Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Trade in Swing-Prone Session as J.C. Penney Rallies

Related BZSUM Market Wrap For April 28: Apple Hits New 52-Week Highs In a Volatile Start To the Trading Week Mid-Day Market Update: NASDAQ Drops 0.8%; Susser Shares Surge On Acquisition News

Toward the end of trading Monday, the Dow traded up 0.55 percent to 16,456.23 while the NASDAQ rose 0.08 percent to 4,078.85. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.35 percent to 1,869.56.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Telecommunications services shares gained around 0.83 percent in the US market on Monday. Top gainers in the sector included China Telecom Corp. (NYSE: CHA),Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (NYSE: TKC), and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (NYSE: CHU). In trading on Monday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.75 percent.

Top decliners in the sector included Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), off 6.3 percent, and Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), down 4.3 percent.

Top Headline
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced its plans to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX) for up to $1.46 billion. Forest will pay around $95 per share, or around $1.1 billion in cash. Forest Labs will also pay up to $30 per share, or around $360 million in a contingent value right. The deal is projected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014.

Equities Trading UP
Susser Holdings (NYSE: SUSS) shares shot up 35.74 percent to $77.41 after Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) announced its plans to acquire Susser Holdings in a deal valued at around $1.8 billion.

J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) was also on the rise, gaining 10.78 percent to $8.84 after the company after Calvin Klein parent PVH corporation stated at a conference that the company was strong and 'ahead of time".

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) shares were also up, gaining 11.23 percent to $76.37 following the rejection of Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) $76.62 per share bid.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) were 8.55 percent to $23.76 after the company reported FQ3 results. New Oriental's quarterly net income surged 50.2% y/y to US$42.1 million versus US$28.0 million.

Sohu.com (NASDAQ: SOHU) shares tumbled 7.59 percent to $53.60 after the company reported a Q1 adjusted loss of $1.26 per share on revenue of $365.0 million.

Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) also took a hit on Monday's session, falling 14.53 percent to $4.60 after the company continued its sell off after pricing its 22.6 million share offering Friday morning at $5.50 per share.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.20 percent to $100.80, while gold traded down 0.25 percent to $1,297.70.

Silver traded down 0.54 percent Monday to $19.63, while copper fell 0.16 percent to $3.09.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today.

The Spanish Ibex Index surged 0.10 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.65 percent.

Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.35 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.30 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.30 percent.

Economics
The pending home sales index increased 3.4% to a reading of 97.4 in March from 94.2 in February, the National Association of Realtors said. However, economists were expecting a 1% gain.

The Dallas Fed general business activity index rose to 11.70 in April, versus a prior reading of 4.90. However, economists were expecting a reading of 6.00.

Posted-In: Earnings News Top Stories Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Leverage: What It Is And How It Works

Leverage is an investment strategy of using borrowed money to generate outsized investment returns. Before getting into greater detail on how leverage works in an investment context, it is useful to have a broad understanding of the general topic. Let's start with a familiar example.

Most people have gone to an automobile dealership and admired the new vehicles available to purchase. A significant number of car shoppers have left the lot with a brand new car, even though they could not afford to pay for that car in cash. To obtain the car, these buyers borrowed the money. They then gave the borrowed money to the car dealer in exchange for the vehicle.

If the cost of a vehicle is $20,000 and a buyer hands over $2,000 in cash and $18,000 in borrowed money in exchange for the vehicle, the buyer's cash outlay was only 10% of the vehicle's purchase price. Using borrowed money to pay 90% of the cost enabled the buyer to obtain a significantly more expensive vehicle than what could have been purchased using only available personal cash. Instead of driving around in a battered $2,000 jalopy, the buyer is cruising around town in a shiny new car, having used leverage to acquire a better vehicle than he/she could have purchased using only available cash on hand.

From an investment perspective, this buyer was levered 10 to one (10:1). That is to say, the ratio of personal cash to borrowed cash is $1 in personal cash for every $10 spent. Now, let's take the example a step further.

If the buyer in our automobile example was able to drive away from the dealership and immediately sell that car for $22,000, the buyer would pocket $2,000 in profit from a $2,000 investment, ignoring the interest expense. Mathematically speaking, that would be a 100% return on the buyer's investment. By contrast, consider the case if the buyer has paid cash for the car, without taking out a loan, and then immediately sold the car for $22,000. With a $20,000 initial investment resulting in $2,000 profit, the buyer would have generated a 10% return on the investment. While a 10% return is certainly nice, it pales in comparison to the 100% return that could have been generated using leverage.

Other Everyday Use of Leverage Moving beyond the new car example, the use of leverage can be applied to real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies and other investments. Consider a real estate investor who has $50,000 in cash. That investor could use that money to buy one home valued at $50,000. If that home could be quickly sold for $55,000, the investor would have gained $5,000. If that same investor used the original $50,000 in cash to put a $5,000 down payment on 10 different homes valued at $50,000 each, financed the rest of the money, and then sold all 10 homes for $55,000 each, the investor's profit would have been $50,000 - an astounding 100% return on investment.
The use of leverage in real estate investing is similar to the way it can be used in the stock market. Margin loans, futures contracts and options are a few of the more common methods investors use to add leverage to their portfolios. Just as in the real estate example, a limited amount of money can be employed to control a larger amount of stock than would be possible through a direct purchase made with available cash. Bond-market investors can also use leverage. Consider a scenario in which the interest rate on a one-year loan is 1% while the interest rate on a 10-year loan is 5%. By borrowing money at the short-term rate and investing it at the long-term rate, an investor can profit from the difference in rates. Indirect Use of Leverage
Investors who are not comfortable employing leverage directly have a variety of ways to access leverage indirectly. They can invest in companies that use leverage in the normal course of their business. An automaker, for example, could borrow money to build a new factory. The new factory would enable the automaker to increase the number of cars it produces, thereby increasing profits.

Through balance sheet analysis, investors can study the debt and equity on the books of various firms and can choose to invest in companies that put leverage to work on behalf of their businesses. Statistics such as Return on Equity, Debt to Equity and Return on Capital Employed help investors determine how companies are deploying capital and how much of that capital has been borrowed. To properly evaluate these statistics, it is important to keep in mind that leverage comes in several varieties, including operating, financial and combined leverage. Understanding these concepts is critical to analyzing their use. If reading spreadsheets and conducting fundamental analysis is not your cup of tea, you can purchase mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that use leverage. By using these vehicles, you can delegate the research and investment decisions to experts.

Downside of Leverage
Leverage is a multi-faceted and complex tool. The theory sounds great, and in reality the use of leverage can be quite profitable, but the reverse is also true.

Revisiting a few of our earlier examples illustrates the point. Consider that automobile purchaser using leverage to acquire a $20,000 vehicle with a down payment of just $2,000. The minute that new car leaves the lot, its value drops because it is now a "used" car instead of a "new" one. So, that $20,000 car may be worth $19,000 just a few hours later. A month later, the buyer will need to make a payment in exchange for the $18,000 loan used to purchase the vehicle. More often than not, that loan charges interest. By the time the loan is paid off, once the interest payments are factored in, the buyer may have spent $25,000 or more for a vehicle that is now valued at $10,000. If the buyer had not used leverage to buy the car, the amount of money lost on the purchase would have been lower.

In the housing purchase example, the investor used five down payments of $5,000 each to purchase 10 homes valued at $50,000 each. If real estate prices fall and those homes are now worth only $45,000 each, the investor would take a $50,000 loss (100% of the initial amount invested) if the homes were sold. If the value of the homes fell to $40,000 each, the buyer's potential loss of $100,000 is 200% of the original investment amount. In each scenario, the buyer would also need to continue making mortgage payments (including interest) and insurance payments in addition to periodic home maintenance. In this scenario, the losses can add up quickly and the amounts lost become substantial.

A similar concept applies to the fixed-income investor who took out a short-term loan at 1% interest to invest in a loan that paid 5%. If short-term interest rates rise to 6%, and the investor is only earning 5% on the long-term investment, the investor loses money.

The Bottom Line
When it comes to leverage, unless you are a professional trader and your losses will be covered by your employer, leveraged investing should probably not be your primary investment strategy. If you are not a professional and you choose to use leverage, don't invest more than you can afford to lose. Also, be sure to conduct careful research and make prudent decisions. This approach is more likely to result in a positive outcome than blindly investing in a hot trend based on your observation that other people are making money in real estate, currencies, stocks or some other investment vehicle that has become so popular that investors are borrowing money to buy it.

Rambus Inc. (RMBS) Q1 Earnings Preview: Strong, But Will It Be Strong Enough?

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) will hold a conference call on April 21, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss its first quarter 2014 results. This call will be webcast and can be accessed via Rambus' web site at investor.rambus.com.

Wall Street anticipates that the memory chip maker will earn $0.03 per share for the quarter, which is $0.12 more than last year's loss of $0.09 per share. iStock expects RMBS  to miss Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is $0.02, a penny less than expected.

Sales, like earnings, are expected to grow, rising 8.4% year-over-year (YoY). Rambus' consensus revenue estimate for Q1 is $72.45 million, more than last year's $66.87 million.

[Related -Rambus Inc. (RMBS): Worth The Risk?]

