Top 5 Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015

Olympic sponsors have rarely been so on edge before an Olympic Games.

When the Winter Olympics begin on Friday in Sochi, all 10 major sponsors, which each pay up to $100 million to sponsor a full winter and summer cycle, will be hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst ��such as an act of terrorism.

"They're absolutely more nervous than in any previous Olympics," says Larry Smith, senior consultant at the Institute for Crisis Management. "If any one of them were my client, I'd be jumping up and down shouting that they have to prepare."

TAKING A STAND: AT&T speaks out against Russia's anti-gay laws

USA TODAY reached out to all 10 major sponsors to discuss their crisis plans, but only two responded. In an e-mail, Stephen Urquhart, president of Omega, noted, "We've adapted our program to fit the special needs of Sochi.' And McDonald's spokeswoman Becca Hary notes, "A full security plan is in place. ... We can't share the details of the plan for security reasons."

Top 5 Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015: Alkermes Inc.(ALKS)

Alkermes plc, an integrated biotechnology company, develops medicines that enhance patient outcomes. The company has a diversified portfolio of approximately 20 commercial drug products and a clinical pipeline of product candidates that address central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as addiction, schizophrenia, and depression. It manufactures and commercializes VIVITROL for alcohol and opioid dependence; RISPERDAL CONSTA for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder; INVEGA SUSTENNA for the treatment of schizophrenia; AMPYRA to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis; and BYDUREON for the treatment of type II diabetes. Alkermes? pipeline includes extended-release injectable and oral products for the treatment of prevalent, chronic diseases, such as central nervous system disorders, addiction, and diabetes. The company was founded in 1987 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  ) is the leader for the long-acting antipsychotic, selling $1.4 billion worth of Risperdal Consta and $800 million worth of Invega Sustenna last year. Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS  ) also benefits from a royalty on both drugs. It developed the extended-release technology in Risperdal Consta, and Alkermes acquired the royalty rights to Invega Sustenna when it bought Elan's (NYSE: ELN  ) drug technology division.

Top 5 Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015: PetMed Express Inc.(PETS)

PetMed Express, Inc., doing business as 1-800-PetMeds, operates a pet pharmacy in the United States. It markets non-prescription and prescription pet medications; and other health products for dogs and cats, as well as direct to consumers. The company?s non-prescription medications include flea and tick control products, bone and joint care products, vitamins and nutritional supplements, and hygiene products. Its prescription medications comprise heartworm preventatives; arthritis, thyroid, diabetes, and pain medications; antibiotics and other specialty medications; and generic substitutes. In addition, the company, through its Web site, 1800petmeds.com, sells beds, crates, stairs, strollers, and other pet supplies. PetMed Express offers its products under the Frontline Plus, K9 Advantix, Advantage, Heartgard Plus, Sentinel, Interceptor, Program, Revolution, Deramaxx, and Rimadyl brands. The company markets its products through national television, online, and direct mail /print advertising campaigns, as well as through telephone, catalogs, brochures, and postcards. It primarily serves retail customers. PetMed Express was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  PetMed Express (NASDAQ: PETS) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.23 per share on revenue of $52.06 million.

  Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  On the downside, Halliburton (HAL) fell 3.5% to $50.66 after beating earnings but underperforming competitors, while Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) fell 2.4% to $294.89 after it reported positive trial data on Eylea and that it will file an application with the FDA in a few months. And our big loser of the day: PetMed Express (PETS), which plunged 9.8% to $15.21, the biggest drop in the S&P 1500. It reported a profit of 21 cents a share, missing forecasts for a profit of 22 cents.

Top 10 Sliver Stocks To Own For 2015: Automatic Data Processing Inc.(ADP)

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. provides technology-based outsourcing solutions to employers, and vehicle retailers and manufacturers worldwide. It operates in three segments: Employer Services, Professional Employer Organization Services, and Dealer Services. The Employer Services segment offers a range of human resource (HR)information, payroll processing, and tax and benefits administration solutions and services, including traditional and Web-based outsourcing solutions. Its solutions enable employers to staff, manage, pay, and retain their employees. The Professional Employer Organization Services segment provides employment administration outsourcing solutions, including payroll, payroll tax filing, HR guidance, 401(k) plan administration, benefits administration, compliance services, health and workers? compensation coverage, and other supplemental benefits for employees. The Dealer Services segment offers integrated dealer management systems (DMS) and other busines s management solutions to automotive, truck, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle, and heavy machinery retailers. This segment also provides a suite of additional integrated applications to address department and functional area of the dealership, including customer relationship management applications, front-end sales and marketing/advertising solutions, and an IP Telephony phone system integrated into the DMS to help dealerships drive sales processes and business development initiatives, as well as offers computer hardware, hardware maintenance services, software support, system design, and network consulting services. In addition, it designs, establishes, and maintains communications networks for its dealership clients that allow interactive communications among various site locations, as well as links between franchised dealers and their vehicle manufacturer franchisors. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) makes the Merrill Lynch list. The company provides technology-based outsourcing solutions to employers and vehicle retailers and manufacturers worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Employer Services, Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Services and Dealer Services. The company also provides Wall Street valuable employment data. Investors are paid a 2.4% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target is $88. The consensus estimate is much lower at $78. ADP closed Thursday at $79.42.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Justin Sullivan/Getty Images WASHINGTON -- U.S. businesses pulled back on hiring in May, adding the fewest jobs in four months, a private survey showed. Payroll processer ADP (ADP) said Wednesday that private employers added 179,000 jobs last month, down from 215,000 in the previous month. April's figure was revised slightly lower. Still, the gain in May was in line with the ADP's average monthly hiring figures for the past 12 months. The data suggest that the government's jobs report, to be released Friday, could also show a modest slowdown from April's big gain of 288,000 jobs. But the ADP numbers cover only private businesses and often diverge from the government's more comprehensive report. Economists forecast that the government's figures will show that employers added 220,000 jobs in May, according to a survey by FactSet. Analysts generally didn't change their estimates in response to the ADP report. Hiring appears to be holding steady even though the economy shrank in the first three months of the year at a 1 percent annual rate, the first contraction in three years. Most of the slowdown has been blamed on unseasonably cold weather, which shut factories, disrupted shipping, and kept shoppers away from stores and malls. "The labor market remains strong and the economy is still recovering from the weather-induced hit in the first quarter," Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. The slowdown in the ADP figures occurred mostly in professional and business services, a category that includes many higher-paying jobs such as accountants and engineers, but also lower-paid temporary workers. That category gained 46,000 jobs, compared to 75,000 in April. Construction firms added 14,000 jobs in May, slightly below April's figure, while manufacturers gained 10,000, up from only 2,000 in the prior month. Other recent measures of the job market have been mostly positive. Applications for unemployment benefits are

Top 5 Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015: J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.(JBHT)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a surface transportation, delivery, and logistics company in North America. It operates in four segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Full-Load Dry-Van (JBT), and Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS). The JBI segment provides intermodal freight solutions, including origin and destination pickup and delivery services in the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico. This segment operates 45,666 pieces of company-controlled trailing equipment; and manages a fleet of 2,592 company-owned tractors. The DCS segment involves in the design, development, and execution of supply chain solutions, which support various transportation networks. This segment offers final mile delivery, replenishment, and specialized services supporting private fleet conversion, fleet creation, and transportation system augmentation. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 4,259 company-owned trucks, 357 customer-owned trucks, and 23 independent contractor trucks. The JBT segment provides full-load, dry-van freight services by utilizing tractors operating over roads and highways. It operated 1,697 company-owned tractors. The ICS segment provides non-asset, asset-light, and transportation logistics solutions. It offers flatbed, refrigerated, expedited, and less-than-truckload, as well as various dry-van and intermodal solutions. The company transports a range of freight, including general merchandise, specialty consumer items, appliances, forest and paper products, building materials, soaps and cosmetics, automotive parts, electronics, and chemicals. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The express-delivery company has gained 28% during the past three months, trumping the 18% return from�United Parcel Service�(UPS), the 4.6% gain in J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) and the 0.2% rise in Expeditors International of Washington�(EXPD).

Top 5 Healthcare Equipment Companies To Own For 2015: I.D. Systems Inc.(IDSY)

I.D. Systems, Inc. develops, markets, and sells wireless solutions for managing and securing enterprise assets, including industrial vehicles, such as forklifts, airport ground support equipment, rental vehicles, and transportation assets primarily in North America. The company offers integrated wireless solutions that enable customers to control, monitor, track, and analyze their enterprise assets. Its campus-based fleet management products include On-Asset Hardware, which provides an autonomous means of asset control and monitoring; Wireless Asset Managers that link mobile assets being monitored with customer?s computer network or to a remotely hosted server; Server Software, which manages data communications between the system?s database and either the Wireless Asset Managers or On-Asset Hardware; and Client Software, which restricts access and limits corruption of system information, as well as minimizes network bandwidth usage. The company?s remote asset management products comprise On-Asset Hardware, which addresses various remote asset types, such as dry van trailers, refrigerated trailers, domestic containers, and railcars, as well as customer-specific requirements; and VeriWise Intelligence Portal, a hosted Website that provides Internet access to client asset information. The company also offers direct feed of the data to customer through XML or Web services. In addition, it provides maintenance, customer support, and consulting services. I.D. Systems markets and sells its wireless solutions to a range of customers in the commercial and government sectors operating in various markets, such as automotive manufacturing, retailers, shippers, freight transportation companies, heavy industry, retail and wholesale distribution, aerospace and defense, homeland security, and vehicle rental directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as industrial equipment dealers. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Wo odcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap identity protection stock Lifelock Inc (NYSE: LOCK) surged 15.64% after reporting better-than-expected third quarter earnings thanks in part to playing on the security fears of consumers, meaning its probably time to take a look at it along with two other security stocks, I.D. Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: IDSY) and View Systems Inc (OTCBB: VSYM), which can also play up the fear factor:�

5 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015

As 2013 comes to an end, oil prices and natural gas prices have surged due to demand and extremely cold weather across the nation. With exploration and production (E&P) companies hitting all-time usage levels in the major shale plays around the country, the top oil field services names may be poised to have an outstanding 2014.

