Hewlett-Packard Company Beats Estimates; Posts Lower Q4 Earnings (HPQ)

After the bell on Tuesday, Hewlett Packard (HPQ) announced its fourth quarter earnings, with adjusted earnings and revenue coming in lower than last year’s same quarter.

HPQ Earnings in Brief

-Hewlett Packard posted revenues of $29.1 billion, which were down 3% from last year’s Q4 revenues of $30 billion.
-The company’s non-GAAP net earnings were down to $2 billion from last year’s $2.3 billion.
-Diluted net EPS came in at $1.01, down from $1.16 reported in last year’s fourth quarter.
-Even with falling earnings and revenue, HPQ was able to top analysts’ expectations of $1 EPS on revenues of $27.91 billion.
-Looking ahead, HPQ has given FY2014 guidance of $3.55 to $3.75 EPS, which is in line with analysts’ expectations of $3.66.
-For Q1 2014, Hewlett Packard sees EPS falling in the range of 82 cents to 86 cents.
-For FY2013, HPQ reported EPS of $3.56 on revenues of $112.3 billion.

CEO Commentary

Meg Whitman, HPQ president and CEO, had the following to say about the company’s earnings: ”Through improved execution, strong cost management, and with the support of our customers and partners, HP ended fiscal 2013 on a high note. Our Q4 results demonstrate that HP’s turnaround remains on track heading into fiscal 2014. While we still have much more work to do, our business units and their core assets are delivering on HP’s strategy to help customers thrive by providing solutions for the New Style of IT.”

Dividend Declared

Hewlett Packard made no mention of dividend changes in its report, which was to be expected as the company recently raised its quarterly dividend this past summer. The company did, however, declare a quarterly dividend of 14.52 cents, which will be paid on January 2, 2014 to all stockholders on record as of December 11, 2013.

Stock Performance

Hewlett Packard shares were up substantially on its earnings and revenue beat, rising $1.85, or 7.37%, in after-hours trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up 68.58%.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc (GTAT): 2015 Sales View Could Be Conservative Given Solid Growth Potential

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) could be a key beneficiary from the current trend where use of sapphire by the major Tier-1 mobile consumer electronics companies is viewed as a key part of their differentiation strategy. GT is the largest sapphire equipment supplier and likely beneficiary of this inflection point in mobile devices.

Based in Merrimack, New Hampshire, GT is a global provider of polysilicon production technology and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets.

The company was in the news recently for signing a multi-year deal with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to supply sapphire material starting in 2014. This could be the beginning of nice things to come.

GT is targeting 2015 sales of over $1 billion and 2016 sales over $1.5 billion which should be conservative if GT can convince more customers to adopt sapphire.

[Related -Ride Apple's Success With This 'Secret' Stock]

The mobile sapphire equipment opportunity is significant and developing faster than expected, and checks have found significant mobile sapphire demand growth in China.

"We believe the mobile sapphire equipment is a $5bn market opportunity for GT which can drive $4bn a year sapphire material sales for GT's customers for 400 million smartphone cover screens. We now estimate the sapphire equipment product upgrade story for mobile device covers (replacing glass based covers) develops sooner than expected," UBS analyst Stephen Chin said in a client note.

[Related -GT Advanced Technologies Inc (GTAT): A Gem That's About To Shine?]

Sapphire's higher scratch resistance qualities could lengthen the average lifetime of mobile devices, which could slow the replacement demand, which in turn this could slow the build out of sapphire capacity needed to meet the future demand for such devices.

"We don't believe this replacement remand related concern matters in the beginning of the ramp as we noted earlier – the overall market opportunity set to serve the existing market is big," Chin said.

There is higher sapphire content in recent mobile devices. The recently launched Samsung Galaxy Gear (smart watch) has a sapphire glass cover while the home button in Apple's new iPhone 5S, which also covers the finger-print sensor, is made of laser-cut sapphire crystal.

Checks on sapphire demand in China shows that mobile sapphire demand has grown from 5K two-inch equivalent (TIE) to 200K TIE in the past 6 months.

"We conservatively estimate mobile sapphire equipment sales of $300M in 2014 generating $0.32 in EPS," Chin noted.

Moreover, the recent Apple deal limits the need to raise capital for the company and gives solidity to the balance sheet. Apple will prepay GT a total of $578 million and GT expects to exit 2013 with net cash of $210 million.

GT reports in its 10-Q that it will receive Apple's prepayment! in four installments as long as it hits certain milestones. Apple prepayment will be used for sapphire furnaces & related equipment

"This 10-Q disclosure from GT gives us confidence in our estimate that there will be about 1,500 sapphire furnaces at this Mesa fab. We estimate GT's sapphire furnace build for the Mesa fab is 50-100 in 4Q13, 300-400 in 1Q14 and 800-900 in 2Q14," Chin said.

This large amount of furnaces also means this factory is not going to be just making sapphire for the home button on some of Apple's products. However, GT may not sell sapphire furnaces to certain markets is slightly concerning.

That said, GT can still sell sapphire furnaces to customers who are not competing with Apple and may include markets such as LED light bulbs and the military for aircraft windows.

Meanwhile, new opportunities in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) applications could provide upside in 2014. GT's new product opportunities in SiC and GaN are in the late stage of development with early revenue opportunity in the second half of 2014.

"Our industry checks find that this could provide a significant sales upside if GT's equipment can produce these substrates economically. We model a base case of $75M in sales for these new opportunities," Chin noted.  

Where Will Yahoo Go Post-Earnings?

With shares of Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) trading around $35, is YHOO an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock's Movement

Yahoo is a technology company that provides search, content, and communication tools on the Web and on mobile devices worldwide. It operates Yahoo.com, which offers Yahoo Search, Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Entertainment and Lifestyles, and Yahoo Video. Being such a large content provider, Yahoo is able to reach a significant amount of consumers across the globe. As the Internet attracts an increasing number of participants, look for Yahoo to continue to be a major player.

Today, Yahoo reported results for the fourth-quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013. "I'm encouraged by Yahoo's performance in Q4 and 2013 overall. We saw continued stability in the business, and our investments allowed us to bring beautiful products to our users and establish a strong foundation for revenue growth," said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. "In Q4, we launched the new Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, and our new Flickr photo books, while quickening our pace of experimentation. We are extremely heartened by the year-over-year traffic increase we experienced in 2013, an early sign of return on our investments and the acquisitions we've made."

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Mixed

Yahoo stock has been exploding to the upside in the last several months. However, the stock is currently pulling back and may need time to stabilize before heading higher. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Yahoo is trading between its rising key averages which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Yahoo options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Yahoo options	35.27%	66%	63%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
February Options	Average	Average
March Options	Average	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call and put buyers or sellers, all neutral over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral over the next two months.

On the next page, let's take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Yahoo's stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Yahoo look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q4	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	31.43%	-6.67%	66.67%	52.17%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-5.94%	0.33%	-6.78%	-6.62%
Earnings Reaction	-7.09%*	-0.86%	10.34%	-0.37%

Yahoo has seen rising earnings and decreasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Yahoo's recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Yahoo stock done relative to its peers, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), AOL (NYSE:AOL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and sector?

	Yahoo	Google	AOL	Microsoft	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-12.20%	-0.51%	0.29%	-1.92%	-1.71%

Yahoo has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Yahoo is an Internet bellwether that provides a multitude of services to consumers and companies worldwide. The company today reported results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013. The stock has been moving higher in recent quarters but is now pulling back. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been rising and revenues have been decreasing, which has left investors pleased about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Yahoo has been a weak year-to-date performer. Look for Yahoo to bounce back.

Boeing 4Q profit rises but 2014 forecast cut

Boeing's fourth-quarter profit rose 26% as it delivered more commercial airplanes — a speedup that it says will continue this year.

However, Boeing shares dropped in pre-market trading Wednesday after it said 2014 revenue and profit would be lower than analysts have been expecting.

Boeing finished 2013 with a fourth-quarter profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.61 per share, well ahead of the expectation of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Profits grew in both its commercial airplane and defense businesses.

Revenue rose 7% to $23.79 billion.

Orders from airlines around the world have pushed both Boeing and competitor Airbus to build more planes than ever before. Boeing says it will deliver 715 to 725 planes this year, an increase of at least 10% from last year.

Boeing has sped production of both its workhorse 737, as well as its new 787. It expects to deliver 110 787s this year, up from 65 last year. Earlier this month Boeing said it began building 787s at a rate of about 10 per month.

Boeing's profits are benefiting from the surge in deliveries, but not as much as analysts had hoped. On Wednesday it said so-called "core" earnings, which exclude certain items, would be $7 to $7.20 per share, with revenue of $87.5 billion to $90.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a profit of $7.52 per share on revenue of $92.72 billion.

For all of 2013, Boeing earned $5.96 per share on revenue of $86.62 billion.

In pre-market trading, Boeing shares were down 4% to $131.57.

Stocks Cap Biggest Rally in Two Years to Beat Bonds, Commodities

Global equities completed the biggest back-to-back monthly gain in almost two years, beating all other assets in October, as U.S. lawmakers avoided a debt default and investors speculated the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus.

The MSCI All-Country World Index of stocks in 45 markets climbed 4.1 percent including dividends in October, bringing the two-month advance to 9.5 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.6 percent, the most since July. Bonds of all types returned 0.9 percent on average, the most since April, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Broad Market Index. The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell less than 0.1 percent after touching its lowest level since February, while the S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 commodities lost 1.4 percent.

Congress's budget agreement helped shares rally and price swings to narrow in what has historically been the most volatile month for equities. Treasury yields slipped to a three-month low as the borrowing impasse caused a 16-day government shutdown, stoking speculation that the Fed will delay cutting its stimulus program until next year.

"We're in a sweet spot where the economy is strong enough to help push profits higher, but not strong enough to prompt Federal Reserve tightening," Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist and director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Capital Management, said by phone from Atlanta. His firm oversees about $48 billion. "The lower level of global economic activity is putting a lid on commodity prices."

Europe Rebound

About $2.3 trillion was added to global share values in October as corporate earnings beat analysts' estimates and optimism grew that Europe is recovering from a recession. Shares in Greece and Italy were among the world's biggest gainers as European money managers received fresh cash from clients for a 15th consecutive week.

Expectations for volatility in financial markets fell for the month as investors shrugged off the U.S. congressional standoff. Bank of America Corp.'s Market Risk Index that uses options to forecast fluctuations in equities, currencies and bonds slumped 52 percent in October and reached a nine-month low on Oct. 22. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge of S&P 500 options prices known as the VIX, tumbled 17 percent last month, the most since July.

While the government shutdown will probably slow fourth-quarter gross domestic product by 0.3 percentage point, Fed policy makers will wait until March before scaling back the $85 billion of monthly bond purchases, according to a Bloomberg Oct. 17-18 survey of economists.

'Incredible Uncertainty'

"Even though you had this incredible uncertainty with Congress, at the end of day you had the Fed holding up the market like Atlas holding the world on his shoulders," Kristina Hooper, a U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors in New York, said in a phone interview. The firm oversees $409 billion. "That provides a level of comfort for investors."

Fed policy makers said Oct. 30 they would press on with the pace of monetary stimulus even as signs of "underlying strength" emerge, fueling speculation the central bank may taper asset buying in coming months.

The S&P 500 (SPX) extended its advance for the year to 23.2 percent, challenging 2009 for its best yearly gain in a decade. About 75 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings during the month exceeded analysts' profit forecasts, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Equity Valuations

The rally has driven equity valuations to an almost four-year high, with the S&P 500 trading at 15.9 times estimated operating earnings. The benchmark index may end the year at 1,718, a 2.2 percent retreat from the closing level yesterday, according to the average of 19 estimates from strategists in a Bloomberg survey.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 4.8 percent, completing its first back-to-back monthly gain since January. International investors added to equity holdings in 10 of the 12 developing nations tracked by Bloomberg in October as predictions for sustained Fed stimulus through March spurred demand for riskier assets.

Chinese shares performed worst among the world's 45 biggest markets as the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.5 percent, amid a surge in the nation's money-market rates. The seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of funding availability in the banking system, jumped 20 percent for the month as policy makers are limiting the cash supply to help keep inflation in check.

