Does Morgan Stanley Belong in Your Portfolio?

With shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) trading around $31, is MS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework.

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. The company operates in three segments: institutional securities, global wealth management group, and asset management. Morgan Stanley provides financial advisory and capital-raising services; equity, fixed income, and alternative investments; and merchant banking services. It participates in an industry that powers most other types of businesses around the world.

Morgan Stanley has recruited Daniel Driscoll from Nomura Holdings Inc. to trade investment-grade notes for the fourth-most active manager of the debt in the United States. Driscoll oversaw financial debt trading at Credit Suisse Group AG in the United States before exiting the company in 2012 and will come to Morgan Stanley's New York office as a managing director, said spokesman Mark Lake. Driscoll worked for Japan's No. 1 brokerage for around a year following a career at Credit Suisse lasting 10 years, at which he concentrated on both investment-grade and high-yield bank bonds.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Morgan Stanley stock has been trending higher in recent months. The stock is trading near yearly highs and looks ready to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Morgan Stanley is trading above its rising key averages, which signals neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

Source: Thinkorswim

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Morgan Stanley options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Morgan Stanley options	25.02%	90%	88%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Flat	Average
January Options	Flat	Average

As of Thursday, there is average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Morgan Stanley’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Morgan Stanley look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	78.57%	41.38%	916.67%	294.2%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	7.44%	22.49%	17.64%	22.85%
Earnings Reaction	2.25%	4.37%	-5.4%	7.85%

Morgan Stanley has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Morgan Stanley’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Morgan Stanley stock done relative to its peers, UBS (NYSE:UBS), TD Ameritrade (NYSE:AMTD), Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), and sector?

	Morgan Stanley	UBS	TD Ameritrade	Charles Schwab	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	64.28%	18.68%	75.61%	72.56%	58.78%

Morgan Stanley has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Morgan Stanley is a financial services company that provides service to consumers and companies across the globe. The company has recruited Daniel Driscoll from Nomura Holdings Inc. to trade investment-grade notes for the fourth-most active manager of the debt in the United States. The stock has been trending higher in the last year and looks ready to continue. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise, which has left investors pleased about earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Morgan Stanley has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Morgan Stanley to OUTPERFORM.

Wall Street stock futures trade lower

Wall Street stock futures on Thursday were tilting lower as investors considered the prospect of stimulus withdrawal from Federal Reserve by as early as January.

Dow Jones industrial average index futures slid 0.3%, Standard & Poor's 500 index futures lost 0.3% and Nasdaq index futures were down 0.5%.

In its latest policy statement, the Fed said it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds every month and keep its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero.

FEDERAL RESERVE: First Take: Two Fed sentences that say much

On Wednesday, the Dow lost 0.4% to 15,618.76. The S&P 500 index fell 0.5% to 1,763.31. The Nasdaq shed 0.5% to 3,930.62.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell over 1% to 14,327.94 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.4% to 23,206.37.

The major regional bourses in Europe traded with losses. The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index was down 0.4%.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was up 2 cents at $96.79 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.43 to close at $96.77 on Wednesday.

While the Fed's announcement was mostly expected by investors, its comments that there was "underlying strength in the broader economy" spooked markets and raised fears that tapering could be brought forward three to four months, said Evan Lucas, market strategist with IG in Melbourne, Australia.

Facebook's shares (FB) are likely to be in focus among individual stocks Thursday. On Wednesday, the firm's corporate results blew past estimates. Facebook shares were up over 4% in pre-market trades.

EARNINGS: Facebook beats Street; shares go on roller-coaster rid

Contributing: Associated Press

Can Sirius XM Radio Continue to Rise?

With shares of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) trading around $4, is SIRI an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock's Movement

Sirius XM Radio broadcasts its music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic, and weather channels in the United States on a subscription fee basis through its two satellite radio systems. Subscribers can also receive music and other channels over the Internet, including through applications for mobile devices. Audio entertainment has always pleased consumers and is a medium that is growing in popularity. Sirius XM Radio is looking to expand its audio entertainment channels to every audio medium possible, which will surely translate to rising profits.

Sirius XM Radio reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday morning after the opening bell, giving results and guidance that missed analyst expectations. Sirius's income was $62.89 million, down from $74.5 million a year ago, and although revenue grew 11 percent to $961.5 million, that figure fell short of estimates by over $10 million. Revenue per subscriber was also up to $12.29 from $12.14 last year, but again missed forecasts. Sirius said it expects to make $4 billion in revenue in 2014, a figure below Wall Street expectations.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Sirius XM Radio stock has established higher highs and higher lows in the last few years. The stock is currently trading slightly below highs for the year and looks set to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Sirius XM Radio is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Sirius XM Radio options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Sirius XM Radio Options	31.54%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very small amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
November Options	Flat	Average
December Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very small amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let's take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Sirius XM Radio's stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Sirius XM Radio look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	0.00%	-95.83%	0.00%	104.80%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	11.00%	12.23%	11.52%	13.87%
Earnings Reaction	-3.82%*	2.71%	5.86%	1.26%

Sirius XM Radio has seen mixed earnings and rising revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had conflicting feelings about Sirius XM Radio's recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Sirius XM Radio stock done relative to its peers, Pandora (NYSE:P), CBS (NYSE:CBS), Cumulus Media (NASDAQ:CMLS), and sector?

	Sirius XM Radio	Pandora	CBS	Cumulus Media	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	36.51%	191.10%	56.86%	115.00%	98.76%

Sirius XM Radio has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Sirius XM Radio provides audio entertainment and information via subscription services to a growing listener base. A recent earnings release has the markets expecting more from the company. The stock has been trending higher in recent years and is currently near highs for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been mixed while revenues have been rising which has produced conflicting feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, Sirius XM Radio has been a weak year-to-date performer. Look for Sirius XM Radio to OUTPERFORM.

When Will Apple Wake Up?

Apple (AAPL)'s dismal performance in the stock market is set to end. The experts are predicting that the December quarter would be the highest reported revenue quarter for the company since its inception. This will take the earnings per share to an all new level. The company has targeted to sell around 80 million iPhones and iPads combined. This, if undertaken, will set a new record for the unit sales of the company's two most popular product lines. In this context, I would like to analyze the company's performance over the past one year.

Of late, Apple's revenue growth has been very dawdling. The fiscal year that ended in September 2013, showed a growth of 9.20% in the revenue. The revenue growth has taken a serious blow. If we look at the growth rates for the years 2012 and 2011, we find impressive figures of 65.96% and 44.48%, respectively. On comparing these with that of the recent growth at 9.20% we can easily make an estimate of the weak performing stocks of Apple Inc. This is not all. The tech-giant has even reported negative earnings per share growth in the fiscal 2013. This was preceded by a brilliant 59.60% rise in EPS in fiscal year 2012 and an unbelievable 82.64% growth in EPS in fiscal year 2011.

