Saturday, October 4, 2014

Best Asian Stocks For 2014

Asian stocks declined, with the benchmark regional index heading toward the worst monthly loss in a year, as Chinese stocks entered a bear market amid a cash crunch at banks in the world�� second-largest economy.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world�� largest lender, lost 3 percent in Hong Kong, having risen just one day in June. BHP Billiton Ltd., the No. 1 mining company, declined 3.4 percent, as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its growth forecast for China. AMP Ltd. tumbled 13 percent, its biggest slide in 10 years, after Australia�� largest life insurer said it expects profit to fall as much as 16 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.8 percent to 125.43 as of 8 p.m. in Hong Kong, bringing this month�� decline to 7 percent. More than three shares fell for every one that advanced. The gauge declined 2.3 percent last week amid concern that Federal Reserve stimulus measures for the U.S. economy are nearing an end and that interbank lending in China is worsening.

Top 5 Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2015: Summit Midstream Partners LP (SMLP)

Summit Midstream Partners, LP is engaged in owning and operating midstream energy infrastructure that is located in North America. The Company provides natural gas gathering and compression services in two resource basins: the Piceance Basin, which includes the Mesaverde, Mancos and Niobrara Shale formations in western Colorado, and the Fort Worth Basin, which includes the Barnett Shale formation in north-central Texas. As of June 30, 2012, the Company�� gathering systems had approximately 385 miles of pipeline and 147,600 horsepower of compression. As of September 20, 2012, its systems gathered an average of approximately 909 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, of which approximately 64% consisted of natural gas liquids (NGLs), that were extracted by a third party processor. Summit Midstream GP, LLC is the Company�� general partner. On October 27, 2011, the Company acquired certain natural gas gathering pipeline, dehydration and compression assets in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, which it refer to as the Grand River system. The Company�� customers include the natural gas producers in North America, such as Encana Corporation, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, TOTAL, S.A., Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc., WPX Energy, Inc., Bill Barrett Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation and EOG Resources, Inc. In October 2012, the Company acquired ETC Canyon Pipeline, LLC from La Grange Acquisition, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. On February 15, 2013, it closed the acquisition of to Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, formerly Bear Tracker Energy, LLC. In June 2013, Summit Midstream Partners LP acquires assets in Bakken, Marcellus. In June 2013, Summit Midstream Partners LP acquired Bison Midstream LLC. In June 2013, Summit Midstream Partners LP closed the previously announced acquisition of certain natural gas gathering pipelines and compression assets located in the liquids-rich window of the Marcellus Shale Play.

The Grand River system consists of approxi! mately 276 miles of pipeline and 97,500 horsepower of compression and is located in Garfield County, Colorado. The Grand River system primarily gathers natural gas produced by the Company�� customers from the liquids-rich Mesaverde formation within the Piceance Basin. The Grand River system also gathers natural gas produced from its customers' wells targeting the deeper Mancos and Niobrara Shale formations. As of September 20, 2012, the DFW Midstream system had five primary interconnections with third-party, intrastate pipelines that enables the Company to connect its customers, directly or indirectly, with the natural gas market hubs of Waha, Carthage, and Katy in Texas, and Perryville and Henry Hub in Louisiana. As of September 20, 2012, the DFW Midstream system gathered an average of approximately 325 million cubic feet per day from seven producers.

The Company competes with Access Midstream Partners, L.P., Crestwood Midstream Partners LP, Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., Williams Partners L.P., Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. and Enterprise Products Partners L.P.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    Midstream operator,�Summit Midstream Partners (NYSE: SMLP  ) is expanding its reach after it announced two separate natural gas gathering acquisitions last week. The company is spending $460 million to acquire assets in the Bakken and Marcellus in unrelated deals. Let's take a closer look and the deals and what both mean for investors.