The company's technology solutions include memory, chip interfaces and architectures, end-to-end security, and advanced LED lighting. It focuses on designing, developing, and licensing technology related to memory and interfaces; and providing various services, including know-how and technology transfer, product design and development, system integration, and other services.

The semiconductor has bypassed Wall Street's consensus estimate 11 of the last 16 quarterly checkups. The average bullish surprise is pretty big at 745% more than expected, which works out to an average of $0.17 more than the street's outlook.

Meanwhile, the five misses have been more dramatic, falling short of the mark by as much as -700%, as little as -3.33% while averaging 204% less than forecasted, which works out to -$0.06 less than anticipated.

[Related -Stocks Gain Ahead Of Fed Decision; FLIR Systems, Inc. (FLIR) Jumps]

Investors spilt their reaction to Rambus' last 16 quarterly announcements. Eight of the responses were green and red. Typically, the stock fell by -10.25% in the tree days surrounding eight of the last 16 while increasing by an average of 4.41% for the other eight announcements.

Rambus relies heavily on a handful of companies. Names like Samsung, SK hynix and Micron accounted for 62% of RMBS' revenue in 2013. So far, Micron had a strong quarter and Samsung guided in the middle of their previous guidance, but still strong YoY. That's probably why Wall Street believes Rambus's top and bottom lines are on the rise.

Rambus's financial health appears to be fit heading into Monday afternoon's announcement. Sales increased by 16% in 2013 while the cost of goods sold were up 17%. Of course, we'd prefer for the numbers to be flipped, but they are generally in-line. However, marketing, general and administrative costs falling 32% YoY more than made up the difference.

That being said, management also cut back on research and development. iStock would much rather see the line-item keep pace with revenue growth. Tomorrow could become an issue if you aren't investing in it.

Overall: Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) is positioned to have a strong quarter YoY; however, the iEstimates suggests it might not be as strong as expected. 

Beaten Down Small Cap BioScrip Inc (BIOS): Time for a Second Look? IHF & XLV

Beaten down small cap home care and infusion stock BioScrip Inc (NASDAQ: BIOS) was recently called a potential takeover target, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with healthcare ETFs like the iShares Dow Jones US Health Care ETF (NYSEARCA: IHF) or the Health Care SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA: XLV). I should mention that during the third quarter of last year, we had BioScrip in our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio after the stock had taken a beating but we also believed the company is on the verge of turning a profit and is potentially undervalued.

What is BioScrip Inc?

Small cap BioScrip is a leading provider in comprehensive, cost-effective pharmaceutical, home care solutions and infusion solutions. BioScrip partners with physicians, healthcare payors, government agencies, hospital systems and pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide patients access to post-acute care services by delivering customer-focused pharmacy and related healthcare infusion therapy services in alternate-site settings.

There really aren't any other publicly traded socks that offer a good benchmark for comparison with BioScrip, but the iShares Dow Jones US Health Care ETF tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Healthcare Providers Index by investing in 49 health care provider stocks while the Health Care SPDR ETF tracks the S&P Health Care Select Sector Index through 56 holdings in Pharmaceuticals (47%), Biotechnology (18.11%), Health Care Providers & Services (15.46%), Health Care Equipment & Supplies (15.14%), Life Sciences Tools & Services (3.59%) and Health Care Technology (0.70%).

What You Need to Know or Be Warned About BioScrip Inc

Earlier this month, Oscar Schafer, the managing partner of O.S.S. Capital Management and chairman of Rivulet Capital, mentioned BioScrip as a stock pick and a potential takeover target while on CNBC. But it should be mentioned that in mid January, Schafer was part of a Barron's Roundtable when he talked about the company in detail and stated:

We recently bought a large stake in BioScrip [BIOS]. In the past few years CEO Rick Smith has radically transformed the company from its retail and mail-order-pharmacy roots into one of only three national providers of home-infusion-therapy services. BioScrip stumbled last year in integrating four major acquisitions, creating an opportunity for us. Demand for infusion therapy is growing at a mid-teens rate as a result of aging demographics and a robust pipeline of specialty drugs that need to be delivered intravenously. Infusion therapy traditionally was administered in a hospital, but has shifted to an outpatient setting in the past two decades. Home therapy is more comfortable for the patients and much more cost-effective than hospital and in-patient settings.

He added that the home infusion market is a highly fragmented one with 70% of infusion pharmacies being independent, but the large managed-care companies are pushing into the industry to consolidate in order to ensure consistency of care. The other national consolidators include Option Care, which Walgreen Company (NYSE: WAG) acquired in 2007, and Coram, which was purchased by CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) in November. In addition:

Government reimbursement isn't a big risk for BioScrip. Medicare doesn't cover home infusion, which forces patients to get treatment in the high-cost hospital setting. Eventually, the government will fix this issue.

Late last February, BioScrip fell as much as 13% after the reporting fourth quarter earnings that exceeded top line expectations but also missed at the bottom line. Specifically, fourth quarter revenue from continuing operations increased 34.7% to $243.5 million as Infusion Services segment revenue totaled $212.0 million verses $135.6 million thanks to the acquisitions of HomeChoice and CarePoint plus strong organic growth while the loss from continuing operations, net of taxes, was $15.4 million verses a net loss of $1.4 million. Revenue from continuing operations for 2013 rose 27.1% to $842.2 million for 2012 as Infusion Services segment revenue came in at $697.3 million verses $481.6 million while the loss from continuing operations, net of taxes, was $53.6 million verses a net loss of $8.3 million. The CEO did comment that:

"We believe that 2014 is off to a strong start. The recently announced agreement to sell our Home Health division, combined with our debt refinancing, enhances our financial flexibility and allows us to focus on growing our infusion platform to drive shareholder value creation. Our strong clinical programs, customer-focused model and flexible go-to-market approach are the cornerstones of our infusion program and position us very well in the industry."

Otherwise, it should be noted that BioScrip will release its 2014 first quarter financial results on Thursday, May 8, after the market closes.

Share Performance: BioScrip Inc vs. IHF & XLV

On Thursday, small cap BioScrip fell 0.14% to $7.36 (BIOS has a 52 week trading range of $5.61 to $17.62 a share) for a market cap of $501.86 million plus the stock is up 1.24% since the start of the year, down 43.7% over the past year and up 200.4% over the past five years. Here is a look at the long term performance of BioScrip verses that of health care performance benchmarks iShares Dow Jones US Health Care ETF or the Health Care SPDR ETF:

As you can see from the above performance chart, small cap BioScrip has given investors a more volatile performance than health care benchmarks iShares Dow Jones US Health Care ETF or the Health Care SPDR ETF:

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical charts for all three investments: 

The Bottom Line. Despite the past problems, small cap home care and infusion stock BioScrip might just be worth a closer look before the stock reports earnings in two weeks.

SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) previously had an open position in BIOS. To find out what other open positions SCN EO currently has, and to learn why so many traders and investors are relying on this premium subscription service, click here to find out more.

Sonoco Products Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON  ) reported earnings on July 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Sonoco Products met expectations on revenues and beat slightly on earnings per share.

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

Margins increased across the board.

Revenue details
Sonoco Products reported revenue of $1.23 billion. The 12 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $1.22 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

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

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.59. The 13 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.58 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.59 for Q2 were 1.7% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.58 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.53 for Q2 were 6.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.50 per share.

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

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 18.1%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.2%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.5%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.24 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.61.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.85 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.28.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 118 members out of 128 rating the stock outperform, and 10 members rating it underperform. Among 45 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 44 give Sonoco Products a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Sonoco Products is hold, with an average price target of $34.55.

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Add Sonoco Products to My Watchlist.

Procter & Gamble 3Q Net Income Rises on Cost Cuts

Al Behrman, dapd/AP NEW YORK -- Procter & Gamble's fiscal third-quarter net income rose 2 percent as it cut costs to offset sluggish sales in categories like beauty and family products. The world's largest consumer product maker's adjusted earnings topped analyst estimates, but revenue fell short. Investors were looking for stronger growth and shares fell slightly in morning trading. Since CEO A.G. Lafley returned to the company in May, Procter & Gamble (PG) has focused on its most profitable markets and products and on introducing new products. It sold off most of its pet care business earlier this month for $2.9 billion. "We're operating in a slow-growth, highly competitive environment, which places even greater importance on strong innovation and productivity improvement," Lafley said in a statement. The Cincinnati-based company's turnaround plan also includes cutting costs to save $10 billion by fiscal 2016. It said it is redesigning its supply chain in North America, including enabling more of its 35 manufacturing facilities to make more than one category of goods and bringing them closer to its customers and consumers. For the three months ended March 31, the maker of Tide detergent and Gillette razors earned $2.61 billion, or 90 cents a share. That compares with $2.57 billion, or 88 cents a share, last year. Excluding restructuring charges and other items, earnings were $1.04 a share. Analysts forecast $1.02 a share, according to a FactSet survey. Revenue totaled $20.56 billion, down slightly from last year's $20.6 billion on foreign currency fluctuations. Wall Street expected $20.68 billion. P&G maintained guidance for a rise of 3 percent to 5 percent in full-year adjusted earnings. Citi Investment Research analyst Wendy Nicholson said that the global marketplace is sluggish and intensely competitive, so Procter & Gamble's results are "pretty darned impressive." The stock fell 67 cents to $79.94 in midday trading. The stock is flat for the year.