This decline in revenue growth began sometime around the third fiscal quarter of 2012. The company, though, continues to deliver astonishing revenue each fiscal year and has been able to escape a year-by-year decline in the quarterly revenue but this cannot suppress the fact that there has been a dramatic drop in the revenue growth rates for the last six fiscal quarters. This is the biggest reason behind Apple's negative EPS.

Decline in Gross Margins

The ones sitting at Apple's helm have been making consistent wrong decisions. A bizarre sales mix on offer and the policy of competitive pricing has done the company in for the most part. This led to a decline in the gross margins of the company. From a high of 47.37% in the second fiscal quarter of 2012 the company! has hit a low of 36.9% in the third fiscal quarter of 2013. The company's decreasing gross margins is a result of a combination of reasons. I would like to draw your attention to each of those:

· Apple launching low-margin iPad mini in the fall of 2012.

· Negative Mac unit sales growth over the last four fiscal quarters.

· Aggressive sales policy for the iPhones.

Other Errors

Apple's obsession with innovation has hampered the company's profits in ways more than one. The company's decision to provide free-of-cost OS upgrade and free distribution of a few productivity and lifestyle based apps also added to Apple's miseries. It seems Apple has turned its own enemy. This policy was initially adopted by the company to increase the value proposition of Apple's various hardware products. This did more harm to the company than doing well.

To Conclude

The revenues earned by the sales of iPhones and iPads represent around 70% of the revenue earned by the company. The growth rate of over 20% in both the product lines is now nowhere to be found. This apart, the drop in the sales of high-end versions of these product lines has penalized the company's finances. Added to that, the products like iPad mini has further dropped the company's revenues.

Apple's move to increase the value proposition of its hardware products by providing no cost OS upgrades and free distribution of a few company-developed apps seems to be a vague strategy.

Further, Apple's return to being a high-performer it once used to be will be completely determined by the new strategies it adopts in future, how good a sales mix it offers and the number of new launches it has in store for its customers. For the record, Apple's estimated revenue for the current fiscal year is $184.03 billion. We can only wait for Apple to wake up and show its worth to the world.

Currently 2.00/512345 Rating: 2.0/5 (4 votes)

Share & Vote .social_network_button{ +float: left; } Subscribe via Email Subscribe RSS Comments Mla - 14 hours ago I can't agree with most of your analysis. Has their making OS upgrades free even hit the P&L yet? That was just announced this quarter, wasn't it? IMO, they're focusing on long-term strategy rather than short-term. By making the OS and certain apps free, they're improving the attractiveness of the platform. What is historical net revenue for OS and apps? It might be a drop in the bucket relative to iphone/mac sales, no? And with the ipad mini, it's generally been seen as a hugely popular product, right? I mean, yeah, sometimes hugely popular products have lower margins. But if they hadn't released the mini, we'd be faulting them for losing market share due to not having a small form-factor alternative. These all seem like very short-term issues to me. I am long AAPL. Nitish - 2 hours ago i guess we are entering a new fiscal quarter in december.. so the effects of their past mistakes are likely to show up. as of their free upgradation policy i dnt think it will be of much help to the company. however, this is my point of view. things might turn out to be different. Please leave your comment:
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Top Portfolio Products: ProShares Rolls Out Emerging Market Bond ETF; China Gets S&P 500-Based ETF

New products and changes introduced over the last week include a short-term emerging markets bond ETF from ProShares; an S&P 500-based ETF in China; and an annuity from Allianz Life with a 7-year decreasing surrender charge.  

In addition, W.E, Donoghue launched a power dividend index fund; American Century offered a retirement plan assessment tool; and Franklin Templeton and K2 Advisors announced a multi-strategy fund.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) ProShares Launches Short-Term Emerging Market Bond ETF

Proshares announced Thursday the launch of the Short Term USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMSH), which is designed to offer yield potential with reduced interest rate sensitivity.

EMSH tracks the DBIQ Short Duration Emerging Market Bond Index, which is composed of a diversified portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated emerging markets bonds with a weighted average maturity of three years or less. The index currently includes bonds from 19 countries issued by sovereign governments, other government entities and agencies, as well as corporations that have significant government ownership. A country’s weight in the index is capped at 10%. Bonds must have a minimum $500 million outstanding issuance to be eligible.

2) S&P 500-Based ETF Launched in China

Through a licensing agreement with S&P Dow Jones Indices, Bosera Asset Management has launched an S&P 500-based ETF in China, a move that allows the Chinese greater access to the U.S. market.

Total assets under management of ETFs listed in mainland China (Shanghai and Shenzhen) topped 150 billion yuan (about USD $25 billion) in Q3 2013 with close to 80 ETFs available in the market. The new ETF is the first to track the S&P 500.

3) Allianz Life Announces Annuity With 7-Year Decreasing Surrender Charge

Allianz Life has announced the launch of the Allianz Signature 7 annuity, available on the Allianz Preferred platform. The annuity is designed for retirement accumulation with a seven-year decreasing surrender charge period and is currently available in 41 states.

Prior to retirement, the annuity allows customers to accumulate retirement savings through indexed interest based on changes in several external market indexes of their choice. When they are ready for retirement, customers can access income with annuity income options including payments guaranteed for the life of the customer. Or, the full contract value is available to customers as a lump sum without surrender charges after seven contract years.

4) W.E. Donoghue Introduces Power Dividend Index Fund

W.E. Donoghue & Co. introduced its Power Dividend Index Fund (A shares, PWDAX; I shares, PWDIX) on Tuesday. The fund uses the firm’s proprietary Power Dividend Index to seek to generate income while deploying a tactical overlay in an effort to preserve capital in all market cycles. The index isolates the top five dividend-yielding stocks in each of the 10 global industry classification standard (GICS) sectors—consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, materials, utilities, telecommunication services and information technology—that comprise the S&P 500 Index.

Those 50 stocks make up the S-Network Sector Dividend Dogs Index, and are equally weighted in the fund’s portfolio. The fund will sell positions in stocks that are removed from the S&P 500. An intermediate-term tactical overlay positions the fund bearishly or bullishly, depending on market developments and outlooks, and allows it to be invested in money market funds and other cash equivalents during equity market downturns.

5) American Century Offers Retirement Plan Assessment Tool

American Century Investments has announced the launch of a new tool aimed at helping retirement plan advisors and sponsors assess plan effectiveness for better participant outcomes. Plan Health Pro is an online resource designed to help determine overall retirement plan health. Using a series of questions and answers, the plan is evaluated for plan health, retirement readiness and due diligence.