Best Asian Stocks For 2014: Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc (BR)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (Broadridge), incorporated on March 29, 2007, is a global provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to banks/broker-dealers, mutual funds and corporate issuers. The Company's systems and services include investor communication solutions, and securities processing and operations outsourcing solutions. It operates in two segments: Investor Communication Solutions and Securities Processing Solutions. The Company provides the infrastructure that helps the financial services industry operate. It serves a client base across its four businesses: Bank/Broker-Dealer Communications, Mutual Fund and Retirement Solutions, Corporate Issuer Solutions, and Bank/Broker-Dealer Technology and Operations. It delivers a range of solutions that help its clients serve their retail and institutional customers across the entire investment lifecycle, including pre-trade, trade and post-trade processing. In February 2014, the Company announced that it has acquired Emerald Connect, LLC, a provider of websites and related communications solutions for financial advisors, from StoneRiver Group, L.P.

Investor Communication Solutions

The Company's Bank/Broker-Dealer Communications, Mutual Funds and Retirement Solutions and Corporate Issuer Solutions businesses operate within this segment. A large portion of the Company's Investor Communication Solutions business involves the processing and distribution of proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as the facilitation of related vote processing. ProxyEdge, its electronic proxy delivery and voting solution for institutional investors and financial advisors, helps ensure the participation of the stockholders of many companies. The Company also provides the distribution of regulatory reports and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions that help its clients meet their regulatory compliance needs. In addition, it provides f! inancial information distribution and transaction reporting services to both financial institutions and securities issuers. These services include the processing and distribution of account statements and trade confirmations, traditional and personalized document fulfillment and content management services, marketing communications, and imaging, archival and workflow solutions that enable and enhance the Company's clients' communications with investors. All of these communications are delivered in paper or electronic form. In addition, Broadridge provides corporate issuers with registrar, stock transfer and record-keeping services.

The Company distributes more than one billion investor communications annually through a combination of physical and electronic channels. Through the Company's governance activities, Broadridge has a service relationship with every major mutual fund complex in the United States. Broadridge is an independent provider of retirement fund processing and provides data-driven market intelligence, specialized marketing communications and fund governance. Broadridge serves corporate issuers with a variety of their needs, including proxy and transfer agency services, both domestically and globally.

The Company provides proxy distribution, vote tabulation, and various additional investor communication tools and services to institutional investors, corporate issuers and investment companies. The Company handles the entire proxy materials distribution and voting processes for its bank and broker-dealer clients on-line and in real-time, from coordination with third-party entities to ordering, inventory maintenance, mailing, tracking and vote tabulation. It offers electronic proxy delivery services for the electronic delivery of proxy materials to investors and collection of consents; maintenance of a database that contains the delivery method preferences of its clients' customers; posting of documents on the Internet; e-mail notification to investors notifying th! em that p! roxy materials are available, and proxy voting over the Internet, mobile devices and tablets. The Company also provides a complete reorganization communications solution to notify investors of reorganizations or corporate action events, such as tender offers, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies and class action lawsuits.

The Company offers its bank and brokerage clients financial information distribution and transaction reporting services to help them meet their regulatory compliance requirements and business needs, including prospectus fulfillment services; electronic prospectus services; PostEdge, its electronic document archival and electronic delivery solution for documents, including trade confirmations, tax documents and account statements; marketing communications; imaging, archival and workflow solutions, and on-demand digital print services. In addition, the Company offers its Mailbox productsAdvisor Mailbox and Investor Mailbox, which provides a holistic network environment that support and complements any investor communication strategy. The Company's Advisor Mailbox is an electronic communications platform for financial advisors that delivers immediate electronic access to the communications and documents sent to such advisors' customers. Advisor Mailbox streamlines multiple communication paths for all investor-related documents into a single-visit portal that is integrated onto an advisor's platform.

The Company offers tax services to financial services firms that support their various information year-end reporting (e.g., Forms 1099) and withholding requirements, with a focus on securities and fund processing/clearance operations. The Company's tax data services provide tax content and data management, including securities tax classifications and reclassifications, calculations of original issue discount and other accrual and cost basis adjusting events. The Company's tax managed services provide technology and personnel outsourcing, withholding services and cl! ient repo! rting, including print/electronic distribution and archival.

