LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) ��Futures prices for gold dipped Wednesday as markets awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve�� monetary-policy meeting.
December gold (GCZ3) � fell $1.70, or 0.1%, to $1,343.80 an ounce in electronic trade.
The move extended Tuesday�� losses for the contract, which fell below the key technical level of $1,350 an ounce.
AFP/Getty ImagesInvestors will look for the Federal Open Market Committee�� (FOMC) statement on monetary policy later Wednesday. Policy makers are expected to make no change in their stance in wanting to see more positive economic data before reducing stimulus. As a result, hey are not expected to announce a pullback in buying $85 billion a month in debt, which is aimed at encouraging growth.
10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Own For 2015: Multi-Corp International Inc (MULI)
Multi-Corp International Inc., incorporated on December 10, 2006, is a energy company. The Company is engaged in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and gas properties. The Company intends to focus its operations in Eddy County, New Mexico.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 100% working interest in the 2,800 acre Cave Pool Property in Eddy County, New Mexico. As of December 31, 2012, it owned 14 shut-in oil wells that had produced from the Grayburg sands and it had an estimated 51 identified drilling and recompletion locations, of which 14 were proved undeveloped.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
One way or the other, small cap stocks mLight Tech, Inc (OTCMKTS: MLGT), Multi-Corp International Inc (OTCMKTS: MULI) and Brownie's Marine Group Inc (OTCMKTS: BWMG) have been getting some attention lately. For starters, one of these stocks has been the subject of paid promotions, another might be getting dragged into a controversy involving yet another small cap and the last stock sank 18.34% on Friday. So what�� going on with these three small cap stocks and what should be your trading or investing strategy? Here is a close look:
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Aeroflex Holding Corp (ARX)
Aeroflex Holding Corp. (Aeroflex Holding) is a provider of radio frequency (RF) and microwave integrated circuits, components and systems used in the design, development and maintenance of wireless communication systems. The Company�� solutions include microelectronic components and test and measurement equipment used by companies in the space, avionics and defense; commercial wireless communications, and medical and other markets. Its products include a range of RF, microwave and millimeter wave microelectronic components, integrated circuits (ICs), and analog and mixed-signal devices. It also manufactures a range of RF and microwave wireless radio and avionics test equipment and solutions particularly for the wireless, avionics and radio test markets. The Company operates in two segments: Aeroflex Microelectronics Solutions (AMS) and Aeroflex Test Solutions (ATS). In August 2010, it acquired Advanced Control Components. In September 2013, the Company announced the sale of its Aeroflex Test Equipment Services (ATES) business to Trescal Limited. In February 2014, Aeroflex Holding Corp announced the acquisition of Shenick Network Systems.
Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions
AMS offers a range of microelectronics products and is a provider of specialty products for the space, avionics, defense, commercial wireless communications, medical and other markets. RadHard products are specifically designed to tolerate high radiation level environments, which otherwise can degrade electronic components. The Company principally operates on a fabless semiconductor manufacturing model, outsourcing virtually all front-end semiconductor fabrication activities to commercial foundries. AMS offers a range of complementary products that provide connectivity and computing functionality for applications. Its product portfolio includes RF, microwave and millimeter wave products, including discrete components, ICs, monolithic microwave ICs and multi-chip modules.
AMS designs and manu! factures application specific, analog and mixed-signal devices for use in medical, industrial and intelligent sensors. The Company�� AMS products are used in over 100 space, avionics and defense platforms, including the Wideband Global Satellite Communications satellites, the Geostationary Operational Environmental satellites, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites, the Boeing 777 airliner's databus, the F-16's modular mission computer, the B-1 flight controls upgrade and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense program. Its AMS products are also used in wireless communications platforms, including WCDMA and LTE cellular base station systems, as well as point-to-point broadband radio applications. In the medical area, our products are used by two of the top four manufacturers of CT scan equipment.
AMS provides HiRel standard and custom integrated circuits and circuit card assembly for the aerospace, altitude avionics, medical, x-ray cargo scanners, critical transportation systems, nuclear power controls, global positioning systems (GPS) receivers, networking and telecommunication markets. AMS' HiRel products include transceivers, analog multiplexers, clock management generators, MSI logic products, battery electronics units, voltage regulators, high-speed power controllers, MIL-STD 1553 bus controllers, remote terminals, bus monitors, microcontrollers and microprocessors, RadHard Pulse Width Modulation Controllers, RadHard Resolver-to-Digital and memory modules. HiRel Microelectronics/ Semiconductors have a typical life cycle of 10-20 years.