In a new research report, the oil services analysts at Deutsche Bank are clearly very positive on the sector for next year. Although, the market has been negative to energy stocks as fears of weakening U.S. oil prices remain pervasive, the outlook for activity next year continues to improve. The Deutsche Bank team continues to think North American leverage will outperform next year, but fighting sentiment is a losing battle at the moment. So they are focused on stocks with events and catalysts for 2014.

Here are the seven top stocks in the sector to buy for 2014 from Deutsche Bank. The first four are the high conviction stocks to buy and have among the highest price targets on Wall Street.

5 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015: iRobot Corp (IRBT)

iRobot Corporation (iRobot), incorporated in August 1990, designs and builds robots. The Company�� home care robots perform time-consuming domestic chores while its government and industrial robots perform tasks, such as battlefield reconnaissance and bomb disposal, multi-purpose tasks for local police and first responders, and long-endurance oceanic missions. It sells its robots to consumers through a range of distribution channels, including chain stores and other national retailers, and through its on-line store, and to the United States military and other government agencies globally. It designs and builds robots for the consumer and government and industrial markets. It sells its products through distinct sales channels to the consumer and government and industrial markets. In the United States and Canada, it sells its consumer products through a network of national retailers. As of December 31, 2011, this network consisted of more than 30 retailers, which often sell either one or some combination of its products. Its smaller domestic retail operations are supported by distributors to whom it sells product directly. It sells its government and industrial products directly to end users and indirectly through prime contractors and distributors. During the year ended December 31, 2011, sales to non-the United States customers accounted for 45.5% of total revenue.

Consumer Products

The Company sells various products, which are designed for use in and around the home. Its consumer products are focused on both indoor and outdoor cleaning applications. It offers multiple Roomba floor vacuuming robots and Scooba floor washing robots. Its Roomba robot�� compact disc shape allows it to clean under beds and other furniture, resulting in cleaner floors. In addition, it cleans automatically upon the push of a button. Its Scooba robot�� cleaning process allows the robot to simultaneously sweep, wash, scrub and dry hard floors, all at the touch of a button. Its Verro Pool Cleani! ng Robot is used to clean a residential pool and removes debris as small as two microns from the pool floor, walls and stairs. Verro is brought to market under the iRobot brand through a relationship with the Aqua Products Group companies, including AquaJet LLC and Aquatron, Inc., which developed the pool cleaning robots.

The Company�� Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot cleans an entire stretch of gutter. The Looj also features a detachable handle that doubles as a wireless remote control, providing control of the robot while cleaning.

Government and Industrial Products

In government and industrial product markets, the Company offers both ground and maritime unmanned vehicles. Its tactical ground robots include the combat-tested 510 PackBot line of small, unmanned ground robots, the 310 small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) and XM1216 SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) multi-purpose ground robots, the 110 FirstLook small, light, throwable robot, and the 710 Warrior multi-purpose robot capable of carrying heavy payloads. The PackBot, SUGV, FirstLook, and Warrior robot series make up a family of robots using many common platform components and offer its flipper technology, which enables robots to climb stairs, navigate rubble, and penetrate inaccessible areas. These robots keep war fighters and public safety officials out of harm�� way and are designed for performing search, reconnaissance, mapping, bomb disposal and other dangerous missions. As of December 31, 2011, more than 4,500 robots had been delivered to military and civil defense forces globally. Its Aware 2 software is incorporated into the 510 PackBot chassis and operator control unit. As a result, PackBot can support multiple configurations and payloads with the same chassis and operator control unit, providing customers with a single robot capable of performing multiple missions.

Contract Research and Development Projects

The Company is involved in several contract development pr! ojects wi! th the United States governmental agencies and departments. The durations of these projects range from a few months to several years. These projects are usually funded as either cost-plus, firm fixed price, or time and materials contracts. In a cost-plus contract, it is allowed to recover its actual costs plus a fixed fee. Under a firm fixed price contract, it receives a fixed amount upon satisfying contractually defined deliverables. On its time and materials contracts, it recovers a specific amount per hour worked based on a bill rate schedule, plus the cost of direct materials, subcontracts, and other non-labor costs, including an agreed-upon mark-up.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Among the $1.3 billion in Pentagon contracts awarded Friday, one tiny company won a sizable part of the funds available, when Bedford, Mass.-based iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT  ) was awarded a $28.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract.

• [By Katie Spence]

  Further, Atlas isn't the only robot available for disaster or wartime use. iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT  ) makes FirstLook, a robot the military can use for situational awareness. Northrop Grumman's (NYSE: NOC  ) Remotec division makes Titus, a next-gen ANDROS unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, useful to first responders and the military. And in 2007, iRobot teamed up with Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) to develop a next-gen, small UGV called SUGV Early, that is supposed to replace iRobot's PackBot, which is used to safely disarm improvised explosive devices.�

• [By Steve Symington]

  Last week, I posed three questions for iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT  ) going into its second-quarter earnings report.

  But even though the company answered each of my inquiries with its report yesterday after the market close, the stock traded down more than 13% today.

• [By Susan J. Aluise]

  ISRG is considered expensive by several value metrics, including a price/earnings-to-growth ratio of well more than 3, but the expectations for growth are warranted. Intuitive Surgical’s place among top robotics healthcare stocks is all but cemented right now.

  Robotics Stocks to Buy: iRobot (IRBT)

  The first thing you notice about iRobot (IRBT) — the name is pretty cool. The second thing you notice is its significant track record in the robotics business. Over the past 24 years, iRobot has carved out a strong presence delivering robotics to homes, in defense and security, and other applications.

5 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015: Responsys Inc.(MKTG)

Responsys, Inc. provides on-demand software and professional services primarily in North America, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. The company offers Responsys Interact suite, a software-as-a-service platform that provides marketers with a set of integrated applications to create, execute, optimize, and automate marketing campaigns in various channels, including email, mobile, social, and the Web. Its platform also leverages third-party applications and data from real-time sources allowing customers to deliver targeted content to its customers and known prospects as part of their interactive marketing campaigns. In addition, it provides professional services, such as strategic, creative, deliverability, campaign, and education services. The company offers its on-demand software and professional services to retail and consumer, travel, financial services, and technology industries through a direct sales force. Responsys, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Bru no, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The GeoTeam]

  Our recent 2013 articles on SaaS companies Selectica (SLTC), E2open (EOPN), Responsys (MKTG), Vocus (VOCS), and ExactTarget (ET) highlighted such opportunities. The average return since the inception of our coverage currently stands at around 34% (55% at their highs).

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

Best Companies To Invest In Right Now: Universal Truckload Services Inc (UACL)

Universal Truckload Services, Inc., incorporated on December 11, 2001, is engaged in providing transportation services to shippers throughout the United States and in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The Company�� over-the-road trucking services include both flatbed and dry van operations and it provides rail-truck and steamship-truck intermodal support services. It also offers truck brokerage services, as well as full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage services. The Company provides truckload transportation and related services for a range of general commodities over irregular routes using dry and specialty vans and un-sided trailers, including flatbed, drop deck, and specialty. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has completed acquisition of Westport Axle Corporation.

The Company primarily operates through a contractor network of agents and owner-operators who provide the Company with approximately 3,100 tractors and approximately 3,000 trailers. At December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 565 agents. The Company conducts its operations through its wholly owned operating subsidiaries under the brand names, such as Universal Am-Can, Ltd., Mason & Dixon Lines, Inc., Louisiana Transportation Inc., Mason Dixon Intermodal, Inc., Economy Transport, Inc., Great American Lines, Inc., Universal Logistics Solutions, Inc., Universal Logistics Solutions International, Inc. and Cavalry Transportation, LLC.

The Company provides services in three categories, such as truckload services, brokerage services and intermodal support services. The Company transports a range of general commodities, including machinery, building materials, paper, food, consumer goods, automotive parts, furniture, steel and other metals. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its truckload operations represented 60.5%, of its operating revenues.

The Company provides primarily broker freight to third-party transportation providers th! rough its agent network at times when the Company generates more freight business than it can service with its available owner-operators. The Company offers full service international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage services, as well as third-party logistic services. During 2011, its brokerage services represented 24.8%, of its operating revenues. Its intermodal support services are primarily short-to-medium distance delivery of rail and steamship containers between the railhead or port and the customer and drayage services. During 2011, its intermodal support services represented 14.7% of its operating revenues.

The Company�� agents provide the primary interaction with its shippers. They generate freight shipments and also provide terminal and dispatch services for the owner-operators and are an essential source for recruitment of new owner-operators. The agents use a company-provided software program to list available freight procured by the agent, dispatch owner-operators to haul the freight and provide all administrative information necessary for it to establish the credit arrangements for each shipper. The owner-operators are individuals who own, operate and maintain one or more tractors that they either provide drivers, or drive themselves. The Company�� owner-operators provide it with approximately 3,100 tractors. Owner-operators also may own trailers that they provide the Company in addition to their tractor and driving services. As of December 31, 2011, its owner-operators provided approximately 3,000 trailers, which represent over 50% of the trailers the Company use in its business.

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 Universal Truckload Services (Nasdaq: UACL  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of Universal Truckload Services (NASDAQ: UACL  ) , a North American provider of trucking and logistics solutions, jumped as much as 12% after receiving an upgrade from BB&T�Capital Markets.

