Buying A House Sight Unseen: Good Deal Or Bad Mistake?

Hot Financial Stocks To Own For 2014

Buying a house usually goes something like this: figure out what you can afford, find a lender, hire a real estate agent, make a list of your must-haves, view properties, view more properties, make an offer, secure your mortgage, close on your new home. Although time consuming and at times frustrating, viewing properties first-hand is considered by most buyers to be a fundamental part of the home buying process, and many would never dream of purchasing a home without first inspecting the neighborhood, home and yard.

There are buyers, however, who are willing to purchase homes without seeing them first. For various reasons, these buyers and investors are willing to skip this part of the process, relying instead on multiple listing service (MLS) descriptions, Internet photos and virtual tours. With the number of distressed homes on the market, some real estate investors purchase homes sight unseen in an attempt to score great deals. Buyers might also snatch up homes while they have the chance in markets that have a limited supply of properties. Because of competition – from buyers to aspiring first-time investors and institutional firms that buy up entire blocks of property – there is an increase in the frequency of sight-unseen real estate purchases in certain markets across the nation. While you can get lucky and spin a nice profit when it's time to sell, there are significant risks that need to be acknowledged before engaging in this type of real estate investing.

Properties

Distressed properties are generally damaged or in poor condition, and are under foreclosure or advertised for sale by a bank or lender. Most banks try to unload these properties as quickly as possible, because they are expensive to hold: between property taxes, maintenance and legal fees, it can cost banks $1,000 per day to maintain each property in its inventory. Because a qui! ck sale makes financial sense for the bank, these properties are often offered at a significant discount, and it's not unusual for some homes to sell for pennies on the dollar. This creates an excellent opportunity for both buyers and investors to get properties at below market prices.

Markets with limited supply can compel buyers and investors to purchase houses sight unseen. Instead of finding great deals, however, here buyers can expect to pay market value or higher just to secure a property in a desirable area. In tight markets, such as Boston and New York City, it is common for sellers to receive multiple, competitive bids, which can significantly drive up the price. Many of these offers come from buyers who have never stepped foot on the property but who know they want to buy in that particular market.

Pre-construction properties also provide opportunities for buyers and investors. A pre-construction property is on the market even though it has not yet been built. This type of property can be beneficial to both sellers and buyers: sellers (most commonly the builders) get money they need to continue construction while proving the viability of the project to lenders and other potential purchasers, and buyers are able to purchase at a lower pre-construction rate with the ability to sell afterwards at market value (or above, depending on the project).

Competition

Investors looking for great deals or prime properties may be up against tough competition from flippers, wholesalers and institutional buyers. Flippers are real estate investors who aim, much like stock market investors, to buy low and sell high. Typically, flippers purchase properties at a discount, make repairs and renovations, and sell within a short time-period for a profit. A property's After Repair Value (ARV), an estimate of its fair market value after repairs and renovations, is used to determine if a property has profit potential. Flippers calculate potential profits by taking the ARV and subtracting t! he purcha! se price, repair and renovation costs, and carrying costs (expenses incurred for holding onto the property, including mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and utilities). Because flippers depend on these calculations to determine if they can make a profit, some will not purchase sight unseen. Others, however, focus on foreclosed properties that can be bought at a steep discount but that are sold at auction with no opportunity to view before signing the papers.

Similar to flippers, real estate wholesalers attempt to profit from properties in a short period of time. Unlike flippers, however, wholesalers don't purchase and rehab properties. Instead, they generally put properties under contract with contingencies (so they are able to terminate the contract if needed) and then assign or sell the properties to other investors for a profit. A wholesaler can be considered a "middleman" who rounds up properties for established investors. After putting the property under contract, a wholesaler markets the property to find a willing buyer and, in many cases, the wholesaler has a buyer lined up even before putting a property under contract. The spread between what the wholesaler pays for the property and the price he or she sells it for is the wholesaler's profit. Because wholesaling doesn't involve time-consuming repairs and renovations, many wholesalers look for smaller, more frequent profits than flippers.

Institutional investors purchase large inventories of properties, sometimes entire blocks of distressed properties. Institutional investors, backed by deep pockets, can purchase dozens or hundreds of homes, driving down inventories and consequently driving up prices in a market (and increasing the likelihood of selling at a profit). Institutional investors can have such massive buying power that they can make it quite difficult, if not impossible, for smaller investors and individual homebuyers to find good deals within a target market.

In addition to flippers, wholesale! rs and in! stitutional investors - a smaller group of buyers will purchase homes sight unseen out of necessity. This most often involves an individual who, for business or personal reasons, is relocating to a new area but does not have the time to shop for a new house. Typically, these buyers work with real estate agents who send them detailed descriptions, photos and videos (or virtual tours) of properties that meet the buyers' criteria. Because the agent essentially becomes the buyer's eyes and ears, it is vital that buyers specify their exact needs, not only in terms of what features the home should have, but also requirements for schools, commutes, public transportation and nearby amenities.

Risks

Homebuyers and investors may purchase homes sight unseen, but the practice is not without risks. One of the biggest risks is that there will be something wrong with the property that doesn't show up in photos. Furniture and camera angles can easily hide many defects, including water damage, infestation, mold and structural damage. While many properties are in disrepair because the owners did not have the time, expertise or money to properly maintain the home, some properties are intentionally damaged by previous owners. Often, this is a misguided attempt to "get back at the bank" by making it more difficult to sell the property. Other times, people rip out whatever they can – appliances, fixtures, copper wiring, even landscaping – for the money.

Regardless of motivation, destruction after foreclosure can involve relatively inexpensive fixes such as holes in the drywall, or extensive and costly repairs. In a particularly ugly incident from 2011, a home in an upscale gated-community in California needed about $250,000 in repairs after its previous owners lost the home to foreclosure. Chemicals and cement had been poured down the property's drains and water was left running for what may have been months – leading to extensive mold throughout the home and a floor that caved in under the weight of water-soaked items. In addition, the property's appliances, cabinets, sinks and toilets had been removed.

Another reason buying sight unseen can be risky is that photos and virtual tours don't allow you to see undesirable features of the home, such as nearby high-tension wires, traffic, neighborhood noise levels and unusual odors (from things such as mold or the 100 cats that used to live in the house). A walkthrough is the only way to be sure that you'll like the house, the yard, the neighbors and the area.

Flippers, wholesalers and institutional investors have the added risk of not being able to sell the property in a timely manner because of the need for exte! nsive repairs. For investors, the longer the house is held, the more money is lost in terms of carrying costs. The premise of real estate investing is often to buy and sell quickly, and when this doesn't happen – for whatever reason – the investor can end up taking a loss, especially when unexpected and expensive repairs are needed.