This Week's Top Dow Stocks

It was a short week on Wall Street, but that doesn't mean it was absent of action. Worldwide, markets held their breath on Wednesday on fear that Portugal will pull back on austerity measures after losing two cabinet members, but that mini-panic didn't last long. Friday's jobs report showed 195,000 new jobs in Jun,e and stocks shot up to end the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) ended the week up 1.52% and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) gained 1.59%.

United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) rose 3.9% to lead the Dow, mostly on positive economic news. A diversified company like United Technologies will benefit from stronger economic activity indicated by the jobs report. Subsidiary UTC Aerospace also announced a deal with ST Aerospace to provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul for Boeing 787 Dreamliner engines worldwide.  

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) was up 3.1% this week, although it wasn't the company itself that caused the move. Dell's buyout deal has now come into question after Michael Dell's partner Silver Lake Management refused to put more money into the offer, and it now appears that the $13.65 buyout offer will be voted on by shareholders. Whether the deal goes through or not, it has taken a lot of time and energy away from making Dell a strong PC company, which is a good thing for HP. I'm still leery of HP's falling revenue, but if the PC market turns around, there's a lot of upside for investors, especially if Dell's challenges continue.  

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) was the big bank winner, jumping 3% this week. Long-term interest rates are rising and that means higher spreads for banks, who borrow at short-term rates. Higher rates may seem bad for the economy, but the Federal Reserve will only allow them to rise if the economy is strong enough to stand on its own. Banks will be beneficiaries from higher interest rate spread and lower default rates, so it's no surprise that most banking stocks were up big this week.

Banking stocks can be very volatile, but the sector has one notable stand-out. In a sea of mismanaged and dangerous peers, it rises above as "The Only Big Bank Built to Last." You can uncover the top pick that Warren Buffett loves in The Motley Fool's new report. It's free, so click here to access it now.

Measuring the metrics that matter in the RIA world

One of the big advantages registered investment advisers have over wirehouse advisers is the extent of the control they have over their business’ performances. While RIAs can drive their own success by having a handle on all aspect of their businesses, wirehouse advisers, perforce, have a systemically myopic view of top-line growth.

You have probably read a lot about “big data” and a whole industry that helps businesses get a handle on measuring “metrics that matter.” One of the keys to success for an RIA is knowing both what to measure and how to measure it.

What are you tracking throughout the year: Financials? Business development? Client assets? Investment performance? Do you have these numbers at your fingertips? Or do you have to spend cycles manually collecting the data and analyzing the numbers?

The most efficient way to collect, analyze, track, and present this data is by using a dashboard. And I do mean dashboard in the most obvious sense — like the one in an automobile that should show you everything you need to know to keep on driving.

What makes for a great dashboard not only is the information it displays, but also what it looks like: simple, clear, and uncluttered. However, as you consider the metrics for any dashboard you need to address the following questions:

1. What is its purpose? Who will be seeing it? And who will be using it? (Are they front-line client service associates and analysts, or the advisers?)

2. What decisions need to be made on the basis of the information being presented?

Management also needs to view both strategic and tactical data to make sure the goals of the firm are being met. So for the management level dashboard you will, in addition, need to address the following considerations:

1. Are the metrics tied to critical firm business outcomes?

2. Do the metrics provide insight into how your team is affecting these outcomes?

3. Do the metrics help demonstrate your team’s overall effectiveness and financial value?

4. Does the dashboard provide insight into what is, and isn’t, working?

I enjoy working with RIAs to answer these questions, and building, with them, meaningful dashboards that help them identify and track their goals. And there should be dashboards — plural — both across the firm, and down to the individual adviser level. Only by understanding your critical business outcomes, both firmwide and on an individual level, and how the different parts of your team are expected to affect these, will you be in the best position to define your metrics and subsequently, use them effectively.

Additionally, a good dashboard should contain updates to what I like to call qualitative strategic initiatives. These are the continuing projects that are the actual work people do to meet their goals. For example, one firm ! I work with has several qualitative strategic initiatives to track: improvements in client satisfaction scores, the development of a new client report, a portfolio of new marketing materials and new M&A opportunities. Without these, your dashboards run the risk of turning into piles of meaningless data points and pretty charts.

Once the whole team, from top to bottom, has access to all the information they need to do their jobs — both as a firm and individually — the benefits can be enormous. For instance, with the ability to track their goals, successes, failures and even aspirations, the culture of caring for, and helping develop, the careers of your professionals simply become a natural part of your firm’s DNA: an essential condition for any really successful firm.

Another particularly successful firm with which I work uses dashboards to undert

Peeking inside Samsung's product torture chamber

SUWON, South Korea — And you thought your kids were hard on your smartphone.

It's nothing near the abuse Samsung Electronics inflicts on its Galaxy S5 and other products in the company's pipeline. Phones are dropped on purpose, subjected to heat, dust and water, and zapped with high-voltage electrostatic guns.

I'm visiting testing facilities at Samsung's headquarters, where the company is putting its latest flagship phone through the wringer. The idea is not simply to see how the phones might come through the rigors of human contact unscathed — though that's a big part — but also to figure out how external elements affect longevity and performance.

Some tests are automated, while others involve more personal interaction. For example, devices are placed into a chamber filled with dust to test for faulty circuits. They're dropped in water or shot with a nozzle of water to see if they corrode or go on the fritz. Phones are tested to see how they handle sweat. They're twisted to determine how far they can bend without breaking.

Samsung drops the devices off a platform from various heights and angles, and analyzes them for cracks, loose parts or other damage. It's a good way to tell if they can survive a clumsy owner.

Can they survive the kid who loves to press — and keep pressing — buttons? To test this, Samsung runs an automated machine with knobs that repeatedly press the home button — Samsung won't reveal how just many times — until that button finally fails.

Meanwhile, if you've ever broken a device by inadvertently sitting on it, you'll appreciate the automated butt test Samsung conducts. Yep, the dummy derriere that sits on exposed test phones wears jeans.

Samsung punishes competitor's phones, too, and puts other types of products through automated torture drills. Laptop lids, for example, are repeatedly folded and unfolded to test their durability, an exercise that conjures up images of a chorus line. Similar folder life-cycle tests are done wit! h flip-phone covers.

While many of the tests are about how the phones (and other products) will come through in one piece, there are others to gauge their impact on you and me. For example, Samsung employs thermal cameras to determine if devices are emitting too much heat. It also uses fluids that mimic the characteristics of the human body, which can help tell if the body will absorb too much radiation.

Cameras in phones are evaluated against a variety of measures — color, resolution, flash performance, etc. — with the tests adjusted for changing lighting environments.

Samsung uses spikes of absorbent foam in various antenna chambers to test reception and to determine how other electronic gadgetry may be affected.

Device acoustics are also tested, of course, with loud background noises (cars and trains, for example) simulating environments around the world. It seems noise levels in India or China, for example, differ from levels in Europe or the U.S.

Should Investors Transfer Their Money Into Small Cap Euronet Worldwide (EEFT)? MGI, XOOM & WU

Small cap money transfer stock Euronet Worldwide, Inc (NASDAQ: EEFT) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (NYSE: WMT) have announced an exclusive money transfer service called "Walmart-2-Walmart," meaning its time to take a closer look at the stock along with the performance of peers like Moneygram International Inc (NASDAQ: MGI), Xoom Corp (NASDAQ: XOOM) and The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) which fell 17.68%, 4.32% and 4.98%, respectively.

What is Euronet Worldwide, Inc?

Founded in 1994, small cap Euronet Worldwide is a global provider of electronic payment and transaction processing solutions for financial institutions, retailers, service providers and individual consumers. Euronet Worldwide's three primary business segments (EFT, epay and Ria Money Transfer) are supported by 4,100 employees in 39 countries while last year, the company processed 2.3 billion transactions and posted annual revenues of approximately $1.4 billion. In addition, the company is operating the largest independent nationwide shared ATM network in India and the largest payment network in the world for prepaid mobile top-up.

As for potential peers, small cap Moneygram International offers money transfer services worldwide through a global network of 336,000 agent locations (including retailers, international post offices and financial institutions) in more than 200 countries and territories; small cap Xoom Corp is a leading digital money transfer provider in 31 countries (with more than one million active customers sent more than $5.5 billion to family and friends last year) that is focused on helping consumers send money using their mobile phone, tablet or computer; mid cap The Western Union Company with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, has a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs that last year handled 242 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide - moving $82 billion of principal between consumers and 459 million business payments.

What You Need to Know or Be Warned About Euronet Worldwide, Inc

On Thursday morning, Euronet Worldwide issued a filing to announce Walmart-2-Walmart - a domestic consumer to consumer money transfer service that will be offered at US based Walmart stores using the company's money transfer subsidiary, Ria Financial Services. Specifically, Ria will be the exclusive operator for all Walmart-2-Walmart transactions and Walmart will act as Ria's authorized agent. In a call with investors, Daniel Eckert, the senior vice president of services for Walmart, commented:

"Walmart-2-Walmart offers a clear fee structure with just two pricing tiers: customers can transfer up to $50 for $4.50 and up to $900 for $9.50."