5 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015: Transocean Inc.(RIG)

Transocean Ltd. provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It offers deepwater and harsh environment drilling, oil and gas drilling management, and drilling engineering and drilling project management services. The company also offers well and logistics services. In addition, it engages in oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities primarily in the United States offshore Louisiana and Texas, and in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea. As of February 10, 2011, the company owned, had partial ownership interests in, and operated 138 mobile offshore drilling units, including 47 high-specification floaters, 25 midwater floaters, 9 high-specification jackups, 54 standard jackups, and 3 other rigs, as well as 1 ultra-deepwater floater and 3 high-specification jackups under construction. Transocean Ltd. was founded in 1953 and is based in Zug, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By P.I.A.]

  Of its Ultra-deepwater units (greater than 5,000 feet depth), the company currently has three semi-submersible rigs that are capable of use in water to 10,000 feet, and total depth of 30,000 feet. All of them have been located in Brazil and used by Petrobas (West Taurus, owned by Ship Finance; West Eminence; and West Orion). Several drill ships for use in 12,000 feet of water, and total depths to 40,000 feet, are under construction and scheduled to be available in 2014. New ultra-deepwater floating equipment is expected to perform better and be safer, in consideration of Transocean's (RIG) Deepwater Horizon Incident, which has ongoing implications.

• [By Mani]

  [Related -Transocean LTD (RIG): Offshore Drillers Could Face Margin Pressure]

  Additionally, RIG has options to build three additional drillships with similar designs on similar payment terms. Transocean has historically been unwilling to build on speculation; thus, the announcement of two rigs and three options is a radical change from the past.

• [By Dan Burrows]

  To get a sense of what�� out there among high-yield dividend stocks, here are the top 10 S&P 500 dividend stocks for March. (Note: All dividend yields are as of 10 a.m., Mar. 11.)

  #10: Transocean (RIG)

  RIG Dividend Yield: 5.29%

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Bank, perceived beneficiaries of tapering, had a big day Friday, helping to boost the S&P 500. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), for instance, rose 4,5% to $53.86, while Goldman Sachs (GS) rose 2.2% to $163.17. This week’s big winners included the Gap (GPS), which gained 13% to $41.43 after beating same-store-sales forecasts, and Transocean (RIG), which rose 12% to $53.45 after beating earnings predictions on Nov. 6. The S&P 500′s biggest loser this week: WPX Energy (WPX), which plunged 15% after its earnings were hit by lower natural gas prices.

5 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015: 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.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now

There are lots of reasons to seek out healthy dividend-paying stocks for your portfolio. For one thing, they can generate income for you no matter what the overall economy or stock market is doing. That income alone can offset the erosive effect of inflation. Better still, dividends from growing companies tend to grow as well, giving you bigger payouts over time. That beats many other investment alternatives. High dividend stocks can naturally seem more appealing than low dividend ones, but they're not all gems. Still, some high dividend stocks are indeed worth salivating over -- and worth further investigation.

When you're looking at high dividend stocks,�understand that a hefty payout should never be enough. Some yields are high only because the stock has tanked. If it's a temporary decline, you might be looking at a tasty opportunity. If the company is in serious trouble, though, steer clear despite the big payout. It's far from uncommon for dividends to be reduced or eliminated. Cast an eye on the dividend growth rate, too, because a slow-growing 5% yield can be eclipsed by a fast-growing 3% or 4% one.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2015: AmTrust Financial Services Inc (AFSI)

Amtrust Financial Services, Inc., incorporated on November 7, 1990, is a holding company. The Company is a multinational specialty property and casualty insurer focused on generating consistent underwriting profits. The Company operates in four business segments: small commercial business, specialty program and personal lines reinsurance. The Company transacts business through 11 insurance company subsidiaries: Technology Insurance Company, Inc. (TIC), Rochdale Insurance Company (RIC), Wesco Insurance Company (WIC), Associated Industries Insurance Company, Inc. (AIIC), Milwaukee Casualty Insurance Company (MCIC), Security National Insurance Company (SNIC), AmTrust Insurance Company of Kansas, Inc. (AICK) and AmTrust Lloyd�� Insurance Company of Texas (ALIC). In January 2013, the Company acquired First Nonprofit Companies, Inc. In February 2013, the Company's subsidiary acquired Car Care Plan (Holdings) Limited (CCPH) from Ally Insurance Holdings, Inc.

Small Commercial Business

Small Commercial Business segment provides workers��compensation to small businesses that operate in low and medium hazard classes, such as restaurants, retail stores, physicians and other professional offices, and commercial package and other property and casualty insurance products to small businesses. The Company is authorized to write its Small Commercial Business products in all 50 states. The Company distributes its policies through a network of over 8,100 select retail and wholesale agents who are paid commissions based on the annual policy premiums written. Commercial package products provide a range of insurance to small businesses, including commercial property, general liability, inland marine, automobile, workers��compensation, and umbrella coverage.

The Company maintains Small Commercial Business property and casualty claims operations in several of its domestic offices and the commercial package claims operation is separated into four processing units: casualty, propert! y, cost-containment/recovery and a fast-track physical damage unit. As of December 31, 2012, its Small Commercial Business property and casualty claims were approximately 61% automobile and 13% property and inland marine with the remaining 26% involving general liability and umbrella losses.

Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty

The Company��Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty segment provides coverage for consumer and commercial goods and custom designed coverages, such as accidental damage plans and payment protection plans offered in connection with the sale of consumer and commercial goods in the United States and Europe, and certain niche property, casualty and specialty liability risks in the United States and Europe, including general liability, employers��liability and professional and medical liability. specialty risk business primarily covers, such as legal expenses in the event of unsuccessful litigation; property damage for residential properties; home emergency repairs caused by incidents affecting systems, such as plumbing, wiring or central heating; latent defects that materialize on real property after building or completion; payment protection to insureds if they become unable to meet financial obligations under finance contracts; guaranteed asset protection (GAP) to cover the difference between an insurer�� settlement and the asset value in the event of a total loss, and general liability, employers��liability, public liability, negligence of advisors and liability of health care providers and medical facilities.

The Company's extended warranty business covers selected consumer and commercial goods and other risks, including personal computers; consumer electronics, such as televisions and home theater components; consumer appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines; automobiles (excluding liability coverage); furniture, and heavy equipment. The Company also serve as a third party administrator to provide claims handling and ca! ll center! services to the consumer products and automotive industries in the United States and Canada. It underwrites the specialty risk coverage on a coverage plan-level basis, which involves substantial data collection and actuarial analysis, as well as analysis of applicable laws governing policy coverage language and exclusions.

Specialty Program

The Company�� Specialty Program segment provides workers��compensation, package products, general liability, commercial auto liability, excess and surplus lines programs and other specialty commercial property and casualty insurance to a narrowly defined, homogeneous group of small and middle market companies. The type of risk covered by this segment is similar to the type of risk in Small Commercial Business but also covers, to a small extent, certain higher risk businesses. The coverage is offered through accounts with various agents to multiple insureds. Policyholders in this segment primarily include industries, such as retail, wholesale, service operations, artisan contracting, trucking, light and medium manufacturing, habitational and professional employer organizations. As of December 31, 2012, the Company underwrote 77 programs through 44 independent wholesale and managing general agents. Workers��compensation insurance consists approximately 33% of this business during the year ended December 31, 2012.

Personal Lines Reinsurance

The Company�� Personal Lines Reinsurance Segment has a 20% participation in the Personal Lines Quota Share, by which it receive 10% of the net premiums of the personal lines business. The Personal Lines Quota Share provides that the reinsurers, severally, in accordance with their participation percentages, will receive 50% of the net premium of the GMACI Insurers and assume 50% of the related net losses.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  For the past several years, Berkshire has contrasted its own cost-free float provided by profitable underwriting against the industry�� (unimpressive) tendency to lose money on underwriting while generating net returns from investment income. So far, so good. Less edifying, though, is the repeated contrast of Berkshire�� track record of profitability to State Farm��…even though, as a mutual company, State Farm�� profitability goals are inherently different from for-profit insurers like Berkshire. It�� true that through year-end 2013, Berkshire�� underwriters have ��ow operated at an underwriting profit for eleven consecutive years,��but so have ACE (ACE), American Financial (AFG),� AmTrust Financial (AFSI), Arch Capital (ACGL), Chubb (CB), HCC (HCC), Progressive (PGR), RLI (RLI), and W.R. Berkley (WRB), any or all of whom provide a more meaningful comparison than contrasting Berkshire�� results to a company that�� not out to produce a profit in the first place.

• [By , Zacks Investment Research]

  Here are five�stocks that made it through this week’s screen:

  AmTrust Financial (AFSI) Allied World Assurance (AWH) Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) Federated National Holding Co. (FNHC) Whitewave Foods (WWAV)

  Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start screening for these companies on your own.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Domtar Corp (UFS)

Domtar Corporation, incorporated on August 16, 2006, designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a range of fiber-based products, including communication papers, specialty and packaging papers and adult incontinence products. The Company operates in three business segments: Pulp and Paper, Distribution and Personal Care. Its Pulp and Paper segment consists of the manufacturing, sale and distribution of communication, specialty and packaging papers, as well as softwood, fluff and hardwood market pulp. The Company�� Distribution segment includes the purchasing, warehousing, sale and distribution of its paper products and those of other manufacturers. These products include business and printing papers, certain industrial products and printing supplies. Its Personal Care segment consists of the manufacturing, sale and distribution of adult incontinence products.The Company is an integrated marketer and manufacturer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America for a variety of customers, including merchants, retail outlets, stationers, printers, publishers, converters and end-users. The Company produces incontinence care products marketed primarily under the Attends brand. The Company owns and operates Ariva. On May 10, 2012, the Company acquired EAM Corporation. In June 2013, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Xerox Corp paper and print media products business in the United States and Canada. In July 2013, Domtar Corp announced that completion of the acquisition of Associated Hygienic Products (AHP) from DSG International. In January 2014, the Company acquired Laboratorios Indas, SAU.