The tool takes into consideration aspects such as plan objectives, plan design, participant communications and investments. Once the plan sponsor or advisor completes the questionnaire, the result is a personalized report, including a green, yellow and red scorecard on a plan's effectiveness and suggested areas of improvement. The report may serve as historical documentation of a plan’s progress to helping participants achieve retirement readiness. A demo is available at www.planhealthpro.com.

6) Franklin Templeton and K2 Advisors Announce Multistrategy Fund

Franklin Templeton Investments has announced the launch of its first multimanager, multistrategy mutual fund focused on alternative investment strategies, Franklin K2 Alternative Strategies Fund (FAAAX). FAAAX seeks to provide investors with lower correlations to traditional asset classes, reduced portfolio volatility and risk-adjusted returns, while offering daily liquidity.

K2 Advisors is the fund’s investment manager. FAAAX provides access to a diversified portfolio of alternative investment strategies and to a group of unaffiliated, institutional-quality hedge fund managers. The  initial set of subadvisors includes: Basso Capital Management, L.P.; Chatham Asset Management, LLC; Chilton Investment Company, Inc.; Impala Asset Management LLC; Jennison Associates LLC; Lazard Asset Management LLC; Loomis Sayles & Company, L.P.; P. Schoenfeld Asset Management LLC; and York Capital Management L.P.

---

Read the Nov. 15 Portfolio Products Roundup at ThinkAdvisor.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Own In Right Now

U.S. - the world�� largest consumer of energy- faced an unlikely situation quite recently. It was in April last year that the natural gas prices hit an all time low at under $2 per million British thermal credits. Many believed this to be an immutable and uncomfortable reality. Though this was only a partial reality, Shares of natural gas engine designer- Westport Innovation (WPRT) nearly doubled in four months as did clean energy fuels (CLNE), a company that builds refueling stations. The NAT GAS Act, passed by the congress, was aimed at promoting the usage of cleaner fuels. It provided subsidies to vehicles which used alternative fuels rather than going the conventional way.

The Obama administration laid stress on the fact that it would always be beneficial to use the clean fuels produced within the nation�� boundaries. To further the initiative he announced an investment of $1 billion in the gas infrastructure. All this was way back in April 2012. Now, coming to the present scenario, the gas pieces have doubled than what they originally were which now puts them at $4/mmBtu price tag. The congress is nowhere in the scene now amending bills that would encourage the use of natural gas vehicles. This had ramifications in the stock market as the stocks, as those of Westport and Clean Energy, that were peaking have now fallen down to almost half their value.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is a top diversified name to buy at Merrill Lynch and may offer investors the best total return play. The company by almost all metrics is undervalued, and it continues to raise its dividend yearly. Merrill Lynch has a $37 price target, and the consensus figure is $36.50. Investors are paid a very solid 4.0% dividend.

• [By Rich Smith]

  This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature a pair of new buy ratings for large-caps Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX  ) . But the news isn't all good.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Swift Resources Inc (SWR.V)

Swift Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Canada. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, precious metals, and coal deposits. It has a joint venture agreement with Saturn Minerals Inc. for the exploration of the Saskatoba coal project located along the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Best Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014: Maxtech Ventures Inc. (MVT.V)

Maxtech Ventures Inc., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in Canada and internationally. The company holds an option on a 100% interest in the Ariane and Guercheville gold properties consisting of 40 claims totaling approximately 5,464 acres in the Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada. It also has an option to acquire a 50% interest in the Julia property comprising claims covering 6,850 acres in the Atlin Mining Division of British Columbia, Canada, as well as holds a reconnaissance permit in the Lalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh, India to explore for iron, platinum group minerals, nickel, cobalt, chromium, lead, zinc, copper, diamonds, gold, and silver mineralization. The company is headquartered in Surrey, Canada.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Intertek Group(ITRK.L)

Intertek Group plc provides quality and safety solutions for a range of industries worldwide. The company operates through five divisions: Commodities, Industry & Assurance, Consumer Goods, Commercial & Electrical, and Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals. The Commodities division provides independent cargo inspection, analytical assessment, and calibration and related research and technical services to the petroleum, mining, minerals, and biofuels industries. This division also provides services to governments and regulatory bodies to support trade activities that enable the flow of goods across borders. The Industry & Assurance division offers a range of services, including asset integrity management, engineering, inspection, auditing, certification, consulting, training, staffing, and testing services. This division serves a range of industries, including oil, gas, petrochemical, power, renewable energy, and civil and infrastructure, as well as provides services to customers in the food and agricultural sectors. The Consumer Goods division provides testing, inspection, auditing, advisory, quality assurance, and hazardous substance testing services to the textiles, toys, footwear, hardlines, and retail industries. The Commercial & Electrical division provides safety, performance and quality testing, and certification services to manufacturers in home appliances, consumer electronics, lighting, medical, building, industrial and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration, information communication and technology, renewable energy, and automotive industries. The Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals division provides measurement and consulting services that support business processes, including new drug development, development of new materials, polymers composites, and packaging. This segment serves clients in aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceuticals industries. Intertek Group plc was founded in 1885 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Nwf Group(NWF.L)

NWF Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the warehousing and distribution of ambient groceries; manufacture and sale of animal feeds; and sale and distribution of fuel oils in the United Kingdom. The company distributes ambient grocery and other products to supermarket and other retail distribution centers. It also provides animal feeds and other agricultural products to dairy farmers. In addition, the company markets feeds, seeds, fats, and silage additives to farmers. Further, it sells and distributes domestic heating, industrial, and road fuels, as well as offers various oil ancillary items, including lubricants, storage tanks, boiler servicing, maintenance, and insurance. NWF Group plc was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Nantwich, the United Kingdom.

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Cuts 10,000 Jobs

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- French telecommunications manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) confirmed Tuesday plans to cut 10,000 jobs by 2015 as part of its plan to return the company to profitability.

The layoffs affect 14% of Alcatel-Lucent's global work force, including 4,100 positions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 3,800 in Asia Pacific and 2,100 in the Americas. By 2015, Alcatel-Lucent will have halved the number of global business hubs.

The job cuts are a key component to Alcatel-Lucent's "Shift Plan" to restructure and refocus R&D activities and reduce fixed costs. The moves will save 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) by 2015, reducing fixed costs by more than 15%.

