate-related the United States and United Kingdom tenant information available. CoStar Tenant profiles tenants occupying space in commercial buildings across the United States and provides updates on lease expirations, as well as occupancy levels, growth rates and numerous other facts. Deliverin! g this in! formation through the Internet allows users to target prospective clients quickly through a searchable database that identifies only those tenants meeting certain criteria.
CoStarGo
CoStarGo is an iPad application, which integrates and provides mobile access to subscribers of its property, tenant and comparable sales information in our suite of online service offerings-CoStar Property Professional, CoStar Tenant and CoStar COMPS Professional. CoStarGo provides a single, location-centric mobile interface that allows users to access and display information on millions of properties and gain instant access to analytic data and demographic information from the field.
CoStar Advertising
CoStar Advertising offers property owners and brokers a targeted and way to market a space for lease or a property for sale directly to the CoStar subscribers looking for that type of space through interactive advertising. With the CoStar Advertising program, when the advertiser�� listings appear in a results set, they receive priority positioning and are enhanced to stand out. The advertiser can also purchase exposure in additional submarkets, or the entire market area so that this ad will appear even when this listing would not be returned in a results set.
PPR
The Company�� subsidiary, PPR, and its United Kingdom subsidiary, PPR United Kingdom, offer products and services designed to meet the research needs of commercial real estate investors and lenders. PPR covers metropolitan areas throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, with offerings, including historical and forecast market data and analysis by market and property type, and services, including access to PPR�� analysts, economists, and strategists to develop and deliver custom research solutions. PPR Portal is PPR�� primary delivery platform for research, forecasts, analytics, and granular data surrounding a specific address and property type. PPR COMPASS is PPR�� ! premier c! ommercial real estate risk management tool.
Resolve Portfolio Maximizer
Resolve Portfolio Maximizer is an industry real estate portfolio management software solution. Resolve Portfolio Maximizer allows users to model partnership structures, calculate waterfall distributions and fees, model and analyze debt obligations, and create multiple what if scenarios for alternative investment decision.
Resolve Request
Request is the business intelligence software solution built specifically for managing commercial real estate investments. Request helps users eliminate some of the difficulties of consolidating real estate investment data from disparate sources and facilitates standardization of information presentation and reporting across an organization. Request also provides a platform for users to develop business intelligence and reporting capabilities.
VP Corporate Edition
The Company�� subsidiary, Virtual Premise, offers VP Corporate Edition, a real estate management software solution designed for corporate real estate managers, company executives, business unit directors, brokers and project managers. VP Corporate Edition helps users connect real estate initiatives with company strategic goals, streamline portfolio operations, automate the process for collecting and managing space requests, reduce occupancy costs with analytics that track location performance against targets, and maximize location performance through proactive portfolio management. Virtual Premise also provides lease abstraction and data review services in order to facilitate the effective implementation of this software solution.
VP Retail Edition
VP Retail Edition is a real estate management software solution designed for company executives, real estate dealmakers and store planning and construction managers. VP Retail Edition helps users to utilize and real-time data to establish goals and store strategies, manage the execution of r! eal estat! e strategies, summarize critical portfolio data and prerequisite store-level information and metrics for maximizing location performance through proactive portfolio management. Virtual Premise also provides lease abstraction and data review services in order to facilitate the effective implementation of this software solution.
LoopNet Basic and Premium Membership
The Company�� subsidiary, LoopNet, offer two types of memberships on the LoopNet marketplace, basic and premium. As of January 31, 2013, LoopNet had approximately 6.8 million registered members, of which 82,915 were premium members. LoopNet Premium Lister is designed for commercial real estate professionals and other customers who seek the broadest possible exposure for their listings, access to leads lists, and advanced marketing and searching tools. LoopNet Premium Searcher is designed for members searching for commercial real estate who need unlimited marketplace searching access, professional-quality reports and advanced searching tools.
LoopLink
LoopLink is an online real estate marketing and database services suite that enables commercial real estate firms to showcase their available properties both on the LoopNet marketplace and on the brokerage firm�� Website using hosted search software. Within LoopNet, each LoopLink listing is branded with the client�� logo and is hyperlinked to the client�� Website. The LoopNet import service offers the opportunity to simplify the process of submitting listings to LoopNet from the client�� internal databases, and features advanced data matching and data integrity rules and file conversion capabilities. LoopNet charges a monthly subscription fee to commercial real estate firms for the LoopLink service.