Pulp and Paper

The Company produces 4.2 million metric tons of hardwood, softwood and fluff pulp at 12 of its 13 mills. The majority of its pulp is consumed internally to manufacture paper and consumer products, with the balance being sold as market pulp. The Company also purchases papergrade pulp from third parties. The Company has 10 pulp and paper mills (eight in the! United States and two in Canada), with an annual paper production capacity of approximately 3.4 million tons of uncoated freesheet paper. Its paper manufacturing operations are supported by 15 converting and distribution operations, including a network of 12 plants located offsite of its paper making operations. In addition, it has forms manufacturing operations at three offsite converting and distribution operations. Approximately 81% of its paper production capacity is in the United States, and the remaining 19% is located in Canada.

The Company produces market pulp in excess of its internal requirements at its three non-integrated pulp mills in Kamloops, Dryden, and Plymouth, as well as at its pulp and paper mills in Espanola, Ashdown, Hawesville, Windsor, Marlboro and Nekoosa. The Company sells approximately 1.6 million metric tons of pulp per year depending on market conditions. Approximately 50% of its trade pulp production capacity is in the United States, and the remaining 50% is located in Canada. The fiber used by its pulp and paper mills in the United States is hardwood and softwood, both being readily available in the market from multiple third-party sources. The fiber used at its Windsor pulp and paper mill is hardwood originating from a variety of sources, including purchases on the open market in Canada and the United States, contracts with Quebec wood producers��marketing boards, public land where it has wood supply allocations and from its private lands. The softwood and hardwood fiber for its Espanola pulp and paper mill and the softwood fiber for its Dryden pulp mill, is obtained from third parties, directly or indirectly from public lands, through designated wood supply allocations for the pulp mills. The fiber used at the Company�� Kamloops pulp mill is all softwood, originating from third-party sawmilling operations in the southern-interior part of British Columbia.

The Company uses various chemical compounds in its pulp and paper manufacturing facili! ties that! it purchases, primarily on a central basis, through contracts. For pulp manufacturing, it uses numerous chemicals, including caustic soda, sodium chlorate, sulfuric acid, lime and peroxide. For paper manufacturing, it also uses several chemical products, including starch, precipitated calcium carbonate, optical brighteners, dyes and aluminum sulfate. It owns power generating assets, including steam turbines, at all of its integrated pulp and paper mills, as well as hydro assets at four locations: Espanola, Ottawa-Hull, Nekoosa and Rothschild. The Company�� business papers include copy and electronic imaging papers, which are used with ink jet and laser printers, photocopiers and plain-paper fax machines, as well as computer papers, preprinted forms and digital papers. These products are primarily for office and home use. The Company�� commercial printing and publishing papers include uncoated freesheet papers, such as offset papers and opaques. These uncoated freesheet grades are used in sheet and roll fed offset presses across the spectrum of commercial printing end-uses, including digital printing. Its publishing papers include tradebook and lightweight uncoated papers used primarily in book publishing applications, such as textbooks, dictionaries, catalogs, magazines, hard cover novels and financial documents. Design papers, a sub-group of commercial printing and publishing papers, have features of color, brightness and texture and are targeted towards graphic artists, design and advertising agencies, primarily for special brochures and annual reports. These products also include base papers that are converted into finished products, such as envelopes, tablets, business forms and data processing/computer forms.

The Company also produces paper for several specialty and packaging markets. These products consist primarily of base stock for thermal printing, flexible packaging, food packaging, medical gowns and drapes, sandpapers backing, carbonless printing, labels and other coating a! nd lamina! ting applications. The Company also manufactures papers for industrial and specialty applications, including carrier papers, treated papers, security papers and specialized printing and converting applications. The Company sells business papers primarily to paper stationers, merchants, office equipment manufacturers and retail outlets. The Company distributes uncoated commercial printing and publishing papers to end-users and commercial printers, mainly through paper merchants, as well as selling directly to converters. The Company sells its specialty and packaging papers mainly to converters, who apply a further production process, such as coating, laminating, folding or waxing to its papers before selling them to a variety of specialized end-users.

Distribution

The Company's Distribution business involves the purchasing, warehousing, sale and distribution of the Company's various products and those of other manufacturers. These products include business, printing and publishing papers and certain packaging products. These products are sold to diverse customer base, which includes small, medium and large commercial printers, publishers, quick copy firms, catalog and retail companies and institutional entities. The Company's Distribution business operates in the United States and Canada under a single banner and umbrella name, Ariva. Ariva operates throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest areas from 16 locations in the United States, including 12 distribution centers serving customers across North America.

Personal Care

The Company's Personal Care business sells and manufactures adult incontinence products and distributes disposable washcloths marketed primarily under the Attends brand name. The Company is a supplier of adult incontinence products sold into North America and Northern Europe, selling to hospitals (acute cares) and nursing homes (long-term care) and the Company has a growing presence in the homecare and retail channels. The C! ompany op! erates two manufacturing facilities, with each having the ability to produce multiple product categories. The Company also has a research and development facility and production lines which manufacture high quality airlaid and ultrathin laminated absorbent cores.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Saibus Research]

  Weyerhaeuser is the largest forest products real estate investment trust in the United States. Weyerhaeuser grows and harvests trees, builds homes and makes a range of forest products essential to everyday lives. The company has undergone a dramatic level of strategic and organizational level change over the past several years in the wake of its debt-funded hostile takeover of Willamette Industries in 2002. In 2006, Weyerhaeuser agreed to spin off its fine paper business under a split-off transaction with Domtar (UFS). Under the terms of the deal, Weyerhaeuser would spin-off the fine paper business and the business would merge with Domtar Inc to create Domtar Corporation. Weyerhaeuser has four business segments as follows:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  CAPS, a stock-tracking game developed by The Motley Fool, is a great way to keep track of long-term picks even when they fall off of your watchlist.�In the following video, Fool.com contributor and active CAPS community member, Maxx Chatsko, explains why he hasn't given up on his CAPS pick of�Domtar� (NYSE: UFS  ) . He believes this company's progress has not been adequately rewarded by the market in the last six months, but feels as confident as ever that it presents a great opportunity for investors hunting for a great dividend or an undervalued and under-the-radar growth opportunity. You can follow all of his CAPS picks by clicking on the link in the disclosure below.�

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Specialty paper maker�Domtar� (NYSE: UFS  ) �wrote it all down yesterday: it�will pay a�regular quarterly dividend�of $0.55 per share that's 22% higher than the $0.45 per share payout it made last quarter. Shareholders of record on June 14 will receive the new dividend rate at the close of business on July 15.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: MTR Gaming Group Inc.(MNTG)

MTR Gaming Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in racing, gaming, and entertainment businesses in the United States. It owns and operates Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort, which is a diverse gaming, entertainment, and convention complex in Chester, West Virginia that consists of approximately 2,132 slot machines, 14 poker tables, and 45 casino table games; 357 hotel rooms, including 256-room Grande Hotel at Mountaineer; a convention space; a live thoroughbred horse racing facility; the Woodview Golf Course; a theater and events center; a fitness center; and an on-site pari-mutuel wagering facility. The company also operates Presque Isle Downs & Casino property, which comprises 2,070 slot machines, 44 casino table games, and 9 poker tables; and provides live thoroughbred horse racing and on-site pari-mutuel wagering services in Erie, Pennsylvania. In addition, it operates Scioto Downs Casino & Racetrack, a live harness racing track in Columbus, Ohio; and Ra celinebet.com, a national account wagering service that offers online and telephone wagering on horse races. The company was formerly known as Secamur Corporation and changed its name to MTR Gaming Group, Inc. in 1996. MTR Gaming Group, Inc. was founded in 1988 and is based in Chester, West Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Equities Lab]

  The stocks that currently pass the stock screen in order of market cap are Frontier Communications Corp , Crown Media Holdings (CRWN), Vonage Holding (VG), MCG Capital Corp (MCGC), 1-800-FLOWERS.COM (FLWS), MTR Gaming Corporation (MNTG), Alaska Communications (ALSK), and Enzon Pharmaceuticals (ENZN).

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  MTR Gaming Group Inc.(MNTG) and privately held Eldorado Resorts LLC have amended their merger agreement to increase the amount of cash paid to MTR shareholders, preventing a possible bidding war for the gaming company. MTR shares surged 13% to $5.92 premarket, approaching the raised bid price $6.05 a share.

5 Best High Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: LipoScience Inc (LPDX)

LipoScience, Inc., incorporated on June 15, 2000, is a vitro diagnostic company. The Company�� diagnostic test, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) LipoProfile test, directly measures the number of low density lipoprotein (LDL), particles in a blood sample and provides physicians and their patients with actionable information to personalize management of risk for heart disease. As of January 25, 2013, over eight million NMR LipoProfile tests were ordered. The Vantera system is its automated clinical analyzer. In August 2012, the Company received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to market the Vantera system commercially to laboratories.

The Company's technology platform combines signal processing algorithms and NMR spectroscopic detection into a clinical analyzer to identify and quantify concentrations of lipoproteins and, potentially, small molecule metabolites. The Company�� Vantera system is the Company's automated clinical analyzer. The Company's NMR LipoProfile test has been cleared by the FDA for use in the Company's clinical laboratory and directly measures LDL-P for use in managing cardiovascular risk.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  LipoScience Inc.(LPDX) on Friday cut its revenue outlook for the current period after its pact with customer Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. was terminated. The medical-test provider said it expects the contract termination to weigh on revenue in the short and medium term.