"To carry out this plan we must make difficult decisions and we will make them with open and transparent dialogue with our employees and their representatives," CEO Michel Combes said in a statement. "The Shift Plan is about the company regaining control of its destiny." Alcatel-Lucent shares were 1.69% lower to $3.79 on Tuesday. The company is lagging the S&P 500, which is down 0.46%. TheStreet Ratings team rates Alcatel-Lucent as a Sell with a ratings score of D. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about its recommendation: "We rate Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) a SELL. This is driven by a number of negative factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity and feeble growth in its earnings per share." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Communications Equipment industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 123.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$518.9 million to -$1,158.23 million. The debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 3.91 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company. Along with the unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio, ALU maintains a poor quick ratio of 0.99, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems. Return on equity has greatly decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Communications Equipment industry and the overall market, Alcatel-Lucent's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. Alcatel-Lucent has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, Alcatel-Lucent swung to a loss, reporting -$1.35 a share vs. 37 cents a share in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings (-42 cents vs. -$1.35). 36.57% is the gross profit margin for Alcatel-Lucent which we consider to be strong. Regardless of ALU's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, ALU's net profit margin of -24.32% significantly underperformed when compared to the industry average. You can view the full analysis from the report here: ALU Ratings Report Written by Keris Alison Lahiff.

Today's Gain For Liquidmetal Technologies is a Huge Catalyst (LQMT)

The 7% pop we're seeing from Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:LQMT) today is impressive, but we've all seen big - and even bigger - gains from stocks before. What makes this one any different than the hundred of other stocks that dole out one-day wonder gains on any given trading day? Well, as it turns out, there actually is something significantly different with the way LQMT is flying high today.

It's not apparent with just a quick glance of the near-term daily chart of LQMT, but when you zoom out to at least a few weeks' worth of time, right there it is - Liquidmetal Technologies has been getting squeezed into the tip of a wedge pattern, and when enough became enough this week [and the stock had no more room to bounce around], that was it. Shares exploded, to the upside, and now that they have we should be getting a few months' worth of pent-up action.

The daily chart of Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. below tells the tale. The wedge, or triangle pattern, is framed in red. LQMT has been trapped inside it - and has been testing both edges of it - since July's big surge, but hasn't traded outside of those boundaries since the top materialized then. Indeed, the stock's been oddly stagnant, content to move sideways, so much so that all of the shorter-term moving average lines have converged this week. As they say though, periods of high volatility are followed by periods of low volatility, and vice versa. So, after four months of not only no net-movement but increasingly-constricted movement, not only does some major (and new) action make sense here, it's to be expected. Better still, it's to be relied on. Translation: Let's take today's break above the upper edge of the wedge as a sign that the ball is rolling again... bullishly.

As for where LQMT might end up hitting its next ceiling (which would be a great spot to lock down any profits), there's something of a ceiling around $0.20, where it peaked in July and started to form the upper edge of the triangle pattern. That potential gain doesn't really reflect the complete upside that's born out of the four-month wedge-squeeze setup though. That's just a "checkpoint" target where we'll want to reassess. More realistically, $0.23 would be a good first target to aim for, and assuming the rally doesn't stall there, there's been a lot of turbulence around $0.33 that would make for a good stopping point.

For more trading ideas and insights like these, be sure to sign up for the free SmallCap Network newsletter.

Thursday Closing Bell: Markets Move Higher on Jobs, Yellen

November 21, 2013: U.S. equity markets opened higher Thursday morning following a better-than-expected report on new claims for jobless benefits. Fed chair-designate Janet Yellen's appointment has passed out of a Senate committee and is headed for a confirmation vote by the full Senate sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. Yellen's all-but-certain confirmation may have played a bigger role in the stronger equity indexes than did the employment report.

European, Asian, and Latin American markets all closed mixed again today.

Friday's calendar includes speeches by Kansas Cit Fed President Elizabeth George and Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) 10:00 a.m. – E-commerce retail sales 11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index

Here are the closing bell levels for Thursday:

S&P500 1795.85 (+14.48; +0.81%) DJIA 16009.99 (+109.17; +0.69%) NASDAQ 3969.15 (+47.88; +1.22%) 10YR TNOTE 2.792% (+0.125) Gold $1,243.60 (-14.40; -1.1%) WTI Crude oil $95.44 +1.59; +1.7%) Euro/Dollar: 1.3482 (+0.0042; +0.31%)

Big Earnings Movers: Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is down 3.5% at $64.19. Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down 2.9% at $59.93 on a wider loss and tepid outlook. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up 14.1% at $70.57 indicating that investors liked the results posted after markets closed on Wednesday. Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down 4.5% at $56.28. Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (NYSE: ANF) is down 0.1% at $34.97.

Stocks on the Move: Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) is up 8.2% at $7.95 even though the firm's service was ranked last in new Consumer Reports survey. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is down 13.8% at $33.82, the third day in a row the stock has been hit with double-digit losses. Organovo Holdings In. (NASDAQ: ONVO) is up 11.5% at $8.86 after getting beaten up in the 3D printing debacle yesterday.

In all, 148 NYSE stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 71 stocks posted new lows.

4 Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Big Gains

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today.

Sophiris Bio

Sophiris Bio (SPHS) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes innovative products for the treatment of urological diseases. This stock closed up 5.1% to $4.51 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $4.25-$4.53

52-Week Range: $4.08-$17.68

Tuesday's Volume: 15,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 71,077

From a technical perspective, SPHS spiked higher here right above some near-term support at $4.08 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last two months and change, with shares moving between $4.08 on the downside and $5.11 on the upside. Shares of SPHS are now starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That breakout will hit if SPHS manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $4.65 to $4.85 to some past overhead resistance at $5.11 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SPHS as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of $4.25 or above its 52-week low of $4.08 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 71,077 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then SPHS will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at $5.91.

Zhone Technologies

Zhone Technologies (ZHNE) designs, develops and manufactures communications network equipment for telecommunications, wireless and cable operators worldwide. This stock closed up 5% to $3.95 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $3.70-$4.06

52-Week Range: $0.40-$4.58

Tuesday's Volume: 567,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 871,360

From a technical perspective, ZHNE trended higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $3.56 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock recently pulled back off its 52-week high of $4.58 to its recent low of $3.61. Shares of ZHNE have now started to find some buying interest each time it has traded near its 50-day over the last few weeks. This action is now starting to push shares of ZHNE within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ZHNE manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance at $4.10 and then once it clears more resistance at $4.48 to its 52-week high at $4.58 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ZHNE as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $3.56 or above more support at $3.25 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 871,360 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ZHNE will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $5.50 to $6.50

Aeropostale

Aeropostale (ARO) operates as a mall-based retailer of casual apparel and accessories for young women and men in the U.S. This stock closed up 3.9% to $9.51 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $9.07-$9.61

52-Week Range: $7.78-$17.10

Tuesday's Volume: 3.37 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 3.74 million

From a technical perspective, ARO trended higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $9.24 with solid upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of ARO within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if ARO manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $9.68 to $9.92 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ARO as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $9 or above $8.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 3.74 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ARO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at $10.47. Any high-volume move above $10.47 will then give ARO a chance to tag $11 to $11.50.

