What I Wish I'd Known About Money When I Was 21

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By Gerri Detweiler At 21, young people have all the financial responsibilities of adults -- without much experience managing them. So we asked some of your elders (via Facebook and Twitter) what they wish they'd known earlier -- or the best advice they'd been given.

Many pointed out that in young adulthood, time is on your side. You may not have much money, but if you put some aside, it has lots of time to grow -- and the money you put aside now will have a huge effect on the amount you have when you retire. (And yes, I know how hard it is to think about retirement when you are just beginning your career.) Save as much as you can. There will always be killer deals and other temptations, but the money you can save now will be incredibly valuable -- whether you are saving it for retirement or for a trip you'll never forget. Time is on your side in another way, too. You have time to travel, decide what's important to you, pick a life partner (or not) and decide where to live. You don't have to rush other life decisions (though getting started on saving is crucial). How to Save Your Cash

Imagine The Upside If Facebook Solved Its Biggest Problem

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Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) jumped to over $34 last week, marking the first time since its IPO that the stock has traded that high. This came after a one-day climb of nearly 30%.

A great one-day move, right? But let's put it in perspective: Since its May 2012 IPO, FB is still down more than 3%.

The social network blew through both earnings and revenue expectations. Second-quarter earnings per share came in at 19 cents, compared with the consensus forecast of 14 cents and the 12 cents a share posted during the second quarter last year.

In reality, all of Facebook's numbers were up big-time: Total monthly active users were up to 1.15 billion, up 20% year over year; mobile monthly active users were up to 819 million, up 51%; and daily active users were up to 699 million, up 27%.

The real gem? Mobile ad revenue came in at $656 million, up 76% from the previous quarter. Mobile ad revenue now makes up 40% of total ad revenue, compared with 30% of total ad revenue during the previous quarter.

Many investors believe that Facebook has finally hit the turning point and figured out how to monetize mobile. However, the question is, what's next? The company appears to have a lot of growth priced in, trading at a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 174, a price-to-sales ratio of nearly 15, and an enterprise value-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) multiple of 27.

Even with this expected growth priced in, the company has an opportunity for serious upside. It's simple, really.

Replace Mark Zuckerberg as CEO.

!

	Is Mark Zuckerberg holding back Facebook's growth?

There's a serious problem with keeping the founder as CEO once the company goes public. Running a public company is very different than running a startup. There are different challenges and goals, as well as the challenges of a shareholder mentality. As a startup, you're accountable to yourself and venture capitalists -- but as a public company, your shareholders look very different.

Unlike venture capitalists, who are more interested in product building and revenue growth, shareholders in a public company are much more interested in earnings. Many startups are accustomed to burning cash at rapid rates and losing money on an earnings basis. A new Facebook CEO with public company experience could be just what shareholders need to really launch the stock.

While there are founder CEOs who have gone on to have great careers, the trend of late is that publicly traded companies have performed better under a CEO with previous management experience at other public companies.

Reversal Of Fortunes
Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) is an example of a company that has flourished after the ouster of a founder lacking in management experience. When Andrew Mason -- who worked as a Web developer before founding Groupon -- was fired as CEO on Feb. 28, the online coupon company was down 80% from its initial public offering. Since his departure, Groupon is up 45%, compared with a 13% gain in the Nasdaq.

Similarly, the mobile gaming company Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) ousted its founder CEO, Mark Pincus, on July 1. Prior to Zynga, Pincus had no management experience at a public company, though he had worked in venture capital and as a financial analyst. From its December 2011 IPO to Pincus' exit, ZNGA was down more than 40%. Since Don Mattrick -- a former president of Microsofy's Interactive Entertainment Business -- took the helm at Zynga, however, the stock is up just over 5%, in line with t! he Nasdaq! 's advance in the same period.

Steady As She Goes
For an example of a maturing company continuing on a growth path under its founder, consider the online review site Yelp (Nasdaq: YELP), which has kept founder CEO Jeremy Stoppelman at the reins. Stoppelman left e-payment firm PayPal, where he was vice president of engineering, to go to Harvard Business School, where he teamed with other PayPal executives to create Yelp. Since its March 2012 IPO, Yelp is up more than 60%, compared with a 20% gain for the Nasdaq.

Another PayPal alum, Reid Hoffman, left an executive vice president position to start LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD). Since LinkedIn's May 2011 IPO, LinkedIn is up more than 110%, more than quadruple the Nasdaq's 26% gain.

Kayak Software is the travel booking website that was recently snatched up by Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN) for $40 a share. Before founding Kayak, CEO Steve Hafner helped found Kayak's rival travel site, Orbitz, where he was in charge of marketing and business development. Kayak's buyout is a 20% premium to its initial trading price after its July 2012 IPO -- and a 50% premium from the stock's all-time low in August 2012.

Executive Ranks
Noting that Facebook could move higher with a new CEO is not to say that the social network doesn't have some great executives. Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer served as CTO of Sun Microsystems' data automation unit and Mozilla's vice president of engineering. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was previously Google's vice president of global online sales and operations and served as chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

What are the chances of a Zuckerberg ouster? Not good. Zuckerberg has almost complete control of the company, commanding more than half of the voting shares and serving as both chairman and CEO.

With Zuckerberg holding the majority of the voting power, Facebook is a "controlled company," meaning it does not have to have the majority of its direc! tors be i! ndependent. With all that said, why would Zuckerberg ever fire himself? Chances are, of course, that he won't. The stock would have to take a great deal of punishment from shareholders to convince Zuckerberg that it's time to go.

Action to take --> Avoid Facebook after its recent run-up. Zuckerberg isn't going away anytime soon, and one great quarter doesn't necessarily signal a true turning point at Facebook.

Verismo vs. Nespresso: Coffee Battle Showdown

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) currently holds 25% of the market share in packaged coffee, and is now making a very ambitious push further into this space with the release of its Verismo home coffee machines. But thus far, consumers' reactions to the machine have been very lukewarm. In this video, Motley Fool consumer goods analyst Blake Bos takes a look at Starbucks' machine compared to the Nespresso machine from Nestle (NASDAQOTH: NSRGY  ) . He tells us what consumers like better about the Nespresso, but also why Starbucks won't be giving up the fight in this space anytime soon.

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Mueller Industries Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Mueller Industries (NYSE: MLI  ) reported earnings on July 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 29 (Q2), Mueller Industries met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share grew significantly. GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.

Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
Mueller Industries logged revenue of $582.3 million. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated revenue of $579.9 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.90. The three earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.85 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.90 for Q2 were 91% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.47 per share. GAAP EPS of $3.23 for Q2 were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.47 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 13.9%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.5%, 150 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.7%, much better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $509.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.73.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.31 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.32.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 155 members out of 162 rating the stock outperform, and seven members rating it underperform. Among 49 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 49 give Mueller Industries a green thumbs-up, and give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Mueller Industries is buy, with an average price target of $61.00.

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Alexion Pharmaceuticals: How to Buck a Biotech Selloff

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) has inoculated itself against today’s biotech selloff thanks to its stellar financial results.

The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) has fallen 1.3% to $128.69 at 2:10 p.m., as Biogen Idec (BIIB) has dropped 4.2% to $293.91 and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) has declined 3.7% to $291.81. Even Gilead Sciences (GILD), which managed to buck yesterday’s weakness, has dipped 0.4% to $73.59.

Not Alexion Pharmaceuticals. It’s gained 3.1% to $167.97 after reporting a profit of $1.56 a share, topping analyst forecasts for $1.26 and raising its full-year guidance. “Gotta love this company,” Piper Jaffray’s Joshua Schimmer and team titled a report this morning. They explain why:

[Alexion Pharmaceuticals] beat on 1Q14 this morning, lowered [operating expense] guidance, reiterated revenue guidance and raised EPS guidance. The company continues to deliver to shareholders and remains poised to easily deliver a sustainable 20%+ EPS CAGR through the end of the decade and beyond with plenty of room for upside in our model based on both Soliris performance and operating/tax margins. Recent weakness in shares creates a nice entry point for a company committed to quality. While this may not be the best tape for higher multiple growth stocks, [Alexion's] advancing pipeline, rapidly growing earnings, frequent beat/raises and high quality team suggests to us that organic EPS growth will power through any incremental multiple compression.

Alexion is up 18% so far this year, more than three times Biogen’s 5.4% rise and Regeneron’s 6.1% advance. Gilead Sciences has dropped 2% in 2014 and the SPDR Biotech ETF has dipped 0.8%.

Is Kimberly-Clark Earnings Growth Slowing?

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB  ) will release its quarterly report next Monday, and early expectations are for the consumer-products giant to produce reasonable growth. But given the recent declines in its stock, can Kimberly-Clark earnings grow fast enough to make investors happy?

Kimberly-Clark isn't the largest company in the consumer-products space, but it has done a good job of taking advantage of the opportunities in emerging markets, seeking to come out with innovative products that appeal to a wide variety of people around the world. Yet, as the global economy has slowed, and emerging markets in particular have gone through some growing pains, the possibility exists that the company won't be able to keep up with its share valuation. Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Kimberly-Clark over the past quarter, and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report.

Stats on Kimberly-Clark

Analyst EPS Estimate	$1.39
Change From Year-Ago EPS	6.9%
Revenue Estimate	$5.34 billion
Change From Year-Ago Revenue	1.3%
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters	4

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Can Kimberly-Clark earnings growth accelerate this quarter?
In recent months, analysts have raised their earnings views on Kimberly-Clark, boosting June-quarter estimates by a $0.01 per share, but giving a larger $0.12 per share increase on their full-year 2013 calls. The stock, though, has gone nowhere, dropping about 1% since mid-April.

Earlier in the quarter, Kimberly-Clark had gained substantial ground, hitting new all-time highs right after releasing its first-quarter earnings report. The company posted record adjusted earnings, and boosted its outlook for the full year, pushing its expected earnings range up $0.10 per share. Moves to exit some of its lower-margin businesses in Europe helped pay off, even though the company's revenue growth didn't quite meet expectations.