Top 5 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015

We recently added the�VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (NYSEARCA: UGLD) to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio not necessarily because we have turned into gold bugs while the ProShares UltraShort Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: GLL) and Deutsche Bank AG DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEARCA: DGZ) offer investors an easy way to make a bearish bet on gold without having to resort to dabbling directly in futures.

How To Go Super Long on Gold With UGLD

The VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN seeks to provide long exposure to three times (3x) the daily performance of the�S&P GSCI Gold Index ER plus a daily accrual equal to the return that could be earned on a notional capital reinvestment at the three month�US Treasury rate. More specifically, the ETN uses futures contracts to track the�gold portion of the S&P GSCI Index which is tracks a world production-weighted basket of non-financial commodities. �

Top 5 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 2 Inc (NPM)

Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 2, Inc. (NPM) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax by investing primarily in a portfolio of municipal obligations issued by state and local government authorities or certain United States territories. Nuveen Asset Management (NAM) is the Fund's investment adviser. NAM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, Inc. Effective January 1, 2005, Nuveen Advisory Corp. (NAC) and its affiliate, Nuveen Institutional Advisory Corp. (NIAC), were merged into NAM.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.

Top 5 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: St. Jude Medical Inc.(STJ)

St. Jude Medical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes cardiovascular and implantable neurostimulation medical devices worldwide. It operates in four segments: Cardiac Rhythm Management, Cardiovascular, Atrial Fibrillation, and Neuromodulation. The Cardiac Rhythm Management segment offers products for cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heart beats. Its products include tachycardia implantable cardioverter defibrillator systems to provide therapy to patients suffering from lethal heart conditions, such as sudden cardiac arrest; cardiac resynchronization therapy devices to treat heart failure patients; pacemakers to help people whose hearts beat too slowly or who suffer from other cardiac arrhythmias; and leads, which connect devices to the heart and carry the electrical impulses to the heart and information from the heart to the device. The Cardiovascular segment offers mechanical and tissue replacement heart valves, as well as heart valve repair products. It also pr ovides disposable interventional devices, including vascular closure devices, compression assist devices, percutaneous catheter introducers, diagnostic guidewires, and temporary bipolar pacing catheters, as well as diagnostic coronary imaging technology. The Atrial Fibrillation segment offers a system of products for access, diagnosis, visualization, and ablation that assist physicians in diagnosing and treating various irregular heart rhythms used in the electrophysiology lab and cardiac surgery. It provides electrophysiology introducers and catheters, cardiac mapping, navigation and recording systems, and ablation systems. The Neuromodulation segment offers a range of neurostimulation systems, such as rechargeable implantable pulse generators, primary cell implantable pulse generators, and radio frequency powered systems. St. Jude Medical markets its products through a direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang and William L. Watts]

  St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ) �shares advanced 3.3%. Analysts at Leerink Swann Research said Friday Food and Drug Administration�� briefing documents suggest support for approval of CardioMEMS/Champion Heart Failure monitoring device.

• [By Peter Stephens]

  Still, guidance does seem to matter, as seen in the recent jump of St. Jude Medical's (NYSE: STJ  ) share price, which recently went from $66 to $68 in the space of a few hours.

10 Best European Stocks To Invest In 2015: Crestwood Midstream Partners LP (CMLP)

Crestwood Midstream Partners LP engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas primarily on the Barnett Shale formation of the Fort Worth Basin in north Texas. The company conducts its operations through its Cowtown System, Lake Arlington Dry System, and Alliance Midstream Assets, as well as the Fayetteville Shale and the Granite Wash plays. As of December 31, 2010, it managed approximately 500 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines. Crestwood Gas Services GP LLC serves as the general partner of Crestwood Midstream Partners LP. The company was formerly known as Quicksilver Gas Services LP and changed its name to Crestwood Midstream Partners LP in October 2010. Crestwood Midstream Partners LP was founded in 2004 and is based in Houston, Texas. Crestwood Midstream Partners LP is a subsidiary of Crestwood Gas Services Holdings LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Crestwood Midstream Partners (NYSE: CMLP  ) was one day shy of completing its merger with Inergy Midstream, when CEO Bob Phillips told Bloomberg the partnership was already looking for more deals. Well, it turns out Crestwood had already found a deal, as we learned Thursday. The master limited partnership plans to acquire Arrow Midstream Holdings for $750 million.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  With Kinder Morgan's acquisition of Copano Energy officially in the bag, all eyes are on the newest big deal in the midstream world: the merger of Crestwood Midstream Partners (NYSE: CMLP  ) and Inergy (NYSE: CEQP  ) . In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy takes a look at this $7 billion deal, and explains what the ownership structure looks like at the new, yet-to-be-named entity.

Top 5 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: Materion Corporation (MTRN)

Materion Corporation, a materials solutions company, engages in the production and supply of high-performance engineered materials in the United States and internationally. The company offers high performance materials solutions for large area coatings, alternative energy, and thin film applications; and specialty inorganic chemicals for semiconductors, LED lighting, and energy storage applications. It also provides precision thin film coatings and optical filters for manufacturers in the defense, commercial, space, science, astronomy, and thermal imaging industries; beryllium-based metals and metal matrix composites for commercial, research, and engineering applications; and copper, copper beryllium, and spinodal alloy products for end-use products in the aerospace, automotive, computers, telecommunications, manufacturing equipment, mobile equipment, medical products, oil and gas, alternative energy, and plastic tooling markets. In addition, the company offers high perfor mance engineered ceramics; beryllium X-ray window and ultra high vacuum products; electron beam welding, vacuum furnace brazing, and waterjet cutting services, as well as engineering support services; and beryllium products, such as speaker domes and microphone transducers. Further, Materion Corporation provides precision-coated materials; thin film deposition materials, electronic packaging products, and specialty materials for the semiconductor, photonics, data storage, wireless, military, and medical markets; and precision parts cleaning, precious metals refining, and recycling services. Additionally, it engages in beryllium mining and milling business; and offers engineered beryllium materials and specialty strip metal products. The company was formerly known as Brush Engineered Materials Inc. and changed its name to Materion Corporation on March 8, 2011. Materion Corporation was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.20 percent. Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Axiall (NYSE: AXLL), Materion (NYSE: MTRN), Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) and Joy Global (NYSE: JOY).

• [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 Materion (NYSE: MTRN  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Materion (MTRN) has fallen 8% to $29.75 after the gold refiner said earnings should come in at around 20 cents a share, well below analyst forecasts. Outerwall (OUTR), meanwhile, has jumped 12% to $64.08 after an activist investor took a big stake in the company.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.20 percent. Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Axiall (NYSE: AXLL), Materion (NYSE: MTRN), Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) and Joy Global (NYSE: JOY).

Top 5 Healthcare Technology Stocks To Invest In 2015: Cleantech Solutions International Inc (CLNT)

Cleantech Solutions International, Inc., incorporated on June 24, 1987, manufactures and sells forged products and fabricated products to a range of clean technology customers, including forged rolled rings and related products for the wind power industry and other industries and equipment to the solar industry. The Company also makes textile dyeing and finishing machines. The Company is owner of Fulland Limited (Fulland). Fulland owns 100% of Green Power Environment Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Green Power) and Wuxi Fulland Wind Energy Equipment Co., Ltd. (Fulland Wind Energy), which are wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOE) organized under the laws of the People�� Republic of China. Green Power is a party to a series of contractual arrangements with Wuxi Huayang Electrical Power Equipment Co., Ltd. (Electrical) and Wuxi Huayang Dyeing Machinery Co., Ltd. (Dyeing). Dyeing produces and sells a range of high and low temperature dyeing and finishing machinery for the textile industry. The Company refers to this segment as the dyeing division. The Company is engaged in two business segments: the forged rolled rings and related components segment, in which it manufacture and sell forged rolled rings, yaw bearings and shafts, and other forged components for the wind power and other industries, as well as equipment for the solar power industry, and the dyeing and finishing equipment segment, in which it manufactures and sell textile dyeing and finishing machines.

Forged Rolled Rings and Related Components Segment

The Company produces precision forged rolled rings and other forged components to the wind and other industries. Forged rolled rings and other forged components for the wind industry are used in wind turbines, which are used to generate wind power. It also manufactures shafts and forged rolled rings for gear rims, flanges and other applications. In addition to the wind industry, it sells its forged rolled rings and other forged components in other industries, inclu! ding heavy machinery manufacturing, petrochemical, metallurgical, sea port machinery, defense and radar manufacturing industries, which uses its forged rolled rings railway as components in the manufacture of equipment. It produces precision forgings using axial close-die forging technology, which is a technology for producing rotary precision forgings, using forging equipment, which it manufactured for its own use.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company manufactured and delivered test subassemblies for solar cell manufacturing equipment, which marked its entry into the solar products market. It supplies solar components used in production of multi crystalline and mono crystalline silicon wafers. Solar industry capabilities include the manufacture of complex pressure vessels and chamber, high temperature vessels, and thick-walled vessels. Its forged rolled rings and other related products are sold for use by manufacturers of industrial equipment.

The Company competes with Wuxi Dachang Group.

Dyeing and Finishing Equipment Segment

Through the Company�� dyeing and finishing segment, it designs, manufactures and distributes a range of high and low temperature dyeing and finishing machinery. Its products feature both automation and mechanical-electrical integration. Its products are used in dyeing yarns, such as pure cotton, cotton-polyester, terylene, polyester wool, poly-acrylic fiber, nylon, cotton ramie, and wool yarn.