LandsofAmerica and LandAndFarm
LandsofAmerica and LandAndFarm are online marketplaces for rural land for sale. Sellers pay a fee to list their land for sale, and interested buyers can search LoopNet's listings for f! ree.
BizBuySell and BizQuest
BizBuySell and BizQuest are online marketplaces for operating businesses for sale. Business sellers pay a fee to list their operating businesses for sale, and interested buyers can search LoopNet's listings for free. The BizBuySell and BizQuest Franchise Directories allow interested business buyers to search hundreds of franchise opportunities, and franchisors can list their availabilities in the directory on a cost per lead basis.
FOCUS
The Company�� the United Kingdom subsidiary, CoStar U.K. Limited, offers several services; its primary service is FOCUS. FOCUS is a digital online service offering information on the United Kingdom commercial real estate market. This service seamlessly links data on individual properties and companies across the United Kingdom, including comparable sales, available space, requirements, tenants, lease deals, planning information, socio-economics and demographics, credit ratings, photos and maps.
Grecam
The Company�� French subsidiary, Grecam S.A.S., provides commercial real estate information throughout the Paris region through its Observatoire Immobilier D��Entreprise (OIE) service offering. The OIE service provides commercial property availability and transaction information to its subscribers through both an online service and market reports.
The Company competes with commercialsearch.com, PropertyLine.com, Reed Business Information Limited, officespace.com, MrOfficeSpace.com, TenantWise, Inc., www.propertyshark.com, WorkplaceIQ, RealPoint LLC, estatesgazette.com, Xceligent, Inc., eProperty Data, CBRE Economic Advisors, Marshall & Swift, Yale Robbins, Inc., Reis, Inc., Real Capital Analytics, Inc., The Smith Guide, Inc., Catalyst, the National Association of Realtors, CCIM Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors the Commercial Association of Realtors Data Services, the Association of Industrial Realtors, Cougar Software, Yardi Systems, MRI ! Software,! Altus, Intuit Inc., Accruent, Tririga, Manhattan Software and AMT.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dave and Donald Moenning]
Internet Software & Services has been the place to be in 2013. In addition to Shutterstock (SSTK), just take a look at these constituents of this red-hot sub-industry: Pandora Media (P), Facebook (FB), j2 Global (JCOM), Yelp (YELP), CoStar Group (CSGP),LinkedIn (LNKD), etc. The list of superb stocks in the Internet Software & Services space goes on and on. Focusing on stocks in the top-performing sub-industries usually helps bullish trades, so today, let's take a closer look at Shutterstock Inc for a short-term long trade.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Financial sector was the top gainer in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP), up 11.5 percent, and Intermountain Community Bancorp (NASDAQ: IMCB), up 10.36 percent.
Top 10 Life Sciences Stocks To Own For 2014: Jack Henry & Associates Inc.(JKHY)
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (JHA) provides integrated computer systems and services for in-house and outsourced data processing to commercial banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions primarily in the United States. It engages in processing transactions, automating business processes, and managing information services. The company?s Jack Henry Banking brand provides integrated data processing systems to de novo or start-up institutions and mid-tier banks, as well as markets three core banking software systems, such as SilverLake, a robust IBM i-based system designed for commercial-focused banks; CIF 20/20, a parameter-driven and easy-to-use system; and Core Director, a Windows-based and client/server system that offers intuitive point-and-click operation. Its Symitar brand supports credit unions with information and transaction processing platforms that provide enterprise-wide automation. This brand?s solutions include Episys, a robust IBM p-based system p rimarily designed for credit unions; and Cruise, a Windows-based and client/server system for credit unions. The company?s ProfitStars brand provides specialized products and services that enhance the performance of financial service organizations and corporate entities. Its iPay Technologies brand operates as an electronic bill pay for banks and credit unions with turnkey, and configurable retail and small business electronic payment platforms. JHA also offers complementary solutions comprising business intelligence and bank management, retail and business banking, member and member business services, Internet banking and electronic funds transfer, risk management and protection, and item and document imaging solutions. In addition, it provides data conversion, software implementation, training, and support services, as well as sells hardware systems. The company has strategic relationship with IBM Corporation. JHA was founded in 1969 and is based in Monett, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jay Jenkins]
For U.S. Bancorp, a fine of this magnitude is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. However, it is a harbinger for change in how regulators view third-party relationships. Banks will now have to think long and hard about outsourcing, even to reputable companies like Jack Henry and Associates (NASDAQ: JKHY ) and Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV ) .�
- [By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Jack Henry & Associates (Nasdaq: JKHY ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Jack Henry & Associates's competitive position could be.
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