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But despite Kimberly-Clark's success in finding growth around the world, it certainly faces bitter competition. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) has faced substantial challenges in recent years, but with new CEO A.G. Lafley taking over leadership of the company, P&G now expects to take advantage of opportunities in Africa to cut costs and boost its worldwide presence even further, with investments in manufacturing in the continent. Meanwhile, Unilever (NYSE: UL  ) has seen its stock drop considerably lately, despite having its own well-known brands, and a different perspective on international markets than its U.S.-based competitors, as it gets more than half of its revenue from emerging markets, and expects that proportion to rise to 70% by 2020.

The biggest challenge for Kimberly-Clark and the whole industry is that earnings multiples are particularly high right now, as nervous investors seem willing to pay up for the lucrative dividend yields and implied safety of consumer-products companies. Yet, unless growth reignites at a faster pace than we've seen lately, it'll be hard for Kimberly-Clark earnings to rise fast enough to justify P/E ratios above 20.

In Kimberly-Clark's earnings report, look to see how the company's increased research-and-development efforts are paying off in terms of new products. Spending money on innovation can be rewarding in helping a company differentiate itself from its peers, and smart investments could produce greater earnings growth to help shares climb further in the future.

Kimberly-Clark is just one example of the many companies that are profiting from our increasingly global economy. Find some other promising candidates in The Motley Fool's free report, "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World." The report can be yours right now; just click here to get your free copy before it's gone.

Click here to add Kimberly-Clark to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

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We are now well into earnings season with the first big week of the quarter behind us. Although we have several weeks to go, there have already been some interesting results that have led to changes in Portfolio Grader rankings for select stocks.

Source: Flickr

One of the biggest drivers of stock upgrades is a large earnings surprise that catches the Street off guard. Not only does this mean that the fundamentals of the company are improving, but stocks reporting positive surprises usually attract some strong buying that can push the quantitative grade up a notch or two as well.

Here’s a look at three companies that simply delivered on their most recent earnings reports, and whose stocks have gotten fundamental upgrades as a result.

Next Page

Upgraded Stocks: United Rentals (NYSE:URI)

United Rentals (NYSE:URI) is in a pretty basic business. URI rents construction and industrial equipment to construction companies, municipalities and other customers. Of course, that equipment includes things such as backhoes, forklifts, earth-moving equipment and portable generators, so … it’s not exactly the most exciting business in the world.

However, the results make URI stock one of the most exciting equities of the current earnings season. United Rentals beat estimates by more than 26% as it posted yet another consecutive positive earnings surprise.

CEO Michael Kneeland expressed confidence that the good times will continue. He told shareholders "We now see solid demand in almost every market, giving us further confidence in our full year outlook.”

Portfolio Grader likes what it see as well and this week upgraded URI stock to an “A,” signaling that URI stock has earned a “strong buy” recommendation.

Next Page

Upgraded Stocks: Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR)

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ:IBKR) had a huge quarter, with the broker and market-maker group’s revenues and profits surpassing Wall Street's expectations.

Earnings per share jumped from 14 cents per share to 34 cents, exceeded consensus estimates by 17%. Revenues were $355 million, compared to just $216 million in the same quarter last year. Margins got a lot fatter this quarter as well — IBKR boasted 61% pretax profit margins, up from 38% in the year-ago quarter. Lastly, customer accounts grew 16% year-over-year to 252,000 as investors and traders continue to return to the stock and bond markets.

Portfolio Grader recognized the strong improvements in the fundamentals and upgraded IBKR stock to an “A” this week, signifying a “strong buy” recommendation.

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Next Page

Upgraded Stocks: Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD)

Wall Street has continually estimated the reality and strength of the earnings turnaround at Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD). The drugstore chain posted a 150% positive earning surprise in the most recent quarter as business conditions just continue to improve for the company.

Total revenues increased 2.2%, primarily as a result of an increase in pharmacy same-store sales, which improved 2.1% year-over-year. RAD also guided higher and now projects sales of $26 billion to $26.5 billion and EPS of 31 cents to 42 cents, which is above the original analyst estimates.

Last week, RAD stock was upgraded to an “A” and is currently a strong buy.

Louis Navellier is the editor of Blue Chip Growth.

Can Backwards Compatibility Save the PC?

In the past, one of the key advantages of buying a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Windows PC was for its backwards compatibility with applications designed for previous versions of Windows. For the end user, it meant you wouldn't have to repurchase all of your software when upgrading to a new Windows PC. Nowadays, the rise of cloud computing and Web applications has changed the collective mind-set that backwards compatibility is a must-have feature.

A new world
Gartner believes that the public cloud computing industry will grow by 18.5% to become a $131 billion worldwide industry this year. The software-as-a-service market, which consists of Web-based applications, is expected to become a $19.3 billion sub-industry. For the end user, the beauty of the cloud is that your applications will often work on a host of different devices, meaning you have more flexibility to be operating system-agnostic. In this context, the operating system becomes less important and the focus becomes geared toward the user experience.

Surprise, surprise!
Between the radical departure from its past and poor customer reception, Windows 8 hasn't exactly been regarded as an operating system with an excellent user experience. In the age of mobile computing, it's become clear that simplicity and ease of use have taken a central role in the user experience. Since Microsoft didn't exactly nail that concept with Windows 8, the hope is that Windows 8.1 will address key user issues and improve reception.

The bigger elephant
Fueled by the explosive rise of mobile computing, it's likely that cloud computing will continue to grow in importance to the everyday user. Consequently, the more applications made available through the cloud, the lower the value of backwards compatibility. In this context, future Windows sales are likely to be largely driven by user experience and price. Although Intel Bay Trail will help drive down the price of Windows 8 devices, introduce new form factors, and make the Windows ecosystem more competitive against mobile computing, it's not going to change the Windows 8 user experience.

Judging by the lack of improvements, I'm not sure Windows 8.1 will, either.

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Northrop Wins Funds for E-2D Hawkeyes, JTaGS Satellite Link

The Department of Defense awarded Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC  ) a pair of contract wins on Tuesday, worth upwards of $16 million in aggregate.

The larger of the two awards, for $9.3 million, was an option exercise on a previously awarded advanced acquisition contract funding Northrop's procurement of long-lead materials needed to begin full-rate production of five E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Lot 2 airborne early-warning aircraft for the Navy. In addition to providing the funds, the DOD clarified that this contract has been converted into a fixed-price contract, with an estimated completion date of March 2014. This contract is different from the award issued early last month, in that that long-lead procurement contract related to "Lot 1" E-2Ds, while this contract funds work on the next production lot.

The other contract Northrop won Tuesday, also a modification of an existing contract, awards Northrop $6.8 million to fund improvements on the Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTaGS). JTaGS is said to be an information processing system for processing infrared data downloaded from the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and other satellites. Its aim is to provide early warning of tactical ballistic missile strikes.

 

Here's How Time Warner Gets a Good "Justice League" Film Made by 2015

Most accounts say that Time Warner (NYSE: TWX  ) plans to have a Justice League film ready by 2015. A lot of you hope the rumors aren't true.

Why? Because the Justice League is DC Comics' original superhero team. Superman. Batman. Aquaman. Green Lantern. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Martian Manhunter. In the comics, they're all members of the Justice League of America. Three have big-screen backstories -- Batman, Green Lantern, and Superman -- and even those appear to be changing. Christian Bale has no plans to reprise the role of the Caped Crusader; Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern bombed at the box office.

"I don't think Time Warner has developed the Justice League well enough. Disney had done Hulk, Captain America, and Thor movies almost as advertising for The Avengers," wrote Foolish investor lsr18 in response to a story I wrote about Warner's fast-tracking Man of Steel 2.

Fair point. No investor should want to see Time Warner wasting capital on a quixotic quest to match or even one-up the competition.

Following Marvel's formula for The Avengers at DC puts Justice League in 2017 or later, the culmination of a seven-film series in which each character gets ample solo time on screen. Right now, we have one if you only count Man of Steel, or two if you draw from The Dark Knight Rises and cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Batman.

That leaves at least five films to shoot and show between now and 2015. Only the insane (or suicidal) would try to squeeze all that in between now and then, right? Not necessarily. Arrow offers DC and Warner a way.

The bull's-eye isn't as far away as you think
For those unfamiliar, Arrow is a TV adaptation of the DC Comics character Green Arrow, in which star Stephen Amell plays Oliver Queen, a bow-wielding vigilante who seeks justice for the oppressed in his hometown of Starling City. Viewers like the concept. At one point, the show was doing better for Warner's CW Network than the hit show The Vampire Diaries. Final numbers show Arrow as the network's second-ranked show of the fall season.

Stephen Amell dons the cowl in the CW hit, Arrow. Source: Warner Bros.

A second season kicks off in the fall, and with it the opportunity to introduce new DC characters. Last season brought The Huntress, another vigilante, as well as the villains Deathstroke and China White. All signs point to appearances from Black Canary (i.e., GA's love interest) and Speedy (i.e., his on-again, off-again partner) soon enough.

Marvel is taking a similar approach with the forthcoming show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. How far showrunner Joss Whedon takes the concept remains to be seen, but it's easy to imagine any number of heroes or villains guest-starring. Each appearance would expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, in a best-case scenario, create a natural film tie-in. Marvel parent Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS  ) will broadcast Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on its ABC network Tuesdays this fall.

How far will Arrow's producers push into the DC Universe in Season 2? Anything is possible, including exploring the long-standing though sometimes contentious friendship between Green Arrow and Green Lantern.

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In the 1970's, Green Lantern and Green Arrow starred together in a popular comic. Source: DC Comics.

A wider world -- revealed!
"When you consider the importance that [Green Lantern] Hal Jordan plays in the Green Arrow comics, it's certainly one of those names that we've discussed a great deal. I have Ryan Reynolds' phone number around here somewhere," executive producer Marc Guggenheim told TV Guide in a recent interview.

Consider, too, how director Zack Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer introduce Superman in Man of Steel. The story paints him as the world's first superhero. A beacon who makes it safe for others with special abilities to reveal themselves. Introduce a little Man of Steel footage in Arrow -- in a scene where Ollie is watching the news, for example -- and you've opened the show to a wider world.