The Company competes with Fong�� National Engineering (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another basic materials player that looks ready to trigger a major breakout trade is Cleantech Solutions (CLNT), which manufactures and sells high-precision forged rolled rings, yaw bearings and shafts. It also manufactures and sells textile dyeing and finishing machines. This stock is off to a strong start in 2013, with shares up 58%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Cleantech Solutions, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending for the last two months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $4.82 to its recent high of $7.04 a share. During that uptrend, shares of CLNT have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of CLNT within range of triggering a major breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CLNT if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $6.68 to $7.04 a share, and then once it takes out more resistance at $7.79 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 758,917 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CLNT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $9 to $10 a share.

  Traders can look to buy CLNT off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day at $5.67 a share, or around more support at $5 a share. One could also buy CLNT off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now

Yesterday, small cap dental stock BIOLASE Inc (NASDAQ: BIOL) surged 17.69% after announcing it had received a license from the Health Canada-Medical Device Bureau to sell its EPIC dental soft-tissue diode laser systems throughout Canada, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of mid cap dental stocks like Sirona Dental Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: SIRO), DENTSPLY International Inc (NASDAQ: XRAY) and Align Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: ALGN).

What is BIOLASE Inc?

Small cap BIOLASE Inc specializes in the development, manufacturing and marketing of lasers and related products to provide biological treatments that eliminate pain and are safer for patients. More specifically,�BIOLASE Inc offers flagship and best-selling laser systems such as the WaterLase iPlus��and WaterLase MDX�⒙�hile the latest addition to its�product lineup is the EPIC��Total Diode Solution�- a soft tissue laser. Today, the company is #1 in dental lasers with more than 23,000 dental lasers installed worldwide since 1998, including over 9,800 WaterLase systems in over 70 countries, plus it�� the #1 manufacturer of lasers in the USA.

Hot Small Cap Companies To Own In Right Now: Intersil Corporation(ISIL)

Intersil Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for applications in the industrial, computing, consumer, and communications electronics markets. The company?s industrial products include operational amplifiers, bridge drivers, isolated and non-isolated power management products, switches and multiplexers, video decoders, and other standard analog and power management products used in medical imaging, energy management, automotive, military, instrumentation, security surveillance, and factory automation markets. Its computing products comprise desktop, server, notebook, and network attached storage power management products, including core power devices and other power management products for peripheral devices, as well as lithium ion battery chargers. The company?s consumer products consist of handheld, display, gaming, light sensor, and class-D audio amplifier products for use in smartphones, LCD televisions, tablet computers, electronic game systems, set top boxes, MP3 players, GPS systems, AV receivers, and home audio systems. Its communication products include line drivers, isolated and non-isolated power management, radiation-hardened products, digital power management products, broadband and hot plug power management products, and high-speed data converters for applications in DSL, home gateway, satellite, networking, cellular base station, and networking/switching equipment markets. The company markets its products through distributors and value added resellers to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, and contract manufacturers in China, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Singapore, and Mexico. Intersil Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) tumbled 4.81 percent to $10.92 after Evercore Partners downgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

  Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) was down, falling 4.36 percent to $65.78 after Longbow Research downgraded the stock from buy to neutral.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Intersil (Nasdaq: ISIL  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Intersil doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, pretty well. Trailing-12-month revenue decreased 18.7%, and inventory decreased 19.5%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue shrank 15.6%, and inventory shrank 19.5%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks OK but not great. Revenue dropped 4.2%, and inventory dropped 3.1%.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Compucon Computer Applications SA (COMP)

Compucon Computer Applications SA is a Greek company engaged mainly in the information technology sector. The Company's activities include the manufacture and trade of electronics and software for the embroidery, telematics, laser, Web solutions and medical fields. In the embroidery field it offers album presentation or embroidery designs, lettering with a variety of fonts, frames and specialized features, and realistic three-dimensional views of embroidery designs. The Company also produces laser cutting and engraving devices for the embroidery sector. The range of telematics applications includes automotive positioning systems, fleet management and navigation systems. Its Web solutions offering includes the SiteCosmos, which is an integrated tool for on-line content management and Website design for small and medium enterprises, while the medical applications target the management of patient-oriented information, diet schedules, word processing, prescriptions and other services. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Reklaitis]

  The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) lost 14 points, or 0.4%, to 3,935.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks hit session highs Wednesday afternoon, shedding morning losses, as investors speculated that the upcoming testimony from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen would be pro-monetary stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 15 points at 15,765, recovering after a 78-point deficit. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) was up 27 points, or 0.7%, to 3,946. The S&P 500 (SPX) added 7 points, or 0.4%, to 1,774, on track for a record close. Tom di Galoma, head of U.S. fixed-income rates sales at ED&F Man Capital Markets, said there was talk Yellen's testimony could be released Wednesday after the close. Yellen, whom President Obama has nominated to be the next Fed chief, is scheduled to testify on Thursday.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) �shed 0.2% to 3,811, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) �and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) �were each off a fraction.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) �finished up 1.1%, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) � gained 0.9% to finish at a new record close of 1,759.77, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) �advanced 0.7% after a peak earnings week.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Genomma Lab Internacional SAB de CV (LABB.MX)

Genomma Lab Internacional SAB de CV is a Mexico-based over-the-counter pharmaceutical (OTC pharmaceutical), generic drugs (GD) and personal care products company. The Company is engaged in the development, distribution and marketing of a range of products within different brands, for such treatments as anti-acne, varicose vein, hair loss, sexual stimulation and influenza; as well as analgesics and antifungals. The Company�� product portfolio includes such brands as Asepxia, Cicatricure, Goicoechea, Bengue, Diabet TX, Genoprazol, Goicotabs, Shot B, SilkaMedic, Siluet 40, Nikzon, X Ray, Next, Touch Me, Lomecan V and QG5, among others. The Company is a parent of a number of controlled entities, which have operations established in Mexico, the United States, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Honduras, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  He then took a deep dive into Genomma Lab�(LABB.MX), a Mexican producer of over-the counter pharmaceuticals, generic drugs, and personal care products. Now, I’m sitting with a Chromebook in a large auditorium, so I hope I’ve captured the essence of his argument.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Actuant Corp (ATU)

Actuant Corporation, incorporated on October 26, 1910, is a global diversified company that designs, manufactures and distributes a range of industrial products and systems to various end markets. The Company operates four business segments: Industrial, Energy, Electrical and Engineered Solutions. The Industrial segment is primarily involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded hydraulic and mechanical tools to the maintenance, industrial, infrastructure and production automation markets. The Energy segment provides joint integrity products and services, as well as rope and cable solutions to the global oil and gas, power generation and other energy markets. The Electrical segment is primarily involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of a range of electrical products to the retail DIY, wholesale, original equipment manufacturer (OEM), solar, utility, marine and other harsh environment markets. The Engineered Solutions segment provides engineered position and motion control systems to OEMs in various on and off-highway vehicle markets, as well as, a range of other products to the industrial and agricultural markets. In August 2013, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Viking SeaTech (Viking).

Industrial

The Industrial segment is a global supplier of branded hydraulic and mechanical tools to a broad array of end markets, including general maintenance and repair, industrial, infrastructure and production automation. The Company's primary products include hydraulic tools, engineered heavy lifting solutions, workholding (production automation) solutions and concrete stressing products. These hydraulic and mechanical tools are marketed primarily through the Company's Enerpac, Simplex, Precision Sure-Lock and Milwaukee Cylinder brand names. The high-force hydraulic and mechanical tools, including cylinders, pumps, valves, specialty tools and presses.

The Company's hydraulic tools operate at high pressures of approxim! ately 5,000 to 12,000 pounds per square inch and are generally sold by a diverse group of industrial and specialty fluid power distributors to customers in the infrastructure, mining, steel mill, cement, rail, oil and gas and general maintenance industries. Key industrial distributors include W.W. Grainger, Applied Industrial Technologies and MSC. In addition to providing a line of industrial tools, the segment also provides hydraulic systems (integrated solutions) to meet customer specific requirements for safe and precise control of movement and positioning. These customized heavy lifting solutions, which combine hydraulics, steel fabrication and electronic controls with engineering and application knowledge, are typically utilized in major infrastructure projects (bridges, stadiums, tunnels and offshore platforms) for heavy lifting, launching & skidding or synchronous lifting applications.

The Industrial segment has leveraged production and engineering capabilities to also offer a range of workholding products (work supports, swing cylinders and system components) that are marketed through distributors to the automotive, machine tool and fixture design markets. In addition, the segment designs, manufactures and distributes concrete pre- and post-tensioning products (chucks and wedges, stressing jacks and anchors) which are used by concrete tensioning system designers, fabricators and installers for the residential and commercial construction, railroad, bridge, infrastructure and mining markets.

Energy

The Energy segment provides technical products and services to the global energy markets, where safety, security, reliability and productivity are key value drivers. Products include joint integrity tools and connectors for oil & gas and power generation installations, as well as rope and cable solutions. In addition to these products, the Energy segment also provides manpower services, including machining, engineering and maintenance activities. The products and ! services ! of the Energy segment are distributed and marketed under various brand names (principally Hydratight, D.L. Ricci, Morgrip, Cortland, FibronBX, Puget Sound Rope, Biach, Selantic and Jeyco) to OEMs, maintenance and service organizations and energy producers in emerging and developed countries.

Joint integrity products include hydraulic torque wrenches, bolt tensioners and portable machining equipment. These products are used in the maintenance of bolted joints on oil rigs and platforms, wind turbines, refineries and pipelines, petrochemical installations, as well as fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. The Energy segment also provides rope and cable solutions that maximize performance, safety and efficiency for customers in various markets, including oil and gas, heavy marine, subsea, ROV and seismic. With its global design and manufacturing capabilities the Cortland business is able to provide customized synthetic ropes, heavy lift slings, specialized mooring, rigging and towing systems, electro-optical-mechanical cables and umbilicals to customers, including firms, such as CGG Veritas, Expro and Sercel. These products are utilized in critical applications, often deployed in harsh operating conditions (sub-sea oil & gas production, maintenance and exploration) and are required to meet robust safety standards. In addition custom designed products are also sold into a range of other niche markets including medical, security, aerospace and defense.