Ways to protect yourself

A contingency clause is one of the best protections when purchasing a home sight unseen. A contingency defines a condition or action that must be met in order for a real estate contract to become binding. One of the most important contingencies when purchasing a home without seeing it first is an inspection contingency, which gives the buyers the right to get the home inspected within a specified time period, such as 5-7 days. This protects the buyer who can cancel the contract or negotiate repairs based on the findings of a professional home inspector. An inspector examines the home's interior and exterior, and evaluates the condition of the electrical, finish, plumbing, structural and ventilation elements.

Depending on how the contingency is worded, the buyer can:

Approve the inspection report and move forward with the deal Disapprove the report and back out of the deal Request additional time for further inspections Request repairs or concessions Buyers can also ask for a walkthrough contingency. This type of contingency allows you to do a final (or first) walkthrough of the property before signing the papers at closing. Keep in mind, as with all contingencies, seller do not have to agree to any contingency, and they often expect a higher purchase price to compensate for the added risks to the seller (i.e. the risk that the buyer will back out of the contract).

Buyers and investors can both add a layer of protection to buying sight unseen with the aid of an experienced real estate professional. It is important that the agent be on your side of the deal (working on your behalf as a buyer's agent) and not working on behalf of the seller. The agent should have a fiduciary responsibility to you to make sure you get the best deal. Many buyers and investors vet several agents before finding one who understands their needs and who they feel they can trust.

The Bottom Line

Some people purchase homes sight unseen out of necessity, while others do it for the profit potential of a real estate investment. In any case, buying a home without first seeing it involves risks: the property could have defects or damage that may result in extensive and expensive repairs. Also, the home might be in an undesirable location (e.g. next to a busy road) or have other detrimental features. Whether you are buying sight unseen out of necessity or as an investment, you can limit your risks by working closely with a trusted and experienced real estate agent, and by including certain contingency clauses in the offer to purchase real estate.

First Take: GoDaddy pulls up its Super Bowl dra…

This Super Bowl, GoDaddy finally will be playing the prude.

No more GoDaddy Girls. No more uncomfortable TV censors. No more outraged parents asking themselves: What on earth is this stuff doing on the Super Bowl? And while Danica Patrick is returning to GoDaddy's Super Bowl advertising for the ga-zillionth time, no more racy role for her, either.

Sorry Miley Cyrus, but GoDaddy, the company that almost single-handedly turned Super Bowl advertising into soft porn, has finally come to the corporate realization that at some point, sex actually doesn't sell. Particularly when it's predictable, gratuitous and, well, boring.

GODADDY: Not bringing sexy back

Over the years, GoDaddy and its racy Super Bowl spots have devolved into little more than a sophomoric wink, wink. It's one thing to wink at a pickup bar. It's another thing to wink in front of the nation's biggest annual TV audience exceeding 100 million viewers.

Any time you're a company known for its babes with big bumps — and you're not Playboy, Penthouse or Hooters — you've got a problem. Oh sure, the GoDaddy girls put a virtually unknown GoDaddy on the map a decade ago and gave it instant name recognition, but at what price? Super Bowl after Super Bowl, GoDaddy dug itself deeper into the muck, concocting sometimes absurd ways to tease Super Bowl viewers into not only watching its ads, but then, jumping onto its website to click away and be teased some more.

At the beginning, it was nothing more than a shrewd branding gamble. And it worked — for a while. Just get enough people to notice you, and maybe remember your name, at all costs: even if one of those costs is your very reputation. Heck, you can worry about all the baggage that comes with it later on.

Well, the baggage piled up. It piled GoDaddy right into a creative corner. And now, after 10 Super Bowls of pushing sex, sex and more sex, Go Daddy wants to wiggle its way out.

It won't be easy. But it had to happen.

Of course, G! oDaddy can't be blamed for all of the Super Bowl's tasteless commercials. Tacky Super Bowl advertising has been around for years . But GoDaddy quickly, and easily, stole the spotlight.

10 Best Casino Stocks To Own Right Now

Never mind that two years ago — at one of its Super Bowl ad shoots at its headquarters in Phoenix — GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons told USA TODAY, with a straight face, "Any sex in the ads is manufactured in the minds of the viewer."

Right. (Wink, wink.)

Year after year, GoDaddy's ads ranked near — if not, at — the very bottom of USA TODAY'S Super Bowl Ad Meter consumer poll. Parson's loved it. He couldn't care less about the polls, he said. What he most cared about was driving people to his company's website.

But the one-trick pony has lost its step. The GoDaddy girls have become yesterday's news. So, GoDaddy must venture out into the real world of corporate branding this Super Bowl and find something else to stand for besides babes in tight T-shirts.

Imagine that. Ten Super Bowls and tens of millions of dollars after its first big splash, GoDaddy must move beyond the sizzle and finally pull together something for Super Bowl Sunday that every other serious player has before it: a game plan ... that's more than skin deep.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now

IBM (IBM) was among several blue chips to report after the bell today, though it did not fare as well as some of its peers.

Analysts had been expecting EPS of $3.96, a figure that IBM beat with a reading of $3.99. It was the predicted revenues of $24.77 billion where IBM fell short, noting $23.7 billion in that category. Shares slumped as much as 6% in after-hours trading, as a drop in revenue is a trend that has been worrying investors.

IBM’s grip on emerging markets has been slipping, with revenues declining this past quarter in key markets overseas. Now, the firm has shown declining revenues in each of the last six quarters, causing quite the sell-off of its stock.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Brown's assessment is supported by Shell and other oil majors' experiences with shale drilling outside of North America. For instance, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) retrenched from its operations in Poland last year after initial tests failed to produce commercial quantities of natural gas. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) echoed similar concerns, offering a bleak outlook for shale production potential in Europe. �

• [By Claudia Assis]

  Major oil and gas companies were lower, with shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) �down 0.9%. Chevron Corp. (CVX) �shares retreated 0.4%, while shares of ConocoPhillips (COP) �were off 0.1%.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

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, Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE: ARCO  ) , which operates McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) franchises in Latin America, has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top Undervalued Stocks To Watch For 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) Reached the 52-Week Low of $85.37

  The prices of Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) shares have declined to close to the 52-week low of $85.37, which is 15.1% off the 52-week high of $96.73. Philip Morris International Inc. is owned by 31 Gurus we are tracking. Among them, 14 have added to their positions during the past quarter. Ten reduced their positions.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  Philip Morris provides cigarette and tobacco products through established brands to an increasing consumer base around the world. The stock has done very well over the last few years and is now trading at all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been increasing and decreasing, in recent quarters, which has confused investors a bit. Relative to its strong peers and sector, Philip Morris has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Philip Morris to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Global tobacco giant�Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend of $0.85 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after raising the payout 10% from $0.77 per share.

