Best High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) — American International Group Inc. plans to add 600 advisors in a push to increase sales of retirement products as some rivals retreat from annuities.

The insurer will increase the number of career agents at its newly named AIG Financial Network to 2,000 by 2019 from about 1,400, John Deremo, chief distribution officer for AIG Financial Distributors, said in an interview. The New York-based company is rebranding its American General career agent force and adding annuities and other retirement products to the life insurance that the advisors have traditionally sold, according to a statement today.

“What we’re really doing is moving a bit upscale into a more mass-affluent space, incorporating retirement planning into the protection focus,” Deremo said. “While a lot of companies are pulling back or pulling out of markets, we are expanding.”

Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche, 69, is focusing on annuities as more Americans approach retirement and competitors including MetLife Inc. limit sales. AIG has the capacity to grow because it sold fewer of the products than some rivals in prior years, when guarantees were more generous, Jay Wintrob, CEO of the life and retirement business, said in November.

Top 10 Industrial Conglomerate Companies To Invest In Right Now: Strategic Hotels and Resorts Inc (BEE)

Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (SHR), incorporated on January 27, 2004, operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� portfolio included 18 full-service hotel interests located in urban and resort markets in the United States; Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico; Hamburg, Germany, and London, England. SHR conducts its operations through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including its operating partnership, Strategic Hotel Funding, L.L.C. (SH Funding), which holds all of the Company�� assets. SHR is the sole managing member of SH Funding and held approximately 99% of its membership units as of February 27, 2013. SHR manages all business aspects of SH Funding, including the sale and purchase of hotels, the investment in these hotels and the financing of SH Funding and its assets. In September 2012, it acquired the JW Marriott Essex House Hotel in New York City. In October 2013, the Company announced that it has sold the Lakeshore Athletic Club property adjacent to the Fairmont Chicago hotel.

As of December 31, 2012, SH Funding owned interests in or leased 18 hotels, which included Fairmont Chicago, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Four Seasons Jackson Hole, Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort, Four Seasons Silicon Valley, Four Seasons Washington, D.C., Hotel del Coronado, Hyatt Regency La Jolla, InterContinental Chicago, InterContinental Miami, JW Marriott Essex House Hotel, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Marriott Hamburg, Marriott Lincolnshire Resort, Marriott London Grosvenor Square, Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and Westin St. Francis.

The Hotel del Coronado is operated by a specialty management company, KSL Resorts. As of February 27, 2013, the Company wholly owned or leased 14 hotels, had a 53.5% and 51.0% interest in an affiliate that owned a hotel where it asset managed such hotel, and had 50.0% and 36.4% interests in, and acted as asset manager for, two affiliates that eac! h owned one hotel, and owned land held for development, including 20.5 acres of oceanfront land adjacent to its Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort, Nayarit, Mexico and 60 acres of oceanfront land near the Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort; a 20,000 square-foot parcel of land on the ocean in Santa Monica, California adjacent to its Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel entitled for development and residential units; a 50% interest in an affiliate that owned 10 acres of land adjacent to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess hotel, and a 31% interest in an affiliate with two parties that was developing the fractional ownership program known as the Four Seasons Residence Club Punta Mita.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Luxury hotel and resort operator�Strategic Hotels & Resorts� (NYSE: BEE  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend on three series of cumulative redeemable preferred stock.

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  Well, that's exactly the case with Strategic Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BEE), the only publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses exclusively on the luxury hotel and resort markets.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  In a perfect world, an investor could simply look at a company's history and its plausible earnings forecasts, and jump in (or out) knowing the stock's current price basically made sense with respect to past and future performance. We don't live or trade in a perfect world though. In the world we're actually in right now, most stocks, sectors, and industries have run up far beyond a justifiable value... perhaps except for hotel and lodging REIT stocks Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE:HST), Strategic Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE:BEE), and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB).