'Every Reason'

Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Broad Market Index, tracking debt securities with a market value of about $46 trillion, has declined 0.5 percent in 2013, as of Oct. 30. Average yields fell 12 basis points, or 0.12 percentage points, last month to 1.9 percent.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against 10 major peers, fell 0.01 percent. The gauge rallied yesterday, paring a deeper monthly decline, after the euro-area inflation rate unexpectedly cooled, fueling speculation the European Central Bank will cut interest rates to spur the economy.

"The resolution to the shutdown and the debt ceiling standoff brought both interest rates and the U.S. dollar lower," Jake Lowery, a portfolio manager focusing on global rates at ING U.S. Investment Management, which oversees about $180 billion from Atlanta, said Oct. 29 in a telephone interview. "October gave the Fed every reason to hold asset purchases steady at their upcoming meeting and perhaps longer."

Treasury Yields

U.S. Treasuries rose 0.6 percent as of Oct. 30, the second-straight monthly gain. Yields on 10-year U.S. government debt may climb to 2.8 percent by the end of the year, from 2.6 percent, according to the median estimate of 65 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

High-yield (BHYC) bonds rallied 2.4 percent last month as of Oct. 28 after gaining 1.8 percent in September, according to the Bloomberg Global High Yield Corporate Bond Index. Speculative-grade debt is rated below Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by S&P.

Greece's bonds were the best performers in October among the 26 sovereign markets tracked by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies, rising 7.3 percent. Portugal's were second with a 3.4 percent gain. Australia's debt lost the most with a 0.1 percent decline.

Euro, Yen

The 17-nation euro gained 0.4 percent versus the greenback and Japan's yen fell 0.1 percent. Europe's currency is forecast to weaken to $1.33 against the dollar by the end of the year, from $1.3584, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Japan's is estimated to weaken to 100 from 98.36.

Malaysia's ringgit rallied 3.3 percent against the greenback, the biggest gain of its 31 most-traded peers as the nation's equity index touched a record high. The government forecast growth of as much as 5.5 percent next year as Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged to support the economy while taking steps to meet the government's budget-deficit reduction goals.

Commodities fell for a second month in October amid sluggish global growth and signs of supply surpluses for everything from coffee to zinc. The S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 raw materials has fallen 2.3 percent this year, heading for the biggest annual loss since 2008.

Economic reports during the month showed that American employers added fewer jobs than expected in September while preliminary data indicated manufacturing from the U.S. to Europe expanded at a slower pace than forecast in October.

Oil, Copper

Crude oil slumped 5.8 percent. Total U.S. petroleum demand is at the lowest seasonal level in 15 years, according to data from the EIA, the Energy Department's statistics unit.

Copper fell last month for the first time since June. Inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange have risen 49 percent this year.

"We're seeing a lot of supply come in various commodities, notably oil and copper," Walter "Bucky" Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion of assets at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama, said in an interview. "Scarcity and demand, the things that had driven commodities the past few years, have backed off a bit."

Cotton prices fell 12 percent, reaching a nine-month low, as farmers are poised to collect a record harvest in India, the world's second-largest producer. Coffee futures capped the longest slump since 1972 as wet weather signaled rising production in Brazil, the top grower.

Gold Declines

Gold slid 0.2 percent in October, as speculation that the Fed will trim U.S. monetary stimulus sooner than anticipated erased gains for the month on the final day. Bullion is headed for the first annual loss since 2000 as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value.

Natural gas for next-month delivery gained 0.6 percent to $3.581 per million British thermal units. Prices rose to a five-month high during a cold snap in mid-October and have dropped 7.4 percent since then amid moderating weather and bigger-than-forecast increases in stockpiles of the heating fuel.

"The market should continue to trade with a bearish undertone until there is a clear sign that winter-like weather is finally starting to set in," Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York, said in a note to clients dated Oct. 29. "Demand has yet to have a major impact."

Something Big That Can Set Pandora Apart From Apple

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- On Wednesday afternoon, I received an invite from Pandora (P) for a concert next week in Hollywood with a local LA-based band called The Mowglis.

Here's the key paragraph from the email: The Mowglis were selected by analyzing Pandora data to identify rising stars among Chevrolet's target audience in Los Angeles. Then, targeted LA Pandora listeners were invited to RSVP to the show though a Chevy branded banner, where they entered their name and email to be placed on a guest list for the free show, admission on a first-come basis.

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Pandora doesn't do this type of thing often enough. It's one advantage it has -- sort of -- over Apple (AAPL) as an Internet radio option. It's not that Apple can't put on these types of local events. Of course, just about anything Pandora can do is within Apple's scope. But I'm doubtful Apple will want to waste its time acting as what amounts to a promoter of local bands and music scenes. The company will probably stick to grand spectacles such as the massive iTunes Music Festival. For Pandora, Internet radio isn't a side business; it's the company's core. And it's in Pandora's interest to aggressively promote local music the way it is in LA next week. It means cash from huge national sponsors such as General Motors (GM). It can help the company hook more local advertising dollars, which ultimately, given the power of its targeting ability, is its bread and butter. And, of equal importance, it can create goodwill, showing the music industrial complex what a great partner and artist advocate Pandora can be. A great partner to established names as well as all flavors of independents. Pandora can moderate the success Apple has chipping away (or crushing or killing) at its franchise by not only being a better partner to musicians, but providing a more localized platform for its users. That's the key. If you love music and Pandora sends you invites to seemingly "secret" shows, you might identify with it at a level Apple could, but probably will not spend time trying to touch. Pandora needs to expand its capabilities to become a bigger part of its users' lives. That might mean an acquisition or two and, most definitely, a broadening of its strategy into something more than "just" personalized radio. Follow @rocco_thestreet --Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now

The number of companies paying dividends in the S&P 500 is at a 15-year high. According to FactSet, just over 80 companies in the index do not pay dividends. Paying dividends has become more attractive for companies of all sizes.

However, not all dividends are created equal. Of the 500 companies in the index, 99 pay their shareholders a dividend of 3% or more. By comparison, a 10-year Treasury note yields 2.66%. While Treasury securities come with an implied guarantee of a return of principal, share price appreciation of these companies also is expected to provide additional positive returns. Dividends are intended to make those returns even better over time.

Dividends are considered among the most straightforward measures of capital returns. After all, they represent cash going back into the hands of investors directly from the company. However, a high dividend yield does not give a complete picture of the value of an investment. The health of the company also has to be considered. Investors need to be able to differentiate a high dividend from a safe dividend.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Violin Memory Inc (VMEM)

Violin Memory, Inc., incorporated on March 9, 2005, is pioneering a new class of flash-based storage systems that are designed to bring storage performance in-line with high-speed applications, servers and networks. The Company�� Flash Memory Arrays are specifically designed at each level of the system architecture starting with memory and optimized through the array to leverage the inherent capabilities of flash memory and meet the sustained requirements of business-critical applications, virtualized environments and Big Data solutions in enterprise data centers. The Company�� Velocity Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe), Flash Memory Cards leverage its persistent memory-based architecture in servers and are optimized for applications that require continuous access to quantities of low latency persistent memory located directly in servers.

The Company�� storage systems are based on a four-layer hardware architecture, which is integrated with its Violin Memory Operating System (vMOS), software stack to optimize the management of flash memory at each level of its system architecture. The Company�� Velocity PCIe Flash Memory Cards leverage its expertise in persistent memory-based storage and controller design, as well as its vMOS software stack, to offer a differentiated architecture in a deployable PCIe form factor.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down 13.9% at $8.97 after a secondary stock offering�that might have been designed to drive out short sellers. Violin Memory Inc. (NASDAQ: VMEM) is down 21% at $7.11 on a lousy IPO�day. RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is up 39.5% at $18.14 on a good IPO day.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Getty Images/Cultura As more than a few finance industry professionals will happily brag, 2013 was a banner year for initial public offerings with 156 new stocks coming to market -- the most since 2007 -- collectively reaping the issuers aggregate proceeds of more than $38 billion. We went over the most recognizable members of this year's rookie class in "The 5 Most Unfortgettable IPOs of 2013." But in a big pool of 156 companies, there are bound to be at least a few struggling fish. Here, then, is a selection of five from the class of 2013 that are getting seriously lapped by their peers. 1. Prosensa (RNA) This Dutch clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm had a strong debut when it listed on the Nasdaq in late June. The stock's offer price of $13 zoomed to close at over $19 on the first day of trading. But bad news was waiting around the corner; less than three months later, the shares tanked by more than 70 percent after the company announced that the muscular dystrophy treatment (drisapersen) it was developing in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GLAXF), did not hit its primary endpoint in late-stage trials. That one-day free fall saw the stock swoon from $24 per share to barely over $7. Since then, shares have slipped even further, and can currently be had for less than $5. 2. Violin Memory (VMEM) As a provider of high-speed data storage solutions, this company should be well in tune with current IT needs. But it fell flat from the beginning -- on its first day of trading the stock closed slightly over $7 a share, after pricing at $9. Worse was to come when the firm reported its first quarterly results as a publicly traded entity. While revenue advanced nearly 40 percent on a year-over-year basis, that couldn't cover the gaping hole of a bottom line loss totaling $34 million (a figure, by the way, significantly higher than the top line number of $28 million). The already-sinking shares continued to dive, bottoming at just over $2.50 per share. The re

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Mayen Minerals Ltd. (MYM.V)

Rift Basin Resources Corp. operates as an independent, international oil and gas exploration and development company that focus on advanced-stage exploration and near-production opportunities in Africa and the Middle East. The company has a strategic alliance with Gulfsands Petroleum plc for the acquisition of petroleum projects in Tunisia and rest of the Middle East, and north Africa region. It also has the right to earn a 15% participating interest in the Chorbane exploration permit located in Tunisia The company was formerly known as Mayen Minerals Ltd. and changed its name to Rift Basin Resources Corp. in September 2012. Rift Basin Resources Corp. was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2015: Alcyone Resources Ltd (AYN.AX)

Alcyone Resources Limited engages in the exploration and evaluation of gold, silver, and other base metal projects in Australia. It holds interests in the Texas Silver & Polymetallic Project, which includes the Twin Hills silver mine and a portfolio of advanced silver and polymetallic base metal exploration targets located in south-east Queensland. The company was formerly known as Macmin Silver Ltd and changed its name to Alcyone Resources Limited in October 2009. Alcyone Resources Limited is based in West Perth, Australia.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Medifocus Inc (MFS.V)

Medifocus Inc. engages in the development and commercialization of minimally invasive and focused heat tumor targeting cancer treatment devices and systems. It owns a patented microwave focusing technology platform, the Adaptive Phased Array thermotherapy system, which would precisely target and concentrate microwave energy to destroy cancer tumors without damaging healthy tissues when used alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation. The company is conducting Phase III clinical trials of its proprietary breast cancer treatment (APA 1000) system. Medifocus Inc. is based in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Monster Beverage Corp (MNST)

Monster Beverage Corporation, formerly Hansen Natural Corporation, incorporated on April 25, 1990,is a holding company. The Company develops, markets, sells and distributes alternative beverage. The alternative beverage category combines non-carbonated ready-to-drink iced teas, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, and single-serve still water (flavored, unflavored and enhanced) with new age beverages, including sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices and flavored sparkling beverages. It has two reportable segments, namely Direct Store Delivery (DSD), whose principal products comprise energy drinks, and Warehouse (Warehouse), whose principal products comprise juice-based and soda beverages. The DSD segment develops, markets and sells products primarily through an exclusive distributor network, whereas the Warehouse segment develops, markets and sells products primarily directly to retailers. Corporate and unallocated amounts that do not relate to the DSD or Warehouse segments specifically, have been allocated to Corporate and Unallocated.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, it continued to expand its existing product lines and flavors and further develop its distribution markets. In particular, it continued to focus on developing and marketing beverages that fall within the category generally described as the alternative beverage category. During the year ended December 31, 2012, it introduced a number of new products, including Monster Rehab Tea + Orangeade + Energy, a non-carbonated energy drink with electrolytes, Monster Energy Zero Ultra, a carbonated energy drink which contains zero calories and zero sugar, bermonster Energy Brew, a non-alcoholic energy drink, manufactured using a brewed fermentation process, Hansen�� Coconut Water, in original and tropical flavors, packaged in re-sealable Tetra Prisma boxes, Peace Tea Cranberry, Pink Lemonade and Texas-Style Sweet ! Tea, ready-to-drink iced teas, Monster Cuba-Lima, a carbonated lime flavored non-alcoholic energy drink, Monster Energy Dub Edition Baller�� Blend, a carbonated punch + energy drink and Monster Energy Dub Edition Mad Dog, a carbonated punch + energy drink.