• [By Diane Alter]

  Dividend Stocks That Increased Payout in September

  Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) announced a 14.8%, or $0.12 per share, increase to its semiannual dividend. The management consulting firm will now pay a semiannual dividend of $0.93. Shares yield 2.53%. Agruim Inc. (NYSE: AGU) boosted its dividend by $1.00 per share to a total dividend of $3.00 on an annualized basis. Shares of the global retailer of agricultural products now sprout a 3.54% yield. Air Industries Group Inc. (NYSE: AIRI) doubled its dividend to $0.125 per share. The maker of airplane and helicopter parts now floats a lofty yield of 6.6%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) upped its dividend 4.6% to $0.68 per quarter for a yield of 4.21%. Banner Corp. (Nasdaq: BANR) boosted its quarterly dividend 25% to $0.15 per share. The parent company of Banner and Islander Bank serves the Pacific Northwest region. Brady Corp. (NYSE: BRC) lifted its quarterly dividend 2.6% to $0.78 per share. It was the 28th straight dividend increase from the identification solutions company. Shares yield 2.57%. Campbell Soup Co. (NSE: CPB) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share, up from $0.29. The company last raised its dividend in November 2010. Shares yield a hearty 3.06%. CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE: CLC) raised its quarterly dividend 26% to $0.17 per share. It's the largest percentage increase from the Tennessee-based diversified marketer of mobile filtration and packaging products in the last 20 years, and it continues the company's consecutive streak of increasing dividends for the last 30 years. Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) boosted its quarterly dividend 2.6% to $0.10 per share. Frisch's Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: FRS) increased its quarterly dividend 12.5% to $0.18. Shares yield 3.10% The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT), in a move that suggests good times are ahead, reinstated its dividend at $0.05 per share. Good

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Colgate-Palmolive
  Toothpaste and toothbrushes may not be exciting business, but it's consistent and consumers tend to develop habits they rarely break. Once they find a toothpaste brand they like, it could be years before they try another one. That leads to another incredibly consistent business for Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , one that has paid back investors with a dividend since 1895. �

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investors have always been interested in stocks that pay dividends, but lately, low interest rates on bonds and other fixed-income investments have made solid dividend payers even more valuable. Among the most promising dividend stocks in the market is Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , and one big reason is that it is one of the few exclusive companies to make the list of Dividend Aristocrats. In order to become a member of this elite group, a company must have raised its dividend payouts to shareholders every single year for at least a quarter-century. Only a few dozen stocks manage to make the cut, and those that do tend to stay there for a long time.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Lately, Johnson & Johnson has presented two different faces to investors. On one hand, the company has faced the challenge of dealing with a weak consumer-products business, as multiple recalls and close regulatory oversight of its production facilities have exacerbated J&J's problems. With its more focused consumer-goods business, Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has worked harder at taking advantage of international growth opportunities than many of its rivals, and Colgate's strong overseas sales, in comparison to J&J's international weakness, show the effectiveness of that strategy. In particular, Asia has been a focus point for Colgate, with revenue from the region having risen 9% year over year compared with less than 3% growth overall. Moreover, Latin America represents Colgate's biggest region for sales, with more than half again the revenue its U.S. segment produces.

Hot Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  This week at the WSJ All Things Digital conference in California, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) CEO Tim Cook said that Apple has "several more game changers." Cook also said that he didn't think Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) glasses would appeal to the mainstream. What should investors make of the Apple CEO's latest musings? Is Cook smart to raise expectations? In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts tackle those questions.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  June 10
  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) is in an unusual position as it heads into next week's WWDC 2013 powwow for developers.

  The consumer tech giant was on top of the world during last year's five-day showcase for developers, but now -- with the stock off by more than 20% since last year's fete -- it's time for answers.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  While Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) has been languishing with a struggling stock and investors gripped with growing concerns, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA  ) continues to perform. But is there a synergy between the two? Cole Wilcox of Longboard Asset Management�seems to think so, suggesting that if Steve Jobs were still alive, he would have already made the acquisition. It seems unlikely that Apple will dive into such a new market, or that Tesla would necessarily welcome the offer, but the idea is not completely without merit.

• [By Steve Heller]

  If only Microsoft would have just stuck with Intel's x86 architecture the whole time ...
  
  Introduce a $200 Windows 8 tablet
  Not only would a $200 Windows 8-powered tablet do wonders for Microsoft's mobile prospects, but it would also probably give Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) a run for their money in the tablet space. Both Apple's and Google's tablet experience lack the level of productivity that that would be possible on a Windows 8 tablet powered by Intel's upcoming Bay Trail processor. With a few added peripherals, such a device could become an impromptu, yet highly capable, PC in a pinch.

4 Capital Markets Stocks to Sell Now

Popular Posts: 9 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now17 Oil and Gas Stocks to Sell Now10 Worst “Strong Sell” Stocks This Week — EGO WLT RBY and more Recent Posts: 5 Best Sectors to Watch This Week 4 Capital Markets Stocks to Sell Now 3 Medical Devices Stocks to Sell Now View All Posts

This week, the overall grades of four capital markets stocks are lower, according to the Portfolio Grader database. Each of these rates a “D” (“sell”) or “F” overall (“strong sell”).

This week, Investment Technology Group, Inc. () falls to a D (“sell”), worse than last week’s grade of C (“hold”). Investment Technology Group is an agency brokerage and financial technology firm that partners with asset managers globally to provide innovative solutions spanning the investment continuum. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategories of Earnings Growth, Cash Flow, and Sales Growth, ITG also gets an F. The stock currently has a trailing PE Ratio of 49.90. .

This is a rough week for Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC Class A (). The company’s rating falls to D from the previous week’s C. Och-Ziff Capital Management Group provides a variety of alternative asset management services for fund investors through locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The stock also rates an F in Cash Flow. .

Top 10 Financial Stocks To Own Right Now

E*TRADE Financial Corporation () earns a D this week, falling from last week’s grade of C. E*TRADE is a financial services company that provides online brokerage and related products and services to individual retail investors. The stock gets F’s in Earnings Growth and Earnings Momentum. .

BGC Partners, Inc. Class A’s () rating falls this week to an F (“strong sell”), down from last week’s D (“sell”). BGC Partners is a global inter-dealer broker that specializes in the brokering of OTC financial instruments and related derivative products. The stock gets F’s in Earnings Surprise, Cash Flow, and Margin Growth. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Downgrades: 6 things you need to know

The United States lost its AAA rating in 2011 and is at risk of getting dinged again.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The threat of a potential default is pushing the United States toward yet another downgrade by a major credit rating agency.

