Yesterday's sharp gains put a bounce in investors' steps, but today the markets aren't going for a repeat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) has sunk 72 points, or 0.47%, as of 2:15 p.m. EDT, and�Verizon's (NYSE: VZ ) stock is the anchor around its neck, along with downbeat global growth forecasts. Most members of the index are down today, with Verizon and several other big movers falling by more than 2%. Let's catch up on the top stories you need to know.
China slows further
The International Monetary Fund cut its Chinese growth projections for 2013 and 2014 today, now expecting the world's second-largest economy to grow by 7.75% per year after earlier projecting 8% growth this year and 8.2% next year. China's slowdown from its previous double-digit-percentage economic growth has hurt companies counting on the developing economy to fuel sales. Industrials in particular have been hit hard: Major China manufacturing player Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) saw its Asia-Pacific retail sales fall at least 20% in each of the last three months as reduced Chinese infrastructure spending hurts demand. Caterpillar's stock hasn't reacted badly to the news, however, with shares gaining 0.5% so far today to defy the Dow's drop.
Hot Income Stocks To Own For 2015: Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund (GPM)
Old Mutual/Claymore Long-Short Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and current gains. The Fund�� secondary investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund invests in a portfolio of equity securities and by selling securities short in the S&P 500 Index that it believes will under perform relative to the average stock in the S&P 500. The Fund will also write (sell) call options on equity indexes and, to a lesser extent, on individual securities held in the Fund�� portfolio.
The Fund�� investment adviser is Claymore Advisors, LLC. Analytic Investors, Inc. (Analytic) is the Fund�� sub-adviser. It invests in various sectors, including financials, information technology, industrials, healthcare, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, materials, utilities and telecommunications.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Carnevale]
Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.
Best International Companies To Invest In 2014: Acura Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACUR)
Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical product candidates utilizing its proprietary Aversion and Impede technologies. Its Aversion Technology is a proprietary platform technology providing abuse deterrent features and benefits to orally administered pharmaceutical drug products containing abusable active ingredients, such as tranquillizers, stimulants, sedatives, and decongestants. The company offers OXECTA Tablets CII, which are oral formulations of oxycodone HCl for the management of acute and chronic moderate to severe pain; and Impede PSE, a pseudoephedrine hydrochloride tablet product candidate. It is also developing opioid analgesic product candidates, which would be used to relieve pain while discouraging common methods of opioid product misuse and abuse, including intravenous injection of dissolved tablets or capsules; nasal snorting of crushed tablets or capsules; and intentional swallowing of excess quantities of tablets or capsules. In addition, the company investigates and develops mechanisms to incorporate abuse deterrent features into abused and misused pharmaceutical products using its Impede Technology. Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a license, development, and commercialization agreement with King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development, Inc. to develop and commercialize certain opioid analgesic products utilizing the company?s proprietary Aversion Technology in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company was founded in 1935 and is based in Palatine, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
Thursday
Acura Pharmaceuticas (NASDAQ: ACUR ) checks in on Thursday. Drugmakers use Acura's Aversion and Impede technologies to create abuse-deterrent treatments. In short, if an abuser tries to extract the active ingredient of a drug to heighten addictive experiences, Acura's technologies kick in to make the whole dose unusable. - [By John Udovich]
On Tuesday, small cap specialty pharmaceutical company�Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ACUR) surged 27.52% to $1.90 on no apparent news beyond a speculative Seeking Alpha article that talked about certain catalysts����meaning its worth taking a closer look at the company to see what�� going on and whether shares could move higher.�
- [By Sean Williams]
ALKS-7106 for the treatment of pain has big potential as it encompasses a broad audience, but it'll need to overcome the common stigma of pain drugs with regard to easy abuse potential. According to the press release, Alkermes will be introducing newer technology that will make its opioid-based drug more resistant to abuse. It should be curious to see how well this performs as there aren't many successful abuse-resistant drugs, or companies developing those drugs for that matter. Acura Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACUR ) , for instance, successfully brought moderate-to-severe painkiller Oxecta to market in 2011 (which it subsequently licensed to Pfizer) and a bioequivalent version of decongestant pseudoephedrine to market last year, but sales of neither drug has exactly taken off. Like with its MMF prodrug, Alkermes anticipates a mid-2014 clinical trial launch date.