Electrical

The Electrical segment is involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of a broad range of electrical products to the retail DIY, OEM, electrical distribution, power transformation and harsh environment electrical markets. The Electrical segment sells its products through a combination of distributors, direct sales personnel and manufacturers' representatives. The Electrical segment provides the retail DIY market with a range of electrical tools and consumables, such as wire strippers, electrical meters,! connecto! rs, terminals, cable ties, staples and other wire management products and conduit bending equipment under the Gardner Bender, Del City and A.W. Sperry brands. These products are sold to retailers, such as Lowe's, The Home Depot, Menards, True Value and Ace Hardware, as well as numerous electrical distributors and OEM's.

The Electrical segment sells power transformation products in North America, including low voltage, single-phase dry type transformers and custom toroidal transformers under the Acme Electric brand name and high voltage switches under the Turner Electric brand name. These transformers are sold through electrical wholesale distributors, as well as directly to OEMs, such as Rockwell Automation, Eaton, Yaskawa and General Electric. Product offerings also include electrical components and systems for the harsh environment and marine markets under the Ancor, Marinco, Guest, Mastervolt and B.E.P Marine brand names. These products are primarily sold to various customers in the industrial, marine, power generation, industrial and retail markets, including West Marine, Applied Materials and Kohler. Solar products (primarily high efficiency solar inverters for residential and small commercial applications) are sold through local distributors and installers.

Engineered Solutions

The Engineered Solutions segment is a global designer and assembler of customized position and motion control systems and other industrial products to various transportation and other niche markets. This segment focuses on providing technical and engineered products, including actuation systems, mechanical power transmission products, engine air flow management solutions and rugged electronic instrumentation. Products in the Engineered Solutions segment are primarily marketed directly to OEMs through a technical sales organization. Approximately 55% of this segment's revenue comes from the vehicle systems product line (Power-Packer, Gits and Power Gear brands), which is sold to the t! ruck, aut! omotive, off-highway and specialty vehicle markets. Products include hydraulic cab-tilt and latching systems, which are sold to global heavy duty truck OEMs, such as Volvo, Iveco, Scania, Paccar-DAF and CNHTC and electro-hydraulic convertible top latching and actuation systems. The automotive convertible top actuation systems are utilized on both retractable soft and hard top vehicles manufactured by OEMs, such as Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault, Peugeot, BMW, Volvo and Nissan.

The Company's diesel engine air flow solutions, such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems, are used by diesel engine and turbocharger manufacturers to reduce emissions, improve fuel efficiency and horsepower. Primary end markets include heavy duty truck and off-highway equipment serving customers, such as Caterpillar, Cummins, Honeywell and Borg Warner. It also sells actuation systems to various specialty vehicle OEMs (principally in the defense, recreational vehicle and off-highway markets), such as Oshkosh and Fleetwood.

The Maxima Technologies tuck-in acquisitions of Turotest Medidores Ltda and CrossControl AB, along with the fiscal 2011 acquisition of Weasler Engineering have further diversified the geographic presence, technologies and end markets of the Engineered Solutions segment. The range of products, technologies and engineered solutions of Weasler Engineering, Maxima Technologies, Elliott Manufacturing, Sanlo and Nielsen Sessions comprise the other product line within the segment. Products include severe-duty electronic instrumentation (including displays and clusters, machine controls and sensors), power transmission products (engineered power transmission components, including drive shafts, torque limiters, gearboxes, torsional dampers and flexible shafts), and a comprehensive line of case, container and industrial hardware. These products are sold to a range of niche markets, including agricultural implement, lawn & turf, construction, forestry, industrial, aerospace, material handling! and secu! rity.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Analysts expect Actuant (NYSE: ATU) to report its Q4 earnings at $0.50 per share on revenue of $328.79 million. Actuant shares fell 0.21% to $38.76 in after-hours trading.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Actuant (NYSE: ATU  ) .

• [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 Actuant (NYSE: ATU  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Analysts expect Actuant (NYSE: ATU) to report its Q3 earnings at $0.63 per share on revenue of $376.57 million. Actuant shares gained 0.83% to close at $36.30 yesterday.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Pinnacle Foods Inc (PF)

Pinnacle Foods Inc., incorporated on July 28, 2003, is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded food products in North America. The Company operates in three segments: the Birds Eye Frozen Division, the Duncan Hines Grocery Division and the Specialty Foods Division. The Birds Eye Frozen Division and the Duncan Hines Grocery Division, which collectively represent its North America Retail operations, include the brands. Its brand portfolio enjoys household penetration in the United States, where its products can be found in approximately 85% of U.S. households. Its products are sold through supermarkets, grocery wholesalers and distributors, mass merchandisers, super centers, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores and warehouse clubs in the United States and Canada, as well as in military channels and foodservice locations. On June 24, 2011, the Company completed the sale of its Watsonville, California facility which had been recorded as an asset held for sale.

Birds Eye Frozen Division

The Company�� Birds Eye Frozen Division includes its steamed and non-steamed product offerings, with a 27.0% market share, making Birds Eye the recognized frozen vegetables brand in the United States. Birds Eye was the Company to capture a nationwide market share with a product that enables consumers to conveniently steam vegetables in microwaveable packaging.

Duncan Hines Grocery Division

Duncan Hines is the division�� brand and includes cake mixes, ready-to-serve frostings, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, and cookie mixes. During the fiscal year ended September 23, 2012, the Company added two additional items to the line. In February 2012, the Company introduced a line of frosting products, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, which uses a patent pending frosting system to allow consumers to customize their frosting into one of 12 different flavors. The Company also offers a complete line of shelf-stable pickle products that we market and distribute n! ationally, primarily under the Vlasic brand, and regionally under the Milwaukee�� and Wiejske Wyroby brands. In 2012, the Company introduced Vlasic Farmers Garden, artisan-quality pickle line.

Specialty Foods Division

The Company�� snack products primarily consist of Tim�� Cascade, Snyder of Berlin and Husman��. These direct store delivery brands have local awareness and hold market share positions in their regional markets. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain products, mainly in the frozen breakfast, canned meat, and pie and pastry fruit filling categories, through food service channels. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain private label products in the canned meat, shelf-stable pickles and frozen seafood. As part of its ongoing strategic focus over the last several years, the Company has deemphasized the food service and private label businesses for the benefit of its higher margin branded food products.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tyson’s bid came just a couple of days after Hillshire Brands received a bid from Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC), and while it seems like ancient history now, Hillshire made its own bid for Pinnacle Foods (PF) earlier this month. Pilgrim’s Pride dropped 1.1% to $25.09 today, while poor jilted Pinnacle Foods gained 1% to $31.68.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Select Income REIT (SIR)

Select Income REIT, incorporated on December 19, 2011, is a real estate company that primarily owns and invests in single tenants, net leased properties. As of March 12, 2012, the Company owned 251 properties, or the Initial Properties, with a total of approximately 21.4 million rentable square feet. As of December 31, 2012, the Company acquired 16 properties from unrelated third parties with approximately 3.2 million rentable square feet. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned 267 properties with approximately 24.6 million rentable square feet that were approximately 95.3% leased (based on rentable square feet). These properties consists of 229 properties located on the island of Oahu, HI, or the Company's Hawaii Properties, which included approximately 17.8 million rentable square feet that are primarily leased to industrial and commercial tenants and 38 office and industrial properties with approximately 6.8 million square feet located in 18 states throughout the mainland United States, or its Mainland Properties.

The Company's 267 properties were leased to 253 different tenants, with a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately 11.7 years. The Company's Mainland Properties generally consist of properties that are net leased to single tenants.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Select Income REIT (SIR), a real estate investment trust that owns single-tenant, net-leased properties, raised its quarterly dividend 4.5% to 46 cents per share, payable Nov. 20 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 24.
  SIR Dividend Yield: 7.06%

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Route1 Inc (ROI)

Route1 Inc. (Route1) delivers security and identity management solutions to corporations and government agencies that need universal, secure access to all digital resources and sensitive data. These customers depend on The Power of MobiNET Route1�� communications and service delivery platform. MobiNET provides identity assurance and individualized access to networks and data. The Company operates in two revenue segments: devices and appliances and services. On September 30, 2010, the Company completed of the pilot project to deploy the Company�� DEFIMNET platform, TruOFFICE application software, and MobiKEY Fusion devices to the United States Navy Reserve Forces Command (RESFOR). On April 13, 2010, the Company announced the release of TruOFFICE application software version 2.8 with strengthened security and Windows 7 support. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Ugulini]

  Sentiment and semantics are for greeting cards; stakeholders want Return on Investment (ROI) and will raise a glass of suds to widespread distribution via powerhouse Anheuser-Busch's network over a "craft" distinction for some brands.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Buy Right Now

The broadband war is widening. Recently, AT&T (NYSE: T  ) announced plans to bring service to five new markets for a total of 212, CNET reports.

AT&T's expansion covers two cities in Texas (Jacksonville and Palestine), two in Missouri (Sedalia and Warrensburg), and Manhattan, Kansas. In the video below, Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova�discusses which companies gain from this move.

More coverage means more broadband for mobile devices, which, in turn, is good news for the companies dependent on serving data to us anytime, anywhere --�Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) and Google, notably. And what of AT&T stock? Even with this expansion the carrier badly trails its main rival, Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) , in terms of the number of markets served. Concentrate your research efforts on Facebook and Google instead.