Yes, we've seen this movie before.

In 2011, the last time Washington waited until the last minute to raise the debt ceiling, Standard & Poor's removed the United States' sterling AAA credit rating. This time around it's Fitch that has put the country on notice.

Stock investors did not react well to the last downgrade. When markets opened, all three major U.S. stock indexes lost between 5% and 7% -- the worst single day since the 2008 financial crisis.

Another downgrade in the days to come would surely grab headlines, but what are the implications?

Here's a primer on the rating agencies and their relationship to the chaotic events on Capitol Hill.

What do rating agencies do? The big three rating agencies -- Fitch, Standard & Poor's and Moody's -- rate debt based on the likelihood that it will be repaid. They rate everything from obscure derivatives to government bonds, with the safest bets labeled AAA. Some firms use their ratings as guidelines when making investment decisions.

What are the U.S. ratings? U.S. debt had been rated AAA by all three agencies for as long anyone can remember. Moody's, for example, first assigned the United States a AAA rating in 1917.

Right now, Fitch and Moody's have a AAA rating on U.S. debt. The country's S&P rating is AA+ -- still strong, but not the highest. It's on par with that of France, but below countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

Why is another downgrade possible? Fitch said Tuesday that it had put the United States on review for a possible downgrade, saying the "political brinkmanship" on display in Washington increases the risk of the U.S. defaulting on its debts.

The country is now on "rating watch negative," meaning that there is increased possibility of a downgrade in the near future.

Fitch took this action even while saying it expects a deal will be struck to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default.

But if they're wrong, look out. All three agencies would surely iss! ue new downgrades if a debt payment is missed.

What do they mean by "default?" In this case, what technically constitutes default is a little murky.

The rating agencies look specifically at debt issued by the Treasury Department -- they don't care about other government obligations, like Social Security and Medicare payments.

Related story: 6 ways a default could hurt the world

Moody's has said that even if lawmakers fail to raise the debt ceiling by Thursday's deadline, the United States would likely be able to preserve its credit rating -- not to mention the stability of world financial markets -- by prioritizing interest payments on its debt over other obligations.

But others, including the Treasury Department itself, say this solution is unworkable.

What happens if we get downgraded again? Probably not too much. Back in 2011, some analysts feared the S&P downgrade could cause U.S. borrowing costs to soar. That didn't happen.

True, world markets lurched in the days following the downgrade, but rather than making borrowing more difficult, Treasury yields actually fell. More than two years later, the move appears to have had little lasting effect.

Why should anyone care what the rating agencies say? Analysts say the rating agencies no longer have they influence they once did on investors. Their critics say they lost credibility for their role in the housing crash, having stoking the bubble by blessing securities that contained bad-risk mortgages.

The rating agencies also face a particularly tough task when trying to quantify political risk -- a factor that is paramount when gauging the probability of a U.S. default.

The fiscal and political situation in Washington is well known, and the agencies are not basing their rating on any information that is not already available.

This suggests that investors may be better served by conducting their own analysis, and not relying on the credit rating agencies f! or insigh! t.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now

Let's play the word association game!

I will name the three most used fossil fuels and you tell me the first country that comes to mind

Oil.�

Natural Gas.

Coal.�

For me, the three countries that came to mind were (1) Saudi Arabia, (2) Russia, and (3) China. Whenever we talk about these types of fuel, these three always seem to be the first to come to mind because they are the largest producers. Overall, though, which of these countries has the most energy?�

Obviously, not all energy sources were created equal, so let's even the playing field the best way possible by evaluating the country on its total thermal generation capacity, or BTU equivalency. The data for this was the most recent value given from BP's World Statistical Review of World Energy 2012 and is measured in quadrillion BTU. For a little perspective, one quadrillion BTU is about 173 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel American oil demand for 9.5 days.

5. Venezuela: 1,893.89 quadrillion BTU
While many may think that Saudi Arabia contains the largest oil reserves in the world, it's not true. Ever since the technology was available to extract heavy oil, Venezuela's proven reserves -- a measure of a resource that is both technically and economically recoverable -- have skyrocketed. Today, it is estimated that the country has 296 billion barrels of oil, 74% of which is Orinoco belt-heavy.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: DayStar Technologies Inc.(DSTI)

DayStar Technologies, Inc., a development stage company, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of solar photovoltaic products to the grid-tied and ground-based photovoltaic markets. The company offers solar photovoltaic modules to convert sunlight into electricity. It provides monolithically integrated copper indium gallium selenide modules on glass laminate substrates for centralized utility power plants, commercial building roof tops, and smaller residential roof tops. DayStar Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTPY.PK)

HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA, formerly BN 16 Participacoes Ltda, is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the oil and gas industry. The Company is primarily involved in the exploration and production (E&P) of oil and natural gas in Brazil and Namibia. Through its subsidiaries, it is active in the geophysical and geological research, exploration, development, production, import, export and sale of oil and natural gas, as well as in the provision of air logistics services in transporting people and equipment related to oil and gas activities in the exploratory campaign in the Solimoes Basin. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had seven subsidiaries, including Integrated Petroleum Expertise Company Servicos em Petroleo Ltda (IPEX), HRT O&G Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo Ltda, HRT Netherlands BV, HRT America Inc, HRT Africa, HRT Canada Inc and Air Amazonia Servicos Aereos Ltda.

Top Heal Care Companies To Buy Right Now: First Solar Inc.(FSLR)

First Solar, Inc. manufactures and sells solar modules using a thin-film semiconductor technology. It also designs, constructs, and sells photovoltaic solar power systems. The company?s solar modules employ a thin layer of semiconductor material to convert sunlight into electricity. Its integrated solar power systems activities include the project development; engineering, procurement, and construction services; operating and maintenance services; and project finance. The company sells solar modules to project developers, system integrators, and operators of renewable energy projects; and solar power systems to investor owned utilities, independent power developers and producers, and commercial and industrial companies, as well as other system owners. It operates in the United States, Germany, France, Canada, and internationally. The company was formerly known as First Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to First Solar, Inc. in 2006. First Solar was founded in 1999 a nd is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  First Solar (FSLR) Inc. tumbled 13 percent to $40.47 for the biggest loss in the S&P 500. The largest U.S. solar-panel manufacturer said yesterday profit fell short of analysts��estimates as revenue from its current project pipeline slumped. Today�� share-price drop was the steepest in five months.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Archer Ltd (ARCHER)