- [By James E. Brumley]
What do Acura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACUR) and CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR) have in common? Yes, they're both biotech stocks, though that's not the most relevant answer right now. The best answer regarding the commonality between CYTR and ACUR at this point is that both are actionable, even of for totally different reasons/totally different directions. A closer look at each is merited.
Best International Companies To Invest In 2014: FBR & Co (FBRC)
FBR & Co., formerly FBR Capital Markets Corporation, is a full-service investment banking, institutional brokerage and asset management company. In addition, it makes principal investments, including merchant banking investments. The Company�� subsidiaries are FBR Capital Markets & Co. (FBR & Co.), FBR Capital Markets International, Ltd. (FBRIL), Financial Services Authority (FSA), and FBR Fund Advisers, Inc. (FBR Fund Advisers). Its segments include capital markets, which include investment banking and institutional brokerage and research; asset management, and principal investing, which includes merchant banking. It provides capital raising services, including underwriting and placement of public and private equity and debt; financial advisory services, including merger and acquisition advisory, restructuring, liability management, recapitalization and strategic alternative analysis; asset management services through a family of mutual funds; institutional sales and trading services focused on equities, equity-linked securities, listed options, high-yield bonds, senior debt and bank loans; and research coverage.
Capital Markets
The Company�� capital markets business is conducted by its investment banking and institutional brokerage professionals through its United States and United Kingdom broker-dealer subsidiaries. These professionals provide investment banking services, including capital raising and financial advisory services, and institutional brokerage services, including sales, trading, and research services, to its institutional clients across its core industry sectors.
Asset Management
The Company�� investment adviser subsidiaries principally manage a family of mutual funds. At December 31, 2011, it managed client assets through its 10 mutual fund product lines that cover a range of sectors and asset classes. Through attention to relative valuation and security selection, it manages mutual funds strive both to participate in rising m! arkets and preserve capital in down markets. It focuses on expanding its asset management business.
The Company�� investing activity consists primarily of investments in merchant banking investments, investments in publicly traded companies, and investments in short-term liquid instruments. This strategy involves putting its capital to work alongside the capital of its institutional clients.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Zachary Tracer]
FBR & Co. (FBRC) is leading the sale, according to a regulatory filing today from Emeryville, California-based NMI. The company said it�� seeking to raise $25 million, a placeholder amount used to calculate registration fees, according to the document.
- [By DAILYFINANCE]
Brian Smale/Microsoft via Getty ImagesNewly named Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. SAN FRANCISCO -- After compiling a list of more than 100 CEO candidates, Microsoft settled on Satya Nadella a homegrown leader who joined the software maker in the early 1990s. That's back when Google's founders were teenagers and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in elementary school. Tuesday's hiring of Nadella as Microsoft's CEO after a five-month search is a safe move that's likely to be greeted with sighs of relief around the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, industry analysts say. But the methodical, almost predictable decision is likely to reinforce perceptions that Microsoft (MSFT) is a plodding company reluctant to take risks as it competes against younger rivals who relish going out on a limb. While Google (GOOG) founder and CEO Larry Page boasts about his company taking "moon shots" and Zuckerberg promises to "move fast and break things," Microsoft has fallen behind the technological curve after underestimating the importance of Internet search more than a decade ago and reacting too slowly to the rise of mobile devices during the past seven years. Meanwhile, the sales of personal computers running on Microsoft's Windows software are shrinking. Microsoft's malaise may have narrowed the field of up-and-coming visionaries interested in running a company founded in 1975. Just as Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Apple (AAPL) founder Steve Jobs would never have considered working at IBM (IBM) in the 1980s, today's entrepreneurial whiz kids scoff at Microsoft's overtures. "Going to work at Microsoft could make it look like you are going back to the dark ages," says Richard Metheny, a management coach for the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer in Chicago. "It's a well-entrenched business that has had trouble lately figuring out how to play in this new world." Despite its challenges, Microsoft remains a moneymaking machine that sits atop an $84 billion cash pile. Tha