Wells Fargo was quick to note Moneygram International has stated that 13% of its gross revenue and 9% of its revenue net of commissions is obtained through its Wal-Mart-2-Wal-Mart money transfer business. Nevertheless, Wells Fargo said MoneyGram remains "very attractive" with no more than 13% of the company's revenue at risk plus they kept Outperform ratings on both MoneyGram and Euronet Worldwide.

Investors though should be aware that Euronet Worldwide plunged around 15% back in February after earnings missed expectations when fourth quarter revenues rose 7% to $375.4 million and net income attributable to Euronet came in at $10.0 million verses a net loss of $13.0 million. For the entire year, Euronet Worldwide had an 11% revenue increase to $1,413.1 million and net income attributable to Euronet of $88.0 million verses $20.5 million.

Otherwise, it should be noted that Euronet Worldwide has a trailing P/E of 25.11 and a forward P/E of 15.43 along with no dividend. The company will also release first quarter 2014 earnings results prior to the market opening on Wednesday, April 30.

Share Performance: Euronet Worldwide, Inc vs. MGI, XOOM & WU

On Thursday, small cap Euronet Worldwide rose 4.05% to $42.44 (EEFT has a 52 week trading range of $25.91 to $50.00 a share) for a market cap of $2.16 billion plus the stock is down 12.5% since the start of the year, up 58.9% over the past year and up 172.7% over the past five years. Here is a look at the long term performance of Euronet Worldwide along with peers Moneygram International, Xoom Corp and The Western Union Company:

As you can see from the above chart, Euronet Worldwide's performance was relatively flat until the beginning of last year while Xoom Corp has not been a good deal for retail investors since its IPO and both The Western Union Company and Moneygram International have been flat for investors since the end of the financial crisis or so.

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical charts for all four stocks:

The Bottom Line. Given the Walmart-2-Walmart deal, investors should be revisiting small cap Euronet Worldwide but they probably should not rule out taking a closer look at Moneygram International, Xoom Corp and Western Union Company now that their shares are available for a discount.

3 Predictions for Blackrock Stock

When it comes to big, publicly owned investment management companies, there's little doubt which one investors love best: Blackrock  (NYSE: BLK  )  is top of the heap. Rated "four stars" by The Motley Fool's CAPS supercomputer, Blackrock easily eclipses smaller rival State Street  (NYSE: STT  ) , rated three stars, and larger rival UBS  (NYSE: UBS  )  -- an anemic two stars. But why?

After all, Blackrock isn't an obvious bargain. It costs nearly 19 times trailing earnings, and carries a forward P/E ratio of nearly 15, more expensive than either of its rivals, who trade in the upper 12s.

So today, let's take a look at why it might be that investors prefer Blackrock, and whether the stock's likely to maintain its outperformance, or fade back into the pack of also-rans. We'll begin with a couple of predictions from Wall Street's best and brightest analysts ... and then I'll give you a prediction of my own.

Prediction No. 1: Superior sales
One reason investors appear to favor Blackrock stock over the alternatives is pretty simple: Of the three, it's the fastest grower.

As you can see in the chart below, last year, Blackrock generated the least revenue of the three firms named. But analysts expect this to change in a jiffy. Crystal balls are notoriously hard to read, but the Street thinks we'll see Blackrock take the No. 2 position away from State Street as early as this year, then keep on outgrowing its rivals through 2016.

Prediction No. 2: Superb earnings
A corollary to this trend -- if this is indeed how things play out for Blackrock stock -- is that analysts see more potential for the company's faster revenue grower to result in fast-growing earnings, as well. Let's take a look at how analysts see this trend working.

Now ... don't get too excited at the height of Blackrock's "bars" up there. The main reason Blackrock stock earns more per share than its rivals do is because it simply has fewer shares outstanding, and fewer shares among which to divide up its profits.

More important than the company's per-share profit is the fact that Blackrock's growing this profit at a faster rate than its rivals -- about 13.4% per annum. (And maybe even faster than that. We don't have a reliable estimate for Blackrock's 2016 earnings, yet). In contrast, estimates call for 12% long-term earnings growth at UBS, and only 11.4% at State Street.

Prediction No. 3: All good things must come to an end
And now it's time for that prediction I promised you up above. Investors clearly love the rapid rate of growth at Blackrock -- both the growth it's produced in the past, and the growth it's expected to produce in the future. They're also probably pleased with the fact that Blackrock stock has gone up 55% over the past year in response to the company's continued success.

But, while the earnings growth may continue, I expect anyone counting on another 55% bull run in the stock will be disappointed.

The reason: At nearly 20 times earnings today, Blackrock stock already prices in its potential for 13.4% future earnings growth, and even its generous 2.4% dividend yield. The stock also looks expensive based on its price-to-book value ratio of 1.8. At a P/B valuation 25% more expensive than State Street, and 38% more than UBS, Blackrock stock is simply overpriced.

Saving for Retirement Advice From Around the Web

April is Financial Literacy Month, so it's a good reminder to review how much you know about managing your money. Chances are you might be making some mistakes. For example, a recent T.Rowe Price "Parents, Kids and Money Survey" found that more than half of the parents surveyed mistakenly think it's more important to save for their kids' college rather than their own retirement. Why is that a mistake? You won't get any grants, scholarships or federally guaranteed loans to support you in your old age, nor will you have the income or time to catch up once you retire. And by forgoing tax-favored retirement accounts, such as a 401(k), you not only miss out on any employer match but also lose the tax benefit and opportunity for long-term growth that these accounts offer.

SEE ALSO: Why You Need a Roth IRA

Take our Are You Saving Enough for Retirement? quiz to make sure you're on track to building a nest egg that's large enough to cover your expenses when you're no longer working. Then read on for advice on saving for retirement from some of our favorite personal finance bloggers.

5 Easy Investment Strategies That Build Wealth [Mint Life]
"Whether you're thinking of investing your tax refund or pushing your 401k or IRA to grow bigger, here are five ways to get more from your money immediately."

Financing Your Bucket List [Get Rich Slowly]
"The biggest mistake people make when thinking about retirement planning is treating it as a finish line instead of a starting point. There are four cornerstones that help you plan ahead so you can spend time on your own bucket list, and enjoy what's ahead."

Top 6 Mistakes That Will Screw Up Your Retirement [Good Financial Cents]
"I've been a financial advisor for over 12 years now and I've seen plenty of people screw themselves out of a successful retirement. The most frustrating aspect on my end is that many of it could have been avoided if those people took a little bit of time to review their situation."

Are You Forgetting to Include This Key Factor in Your Retirement Plan? [MoneyNing]
"Here's how you can protect your nest egg from the destructive power of inflation, both before and after you retire."

Why the Dow Jones Jumped Despite Weak Economic Data

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is up today despite weak economic data in the U.S. and China. The stock market jumped around noon as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave a speech at the Economics Club of New York. As of 1:15 p.m. EDT the Dow was up 117 points, or 0.72%, to 16,380. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) was up 0.66% to 1,855.

There were two U.S. economic releases today and three releases in China last night:

Report

Period

Result

Previous

Housing starts	March	946,000	920,000
Building permits	March	990,000	1,014,000
Industrial production	March	0.7%	1.2%
Capacity utilization	March	79.2%	78.8%
Chinese GDP growth	Q1 2014	7.4%	7.7%
Chinese retail sales YoY growth	March	12.2%	11.8%
Chinese industrial production YoY growth	March	8.8%	8.6%

YoY = year-over-year.

None of the U.S. reports were encouraging, but the Chinese reports showed the economy did not slow as much as many had feared. The two key reports here are U.S. housing starts and Chinese GDP growth. Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized 946,000, up from a revised 920,000 in February but well below analyst expectations of 990,000. Building permits, a leading indicator of housing starts, fell by 2.4% to 990,000, missing expectations of 1.02 million. Housing-market activity has slowly been getting stronger since the depths of 2009 but is still well below the levels seen a decade ago. Today's data just shows that the U.S. housing market continues to slowly strengthen.

US New Housing Permits data by YCharts.

Meanwhile, China's economy has been propped up in recent years by politically directed government lending and infrastructure spending, which has led to large imbalances in the economy. These, coupled with restrictions on investment, have led to a housing bubble, as well as a credit bubble. The Chinese government has begun taking steps to mitigate these through actions to raise interbank lending rates and restrict unconventional lending. The effects were seen this past quarter in China's first-ever default of publicly sold bonds. Previously, government organizations would take all possible measures to prevent any default.

The restrictions on credit were expected to slow the economy's growth, but the Communist party is still targeting 7.5% GDP growth this year. However, recent import and export data has been far worse than expectations, causing analysts to lower forecasts for this quarter's annualized growth to 7.3%. Chinese GDP came in slightly above that at 7.4%, while retail sales and industrial production also beat expectations. Given that China is the world's second-largest economy, its economic data has a direct effect on many Dow stocks that have significant operations around the world.