DSD Segment

Monster Energy Drinks offers products under the Monster Energy drink product line: Monster Energy, Lo-Carb Monster Energy, Monster Energy Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster M-80 (named Ripper in certain countries), Monster MIXXD, Monster Energy Absolutely Zero, Monster Energy Import and Import Light, Monster Energy Dub Edition Baller�� Blend, Monster Energy Dub Edition Mad Dog, M3 Monster Energy Super Concentrate energy drinks, bermonster Energy Brew, Monster Energy Zero Ultra and Monster Cuba-Lima.

Java Monster Coffee + Energy Drinks - A line of non-carbonated dairy based coffee + energy drinks. It offers products under the Java Monster product line: Java Monster Kona Blend, Java Monster Loca Moca, Java Monster Mean Bean, Java Monster Vanilla Light, Java Monster Irish Blend and Java Monster Toffee. Monster Energy Extra Strength Nitrous Technology Energy Drinks - A line of carbonated energy drinks containing nitrous oxide. It offer products under the Monster Energy Extra Strength Nitrous Technology product line: Super Dry, Anti Gravity and Black Ice.

-Presso Monster Coffee + Energy Drinks - A line of non-carbonated dairy based coffee + energy drinks. It offers products under the X-Presso Monster coffee + energy drinks product line: X-Presso Monster Hammer and X-Presso Monster Midnite.

Monster Rehab Tea + Energy Drinks - A line of non-carbonated energy drinks with electrolytes. It offers products under the Monster Rehab drink line: Monster Rehab Tea + Lemonade + Energy, Monster Rehab Rojo Tea + Energy, Monster Rehab Green Tea + Energy, Monster Rehab Protean + Energy and Monster Rehab Tea + Orangeade + Energy.

Worx Energy Energy Shots - A line of energy suppleme! nts which! contains zero calories and zero sugar. It offers products under the Worx Energy energy shot product line: Original Formula and Extra Strength.

Peace Tea Iced Teas - A line of ready-to-drink iced teas. It offers products under the Peace Tea product line: green tea, imported Ceylon tea, sweet lemon tea, razzleberry tea, cranberry tea, pink lemonade tea, Texas-style sweet tea and Caddy Shack tea + lemonade.

Warehouse Segment

Hansen�� brand sodas have been a natural soda brand on the West Coast of the United States for more than 30 years and are made with natural flavors. Hansen�� brand sodas, sweetened with cane sugar, and Hansen�� Diet Sodas, sweetened with Splenda no calorie sweetener and Acesulfame-K, contain no preservatives, sodium, caffeine or artificial colorings. It offers sodas under the Hansen�� brand name: Hansen�� Sodas, Hansen�� Diet Sodas and Hansen�� Natural Mixers, as well as Hansen�� Sparkling Waters, in a variety of flavors.

Its Blue Sky products contain no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, caffeine (other than its Blue Sky energy drinks) or artificial coloring and are made with sugar and natural flavors. It offers products under the Blue Sky product line: Blue Sky Natural Soda, Blue Sky Zero Calorie Sodas (sweetened with Truvia brand stevia extract, an all natural sweetener), Blue Sky Premium Sodas, Blue Sky Organic Natural Sodas, Blue Sky Seltzer Waters, Blue Sky Blue Energy drinks, Blue Sky Zero Calorie Blue Energy drinks, Blue Sky Caf Energy drinks and Blue Sky Recover Energy drinks.

Its original Hansen�� energy drinks compete in the functional beverage category, namely, beverages that provide a benefit in addition to simply delivering refreshment. It offers products under the Hansen�� energy drink product line: Hansen�� Natural Energy Pro, Hansen�� Energy Diet Red and Hansen�� Natural Stamina Pro.

Its fruit juice product line includes Hansen�� Natural Apple Juice, Ha! nsen�� ! Natural Grape Juice, White Grape Juice, Pineapple Juice, Apple Grape Juice, Apple Strawberry Juice, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Cranberry-Apple Juice, Cranberry-Grape Juice, Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice, and Organic Apple Juice. In March 2012, it added Hansen�� Natural Apple Orange Pineapple Juice which contains 100% juice as well as 120% of the United States Recommended Daily Allowances (the USRDA) for vitamin C. It also offer Hansen�� Natural Lo-Cal juice cocktails, a line of all natural, low-calorie cocktails in four flavors. The Lo-Cal juice cocktails are sweetened with Truvia sweetener. Hansen�� juice products compete in the shelf-stable juice category.

It offers a number of aseptically packed boxed juice products, including its dual-branded multi-vitamin 100% juice line, which itsell in conjunction with Costco Wholesale Corporation (Costco) through Costco stores. It offers its Hansen�� Natural line of multi-vitamin 100% juices to other customers. These multi-vitamin juices contain eleven essential vitamins and six essential minerals and are available in a variety of flavors. In February 2012, it added Hansen�� Natural Organic Apple Juice, a 100% USDA Certified Organic Apple Juice with 100% of the USRDA for vitamin C.

Its Hansen�� Junior Juice product line is a 100% juice line targeted at toddlers and preschoolers. These juices have added calcium and all flavors contain 100% of the daily recommended allowance of vitamin C. It also offers organic juices as well as Hansen�� Organic Junior Water, a lightly flavored reduced calorie beverage, both of which contain 100% of the daily recommended allowance of vitamin C. In addition, it offers Junior Juice Coconut Water Twist, a line of fruit and coconut water juices containing 100% of the daily recommended allowance of vitamin C.

Its Hubert�� Lemonade is a line of premium ready-to-drink lemonades. Hubert�� Lemonade is sweetened with cane sugar and Truvia sweetener. Hubert�� Lemonade i! s all nat! ural and contains no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, or artificial colorings. It offers products under the Hubert�� Lemonade product line: Strawberry Lemonade, Limeade, Mango Lemonade, Honey Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade and Original Lemonade. It added Cherry Limeade and Blackberry Lemonade flavors to the product line in February 2012 and October 2012, respectively. In July 2012, it introduced 4-count multi-packs of select flavors.

Hubert�� Half & Half is sweetened with cane sugar and Truvia sweetener, and contains no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, or artificial colorings. Its Fruit and Tea Stix product line is an all-natural, low-calorie powder drink mix line, sweetened naturally with Truvia sweetener. Its Angeleno Aguas Frescas is a line of premium ready-to-drink aguas frescas. Angeleno Aguas Frescas are sweetened with cane sugar and real fruit juice and contain no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, or artificial colorings. It offers flavors under the Angeleno Aguas Frescas product line: Mango, Melon, Pineapple, Jamaica (Hibiscus) and Tamarindo. Its Hansen�� Natural PRE products include a line of prebiotic and probiotic digestive wellness ready-to-drink beverages and powder drink mixes, containing specially formulated blends by Jarrow Formulas. PRE prebiotic ready-to-drink beverages are sweetened with either cane sugar or stevia. PRE probiotic powder drink mixes are sweetened with cane sugar and stevia. In March 2012, it introduced Hansen�� Natural Coconut Water, a line of premium 100% Coconut Waters available in Pure and Tropical flavors.

The Company competes with TCCC, PepsiCo, Inc. (PepsiCo), The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (the DPS Group), Red Bull Gmbh, Kraft Foods, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Nestle Beverage Company, Tree Top Inc. (Tree Top), Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. (Ocean Spray), Red Bull, Rockstar, Full Throttle, No Fear, Amp, Adrenaline Rush, NOS, Venom, Redline, 180, Red Devil, Rip It, Xenergy, 5-Hour Energy ! Shots, Mi! O Energy, Stacker 2, VPX Redline Energy Shots, Red Bull, Rockstar, Burn, V-Energy, Lucozade, Adrenaline Rush, Power Play, Mother, Hell, Shock, Tiger, Boost, Gladiator, TNT, Shark, Hot 6, Nalu, Battery, Bullit, Flash Up, Black, Non-Stop, Bomba, Semtex, Starbucks Frappuccino, Starbucks Double Shot, Starbucks Double Shot Energy Plus Coffee , other Starbucks coffee drinks, Rockstar Roasted, Seattle�� Best, illy issimo coffee, Full Throttle Coffee, Arizona, Lipton, Snapple, Nestea, Xing Tea, Honest Tea, Gold Peak Tea, Fuze Tea, the DPS Group, Cott Corporation and National Beverage Corporation, Jones Soda Co., Crystal Geyser, J.M. Smucker Company, Reeds, Inc., Zevia, Tree Top, Mott��, Martinelli��, Welch��, Ocean Spray, Tropicana, Minute Maid, Langers, Apple , Eve, Seneca, Northland, Juicy Juice, Old Orchard, Calypso, Simply Lemonade, Minute Maid, Cabana, Tropicana, Newman�� Own, Vita Coco, ZICO and O.N.E.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang , Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Monster Beverage Corp. (MNST) �shares climbed 4.8%. The stock is getting a lift from a report from BMO Capital that suggested strong sales in September, according to Street Insider.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Urologix Inc.(ULGX)

Urologix, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets non-surgical catheter-based therapies for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The company offers control units; and procedure kits, which consist of a disposable treatment catheter, rectal thermal unit balloon, and coolant bag. Its systems utilize the Cooled ThermoTherapy technology, a targeted microwave energy combined with a cooling mechanism that protects healthy tissue and enhances patient comfort while providing relief from the symptoms of BPH by the thermal ablation of hyperplasic prostatic tissue. The company markets its control units under the CoolWave and Targis names; and procedure kits under the CTC Advance, Targis, and Prostaprobe names. Urologix, Inc. sells its products to urologists, ambulatory surgery centers, and hospitals through its direct sales force, as well as distributors in the United States and internationally. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.< /p>

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ)

NA

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, the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: FAZ) have received the dreaded one-star ranking.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Heelys Inc.(HLYS)

Heelys, Inc., through its subsidiary, Heeling Sports Limited, designs, markets, and distributes action sports-inspired products under the HEELYS brand to the youth market. It primarily offers HEELYS-wheeled footwear, a dual-purpose footwear that incorporates a stealth and removable wheel in the heel, and allows the user to seamlessly transition from walking or running to rolling by shifting weight to the heel. The company also offers Nano inline footboard and branded accessories, such as replacement wheels. It distributes its products directly, as well as through international wholesale distributors to retail stores in the United States internationally. The company was formerly known as Heeling, Inc. and changed its name to Heelys, Inc. in August 2006. Heelys, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Carrollton, Texas.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Rec Minerals Corp(REC.V)

Reliant Gold Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious, base metal, and uranium properties in Canada. It holds options to acquire 100% interests in the MC Dalhousie, North Nonacho, Esten, and Borden Lake South properties located in northwestern British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Ontario. The company was formerly known as REC Minerals Corp. and changed its name to Reliant Gold Corp. in February 2011. Reliant Gold Corp. was founded in 2005 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (MACK)

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated in 1993, is a biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and preparing to commercialize medicines paired with companion diagnostics for the treatment of serious diseases, with an initial focus on cancer. The Company�� product candidates include MM-398, MM-121, MM-111, MM-302 and MM-151. As of June 31, 2011, the Company owned approximately 74% interest of Silver Creek.

The Company�� Network biology is an interdisciplinary approach to drug discovery and development that enables the Company to build functional and predictive computational models of biological systems based on quantitative, kinetic, multiplexed biological data. The Company provides its scientists with insights into how the complex molecular interactions that occur within cell signaling pathways, or networks, regulate cell decisions and how dysfunction within these networks leads to disease. The Company applies network biology throughout the research and development process, including for target identification, lead compound design and optimization, diagnostic discovery, in vitro and in vivo predictive development and the design of clinical trial protocols.

MM-398

MM-398 is a stable nanotherapeutic encapsulation, or enclosed sphere carrying an active drug, of the marketed chemotherapy drug irinotecan. MM-398 achieved its primary efficacy endpoints in Phase 2 clinical trials in pancreatic and gastric cancer. In an open label, single arm Phase 2 clinical trial of MM-398 as a monotherapy in 40 metastatic pancreatic cancer patients who had previously failed treatment with gemcitabine, patients treated with MM-398 achieved median overall survival of 22.4 weeks. Additionally, 20% of the patients in this Phase 2 trial survived for more than one year, and the Company observed a disease control rate, meaning patients exhibited stable disease or partial or complete response to treatment, of 47.5% at six weeks.