The Company provides a suite of services to manage the entire proxy voting process of institutional investors, including fulfilling their fiduciary obligations and meeting their reporting needs, such as ProxyEdge, its workflow solution that integrates ballots for positions held across multiple custodians and presents them under a single proxy. ProxyEdge also provides for client reporting and regulatory reporting. ProxyEdge can be utilized for meetings of United States and Canadian companies and for meetings in many non-North American countries based on the holdings of the Company's global custodian clients. The Company is a processor and provider of investor communication solutions to public companies. It offers its corporate issuer clients many tools to facilitate their communications with investors, such as Internet and telephone proxy voting, electronic delivery of corporate filings, and householding of communications to stockholders at the same address. It also offers proxy services to non-North American corporate issuers in connection with their general and special meetings of stockholders. The Company's corporate issuers services include ShareLink, which provides complete project management for the beneficial and registered proxy process.

The Company's Shareholder Forum solution is an online venue that offers public companies the ability to host structured, controlled communication with their shareholders on a timely and regular basis. The Company's Virtual Shareholder Meeting service provides corporate issuers in a number of states with the ability to host their annual meeting electronically on the Internet, either on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with their physical annual meeting.

The Company provides a range of tools that enable mutual funds to communicate with audiences of investors and often with substantial cost savings. The Company's solutions allow mutual funds to centralize all in! vestor co! mmunications through one resource. The Company also provides printing and mailing of regulatory reports, prospectuses and proxy materials, as well as proxy solicitation services. In addition, it distributes marketing communications and informational materials and creates on-demand enrollment materials for mutual fund investors. Its position in the industry enables the Company to manage the entire communication process with both registered and beneficial stockholders. The Company's SalesVision platform provides data aggregation and data management solutions. SalesVision is software delivered as a service (SaaS) and assists mutual funds in processing commission and distribution payments, monitoring their compliance with regulatory requirements, and assembling shareholder and intermediary data in a form to better drive their sales strategy and marketing programs. The Company provides mutual fund processing services for third party administrators, financial advisors, banks and wealth management professionals through its subsidiary Matrix Financial Solutions, Inc.

Securities Processing Solutions

The Company's Bank/Broker-Dealer Technology and Operations business operates within this segment. The Company offers a suite of advanced computerized real-time transaction processing services that automate the securities transaction lifecycle, from desktop productivity tools, data aggregation, performance reporting, and portfolio management to order capture and execution, trade confirmation, settlement and accounting. The Company's services help financial institutions consolidate their books and records, gather and service assets under management, focus on their core businesses and manage risk. In addition, the Company's operations outsourcing solutions allow broker-dealers to outsource certain administrative functions relating to clearing and settlement, from order entry to trade matching and settlement, while maintaining their ability to finance and capitalize their business. Broadridge is! a back- ! and middle-office securities processing platform for North American and global broker-dealers. Provided on an application service provider (ASP) basis, Broadridge's platform is a global market solution, clearing and settling in over 50 countries.

The Company's securities processing solutions automate the transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, and option securities trading operations, from order capture and execution through trade confirmation, settlement, custody and accounting. The Company's services facilitate the automation of straight-through-processing operations and enable financial institutions to efficiently and cost-effectively consolidate their books and records, gather and service assets under management, focus on their core businesses, and manage risk. With the Company's multi-currency capabilities, the Company supports trading activities on a global basis.

The Company provides a set of multi-currency systems that support real-time processing of securities transactions in North American equities, options, fixed income securities and mutual funds. Brokerage Processing Services (BPS) is the Company's core multi-currency back-office processing system that supports real-time processing of transactions in the United States markets. The Company also offers a version of BPS for processing Canadian securities. In addition to the Company's BPS offering, the Company provides specialized transaction processing tools and services for small to mid-market financial firms in the United States and Canada that are operated on separate Broadridge technology platforms. The Company's securities processing services can be integrated with the Company's Web-based desktop applications, wealth management tools, enterprise workflow, automated inquiry reporting and record-keeping services.