The Dow Jones spiked upward at noon following Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech at the Economic Club of New York. Yellen said the members of the Federal Open Market Committee believed the recent U.S. economic slowdown was the result of the harsh winter and did not represent a general slowing of economic activity. Yellen said it was "quite plausible" that the U.S. economy could return to full employment and stable prices within the next three years. The FOMC views "full employment" as an unemployment rate near 5.5% -- though that's not entirely accurate, given that many people are simply not looking for jobs or have part-time jobs, which is not reflected in the headline number. Yellen went on to talk about the challenges the Fed and the economy face and explained how the Fed would continue to communicate through its forward guidance; the Fed believes monetary policy is more effective when people understand what the Fed plans to do. Yellen's expectations that the economy will continue grow stronger pushed the Dow up at noon.

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May Sales Reassure Automotive Bulls

In April, the automotive industry's seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales, or SAAR, dropped below 15 million for the first time this year. When sales numbers came in at 14.9 million for the month, some investors began sounding warning alarms that vehicle sales could be in for a decline for the rest of 2013. I didn't buy into those headlines, and it looks like strong sales are here to stay. May sales bounced back to 15.3 million and the graph below shows recent strength in SAAR numbers. 

Ford (NYSE: F  ) had an excellent month, and there were bright spots for its crosstown rival General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) . Let's take a look at some of last month's biggest winners.

Winner, winner!
The industry grew 8% in May led by Nissan, Ford, and Chrysler which gained 25%, 14%, and 11%, respectively. Those trailing industry growth were Honda (NYSE: HMC  ) and Volkswagen at 5% and 4%, respectively. Even further behind were Toyota (NYSE: TM  ) and General Motors, reporting 3% gains. 

Nissan's jump was largely due to a strong May from its recently redesigned Altima, Pathfinder, and Sentra models. The percentage increases for those models were 41%, 293% and 65%, respectively. While the large percentage jumps are nice to cover in press releases, in reality only the Altima broke the top 20 in U.S. vehicle sales. Nissan's best-selling model managed to come in fifth, selling just under 32,000 vehicles. 

Overall Ford was a big winner in May with its most profitable line, the F-Series, notching a 31% gain over last May and topping 70,000 for the first month since March 2007. That's pretty impressive on the eve of GM launching its 2014 Silverado. Below is a graph highlighting monthly F-Series sales, not cumulative, and the red line represents what Ford considers a good month in sales -- 50,000. 

Ford's Fusion and Escape have set record monthly sales for four straight months and have become Detroit automakers' two top-selling cars. In May both models topped 29,000 in sales and ranked in the top 10 for vehicles sold in the U.S. If you look at total vehicles sold year to date, Ford owns a third of the 12 top models – more than any other manufacturer.

GM's Silverado was its only vehicle to break the top 10 in U.S. sales, but managed to grab the second spot – trailing only the F-Series. While its 25% increase compared to last May is nothing to sneeze at, it still trails Ford's F-Series by about 100,000 vehicles this year. GM hopes to bump up its sales numbers when its redesigned 2014 Silverado makes an impact this summer.

Cadillac was really GM's bright spot for the month, and for the year. Cadillac sales were up almost 40% for the month and 36% for the year. GM still is significantly behind rival Ford in its operating efficiency and margins. In time, as those improve, and as both the Cadillac line and full-size pickup sales improve, it will help GM become more profitable – something investors have been long awaiting.

Similar to Nissan, Cadillac's recent surge has been from success of its new vehicles – the ATS and XTS sedans. This is good news for GM's big picture as it plans to refresh, redesign, or replace 90% of its vehicle's by 2016. Recent success of the ATS and XTS give investors hope that the rest of the vehicle portfolio will be as well-designed and successful as its recent launches.

Bottom line
It appears that April's dip in SAAR numbers was just a minor speed bump for the industry. In fact, Ford announced that its production in the third quarter will be raised 10% compared to last year, signaling that management believes sales will remain strong throughout 2013.

Right now losses from operations in Europe are plaguing automakers, but if those losses are mitigated, expect strong second-quarter earnings reports from major automakers – especially Ford – and continued strength throughout 2013.

Those were May's winners, but which will be long-term winners? If you're interested in using the surging U.S. and global automotive rebound to boost your portfolio gains, look no further. The Motley Fool's brand-new free report highlights two major auto investments that could pay off big in the future.

Nissan amps up design, elegance in new Murano

Nissan is out to restore the cutting-edge design of the Murano crossover, which turned heads when it was launched in 2003. To get there, it made it more luxurious.

The crossover will make its debut this week at the New York Auto Show.

In fact, Nissan says it is so luxurious that it almost crosses the line now into the luxury car field, Nissan officials say.

The change is clear right from a its new grille headlight design. It carries back through the whole vehicle, including flared rear fenders that give it a more powerful look.

"One of the central constructs for both the exterior and interior of the new Murano was to elevate your experience, which is counterintuitive to the heaviness and chunkiness of the traditional sport utility vehicle," said Shiro Nakamura, a Nissan senior vice president, in a statement.

For light, the new Murano will retain much of the glass area of the original. And it borrows its headlight and taillight look from the sports car of the division, 370Z.

It will be powered by a standard 3.5-liter V-6 engine rated at 260 horsepower with a 20% expected boost in fuel economy. It's about 130 pounds lighter than the model it replaces.

Where Taxpayers Get Tripped Up on Obamacare

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- April 15 is just hours away, but last-minute taxpayers shouldn't panic and wind up making mistakes related to the Affordable Care Act that could haunt them next year.

The ACA's individual mandate requires adults without insurance or access to employer-sponsored health care coverage, or who qualify for Medicare or Medicaid, to have signed up for health care insurance through state or federal health care insurance exchanges by March 31. Americans who missed the deadline can't get back in the government's good graces until November, when the open enrollment period for 2015 opens up.

People who are without health care insurance for three or more months in 2014 face a penalty of either a flat fee of $95 or 1% of their gross annual household income (minus the first $10,150 for a single person or $20,300 for a married couple filing jointly).

But that's not the only tax-related concern. In fact, millions of Americans could get "stung by surprise tax bills" when they see their 2014 tax bills, says Michael Mahoney, vice president of consumer marketing at GoHealth Insurance, an online health insurance services firm. According to Mahoney, the ACA was framed, in large part, to provide subsidies to help struggling Americans afford heath care. In general, the lower your income, the fatter the subsidy for many consumers.
Also see: What to Do If You Missed the Obamacare Deadline>> But what many people will miss is that if your family income goes up in 2014, you essentially end up with a bigger subsidy than you are entitled to. That can result in smaller tax refunds or surprise tax bills in the spring 2015 filing season for millions of middle-income families. We spoke to Mahoney got his take on the tax impact of the ACA and what consumers face when it comes to their tax returns and health care reforms.   Do health care consumers realize their tax situation could change as a result of the ACA subsidies? Mahoney: It depends on who you ask. Our licensed insurance advisers are trained to educate consumers about the tax subsidy so they can avoid surprises when filing their 2015 taxes. Given all the changes taking place under the Affordable Care Act, there will certainly be consumers who'll miss the memo. That's why it is important to educate the public about the tax implications of health care reform. The current tax season is a perfect time to do that. If you make more money in 2014 as compared with 2013, your tax refund could go down, or your tax bill can go up. Can you elaborate on that?
Mahoney: Taxpayers were able to estimate their 2014 incomes when enrolling in a health insurance plan to see if they were eligible for a tax credit, then they could apply the tax credit in advance to their monthly premium.
Also see: 4 Ways to Improve Your Life With a Tax Refund>> Eligibility for these tax credits are based on household size and income, so earning more or less throughout the year could affect a person's eligibility. If a person's subsidy eligibility changes and he or she does not report it to the Health care.gov, that person may be required to pay back some or all of the tax credits used to lower the cost of monthly premiums. For example, if you earned more money than you anticipated when enrolling, the amount of tax credits you are eligible for may decrease. As a result, you could end up owing money to the government when you file your taxes next year.  Likewise, if you earn less than you estimated when enrolling in a subsidized health plan, you may pocket more money with your tax refund. Is there any actionable advice consumers can use to mitigate higher tax bills based on their income and their ACA activity? Any tips? Mahoney: The best advice is call us (or your own health care insurance specialist) if your circumstances change. Let your adviser know about changes to your household size or income -- things like marriage, birth, increased wages -- which can impact your tax credit. Your health care specialist can make sure your advanced premium tax credit is adjusted, so you won't have any surprises come tax time.  Additionally, if your subsidy eligibility changes, you'll likely qualify for an opportunity to enroll in a different major medical plan -- one that better fits your new circumstances.

Airline Operating Profits to Double, Deutsche Bank Says

American Airlines (AAL) has surged 35% this year. Alaska Air (ALK) is up 23%. Southwest Airlines (LUV) has risen 21%. Delta Air Lines (DAL) has advanced 18%. And United Continental (UAL) has gained a measly 9%. Can they keep flying high?