Archer Ltd, formerly Seawell Limited is a Bermuda-based global oilfield service company. The Company provides drilling services, such as platform drilling, land drilling, modular rings, directional drilling, drill bits, tubular services, drilling and completion fluids, cementing tools, plugs and packers, underbalanced services, rentals and engineering. It specialises also in well services, such as wireline intervention, specialist intervention, frac valves, wireline logging, integrity diagnostics, imaging, production monitoring, coiled tubing, completion services and fishing. As of January 3, 2012, the Company's organizational structure centered on four geographic and strategic areas: North America (NAM), North Sea (NRS), Latin America (LAM) and Emerging Markets & Technologies (EMT). As of December 31, 2010, it was active through a number of subsidiaries, namely Seawell, Allis-Chalmers Energy, Gray Wireline, Rig Inspection Services and TecWel, among others.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP)

Helmerich & Payne, Inc., incorporated on February 29, 1944, is engaged in contract drilling of oil and gases wells for others and this business. The Company's contract drilling business is composed of three reportable business segments: U.S. Land, Offshore and International Land. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company's U.S. Land operations drilled in Oklahoma, California, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Utah, Arkansas, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. Offshore operations were conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, and offshore of California, Trinidad and Equatorial Guinea. During fiscal 2012, the Company's International Land segment operated in six international locations: Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Tunisia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. The Company is also engaged in the ownership, development and operation of commercial real estate and the research and development of rotary steerable technology. Each of the businesses operates independently of the others through wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company's real estate investments located exclusively within Tulsa, Oklahoma, include a shopping center containing approximately 441,000 leasable square feet, multi-tenant industrial warehouse properties containing approximately one million leasable square feet and approximately 210 acres of undeveloped real estate. The Company's subsidiary, TerraVici Drilling Solutions, Inc. (TerraVici), is developing rotary steerable technology. As of September 30, 2012, it had 176 rigs under fixed-term contracts. During fiscal 2012, the Company leased a 150,000 square foot industrial facility near Tulsa, Oklahoma for the purpose of overhauling/repairing rig equipment and associated component parts.

U.S. Land Drilling

As of September 30, 2012, the Company had 282 of its land rigs available for work in the United States. During fiscal 2012, the Company's U.S. Land operations contributed approximately 85% of the Compan! y's consolidated operating revenues. During fiscal 2012, rig utilization was approximately 89%. During fiscal 2012, the Company's fleet of FlexRigs had an average utilization of approximately 97%, while the Company's conventional and mobile rigs had an average utilization of approximately 11%. As of September 31, 2012, 231 out of an available 282 land rigs were working.

Off Shore Drilling

During fiscal 2012, the Company's Offshore operations contributed approximately 6% of the Company's consolidated operating revenues. During fiscal 2012, rig utilization was approximately 79%. During fiscal 2012, the Company had eight of its nine offshore platform rigs under contract and continued to work under management contracts for four customer-owned rigs. During fiscal 2012, revenues from drilling services performed for the Company's offshore drilling customer totaled approximately 56% of offshore revenues.

International Land Drilling

During fiscal 2012, the Company's International Land operations contributed approximately 9% of the Company's consolidated operating revenues. During fiscal 2012, rig utilization was 77%. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had nine rigs in Argentina. During fiscal 2012, the Company's utilization rate was approximately 52%. During fiscal 2012, revenues generated by Argentine drilling operations contributed approximately 2% of the Company's consolidated operating revenues. The Argentine drilling contracts are with international or national oil companies. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had seven rigs in Colombia. During fiscal 2012, the Company's utilization rate was approximately 79%. During fiscal 2012, revenues generated by Colombian drilling operations contributed approximately 3% of the Company's consolidated operating revenues. During fiscal 2012, revenues from drilling services performed for the Company's customer in Colombia totaled approximately 1% of consolidated operating revenues and approximately 16% of inter! national ! operating revenues. The Colombian drilling contracts are with international or national oil companies. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had five rigs in Ecuador. During fiscal 2012, the utilization rate in Ecuador was 97%. During fiscal 2012, revenues generated by Ecuadorian drilling operations contributed approximately 2% of consolidated operating revenues. As of September 30, 2012, the Company had two rigs in Tunisia, four rigs in Bahrain and two rigs in United Arab Emirates.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) was reinstated as Buy with a $82 price target at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

  HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight by Morgan Stanley.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) is the holding company for Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Company, an international drilling contractor.
  Yield: 3.0% | Years of Dividend Growth: 41

• [By Richard Moroney, Editor, Dow Theory Forecasts]

  Helmerich & Payne (HP) has paid a dividend without interruption since 1959 and raised the distribution in 40 straight years.

  Following a pair of hikes in less than 12 months, Helmerich's quarterly dividend stands at $0.50 per share, compared to $0.07 per share a year ago.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Helmerich & Payne (NYSE: HP  ) is expected to report Q3 earnings on July 26. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Helmerich & Payne's revenues will expand 3.1% and EPS will compress -2.2%.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Vecta Energy Corp (VER)

Vecta Energy Corporation is engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Company has non-operated interests in three areas: the foothills of Alberta, northeast BC and the Brewster area in central Alberta. The Company has interest in the Brewster area of west central Alberta (in townships 42, 43 and 44; range 12-13, W5). These lands are prospective in the Belly River formation at depths of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, as well as deeper zones including Nordegg, Rock Creek, Ellerslie, Ostracod, Falher and Notikewin. A total of six wells have been drilled on Company acreage. The 102/01-26-043-13 W5 well is producing 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids. The 15-11-043-13 W5 well is producing of 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. focuses on natural gas transportation, gathering, treating and processing, storage, natural gas liquid fractionation, and oil transportation activities in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Gas Pipeline, and Midstream Gas and Liquids. The Gas Pipeline segment owns and operates approximately 13,900 miles of pipelines with annual throughput of approximately 2,700 trillion British thermal units of natural gas and delivery capacity of approximately 13 million dekatherms of gas. This segment also owns interests in joint venture interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline systems. The Midstream Gas and Liquids segment includes natural gas gathering, processing, and treating facilities; and crude oil gathering and transportation facilities that serve the producing basins in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Williams Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Williams Partners L.P . was founded in 2005 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  When it comes to natural gas, Williams Partners (WPZ) is simply one of the biggest players. The firm is one of the leading midstream players in the prolific Marcellus shale. That dominance has WPZ�� network of pipelines carrying roughly 14% of all the natural gas consumed in the U.S.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  You'd be forgiven for thinking that natural gas pipeline owner Williams Partners (WPZ) is a commodity-driven stock. It certainly seems like one at first glance. But while this master limited partnership owns one of the largest midstream natural gas operations in the country, it's not a commodity-driven play. It's an income play.