Best High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.(TTWO)

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. publishes, develops, and distributes interactive entertainment software, hardware, and accessories worldwide. The company develops and publishes software titles for various gaming and entertainment hardware platforms, including PlayStation3 and PlayStation2 computer entertainment systems, PlayStation Portable system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, and Wii and DS systems, as well as for the personal computer and games for Windows. It offers products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games and 2K, which publishes titles under 2K Games, 2K Sports, and 2K Play. The company, through its subsidiary, Jack of All Games, also distributes software, hardware, and accessories in North America. Its proprietary brand franchises include Grand Theft Auto; Sid Meier's Civilization; Max Payne; Midnight Club; Manhunt; Red Dead Revolver; Bully; BioShock; Sid Meier's Railroads!; Sid Meier's Pirates!; Carnival Games; and Top Spin, as wel l as licensed brands comprise the sports games Major League Baseball 2K; NBA 2K; and NHL 2K. The company sells its software titles to retail outlets through direct relationships with large retail customers and third party distributors. Its customers include mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, video stores, electronics stores, toy stores, national and regional drug stores, and supermarket and discount store chains. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jason Moser and Eric Bleeker, CFA]

  The nature of hit video game franchises has changed. Activision Blizzard's (NASDAQ: ATVI  ) �main franchise,�Call of Duty, is�on yearly refresh cycles. In stark contrast, it's been five years since the last installment of Take-Two's (NASDAQ: TTWO  ) �Grand Theft Auto. Will this long delay hurt sales, or will the wait only increase gamers' interest? Also, has the difference in strategy between Activision and Take-Two led to better returns for investors in either company?

Best High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Snam SpA (SRG)

Snam SpA is an Italy-based company engaged in the management of natural gas services. The Company is diversified into four operating segments. The Transportation segment covers transportation-related gas services, including capacity management and transportation of the gas at the entry points of the gas network to the redelivery points. It owns transportation infrastructures of gas pipelines. The Regasification segment is focused on extraction activities of natural gas, its liquefaction for transport by ship and subsequent regasification. The Storage segment covers deposits, gas treatment plants, compression plants and the operational dispatching system. The Distribution segment engages gas distribution through local transportation networks from delivery points at the metering and reduction stations to the gas distribution network redelivery points at the end customers. Additionally, Snam SpA as the parent company, focuses on planning, management, coordination and control of the group. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  The Specialty Restaurant Group (SRG), which includes Bahama Breeze and The Capital Grille, has grown over the last couple of quarters. Eddie V's Restaurants and Yard House might be meaningful long-term drivers, as we think most of the growth in the next years will come from the acquisition of those restaurants.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Snam SpA (SRG) dropped the most in almost a year as Eni SpA sold an 11.7 percent stake in the owner of Italy�� biggest natural-gas network. Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc tumbled the most in more than 14 months. Experian Plc jumped to a record after the world�� largest credit-checking company raised its dividend and announced a share buyback.

Best High Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Richardson Electronics Ltd. (RELL)

Richardson Electronics, Ltd. engages in the provision of engineered solutions; and distribution of electronic components to the electron device and display systems markets. Its Electron Device Group provides engineered solutions, and distributes electronic components to customers in various markets, such as steel, automotive, textile, plastics, semiconductor manufacturing, and broadcast industries. It designs solutions for various applications comprising industrial heating, laser technology, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, radar, and welding. This division also provides replacement products for systems using electron tubes, as well as offer design and assembly services for new systems employing semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The company?s Canvys division provides integrated display products, workstations, and value-added services to the healthcare, industrial and medical original equipment manufacturers, and digital signage markets. Its display solutions con sist of touch screens, protective panels, custom enclosures, specialized cabinet finishes, application specific software packages, and display products. This division also partners with hardware vendors and offers liquid crystal displays, mounting devices, and customized computing platforms. Richardson Electronics offers its solutions in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in LaFox, Illinois.

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 Richardson Electronics (Nasdaq: RELL  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.