Dynavax Technologies

Dynavax Technologies (DVAX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops novel products to prevent and treat infectious and inflammatory diseases. This stock closed up 5.7% to $1.45 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $1.39-$1.47

52-Week Range: $0.98-$3.39

Tuesday's Volume: 12.96 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 2.76 million

From a technical perspective, DVAX trended higher here with monster upside volume. This move briefly pushed shares of DVAX into breakout territory, since the stock flirted with some key overhead resistance levels at $1.43 to $1.46. Shares of DVAX closed just below the latter at $1.45. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if DVAX can manage to take out Tuesday's high of $1.47 to some key past resistance at $1.50 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in DVAX as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $1.30 or above its 50-day at $1.23 and then once it sustains a move or close above $1.47 to $1.50 with volume that hits near or above 2.76 million shares. If we get that move soon, then DVAX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 200-day of $1.73 to its gap down day high from June just above $1.80. Any high-volume move above $1.80 will then give DVAX a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started at $2.60.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

>>5 Rocket Stocks for Another Week of New Highs

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

2 Triple-A Tech Stocks to Buy

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When we talk about tech stocks the attention often falls on the larger, more established tech stocks. However, as the market advance thins out investors might want to focus on the smaller, fast-growing tech stocks.

When these smaller tech stocks attract the attention of Wall Street, the massive buying pressure provided by the large pools institutional money can turn these stocks into rocket ships. We can use an objective research tool like Portfolio Grader to find stocks with the very best fundamentals that are likely to attract buying pressure and help power your portfolio higher.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is the leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven-solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, and corporations globally. BR makes the back-office systems that allow these companies to process forms and communicate with their customer base on critical matters.

Broadridge provides services to retail and institutional brokerage firms, global banks, specialty trading firms and more. The company is on fire, with earnings up 72% so far this year and up 67% in the latest quarter. This type of performance was picked up by Portfolio Grader, and last month the stock was upgraded to the highest grade. This “triple-A” stock — which earns "A" grades for fundamentals, quantitative, and overall grade — is a “strong buy.”

Sparton Corporation (SPA) provides electromechanical systems and operates in three segments: medical devices, complex systems and defense and security systems. The medical devices segment makes devices used in diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, and laboratory applications. Complex devices makes printed circuit assemblies used in military, aerospace, industrial and commercial OEMs, while the defense and security segment designs products for defense applications.

SPA has shown earnings growth of 42% so far this year and continues to accelerate with a 67% increase in its latest quarter. The company has also posted two consecutive positive earnings surprises. This type of superior fundamental performance is reflected in its “triple-A” Portfolio Grader ranking, and the stock remains a “strong buy.”

The stock market is focusing on best of the best fundamentals right now, and these two “triple-A” tech stocks are demonstrating the very best fundamental performance.

Louis Navellier is the editor of Blue Chip Growth.

How to develop 'sticky' clients

Advisers spend about five times as much to bring on a new client as they do to keep an existing one, creating a huge incentive to keep clients “sticky,” according to an adviser coach.

Clients stick with an adviser if they have deep personal relationships with them and feel like they are part of a community with other clients, said Dean Barber, founder of advisory firm Barber Financial Group and a coach to other advisers.

Surveys show clients typically leave their adviser because of a lack of communication and a feeling as though the adviser doesn't understand their situation.

“Many times financial advisers are so busy trying to bring on new assets that they lose track of the importance of maintaining their current clients,” Mr. Barber said.

Building deep relationships takes time, but certain actions can foster their development, including educational events like seminars on tax strategies, entertaining activities such as wine tasting, consistent and frequent communications, and regular financial reviews that focus on holistic planning, Mr. Barber said.

“We want to stay constantly in front of them — top of mind,” Mr. Barber said. “They know we're out there on top of the education scene, and that we appreciate them and what interests them.”

Barber Financial Group, which is headquartered in Lenexa, Kan., hosts a minimum of eight educational events per month on topics such as the latest in estate planning or retirement preparation, as well as special presentations. It also hosts a quarterly conference call to discuss capital markets and how client money is being managed within that market context, Mr. Barber said.

Barber Financial clients also receive a weekly e-mail to discuss what has gone on in the past week, and other nonfinancial pieces, including recipes, he said. They also receive a quarterly newsletter covering “the four pillars” of wealth management: taxes, insurance, investments and estate planning.

Clients also are invited to participate in at least two fun events a month, such as August's tequila tasting. Mr. Barber said the firm charges for the fun events, but not the educational ones.

Barber Financial even has its own travel club for clients, where it sets up trips to places such as the Greek Islands and Alaska, and brings in a travel agent to do a presentation on the location. Clients receive a small discount on the trip, and many times the adviser gets to go along for free. The next trip: an Australia/New Zealand cruise in January 2014.

“The idea is building a sense of community,&! #8221; Mr. Barber said. “Clients get to know each other and make new relationships.”

Apple Reports Record-Breaking Weekend iPhone 5c, 5s Sales Numbers

Today Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) announced it sold 9 million 5s and 5c iPhones in their first weekend on sale, nearly double the 5 million it sold last year over the iPhone 5's release weekend.

"This is our best iPhone launch yet," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, was quoted as saying.

In fact, Apple said, the demand for the top-of-the-line iPhone 5s surpassed the initial supply, and many of the online orders are not expected to ship until the coming weeks. Cook also added in the press release, "The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly."

In addition to the record-breaking sales numbers, Apple also added that more than 200 million devices run Apple's newest operating system, iOS 7. This also marks a record, as it was the fastest software upgrade in the company's history.

Both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c feature iOS 7. The iPhone 5s comes in gold, silver, and "space gray" and starts at a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for the 32GB model, and $399 for the 64GB model. The iPhone 5c comes in blue, green, pink, yellow, and white and starts at a suggested retail price of $99 for the 16GB model and $199 for the 32GB model.

While Apple's has fallen more 7% in the last month, at the time of writing Monday morning it is up 6% pre-market. In an SEC filing dated today, Apple said it expects total company revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter to be near the high end of the previously provided range of $34 billion to $37 billion, and expects gross margin to be near the high end of the previously provided range of 36% to 37%.

link

Cannabis Stock Analyst Talks About High Revenue Potential

Alan Brochstein launched the 420 Investor service a few months ago, but he made quite a name for himself before then.

An investment industry veteran since 1986, Brochstein has hopped on the marijuana train and developed a large audience -- his 67,000 followers leads Seeking Alpha. But how did he get interested in this specific field?