Getty Images

Sure, say Deutsche Bank’s Michael Linenberg and team.  They explain why:

We are forecasting an industry net profit for the seasonally-challenged Mar Q of $397 mm which compares favorably to last year’s $65 mm net loss. Not only is it rare for the US airline industry to report a net profit for the Mar Q — last one was observed in 2007 — but this year’s result is especially satisfying given the disruptive weather (+80,000 cancellations) and absence of Easter. Also, we are projecting $1.4 bb of operating profit for the Mar Q, 116% higher y-o-y. In our view, the profitable Mar Q forecast represents another data point in support of how much better the US airline industry is being managed…

We believe a continuation of healthy earnings and cash flow should create greater opportunities to further shareholder-friendly agendas, as we expect a number of US carriers to either augment or introduce shareholder capital return programs (through dividends and/or share repurchases) within the next several quarters (namely [American Airlines, Alegiant Travel (ALGT), Alaska Air, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines)…we think the stocks will continue to perform well throughout the remainder of year.

Their favorites include American Airlines, United Continental, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines, in that order.

Shares of American Airlines have dropped 3.6% to $34.02 today, while United Continental has fallen 2.5% to $41.24, Southwest Airlines has declined 1.6% to $22.77 and Delta Air Lines is off 1.2% to $32.63.

Merck Shouts "Me, Too!" But Will It Matter?

Merck (NYSE: MRK  )  has rolled out impressive phase 2 data that shows that it too has a very compelling hepatitis C regimen that may eliminate the use of side-effect laden Peginterferon and ribavirin -- the standard of care just a few short years ago.

But Merck's midstage data comes months after Gilead (NASDAQ: GILD  ) filed its application for approval with the FDA for its own two drug combination that also eliminates the use of that pesky prior generation cocktail.

MRK data by YCharts

Crowding the bus
Gilead's head start could relegate Merck's MK-5172 and MK-8742 mashup to second- or third-tier status, depending on how much credit you give to Bristol Myers' (NYSE: BMY  ) daclatasvir. All three of these combination approaches do a significantly better job of eliminating viral load in hepatitis C, with fewer side effects than previous options, over a shorter treatment time period. That's a win, win, win for those keeping track.

Gilead's has already won FDA approval for one of the two drugs in its two drug combo. The highly anticipated Sovaldi got the FDA nod back in December and sales have raced out of the gate. Even though Sovaldi was only on the market for a few weeks before the quarter ended, Gilead still reported it had sold more than $140 million worth of it in the fourth quarter.

We'll know whether Sovaldi's momentum built in the first quarter soon, but odds suggest it will soon eclipse an annualized $1 billion run rate, particularly given many hepatitis C patients held off treatment in anticipation of Sovaldi's approval.

The other drug in Gilead's two-drug, one-pill therapy is ledipasvir and combined they put up impressive phase 3 results that have most industry watchers expecting the FDA will approve the drug later this year. If so, the therapy would become the first hepatitis C treatment that removes both interferon and ribavirin from the regimen.

Bristol-Myers' daclatasvir is also already in front of regulators. Bristol won FDA breakthrough status for daclatasvir, and the company has filed for its approval in Europe, where it already won compassionate-use status for use alongside Sovaldi in tough-to-treat cases. A decision on an interferon- and ribavirin-free hepatitis C approach that combines daclatasvir with Bristol's asunaprevir is also expected soon in Japan.

And if those first-to-market advantages aren't daunting enough to Merck's supporters, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV  ) is also knee-deep in trials with its own multidrug cocktail. AbbVie's program is facing its own hurdles given its three-drug combo, while effective, may still end up being dosed with ribavirin -- at least for now.

On the plus side, Merck's data does match up squarely against results reported by Gilead, Bristol, and AbbVie. Merck's MK-5172 and MK-8742 therapy successfully eliminated the virus in 98% of genotype 1 patients in phase 2 trials.

Merck studied the use of its drugs both with and without ribavirin and only 94% of those also receiving ribavirin saw the virus eliminated after 12 weeks. Those receiving ribavirin also reported being more tired, as well as having more nausea, diarrhea, and sleeplessness than those who didn't receive the drug. That suggests there's little incentive (at least in the headline data) for doctors to continue the use of ribavirin with Merck's drugs -- if they're ever approved.

Fool-worthy final thoughts
Gilead's Sovaldi and ledipasvir effectively cured 98% of treatment-naive hepatitis C patients over 12 weeks and 99% of patients over 24 weeks. Across treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients, both with and without liver disease, sustained virological response, or SVR rates, were 96%. Gilead also evaluated the drug over eight weeks and reported SVR of roughly 93%.

Bristol's daclatasvir, used alongside Sovaldi, posted SVR rates that were as high as 100%, depending on genotype, during midstage studies, helping clear the way for the potential for daclatasvir to be dosed alongside Sovaldi.

And AbbVie's Pearl IV study of its three-drug combination without ribavirin generated an SVR of 90% in hard-to-cure genotype 1a patients, and 97% in those patients when ribavirin was included. AbbVie's therapy did even better in less stubborn cases of genotype 1b, curing up to 99% of cases.

Given results from all the competitors are robust, the early-to-market winners are likely to gain a substantial advantage that will lock up the majority of market share. That means the other contenders, like Merck, will need to differentiate their therapy and demonstrate improved effectiveness or shorter duration periods than these competitors in specific genotypes. Either way, the road ahead for Merck is long and its latest data doesn't appear to threaten Sovaldi.

Here are 6 more companies about to benefit from big innovations
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Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now

What exactly is Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) up to? Is it still a drink experience destination or is it pursuing recognition as a broader food and beverage brand? Analysts may view its deal with yogurt maker Danone (NASDAQOTH: DANOY  ) as nothing but creamy goodness, but I think it risks mixing its message too much and will end up confusing the consumer.

Blending coffee, tea, and foods is nothing really new for the java maker, and food has represented almost 20% of revenues for years. It generated almost $1.3 billion by selling its products into supermarkets and grocery stores last year, revenues that surged 50% year over year�and the Greek yogurt it will be branding in conjunction with Danone will be hitting grocery store shelves in 2015 under Starbucks' Evolution Fresh brand, which it acquired in 2011.

Greek yogurt is certainly a growth market, one that accounted for just 1% of the refrigerated yogurt sales in 2007 but that has surged to more than 35% today, even as regular yogurt sales have fallen 8%. According to the folks at Nielsen, U.S. sales of�Greek yogurt jumped 48% in the last 12 months, to $2.65 billion.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: Bumi Resources Tbk PT (BUMI)

PT Bumi Resources Tbk is an Indonesia-based company engaged in exploration and exploitation of coal deposits, including coal mining, and oil exploration. It also owns gold, iron, ore, zinc, lead and copper mines thorugh its subsidiaries. The Company and its subsidiaries classify their products and services into four core business segments: coal mining, services, oil and gas, and gold. The coal mining activities comprise exploration and exploitation of coal deposits, including mining and selling coal. The activity of services represents marketing and management services. The activity of gold, oil and gas are still under exploration stage. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) was the biggest drag on the benchmark measure after an executive said some employees may have broken the law in China. Bumi (BUMI) Plc tumbled 8.6 percent after the coal producer at the center of an ownership dispute ended a three-month halt in London trading. Fresnillo Plc and Randgold Resources Ltd. each added at least 3 percent as gold and silver rallied for a third day.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.(NDAQ)

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. provides trading, clearing, exchange technology, securities listing, and public company services worldwide. It offers trading across various asset classes, including cash equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products, and exchange traded funds; capital formation solutions; financial services and exchanges technology; market data products; and financial indexes, as well as clearing, settlement, and depository services. The company also provides broker services comprising technology and customized securities administration solutions, such as back-office systems to financial participants. In addition, it offers global listing services; technology solutions for trading, clearing, settlement, and information dissemination; and facility management integration, surveillance solutions, and advisory services, as well as develops and licenses NASDAQ OMX branded indexes, associated derivatives, and financial products. As of December 31, 2010 , a total of 2,778 companies listed securities on The NASDAQ Stock Market. The NASDAQ OMX Group supports the operations of approximately 70 exchanges, clearing organizations, and central securities depositories. The company was formerly known as The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. and changed its name to The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. in February 2008. The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Sears]

  As one of the architects of the modern securities market, we reached out to him for insights into what can be done to make the securities markets more stable a day after problems at the Nasdaq Stock Market essentially shuttered the U.S. stock and options markets for about three hours. Nasdaq�� (NDAQ) chief, Bob Greifeld, told a reporter that Nasdaq�� systems, and those of the securities industry, need to be more robust.

• [By Maureen Farrell]

  Twitter will try not to mimic Facebook's mistakes on IPO day.

  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) At the start of last year, Nasdaq (NDAQ) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) were on top of the tech world. Both landed key roles in Facebook's hotly anticipated initial public offering.

  But Facebook's IPO changed that. Both companies were widely criticized for Facebook's face plant of a debut. The problems that marred Facebook's IPO clearly hurt the image of Nasdaq and Morgan Stanley.