The Company provides advanced multi-currency transaction processing solutions for institutional and retail securities operations, corporate actions, and business processes ! outsourci! ng services, such as data cleansing. The Company also provides operations outsourcing services relating to a variety of securities clearing, record-keeping, and custody-related functions. The Company's clients execute and clear their securities transactions and engage the Company to perform a number of related administrative back-office functions, such as record-keeping and reconciliations.

The Company's core systems for processing equity, option, and mutual fund transactions in the United States markets can also be combined with the Company's specialized systems for processing fixed income and international securities transactions. These specialized securities processing services can be fully integrated with operations outsourcing services. In addition, its clients can integrate its securities processing and operations outsourcing services with its other services, including the processing of trade confirmations and account statements, delivered in paper or electronically; equity and mutual fund prospectus processing; automated workflow tools that help its clients streamline their securities processing and operations activities, and a suite of wealth management products, including data aggregation tools, end-customer Websites, broker desktop, financial planning and modeling tools, performance reporting and portfolio accounting.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By M. Joy, Hayes]

    2. Exclusive access to early voting tallies
    JPMorgan recently gained another advantage over activist shareholders when proxy communications and voting company Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR  ) cut off activist investors backing shareholder proposals from information about early voting tallies. This change occurred after trade group Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which includes JPMorgan as a member, challenged Broadridge's decision to provide shareholders with this information.

  • [By Louis Navellier]

    Portfolio Grader raised ACET stock to an “A” ranking in November, and the stock remains a strong buy at the current price.

    Broadridge Financial Services (BR)

    Broadridge Financial Services (BR) helps the financial services industry communicate with clients and investors, as well as meet their increasingly complex compliance needs.

  • [By Sid Riggs]

    Something else that's not commonly understood is that a lot of insider buying and selling occurs as part of stock options offered as compensation. Let's use a recent example from Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) to illustrate this:

  • [By Louis Navellier]

    Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) is the leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven-solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, and corporations globally. BR makes the back-office systems that allow these companies to process forms and communicate with their customer base on critical matters.

Best Asian Stocks For 2014: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FMCC)

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) conducts business in the United States residential mortgage market and the global securities market. The Company operates in three segments: Single-family Guarantee, Investments, and Multifamily. The Single-family Guarantee segment reflects results from the Company's single-family credit guarantee activities. The Investments segment reflects results from the Company's investment, funding and hedging activities. The Multifamily segment reflects results from the Company's investment (both purchases and sales), securitization, and guarantee activities in multifamily mortgage loans and securities. The Company conducts its operations in the United States and its territories.

Single-Family Guarantee Segment

In the Company�� Single-family Guarantee segment, it purchases single-family mortgage loans originated by the Company�� seller/servicers in the primary mortgage market. The Company uses the mortgage securitization process to package the purchased mortgage loans into guaranteed mortgage-related securities. The Company guarantees the payment of principal and interest on the mortgage-related security in exchange for management and guarantee fees. The Company�� customers are lenders in the primary mortgage market that originate mortgages for homeowners. These lenders include mortgage banking companies, commercial banks, savings banks, community banks, credit unions, Housing Finance Agency (HFAs), and savings and loan associations. The Company�� customers also service loans in its single-family credit guarantee portfolio.