Brochstein read an article from Dr. Sanjay Gupta this past August -- where the CNN expert said he had changed his mind and agreed there was a case for medical marijuana. Brochstein launched 420 Investor "with idea that all these people are interested in marijuana stocks, and not much coverage from Wall Street."

The head of AB Analytical Services told Benzinga's pre-market Internet broadcast that there are two big and highly fragmented cannabis markets: the people who use marijuana recreationally, like alcohol, and the medical professionals and their clients, who use cannabis for health issues.

The CFA spoke about how GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH) exploded a few months ago, and how the cannabinoid (CBD) in marijuana is being used by GW to create a 400 milligram pill that can help children and adults. The drug is designed to help children with epilepsy.

Brochstein spoke about the revenue that could be generated from marijuana, state-by-state. "Opportunities for farmers in many states that can do it legally," he said. "(But) taxes are outrageous. And It's a cash business, not credit card."

"The government spends way too many resources (on law enforcement)," he added. "You wouldn't believe how much money is wasted on petty offenses. People end up paying a lot more than they should for marijuana because of market conditions and quality (of the plant)."

He said there is still a lot progress that needs to happen to make marijuana a more legitimate business, and expects a slow transition in the interim.

Should tobacco companies get any consideration? "No.They cant touch it until it's federally legal. Too much to risk."

He also discussed MCIG (OTC: MCIG), a relatively new company that has developed a legal marijuana vaporizer, similar to the e-cig. The mCig heats plant material instead of burning it, providing a superior method of consumption that is much smoother, according to the company's website. The product sells for $10, while the stock itself has a market cap of $35 million.

"What's really gonna change for investors is you have new companies entering the public market -- three or four since I launched," says Brochstein. "This is really exciting."

Posted-In: Alan Brochstein cannabinoid cannabis Dr. Sanjay Gupta marijuana stocks Seeking AlphaFinancial Advisors News Emerging Markets Legal Be Your Own Boss Markets Personal Finance Interview Best of Benzinga

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Around the Web, We're Loving... Come Learn 6 Proven Trading Strategies at Our Holliday Trading Summit 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 General Electric to Spin-Off Retail Finance Unit in an IPO 3 Reasons Every Family Office Should Own Oil and Natural Gas Stocks 10 Stocks Below Their 50-Day Moving Average Apple Breaks Out of Six Day Trading Range Benzinga's Top #PreMarket Gainers 6 Ways to Tell if the Market is About to Crash Related Articles (GWPH + MCIG) Cannabis Stock Analyst Talks About High Revenue Potential GW Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase 1b/2a Clinical Trial for GBM Morning Market Movers Benzinga's Top Pre-Market Gainers GW Pharmaceuticals Announces Agreement on Sativex Pricing in Germany 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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Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014

While most of the market is recovering from yesterday's downward swing, Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) is still struggling to make it back into positive territory. At 10 a.m. EDT, Citi is trading at a 0.44% loss so far. It's been a tough couple of weeks for the bank after it reported surprisingly great first-quarter earnings, so what gives?

First things first -- immediately following the bank's earnings report, its shares rose 4% in trading thanks to a 30% increase in profits, among other improvements. But two days later, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) underwhelmed the Street and most of the Big Four banks dropped pretty rapidly on the trading boards. After a week, investors came back to the banks and remembered that analyst expectations are not everything when it comes to earnings and brought Citi back to its post-earnings highs.

Back to today
So now that we've got our history straight, what's going on today? The only Citi-centric news this morning is that today is the bank's ex-dividend date. Investors that buy shares today are not eligible to receive the paltry $0.01 per share dividend from Citi on May 24. It would be surprising if investors stayed away simply because they wanted that penny so badly, so we must once again conclude that the bank is simply moving with the crowd.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: Lexington Realty Trust (LXP)

Lexington Corporate Properties Trust operates as a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The company acquires, owns, and manages a portfolio of office, industrial, and retail properties net-leased to corporate tenants in the United States. It also provides investment advisory and asset management services to institutional investors in the net lease area. As of June 30, 2005, the company operated 185 properties and managed 2 properties. Lexington Corporate Properties Trust has elected to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it would not be taxed on the portion of its income, which is distributed to shareholders, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in New York City.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brad Thomas]

  Compared with the public REIT peers, I believe that Chambers Street will compare favorably to W.P. Carey (WPC) and Lexington Realty Trust (LXP). Both of these REITs own larger box assets and they both have conservative and well-positioned balance sheets. Here is a snapshot of Chambers Street's capitalization:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Lexington Realty Trust (NYSE: LXP  ) is acting like a relaxed landlord that doesn't want or need to modify the rent. The company is maintaining its dividend policy by declaring a $0.15-per-share distribution for its current quarter, to be paid on or about July 15 to shareholders of record as of June 28. That amount matches the firm's previous three distributions, the most recent of which was paid in April. Prior to that, the real estate investment trust dispensed $0.125 per share.

• [By CRWE]

  Lexington Realty Trust (NYSE:LXP), a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant real estate investments, reported that it would release its third quarter 2012 results the morning of Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Lexington will conduct a teleconference that same day at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: Telular Corporation(WRLS)

Telular Corporation designs, develops, and distributes products and services that utilize wireless networks to provide data and voice connectivity among people and machines primarily in the United States and internationally. It provides machine-to-machine and event monitoring services, including Telguard that comprises a specialized terminal unit, which interfaces with commercial security control panels and communicates with event processing servers to provide real-time transport of alarm signals from residential and commercial locations to an alarm company?s central monitoring station; and TankLink solution that combines a cellular communicator, wireless data services, and a Web-based application into a single offering, which allows end-users to monitor the product level in a given tank vessel. The company also offers fixed cellular terminals for voice, fax, and Internet access over the wireless networks. It sells its products to security equipment distributors, cellular carriers, and value added resellers. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Telular (NASDAQ: WRLS  ) will most likely soon be an asset belonging to another company. It has entered into an agreement to be bought by private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for total consideration of $253 million. This consists of $12.61 per share in cash and roughly $18.5 million in assumed debt.

Top 10 Canadian Stocks To Invest In 2014: Gold Reserve Inc(GRZ)

Gold Reserve Inc., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mining projects. The company was founded in 1956 and is based in Spokane, Washington.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: Bristow Group Inc (BRS)

Bristow Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides helicopter services to the offshore energy industry primarily in Europe, West Africa, North America, Australia, and internationally. Its helicopters are used principally to transport personnel between onshore bases and offshore platforms, drilling rigs, and installations, as well as to transport time-sensitive equipment to offshore locations. The company also offers helicopter flight training services to commercial pilots and flight instructors through its Bristow Academy with facilities in Titusville, Florida; Concord, California; New Iberia, Louisiana and Gloucestershire, England. In addition, it provides military training; and helicopter repair, engineering support, aircraft leasing, airport management, and search and rescue services. Bristow Group provides its helicopter services to integrated, national, and independent oil and gas companies. As of March 31, 2011, it operated a fleet of 569 aircraft. The comp any was founded in 1969 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts explain why they're watching Buckeye Technologies (NYSE: BKI  ) , Bristow Group (NYSE: BRS  ) , and Western Union (NYSE: WU  ) .