The Company focuses on initiati! ng a Phase 3 clinical trial of MM-398 for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have previously failed treatment with gemcitabine. The trial is expected to enroll approximately 250 patients and is designed to compare the efficacy of MM-398 as a monotherapy against the combination of the chemotherapy drugs fluorouracil, or 5-FU, and leucovorin. There are multiple ongoing Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of MM-398. In July 2011, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted MM-398 orphan drug designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

MM-121

MM-121 is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets ErbB3, a cell surface receptor, or protein attached to the cell membrane that mediates communication inside and outside the cell, that the Company�� network biology approach identified as a target in a range of cancers. A monoclonal antibody is a type of protein normally produced by cells of the immune system that binds to just one epitope, or chemical structure, on a protein or other structure. MM-121 is designed to inhibit cancer growth directly, restore sensitivity to drugs to which a tumor has become resistant and delay the development of resistance of a tumor to other agents. In collaboration with Sanofi, the Company focuses on testing MM-121 in combination with both chemotherapies and other targeted agents across a range of spectrum of solid tumors, including lung, breast and ovarian cancers. The Company partnered MM-121 with Sanofi after it initiated Phase 1 clinical development of the product candidate.

MM-111

MM-111 is a bispecific antibody designed to target cancer cells that are characterized by overexpression of the ErbB2 cell surface receptor, also referred to as HER2. A bispecific antibody is a type of antibody that is able to bind simultaneously to two distinct proteins or epitopes. The Company�� network biology approach identified that ligand-induced signaling through the complex of ErbB2 ! (HER2) an! d ErbB3 is a promoter of tumor growth and survival than previously appreciated.

MM-302

MM-302 is a nanotherapeutic encapsulation of doxorubicin with attached antibodies that are designed to target MM-302 to cells that over express the ErbB2 (HER2) receptor. The Company is conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial of MM-302 in patients with advanced ErbB2 (HER2) positive breast cancer.

MM-151

MM-151 is an oligoclonal therapeutic consisting of a mixture of three fully human monoclonal antibodies designed to bind to non-overlapping epitopes of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR is also known as ErbB1. An oligoclonal therapeutic is a mixture of two or more distinct monoclonal antibodies. The Company has designed MM-151 to block signal amplification that occurs within the ErbB cell signaling network. The Company has submitted an investigational new drug application (IND), to the FDA for MM-151 in July 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK  ) is gearing up for a double dose of fund-raising. The company announced that it will concurrently float both a common stock and a convertible notes issue in a public offering. In the former, Merrimack will offer $50 million worth of shares, while the latter will take the form of $75 million in senior notes maturing in 2020. Additionally, the company expects that it will grant its underwriters a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional $7.5 million worth of common shares and $11.25 million of the convertible notes.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 biopharmaceuticals player that's just starting to trigger a breakout trade is Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (MACK), which focuses on discovering, developing and preparing to commercialize medicines paired with companion diagnostics for the treatment of serious diseases, with an initial focus on cancer. This stock has been hit hard by the bears so far in 2013, with shares off by 38%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, you'll notice that this stock has been downtrending badly for the last two months, with shares plunging from its high of 7.09 to its recent low of $3.26 a share. During that move, shares of MACK have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of MACK have just formed a double bottom chart pattern at $3.26 to $3.32 a share and it's now starting to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $3.64 a share. This move could be signaling a trend change for MACK as the stock starts to move higher off oversold conditions.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MACK if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $3.64 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.87 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MACK will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at its 50-day moving average of $4.75 a share. Any high-volume move above that level and above more resistance at $5.06 will then give MACK a chance to tag its 200-day moving average at $5.71 a share.

  Traders can look to buy MACK off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $3.32 or at $3.26 a share. One can also buy MACK off strength once it clears $3.64 a share with volume and then simply use a stop tha

• [By Keith Speights]

  Not so merry
  Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK  ) shareholders have had reason to party since early May, with the stock surging more than 60%. The merriment came to a stop this week, though, as shares tanked by 27%.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK) dipped 15.38% to $2.86 after the company reported that Phase 2 study Of MM-121 missed primary endpoint.

  IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) shares fell 14.51% to $49.50 in the pre-market trading after the company reported downbeat Q3 revenue.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now: CONSOL Energy Inc (CNX)

CONSOL Energy Inc. (CONSOL Energy), incorporated in 1991, is a producer of coal and natural gas for global energy and raw material markets, which include the electric power generation industry and the steelmaking industry. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 62.6 million tons of high-British thermal unit (Btu) bituminous coal from 12 mining complexes in the United States. In addition, it provides energy services, including river and dock services, terminal services, industrial supply services, coal waste disposal services and land resource management services. The Company operates in two segments: Coal and Gas. In July 2012, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. acquired Youngs Creek Mining Company, LLC (Youngs Creek) joint venture and other related coal and surface assets from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (Chevron) and the Company.

Coal Operations

The principal activities of the Coal unit are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators, and metallurgical coal, sold to metal and coke producers. The Coal division consists of four reportable segments, which includes Thermal, Low Volatile Metallurgical, High Volatile Metallurgical and Other Coal. Each of these reportable segments includes a number of operating segments (mines or type of coal sold). During 2011, the Thermal aggregated segment included the Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, McElroy, Miller Creek Complex, Robinson Run and Shoemaker mines. During 2011, the Low Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included the Buchanan mine. During 2011, the High Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, Miller Creek Complex and Robinson Run coal sales.

The Other Coal segment includes its purchased coal activities, idled mine activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the coal division but not allocated to each individual mine. During 2011, the Company! �� reserves were located in northern Appalachia (62%), the mid-western United States (17%), central Appalachia (15%), the western United States (4%), and in western Canada (2%). As of December 31, 2011, the Company had an estimated 4.5 billion tons of proven and probable reserves. During 2011, 94% of its production came from underground mines, 6% from surface mines, and 91% of its production came from mines equipped with longwall mining systems. As of December 31, 2011, CONSOL Energy operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and a fleet of 625 barges that serve customers along the Ohio, Allegheny, Kanawha and Monongahela Rivers. During 2011, over 84% of all the coal it produced was sold under contracts with terms of one year or more.

Gas Operations

The principal activity of the Gas division is to produce pipeline methane gas for sale primarily to gas wholesalers. The Gas Division consists of four reportable segments, which include Coalbed Methane (CBM), Marcellus, Shallow Oil and Gas and Other Gas. The Other Gas segment includes its purchased gas activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the gas division but not allocated to each individual well type. Its gas division focuses on developing the Marcellus acreage position in southwest Pennsylvania, central Pennsylvania and northwest West Virginia. CONSOL Energy�� all Other segment includes terminal services, river and dock services, industrial supply services and other business activities. Its gas operations primarily produce CBM, which is a gas that resides in coal seams. The Company�� Coalbed Methane operations are located in central Appalachia in Southwest Virginia. Its CBM production also comes from northern Appalachia in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania where it drills vertical-to-horizontal CBM wells.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had rights to extract CBM in Virginia from approximately 359,000 net CBM acres, which cover a portion of its coal reserves in Cen! tral Appa! lachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pocahontas #3 seam, which is the coal seam mined by its Buchanan Mine. The Company also has right to extract CBM in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania from approximately 859,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves in Northern Appalachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pittsburgh #8 coal seam.

In central Pennsylvania, the Company has the right to extract CBM from approximately 263,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves, as well as leases from other coal owners. In addition, CONSOL Energy controls 810,000 net CBM acres in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. It also has the right to extract CBM on 139,000 net acres in the San Juan Basin, 20,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin and 92,000 net acres in eastern Ohio and central West Virginia. Its Marcellus wells are primarily horizontal wells with 2,500 to 5,000 feet of lateral length. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had the right to extract natural gas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York from approximately 361,000 net acres.

CONSOL Energy controls approximately 346,000 net acres of rights to gas in the New Albany shale in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. The New Albany shale is a formation containing gaseous hydrocarbons, and its acreage position has thickness of 50-300 feet at an average depth of 2,500-4,000 feet. CONSOL Energy has 249,000 net acres of Chattanooga Shale. It has 457,000 net acres of Huron shale in Kentucky and Virginia. During 2011, the Company drilled 254.9 net development wells and 47 net developmental wells.

Other Operations

CONSOL Energy provides other services to its own operations and others. These include land services, industrial supply services, terminal services, including break bulk, general cargo and warehouse services, and river and dock services water services. Fairmont Supply Company, which is CONSOL Energy�� subs! idiary, i! s a general-line distributor of mining, drilling, and industrial supplies in the United States. During 2011, approximately 12.6 million tons of coal was shipped through CNX Marine Terminal Inc.�� exporting terminal in the Port of Baltimore. CONSOL Energy�� river operations, located in Monessen, Pennsylvania, transport coal from its mines, coal from other mines and non-coal commodities from river loadout facilities located primarily along the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.

As of December 31, 2011, it operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and 625 barges. In 2011, its river vessels transported a total of 19.1 million tons of coal and other commodities, including 6.2 million tons of coal produced by CONSOL Energy mines. CONSOL Energy provides dock services for its mines, as well as for third parties at its Alicia Dock, located on the Monongahela River in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Its subsidiary CNX Water Assets LLC acquires and develops existing sources of water used to support its coal and gas operations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Last year was not very fun for coal investors. Luckily, CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CNX  ) has made alternative investments other than naming the home arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The leading diversified energy producer in the Appalachian Basin has invested heavily in natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and unconventional gas production from coal bed methane. Additionally, the majority of its coal reserves are of the cleaner-burning, high-BTU variety.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Over the past few months, though, Capstone has made progress toward its long-term mission to become profitable. In late February, CONSOL Energy (NYSE: CNX  ) installed one of its microturbines at a gas processing plant, taking coal-bed methane from the plant itself to provide power and generate electricity from waste gas, leading to net benefits in electricity production for CONSOL. Then in April, Capstone did multiple deals, with three orders from the Chinese oil and gas sector to supply power for exploration and production activity, as well an order from a Russian pipeline project and another for electric buses in Denver. Further orders in May have kept the excitement rising for the stock, demonstrating its increasing ability to get attention from customers for a variety of different applications.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Among energy stocks rising today: Producers of gas and gas liquids were higherm, including Devon (DVN) and�Consol Energy (CNX) rose about 2% each, while drillers�Nabors Industries (NBR) and�Rowan Companies (RDC) jumped more than 3% apiece. Oilfield services names Halliburton (HAL) and Baker Hughes (BHI) each rose nearly 2%.

Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs

Open Text (NASDAQ: OTEX) shares touched a new 52-week high of $103.41 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results and announced a 2-for-1 stock split.

Uroplasty (NASDAQ: UPI) shares reached a new 52-week high of $5.22 after the company reported strong Q3 results.

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) shares gained 8.23% to touch a new 52-week high of $28.15 after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Barclays upgraded the stock from Equalweight to Overweight and lifted the price target from $29.00 to $34.00.

Hill International (NYSE: HIL) shares surged 11.11% to reach a new 52-week high of $5.00 as the company surpassed $1 billion in total backlog at the end of 2013.

Posted-In: 52-Week HighsNews Intraday Update Markets Movers

(c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Most Popular The ETF To Play The Tesla Motors Rally (QCLN, TSLA, CREE, FSLR) Google To Add Bitcoin Support For Google Wallet Exxon Mobil Or Chevron: Which Is The Better Bet? Benzinga's M&A Chatter for Wednesday January 22, 2014 Retailers On The Ropes: 7 Companies Expected To Have A Difficult 2014 Market Wrap For January 22: Earnings Season Continues To Come In Mixed Related Articles (JNPR + HIL) Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Lower; Procter & Gamble Profit Beats Estimates Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs UPDATE: Barclays Upgrades Juniper Networks Benzinga's Top #PreMarket Gainers Market Wrap For January 14: Markets Rebound On Earnings Season Kickoff Market Wrap For January 13: Markets Showing Weakness Ahead Of Major Earning Releases Around the Web, We're Loving... Lightspeed Trading Presents: Thunder and Tubleweeds: Trading Techniques for the New Market Enviroment Pope Francis Rips 'Trickle-Down' Economics Come See How the Pro's Trade in this Exclusive Webinar Wynn, MGM, Other Casino Giants Vying For U.S. Turf What Should You Know About AMZN?

