Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now

On Monday, it was announced that the American unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) will be paying $37.5 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, $37.5 million to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency, and $15 million to the Office of the Comptroller to settle regulatory claims related to the accounts of a man who is now in jail for running a Ponzi scheme.

According to Bloomberg, a former TD regional vice president was sued by the SEC for claiming falsely in 2009 that TD had “restricted the movement of funds” in Joel Rothstein’s account. Rothstein, a Florida lawyer, is currently serving a 50-year term related to a Ponzi �scheme, which fell apart in late 2009.

Hot Recreation Stocks To Watch For 2015: Stepan Co (SCL)

Stepan Company, incorporated on February 19, 1959, produces specialty and intermediate chemicals, which are sold to other manufacturers and then made into a variety of end products. The Company serves principal markets, such as manufacturers of cleaning and washing compounds (including detergents, shampoos, fabric softeners, toothpastes and household cleaners), paints, cosmetics, food and beverages, agricultural products, plastics, furniture, automotive equipment, insulation and refrigeration. The Company has three segments: surfactants, polymers and specialty products. The Company operates in the geographical regions of North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. As of December 31, 2012, the Surfactants segment accounted to 72%, Polymers segment accounted to 24% and Specialty segment accounted to 4% of the Company�� revenues. On March 22, 2012, the Company increased its controlling interest in Stepan Philippines Inc from 89% to 100%.

Surfactants

Surfactants are used in a variety of consumer and industrial cleaning compounds as well as in agricultural products, lubricating ingredients, biodiesel and other specialized applications. The Surfactants are principal ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning products, such as detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, floors and walls, as well as shampoos, body washes, toothpastes and fabric softeners. Surfactants are manufactured at six North American sites (five in the United States and one in Canada), three European sites (United Kingdom, France and Germany), and three Latin American sites (Mexico, Brazil and Colombia), and one Asian site (Philippines and Singapore). The Company also holds a 50% ownership interest in a joint venture, TIORCO, LLC (TIORCO), that markets chemical solutions for increasing the production of crude oil and natural gas from existing fields.

Polymers

Polymers generate its revenues primarily from the sale of polyols and phthalic anhydride used in plastics, buildi! ng materials and refrigeration systems. It includes two primary product lines: polyols and phthalic anhydride. Polyols are used in the manufacture of rigid laminate insulation board for thermal insulation in the construction industry. Polyols are also a base raw material for flexible foams, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers.

Phthalic anhydride is used in unsaturated polyester resins, alkyd resins and plasticizers for applications in construction materials and components of automotive, boating and other consumer products. In addition, phthalic anhydride is used internally in the production of polyols. In the United States, polymer product lines are manufactured at the Company�� Millsdale, Illinois, site. In Europe, polyols are manufactured at the Company�� subsidiaries in Germany and Poland. In Asia, polyols are produced at the Company�� 80% owned joint venture in Nanjing, China.

Specialty Products

Specialty products are used in food, flavoring and pharmaceutical applications. It includes flavors, emulsifiers and solubilizers used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Specialty products are primarily manufactured at the Company�� Maywood, New Jersey, site.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Stepan (NYSE: SCL  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Stepan doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue decreased 4.8%, and inventory increased 30.6%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks potentially problematic. Revenue dropped 1.9%, and inventory grew 30.6%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks OK but not great. Revenue grew 6.9%, and inventory grew 9.5%.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.93 per share on revenue of $467.40 million.

  Lennox International (NYSE: LII) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.28 per share on revenue of $877.87 million.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Zweig Fund Inc (ZF)

The Zweig Fund, Inc. (the Fund), incorporated on June 30, 1986, is a closed-end, diversified management investment company. The Fund�� objective is to increase capital primarily with investment in equity securities, consistent with capital preservation and reduction of risk. The Fund�� principal stock market sectors as on June 30, 2007, included information technology, financials, industrials, energy and healthcare.

The Fund�� investment adviser is Phoenix/Zweig Advisers LLC. As of June 30, 2007, its principal industrial positions included Cisco Systems, Corning Inc., EMC Corp., Ford, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, PowerShares QQQ, Nike, Nokia Corp. and Valero Energy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nathan Slaughter]

  Consider the Zweig Fund (NYSE: ZF). It's a closed-end fund that has $340 million in net assets, which are invested in a diverse basket of blue-chip stocks such as PepsiCo, Apple, JPMorgan, Comcast, U.S. Bancorp and Qualcomm.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Unit Corporation(UNT)

Unit Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the contract drilling, oil and natural gas, and mid-stream businesses in the United States. The company?s Contract Drilling segment engages in land contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells for oil and natural gas companies in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and North Dakota. Its Oil and Natural Gas segment is involved in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties located primarily in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota, as well as in Arkansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and a small portion in Canada. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had approximately 121 gross proved undeveloped wells. The company?s Mid-Stream segment buys, sells, gathers, processes, and treats natural gas. It operates 3 natural gas treatment plants, 10 operating processing plants, 35 active gathering systems, and 934 miles of pipeline in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The company operates a fleet of 127 drilling rigs. Unit Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Having said that, I can’t find anything in the article archives about Unit Corp. (NYSE: UNT). Unit describes itself as a diversified energy company engaged in the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas, the acquisition of producing oil and natural gas properties, the contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells, and the gathering and processing of natural gas.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: EMS Seven Seas ASA (EMS)