• [By Reuters]

  Richard Drew/AP NEW YORK -- The U.S. stock market is rigged in favor of high-speed electronic trading firms, which use their advantages to extract billions from investors, according to Michael Lewis, author of a new book on the topic, "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." High-frequency trading is a practice carried out by many banks and proprietary trading firms using sophisticated computer programs to send gobs of orders into the market, executing a small portion of them when opportunities arise to capitalize on price imbalances, or to make markets. HFT makes up more than half of all U.S. trading volume. The trading methods and technology that make HFT possible are all legal, and the stock exchanges HFT firms trade on are highly regulated. But Lewis said these firms are using their speed advantage to profit at the expense of other market participants to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. "They are able to identify your desire to buy shares in Microsoft (MSFT) and buy them in front of you and sell them back to you at a higher price," Lewis, whose book is available Monday, said Sunday on the "60 Minutes" television program. "This speed advantage that the faster traders have is milliseconds, some of it is fractions of milliseconds," said Lewis, whose books include "The Big Short" and "Moneyball." Those milliseconds can be valuable, making it possible to send around 10,000 orders in the blink of an eye. Darting in and out of trades, HFT firms make just fractions of a penny per trade, but the sheer speed and volume of their trading activity allows those that are successful to make significant profits. Proponents of HFT argue that the presence of such firms makes it easier for all market participants to find buyers and sellers for their trades, and that the speed at which HFT firms can detect and take advantage of pricing imbalances between different markets and assets leads to smaller bid-ask spreads. But Brad Katsuyama, former head trader in New Y

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  We already had a serious call for a crash, one of 10% to 20% as a possible mirror of 1987, by gloom and doom preacher Marc Faber. And now the latest trading glitch by NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) brought back memories of the so-called Flash Crash. It also was just shown that margin debt, borrowing against existing stock holdings, is at a record high.

Top 5 Recreation Stocks To Watch Right Now: Blount International Inc (BLT)

Blount International, Inc. (Blount) is a global industrial company. The Company designs, manufactures, and markets equipment, replacement and component parts, and accessories for professionals and consumers. The Company operates in two segments: Forestry, Lawn, and Garden (FLAG) segment and Farm, Ranch, and Agriculture (FRAG). It also manufactures and markets such items to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) under private label brand names. The Company specializes in manufacturing cutting parts and equipment used in forestry, lawn and garden; farming, ranching, and agricultural, and construction applications. Blount also purchases products manufactured by other suppliers that are aligned with the markets it serves and markets them, under one of its brands, through its global sales and distribution network. Its products are sold in over 115 countries and approximately 63% of the Company�� sales were made outside of the United States during the year ended December 31, 2011. It has manufacturing operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, China, France, and Mexico. In addition, it operates marketing, sales, and distribution centers in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

On March 1, 2011, through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Blount Netherlands B.V. (Blount B.V.), the Company acquired KOX GmbH and related companies (collectively KOX), a Germany-based direct-to-customer distributor of forestry-related replacement parts and accessories, primarily serving professional loggers and consumers in Europe. On August 5, 2011, through Blount Holdings France SAS, it acquired Finalame SA, which included PBL SAS and related companies (collectively PBL). On September 7, 2011, through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary SP Companies, Inc., the Company acquired GenWoods HoldCo, LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary, Woods Equipment Company (collectively Woods/TISCO). Woods/TISCO is a manufacturer and marketer of tractor attachments, implements, and replacement parts, primarily for! the agriculture, ground maintenance, and construction end markets.

Forestry, Lawn, and Garden Segment

The FLAG segment, manufactures and markets cutting chain, guide bars, and drive sprockets for chain saw use, and lawnmower and edger blades for outdoor power equipment. The FLAG segment also purchases replacement parts and accessories from other manufacturers and markets them, primarily under its brands, to its FLAG customers through the Company�� global sales and distribution network. The FLAG segment includes the operations of the Company that has served the forestry, lawn, and garden markets, as well as Carlton, KOX, and a portion of the PBL business. Its Forestry Products are sold under the Oregon, Carlton, KOX, Tiger, and Windsor brands, as well as under private labels for some of its OEM customers. Manufactured product lines include a range of cutting chain, chain saw guide bars, and cutting chain drive sprockets used on portable gasoline and electric chain saws and on mechanical timber harvesting equipment. The Company also purchases and markets replacement parts and other accessories for the forestry market, including small chain saw engine replacement parts, safety equipment and clothing, lubricants, maintenance tools, hand tools, and other accessories used in forestry applications. In 2011, the Company marketed a line of cordless electric chain saws under the Oregon PowerNow brand.

Blount�� lawn and garden products are sold under the Oregon and PBL brand names, as well as private labels for some of its OEM customers. Manufactured product lines include lawnmower and edger cutting blades designed to fit a variety of machines and cutting conditions. It also purchases and markets various cutting attachments, replacement parts, and accessories for the lawn and garden market, such as cutting line for line trimmers, air filters, spark plugs, lubricants, wheels, belts, grass bags, maintenance tools, hand tools, and accessories to service the lawn and garde! n equipme! nt industry. Its FLAG products are sold under both its own brands and private labels to OEMs for use on new chain saws and lawn and garden equipment, and to professionals and consumers as replacement parts through distributors, dealers, direct sales companies, and mass merchants. During 2011, approximately 21% of the FLAG segment�� sales were to OEMs, with the remainder sold into the replacement market.

The Company competes with Ariens, Briggs & Stratton, Fisher Barton, Husqvarna, Jaekel, John Deere, MTD, Northern Tool, Rotary, Stens, Stihl and TriLink.

Farm, Ranch, and Agriculture Segment

The Company�� FRAG segment manufactures and markets attachments and implements for tractors in a variety of mowing, cutting, clearing, material handling, landscaping and grounds maintenance applications, as well as log splitters, post-hole diggers, self-propelled lawnmowers, attachments for off-highway construction equipment applications, and other general purpose tractor attachments. In addition, the FRAG segment manufactures a variety of attachment cutting blade parts. The FRAG segment also purchases replacement parts and accessories from other manufacturers that the Company markets to its FRAG customers through its sales and distribution network. The FRAG segment includes the operations of SpeeCo, Woods/TISCO, and a portion of the PBL business.

Its equipment and tractor attachment products are sold under the Alitec, CF, Gannon, Oregon, PowerPro, SpeeCo, WainRoy, and Woods brand names, as well as under private labels for some of its OEM and retail customers. Product lines include attachments for tractors in a variety of mowing, cutting, clearing, material handling, landscaping and grounds maintenance applications, as well as log splitters, post-hole diggers, self-propelled lawnmowers, snow blowers, attachments for off-highway construction equipment applications, and other general purpose tractor attachments. OEM and aftermarket parts are sold under the PBL, Sp! eeCo, TIS! CO, Tru-Power, Vintage Iron, and WoodsCare brand names, as well as under private labels for some of its OEM customers. The FRAG segment manufactures a variety of attachment cutting blade component parts sold to OEM customers for inclusion in original equipment, and as replacement parts. The FRAG segment also markets replacement parts and accessories purchased from other manufacturers, including tractor linkage, electrical, engine and hydraulic replacement parts, and other accessories used in the agriculture and construction equipment markets.

The Company competes with Alamo Group, Champion, Doosan, Dover, Great Plains, Hope Haven, John Deere, Koch Industries, MTD, Swisher, A&I, Herschel, Kondex, Rasspe, SMA and Sparex.

Concrete Cutting and Finishing Products

The Company operates a business in the specialized concrete cutting and finishing market. These products are sold primarily under the ICS brand. The principal product is a diamond-segmented chain, which is used on gasoline and hydraulic powered concrete cutting saws and equipment. It also markets and distributes gasoline and hydraulic powered concrete cutting chain saws to its customers, which include contactors, rental equipment companies, and construction equipment dealers primarily in the United States and Europe. The power heads for these saws are manufactured by a third party.

The Company competes with Husqvarna and Stihl.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  A gauge of basic-resources shares was the second-worst performer on the Stoxx 600. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BLT), the world�� largest mining companies, lost 4.5 percent to 2,674.5 pence and 4.6 percent to 1,728.5 pence, respectively.

• [By Caroline Bennett]

  Blount (NYSE: BLT  ) took a few hits in this quarter's earnings report, which was released today. Sales were down 1% compared to Q3 2012, to $230.6 million, and the replacement parts manufacturer also took a $5.1 million restructuring charge for consolidating two facilities in Portland, Ore.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  BHP Billiton Ltd. (BLT) rose 4.1 percent to 1,950.5 pence after the world�� largest mining company upgraded its projection for full-year iron-ore production to 212 million tons from its earlier forecast of 207 million tons.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  BHP Billiton (BLT) dropped 3.4 percent to 1,779 pence. Output of iron ore, its biggest earner, was 40.2 million metric tons in the three months to March 31, missing the median estimate of 42.3 million tons in a Bloomberg survey.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: Salient MLP And Energy Infrastructure Fund (SMF)

Salient MLP and Energy Infrastructure Fund (the Fund), is an organized, non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. Its investment objective is to provide a high level of total return with an emphasis on making quarterly cash distributions (Distributions) to its shareholders. The Fund seeks to provide its shareholders with a tax-efficient vehicle to invest in a portfolio of energy infrastructure companies that own midstream and other energy assets. The Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities of companies in the Midstream/Energy Sector, consisting of Midstream MLPs, Midstream Companies, Other MLPs and Other Energy Companies. It will invest in equity securities, such as common units, preferred units, subordinated units, general partner interests, common shares, preferred shares and convertible securities in MLPs, Midstream Companies and Other Energy Companies. The Fund is managed by Salient Capital Advisors, LLC. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Semafo (SMF) jumped 4.8 percent to C$2.60 and Iamgold gained 2.1 percent to C$4.20 as 21 of 24 members of the S&P/TSX Gold Index increased. Gold rose from a five-month low as investors weighed the outlook for reduced U.S. stimulus as early as next week against speculation physical demand may increase at lower prices. Gold for February delivery advanced 0.6 percent in New York.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: American Soil Technologies Inc (SOYL)

American Soil Technologies, Inc., incorporated on January 09, 1997, develop, manufacture on an outsourced basis and market advanced products that decrease the need for water and improves the soil in the Green Industry consisting of agriculture, turf and horticulture. The Company manufactures three products: Agriblend, a soil amendment developed for agriculture; Soil Medic, a slow release liquid fertilizer, and NutrimoistL, developed for homes, parks, golf courses and other turf related applications. The Company markets its products primarily in the United States.