S&P 500 Gains, Dow Falls as Newest Entry Clobbers Blue Chips

Last September, the folks who manage the Dow Jones Industrial average decided it was time to add some new blood to the venerable blue-chip index.  So in came Goldman Sachs (GS), Visa (V) and Nike (NKE), and out went Bank of America (BAC), Alcoa (AA) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

Bloomberg News

Since the Dow is a price weighted index, the inclusion of Visa, which trades at more than $200 a share, and Goldman Sachs, which trades near $175, at the expense of Alcoa and Bank of America, which trade under $20, changing the stocks that would have the most influence on the index. Before the changes, the three highest priced stocks were International Business Machines (IBM), Boeing (BA) and 3M (MMM). Now they’re Visa, International Business Machines and Goldman Sachs.

Think it doesn’t matter? Since the changes were made just over four months ago, there have been 12 days when the Dow and the S&P 500 moved in opposite directions; there had been 19 in the previous 12 months.  The 120-correlation between the two indexes, a measure of their tendency to trade in the same direction, has dropped from 96.3% to  93.8%, the lowest since 2006.The Dow has gained 8.3% since the changes were made to the S&P 500′s 9.2% rise.

The impact of the changes between can be seen once again today, where the S&P 500 is up 0.1% to 1,839.72, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 78.92 points, or 0.5%, to 16,379, thanks to a big drop in…Goldman Sachs, which has dropped 2.3% to $172.25.

Alcoa, by the way, is up 7.7% to $12.23 today, thanks to a JPMorgan upgrade.

Best Bets Among Utility Stocks

Utility sector specialist Roger Conrad has launched a new advisory letter and shares some of his new top stock picks from his conservative and aggressive model portfolios.

Steve Halpern: We're here today with Roger Conrad, Editor of the just launched newsletter Conrad's Utility Investor. How are you doing, Roger?

Roger Conrad: Pretty good. How are you?

Steve Halpern: Very good. You've been following the utility sector for nearly 30 years now, but your latest newsletter venture is only a few weeks old. Can you tell us a little about your new service?

Roger Conrad: Well, what we're trying to do is based on the same philosophy that I've had over the years, but we're trying to make a few new improvements that I think will be interesting for investors. We have a DRIPs Portfolio and, really, we're talking about three different objectives here.

One is compounding wealth over time and that's obviously accomplished with the DRIPs. I've had quite a bit of personal success with that, as well as in the letter. We have a conservative income portfolio and our approach there is, basically, people who are living off their investments, and trying to make the most of what's, really a different kind of environment, than certainly when I started the business.

Back when I started writing about utilities, back in the 1980s, for example, the retail investor pretty much dominated that space, but now we're seeing, particularly with the rise in popularity of income investments, a lot more institutional participation.

The result has been a lot more volatility in the group, but more opportunity to buy low and sell high. That's our objective there with, of course, the great companies in the sector.

Then also, I have an aggressive income portfolio, and another consequence of change in sector, with deregulation, which, of course, has changed the industry a lot, and companies no longer really move in lock step, but they really have to look at individual business models.

But one of the consequences there is, we've seen some tremendous opportunities appear in the unloved stocks of the group. That's what we try to do there, to take advantage of good opportunities.

We're more or less based around those things. I have a coverage universe of about 200 names, and that's been a staple of mine over the years, is really trying to take a bottoms-up approach.

I come up with theories, and themes, rather, and trends, by looking at what's going on on the ground with these individual companies, and that's, I think, one way that we identify opportunities. It's one way that we identify the dangers that are inherent in these sectors, and that's really how we make good returns over the long-term.

Steve Halpern: Under the overall umbrella of utilities, you cover all, what you call, essential services such as electricity, heating, communications, water, and even pipelines. Among these areas are there any sectors that stand out as offering the best current value?

Roger Conrad: Well, I think right now what we're seeing in the markets is a lot of worry about what happens at the end of QE3, or quantitative easing, that the Federal Reserve has been undertaking, really, since the crash in 2008.

The worry is we're going to see a real backup in interest rates, and that dividend paying stocks, that we see a big correction there.

We've heard a lot about interest rate sensitivity. I think a lot of people are putting out a message that you want to sell your dividend paying stocks because interest rates are rising and they're really just bonds.

But, you know, if you look back at the performance, the actual correlation of dividend paying stocks with the bond market, you have to stretch the imagination really to see much of anything.

Rather, these stocks follow the stock market. In fact, if you look back, 2008, when the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell from well over 5% to less than 2%, and of course lower rates, there was tremendous buying. It was really the mother of all rallies for bonds.

If you looked at what happened with the dividend paying stocks like utilities, if they were real interest rate sensitive, you should have had really a tremendous rally then. Instead, they fell along with everything else. Maybe not quite so bad as the S&P 500, but certainly falling along with the rest of the stock market.

The more people talk about the so-called interest rate sensitivity and correlation, and the more they talk themselves out of owning good positions, and just basically steady utility stocks, the better values that we're seeing.

We've had a four and a half year bull market and stock prices really running up. I was really having a lot of trouble finding values back last spring. That's no longer the case today. We're seeing more and more companies come down and the stock prices come down.

It's a great opportunity to pick those up, so I think the stocks that are considered to be the most interest rate sensitive are actually becoming quite impressive in values.

Again, you're just basically taking advantage of a lot of investors' misconception that these stocks are somehow bond substitutes, when the record is crystal clear that they follow the stock market.

Steve Halpern: As you mentioned, you have both an aggressive model portfolio and a conservative portfolio. Let's start with the aggressive one. Obviously, aggressive stocks are going to entail more risk for investors, but would you be kind enough to share a name or two that you like that fall under your aggressive portfolio.

Roger Conrad: Well, one that I read about actually in the very first issue of Conrad's Utility Investor is a company called Telefonica (TEF). This one is a company that has had a pretty tough several years.

Europe has obviously been a very tough place to operate, particularly Spain, which is its old home country. Still they're sourcing about 30% of revenue, but this company has managed to navigate through a pretty tough environment.

They do have a lot of very rapidly growing operations in Latin America and they've been making very good progress of reducing debt, which the market really has demanded of them.

I think what you have here is pretty much a quintessential aggressive portfolio type of stock, where you have a lot of bad feelings, a lot of low sentiment, a very low bar of expectations set for a company that has a very strong long-term track record and a number of catalysts for future growth.

As long as they execute, and they have, then you're going to get that higher valuation, so as an investor it's a really good opportunity to pick up some very strong capital gains in a company with a lot of staying power.

Again, they're an essential service company. People are using communication services really no matter what the economy is, so they have a very large degree of revenue stability that other industries simply don't have.

Steve Halpern: In your conservative portfolio, you focus on what you call, tried and true stocks, that you expect to deliver reliable returns through both bull and bear markets. Would you share an example of one of those?

Roger Conrad: Sure. I mean one of the companies I think you'd be very hard pressed to find a peer to, in terms of just sheer resilience, would be Southern Company (SO).

It's an electric utility. It services Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida states. They tend to have a pretty strong pro-business bent and they're also states that are growing partly for that reason.

This company has just been able to invest in its network of power lines, power plants, and so forth; pass those costs through in a cooperative way with supportive regulators in those states, and they still have very, very low rates, because they've been able to do this in an efficient way and utilize long-term planning.

Here you have this company with a tremendous formula for growth. It's actually down over the past several months to a large extent because of this interest rate sensitive thesis, and the way that people sell particularly larger stocks like that, that are owned a lot by institutions, encountering a lot of selling just on that basis.

Again, I think people are going to wake up and discover that they've sold at a bad time, a company that yields pretty close to 5% and is growing its dividend at an annual rate of 3% to 5% a year. That's a real nice formula for long-term growth. I actually have Southern Company in my DRIPs Portfolio as well.

It's a great wealth compounder even though it's a very conservative company, even though there are not a whole lot of ups and downs. If you're reinvesting those dividends, it's going to build wealth for you in a way that will be quite surprising, if you look down the road and see what happens just from simply, again, reinvesting dividends.

Steve Halpern: Well congratulations on the launch of the new Conrad's Utility Investor and thanks for joining us today.

Roger Conrad: Thanks Steve. Thanks for having me.

Subscribe to Conrad's Utility Investor here...

The expert featured in this column, Roger Conrad, may or may not own positions in any investment vehicle mentioned here. The views and opinions expressed are his or her own.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now

The Affordable Care Act will push the over 45 million uninsured in the United States to find health care coverage. The largest portion of this group will find coverage through the health insurance marketplaces set up by the state and federal exchanges. Consumers purchasing through the exchanges will receive coverage through private insurance companies, with many receiving federal tax credits to help pay for policies. While the consumer may not be paying the full price of the policy, the insurance companies will still receive the full premium. With millions mandated to receive coverage, how much are the currently uninsured worth to the health insurance industry?

To answer this question we looked at what the uninsured would pay in monthly premiums for coverage with private insurers. (See our methodology below) Based on our estimates the uninsured are worth a potential $92+ billion in annual premiums to the insurance companies. The Affordable Care Act requires that 80% of the value of the premiums be used to service health care costs, leaving a little over $18.4 billion�to be spread across employees, marketing, overhead and profits. Insurance companies we've looked at could expect anywhere from�2-4%�of all premiums to come in the form of profits. This would amount to�$1.8-$3.6 billion�dollars annually.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Unum Group(UNM)

Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides group and individual disability insurance products primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also provides a portfolio of other insurance products, including employer-and employee-paid group benefits, life insurance, long-term care insurance, and related services. Its products include group long-term and short-term disability; group life and accidental death, and dismemberment; individual disability; group long-term care; voluntary benefits; group life; accident, sickness, and disability; and cancer and critical illness insurance products. The company also provides individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, group pension, health insurance, and individual annuities. Unum Group markets its products primarily to employers interested in providing benefits to their employees. The company sells its products through field sales personnel, independent brokers, consultants, and agency sales force. Unum Group was founded in 1848 and is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Specialty insurance provider�Unum (NYSE: UNM  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.145 per share, an 11% increase to the payout made last quarter of $0.13 per share.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Among the biggest losers in the S&P 500: Air Products and Chemicals (APD), which dropped 3.3% to $103.20 as its Bill Ackman bounce fades, Charles Schwab (SCHW), which fell 2.4% to $21.76 as it became the 165th most popular short in the S&P 500, and Unum Group (UNM), which finished off 2.3% at $29.63 after Barron’s Sandra Ward recommended investors take profits on the insurance company.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Infinity Group]

  With 515 million shares outstanding, this equates to 33% of all shares being shorted. It should also be noted that Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK) is holding 51.8 million BlackBerry shares. Prem Watsa stated at the annual FairFax shareholders meeting that Fairfax is holding a long position with BlackBerry and anticipates shareholder value increasing over the next 2-3 years. The cost basis for FairFax financial holdings is approximately $17 per BlackBerry share.

• [By Alex Jordon]

  There's talk that Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK), could possibly be involved in a privatization bid for the company. Consider:

Best Companies To Invest In 2014: Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKB.N)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities. The Company is engaged in insurance businesses conducted on both a primary basis and a reinsurance basis. Berkshire also owns and operates a number of other businesses engaged in a variety of activities. On December 30, 2011, Medical Protective Corporation (MedPro) completed the acquisition of 100% of the Princeton Insurance Company, a professional liability insurer for healthcare providers based in Princeton, New Jersey. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Acme Building Brands (Acme) acquired the assets of Jenkins Brick Company, the brick manufacturer in Alabama. In September 2011, Berkshire acquired The Lubrizol Corporation (Lubrizol). In June 2011, the Company acquired Wesco Financial Corporation. In June 2012, Media General, Inc. sold 63 daily and weekly newspapers to World Media Enterprises, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire. In July 2 012, Berkshire�� The Lubrizol Corporation acquired Lipotec SA.

Insurance and Reinsurance Businesses

Berkshire�� insurance and reinsurance business activities are conducted through numerous domestic and foreign-based insurance entities. Berkshire�� insurance businesses provide insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks world-wide and also reinsure life, accident and health risks world-wide. Berkshire�� insurance underwriting operations are consisted of the sub-groups, including GEICO and its subsidiaries, General Re and its subsidiaries, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. GEICO insurance subsidiaries include Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO General Insurance Company, GEICO Indemnity Company and GEICO Casualty Company. These companies primarily offers private passenger automobile insurance to individuals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, GEICO insures motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, recreational vehicles a! n! d small commercial fleets and acts as an agent for other insurers who offer homeowners, boat and life insurance to individuals. GEICO markets its policies primarily through direct response methods in which applications for insurance are submitted directly to the companies through the Internet or by telephone.