  Williams owns one of the largest pipeline networks in the country, transporting natgas in huge volumes. It also operates a huge midstream operation that gathers and processes natgas with a focus on the lucrative Marcellus shale. But more than three-quarters of WPZ's cash comes from fee-based sources that aren't subject to swings in commodity prices (the firm makes most of its money by charging customers to transport their gas). That, and the tax advantages of a MLP, mean that this stock was basically purpose-built for building income. And a huge 7.05% dividend yield proves it.

  After spending several years in acquisition mode, Williams owns a mature portfolio of assets that should continue to pay off in the years to come. Hedge funds made a big bet on WPZ, buying up 6.22 million shares in the most recent quarter. Collectively, that entitles funds to a $62 million dividend payout in the year ahead.

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  Williams Partners (WPZ), 38 shares at $52.73.

  Finally, I had to make some adjustments to my portfolio due to an unexpected tax issue. Through the comments section in response to an article I wrote about some MLPs that passed my criteria, I learned that there are extra tax implications to holding MLPs in a tax deferred retirement portfolio. With this new knowledge I decided to change some of my holdings:

• [By Dividend]

  Here are my most promising stocks from the list:
  
  Williams Partners (WPZ) has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion. The company employs 3,658 people, generates revenue of $7.320 billion and has a net income of $1.232 billion. Williams Partners�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $2.273 billion. The EBITDA margin is 31.05 percent (the operating margin is 20.72 percent and the net profit margin 16.83 percent).

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Gastar Exploration Ltd (GST)

Gastar Exploration Ltd (Gastar) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil in the United States. The Company�� principal business activities include the identification, acquisition, and subsequent exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties with an emphasis on unconventional reserves, such as shale resource plays. As of December 31, 2011, it is pursuing the development of liquids-rich natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachia area of West Virginia and, to a lesser extent, central and southwestern Pennsylvania. The Company also holds prospective acreage in the deep Bossier play in the Hilltop area of East Texas and conduct limited coal bed methane (CBM) development activities within the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. The Company is a holding company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Josh Young]

  The parallel to Goodrich in the transaction is Gastar Exploration (GST), which has approximately 100,000 net acres in the Hunton (excluding additional exposure from the WEHLU deal). Gastar, similar to Goodrich prior to the Sanchez TMS deal, seems to trade at a discount to a $2,000 per acre implied value for its unconventional oil acreage. In fact, Gastar's CEO recently said he thought the current liquidation value of Gastar's Marcellus assets would be $4-7 per share, net of debt, versus the current $4.25 share price.

• [By Heather Ingrassia]

  Gastar Agreement: On April 1st it was announced that Gastar Exploration, Ltd. (GST) had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire proven reserves and undeveloped leasehold interests in Kingfisher and Canadian counties of Oklahoma from Chesapeake Energy Corporation, repurchase Chesapeake's common shares of the Company and settle all litigation for $1 million. Although smaller in scope than most of Chesapeake's previous asset-shedding transactions, the agreement with Gastar accomplishes two things. First, is the fact the settlement resolves the legal wrangling both companies were engaged in and as a result Chesapeake walks away with $85 million of the potential $130 million they were suing for. Second, is the fact Chesapeake wipes it hands of acreage, that although producing, may not be producing as much as Chesapeake had once hoped, and therefore was worth much more to Gastar in the long run.

Krawcheck Warns Investors in Big Banks to Be Wary

Sallie Krawcheck, who used to run wealth management operations for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) and Citigroup Smith Barney (C), says bank earnings are being hit — and hit hard — by government fines.

With the announcement that JPMorgan (JPM) had reached a $13 billion settlement over mortgage-backed securities early on Tuesday, Krawcheck was asked by Bloomberg TV when regulators might feel that “enough is enough.”

“Probably not yet, is the answer,” she said.

In her mind, the more important issue is what other banks will pay going forward for similar settlements, if regulators have “started to look at this as a source of revenue, a source of fines.”

It’s essentially become “a tax on excess earnings,” Krawcheck explained. “It really does raise the question of the [bank’s] underlying earnings power.”

For investors, she advises them to “think pretty hard about what these returns are” and what the major bank’s return on equity is. “You have some CEOs talking about 18, 19 and 20 % ROEs. That is a hard thing to think about … particularly coming out of this year.”

How can banks improve earnings in the face of such fines?

“One [way] is to innovate and grow…, which Wall Street has not been great at. What they called innovation was, let’s face it, increased risk wrapped in complexity,” Krawcheck said. “It’s not a great history of innovating in a way that helps consumers.”

Alternatively, the banks can cut costs, or “ride a good market,” she notes.

Dimon in the Rough

Krawcheck, who owns 85 Broads, a group for women in the financial services industry, laughed loud and hard when asked about what other bankers have learned from Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan.

“There are some macro lessons to be learned about really trying hard next time to not get into the group thing, for seeing a bubble as a bubble,” she said.

She also urged banks to get “everything on paper” when it comes to discussing deals with regulators.

Wealth Management

Krawcheck stressed that what some observers once thought of as a “stagnant commission business has shifted to a true wealth-management business,” highlighting improving margins in the advisor side of the industry.

“And with that, the profitability shifts over time,” she added.

Since clients will compensate advisors for the service they provide. “It’s a great business,” Krawcheck noted.

---

Check out Krawcheck, Blayney: Top Financial Mistakes Women Keep Making on ThinkAdvisor.

 

Difference Between Short Selling And Put Options

Short selling and put options are essentially bearish strategies used to speculate on a potential decline in a security or index, or to hedge downside risk in a portfolio or specific stock.

Short selling involves the sale of a security that is not owned by the seller, but has been borrowed and then sold in the market. The seller now has a short position in the security (as opposed to a long position, in which the investor owns the security). If the stock declines as expected, the short seller would buy it back at a lower price in the market and pocket the difference, which is the profit on the short sale.

Put options offer an alternative route of taking a bearish position on a security or index. A put option purchase confers on the buyer the right to sell the underlying stock at the put strike price, on or before the put's expiration. If the stock declines below the put strike price, the put will appreciate in price; conversely, if the stock stays above the strike price, the put will expire worthless.

While there are some similarities between the two, short sales and puts have differing risk-reward profiles that may not make them suitable for novice investors. An understanding of their risks and benefits is essential to learning about the scenarios in which they can be used to maximum effect.