EMS Seven Seas ASA, formerly known as Eitzen Maritime Services ASA, is a Norway-based company active in the shipping industry. It is operational through two divisions: Ship Management and Ship Supply, servicing clients within the military, merchant, fisheries, offshore and cruise market segments. The Ship Management (and Insurance) unit provides technical management, crewing, newbuilding and project consultancy services, ship agency services and marine insurance brokering. It has its main operations in the Baltic, Russia, India and Singapore. Ship Supply provides provisions, duty free products, stores, spares and marine products and equipment to the merchant marine, offshore, fishing fleet, military and cruise market. This segment operates in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Djibouti and Singapore. Eitzen Maritime Services ASA is active internationally through its subsidiaries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By victorselva]

  In a macro view, revenues in the electronic equipment and instrument sub-industry will remain strong due to the rise in equipment and instrument manufacturers. Distributors, electronic manufacturing service (EMS) companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are going to increase orders as the economy improves in the future. With this promising outlook, let's take a look at Gabelli麓s last trade and try to explain to investors the reasons of this appealing investment opportunity.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Pretium Resources Inc (PVG)

Pretium Resources Inc. is an exploration and development company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal resource properties in the Americas. Its projects include the Brucejack Project and the Snowfield Project, which are advanced-stage exploration projects located in northwestern British Columbia. The Brucejack Project is a gold-silver exploration project consisted of six mineral claims totaling 3,199.28 hectares in area. As of December 31, 2011, the Brucejack Report was consisted of eight different zones on the West Zone, Bridge Zone, Low Grade Halo Zone, Shore Zone, Galena Hill Zone, Gossan Hill Zone, SG Zone and Valley of Kings (VOK) Zone. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 100% interest in the Snowfield Project. The Snowfield Project also contains molybdenum and rhenium. The Company�� subsidiaries include Pretium Exploration Inc. and 0890696 B.C. Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  His largest new buys in the first quarter are: Penn Virginia Group Holdings LP (PVG), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN), Methanex Corp. (MEOH), Solutia Inc. (SOA) and Georgia Gulf (GGC). Of his top eight stocks, five are from the chemicals industry.

• [By Hebba Investments]

  Therefore the situation is still very bullish for investors in physical gold and the gold ETFs (GLD, CEF, and PHYS). Investors interested in leveraging this situation into higher potential profits may also consider buying gold miners such as Randgold (GOLD), Goldcorp (GG), Yamana Gold (AUY), and any of the other gold miners. Finally, those willing to shoulder much larger risks may consider some of the exploration and micro-cap companies that offer significant profits at a high risk such as Chesapeake Gold (CHPGF.PK), Pretium Resources (PVG), Western Copper (WRN), or any other of the junior exploration companies. Though investors should keep in mind that gold mining companies and explorers do not always rise with a rising gold price - do your research before you invest in the miners.

Best Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Amerco (UHAL)

AMERCO, through its subsidiary U-Haul International, Inc., a do-it-yourself moving and storage operator that supplies products and services to help people move and store their household and commercial goods in the United States and Canada. The company engages in the rental of trucks, trailers, specialty rental items, and self-storage spaces primarily to the household mover as well as sales of moving supplies, towing accessories and propane. It also offers eMove, an online marketplace, which connects consumers to independent moving help service providers and independent self-storage affiliates, as well as manages self-storage properties. In addition, the company provides loss adjusting and claims handling services, as well as underwrites moving and storage protection packages, including Safemove and Safetow that provide moving and towing customers with a damage waiver, cargo protection, and medical and life insurance coverage; Safestor, which protects storage customers from loss on their goods in storage; and Super Safemove that offer rental customer with a layer of primary liability protection. Further, it provides life and health insurance products primarily to the senior market through the direct writing or reinsuring of life insurance, medicare supplement, and annuity policies. The company rents its orange and white U-Haul trucks and trailers, as well as offers self-storage rooms through a network of approximately 1,400 company operated retail moving centers and approximately 15,000 independent U-Haul dealers. Its rental fleet consists of approximately 101,000 trucks, 82,000 trailers, and 33,000 towing devices, as well as operates approximately 1,115 self-storage locations in North America, with approximately 411,000 rentable rooms. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Reno, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Given my druthers, were I asked to recommend a truck rental shop today, I think I'd have to go with U-Haul owner AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL  ) instead. It's got the free cash flow that Ryder lacks, plus a cheaper P/E, a slightly faster growth rate, and a smaller debt load. Honestly, I don't "love" AMERCO either -- but it's a heck of a better value than Ryder.