To be fair, Guggenheim and his fellow producers have promised that Arrow would be a bit more grounded than the typical superhero comic book. Most take that to mean we won't see Ollie palling around with Green Lantern, Superman, or any of the other members of the Justice League.

Maybe that's how it needs to be, but I won't blame investors if they're hoping for more from Arrow. After all, a lot is riding on Warner's ability to get the most out of its DC Comics characters.

Or in terms the Emerald Archer himself might appreciate: Your quiver is full, DC. Take the shot.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. What do you think of Arrow? Should Time Warner use the show to expand the DC Cinematic Universe? Leave your comments in the box below.

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Staples Vs. Office Depot: Which Would You Rather?

Over the last ten years, the office-supply industry has been dominated by retail giants Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) and Office Depot (NYSE: ODP).

Last November, Office Depot merged with industry competitor OfficeMax, in a deal that was expected to give Office Depot the industry lead. The truth is that both Staples and Office Depot are not doing as well as they probably should be, and many investors are beginning to take a second look at each of them as a potential stock purchase.

The merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax was, of course, intended as a boon to the former -- in order to increase its competitive edge. But that plan has thus far has worked out , and while both companies are among the industry leaders in profits, they are both also among the leaders in the number of retail stores they are closing. So in a case like this, we ask which company is the better investment: Staples or Office Depot?

Related: Intel vs. AMD - Which Would You Rather Micro Edition?

One of the most important elements for a company to have is what is known as a “moat” -- some characteristic or feature that separates and protects it from its competitors. For the office-supply giants like Staples and OfficeMax, their moat was the convenience offered in the hundreds of locations that customers could visit, get what they needed and get back to work.

But as with most things in business these days, the online environment has changed that. Customers can make purchases online and have items shipped directly to their front door in as little as 24 hours. This makes already strong companies like Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy essentially new competition for Staples and OfficeMax.

Since its merger, Office Depot has closed 22 of its retail outlets -- with many more closings planned this year. Retail sales in North America have dropped four percent and business solutions have dropped almost two percent.

Additionally, Amazon increased its domestic sales numbers by more than 25 percent in just the last quarter alone.

Considering the fact that nearly 70 percent of that sales increase was from electronics and “general merchandise,” it is reasonable to assume many of those sales likely would have gone to Staples or OfficeMax just a few years ago.

Staples, on the other hand, has a plan to combat its additional industry competitors, but it may only be a short-term fix. The company is planning to shutter upwards of 225 retail outlets by the end of this year, and make online sales its primary focus. This would make sense, at least initially, since almost 50 percent of the sales come from its online store -- which itself is enjoying growth of about 10 percent. Commercial sales are also up about two percent -- which is significant, considering Office Depot’s are on the decline. One of the main problems, however, is that while Staples.com increased its online product catalog from 100,000 to 500,000 items last year, Amazon’s catalog is more than 1.2 million items strong.

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David Marsh: IMF overhaul is in U.S. interest

Developing-country economies may be smoldering and about to go up in flames — but the inhabitants of Congress, like Emperor Nero in Ancient Rome, are still fiddling away merrily, impervious to the world outside.

An impasse in Congress over extra powers and new money for the International Monetary Fund, the 70-year-old institution at the center of world finance, is endangering the stability of the global economy at an ill-starred time. During the annual spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank amid the cherry blossoms of Washington this past weekend, I sensed a palpable bitterness and frustration about American intransigence among delegates from developing and developed countries alike.

Senior policymakers repeatedly told me that U.S. obstructionism is depriving the IMF of funding needed to ward off serious financial problems in key emerging-market countries, which could have serious repercussions on the U.S. as well as other parts of the world. All this is coinciding, I was told, with deep-seated tectonic shifts in the world economic balance of power.

States such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey, outside the industrialized countries that used to run the international economy, now wield greater clout. One of the most influential attendees, deceptively softly-spoken Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the Singapore finance minister and deputy prime minister, said that, as financial and economic power moved away from the West, the U.S. risked suffering "disruptive change" in the next 10 years unless it accommodated developing countries' requests for more say in running world financial institutions.

In some cases, these are exactly the countries that may face financing problems caused by withdrawals of hot money flows as global capital washes back to the U.S. in the wake of withdrawal of monetary stimulus by the Federal Reserve. The more powerful countries among the fast-emerging developing nations have, thanks to globalization, made great! strides in economic growth, living standards and stocks of monetary reserves. But, simultaneously, because of the cross-border nature of capital flows, and their openness to adverse swings in currency movements, officials say they are also the most vulnerable.

In addition, these countries express irritation about what they see as the head-in the-sand approach of the world's biggest economy, the U.S. The large developing economies, led by China, India and Brazil, helped inject extra dynamism into the world economy after the financial crisis in 2008-09, helping the industrialized world (led by the U.S.) to recover.

Now that the world economy is gradually on the mend, and the Federal Reserve is gradually tightening credit again, these countries argue that the richer western nations need to pay attention to

That's why other countries are angry about Congress' failure to ratify a 2010 agreement among IMF members that would overhaul the fund. The changes would: double the IMF's quota — in effect, its equity capital — to $720 billion; shift six percentage points of total quota to emerging markets; and move two of the 24 IMF directorships from European to developing countries.

Some Republicans who oppose the agreement question the IMF's value to U.S. taxpayers and argue that ratification could undermine U.S. authority over IMF spending.

U.S. obfuscation over the IMF's resources could leave the world's foremost financial police officer perilously short of funds at a time when heavyweight countries such as Brazil, Turkey and South Africa may need financial support in the next 12 to 24 months to counter capital outflows.

The worries about financing vulnerable emerging-market economies are an additional factor overhanging stock markets, which look set to suffer a major contraction in coming weeks from highs driven by bullishness over corporate valuations. Concerns about Ukraine-Russia tension, as well as the euro area — where deep underlying problems remain, despite! last wee! k's capital market return of serial offender Greece — loom large.

In Washington, the Group of 20 industrialized nations issued a communiqué saying they were "deeply disappointed" by failure to implement IMF changes. They gave the U.S. until the end of the year to do so, threatening to leave America out of new changes otherwise.

David Marsh is chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a London-based think tank that promotes dialogue between private-sector and public institutions on world finance.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Nintendo� (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY  ) drastically�cut its sales forecast after its flagship Wii U game experienced depressing sales. In response, the game maker said it would post an operating loss, which will place added pressure on the multinational consumer electronics company to take serious action to turn its business around, according to the Wall Street Journal.�On Jan. 17,�the Japanese game maker said it expected to sell a mere 2.8 million Wii U consoles. This was a big blow for Nintendo, as this figure was less than one-third of initial sales estimates.

Despite Nintendo's price cuts and rich lineup of titles, such as the latest entry to its Super Mario Bros.�franchise, the company will sell even fewer Wii U's in the console's second full year of sales. That's less than it did during the first five months after the console was introduced. Wii U performed the weakest in overseas markets during the peak period -- the year-end holiday season. Nintendo's rivals,�Sony� (NYSE: SNE  ) �and Microsoft� (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) �are doing much better, further adding to the company's woes.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sino-Global Shipping America Ltd.(SINO)

Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides shipping agency services for foreign ships coming to and departing from Chinese ports. Its services include preparing documents, husbanding vessels, working through customs issues, coordinating matters with port authorities, overseeing and settling cargo claims, tracking shipments, recommending trucking, warehousing, and complementary services. The company offers these services for bulk and break-bulk general cargo, and vehicle transport, as well as raw materials, such as crude oil, oil products, iron, manganese, and other metal ores in 76 ports in the People?s Republic of China. Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Flushing, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  The recent strength from Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SINO) and the now-renewed strength from Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) would suggest those two stocks are among the very best ways to play the rebound currently unfurling in the shipping sector. And to be fair, both are fine companies in their own right. The top play in the dry goods maritime shipping arena, however, may well be Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX). No, DSX isn't one of the fun and exciting small caps in the maritime shipping space. But, there's a lot to be said for size and stability, which SB and SINO can't offer.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Taylor Morrison Home Corp (TMHC)

Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, incorporated on November 15, 2012, is a homebuilder in North America. The Company operates under its Taylor Morrison brand in the United States and under its Monarch brand in Canada. Its business is organized into three geographic regions: East, West and Canada. Its East region consists of its Houston, Austin, North Florida and West Florida divisions. Its West region consists of its Phoenix, Northern California, Southern California and Denver divisions. Its Canada region consists of its operations within the province of Ontario, primarily in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and also in Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo, and offers both single-family and high-rise communities.

As of September 30, 2012, the Company offered homes in 122 active selling communities and had a backlog of 4,205 homes sold but not closed, including 903 homes in unconsolidated joint ventures. During the year ended September 30, 2012, the Company closed 2,586 homes, consisting of 1,880 homes in the United States and 706 homes in Canada, including 204 homes in unconsolidated joint ventures.

Our Homes

The Company offers a range of homes to consumers in its markets, ranging from entry-level to luxury homes. The Company market single-family homes with many amenities to entry-level through move-up homebuyers. The Company has developed a number of home designs with features such as one-story living and first floor master bedroom suites to appeal to universal design needs, as well as communities with recreational amenities such as golf courses, pool complexes, country clubs and recreation centers. The Company has integrated these designs and features in many of its homes and communities. The Company offers some of the same basic home designs in similar communities and engages unaffiliated architectural firms to develop new designs to replace or augment existing ones in order to ensure that our homes reflect current and local consumer tastes.

Warranty Progr! am

The Company offers express written limited warranties on our homes that generally provide for one year of coverage for various defects in workmanship or materials. These warranties are in addition to certain legal warranties (including implied warranties) that may apply in the markets where the Company operates. In Canada, in accordance with regulatory requirements administered by the Tarion Warranty Corporation, the Company offers a limited warranty that generally provides for seven years of structural coverage, two years of coverage for water penetration, electrical, plumbing, heating, and exterior cladding defects, and one year of coverage for workmanship and materials.