General Re Corporation (General Re) is the holding company of General Reinsurance Corporation (GRC) and its subsidiaries and affiliates. GRC�� subsidiaries include General Reinsurance AG, a international reinsurer based in Germany. General Re subsidiaries conduct business activities globally in 51 cities and provide insurance and reinsurance coverages throughout the world. General Re provides property/casualty insurance and reinsurance, life/health reinsurance and other reinsurance intermediary and risk management, underwriting management and investment management services.

Property/Casualty Reinsurance

General Re�� property/c asualty reinsurance business in North America is conducted through GRC. Property/casualty operations in North America are also conducted through 16 branch offices in the United States and Canada. Reinsurance activities are marketed directly to clients without involving a broker or intermediary. General Re�� property/casualty business in North America also includes specialty insurers (primarily the General Star and Genesis companies domiciled in Connecticut and Ohio). These specialty insurers underwrite primarily liability and workers��compensation coverages on an excess and surplus basis and excess insurance for self-insured programs. General Re�� international property/casualty reinsurance business operations are conducted through internationally-based subsidiaries on a direct basis (through General Reinsurance AG, as well as several other General Re subsidiaries in 25 countries) and through brokers (primarily through Faraday, which owns the managing agent of Syndicat e 435 at Lloyd�� of London and provides capacity and ! parti! ci! pates i! n 100% of the results of Syndicate 435).

Life/Health Reinsurance

General Re�� North American and international life, health, long-term care and disability reinsurance coverages are written on an individual and group basis. Most of this business is written on a proportional treaty basis, with the exception of the United States group health and disability business which is predominately written on an excess treaty basis. Lesser amounts of life and disability business are written on a facultative basis. The life/health business is marketed on a direct basis. The Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group (BHRG) operates from offices located in Stamford, Connecticut. Business activities are conducted through a group of subsidiary companies, led by National Indemnity Company (NICO) and Columbia Insurance Company (Columbia). BHRG provides principally excess and quota-share reinsurance to other property and casualty insurers and reinsurers. BHRG�� underwrit ing activities also include life reinsurance and life annuity business written through Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska and financial guaranty insurance written through Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corporation.

BHRG writes catastrophe excess-of-loss treaty reinsurance contracts. BHRG also writes individual policies for primarily large or otherwise unusual discrete risks on both an excess direct and facultative reinsurance basis, referred to as individual risk, which includes policies covering terrorism, natural catastrophe and aviation risks. A catastrophe excess policy provides protection to the counterparty from the accumulation of primarily property losses arising from a single loss event or series of related events. Catastrophe and individual risk policies may provide amounts of indemnification per contract and a single loss event may produce losses under a number of contracts. BHRG also underwrites traditional non-catastrophe insurance and reinsurance coverages, referred to as multi-li! ne proper! t! y/casualt! y business.

The Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group is a collection of primary insurance operations that provide a variety of insurance coverages to insureds located principally in the United States. NICO and certain affiliates underwrite motor vehicle and general liability insurance to commercial enterprises on both an admitted and excess and surplus basis. This business is written nationwide primarily through insurance agents and brokers and is based in Omaha, Nebraska. U.S. Investment Corporation (USIC), through its three subsidiaries led by United States Liability Insurance Company, is a specialty insurer that underwrites commercial, professional and personal lines of insurance on an admitted and excess and surplus basis. Policies are marketed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia through wholesale and retail insurance agents. USIC companies underwrite and market 109 distinct specialty property and casualty insurance products. Medical Protective Corpora tion (MedPro) is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Through its subsidiary, the Medical Protective Company, MedPro is engaged in primary medical professional liability coverage and risk solutions to physicians, dentists, other healthcare providers and healthcare facilities.

Railroad Business

Through BNSF Railway, BNSF operates a railroad network in North America with approximately 32,000 route miles of track (excluding multiple main tracks, yard tracks and sidings) in 28 states and two Canadian provinces as of December 31, 2011. BNSF owns approximately 23,000 route miles, including easements, and operates on approximately 9,000 route miles of trackage rights that permit BNSF to operate its trains with its crews over other railroads��tracks. As of December 31, 2011, the total BNSF Railway system, including single and multiple main tracks, yard tracks and sidings, consisted of approximately 50,000 operated miles of track, all of which are owned by or he ld under easement by BNSF except for approxi! mately 10! ,000 ro! ute miles! operated under trackage rights.

BNSF is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and through BNSF Railway Company operates railroad systems in North America. In serving the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Western, Southwestern and Southeastern regions and ports of the country, BNSF transports a range of products and commodities derived from manufacturing, agricultural and natural resource industries. In serving the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Western, Southwestern and Southeastern regions and ports of the country, BNSF transports a range of products and commodities derived from manufacturing, agricultural and natural resource industries. Over half of the freight revenues of BNSF are covered by contractual agreements of varying durations. BNSF�� primary routes, including trackage rights, allow it to access cities and ports in the western and southern United States as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. In addition to cities and ports, BNSF efficiently serves many smaller mar kets by working closely with approximately 200 shortline partners. BNSF has also entered into marketing agreements with other rail carriers, expanding the marketing reach for each railroad and their customers.

Utilities and Energy Businesses

MidAmerican�� businesses are managed as separate operating units. MidAmerican�� domestic regulated energy interests are comprised of two regulated utility companies serving more than three million retail customers and two interstate natural gas pipeline companies with approximately 16,600 miles of pipeline and a design capacity of approximately 7.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Its United Kingdom electricity distribution subsidiaries serve about 3.9 million electricity end-users. In addition, MidAmerican�� interests include a diversified portfolio of domestic independent power projects, a hydroelectric facility in the Philippines and residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States .

PacifiCorp is a regulate! d electri! c utility co! mpany hea! dquartered in Oregon, serving regulated retail electric customers in portions of Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho and California. The combined service territory�� diverse regional economy ranges from rural, agricultural and mining areas to urban, manufacturing and government service centers. As a vertically integrated electric utility, PacifiCorp owns approximately 10,600 net megawatts of generation capacity. MidAmerican Energy Company (MEC) is a regulated electric and natural gas utility company headquartered in Iowa, serving regulated retail electric and natural gas customers primarily in Iowa and also in portions of Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska. MEC has a diverse customer base consisting of residential, agricultural and a variety of commercial and industrial customer groups. In addition to retail sales and natural gas transportation, MEC sells regulated electricity to markets operated by regional transmission organizations and regulated electricity and na tural gas to other utilities and market participants on a wholesale basis and sells non-regulated electricity and natural gas services in deregulated markets. As a vertically integrated electric and gas utility, MEC owns approximately 7,000 net megawatts of generation capacity.

The natural gas pipelines consist of Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern Natural) and Kern River Gas Transmission Company (Kern River). Northern Natural is based in Nebraska and owns interstate natural gas pipeline systems in the United States reaching from southern Texas to Michigan�� Upper Peninsula. Northern Natural�� pipeline system consists of approximately 14,900 miles of natural gas pipelines. Northern Natural has access to supplies from mid-continent basin and provides transportation services to utilities and numerous other customers. Northern Natural also operates three underground natural gas storage facilities and two liquefied natural gas storage peaking units.

Kern River is based in Utah ! and owns ! an interstate natu! ral gas p! ipeline system that consists of approximately 1,700 miles and extends from the supply areas in the Rocky Mountains to consuming markets in Utah, Nevada and California. Kern River transports natural gas for electric utilities and natural gas distribution utilities, oil and natural gas companies or affiliates of such companies, electricity generating companies, energy marketing and trading companies, and financial institutions. The United Kingdom utilities consist of Northern Powergrid (Northeast) Limited (Northern Powergrid (Northeast)) and Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc (Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire)), which own a substantial United Kingdom electricity distribution network that delivers electricity to end-users in northeast England in an area covering approximately 10,000 square miles. The distribution companies primarily charge supply companies regulated tariffs for the use of electrical infrastructure. MidAmerican also owns HomeServices of America, Inc. (HomeServices) , a full-service residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States. HomeServices also offers integrated real estate services, including mortgage originations through a joint venture, title and closing services, property and casualty insurance, home warranties, relocation services and other home-related services. It operates under 22 residential real estate brand names with over 14,000 sales associates and in nearly 300 brokerage offices in 20 states.

Manufacturing, Service and Retailing Businesses

Berkshire�� numerous and diverse manufacturing, service and retailing businesses. Marmon consists of approximately 140 manufacturing and service businesses that operate independently within eleven diverse, stand-alone business sectors. These sectors are Building Wire, Crane Services, Distribution Services, Engineered Wire and Cable, Flow Products, Food Service Equipment, Highway Technologies, Industrial Products, Retail Store Fixtures, Transpo rtation Services and Engine! ered Prod! ucts and Water Treatment! .

Building Wire, providing copper electrical building wire for residential, commercial and industrial construction. Crane Services provides the leasing and operation of mobile cranes primarily to the energy, mining and petrochemical markets. Distribution Services, supplying specialty metal pipe and tubing, bar and sheet products to markets including construction, industrial, aerospace and many others. Engineered Wire & Cable, providing electrical and electronic wire and cable for energy related markets and other industries. Flow Products is producing copper tube for the plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and industrial markets. Food Service Equipment is supplying commercial food preparation equipment for restaurants and shopping carts for retail stores. Highway Technologies, primarily serving the heavy-duty highway transportation industry with trailers, fifth wheel coupling devices and undercarriage products such as brake parts an d suspension systems, and also serving the light vehicle aftermarket with clutches and related products.

Industrial Products, consisting of metal fasteners for the building, furniture, cabinetry, industrial and other markets, gloves for industrial markets, portable lighting equipment for mining and safety markets, overhead electrification equipment for mass transit systems, custom-machined brass, aluminum and copper forgings for the construction, valve and other industries, brass fittings and valves for commercial and industrial applications, and drawn aluminum tubing and extruded aluminum shapes for the construction, automotive, appliance, medical and other markets . Retail Store Fixtures, providing shelving and other merchandising displays and related services for retail stores worldwide. Transportation Services & Engineered Products, including manufacturing, leasing and maintenance of railroad tank cars, leasing of intermodal tank containers, in-plant rail s ervices, manufacturin! g of bi-m! odal railcar movers, wheel, ax! le and ge! ar sets for light rail transit and gear products for locomotives, manufacturing of steel tank heads, and services, equipment and technology for processing and distributing sulfur. Water Treatment, equipment including residential water softening, purification and refrigeration filtration systems, treatment systems for industrial markets including power generation, oil and gas, chemical, and pulp and paper, gear drives for irrigation systems and cooling towers, and air-cooled heat exchangers. Marmon operates approximately 300 manufacturing, distribution and service facilities that are primarily located in North America, Europe and China, and employs more than 16,000 people worldwide.

McLane Company, Inc. (McLane) provides wholesale distribution and logistics services in all 50 states and internationally in Brazil to customers that include discount retailers, convenience stores, wholesale clubs, quick service restaurants, drug stores and military bases. Operations are divided into five business units: grocery distribution, foodservice distribution, beverage distribution, international logistics and software development. McLane�� foodservice distribution unit, based in Carrollton, Texas, focuses on serving the quick service restaurant industry. Operations are conducted through 18 facilities in 16 states. The foodservice distribution unit services more than 20,000 chain restaurants nationwide.