AMS provides a set of standard and application specific RF/microwave diodes and semiconductor devices. Microwave semiconductor products offered include diodes, amplifiers, resistors, inductors, capacitors, switches, and integrated devices. RF and Microwave active components and subsystems offered include PIN diode-based microwave control components, variable attenuators, phase shifters, limiters, time delay units and Multi-Funct! ion Micro! wave assemblies. AMS offers resistor products, which include a variety of low and high reliability power surface mounted passive devices for the wireless infrastructure and defense markets with applications in isolators, circulators, single and multi-carrier power amplifiers and circuits. Passive components offered include attenuators, terminations, adapters, DC blocks, and other components for commercial, military and laboratory applications. Other products include power amplifiers, up and down converters, mixers, filters and micro-receivers operating to over 40 giga hertz (GHz). RF and Microwave components have a typical life cycle of 5-15 years. The Company�� motion control products provide complete and integrated motion control solutions for space (both military and commercial), military, avionics, and industrial customers. Its product line offerings include actuators and mechanisms, electronic controllers, slip rings and twist capsules, DC motors and Gimbal Systems. Motion control products have a typical life cycle of 10-20 years.
Aeroflex Test Solutions
ATS is a provider of a line of specialized test and measurement hardware and software products, primarily for the space, avionics, defense, commercial wireless communications and other markets. ATS products and their applications include wireless test equipment, which is used to develop and test handsets and base stations; military radio and PMR test equipment, which is used by radio manufacturers and military, police, fire, and emergency response units to test handheld radios; avionics test equipment, which is used in the design, manufacture and maintenance of electronics systems for aircraft; synthetic test equipment, which is used to test satellites and transmit / receive modules prior to launch and deployment, and general purpose test equipment, including spectrum analyzers and signal generators.
Wireless Test Equipment is used by wireless service providers and equipment manufacturers to test wireless ! handsets ! and base stations. The Company offers a range of cellular tests across a range of wireless standards and communication frequencies, including 2G and 3G, with particular capability in EDGE protocols, and the new 4G LTE/LTE(A) protocols. Products include a range of system, protocol, physical layer and parametric test solutions, such as the TM500 test mobile, RF synthesizers, digitizers and combiners, and application software. In addition, ATS provides PXI-based products which are modular scalable solutions for the handset manufacturing environment. Product applications include research and development, conformance, manufacturing/production, installation and commissioning, field service, and network optimization.
ATS Radio Test Equipment is used by radio manufacturers and military, police, fire and emergency response units to test handheld radio units. ATS provides TErrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), and Project 25 (P25), radio test equipment, addressing both mobile and repeater test applications. TETRA is a global standard for private mobile radio (PMR), systems used by emergency services, public transport and utilities. P25 is a standard for digital radio communications for use by federal, state, private, and local public safety agencies in North America. Its military communications testing systems are primarily used by the United States military to test complex voice and data frequency hopping radios and accessories. Military radio and PMR test equipment has a typical life cycle of 5-20 years.
Avionics test equipment is used in the design, manufacture, test and maintenance of commercial, civil and military airborne electronic systems, or avionics. ATS equipment provides the stimulus and signals necessary for certification, verification, fault finding and diagnosis of airborne systems on the ground. For civil and commercial aviation, it has test solutions for various transponder modes, communications frequencies, emergency locator transmitters, weather radars and GPS systems. F! or milita! ry aviation, it has test solutions for microwave landing systems, tactical air navigation, enhanced traffic alert and collision avoidance systems, various identification friend or foe, or IFF, transponder/interrogator modes and IFF monopulse antenna simulation. ATS also provides customized avionics test solutions to support manual and automatic test equipment for manufacturing, repair and ground support operations. Avionics test equipment has a typical life cycle of 8-15 years.
Synthetic test systems test several attributes through one box and can take multiple complex measurements simultaneously. ATS provides synthetic test environment that allows digital, analog, RF/microwave and power test of circuits, modules, subsystems and complete systems for commercial, military, and aerospace customers. ATS' STI 1000C+ and TRM 1000C products offer synthetic microwave test systems optimized for testing Transmit/Receive modules and satellite payloads in a factory setting. Its SMART^E and SMART^E 5300 products offer a modular approach for implementing multi-function configurable and reconfigurable test systems. Synthetic test solutions products have a typical life cycle of 10-15 years.