Community Development

The Company aims to establish a complete concept for each community the Company develops, beginning with an overall community design and then determining the size, style and price range of the homes and the layout of the streets and individual home sites. In the case of developed communities, after necessary governmental subdivision and other approvals have been obtained, the Company improve the land by clearing and grading it, installing roads, installing underground utility lines and recreational amenities, erecting distinctive entrance structures and staking out individual home sites.

Customer Mortgage Financing

Taylor Morrison Home Funding, LLC (TMHF) provides a number of mortgage-related services to its homebuilding customers through its mortgage lending operations. TMHF�� multi-lender platform included Flagstar Bank, US Bank, SunTrust Bank, Wells Fargo Mortgage and Metlife Home Loans. Revenue was derived from yield spread premiums, broker points and processing fees. The main strategic purpose of TMHF in its business is: to utilize finance as a sales tool as part of the purchase process to ensure a consistent customer experience and assist in maintaining production efficiency; and to influence and assist in determining its backlog and ! to better! manage projected closing and delivery dates for its customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kris Hudson]

  Home-builder initial public offerings have delivered mixed results in the past year. Three are trading below their offering prices: Taylor Morrison Home Corp.(TMHC) is down 3.9% from its IPO price at $21.15. William Lyon Homes is down 3.7% at $24.07. UPC Inc. is down 2.9% at $14.57.

• [By DailyFinance Staff]

  LM Otero, AP The housing market has been leading the economic recovery, but have housing stocks hit the ceiling? They're jumping today after a very bullish report on housing starts: New construction projects last month topped the 1 million annual rate for the time since before the financial crisis began in 2008. That's lifted shares of leading homebuilders by two to four percent today, adding to the huge gains over the past year. KB Homes (KBH), Pulte (PHA) and Hovnanian (HOV) have all doubled in price over the past year. Lennar (LEN) is up 44 percent, D.R. Horton (DHI) is up 47 percent and Toll Brothers (TOL) 33 percent. Those gains have prompted several other builders to go public this year. Taylor Morrison Home (TMHC), Tri Pointe, and William Lyon Home have all moved higher since their IPOs. And even though there's plenty of optimism that housing will continue to lead the broader economic recovery, there's some concern that these stocks may slow down. Homebuilder stocks can no longer be considered cheap. So some analysts see alternate routes for investors looking to play the housing boom. One way is through home-improvement retailers, which benefit from sales of both new and existing homes. Other plays include lumber, furniture and appliance companies. It's also worth noting that today's report on home construction showed that starts of single-family homes actually declined in March. It was the more volatile multi-family sector that led the advance. But there may be some stock market opportunities in REITs – real estate investment trusts – which focus on apartments. Among the biggest ones are Post Properties, Essex Property Trust and Associated Estates. They make money from collecting monthly rents. And these stocks generally trade below the value of the properties they own. Even some builders known for single-family homes are moving into the multi-family segment. Lennar announced in January that it plans to enter the apartment rental mar

Top Warren Buffett Companies To Invest In Right Now: Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc.(RSTI)

Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing of laser-based products worldwide. The company offers laser macro products to machine tool and automotive markets for cutting and welding of metals. It also provides laser marking products to semiconductor and electronics markets for the marking of integrated circuits, wafers, solar cells, electronic components, and smart cards, as well as to automotive markets for the marking of labels and car components. In addition, the company offers laser micro products for fine welding, fine cutting, micro structuring, and drilling applications in medical devices, semiconductor and electronics, photovoltaic, dental, and jewelry markets; and for perforating and scribing of paper and foils in packaging and paper industries. Further, it provides components to laser industry. The company sells its products in approximately 65 countries to original e quipment manufacturers, systems integrators, and industrial end-users. Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. was founded in 1975 and is based in Plymouth, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  For decades, the standard technology in the laser industry has been the carbon-based laser. In reality, these lasers are still commonly used, and sold in bulk by the likes of Rofin-Sinar (NASDAQ: RSTI  ) and Coherent (NASDAQ: COHR  ) . They are used largely for precision cutting of large pieces of metal.

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  Rofin-Sinar (NASDAQ: RSTI  ) , Coherent (NASDAQ: COHR  ) , Newport (NASDAQ: NEWP  ) , and JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU  ) all offer fiber-optic lasers as well.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Pazoo Inc (PZOO)

Pazoo, Inc., formerly IUCSS, Inc., incorporated on November 16, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is an online retailer and distributer of nutritional foods/supplements, wellness goods, and fitness apparel.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� source of revenue was through www.pazoo.com. The Company offers a range of products through various catalogs, such as health and beauty, vitamins and supplements, apparel, accessories, food and beverages, fitness and sports equipments, gifts, videos and books, and pet wellness.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  For those traders who were lucky and smart enough to be in an Arotech Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTX) before today, then congratulations - you're up at least 38% on your position. Now it's time to get out. Conversely, if you're looking for a new name to get into (or perhaps looking for a place to park your ARTX proceeds), then you may want to consider Pazoo Inc. (OTCBB:PZOO)... a tiny online retailer of health and fitness goods. PZOO has dropped several tell-tale hints that more upside is on the way.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TESARO Inc (TSRO)

TESARO, Inc. (TESARO), incorporated in March 2010, is a development-stage, oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company for cancer patients. The Company focuses on rolapitant and TSR-011 product. The Company�� marketed products and product candidates in development treat cancer through non-specific damage to cellular components or alter cell metabolism or internal repair mechanisms to the demise of cancer cells.

Rolapitant

Rolapitant is a potent and long-acting neurokinin-1, or NK-1, receptor antagonist is in Phase III clinical trials for the prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). It is in Phase III clinical trials. CINV, if not prevented by prophylaxis, has the potential to afflict up to 90% or more of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, depending upon the type of chemotherapy administered the dosing schedule of the chemotherapy, and the patients' age and gender, among other predisposing factors. Prolonged nausea and vomiting may result in unwanted weight loss, dehydration and malnutrition, as well as hospitalization. The Company has in-licensed the rights to rolapitant from OPKO Health, Inc.

TSR-011

TSR-011 is an orally available ALK inhibitor in preclinical development. ALK is known to be involved in certain types of cancers, including subsets of NSCLC, neuroblastoma and lymphoma. For patients in these subsets, the ALK gene is fused to an activating partner or contains point mutations, resulting in constitutive activation of ALK and the growth of cancer cells and tumor development. Inhibition of ALK in these cancer cells results in cell death and tumor growth inhibition or regression. In August 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first ALK inhibitor, developed by Pfizer Inc., Xalkori (crizotinib), which was approved for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC that are ALK positive.

The Company competes with GlaxoSmithKline plc, Roche Holding Ltd! . and Sanofi S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Tesaro (NASDAQ: TSRO  ) is also up today after announcing that it established a partnership with clinicians to run the phase 3 development of its PARP inhibitor, niraparib. The trial will enroll about 300 breast cancer patients with BRCA mutations, comparing niraparib to investigators' choice of other breast cancer treatments.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Positive response
  Clovis wasn't the only company to bring good news about an ovarian cancer drug to ASCO. TESARO� (NASDAQ: TSRO  ) announced phase 1 results for�niraparib. Shares of the biotech jumped 16% for the week.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, biopharmaceutical company TESARO (NASDAQ: TSRO  ) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Navistar International Corporation (NAV)

Navistar International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells commercial and military trucks, buses, diesel engines, and recreational vehicles, as well as provides service parts for trucks and trailers worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Truck, Engine, Parts, and Financial Services. The Truck segment manufactures and distributes trucks and buses for the common carrier, private carrier, government, leasing, construction, energy/petroleum, military vehicles, and student and commercial transportation markets under the International and IC brands; assembles components; and produces sheet metal components, including truck cabs. This segment markets its products through its independent dealer network, and distribution and service network retail outlets comprising 784 in the United States and Canada, 86 in Mexico, and 292 internationally, as well as markets reconditioned used trucks to owner-operators and fleet buyers through its network of us ed truck centers. The Engine segment designs, manufactures, and sells diesel engines under the MaxxForce brand for use in the medium trucks, heavy trucks, and military vehicles, as well as for its IC branded school buses and other applications. The Parts segment provides customers with products required to support the company�s brands, as well as offers other truck, trailer, and engine service parts. The Financial Services segment provides and manages retail, wholesale, and lease financing services for products sold by the Truck and Parts segments and their dealers. It also operates as a private-label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van, and sport utility vehicle markets. Navistar International Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Igor Greenwald]

  Among the recent converts to BP's value proposition is the leading hedge fund manager David Einhorn, who disclosed a new stake in the company in a letter to investors, saying ��llowing for more negative legal outcomes than BP has currently provisioned, we believe the company's net asset value (NAV) is nearly $70 a share.��

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Navistar International (NYSE: NAV  ) reported earnings on June 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended April 30 (Q2), Navistar International whiffed on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Nathalie Tadena]

  Activist investor Carl Icahn reported an increased holding in Navistar International Corp.(NAV) as of Sept. 30, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Computer Sciences Corporation(CSC)

Computer Sciences Corporation provides information technology (IT) and professional services to governments and commercial enterprises. The company?s IT outsourcing services comprise operating customer?s technology infrastructure, including systems analysis, applications development, network operations, desktop computing, and data center management services; business process outsourcing; managing transactional business functions for clients, such as procurement and supply chain, call centers and customer relationship management, credit services, claims processing and logistics. It also offers cloud computing and cyber security protection services. In addition, the company provides range of services in the areas of infrastructure as a service, software as a service (SaaS), business process as a service, platform as a service, and other technologies. Further, its IT and professional services consist of systems integration, including designing, developing, implementing, and i ntegrating information systems; and management consulting, technology consulting, and other professional services, consist of advising clients on the strategic acquisition and utilization of IT and on business strategy, security, modeling, simulation, engineering, operations, change management, and business process reengineering. Additionally, the company licenses software systems, including SaaS offerings for the financial services and other industry-specific markets; and provides a range of end-to-end business solutions. It has its operations primarily in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company was founded in 1959 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  CSC (NYSE:CSC) reported that it has signed a contract with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) to deliver SystmOne data extracts as part of the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES).