Mortgage securitization is a process, by which the Company purchase mortgage loans that lenders originate, and pool these loans into mortgage securities that are sold in global capital markets. The United States residential mortgage market consists of a primary mortgage market that links homebuyers and lenders and a secondary mortgage market that links lenders and investors. The Company part! icipates in the secondary mortgage market by purchasing mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities for investment and by issuing guaranteed mortgage-related securities. In the Single-family Guarantee segment, it purchase and securitize single-family mortgages, which are mortgages that are secured by one- to four-family properties. The types of mortgage-related securities it issue and guarantee include PCs, REMICs and Other Structured Securities and Other Guarantee Transactions. The Company also issue mortgage-related securities to third parties in exchange for non-Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities. The non-Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities are transferred to trusts that were specifically created for the purpose of issuing securities, or certificates, in the Other Guarantee Transactions.

Investments Segment

In the Company�� Investments segment, it invests principally in mortgage-related securities and single-family performing mortgage loans, which are funded by other debt issuances and hedged using derivatives. In the Company�� Investments segment, it also provides funding and hedging management services to the Single-family Guarantee and Multifamily segments. The Company�� customers for its debt securities predominantly include insurance companies, money managers, central banks, depository institutions, and pension funds. The Company funds its investment activities by issuing short-term and long-term debt. The Company�� PCs are an integral part of its mortgage purchase program. The Company�� Single-family Guarantee segment purchases many of its mortgages by issuing PCs in exchange for those mortgage loans in guarantor swap transactions. The Company also issue PCs backed by mortgage loans that it purchased for cash.

Multifamily Segment

The Company�� multifamily segment issues Other Structured Securities, but does not issue REMIC securities. The Company multifamily segment also enters into other guarantee commitments for mult! ifamily H! FA bonds and housing revenue bonds held by third parties. The Company acquires a portion of its multifamily mortgage loans from several large seller/servicers.

The Company competes with Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), Mae Federal Housing Administration/the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (FHA/VA) and Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB).

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

    Bank of America Corp.(BAC) on Wednesday said it would pay about $9.5 billion to settle all litigation by a top U.S. federal regulator over mortgage securities sold to Fannie Mae(FNMA) (FNMA) and Freddie Mac(FMCC) (FMCC). Shares edged up 13 cents to $17.31 premarket.

Best Asian Stocks For 2014: 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 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

  • [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.

Best Asian Stocks For 2014: Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG)

Reaves Utility Income Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to provide dividend income and capital appreciation. W.H. Reaves & Co., Inc. (Reaves) serves as the Fund's investment adviser. ALPS serves as the Fund's administrator. The Fund intends to invest at least 80% of its total assets in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks, and debt instruments of companies within the utility industry. The remaining 20% of its assets may be invested in other securities, including stocks, money market instruments and debt instruments, as well as certain derivative instruments in the utility industry or other industries.

During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2005 (fiscal 2005), the common stock of electric utilities averaged about 47% of the Fund's portfolio. The telephone sector, particularly rural telecom, was a significant source of dividend income for the Fund, with an average yield of 5.75% in fiscal 2005. Telecommunications common holdings averaged about 19% of the Fund's portfolio during fiscal 2005. Preferred stock holdings, yielding 6.9%, accounted for 8.5% of the Fund's portfolio as of October 31, 2005. The top five holdings of the Fund, as of October 31, 2005, were Duke Energy (7.1%), Ameren Corporation (5.8%), Altria Group (5.4%), Great Plains Energy (5.1%) and AT&T (4.1%).

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]

    Harry Domash: Well, one that's really good for us has been Reaves Utility Income. It holds primarily US utility and telecom stocks and it's been a pretty good dividend raiser. The ticker is (UTG), paying about a 6.1% yield now and it's a good serial dividend increaser so it's a very good one.

    If you're worried about rising interest rates then Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities, ticker (VTA), invests in below investment-grade floating rate bank loans. In other words, these are called senior loans.

    They're bank loans that adjust their payouts based on prevailing interest rates, so if interest rates go up, these loans will pay higher dividends, so this is a good hedge if you are concerned about rising interest rates.

    Another one that's really performed, and it's paying a 6.9% yield right now, Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities, ticker (GOF), that's actually Claymore Guggenheim, holds corporate and government backed, that it's mostly investment-grade and it's paying a 10.1% yield right now, which is pretty high. Those are three that I could recommend right now.