ATS offers a variety of general purpose test solutions including microwave test solutions, counters and power meters. ATS microwave test solutions cover frequency ranges from 1 megahertz (MHz) to 46 gigahertz (GHz), with various tracking, offset, continuous wave, modulated source, fault location, and group delay configuration options provided. ATS power meters are designed for field use, automated test equipment requirements and standard bench applications. General purpose test solutions have a typical life cycle of 4-7 years.
The Company Competes with Agilent Technologies, Honeywell, BAE Systems, Hittite Microwave Corporation, ILC / Data Devices Corporation, Microsemi, Anaren, Anite, Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz, Spirent and National Instruments.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
The Department of Defense issued some 22 separate contract awards Thursday, totaling just under $1 billion in combined value. Not all of them went to publicly traded defense contractors, of course, but enough of them did to be worth mentioning. Here are a few of the lucky winners:
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.12 percent. Leading the sector was strength from Aeroflex Holding (NYSE: ARX) and Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ). Cyclical consumer goods & services shares declined around 0.71 percent in Tuesday's trading.
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Mastercard Incorporated(MA)
MasterCard Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides transaction processing and related services to customers principally in support of their credit, deposit access, electronic cash and automated teller machine payment card programs, and travelers? cheque programs. Its payment solutions include payment programs, marketing, product development, technology, processing, and consulting and information services. The company provides transaction processing services comprising transaction switching, which include authorization, clearing, and settlement; connectivity services, such as network access, equipment, and the transmission of authorization and settlement messages; and other payment-related services consisting of products used to prevent or detect fraudulent transactions, cardholder services, professional consulting and research services, compliance and penalty, account and transaction enhancement services, holograms, and publication services. MasterCard Incor porated manages and licenses payment card brands, including MasterCard, MasterCard Electronic, Maestro, and Cirrus. The company?s payment programs, which are facilitated through its brands, include consumer credit, debit and prepaid programs, commercial payment solutions, and contactless payment solutions. It serves approximately 22,000 financial institutions. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Joe Tenebruso]
At Tier 1 Investments, a Motley Fool Real-Money Portfolio, I seek out and invest in elite businesses. These include companies with the strongest competitive advantages, greatest growth opportunities, and best management. I call these businesses Tier 1 enterprises, and MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) fits that description perfectly.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) reports on Thursday and estimates are $6.94 EPS versus $6.17 EPS a year ago. Revenue is expected to be up over 11% at $2.13 billion. At$723.78, this just hit a new all-time high of $732.45. Rival Visa just hit a new high as well, and MasterCard’s extremely high share price is keeping its trading volume exceptionally low considering its $87 billion market cap. Visa’s market cap is now about $131 billion for a comparison. For a comparison, Visa generated about 40% higher sales than MasterCard in 2012 yet its market cap is just over 50% higher than MasterCard. Maybe MasterCard needs to consider a stock split.
- [By Michael Flannelly]
Following a positive investor day from MasterCard Inc (MA), analysts at FBR Capital boosted their price target and earnings estimates on the credit card company.
The analysts reiterated an “Outperform” rating on MA, but now see shares reaching $690, up from the previous target of $640. This new price target suggests a 5% upside to the stock’s Wednesday closing price of $658.46. The firm also boosted MasterCard’s fiscal 2014 EPS estimates from $30.60 to $31.13 due to higher revenues and a lower projected tax rate.
An FBR Capital analyst commented, “At yesterday’s investor day, management reiterated FY13-FY15 guidance (while guidance has always been back-end loaded [higher EPS and net revenue growth in the latter years], management commented that early performance has been better than expected), highlighted plans targeting global unbanked and underbanked consumers, discussed initiatives to strengthen merchant relationships via analytical products designed to help merchants, and alluded to additional M&A opportunities.”
MasterCard shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Thursday. The stock is up 34.03% year-to-date.