The Company owns a wholly owned subsidiary, Smart World Organics, Inc. (Smart World). Smart World provides organic and sustainable fertilizers to commercial and residential customers worldwide. Smart World also provides custom-formulated products built to suit unusual growing conditions and environments. The product line includes homogenized fertilizers, non-toxic insect controls, plant protectants, seed, soil and silage inoculants.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  What�� the Catch With SOHM Inc? According to various disclosures, transactions of $1.5k and $15k have or will occur to mention SOHM Inc in various investment newsletters. Last Thursday, SOHM Inc announced it had launched a unique protein supplement I-Prolec��in India. The press release says this supplement will help people who have protein deficiency as well as athlete and sports persons who have need of extra proteins. Otherwise and back in June, SOHM Inc announced the financial results for the fiscal first quarter where revenue came in at $1,005,410 verses revenue of $375,741 for the same quarter of 2012. Not mentioned in the press release was a net loss of $236k along with net losses of $259k, $213k and $267k for the past four reported quarters. At the end of March, SOHM Inc had $138k in cash to cover $1,697k in current liabilities and $2,956k in long-term debt. Those full financials are not exactly great, but they are also not exactly terrible if the income statement�� top line continues to grow and the company turns a profit.

  American Soil Technologies, Inc. (OTCMKTS: SOYL) Has Been Very Quiet

  Small cap American Soil Technologies engages in developing, marketing and selling polymer and other soil amendments to the agricultural turf and horticulture industries primarily in the United States. The company�� principal products include Agriblend, a soil amendment for agriculture; Soil Medic, a slow release liquid fertilizer for homes, parks, golf courses, and other turf related applications; and The Agro Tower for vertical farming. American Soil Technologies also provides homogenized fertilizers, non-toxic insect controls, plant protectants, seeds and soil and silage inoculants to commercial and residential customers worldwide. On Friday, American Soil Technologies fell 9.52% to $0.0770 for a market cap of $5.24 million plus SOYL is up 1,141.9% over the past year and up 28.3% over the past five years according to Googl

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: StealthGas Inc.(GASS)

StealthGas Inc., a ship-owning company, through its subsidiaries, provides international seaborne transportation services worldwide. The company transports petroleum gas products in liquefied form, including propane, butane, butadiene, isopropane, propylene, and vinyl chloride monomer. It also transports refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, crude oil, fuel oil, jet fuel, edible oils, and chemicals. As of January 9, 2012, the company had a fleet of 33 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers with a total capacity of 153,088 cubic meters, 3 medium range product tankers, and 1 Aframax oil tanker. It serves LPG producers comprising national and independent energy companies, energy traders, and industrial users. StealthGas Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  StealthGas Inc. (GASS) - Yield 0.00%

  StealthGas Inc. is up 38% over 12 months. The current share price is around $9.40, down 11% since John Keeley made a new buy as of June 30, 2013.

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Several shipping stocks have already started to move higher this year, but in a fashion that will be typical of the volatility in the sector, we saw an opportunity created this week. StealthGas (GASS) reported earnings that fell well short of analyst expectations, and the stock plummeted by almost 8 percent for the week.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  StealthGas (NASDAQ: GASS  ) has ambitions to raise $100 million from the capital markets. The company put a price tag on its upcoming public share flotation, and upped the volume in the process -- 10 million shares are to be sold, as opposed to the originally planned 8 million, and they will be priced at $10.00 apiece.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: Syntel Inc.(SYNT)

Syntel, Inc. provides information technology (IT) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) services worldwide. It operates in four segments: Applications Outsourcing, KPO, e-Business, and TeamSourcing. The Applications Outsourcing segment provides software applications development, maintenance, testing, migration, and infrastructure services. The KPO segment offers a host of outsourced solutions for knowledge and business processes. It focuses on middle and back-office business processes of the transaction cycle in the capital markets, banking, healthcare, and insurance industries. The e-Business segment provides technology services in the areas of architecting, implementing, and maintaining Web solutions, data warehousing/business intelligence, enterprise application integration, business process management, and enterprise resource planning solutions. The TeamSourcing segment offers professional IT consulting services directly to customers on a staff augmentation basis. It s services include systems specification, design, development, implementation, and maintenance of complex IT applications involving computer hardware, software, data, and networking technologies and practices. Syntel, Inc. provides services to a range of companies primarily in the financial services, healthcare and life sciences, insurance, manufacturing, automotive, retail, logistics, and telecom industries. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, IT services specialist Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: Silicon Motion Technology Corporation(SIMO)

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a fabless semiconductor company, designs, develops, and supplies a portfolio of multimedia data processing, storage, and transfer solutions primarily for consumer electronics applications. The company offers a range of microcontrollers for use in NAND flash memory storage products, including flash memory cards, USB flash drives, and embedded flash and solid state drives. It also offers a range of multimedia SoCs comprising embedded graphics processors for embedded graphics applications in desktop and notebook personal computers, game consoles, work stations, and multimedia mobile phones. In addition, the company provides semiconductor solutions consisting of mobile television tuners and integrated tuner plus demodulator SoCs for mobile phones and other portable devices; and CDMA transceivers for CDMA 1x and EVDO modem solutions, as well as transceivers for LTE modem solutions. It sells its products to module makers, original equipment manufacturers, and original design manufacturers through its direct sales force and distributors in Canada, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. The company is headquartered in Jhubei City, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ: SIMO) was also up, gaining 14.72 percent to $17.07 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results and issued strong FY14 revenue forecast.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Silicon Motion (NASDAQ: SIMO  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Silicon Motion Technology (Nasdaq: SIMO  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 29. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Silicon Motion Technology's revenues will shrink -17.7% and EPS will drop -38.1%.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: Nikon Corp (NINOF)

NIKON CORPORATION is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of image and video equipment. The Company operates in four business segments. The Precision Equipment segment offers semiconductor exposure apparatus and liquid crystal (LC) exposure apparatus. The Image segment provides digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, compact digital cameras and interchangeable lens. The Instruments segment offers microscopes, measuring machines and semiconductor inspection equipment. The Others segment provides LC photomask substrates and optical components. As of March 31, 2013, the Company has 87 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- With the yen holding on to its gains and investors cautious as earnings season kicks off, Japanese stocks slid lower Friday after closing the previous day with some late-session gains. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) fell 0.9% to 14,358.28, with the Topix down 0.8%, as the dollar bought 97.36 yen, little changed from 24 hours earlier. The relatively strong yen weighed on some names with high global exposure, as Sharp Corp. (JP:6753) (SHCAF) lost 1%, Pioneer Corp. (JP:6773) (PNCOF) dropped 1.6%, and Bridgestone Corp. (JP:5108) (BRDCF) fell 1.2%. An outlook cut from Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) helped send its shares down 1%, while rival Nikon Corp. (JP:7731) (NINOF) lost 1.8%, though Olympus Corp. (JP:7733) (OCPNF) gained 1%. Telecoms were weak, with Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) falling 2.5%, KDDI Corp. (JP:9433) (KDDIF) down 1.7%, and NTT DoCoMo Inc. (JP:9437) (NTDMF)

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened lower Thursday, as gains for the yen and losses for Wall Street conspired to drive the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) down 1.2% to 15,333.35, extending Wednesday's 0.6% loss. The Topix fell 0.7%, with the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) slipping to 102.46 yen, down from around 楼102.80 at the start of the previous session, but off its lows in late Wednesday trade. Electronics firms and other techs helped lead the loss, with Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) falling 1.4%, Nikon Corp. (JP:7731) (NINOF) off 2.4%, and Alps Electric Co. (JP:6770) 1.8% lower. The Nikkei Asian Review reported Thursday that Japan looked set to post its first trade deficit for electronics goods this year. Shares of Yahoo Japan Corp. (JP:4689) (YAHOF) lost 1.4%, even as Bloomberg reported the firm was offering its stake in market-research firm Macromill Inc. (JP:3730) to U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital at a premium to its most recent close. Shares of Macromill were untraded. Among gainers, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (JP:9432) (NTT) rose 2.1%, following a 1.1% gain for its U.S.-listed shares.

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch In Right Now: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ)

WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Index (The Index).

The Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of dividend-paying companies incorporated in Japan, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and that meet other requirements necessary to be included in the WisdomTree DEFA Index. The Fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  International investors have recently gotten a lot more interested in currency-hedged ETFs. But what are currency-hedged ETFs, and how can you decide whether they belong in your portfolio? (NYSEMKT: DXJ  )