• [By Rich Smith]

  The biggest of these contracts, a sizable $179.9 million, one-year award with the potential to swell to $899.5 million if the four "option-year" extensions are exercised, is to be split among 13 separate firms:

  Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH  ) CACI (NYSE: CACI  ) Technologies Computer Sciences Corp (NYSE: CSC  ) General Dynamics (NYSE: GD  ) One Source Honeywell (NYSE: HON  ) Technology Solutions Engility Corp. Lockheed Martin Science Applications International Corp. URS Federal Services and four privately held firms.

  Under the awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ), cost-plus-fixed-fee, performance-based umbrella contract, all 13 firms will be able to compete to perform task orders for the U.S. Navy, providing "integrated cyber operations services" to Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Falls Church, Va.-based Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC  ) announced Wednesday that it is selling its Applied Technology Division to privately held PAE, a leading provider of "global mission services."

• [By Damian Illia]

  Results for third-quarter 2013 were above estimations regarding earnings, but below average in revenue. The challenges presented by the European market, plus the inactive IT spending have affected the firm�� revenues. A restructuring plan is on track, with the recent divestment of Changepoint, Professional Services and Uniface business units for $112.0 million in cash to M4 Global Solutions Holding B.V. during Jan 2014. These efforts are directed towards enhancing the core business over the long run, developing an innovative product pipeline at reduced costs to boost profitability. Nevertheless, the company faces intense competition from peers such as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), BMC Software, Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), Accenture plc (ACN), and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC).

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Intelligent Living Inc (ILIV)

Intelligent Living Inc., formerly Feel Golf Co., Inc., incorporated on February 14, 2000, is a developer of healthy aging software tracking systems and wellness centers, which will provide integrated services promoting optimal health and wellness programs. The services to be offered by the Company are personalized programs and regimens developed by nutritionists, fitness specialists and hormone replacement therapists. The Company focuses to offer the benefits of tailored nutritional programs and its products, combined with healthy-aging bio-identical hormone replacement therapies (BHRT). The Company provides services, such as Age Management Medicine, Excercise & Nutrition, MIND360.COM, Nutraceuticals, Hormone Therapy, and Business Solutions.

Age Management Medicine

The Company's Age Management Medicine is a proactive and preventative approach to healthcare for an aging population. The basic tenets of Age Management Medicine include medical history examination of the patient, a thorough lifestyle assessment, and physical and laboratory evaluations, which are used to establish personalized treatment plans.

Business Solutions

The Company is in the development stages of launching its own Electronic Medical Records software. The product will be a Web-based clinical application for the management of patients with hormone and other chronic conditions.

Excercise & Nutrition

The Company has on-site fitness specialists and nutritionists to help one attain goals. Depending on personal goals, personalized consultations are available at their request.

Hormone Therapy

The Company works directly with a pharmacy that compounds products for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). It serves both men and women.

MIND360.COM

Mind360 enhances and maintains people�� mental fitness through an online cognitive training platform. Its engaging brain training games are designed to help strengthen ke! y cognitive functions, including memory, attention, executive functions, thinking and reasoning, and visual perception. Mind360 has over 10,000 users in every continent with more than 40 games.

Nutraceuticals

The Company is focused on optimizing health goals through proper nutrition and dietary supplementation. Its Nutraceutical products support this proactive approach to healthy aging and helps reduce the negative effects of aging and improve quality of life. The Company's Nutraceutical line of products are formulated by both pharmacists and physicians.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap healthcare and lifestyle stocks Axxess Pharma Inc (OTCMKTS: AXXE), Medefile International Inc (OTCMKTS: MDFI) and Intelligent Living Inc (OTCMKTS: ILIV) have all been getting some extra attention lately thanks in part to a few disclosed paid promotions or investor relations type of activities. But just how healthy are these small cap stocks for investors and traders alike? Here is a quick reality check:

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Uroplasty Inc (UPI)

Uroplasty, Inc., incorporated in January 1992, is a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets products for the treatment of voiding dysfunctions. The Company�� primary focus is on two products: the Urgent PC Neuromodulation system and Macroplastique Implants. The Urgent PC system is a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved minimally invasive, office-based neuromodulation therapy for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB) and associated symptoms of urinary urgency, urinary frequency, and urge incontinence; and Macroplastique Implants a urethral bulking agent for the treatment of adult female stress urinary incontinence primarily due to intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD). Outside of the United States, the Company�� Urgent PC is also approved for treatment of fecal incontinence, and Macroplastique is also approved for treatment of male stress incontinence and vesicoureteral reflux.

Urgent PC Neuromodulation System

Using a small-gauge needle electrode inserted above the ankle, the Urgent PC System delivers electrical impulses to the tibial nerve that travel to the sacral nerve plexus, a control center for pelvic floor and bladder function. Components of the Urgent PC system include a hair-width needle electrode, a lead set, and an external, handheld, battery-powered stimulator. For each 30-minute, office-based therapy session, the physician or other qualified healthcare provider inserts the needle electrode in the patient�� lower leg and connects the electrode to the stimulator. Typically, a patient undergoes 12 consecutive weekly treatment sessions, with follow-up maintenance treatments as required to sustain the therapeutic effect. The Company has received regulatory clearances for sale of the Urgent PC system in the United States, Canada and Europe. It also has launched its second generation Urgent PC system.

Macroplastique

Macroplastique is designed to restore the patient�� urinary contine! nce immediately following treatment. Macroplastique is a soft-textured, permanent implant injected, under endoscopic visualization, around the urethra distal to the bladder neck. It is a composition of heat vulcanized, solid, soft, irregularly shaped polydimethylsiloxane (solid silicone elastomer) implants suspended in a biocompatible excretable carrier gel. Macroplastique does not degrade, is not absorbed into surrounding tissues and does not migrate from the implant site. The Company has sold Macroplastique for several urological indications in over 40 countries outside the United States.

Other Uroplasty Products

The Company markets outside of the United States minimally invasive products to address fecal incontinence. Its PTQ Implants offer minimally invasive, soft-textured permanent implant for treatment of fecal incontinence. The PTQ Implants are implanted circumferentially into the submucosa of the anal canal, creating a bulking and supportive effect similar to that of Macroplastique injection for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. The PTQ is Conformite Europeenne (CE) marked and is sold outside the United States in various international markets. The Urgent PC is also CE marked and sold outside of the United States for the treatment of fecal incontinence. In addition to urological applications, the Company markets its tissue bulking material outside the United States for otolaryngology vocal cord rehabilitation applications under the trade name VOX Implants. In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom only, the Company distributes certain wound care products in accordance with a distributor agreement.

The Company competes with Pfizer Inc., Johnson and Johnson, Novartis, Allergan, GlaxoSmithKline, Carbon Medical Technologies, BioForm, Inc., Q-Med AB and Contura.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Uroplasty (NASDAQ: UPI) shares reached a new 52-week high of $5.22 after the company reported strong Q3 results.

  Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) shares gained 8.23% to touch a new 52-week high of $28.15 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Barclays upgraded the stock from Equalweight to Overweight and lifted the price target from $29.00 to $34.00.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Progress Software Corporation(PRGS)

Progress Software Corporation operates as an enterprise software company worldwide. Its products include Progress OpenEdge platform, which offers development tools, application servers, application management tools, and an embedded database; Progress Orbix to address enterprise integration problems with standards-based solutions; and Progress ObjectStore, an object data management system to store data faster than relational database management system or file-based storage system. The company?s products also comprise Progress Responsiveness Process Management suite for business users; Progress Control Tower, an interactive business control panel; Progress Sonic, which comprises an enterprise messaging system and the enterprise service buses; Progress Actional that provides operational and business visibility, root cause analysis, and policy-based security and control of services; Progress Apama, which offers tools for creating, testing, and deploying strategies for applicat ions, including algorithmic trading, market aggregation, smart order routing, market surveillance and monitoring, and risk management; Progress Savvion BusinessManager, a business process management software; and Fuse products that provide customers with access to professional open source integration and messaging software. In addition, it offers Progress DataDirect Connect products, which provide data connectivity components; Progress DataDirect Shadow to provide foundation architecture for standards-based mainframe integration; and Progress Data Services product set that offers data integration for distributed applications. Further, the company provides maintenance, consulting, training, and customer support services. Progress Software Corporation sells its products to independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, and system integrators through direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Bedford, Massac husetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) shares tumbled 10.11 percent to $22.82 after the company issued a weak Q1 forecast.

  21Vianet Group (NASDAQ: VNET) was down, falling 6.18 percent to $25.94 on Q4 results.

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

  Progress Software Corp.'s(PRGS) fiscal first-quarter profit fell 64% as the business-software provider’s revenue slipped due to the timing of certain deal closures.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS  ) moved higher after posting better-than-expected quarterly results this week. The provider of developer tools software saw revenue rise by a better-than-expected 10%, and its adjusted net income of $0.27 a share blew past the $0.22 a share that the market was forecasting.�

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

  Progress Software Corp.(PRGS) trimmed its expectations for the fiscal first quarter, as the business-software provider said results were hurt by lower license sales. Shares dropped 12% to $22.27 premarket.

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: The ExOne Rallies as Cooper Tire & Rubber Renews its Plunge

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.64 percent to 14,978.12 while the NASDAQ declined 0.72 percent to 3,780.59. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.55 percent to 1,681.81.

Top Headline
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) agreed to acquire DukeNet Communications LLC for $600 million in cash. The deal is likely to close in the first quarter of 2014.

Equities Trading UP
Outerwall (NASDAQ: OUTR) shot up 3.34 percent to $59.01 after Jana Partners LLC disclosed a major stake in the company.

Shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ: DGICB) got a boost, shooting up 16.24 percent to $23.22 after Gregory Shepard offered $33-$37 per share for Donegal Group.

The ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE) was also up, gaining 2.04 percent to $45.00 as 3D printing stocks once again were spotlighted for today's trading session.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) were down 11.99 percent to $28.85 after Bank of America downgraded the stock from Buy to Underperform.

Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK) was also down, dropping 6.71 percent to $63.67 after word of a negative report on the company from OTR global hit the street early today.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co (NYSE: CTB) was down, falling 12.40 percent to $25.85 on news that its deal with Apollo appears to be in jeopardy.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.81 percent to $103.00, while gold traded up 0.95 percent to $1,322.40. Silver traded up 2.62 percent Monday to $22.30, while copper fell 0.11 percent to $3.30.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.41 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index surged 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.36 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.03 percent while U.K. shares dropped 0.26 percent.

Economics
Data on consumer credit for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Posted-In: Mid-Afternoon Market UpdateEarnings News Guidance Eurozone Commodities Forex Global Econ #s Economics Hot Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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

  Around the Web, We're Loving... Petition urges Wal-Mart, McDonald's to pay more Obama's Syria Waffle Huge Blow to US Credibility in Mideast Microsoft Buys Nokia Phone Unit for $7.2B - And CEO? What Should You Know About AMZN? Most Popular Apple TV Vs. Roku Vs. Chromecast Vs. NeoTV Vs. Bravia Smart Stick Allied Nevada Gold Reports Record Gold Production, Sales in Q3, On Track for Gold Production 175-200K Oz, Silver Production 900K-1.1M Oz in 2013 Earnings Expectations For The Week Of October 7: A New Earnings Season Tesla CEO Fights Fire with Statistics (TSLA) The Hedge That Continues To Help JC Penney Longs UPDATE: Barclays Downgrades International Business Machines Awaiting Meaningful Revenue Growth Related Articles (DECK + CTB) Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Monday October 7, 2013 Market Wrap For October 7: Trading Absent On Light News And Econ Data Mid-Afternoon Market Update: The ExOne Rallies as Cooper Tire & Rubber Renews its Plunge Mid-Day Market Update: Apple Surges On Analyst Upgrade; Cooper Tire Shares Fall Cooper Issues Statement, Says It Does not Agree that a Reduction in Share Price is Warranted Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Sharply Lower; Time Warner Cable To Acquire DukeNet Communications For $600M View the discussion thread. Partner Network #marketfy-ae-block { display: none; border: 2px solid #0a3f75; overflow: hidden; width: 300px; height: 125px; text-align: center; background-color: #45719E; position: relative; z-index: 1; } #marketfy-ae-block a { display: block; width: 300px; height: 125px; position: relative; z-index: 2; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text { color: #f9fc99; padding: 0px 0 0 0; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text-start { font-size: 12px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown { padding: 5px 0 5px 0; font-size: 26px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup { padding: 5px 47px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup:hover { background-color: #457a1a; } #marketfy-ae-block #marketfy-ae-block-logo { display: block; padding: 3px 0 0 0; margin: 0; } #marketfy-ae-block-logo { text-indent: -9999px; } #marketfy-ae-block-free { display: block; position: absolute; top: 7px; right: -23px; width: 80px;

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015

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When the LA Dodgers��22-year-old rookie sensation Yasiel Puig signed a seven-year, $42 million contract, the first thing he did was go out and get himself a new Rolls-Royce.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Ambit Biosciences Corp (AMBI)

Ambit Biosciences Corporation, incorporated on May 17, 2000, is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs to treat unmet medical needs in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by inhibiting kinases that are important drivers for those diseases. The Company�� lead drug candidate, quizartinib, is in Phase IIb clinical development in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The Company�� second drug candidate in clinical development, AC410, is a potent, selective, orally-administered, small molecule inhibitor of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) that has potential utility for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The Company�� third program consists of two selective small molecule compounds, AC708 and AC855, which inhibit the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R), a receptor tyrosine kinase.

Quizartinib

The Company�� lead drug candidate, quizartinib, is a once-daily, orally-administered, potent and selective inhibitor of FLT3, a validated target in the treatment of AML, and is in Phase IIb clinical development. The FLT3-ITD mutation acts like a power switch that causes leukemic cells, or blasts, to spread more aggressively and grow back more rapidly following chemotherapy, conferring an especially poor survival outcome. Quizartinib is designed to turn off this switch. The Company is developing a companion diagnostic test with Genoptix Medical Laboratory, a Novartis company, to identify FLT3-ITD positive patients.

AC410

The Company�� advanced drug candidate, AC410, is a potent, selective, orally-administered, small molecule inhibitor of JAK2, which has potential utility for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Signaling through JAK controls the activation, proliferation and survival of various types of immune cells, and overactivation of such cells can exacerbate a range of normal inflammatory processes, resulting i! n inflammation. The Company�� initial JAK2 drug candidate, AC430, is a racemic mixture (50/50) of two enantiomers (mirror images), AC410 and AC409, and was studied in a Phase I clinical trial.

CSF1R Program

The Company is developing two potent and exquisitely selective small molecule compounds, AC708 and AC855 that both inhibit CSF1R and have potential utility in oncology, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Signaling through CSF1R controls the activation, proliferation and survival of macrophages, which are key mediators of immune system function and over-activation of macrophages, may result in exacerbation of certain diseases.

The Company competes with Abbvie Inc., Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB, Amgen Inc., ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AROG Pharmaceuticals, LLC, ArQule, Inc., Astellas, AstraZeneca plc, Bayer AG, Celgene Corporation, Daiichi-Sankyo Company Limited, Galapagos NV, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Incyte Corporation, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., F. Hoffman-LaRoche Ltd, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Ambit Biosciences Corp. (AMBI) �shares fell more than 37% to $8 in moderate volume. The small-cap biotech said it will not file an accelerated approval application with the Food and Drug Administration for its leukemia drug quizartinib after the agency disagreed with the company about the use of certain study data to support the drug�� efficacy.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Alon USA Partners LP (ALDW)

Alon USA Partners, LP (Alon USA), incorporated on August 17, 2012, owns and operates refining and petroleum products marketing business. Its integrated downstream business operates primarily in the South Central and Southwestern regions of the United States. It owns and operates a crude oil refinery in Big Spring, Texas with total throughput capacity of approximately 70,000 barrels per day (bpd). The crude oil pipelines the Company utilizes consist of the Amdel, White Oil, Mesa Interconnect, Centurion and Centurion Interconnect. Its Big Spring refinery produces ultra-low sulfur gasoline, ultra-low sulfur diesel, jet fuel, petrochemicals, petrochemical feedstocks, asphalt and other petroleum products.

During the year ended December 31, 2011 and the six months ended June 30, 2012, sour crude, such as West Texas Sour (WTS), represented approximately 80.4% and 80.4% of its throughput, respectively, and sweet crude, such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), represented approximately 15.8% and 17.1% of its throughput, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2011 and the six months ended June 30, 2012, the Company produced approximately 49.1% and 49.2% gasoline, 32.3% and 32.5% diesel/jet fuel, 7.1% and 6.4% asphalt, 6.0% and 6.0% petrochemicals and 5.5% and 5.9% other refined products, in each case, respectively. The Company distributes fuel products through a product pipeline and terminal network of seven pipelines totaling approximately 840 miles and six terminals that it owns or access.

The Company competes with Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Wednesday
  Alon Partners USA (NYSE: ALDW  ) reports on Wednesday. Analysts see the oil refiner earning $1.36 per unit on Wednesday, and that's welcome news for investors. Alon Partners is set up as a limited partnership, passing on most of the money it makes to its stakeholders.

5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: TearLab Corporation(TEAR)

TearLab Corporation operates as an ophthalmic device company. It engages in developing and commercializing TearLab Osmolarity System, a proprietary in vitro diagnostic tear testing platform that measures tear film osmolarity for the diagnosis of dry eye disease. The company?s system enables eye care practitioners to test for sensitive and specific biomarkers using nanoliters of tear film at the point-of-care. Its TearLab Osmolarity System consists of TearLab disposable, which is a single-use microfluidic microchip; TearLab pen, which is a hand-held device that interfaces with the TearLab disposable; and TearLab reader, which is a small desktop unit that allows for the docking of the TearLab disposable and the TearLab pen, as well as provides a quantitative reading for the operator. TearLab Corporation markets its system through a network of distributors in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company, formerly known as OccuLogix, Inc., was founded in 1996 and is headquart ered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One potential earnings short-squeeze candidate is in-vitro diagnostic player TearLab (TEAR), which is set to release numbers on Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect TearLab to report revenue of $3.51 million on a loss of 13 cents per share.

  This company has managed to top Wall Street estimates two times over the last four quarters, which is a bullish earnings trend. If TearLab can delve another beat, then shares could be setting up for a large move higher.

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for TearLab is extremely high at 37.1%. That means that out of the 25.54 million shares in the tradable float, 8.59 million shares are sold short by the bears. This is a huge short interest on a stock with a very low tradable float. If the bulls get the earnings news they're looking for, then shares of TEAR could easily explode higher post-earnings as the bears jump to cover some of their bets.

  From a technical perspective, TEAR is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last six months, with shares moving higher from its low of $5.26 to its recent high of $15.18 a share. During that uptrend, shares of TEAR have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of TEAR within range of triggering a major breakout trade post-earnings.