• [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 Bristow Group (NYSE: BRS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN), Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBNT), Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS), Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Scotts Miracle Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) Economic Releases Expected: US GDP, US Consumer Credit

  Friday

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Bristow Group (NYSE: BRS  ) reported earnings on May 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Bristow Group beat expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: Flexsteel Industries Inc.(FLXS)

Flexsteel Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, import, and market of residential and commercial upholstered and wooden furniture products in the United States. Its upholstered and wooden furniture products include sofas, loveseats, chairs, reclining and rocker-reclining chairs, swivel rockers, sofa beds, convertible bedding units, occasional tables, desks, dining tables and chairs, and bedroom furniture. The company distributes its products for use in home, office, hotel, and other commercial applications through its sales force and various independent representatives, as well as to various national and regional chains. Flexsteel Industries, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is based in Dubuque, Iowa.

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 Flexsteel Industries (Nasdaq: FLXS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Memberships and Peers: LEG is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: Hooker Furniture Corp. (HOFT) with a 2.4% yield, Flexsteel Industries Inc. (FLXS) with a 2.7% yield and Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (ETH) with a 1.4% yield.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: (NVDL)

NovaDel Pharma Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, develops oral spray formulations for marketed pharmaceuticals. The company?s proprietary technology enables delivery of drugs into the bloodstream leading to onset of action and patient benefits. Its oral spray candidates target angina, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, migraine headaches, and nausea. NovaDel Pharma?s marketed products include NitroMist for acute relief of an attack of angina pectoris, or acute prophylaxis of angina pectoris, due to coronary artery disease; and ZolpiMist for short-term treatment of insomnia. The company?s product candidates comprise Duromist, which is in preclinical development for erectile dysfunction; Zensana, which is in preclinical development for nausea; NVD-201, an oral spray formulation of sumatriptan in Phase 2/3 clinical trial to treat migraine headache; NVD-301, an oral spray formulation of midazolam in preclinical stage for the treatment of sedation during diagnostic, therap eutic, and endoscopic procedures; and ZolpiMist in Phase 1 clinical trial to treat middle of the night awakening. It has strategic license agreements with Talon Therapeutics, Inc., Kwang Dong Pharmaceuticals, and BioAlliance Pharma SA to develop and market Zensana; Manhattan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the company?s oral spray technology to deliver propofol for pre-procedural sedation; and Velcera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for veterinary applications for marketed veterinary drugs. NovaDel Pharma also has agreements with Mist Acquisition, LLC, for the manufacturing and commercialization of the NitroMist lingual spray version of nitroglycerine; and ECR Pharmaceuticals Company, Inc. to manufacture and commercialize ZolpiMist. The company was formerly known as Flemington Pharmaceutical Corporation and changed its name to NovaDel Pharma Inc. in October 2002. NovaDel Pharma Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014

Small cap tech stocks Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) and Pulse Network Inc (OTCBB: TPNI) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters. That�� due in part to a few paid for promotions on behalf of both of these stocks. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions, but investors with a long term time horizon need to be more cautious as promotions tend to help traders. With that said, do these two small cap tech stocks have what it takes to succeed? Here is a quick reality check:

Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) Issues an Earnings Report and Warns of Short Sellers

Small cap Epazz is an enterprise-wide software company that specializes in providing customized web applications to the corporate world, higher education institutions and the public sector. Epazz�� unique BoxesOS applications can create virtual communities for enhanced communication, provide information and content for decision-making, and create a secure marketplace for any type of commerce all through the medium of the Internet. On Friday, Epazz fell 6.25% to $0.0015 for a market cap of $2.41 plus EPAZ is down 87.4% over the past year and down 97% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of EZchip (NASDAQ: EZCH  ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $15.3 million, topping the Street's forecast of $15.1 million. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.23, which was right on target with expectations.

• [By Paul McWilliams]

  Paul McWilliams: Oh, absolutely. Another company that most investors probably have never heard of is a tiny little Israeli semiconductor company named EZChip (EZCH).

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

FuelCell Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacturing, and sale of high temperature fuel cells for clean electric power generation primarily in South Korea, the United States, Germany, Canada, and Japan. The company offers proprietary carbonate Direct FuelCell Power Plants that electrochemically produce electricity from hydrocarbon fuels, such as natural gas and biogas. Its fuel cells operate on a range of hydrocarbon fuels, including natural gas, renewable biogas, propane, methanol, coal gas, and coal mine methane. The company also develops carbonate fuel cells, planar solid oxide fuel cell technology, and other fuel cell technologies. It provides its products to universities; manufacturers; mission critical institutions, such as correction facilities and government installations; hotels; and natural gas letdown stations, as well as to customers who use renewable biogas for fuel, including municipal water treatment facilities, br eweries, and food processors. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Green Energy Addict]

  On June 3, 2013 I gave my 5 Bullish Signs ahead of the FuelCell Energy (FCEL) Q2 2013 earnings report. I cited the large backlog as one of the reasons for my bullish views. I gave as my reasoning the following:

• [By John Udovich]

  Despite horrendous losses for investors over the long term, small cap fuel cell stocks FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL) and Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG) have both made gains this year. However, which is the better small cap fuel cell stock for investors moving forward or should you just ignore both?

Hot Performing Stocks To Own Right Now: KongZhong Corporation(KONG)

KongZhong Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless interactive entertainment, media, and community services to mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China. It also involves in the development, distribution, and marketing of consumer wireless value-added services, including wireless application protocol, multimedia messaging services, short messaging services, interactive voice response services, and color ring back tones. In addition, it offers interactive entertainment services, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat, and message boards; and through Kong.net offer news, community services, games, and other interactive media and entertainment services; and sells advertising space in the form of text-link, banner, and button advertisements. Further, the company develops and publishes mobile games, including downloadable mobile games and online mobile games cons isting of action, role-playing, and leisure games. As of December 31, 2009, it had a library of approximately 300 internally developed mobile games. Additionally, it develops online games; and provides consulting and technology services, as well as media and net book services. The company was formerly known as Communication Over The Air Inc. and changed its name to KongZhong Corporation in March 2004. KongZhong Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 wireless services player that looks poised for a big spike higher is KongZhong (KONG), which is a provider of WVAS and mobile games to mobile phone users and a wireless media company providing news, content, community and mobile advertising services through its wireless Internet sites in the PRC. This stock is off to a hot start in 2013, with shares up sharply by 53%.