Other Manufacturing, Other Service and Retailing Businesses

Berkshire�� apparel manufacturing businesses include manufacturers of a variety of clothing and footwear. Businesses engaged in the manufacture and distribution of clothing products include Fruit of the Loom, Inc. (Fruit), Russell Brands, LLC (Russell), Vanity Fair Brands, LP (VFB), Garan and Fechheimer Brothers. Berkshire�� footwear businesses include H.H. Brown Shoe Group, Justin Brands and Brooks Athletic. Fruit, Russell and VFB (together FOL) is prima rily a verticall! y integra! ted manufacturer and distributor of! basic ap! parel, underwear and athletic apparel and products. Products, under the Fruit of the Loomand JERZEES labels are primarily sold in the mass merchandise and wholesale markets. In the VFB product line, Vassarette, Bestformand Curvationare sold in the mass merchandise market, while Vanity Fairand Lily of Franceproducts are sold in the mid-tier chains and department stores. FOL also markets and sells athletic uniforms, apparel, sports equipment and balls to team dealers; college licensed tee shirts and fleecewear to college bookstores and mid-tier merchants; and athletic apparel, sports equipment and balls to sporting goods retailers under the Russell Athleticand Spaldingbrands. Additionally, Spaldingmarkets and sells balls in the mass merchandise market and dollar store channel. During the year ended December, 31, 2011, approximately 30% of FOL�� sales were to Wal-Mart. FOL generally performs its own spinning, knitting, cloth finishing, cutting, sewing and packaging.

Garan designs, manufactures, imports and sells apparel primarily for children, including boys, girls, toddlers and infants. Products are sold under its own trademark Garanimalsand private labels of its customers. Garan also licenses its registered trademark Garanimalsto independent third parties. Garan conducts its business through operating subsidiaries located in the United States, Central America and Asia. Substantially all of Garan�� products are sold through its distribution centers in the United States to national chain stores, department stores and specialty stores. In 2011, over 90% of Garan�� sales were to Wal-Mart. Fechheimer Brothers manufactures, distributes and sells uniforms, principally for the public service and safety markets, including police, fire, postal and military markets. Fechheimer Brothers is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Justin Brands and H.H. Brown Shoe Group manufacture and distribute work, rugged outdoor and casual shoes and western-styl! e footwea! r under a number of brand names, includ! ing Justi! n, Tony Lama, Nocona, Chippewas, Born, Sofft, Carolina, Double-H Boots, Corcoran, Matterhornand Kork-Ease. Brooks Athletic markets and sells running footwear to specialty retailers under Brooksbrand. In 2011, Brooksachieved #1 market share in footwear with specialty retailers. A volume of the shoes sold by Berkshire�� shoe businesses are manufactured or purchased from sources outside the United States. Products are principally sold in the United States through a variety of channels including department stores, footwear chains, specialty stores, catalogs and the Internet, as well as through Company-owned retail stores.

Acme manufactures and distributes clay bricks (Acme Brickand Jenkins Brick), concrete block (Featherlite) and cut limestone (Texas Quarries). In addition, Acme distributes a number of other building products of other manufacturers, including glass block, floor and wall tile and other masonry products. Acme also sells ceramic floor and wall tile, as well as marble, granite and other stones through its subsidiary, American Tile and Stone. Products are sold primarily in the South Central and South Eastern United States through Company-operated sales offices. Acme distributes products primarily to homebuilders and masonry and general contractors.

Benjamin Moore & Co. (Benjamin Moore) is a formulator, manufacturer and retailer of a range of architectural coatings, available principally in the United States and Canada. Products include water-thinnable and solvent-thinnable general purpose coatings (paints, stains and clear finishes) for use by the general public, contractors and industrial and commercial users. Products are marketed under various registered brand names, including Regal, Superspec, Moorcraft, Moorgard, Aura, Nattura, ben, Coronado Paint, Insl-xand Lenmar.

Benjamin Moore and its manufacturing subsidiaries rely primarily on an independent dealer network for the distribution of it s produ! cts. Its ! distribution network includes approximately ! 100 Compa! ny-owned stores as well as over 4,500 third party retailers representing over 10,300 storefronts in the United States and Canada. Benjamin Moore�� Company-owned stores represent several multiple-outlet and stand-alone retailers in various parts of the United States and Canada serving primarily contractors and general consumers. The independent retailer channel offers an array of products including Benjamin Mooreand Insl-xbrands and other competitor coatings, wallcoverings, window treatments and sundries Benjamin Moore also has three color stations located in regional malls that serve as brand marketing tools. In addition to the independent retailer channel, Benjamin Moore has recently begun to sell direct to the consumer through e-commerce sites and its customer care program, which includes national accounts and government agencies.

Johns Manville (JM) is a manufacturer and marketer of products for building insulation, mechanical insulation, commercial roofi ng and roof insulation, as well as fibers and nonwovens for commercial, industrial and residential applications. JM serves markets that include aerospace, automotive and transportation, air handling, appliance, HVAC, pipe and equipment filtration, waterproofing, building, flooring, interiors and wind energy. Fiber glass is the basic material in a majority of JM�� products, although JM also manufactures a portion of its products with other materials to satisfy the broader needs of its customers. JM regards its patents and licenses as valuable, however it does not consider any of its businesses to be materially dependent on any single patent or license. JM is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and operates 40 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China and conducts research and development at several other facilities. JM sells its products through a variety of channels, including contractors, distributors, retailers, manufacturers and fabricators.

MiTek is! a provider of engineered connector products, eng! ineering ! software and services and computer-driven manufacturing machinery to the truss fabrication segment of the building components industry. Primary customers are truss fabricators who manufacture pre-fabricated roof and floor trusses and wall panels for the residential building market, as well as the light commercial and institutional construction industry. MiTek also participates in the light gauge steel framing market under the Ultra-Spanname, manufactures and markets assembly line machinery used by the lead acid battery industry, manufactures and markets a line of masonry connector products and manufactures and markets air handling systems used in commercial building. MiTek operates on six continents with sales into approximately 90 countries. MiTek has 34 manufacturing facilities located in eleven countries and 45 sales/engineering offices located in 17 countries.

The Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) is a carpet manufacturer based on both revenue and volume o f production. Shaw designs and manufactures over 3,000 styles of tufted carpet, tufted and woven rugs, laminate and wood flooring for residential and commercial use under about 30 brand and trade names and under certain private labels. Shaw also provides installation services and sells ceramic and vinyl tile along with sheet vinyl. Shaw�� manufacturing operations are fully integrated from the processing of raw materials used to make fiber through the finishing of carpet. Shaw�� carpet, rugs and hard surface products are sold in a broad range of prices, patterns, colors and textures.

Shaw products are sold wholesale to over 40,000 retailers, distributors and commercial users throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico and are also exported to various overseas markets. Shaw�� wholesale products are marketed domestically by over 2,000 salaried and commissioned sales personnel directly to retailers and distributors and to national accounts. Shaw�� 10 ! car pet f! ull-service distribution facilities, three hard surface! and two ! rug full-service distribution facilities and 24 redistribution centers, along with centralized management information systems, enable it to provide prompt efficient delivery of its products to both its retail customers and wholesale distributors.

Berkshire acquired an 80% interest in IMC International Metalworking Companies B.V. (IMC B.V.). Through its subsidiaries, IMC B.V. is a multinational manufacturers of consumable precision carbide metal cutting tools for applications in a range of industrial end markets under the brand names ISCAR, TaeguTec, Ingersoll, Tungaloy, Unitac, UOP It.te.diand Outiltec. IMC B.V.�� manufacturing facilities are located in Israel, United States, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, South Korea, China, India, Japan and Brazil. IMC B.V. has five primary product lines: milling tools, gripping tools, turning/thread tools, drilling tools and tooling. Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is a manufacturer of recreational vehicles, utilit y, cargo and office trailers, buses and pontoon boats, headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana. Its products are sold in the United States and Canada through an independent dealer network.

Scott Fetzer companies are a diversified group of 20 businesses that manufacture and distribute a variety of products for residential, industrial and institutional use. The two of these businesses are Kirby home cleaning systems and Campbell Hausfeld products. Albecca Inc. (Albecca), headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, does business primarily under the Larson-Juhlname. Albecca designs, manufactures and distributes a complete line of branded custom framing products, including wood and metal moulding, matboard, foamboard, glass, equipment and other framing supplies in the United States, Canada and 15 countries outside of North America. CTB International Corp. is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of systems used in the grain industry and in the production of poultry, hogs a! nd eggs. !

Lubrizol is a specialty chemical company that ! produces ! and supplies technologies for the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol operates two business sectors: Lubrizol Additives, which includes engine, driveline and industrial additive products and Lubrizol Advanced Materials, which includes personal and home care, engineered polymer and performance coating products. FlightSafety International Inc.(FlightSafety) is engaged primarily in the business of providing high technology training to operators of aircraft. FlightSafety�� training activities include advanced training for pilots of business and commercial aircraft; aircrew training for military and other government personnel; aircraft maintenance technician training; flight attendant and aircraft dispatcher training, and ab-initio (primary) pilot training to qualify individuals for private and commercial pilots��licenses. FlightSafety also develops classroom instructional systems and materials for use in its training business and for sale to othe rs.

NetJets Inc. (NJ) is a provider of fractional ownership programs for general aviation aircraft. TTI, Inc. (TTI) is a global specialty distributor of passive, interconnect, electromechanical and discrete components used by customers in the manufacturing and assembling of electronic products. Business Wire provides electronic dissemination of full-text news releases daily to the media, online services and databases and the global investment community in 150 countries and 45 languages. Berkshire�� retailing businesses principally consist of several independently managed home furnishings and jewelry operations. The home furnishings businesses are the Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM), R.C. Willey Home Furnishings (R.C. Willey), Star Furniture Company (Star) and Jordan�� Furniture, Inc. (Jordan��). NFM, R.C. Willey, Star and Jordan�� each offer a wide selection of furniture, bedding and accessories. In addition, NFM and R.C. Willey sell a line ! of househ! old a ppliances, electronics, computers and other home furnishings! . NFM, R.! C. Willey, Star and Jordan�� also offer customer financing to complement their retail operations. An important feature of each of these businesses is their ability to control costs and to produce high business volume by offering value to their customers.

NFM operates its business from two retail complexes with almost one million square feet of retail space and sizable warehouse and administrative facilities in Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Kansas. NFM is a furniture retailer in each of its markets. NFM also owns Homemakers Furniture located in Des Moines, Iowa, which has approximately 215,000 square feet of retail space. R.C. Willey, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a home furnishings retailer in the Intermountain West region of the United States. R.C. Willey operates 11 retail stores, two retail clearance facilities and three distribution centers. Borsheim Jewelry Company, Inc. (Borsheims) operates from a single store located in Omaha, Nebraska. Borsheim s is a high volume retailer of jewelry, watches, crystal, china, stemware, flatware, gifts and collectibles. Helzberg�� Diamond Shops, Inc. (Helzberg), based in North Kansas City, Missouri, operates a chain of 233 retail jewelry stores in 37 states, which includes approximately 550,000 square feet of retail space. Most of Helzberg�� stores are located in malls, lifestyle centers or power strip centers, and all stores operate under the name Helzberg Diamonds. The Ben Bridge Corporation (Ben Bridge Jeweler), based in Seattle, Washington, operates a chain of 70 upscale retail jewelry stores located in 11 states that are primarily in the Western United States. Three of its locations are concept stores that sell only PANDORA jewelry.