  If you're bullish on TEAR, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $14.28 to its 52-week high at $15.18 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that registers near or above its three-month average action of 942,598 shares. If that breakout hits, then TEAR will set up to enter new 52-week high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside

• [By Seth Jayson]

  TearLab (Nasdaq: TEAR  ) reported earnings on May 13. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), TearLab beat expectations on revenues and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc.(SWM)

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry, as well as specialized paper products for use in various applications. It operates in two segments, Paper and Reconstituted Tobacco. The Paper segment primarily produces cigarette papers, such as lower ignition propensity papers, plug wrap papers, and base tipping papers to cigarette manufacturers that use to wrap various parts of a cigarette. It also offers commercial and industrial products, including lightweight printing and writing papers, battery separator papers, drinking straw wraps, filter papers, and other specialized papers to converters and other end-users or brokers. The Reconstituted Tobacco segment produces and sells reconstituted tobacco leaf, and wrapper and binder products to cigarette and cigar manufacturers. The company sells its products directly to customers in approximately 90 countries. Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Specialty paper manufacturer and distributor Schweitzer-Mauduit (SWM) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 36 cents per share, payable on Dec. 26 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 27.
  SWM Dividend Yield: 2.78%
  

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Arkansas Best Corporation (ABFS)

Arkansas Best Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services and solutions. The company�s Freight Transportation segment offers aggregate, national, inter-regional, and regional transportation of general commodities; motor carrier freight transportation services; business-to-business air transportation services for exporting freight out of the United States and import into the United States; ocean transport services; global customizable supply chain solutions; and integrated warehousing services. Its Premium Logistics and Expedited Freight Services segment provides expedited freight transportation services to commercial and government customers; and premium logistics services that involve the deployment of specialized equipment to meet line haul requirements, such as temperature control, hazardous materials, geofencing, specialized government cargo, security services, and life sciences. This segment also offers domestic and international f reight transportation with air, ocean, and ground service. The company�s Truck Brokerage and Management segment provides third-party transportation brokerage and management services by sourcing various equipment types, including truckload, flatbed, intermodal, temperature-controlled, and specialized equipment coupled with carrier- and customer-based Web tools. Its Emergency and Preventative Maintenance segment offers roadside assistance and maintenance management services for commercial vehicles through a network of third-party service providers. The company�s Household Goods Moving Services segment provides third-party transportation, warehousing, and delivery services to the consumer, corporate, and military household goods moving markets. As of December 31, 2012, the company operated approximately 3,700 tractors and 20,000 trailers that were used in its line haul and local pickup and delivery operations. Arkansas Best Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  This week's winner
  The top dog this week was, again, the star of this deeply discounted value portfolio, Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS  ) . The trucking company soared 18% on the week after announcing that its ABF teamsters had ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement, and passed a majority of supplements in the ABF National Master Freight Agreement. This news paves the way for Arkansas Best to, once again, be cost-competitive with its peers without having to reduce its workforce. Shares have now more than doubled in just the past two months.

• [By Sean Williams]

  This week's winner
  Should it really surprise anyone that portfolio superstar Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS  ) led the way with a 6.3% gain on the week. During the week, TheStreet.com upgraded Arkansas Best from sell to hold, citing increases in sales and income as the impetus for the upgrade. More so than that, trucking company Arkansas Best is being seen as a takeover target, with YRC Worldwide�expressing serious interest in acquiring the company. Let me not forget that we collected $0.03 per share from Arkansas Best in the form of a dividend as well!

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Adept Technology Inc.(ADEP)

Adept Technology, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides intelligent robotics systems and services for packaging, solar, medical, disk drive/electronics, machine tool automation, and automotive electronics markets. Its product range includes application software, integrated real-time vision and multi-axis motion controls, machine vision systems and software, autonomous navigation software and controls, industrial robots and grippers, autonomous service robots, intelligent automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and advanced vision-based flexible parts feeders. The company offers 4-axis Cobra family of robots, which are designed for assembly and material handling tasks; Adept Quattro parallel robots for high-speed packaging, assembly, and loading/unloading applications; Adept Viper 6-axis articulated robots for high-speed precision assembly; Modular Adept Python single axis robot mechanisms; and mobile robots, including autonomous service robots and intelligent AGVs. It a lso provides support services to customers, including spare parts for and/or remanufacture of robot mechanisms; information regarding the use of its automation equipment; ongoing support for installed systems; consulting services for applications; and training courses ranging from system operation and maintenance to programming for manufacturing engineers, who design and implement automation lines. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, as well as through systems integrators, sales representatives, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Adept Technology, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Michael's pick for 2014 was Adept Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: ADEP), a play on the red-hot robotics sector whose stock he predicted could zoom 50% to 100% because of improving finances and the potential for a takeover.

• [By CRWE]

  Adept Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADEP), a leading provider of intelligent robots and autonomous mobile solutions and services, reported the appointment of Cornerstone Technical Group (CTG) as its regional distributor covering the southeastern United States.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap robotic stock Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP) has put in a very good performance this month verses its immediate peer�iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT) as well as against medical robotic stocks like MAKO Surgical (NASDAQ: MAKO), Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) and Hansen Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: HNSN). I should also mention that we have recently added Adept Technology to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio (we are up 9% since last week) because we feel robotics is an improving sector as companies aim to reduce overhead and improve efficiencies through machine to machine (M2M) automation.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Kraft Foods Group Inc (KRFT)

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (Kraft Foods Group), incorporated on March 16, 2012, operates food and beverage businesses in North America. The Company manufactures and markets food and beverage products, including convenient meals, refreshment beverages and coffee, cheese and other grocery products, in the United States and Canada, under a stable of iconic brands. Its product categories span breakfast, lunch and dinner meal occasions, both at home and in foodservice locations. The Company sells its products to supermarket chains, wholesalers, supercenters, club stores, mass merchandisers, distributors, convenience stores, drug stores, gasoline stations, value stores and other retail food outlets in the United States and Canada. On September 14, 2012, the Company�� parent company, Kraft Foods Inc. (Kraft ParentCo), issued a press release relating to the anticipated trading markets for Kraft Foods Inc. and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. common stock through the completion of its spin-off from Kraft Foods Inc. In October 2012, Mondelez International, Inc. completed the spin-off of North American grocery business, Kraft Foods Group. In June 2013, Kraft Foods Group Inc announced plans to create two new, standalone business units: Meals and Desserts, and Enhancers and Snack Nuts.

The Company�� brand portfolio consists of food brands in North America, including three brands: Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; Oscar Mayer meats, and Maxwell House coffees- plus over 20 brands. It manufactures and sells food and beverage products in 50 categories. The Company operates in five segments: U.S. Beverages, which manufactures packaged juice drinks, powdered beverages and coffee; U.S. Cheese, which manufactures processed, natural and cream cheeses; U.S. Convenient Meals, which manufactures processed meats and lunch combinations; U.S. Grocery, which manufactures spoonable and pourable dressings, condiments, desserts, packaged dinners and snack nuts, and Canada & N.A. Foodservice, which sells products that span ! all of its segments and includes the Canadian and Puerto Rico grocery business, the North American foodservice operations and the North American Grocery Export Business.

U.S. Beverages

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company�� U.S. Beverages segment contributed 16% of its combined net revenues. This segment manufactures refreshment beverages, including Capri Sun (under license) and Kool-Aid packaged juice drinks, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light and Country Timepowdered beverages and MiO liquid concentrate, and coffee products, including Maxwell House, Gevalia and Yuban coffees, Maxwell House Internationalbeverage mixers and Tassimo (under license) hot beverage system.

U.S. Cheese

During 2011, U.S. Cheese segment had contributed 20% of the Company�� combined net revenues. This segment manufactures processed cheese, including Velveeta and Cheez Whiz processed cheeses, Kraft and Deli Deluxe processed cheese slices, Kraft grated cheeses and Polly-O and Athenos hummus and cheeses; natural cheese, including Kraft and Cracker Barrel natural cheeses, and cream cheese, including Philadelphia cream cheese and cooking creme.

U.S. Convenient Meals

During 2011, the Company�� U.S. Convenient Meals segment contributed 18% of its combined net revenues. This segment�� principal brands and products include Oscar Mayer lunch meats, hot dogs and bacon, Lunchables lunch combinations, Boca soy-based meat alternatives, and Claussen pickles.

U.S. Grocery

During 2011, the Company�� U.S. Grocery segment contributed 25% of its combined net revenues. This segment�� principal brands and products include Kraft and Kraft Deluxe macaroni & cheese dinners, Planters nuts, trail mixes and peanut butter, Corn Nuts corn snacks, Jell-O dry packaged desserts and refrigerated gelatin and pudding snacks, Cool Whip whipped topping, Jet-Puffed marshmallows, Baker�� chocolate and baking ingredients, Kraft and Miracle Whip sp! oonable d! ressings, Kraft and Good Seasons salad dressings, A.1. steak sauce, Kraft and Bull��-Eye barbecue sauces, Grey Poupon mustards, Shake N��Bake coatings, Stove Top stuffing mix, Taco Bell Home Originals (under license) meal kits, Velveeta shells and cheese dinners, and Velveeta Skillets meal kits.

Canada & N.A. Foodservice

During 2011, the Company�� Canada & N.A. Foodservice segment contributed 21% of its combined net revenues. The principal products and brands in this segment span all of its segments. Canadian grocery offerings include Nabob coffee and Kraft peanut butter, as well as a range of products in the Grocery Business Lines. The North American foodservice business sells branded products, including Maxwell House coffee, A.1. steak sauce and a range of Kraft sauces, dressings and cheeses, and serves the needs of restaurants and other foodservice operations. Puerto Rico grocery offerings include all grocery business lines, except for powdered and liquid concentrate beverages, such as Crystal Light, Tang and MiO. The North American Grocery Export Business products and brands span all grocery business lines, except for powdered and liquid concentrate beverages and certain products sold under brands, such as Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraftmayonnaise, which marketed and sold locally by Kraft ParentCo in countries outside the United States and Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Like Kraft (NASDAQ: KRFT  ) before it, a broken-up HP would almost certainly have to be replaced on the Dow. Neither Kraft nor its snack-food spinoff Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ  ) has the monolithic heft that kept the old Kraft on the Dow, nor the sustained growth that might have qualified one section to qualify on its own. Both stocks are doing fine after the split -- Kraft is up a market-beating 14.7%, while Mondelez has risen a modest 3.5% -- but neither one makes a serious case for individual Dow membership.