    Steven Halpern: Well, we really appreciate you joining us today and sharing your expertise. Thank you.

    Harry Domash: You're welcome.

    Subscribe to the Dividend Detective here...

Best Asian Stocks For 2014: CVS Corporation(CVS)

CVS Caremark Corporation operates as a pharmacy services company in the United States. The company?s Pharmacy Services segment provides a range of pharmacy benefit management services, including mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy services, plan design and administration, formulary management, and claims processing; and drug benefits to eligible beneficiaries under the Federal Government?s Medicare Part D program. This segment primarily serves employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, managed care organizations and other sponsors of health benefit plans, and individuals. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 44 retail specialty pharmacy stores, 18 specialty mail order pharmacies, and 4 mail service pharmacies located in 25 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. This segment operates business under the CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services, Caremark, CVS Caremark, CarePlus CVS/pharmacy, CarePlus, RxAmerica, Accordant, and TheraCom names. The company?s Retail Pharmacy segment sells prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards, and convenience foods through its pharmacy retail stores and online, as well as offers film and photo finishing, and health care services. This segment operated 7,182 retail drugstores located in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and 560 retail health care clinics in 26 states and the District of Columbia under the MinuteClinic name. It has a strategic alliance with Alere, L.L.C. for the management of disease management program offerings that cover chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease. CVS Caremark Corporation was founded in 1892 and is based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Preliminary results show decent success with Walgreen's strategy. During April, same-store sales rose 1.2%, with larger gains of 4.7% in pharmacy sales pointing to customers returning to Walgreen's fold. May's increase in comps of 2.8% showed the same tilt toward the pharmacy side of the business. Yet, rival CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS  ) has also given investors some positive news, guiding earnings and revenue last month to the upper end of previously provided ranges amid favorable impacts of greater generic-drug availability. Despite Walgreen's success, CVS remains a strong competitive threat, especially with its combination of pharmacy benefits management and retail drug stores.

  • [By Will Ashworth]

    CVS Caremark (CVS) delivered strong third-quarter earnings Tuesday morning that exceeded expectations, and as a result, we got some raised fiscal 2013 guidance for CVS earnings.

  • [By Bloomberg]

    Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images Cerberus Capital Management's $9 billion deal to merge Safeway (SWY) with Albertsons is a bet that a larger supermarket chain can better fend off an attack on the grocery business by big-box stores and online retailers. Safeway, the No. 2 grocery-store operator in the U.S., agreed Thursday to be acquired by Cerberus's Albertsons for about $40 a share. The deal will unite two chains with locations across the country -- especially in the West -- and narrow Kroger's (KR) lead as the nation's top supermarket company. Cerberus, a private-equity firm that has spent years investing in the supermarket industry, will use the new company's heft to combat a growing array of threats. Big-box retailers such as Walmart Stores (WMT) and warehouse clubs are increasingly targeting grocery customers, using their size and breadth of products to attract shoppers. Online food sellers and delivery services, including Amazon.com (AMZN), also have made neighborhood supermarkets less essential than before. "This merger will improve our competitive position," Safeway Chief Executive Officer Robert Edwards, who will be in charge of the combined company, said Thursday on a conference call. "Our customers will benefit from significant cost saving synergies and a stronger management team." Safeway shares fell as much as 6.3 percent to $37 in extended trading, reflecting concerns the deal may not close at the current price. The shares had increased 21 percent this year through the close of regular trading Thursday, outpacing the 1.6 percent gain of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Blackhawk Network As part of the agreement, investors will get $32.50 a share in cash, plus stock in Safeway's gift-card unit Blackhawk Network Holdings (HAWK), according to a statement Thursday. Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., had said last month that it was in talks about a sale of the company. Assuming a diluted share count of about 235 million shares,

No comments:

Post a Comment