  If you take a look at the chart for KongZhong, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last two months, with shares plunging lower from its high of $14.92 to its recent low of $7.78 a share. During that downtrend, shares of KONG have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of KONG into oversold territory, since its current relative strength index reading is 30.21. Shares of KONG are now starting to spike higher off its recent low of $7.78 a share and off its 200-day moving average of $7.95 a share. This spike could be signaling that the downside volatility for KONG is over in the short-term and the stock is ready to trend higher.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KONG if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $8.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 519,857 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then KONG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to its 50-day moving average at $11.33 a share.

  Traders can look to buy KONG off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $7.78 a share. One can also buy KONG off strength once it takes out $8.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [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 Kongzhong (Nasdaq: KONG  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

ATA Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides computer-based testing services in the People?s Republic of China. It offers services for the creation and delivery of computer-based tests utilizing its test delivery platform, proprietary testing technologies, and testing services; and provides logistical support services relating to test administration. The company?s computer-based testing services are used for professional licensure and certification tests in various industries, including information technology (IT) services, banking, securities, teaching, and insurance. Its e-testing platform integrates various aspects of the test delivery process for computer-based tests ranging from test form compilation to test scoring, and results analysis. ATA also provides career-oriented educational services, such as single course programs, degree major course programs, and pre-occupational training programs focusing on preparing students to pass IT and other vocational certification tests; test preparation and training programs and services to test candidates preparing to take professional certification tests in securities, futures, banking, insurance and teaching industries; online test preparation and training platform for the securities and banking industries; and test preparation software for the teaching industry. In addition, the company offers HR select employee assessment solution, an online system that utilizes its proprietary software and an inventory of test titles to help employers improve the efficiency and accuracy of their employee recruitment process. As of March 31, 2010, it had contractual relationships with 1,988 ATA authorized test centers. The company serves Chinese governmental agencies, professional associations, IT vendors, and Chinese educational institutions, as well as individual test preparation services. ATA Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  At the same time they downgraded Panera Bread (PNRA) to Equal Weight from Overweight on concerns that consumers believe it’s expensive. They write:

• [By Tim Gallagher]

  Why don't we reach out to Monsanto (MON), Syngenta (SYT), Deere (DE), DuPont (DD), Kroger (KR), Kellogg (K), General Mills (GIS), and the other grocery chains, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), Costco (COST), Panera (PNRA), Amazon (AMZN)…..you get the picture.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Some investors are still nervous about the high share price for the stock, suggesting that even solid growth isn't enough. But Starbucks has already demonstrated that it's up to the growth challenge. With its juice- and tea-company acquisitions, Starbucks has aimed at offering a complete line of beverages to beat out coffee offerings from Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN  ) while holding off other competitors seeking to carve away specialized niches from its grasp. At the same time, Starbucks' purchase of La Boulange should serve to fend off challenges from Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , which has followed a similar strategy as Starbucks yet come at it from the opposite direction, starting with its healthy baked goods and then gradually expanding its offerings, including coffee. For Starbucks, offering panini sandwiches contributed to the company's 7% rise in U.S. sales, showing the value of combining food with its premium beverages.

• [By Adrian Campos]

  The attractive combination of high margins and aggressive revenue expansion has caused Starbucks' value to increase enormously. How did Starbucks manage to create a strong coffee empire despite increasing competition from traditional players such as Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN  ) , and the emergence of challengers like Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) ? More importantly, how long will Starbucks' dominance in the coffee world last?

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: OmniVision Technologies Inc.(OVTI)

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets semiconductor image-sensor devices. The company offers CameraChip image sensors, which are single-chip solutions that integrate various functions, such as image capture, image processing, color processing, signal conversion, and output of a processed image or video stream for use in various consumer and commercial mass-market applications; and CameraCube imaging devices that are image sensors with integrated wafer-level optics. It also provides companion chips used to connect its image sensors to various interfaces, including the universal serial bus and other industry standard interfaces; and companion digital signal processors that perform compression in standardized still photo and digital video formats. In addition, the company designs and develops software drivers for Linux, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows, as well as for embedded operating systems, such as Blackberry OS, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows CE, Windows Embedded, and Windows Mobile. Its products are used in mobile phones, notebooks, Webcams, digital still and video cameras, commercial and security and surveillance, and automotive and medical applications, as well as in entertainment devices. The company sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers, as well as indirectly through distributors worldwide. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

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

  OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) investors are seeing the big picture. Shares of the image sensor maker moved higher after posting better-than-expected quarterly results. Revenue soared 54%, and OmniVision's profit of $0.31 a share blew away the $0.21 analysts were targeting. Nokia (NYSE: NOK  ) is no longer the leading smartphone seller in Finland. Tech tracker IDC reports that Samsung outsold Nokia in its home country this past quarter. So much for the hometown hero. Vringo (NASDAQ: VRNG  ) got another tech giant to pay up, but it won't be much. The company announced a patent-infringement settlement with Mr. Softy in which Vringo will receive $1 million and enter into a licensing deal with the world's largest software company.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is up 8.9% at $85.66 after a $3.1 billion asset sale to Sinopec. OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is down 16.1% at $15.45 after warning on earnings due to lower sales of smartphones. E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) is down 10.1% at $7.80 on a downgrade from JPMorgan.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Once upon a time, I was also an OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) bull, thinking the image sensor specialist's lead in backside-illuminated technology gave it a substantial leg up against the competition. When OmniVision lost the iPhone 4S primary camera spot to Sony,�that was just the first sign that things may never be the same. The company subsequently lost the iPhone 5 primary sensor, also to Sony. HTC has gone with STMicroelectronics�for the "UltraPixel" sensor in its One flagship (OmniVision sources the secondary sensor), which lends to the idea that BSI sensors are becoming commoditized. Goodbye, pricing power. I gave up on OmniVision long ago.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  In terms of clinical updates, hepatitis-C-focused biotech Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) announced updated midstage results for its lead compound, ACH-3102, on Tuesday. In trials of genotype-1b treatment naive patients, ACH-3102 plus a ribavirin delivered a 75% success rate in end-of-treatment virologic response. The problem with these results is that not only is Achillion far behind its all-oral peers in terms of development, but its 75% success rate trailed that of Gilead Sciences' Sofosbuvir, which delivered 100% success rates in some of its late-stage trials featuring genotype-1 patients.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Liver quivers
  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) ranks as the top drop of the week. Shares plunged 24% on news that the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on experimental hepatitis C drug�sovaprevir.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) has plunged 51% to $3.53 after the FDA kept a hold on its hepatitis C drug in trials. The stock was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.