Finance and Financial Products

Clayton Homes, Inc. (Clayton) is a vertically integrated manufactured housing company. At December 31, 2011, Clayton operated 33 manufacturing plants in 12 states. Clay! ton�� h! omes are ma rketed in 48 states through a network of 1,333 retailers, in! cluding 3! 33 Company-owned home centers. Financing is offered through its finance subsidiaries to purchasers of Clayton�� manufactured homes as well as those purchasing homes from selected independent retailers. XTRA Corporation (XTRA), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a transportation equipment lessor operating under the XTRA Leasebrand name. XTRA manages a diverse fleet of approximately 83,000 units located at 63 facilities throughout the United States and two facilities in Canada. The fleet includes over-the-road and storage traile

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Sun Life Financial Inc.(SLF)

Sun Life Financial Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various life and health insurance, savings, investment management, retirement, and pension products and services to individuals and corporate customers. It offers individual life insurance policies, including individual term life, universal life, critical illness, disability, accident, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance policies; and group life insurance policies. The company also provides individual health insurance, long-term care insurance, group health benefits, dental benefits, and group insurance; and various individual and group annuity, retirement, and investment income products and services, such as mutual and pooled funds, variable and fixed annuities, savings, retirement and pension plans, and education savings. In addition, it offers asset management services for corporate retirement plans, separate accounts, public or government funds, and insurance company assets to institutional clients; and advisory services to individual investors. Further, the company provides run-off reinsurance services. Sun Life Financial Inc. distributes its products through direct sales agents, independent and managing general agents, financial intermediaries, broker-dealers, banks, pension and benefit consultants, and other third-party marketing organizations. The company operates primarily in Bermuda, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, the Philippines, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Sun Life Financial Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  Initially, the deal Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF  ) struck in December to sell its U.S. annuity portfolio and some life insurance products for $1.35 billion to Delaware Life Holdings, a Guggenheim Partners-owned company, was scheduled to be completed by Q2 of 2013.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Sun Life Financial (NYSE: SLF) shares gained 2.47% to create a new 52-week high of $34.80 on Q3 results. Sun Life reported its Q3 operating net income from continuing operations of $422 million.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as commercial lines writers in the property casualty insurance business primarily in the United States. The company operates in five segments: Specialty, Regional, Alternative Markets, Reinsurance, and International. The Specialty segment underwrites third-party liability risks, primarily excess, and surplus lines, including premises operations, professional liability, commercial automobile, products liability, and property lines. The Regional segments provide commercial insurance products to small-to-mid-sized businesses, and state and local governmental entities primarily in the 45 states of the United States. The Alternative Markets segment develops, insures, reinsures, and administers self-insurance programs and other alternative risk transfer mechanisms. This segment offers its services to employers, employer groups, insurers, and alternative market funds, as well as provides a range of fee-based servic es, including consulting and administrative services. The Reinsurance segment engages in the underwriting property casualty reinsurance on a treaty and a facultative basis, including individual certificates and program facultative business; and specialty and standard reinsurance lines, and property and casualty reinsurance. The International segment offers personal and commercial property casualty insurance in South America; commercial property casualty insurance in the United Kingdom and continental Europe; and reinsurance in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Canada. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Insurance holding company�W.R. Berkley� (NYSE: WRB  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, an 11% increase over the $0.09 per share it paid last quarter.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Earnings reports expected on Monday include:

  Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.48 on revenue of $1.10 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.13 on revenue of $905.09 million. Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $1.19 on revenue of $2.07 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $1.21. W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.71 on revenue of $1.57 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.61 on revenue of $1.42 billion. Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is expected to report third quarter EPS of $0.44 on revenue of $1.27 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $1.31 billion.

  Economics

• [By Monica Gerson]

  W.R. Berkley (NYSE: WRB)is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion.

  V.F. Corp (NYSE: VFC) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $3.78 per share on revenue of $3.34 billion.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Genworth Financial, Inc., a financial security company, provides insurance, wealth management, investment, and financial solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers various insurance and fixed annuity products, including life and long-term care insurance products; payment protection insurance products for consumers primarily to meet specified payment obligations; and wealth management products, such as managed account programs with advisor support and financial planning services. It also provides mortgage insurance products and related services to insure prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans or flow mortgage insurance; and mortgage insurance on a structured or bulk basis, as well as offers services, analytical tools, and technology that enable lenders to operate and manage risk. In addition, the company provides institutional products consisting of funding agreements, funding agreements backing notes, and guaranteed in vestment contracts. Genworth Financial, Inc. distributes its products and services through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors, affinity groups, and sales specialists. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) has not paid a dividend since 2008. That may soon be about to change if an analyst call from Monday turns out to be true. UBS raised the financial services firm up to Buy from Neutral, with a focus on the dividend and return of capital.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, financial services company Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

• [By Sally Jones]

  
  Genworth Financial Inc. (GNW): Sold Out

  Up 142% over 12 months, Genworth Financial has a market cap of $6.26 billion and trades with a P/E of 14.10. The current share price is $12.68.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]

  On its road to recovery since the financial crisis, shares of Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) have more than doubled in value over the past year, and those gains continued this week. Are the good times set to keep rolling?

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services worldwide. The company?s Retirement and Investor Services segment provides retirement savings and related investment products and services, including a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. This segment offers products and services to businesses for defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services; and annuities, mutual funds, and bank products and services to the employees of its business customers and other individuals. Principal Financial Group?s Principal Global Investors segment offers a range of equity, fixed income, and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services to institutional inve stors. The company?s Principal International segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, institutional asset management, and life insurance accumulation products in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand. Principal Financial Group?s U.S. Insurance Solutions segment offers individual life insurance, as well as specialty benefits in the United States. Its individual life insurance products include universal and variable universal life insurance and traditional life insurance; and specialty benefit products comprise group dental and vision insurance, individual and group disability insurance, and group life insurance, as well as fee-for-service claims administration and wellness services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe�� largest bank, slid 2.1 percent. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) declined 2 percent as it canceled some of its flights following a disruption caused by one of its planes at Heathrow airport. Next Plc (NXT) retreated 2.4 percent as Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation on the shares.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc sank 3.3 percent after reporting results and naming the head of its U.K. consumer unit as chief executive officer. William Hill Plc (WMH) dropped the most in four years after the bookmaker posted earnings that missed analysts��projections. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) rose to a five-year high as the parent of British Airways reported an operating profit in the second quarter.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Air France led airlines lower, falling 4 percent to 7.30 euros. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) lost 1.9 percent to 270.7 pence while Deutsche Lufthansa AG slid 2.1 percent to 15.75 euros.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  As a result, Chidley and team upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and�Yamana Gold (AUY) to Neutral from Underweight, and raised Barrick Gold (ABX), Goldcorp (GG) and Iamgold (IAG) to Overweight from Neutral.�Gold Fields (GFI) was downgraded “due to increased risk and also reduced expectations for the South Deep operation,” Chidley says.

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: MGIC Investment Corp (MTG)

MGIC Investment Corporation (MGIC), incorporated June 21, 1984, is a holding company and through wholly owned subsidiaries is a private mortgage insurer in the United States. As of December 31, 2012, its principal mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) and MGIC Indemnity Corporation (MIC), were each licensed in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. During the year ending December 31, 2012, the Company wrote new insurance in each of those jurisdictions in MGIC and/or MIC. The Company capitalized MIC to write new insurance in certain jurisdictions where MGIC no longer meets, and is unable to obtain a waiver of, those jurisdictions��minimum capital requirements. Private mortgage insurance covers losses from homeowner defaults on residential mortgage loans, reducing and, in some instances, eliminating the loss to the insured institution if the homeowner defaults.

Mortgage Insurance

Primary insurance provides mortgage default protection on individual loans and covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure. Primary insurance is written on first mortgage loans secured by owner occupied single-family homes, which are one-to-four family homes and condominiums. Primary insurance is also written on first liens secured by non-owner occupied single-family homes, which are referred to in the home mortgage lending industry as investor loans, and on vacation or second homes. Primary coverage can be used on any type of residential mortgage loan instrument approved by the mortgage insurer.

When a borrower refinances a mortgage loan insured by the Company by paying it off in full with the proceeds of a new mortgage that is also insured by it, the insurance on that existing mortgage is cancelled, and insurance on the new mortgage is considered to be new primary insurance written. Therefore, continuation of its coverage fr! om a refinanced loan to a new loan results in both a cancellation of insurance and new insurance written. When a lender and borrower modify a loan rather than replace it with a new one, or enter into a new loan pursuant to a loan modification program, its insurance continues without being cancelled assuming that the Company consent to the modification or new loan.

The borrower�� mortgage loan instrument requires the borrower to pay the mortgage insurance premium. There are several payment plans available to the borrower, or lender, as the case may be. Under the monthly premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a monthly premium payment to provide only one month of coverage. Under the annual premium plan, an annual premium is paid to it in advance, and it earns and recognizes the premium over the next 12 months of coverage, with annual renewal premiums paid in advance thereafter and earned over the subsequent 12 months of coverage. Under the single premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a single payment covering a specified term exceeding twelve months.

Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan, which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. In general, the loans insured by it in Wall Street bulk transactions consisted of loans with reduced underwriting documentation; cash out! refinanc! es, which exceed the standard underwriting requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively GSEs); A- loans; subprime loans, and jumbo loans.

Other Products and Services

The Company has participated in risk sharing arrangements with the GSEs and captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements with subsidiaries of certain mortgage lenders, which reinsure a portion of the risk on loans originated or serviced by the lenders, which have MGIC primary insurance. It provides information regarding captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements to the New York Department of Insurance (known as the New York Department of Financial Services), the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD). It performs contract underwriting services for lenders, in which it judges whether the data relating to the borrower and the loan contained in the lender�� mortgage loan application file comply with the lender�� loan underwriting guidelines. It also provides an interface to submit data to the automated underwriting systems of the GSEs, which independently judge the data. These services are provided for loans, which require private mortgage insurance, as well as for loans that do not require private mortgage insurance. It provides mortgage services for the mortgage finance industry, such as portfolio retention and secondary marketing of mortgages.

The Company competes with Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Administration, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation, United Guaranty Residential Insurance Company, Radian Guaranty Inc., CMG Mortgage Insurance Company, and Essent Guaranty, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big Earnings Movers: Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 2.3% at $14.56 on decent results. MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) is up 14.9% at $8.34. PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is up 2.1% at $82.27 on better snack sales. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up 1.3% at $23.68 on modest results. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down 0.9% at $33.09 and probably deserves more love than it�� getting.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The Paulson story
  John Paulson made his name by making investments that gained in value when subprime mortgages crashed in the lead-up to the financial crisis. Even now, Paulson is keeping a close eye on housing, but lately, he's been playing the space from the other direction with bullish bets on mortgage insurance companies MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG  ) and Radian Group (NYSE: RDN  ) . His argument is basically that as long as the housing market has hit bottom, prospects for further losses are minimal, allowing mortgage insurers to make up for past losses.

• [By Zachary Tracer]

  Investors have poured cash into mortgage insurance this year as home prices rise, pushing up shares of MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG) and Radian Group Inc. (RDN) by more than 100 percent, and buying their notes in offerings. Essent Group Ltd. (ESNT), a mortgage guarantor funded amid the financial crisis by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and billionaire George Soros, filed last month for an IPO. The companies cover losses when homeowners default and foreclosures fail to recoup costs.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Hot on the heels of a $15 million Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with mortgage insurers Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) , MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG  ) , Radian Group (NYSE: RDN  ) , and United Guaranty, a subsidiary of AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , over kickbacks�paid to banks for mortgage insurance, comes some bad news in the same vein -- this time, for Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) .

Top 10 Insurance Companies To Invest In Right Now: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Prudential Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers various financial products and services in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The company operates through three divisions: The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management, The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance, and The International Insurance and Investments. The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division provides individual variable and fixed annuity products, as well as offers retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. This division also provides investment management and advisory services to the public and private marketplace. The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division offers individual variable life, term life, and universal life insurance products; and group life, long-term and short-term group disability, long-term care, and group corporate-, bank-and trus t-owned life insurance products to institutional clients. This division also sells accidental death and dismemberment, and other ancillary coverages, as well as provides plan administrative services; and offers preferred provider and indemnity dental coverage plans to clients. The International Insurance and Investments division provides international individual life insurance products in Japan, Korea, and other foreign countries; and offers proprietary and non-proprietary asset management, investment advice, and services to retail and institutional clients internationally. In addition, the company engages in real estate brokerage franchise business, which involves marketing its franchises to the real estate companies. Further, it provides institutional clients and government agencies with various services in connection with the relocation of their employees. Prudential Financial, Inc. was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The problem MetLife sees from additional regulation is that higher capital requirements could hurt its returns and therefore force customers to pay more for its products. Already, MetLife has made significant changes to eliminate unprofitable parts of its business, as both it and Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU  ) have stopped selling new individual long-term care insurance policies. If the company has to maintain greater capital reserves, MetLife will have less room to extend benefits like guaranteed income or withdrawal rights on its annuity and life-insurance products.

• [By Robert Wall]

  Insurance companies including Prudential Plc (PRU) and Aviva Plc (AV/) will invest 25 billion pounds as part of that plan, which covers projects from energy to communications. No decision has been taken on the timing of the Eurostar sale, which is being pursued after the doubling of a target for the sale of state corporate and financial assets to 20 billion pounds, a DfT official said.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU  ) is making a prudent move, as far as its shareholders are concerned, by maintaining its quarterly dividend. The company will distribute $0.40 per share of its common stock, to be paid on June 20 to shareholders of record as of May 29. This matches the firm's preceding -- and only other -- quarterly payout, which was dispensed in March.

• [By Alexis Xydias]

  Prudential (PRU) rose 1.6 percent to 1,263 pence. The London-based insurer said sales in the period to Sept. 30 this year advanced as gains in the U.S. and Asian markets offset a decline in the U.K.