Similarities and Differences

Short sales and puts can be used either for speculation or for hedging long exposure. Short selling is an indirect way of hedging; for example, if you have a concentrated long position in large-cap technology stocks, you could short the Nasdaq-100 ETF as a way of hedging your technology exposure. Puts, however, can be used to directly hedge risk. Continuing with the above example, if you were concerned about a possible decline in the technology sector, you could buy puts on the technology stocks in your portfolio. Short selling is far riskier than buying puts. With short sales, the reward is potentially limited (since the most that the stock can decline to is zero), while the risk is theoretically unlimited. On the other hand, if you buy puts, the most that you can lose is the premium that you have paid for them, while the potential profit is high. Short selling is also more expensive than buying puts because of the margin requirements. A put buyer does not have to fund a margin account (although a put writer has to supply margin), which means that one can initiate a put position even with a limited amount of capital. However, since time is not on the side of the put buyer, the risk here is that the investor may lose all the capital invested in buying puts if the trade does not work out. Not Always Bearish

As noted earlier, short sales and puts are essentially bearish strategies. But just as the negative of a negative is a positive, short sales and puts can be used for bullish exposure.

For example, if you are bullish on the S&P 500, instead of buying units of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (or "Spiders," as they are better known), you could theoretically initiate a short sale on an ETF with a bearish bias on the index, such as the ProShares Short S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SH). This ETF seeks daily investment results that correspond to the inverse of the S&P 500's daily performance; so if the index gains 1% in a day, the ETF will decline 1%. But if you have a short position on the bearish ETF, if the S&P 500 gains 1%, your short position should gain 1% as well. Of course, specific risks are attached to short selling that would make a short position on a bearish ETF a less-than-optimal way to gain long exposure.

Likewise, while puts are normally associated with price declines, you could establish a short position in a put (known as "writing" a put) if you are neutral to bullish on a stock. The most common reasons to write a put are to earn premium income, and to acquire the stock at an effective price that is lower than the current market price. For example, assume a stock is trading at $35, but you are interested in acquiring it for a buck or two lower. One way to do so is to write puts on the stock that expire in say two months. Let's assume that you write puts with a strike price of $35 and receive $1.50 per share in premium for writing the puts. If the stock does not decline below $35 by the time the puts expire, the put option will expire worthless and the $1.50 premium represents your profit. But if the stock does decline below $35, it would be "assigned" to you, which means that you are obligated to buy it at $35, regardless of whether the stock subsequently trades at $30 or $40. Your effective price for the stock is thus $33.50 ($35 - $1.50); for the sake of simplicity, we have ignored trading commissions in this example.

An Example – Short Sale vs. Puts on Tesla Motors

To illustrate the relative advantages and drawbacks of using short sale versus puts, let's use Tesla Motors (Nasdaq:TSLA) as an example. Tesla manufactures electric cars and was the best-performing stock for the year on the Russell-1000 index, as of Sept. 19, 2013. As of that date, Tesla had surged 425% in 2013, compared with a gain of 21.6% for the Russell-1000. While the stock had already doubled in the first five months of 2013 on growing enthusiasm for its Model S sedan, its parabolic move higher began on May 9, 2013, after the company reported its first-ever profit.

Tesla has plenty of supporters who believe the company could achieve its objective of becoming the world's most profitable maker of battery-powered automobiles. But it also has no shortage of detractors who question whether the company's market capitalization of over $20 billion (as of Sept. 19, 2013) is justified.

The degree of skepticism that accompanies a stock's rise can be easily gauged by its short interest. Short interest can be calculated either based on the number of shares sold short as a percentage of the company's total outstanding shares, or shares sold short as a percentage of share "float" (which refers to shares outstanding less share blocks held by insiders and large investors). For Tesla, short interest as of Aug. 30, 2013, amounted to 21.6 million shares. This amounted to 27.5% of Tesla's share float of 78.3 million shares, or 17.8% of Tesla's 121.4 million total shares outstanding.

Note that short interest in Tesla as of April 15, 2013, was 30.7 million shares. The 30% decline in short interest by Aug. 30 may have been partly responsible for the stock's huge run-up over this period. When a stock that has been heavily shorted begins to surge, short sellers scramble to close their short positions, adding to the stock's upward momentum.

Tesla's surge in the first nine months of 2013 was also accompanied by a huge jump in daily trading volumes, which rose from an average of 0.9 million at the beginning of the year to 11.9 million as of Aug. 30, 2013, a 13-fold increase. This increase in trading volumes has resulted in the short interest ratio (SIR) declining from 30.6 at the beginning of 2013 to 1.81 by Aug. 30. SIR is the ratio of short interest to average daily trading volume, and indicates the number of trading days it would take to cover all short positions. The higher the SIR, the more risk there is of a short squeeze, in which short sellers are forced to cover their positions at increasingly higher prices; the lower the SIR, the less risk of a short squeeze.

How Do the Two Alternatives Stack Up?

Given (a) the high short interest in Tesla, (b) its relatively low SIR, (c) remarks by Tesla's CEO Elon Musk in an August 2013 interview that the company's valuation was rich, and (d) analysts' average target price of $152.90 as of Sept. 19, 2013 (which was 14% lower than Tesla's record closing price of $177.92 on that day), would a trader be justified in taking a bearish position on the stock?

Let's assume for the sake of argument that the trader is bearish on Tesla and expects it to decline by March 2014. Here's how the short selling versus put buying alternatives stack up:

Short sale on TSLA: Assume 100 shares sold short at $177.92 Margin required to be deposited (50% of total sale amount) = $8,896

Maximum theoretical profit (assuming TSLA falls to $0) = $177.92 x 100 = $17,792

Maximum theoretical loss = Unlimited

Scenario 1: Stock declines to $100 by March 2014 – Potential profit on short position = (177.92 – 100) x 100 = $7,792

Scenario 2: Stock is unchanged at $177.92 by March 2014 – Profit / Loss = $0

Scenario 3: Stock rises to $225 by March 2014 – Potential loss on short position = (177.92 – 225) x 100 = - $4,708

Buy Put Options on TSLA: Buy one put contract (representing 100 shares) with strike at $175 expiring in March 2014. This $175 March 2014 put was trading at $28.70 / $29 as of Sept. 19, 2013. Margin required to be deposited = Nil

Cost of put contract = $29 x 100 = $2,900

Maximum theoretical profit (assuming TSLA falls to $0) = ($175 x 100) - $2,900 (cost of put contract) = $14,600

Maximum possible loss = Cost of put contract = -$2,900

Scenario 1: Stock declines to $100 by March 2014 – Potential profit on put position = (175 – 100) x 100 less the $2,900 cost of the put contract = $7,500 – $2,900 = $4,600

Scenario 2: Stock is unchanged at $177.92 by March 2014 – Profit / Loss = Cost of the put contract = -$2,900

Scenario 3: Stock rises to $225 by March 2014 – Potential loss on short position = Cost of put contract = -$2,900

As can be seen, with the short sale, the maximum possible profit of $17,792 would occur if the stock plummeted to zero. On the other hand, the maximum loss is potentially infinite (loss of $12,208 at a stock price of $300, $22,208 at $400, $32,208 at $500 and so on).