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Solera Holdings Inc.(SLH)
Solera Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides software and services to the automobile insurance claims processing industry. The company offers estimating and workflow software to manage the overall claims process, estimate the cost to repair a damaged vehicle, and calculate the pre-collision fair market value of a vehicle; and salvage, salvage disposition, and recycling software that manages inventories in order to facilitate the location, sale, and exchange of vehicle parts for use in the repair of a damaged vehicle. It also provides business intelligence and consulting services that enable insurance companies to monitor and assess their performance through customized data, reports, and analyses; and leases hardware products for use with its software, training, and call center technical support services. In addition, the company offers various services that allow its customers to access operational and technical support in times of high demand following natural disasters; and used vehicle validation, fraud detection software and services, and disposition of salvage vehicles. Further, it provides products and services for accessing information on the United Kingdom registered vehicles to private car buyers, car dealers, finance houses, and the insurance industry; data analytics to insurance companies and brokers in the Netherlands; and an electronic exchange for the purchase and sale of vehicle replacement parts in Brazil and Mexico. The company primarily serves insurance companies, collision repair facilities, independent assessors, and automotive recyclers in North America, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Netherlands. Solera Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Patricio Kehoe]
The firm is currently Zacks Rank # 3 - Hold, and it also has a longer-term recommendation of ��utperfom�� For investors looking for a Zacks Rank # 1 ��Strong Buy, Dealertrack Technologies Inc (TRAK), Open Text Corporation (OTEX), Pegasystems Inc. (PEGA) Solera Holdings (SLH) or Ultimate Software Group Inc. (ULTI) could be the options.
- [By Rich Smith]
Westlake, Texas-based Solera Holdings (NYSE: SLH ) describes its business strategy as "Leverage, Diversify, and Disrupt." That sounds like a noisy strategy, but so far, the maker of software for the automotive insurance industry is keeping quiet as a mouse about the details.
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Iron Mountain Incorporated(IRM)
Iron Mountain Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides information management services primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers records management services, including records management program development and implementation based on best-practices to help customers comply with specific regulatory requirements; implementation of policy-based programs that feature storage for various media comprising paper; flexible retrieval access and retention management; hybrid services to help organizations gain control over their paper records; and specialized services for vital records and regulated industries, such as healthcare, energy, government, and financial services. It also provides data protection and recovery services, such as disaster preparedness; off-site vaulting of data backup media for data recovery in the event of a disaster, human error, or virus; online backup and recovery solutions for desktop and la ptop computers, and remote servers; and technology escrow services to protect and manage source code and other proprietary information. In addition, the company offers information destruction services that primarily consist of physical secure shredding operations; and is involved in the shredding of sensitive documents to third-party recyclers. Further, it provides fulfillment services that assemble custom marketing packages and orders, as well as provide reporting on customer marketing literature inventories; and professional consulting services to develop and implement comprehensive records and information management programs. Iron Mountain Incorporated serves commercial, legal, banking, health care, accounting, insurance, entertainment, and government organizations. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Think of Iron Mountain (IRM) as any heavy metal band after Nirvana broke in 1991. Suddenly, a way of playing music that had been wildly successful was looked at as an anachronism and bands like Metallica cut their hair, wore flannel and did just about anything they could think of to fit in in a changed world.
Getty Images/Lonely Planet ImageThat’s Iron Mountain today. It has a business that was once fantastic–storing paper files for corporations. But in a digital world, that business is pass茅, even if it still brings in tons of money. Sure, Iron Mountain is doing everything it can to change its stripes–offering digital services, trying to morph into a REIT–but Iron Mountain is still what it is.
And that’s a struggling business.
On Friday, Iron Mountain released financial results and promptly fell 4.3%, as its earnings and revenue were in line with analyst forecasts but Iron Mountain’s North American storage growth turned negative, perhaps for the first time ever, notes Jefferies’ Dan Dolev and Trevor Young.
So what now? Dolev and Young don’t think emerging markets can fix what ails Iron Mountain:
It was encouraging to see international storage internal growth decelerate only slightly (-20bps to +6.3%) as it faced +70bps tougher compares…Is the strength sustainable? We are hopeful, but are not holding our breath given that 1) 4Q storage internal growth in developed international markets (e.g. Western Europe) was already below the FY average (+2.2% vs. +2.5% for the FY), and 2) although 4Q EM storage internal growth accelerated (+13.4% vs. +13.2% for the FY), history suggests that EMs can skip decades of technology evolution and upgrade directly to the newest technology (e.g. smartphones in China).