• [By John Dessauer]

  Kraft Foods (KRFT) reported third quarter results that included complicated accounting matters. There was a $0.18 per share boost from gains in the company's retirement plans, and a loss of $0.05 from hedging activities.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From food giants to tech bellwethers, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Organic Growth: The market for organic foods has never been hotter, and Annie's (BNNY) is there to cash in on consumers craving more natural edibles. It makes organic pastas, crackers, frozen pizzas, and other food products. Annie's reports after the market closes on Monday. It should be another quarter of healthy growth. Analysts see revenue and earnings growing by roughly 20 percent for the quarter that ended in December. The one thing that investors will need to watch out for is that Annie's has missed Wall Street's profit targets in the previous two quarters. Tuesday -- In Control: One of last month's big winners was Control4 (CTRL). Shares of the home automation specialist soared 29 percent in January, bucking the market, which took a bit of a tumble. And you don't have to look too hard to spot the catalyst behind its rally. Google's (GOOG) acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest drew attention to Control4 as another play on automated home technology. The thinking here is that if Google is buying into the niche of Web-fueled home automation, other dot-com giants may consider acquiring Control4 to establish a presence in this new battlefield. Control4 reports on Tuesday. It's unlikely to admit that it's receiving buyout interest on the heels of Google's move, but you know it's going to be asked. Wednesday -- The Cisco kid: It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when Cisco (CSCO) was this country's most valuable company. Just before the dot-com bubble popped, the leading provider of routers, switches, and other networking gear commanded the market's largest market cap. Then again, at the time we thought that anything Web-related was worth a whole lot of money, and Cisco was the co

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: IMAX Corp (IMAX)

IMAX Corporation, incorporated on January 1, 2002, together with its wholly owned subsidiaries, is an entertainment technology companies, specializing in motion picture technologies and presentations. The Company�� customers who purchase lease or otherwise acquire the IMAX theatre systems are theatre exhibitors, which operate commercial theatres, museums, science centers, and destination entertainment sites. IMAX theatre systems combine the Company�� digital re-mastering movie conversion technology (IMAX DMR), projectors with equipment and automated theatre control systems, sound system components, screens, theatre geometry, and theatre acoustics.

The Company�� principal business is the design, manufacture and delivery of theater systems (IMAX theater systems). The Company�� customers who purchase, lease or otherwise acquire the IMAX theater systems through joint revenue sharing arrangements are theater exhibitors that operate commercial theaters (particularly multiplexes), museums, science centers, or destination entertainment sites. The Company does not own IMAX theaters, but licenses the use of its trademarks along with the sale, lease or contribution of the IMAX theater system.

IMAX Systems, Theater System Maintenance and Joint Revenue Sharing Arrangements

The Company provides IMAX theater systems to customers on a sales or long-term lease basis with an initial 10-year term. These agreements consist of initial fees and ongoing fees (which can include a fixed minimum amount per annum and contingent fees in excess of the minimum payments) and maintenance and extended warranty fees. The initial fees vary depending on the system configuration and location of the theater and generally are paid to the Company in installments between the time of system signing and the time of system installation. Ongoing fees are paid over the term of the contract, commencing after the theater system has been installed and are generally equal to the greater of a fixed minimu! m amount per annum or a percentage of boxoffice receipts. The Company also provides IMAX theater systems to customers under joint revenue sharing arrangements, pursuant to which the Company provides the IMAX theater system in return for a portion of the customer�� IMAX box-office receipts, and in some cases concession revenues and/or a small upfront or initial payment. As at December 31, 2012, the Company had 316 theaters in operation under joint revenue sharing arrangements.

Production and Digital Re-Mastering (IMAX DMR)

The Company�� technology digitally re-masters Hollywood films into IMAX digital cinema package format or 15/70-format film. IMAX DMR digitally enhances the image resolution of motion picture films for projection on IMAX screens while maintaining or enhancing the visual clarity and sound quality to levels for which The IMAX Experience is known. This technology enabled the IMAX theater network to release Hollywood films simultaneously with domestic release. In a typical IMAX DMR film arrangement, the Company will receive a percentage of net box-office receipts of any commercial films released in the IMAX network, which is generally 10-15%, from a film studio for the conversion of the film to the IMAX DMR format and access to its distribution platform. During the year ended December 31, 2012, 35 films converted through the IMAX DMR process were released to theaters within the IMAX network. As of December 31, 2012, the Company released 23 IMAX DMR titles to theaters within the IMAX network. During 2012, five local language IMAX DMR films were released, including one French film, Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami: The IMAX Experience and four Chinese IMAX DMR titles: Tai Chi 0: An IMAX 3D Experience, Tai Chi Hero: An IMAX 3D Experience, Back to 1942: The IMAX Experience and CZ12: The IMAX Experience.

Film Distribution and Post-Production

The Company is also a distributor of large-format films, primarily catering to its institution! al theate! r partners. The Company generally distributes films, which it produces or for which it has acquired distribution rights from independent producers. The Company generally receives a percentage of the theater box-office receipts as a distribution fee. Films produced by the Company are typically financed through third parties, whereby the Company will generally receive a film production fee in exchange for producing the film and a distribution fee for distributing the film. The Company utilizes third-party funding for the majority of original films it produces and distributes. In 2012, the Company, along with Warner Bros. Pictures (WB) and MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF) released an original title, To the Artic 3D: An IMAX 3D Experience.

The Company derives a small portion of its revenues from other sources. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had four owned and operated theaters. In addition, the Company has a commercial arrangement with one theater resulting in the sharing of profits and losses and provides management services to two theaters. The Company also rents its two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) large-format film and digital cameras to third party production companies. The Company maintains cameras and other film equipment and also offers production advice and technical assistance to both documentary and Hollywood filmmakers. Additionally, the Company generates revenues from the sale of after-market parts and 3D glasses. As of December 31, 2012, approximately 54.2% of IMAX systems in operation were located in the United States and Canada. As at December 31, 2012, approximately 45.8% of IMAX systems in operation were located within international markets (other than the United States and Canada).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang]

  Imax (IMAX) : The stock is up 27% year to date. The movie will be shown at select IMAX 3D theaters. The stock is rated a buy with a price target of $35 at B. Riley & Co.

• [By Rich Smith]

  IMAX's (NYSE: IMAX  ) march to world domination continues.

  After announcing expansions of its theater network in first Russia, then Mexico, then Indonesia earlier this year, the theater-tech company announced Monday that it is partnering with CJ CGV Holdings to add 35 new IMAX theaters in China and South Korea. Five of these new theater locations, the Korean ones, had been previously optioned, but are now confirmed. The 30 Chinese locations are officially "new" news.

• [By Chris Katje]

  Two other companies should be watched in the "Jurassic Park" mania. In 2013, "Jurassic Park" was re-released in theaters to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary. IMAX theaters (IMAX) showed the movie on their huge screens and saw big results. In the film's opening weekend, IMAX saw box office revenue of $6 million. This represented 32% of total domestic opening weekend box office and marked the highest market share of a wide release movie for IMAX. If IMAX can score the rights to the fourth movie, it should add to an already potential blockbuster and record breaking 2015 summer.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, jumbo-movie-screen systems maker IMAX (NYSE: IMAX  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Vmware Inc.(VMW)

VMware, Inc. provides virtualization and virtualization-based cloud infrastructure solutions in the United States and internationally. The company?s products address planned and unplanned downtime management, system recoverability and reliability, backup and recovery, resource provisioning and management, capacity and performance management, and security issues. Its cloud infrastructure products and technologies include VMware vSphere, which is a data center platform that also enables live migration of actively running virtual machines across servers or storage locations without disruption or downtime; enables availability for all applications against hardware and operating system failures; and enables centralized point of control for cluster-level networking, as well as automatically manages the placement and balancing of a virtual machine across storage resources. The company also offers cloud application platform solutions that help organizations build, run, and manage enterprise applications in public, private, or hybrid clouds optimized for vSphere. In addition, it provides end-user computing solutions, which provide secure access to applications and data from various devices and location, as well as serves the corporate IT departments through managing and connecting end-user assets delivering them as a managed service. The company?s end-user computing solutions also provide the ability to manage software as a service, Windows, Mobile, or enterprise applications, as well as enhance communication and collaboration between end users. Further, it provides a range of professional services, such as consulting, education, and technical account manager services, as well as customer support services. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. VMware, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of EMC Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  Intel joined forces in March with several other big companies -- Dell (NASDAQ: DELL  ) , RedHat (NYSE: RHT  ) , VMWare (NYSE: VMW  ) , and Epic Systems. The companies, going by the acronym DRIVE, operate a facility near Epic's headquarters in Wisconsin that allows hospitals to test and deploy new software on Linux servers. Epic provides the software. Dell provides the servers -- with Intel inside, of course. Those servers use RedHat's Enterprise Linux operating system and VMWare's VSphere virtualization platform. The goal of this effort is to demonstrate to small and medium-sized hospitals that the solution involving the DRIVE companies is a cost-effective approach that meets their needs.�

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Scratch one asset from the portfolio of VMware (NYSE: VMW  ) . The company announced that it has sold Zimbra, the self-described "enterprise-class email, calendar, and collaboration solution" provider, to privately held IT firm Telligent Systems. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is seeing a strong reaction to its corporate earnings report. Its third quarter sales were broadly in-line with analyst expectations, but earnings managed to beat the consensus analyst estimates. The VMware report always tends to have a reflection on EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) as EMC is the super-majority shareholder here.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  To help the company scale up, Red Hat just expanded its management team by one more vice president. Scott Musson comes to Red Hat from virtual computing specialist VMware (NYSE: VMW  ) , where he was responsible for that company's global partnership programs.

Top Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.(PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides onshore contract drilling services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States and Canada. The company offers pressure pumping services that consist of well stimulation and cementing for completion of new wells and remedial work on existing wells, as well as hydraulic fracturing, nitrogen, cementing, and acid pumping services in Texas and the Appalachian Basin; and contract drilling services primarily in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and western Canada. It also owns and invests in oil and natural gas assets located primarily in Texas and New Mexico. As of December 31, 2011, it had a drilling fleet of 330 marketable land-based drilling rigs. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Elliott Gue]

  Our investment thesis: Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) continues to upgrade its fleet of drilling rigs, replacing older units with advanced APEX Walking rigs.