Do you agree? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take, and then let us know whether you would buy, sell, or short AT&T stock at current prices.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Buy Right Now: SeaChange International Inc.(SEAC)

SeaChange International, Inc. provides multi-screen video products and services that facilitate the aggregation, licensing, management, and distribution of video, television programming, and advertising content to cable system operators, telecommunications companies, broadcast television companies, and mobile communications providers worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Software and Media Services. The Software segment offers back-office products, including SeaChange Axiom, an on-demand back office software that allow operators to centralize video distribution systems, as well as video streamers; advertising product solutions, such as video-on-demand, digital video recorders, and over-the-top services; and home gateway product solutions, which include Nucleus, a hybrid gateway software product that provides control over channel changes, VOD/DVR playback, and trick mode set-top box functionalities. This segment also provides professional services, installation, training, project management, product maintenance, technical support, and software development related services. The Media Services segment offers content for video-on-demand and pay-per-view platforms; and marketing, promotional, and production services to cable operators and telecommunications providers. This segment also sources, acquires, packages, and markets video-on-demand services by providing access to content from local and Hollywood studio providers in various formats, including music videos, television programs, and feature length movies. The company sells and markets its products and services through a direct sales organization, independent agents, and distributors. SeaChange International, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC  ) .

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  SeaChange (SEAC) fell 16.5% to $12.03 after the company’s guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter fell well below analysts’ expectations.

• [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 SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Buy Right Now: Albany Molecular Research Inc.(AMRI)

Albany Molecular Research, Inc. provides contract services to various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company offers a range of drug discovery services, including assay development and design, screening, screening library, natural product, medicinal chemistry, computer-aided drug discovery, in vitro ADMET, and bioanalytical services. It also provides chemical development services consisting of process research and development, custom synthesis, process safety assessment, scale-up capabilities, high potency and controlled substances, analytical services, preformulation services and physical characterization, preparative chromatography, IND support services, fermentation development and optimization, and building blocks collection and database services. In addition, the company offers chemical synthesis and manufacturing services. It manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)and advanced intermediate s. Further, the company provides contract manufacturing services in sterile syringe and vial filling for small molecule drug products and biologicals. Additionally, it offers formulation services, including neat API or pharmaceutical blend in capsules; PIB for solution and suspension; blending and sieving; milling; tableting; rheology; roller compaction; wet granulation; and fluid bed processing, including wurster coating; and associated analytical testing services for dosage formulation products, as well as provides analytical services, such as impurity identification and structure elucidation; method development, qualification, and validation; preformulation and physical characterization; quality control; stability services; analytical and preparative supercritical fluid chromatography; preparative chromatography; good laboratory practices bioanalytical services; and regulatory support/quality assurance services. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Albany, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Healthcare stocks gained Wednesday, with Senomyx (NASDAQ: SNMX) leading advancers after the company announced a research agreement with PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Pernix Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ: PTX), Albany Molecular Research (NASDAQ: AMRI) and Gentiva Health Services (NASDAQ: GTIV).

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Among the sector stocks, Albany Molecular Research (NASDAQ: AMRI) was down more than 13 percent, while Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) tumbled around 6 percent.

• [By GuruFocus]

  George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated

Best Sliver Companies To Watch For 2015: U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (SLCA)

US Silica Holdings, Inc. is a silica sand supplier company. The Company is a producer of industrial minerals, including sand proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, calcined kaolin clay and aplite clay. The Company operates in two segments: oil and gas, and industrial and specialty products. The Company�� shipping capabilities include five of the class-one railroads, barge, full truckload, partial truckload and intermodal. The Company�� products include proppants, whole grain silica, ground silica, fine ground silica, testing silica, recreational silica, aplite, kaolin, hydrous kaolin and FLORISIL. It also operates as a research and development specialist for customized products and solutions. The Company serves a range of industries and applications, which includes oil and gas, glass, chemicals, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industrial filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis.

Oil & Gas

The Company�� oil and gas segment include OTTAWA WHITE and SHALE FRAC product lines. The Company has a selection of offerings from number of mining and transload locations. Its products consist of unconventional reservoirs, including tight gas, coal bed methane, shale gas, and liquids.

Industrial & Specialty Products

The Company�� industrial and specialty products include glass, chemical, foundry, building products, fillers and extenders, recreation, industry filtration and treatment, and testing and analysis. The Company produces a range of whole grain silica, ground silica and kaolin clays.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  In a prior Private Briefing, we recommended the "Ultimate MacGyver Stock" - a promising "Miracle Materials" profit play called U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA).

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Buy Right Now: Mueller Water Products Inc (MWA)

Mueller Water Products, Inc., incorporated on September 22, 2005, is a manufacturer and marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement of water. The Company�� product portfolio includes engineered valves, fire hydrants, pipe fittings, water meters, leak detection and pipe condition assessment which are used by municipalities, as well as the residential and non-residential construction industries. The Company operates in two segments: Mueller Co. and Anvil. Mueller Co. The Company�� valve or fire hydrant products are specified for use in the 100 metropolitan areas in the United States.

Mueller Co.

Mueller Co. manufactures valves for water and gas systems, including iron gate, butterfly, tapping, check, plug and ball valves, as well as dry-barrel and wet-barrel fire hydrants and a of pipe repair products, such as clamps and couplings used to repair leaks. The Company offers residential and commercial metering products and systems and leak detection and pipe condition assessment products and services. Mueller Co. products are sold through waterworks distributors.

The Company�� fire hydrants consist of an upper barrel and nozzle section and a lower barrel and valve section that connects to a water main. In dry-barrel hydrants, the valve connecting the barrel of the hydrant to the water main is located below ground at or below the frost line, which keeps the hydrant upper barrel dry. It sells dry-barrel fire hydrants with the Mueller and U.S. Pipe Valve and Hydrant brand names in the United States and the Mueller and Canada Valve brand names in Canada. The Company also makes wet-barrel hydrants, where the valves are located in the hydrant nozzles and the barrel contains water at all times. It also makes wet-barrel hydrants, where the valves are located in the hydrant nozzles and the barrel contains water at all times.

Mueller Co. manufactures a variety of intelligent water technology products under the Mue! ller Systems and Hersey Meters brand names that are designed to help water providers accurately measure water usage. These products include water meters, advanced metering infrastructure systems and automated meter reading products, have the capability to measure water usage ranging from small residential flows to large commercial and industrial applications.

Mueller Co. offers leak detection and pipe condition assessment products and services under the Echologics brand name. Other products include pipe repair products, such as clamps and couplings used to repair leaks and municipal castings, such as manhole covers and street drain grates. It sells these products under the Mueller and Jones brand names.

The Company competes with McWane, Inc., American Cast Iron Pipe Company, The Ford Meter Box Company, Inc., A.Y. McDonald Mfg, Sensus, Neptune Technology Group, Inc., Badger Meter, Inc., Aclara LLC and Itron, Inc.

Anvil

Anvil manufactures and sources a range of products, includes fittings, couplings, hangers, valves and related products for use in many non-residential constructions for HVAC, fire protection, energy and oil and gas applications. Anvil's products are sold through distributors who then sell the products to a variety of end users. These distributors are serviced primarily through Anvil's distribution centers.

Fittings and Couplings manufactures threaded and grooved pipe fittings and couplings. Pipe fittings and couplings join two pieces of pipe together. The five categories of pipe fittings and couplings are cast iron fittings, malleable iron fittings and unions, grooved fittings, couplings and valves, threaded steel pipe coupling and nipples. Hangers, manufacture an array of pipe hangers and supports. Standard pipe hangers and supports are used in fire protection sprinkler systems and HVAC applications where the objective is to provide rigid support from the building structure.

The Company competes with Ward Man! ufacturin! g L.L.C., malleable iron fittings, Victaulic Company, Tyco International Ltd., ERICO International Corporation, Cooper Industries plc and Carpenter & Paterson, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA  ) jumped as much as 17% today after the company released earnings.

  So what: Fiscal-second-quarter revenue jumped 12.6% to $283.1 million and net income was $6.2 million, or $0.05 per share. Analysts only expected revenue to be $270.8 million and earnings of $0.02 per share so this was well ahead of estimates. �

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Buy Right Now: Synergetics USA Inc.(SURG)

Synergetics USA, Inc., a medical device company, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of microsurgical instruments and consumables primarily for ophthalmology and neurosurgery markets in the United States and internationally. The company?s product lines focus upon precision engineered, microsurgical, handheld devices, and the microscopic delivery of laser energy, ultrasound, electrosurgery, aspiration, illumination and irrigation that are delivered in multiple combinations. It offers retinal surgical items, including handheld disposable and reusable forceps and scissors, fiberoptics for illumination and photocoagulation, cannulas, scrapers, and other reusable and disposable surgical devices. The company also provides bipolar electrosurgical generators; lesion generators used for minimally invasive pain treatment; and directional laser probes, as well as offers gauge instrumentation to the vitreoretinal surgical market. It sells its products through direct sale s employees, distributors, and independent sales representatives. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in O?Fallon, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Synergetics USA (SURG) has dropped 4.8% to $4.75 after the medical device company said it earned 6 cents a share, in line with analyst forecasts.

  Team Inc.�(TISI) has dropped 11% after the company missed its earnings forecast and lowered guidance.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Synergetics USA (NASDAQ: SURG) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.06 per share on revenue of $17.01 million.

  Team (NYSE: TISI) is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.36 per share on revenue of $176.70 million.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Synergetics USA (NASDAQ: SURG) reported its FQ4 earnings of $0.06 per share on revenue of $17.9 million. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.05 per share on revenue of $17 million. Synergetics USA shares dipped 11.82% to $4.40 in the after-hours trading session.