Dolev and Young�also doubt Iron Mountain’s M&A strategy. They explain why:
With FY13 global storage internal growth 3x slower than during the Great Re
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Advanced Photonix Inc (API)
Advanced Photonix, Inc. (API), incorporated in June 22, 1988, is engaged in the development and manufacture of optoelectronic devices and value-added sub-systems and systems. The Company serves a variety of global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in a variety of industries. API supports its customers from the initial concept and design phase of the product, through testing to full-scale production. API has two manufacturing facilities located in Camarillo, California and Ann Arbor, Michigan. API is a supplier of optoelectronic semiconductors packaged into high-speed optical receivers, custom optoelectronic subsystems and Terahertz instrumentation, serving a variety of global OEM markets. API supports the customer from the initial concept and design of the semiconductor, hybridization of support electronics, packaging and signal conditioning or processing from prototype through full-scale production and validation testing. The target markets served by it are industrial sensing/NDT, military/aerospace, telecom, medical and homeland security. On March 1, 2013, it acquired certain assets of Silonex, Inc.
The Company�� high-speed optical receivers include avalanche photodiode (APD) technology and positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodiode technology based upon III-V materials, including InP, InAlAs, and GaAs. Its optoelectronic subsystems are based on its silicon large area avalanche photodiode (LAAPD), PIN photodiode, FILTRODE detectors and light emitting diode (LED) assemblies. API�� Terahertz sensor product line is targeted at the industrial homeland security and military markets. Using its fiber coupled technology and high speed Terahertz generation and detection sensors, the Company is engaged in transferring Terahertz technology from the laboratory to the factory floor for use in non-destructive testing and real time quality control.
The Company competes with First Sensor, Illinois Tool Works, JDS Uniphase, Neophotonix, U2T and Nippon Electric.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
When most investors think of optical sensor makers, they tend to think of larger names like Honeywell International Inc.� (NYSE:HON) or Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH). And well they should. VSH is a $2 billion company, and HON is a $71.5 billion organization. The fact is, however, there are a few small cap stocks in the optical sensor space that are worth a look, and one of them is worth a very close look right now for a very clear reason... Advanced Photonix, Inc. (NYSEMKT:API).
- [By Patricio Kehoe]
In 2010, the company acquired privately held Nimsoft, a provider of IT performance monitoring solutions for $350 million in cash. In Sep 2010, CA signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hyperformix Inc. Recently; it acquired Layer 7 Technologies, a leading provider of Application Programming Interface (API) security and management. Furthermore, the acquisition of Arcot Systems Inc., a privately held company that provides authentication and fraud prevention software, in a move to boost its security offerings. These acquisitions have helped the firm to strengthen its cloud computing infrastructure and would also help to generate better profitability from the existing technology assets.
Hot Tech Companies To Watch For 2014: Numerex Corp.(NMRX)
Numerex Corp. provides business services, technology, and products used in the development and support of machine-to-machine solutions for the enterprise and government markets worldwide. The company offers Numerex DNA that includes hardware and smart devices, cellular and satellite network services, and software applications that are delivered through Numerex FAST (Foundation Application Software Technology). Its customers subscribe to device management, network, and application services through hosted platforms. The company distributes its products through value added resellers, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. It serves security, energy and utilities, healthcare, financial services, government, transportation, and supply chain markets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap machine-to-machine (M2M) stock Elecsys Corp (NASDAQ: ESYS) jumped 8.99% yesterday and is up 254% over the past year, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock and its performance verses other small cap M2M stocks like Digi International Inc (NASDAQ: DGII), Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX) and Sierra Wireless, Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR). First of all though, I should mention that machine-to-machine (M2M) broadly refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type and this can be through any type of technology ranging from instruments to networks to applications that create connections between devices.
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap Machine-to-Machine (M2M) stock CalAmp Corp (NASDAQ: CAMP) has given investors a relatively flat performance since spiking earlier this year but shares are still up some�538.5% over the past five years (according to Google Finance) ��meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other M2M stocks like Digi International Inc (NASDAQ: DGII), Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX) and Sierra Wireless, Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR). I should mention that we recently added CalAmp Corp to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio based around�our�ongoing�Internet of Things growth theme plus the company appears well positioned�in the M2M space for the next few years.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Numerex (Nasdaq: NMRX ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Numerex's competitive position could be.
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