Best International Companies To Invest In 2014: Xerox Corporation(XRX)
Xerox Corporation provides business process and information technology (IT) outsourcing, and document management services worldwide. Its business process outsourcing services include human resources services; finance and accounting services; healthcare payers and pharma; customer management solutions; healthcare provider solutions; technology-based transactional services for retail, travel, and non-healthcare insurance companies; programs for federal, state, county, and town governments; transportation solutions; and government healthcare solutions. The company is involved in designing, developing, and delivering IT solutions, such as comprehensive systems support, systems administration, database administration, systems monitoring, batch processing, data backup, and capacity planning services; telecommunications management services; and desktop services. Its document outsourcing services comprise managed print services that optimize, rationalize, and manage the operation of Xerox and non-Xerox print devices; and communication and marketing services that deliver design, communication, marketing, logistic, and distribution services through SMS, Web, email, and mobile, as well as print media. The company also manufactures and sells products, including desktop monochrome, color and compact printers, multifunction printers, copiers, digital printing presses, and light production devices for small/mid-size businesses and large enterprises. In addition, it sells paper, wide-format systems, network integration solutions, and electronic presentation systems. The company sells its products and solutions through its sales force, as well as through a network of independent agents, dealers, value-added resellers, systems integrators, and the Web. Xerox Corporation was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Finally, printing and information technology specialist Xerox (NYSE: XRX ) found itself on the right side of an analysts' call when it was initiated with an overweight rating by Piper Jaffray�late Wednesday with a $12 price target. It's not hard to understand why Piper is bullish given Xerox's move into Medicaid service processing, which is only bound to see a huge boost in demand once the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act goes fully into effect in 2014. In short, this isn't your parents' Xerox any longer!
Best International Companies To Invest In 2014: Ross Stores Inc.(ROST)
Ross Stores, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home accessories stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd?s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its Ross Dress for Less brand stores sell brand and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions for the entire family at everyday savings of 20 to 60 percent off department and specialty store regular prices; and dd?s DISCOUNTS brand stores sell apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions for the entire family at everyday savings of 20 to 70 percent off moderate department and discount store regular prices. As of January 29, 2011, the company operated 1,055 stores, of which 988 were Ross Dress for Less brand stores in 27 states and Guam, and 67 were dd?s DISCOUNTS brand stores in 6 states. Its Ross Dress for Less brand stores primarily target middle income households and dd?s DISCOUNTS brand stores target moderate income households. Ross Stores, Inc. was found ed in 1957 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Andrew Marder]
That focus on full-price is the core of TJX's strategy. The brand is known as a discounter, but hitting higher margins is the key to increasing comparable sales and income. Over this last quarter, gross margin came in 28.4%, which is in line with competitor Ross (NASDAQ: ROST ) , which had a gross margin of 27.8% in its last quarter.
Best International Companies To Invest In 2014: Aflac Incorporated(AFL)
Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac), provides supplemental health and life insurance. The company offers various voluntary supplemental insurance products, including cancer plans, general medical indemnity plans, medical/sickness riders, care plans, living benefit life plans, ordinary life insurance plans, and annuities in Japan. It also provides loss-of-income products, such as life and short-term disability plans; and products designed to protect individuals from depletion of assets, which comprise hospital indemnity, fixed-benefit dental, vision care, accident, cancer, critical illness/critical care, and hospital intensive care plans in the United States. The company sells its products through sales associates and brokers, affiliated corporate agencies, independent corporate agencies, and individual agencies. Aflac Incorporated was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wallace Witkowski]
Insurers such as Aflac Inc. (AFL) ,�Allstate Corp. (ALL) , Aetna Inc. (AET) , Cigna Corp. (CI) �and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) �will also report, along with exchange operators Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) �and CME Group Inc. (CME) .�
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