With the put option, the maximum possible profit is $14,600, while the maximum loss is restricted to the price paid for the puts, or $2,900.

Note that the above example does not consider the cost of borrowing the stock to short it, as well as the interest payable on the margin account, both of which can be significant expenses. With the put option, there is an up-front cost to purchase the puts, but no other ongoing expenses.

One final point – the put options have a finite time to expiry, or March 2014 in this case. The short sale can be held open as long as possible, provided the trader can put up more margin if the stock appreciates, and assuming that the short position is not subject to "buy-in" because of the large short interest.

Applications – Who Should Use Them and When?

Because of its many risks, short selling should only be used by sophisticated traders familiar with the risks of shorting and the regulations involved. Put buying is much better suited for the average investor than short selling because of the limited risk. For an experienced investor or trader, choosing between a short sale and puts to implement a bearish strategy depends on a number of factors – investment knowledge, risk tolerance, cash availability, speculation vs. hedging, etc. Despite its risks, short selling is an appropriate strategy during broad bear markets, since stocks decline faster than they go up. Short selling carries less risk when the security being shorted is an index or ETF, since the risk of runaway gains in them is much lower than for an individual stock. Puts are particularly well suited for hedging the risk of declines in a portfolio or stock, since the worst that can happen is that the put premium is lost because the anticipated decline did not materialize. But even here, the rise in the stock or portfolio may offset part or all of the put premium paid. Implied volatility is a very important consideration when buying options. Buying puts on extremely volatile stocks may require paying exorbitant premiums, so make sure the cost of buying such protection is justified by the risk to the portfolio or long position. Never forget that a long position in an option – whether a put or a call – represents a wasting asset because of time-decay. Conclusion

Short selling and using puts are separate and distinct ways to implement bearish strategies. Both have advantages and drawbacks, and can be effectively used for hedging or speculation in various scenarios.

Western Digital CFO Resigns (WDC)

Western Digital (WDC) announced on Wednesday that its chief financial officer, Wolfgange Nickl, is resigning.

Nickl’s resignation from WDC will be effective November 17, 2013, when he becomes the new CFO at ASML Holding N.V. in the Netherlands. Nickl has served as CFO at Western Digital since August of 2010; prior to that, he served in several other positions within WDC’s finance and operations divisions. Western Digital has stated that it is in the process of searching for a new CFO.

Hot Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now

Western Digital shares traded 1.15% higher during Wednesday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock is up 48.90%.

Microsoft Surface: A Study in Erroneous Product Definition

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Microsoft (MSFT) unveiled improved versions of its two tablet-laptop combo devices: One based on Intel (INTC); the other based on ARM, in this case Nvidia's (NVDA) Tegra 4. My prediction is that sales success will largely elude Microsoft yet again.

First of all, however, let me point out that both new Surface versions are solid improvements over their predecessors. The screens are better, the processors are faster and more power-efficient and there are exciting new peripherals -- keyboards and docks.

Microsoft's argument for the Surface remains what it was the first time around, a year ago: Laptop and tablet, all in one! I will explain why this just doesn't work out.

If your objective is to use a laptop for anything more than an hour's worth of tortured play, you need to have a screen that's larger than 12 inches, preferably at least 13 inches. In addition, you need the keyboard to be large enough. The Microsoft Surface fails this essential test. It has a 10.6-inch screen, and a resulting cramped keyboard. This is OK for a small child. It is unsuitable for working adults. The other problem is the relationship between the keyboard the screen. In a regular laptop, the bulk of the weight resides under the keyboard, and the screen is held up by a hinge that inherently must be "stiff" so that the screen stays in place at the desired angle, no matter how you move the laptop around. In contrast, the Surface has almost all its weight in the "screen" portion. Then, the keyboard is attached to the screen with a "limp" magnet/hinge combo. That's great in one way because it makes it detachable, but it also makes it very difficult to use the device unless it's placed on a hard and flat surface (no pun . . . ). The problem is that often enough, I place my laptop on places other than a hard/flat surface. It's sometimes in my lap, sometimes in my hands when I'm laying on the sofa or in bed, or sometimes on a very shallow table where part of the laptop's base sticks out.

In other words, even if the Surface were 12, 13, 14 inches in size, the fundamental idea of a limp hinge just isn't going to cut it as a laptop. Game over.

The basic laptop form factor hasn't evolved a bit in 25 years. In Microsoft's view, that apparently made it suspicious and needed to be changed. However, it didn't evolve for the basic reason that the human ergonomics hasn't evolved.

Even Apple's (AAPL) and Google's (GOOG) laptops make no attempt at changing the basic laptop formula. The advancements have come in terms of software, services, cloud infrastructure around the laptop, better battery life, getting rid of hard disks in favor of solid-state storage and most recently also the emergence of fanless laptops thanks to power-efficient chips. But not the basic form factor.

Microsoft saw a round wheel on cars and said "A round wheel has been around forever. Let's change it!" It was change for change's sake. A wheel that isn't round isn't an improvement upon a round wheel. OK, most people clearly have no interest in the Surface as a laptop. But what about as a tablet? Crickets, crickets . . . People tend to buy tablets for two reasons: 1. They are cheap. There are many Google/Android tablets for sale in the $100 to $300 range. When something of that size sells -- without a contract -- for that kind of price, you have a very economical way to read books, magazines, perhaps watch some videos -- movies, TV shows, podcasts, etc. The new Surface starts at $449. You want the Intel-based one? That'll be $899 and up. Keyboard not included. Clearly, Microsoft doesn't win the price argument. Not yet anyway. 2. They have lots of interesting apps. If you want apps, the answers are Android and iOS -- not Surface. Yes, it's true: Surface has lots of apps. Over 100,000 of them. The problem there is: Apple and Google have 1 million of them. The argument that 100,000 apps -- or 200,000 or 400,000 -- is enough, is simply not a good argument. You may only use 10 apps, but if six of them are among the 600,000 or more that you don't offer, it's game over.

What about Microsoft Office?

This is always Microsoft's last line of defense. You want to run Office on your tablet!

No, you don't.

First of all, you're not going to "real work" on anything that's 10.6 inches (or smaller) in screen size. So we're back to the argument above regarding the Surface not making it as a laptop. Secondly, Office itself is losing in relevancy rapidly. Increasingly, people find that Google Docs does the job for free -- and with better collaboration and cross-platform compatibility. Google has even made QuickOffice available for free, further improving Office compatibility. The situation with Office alternatives is the biggest threat of all to Microsoft. Without Office, Microsoft seems totally out of gas in terms of a sales argument. If you are truly not just in need of Office, but are convinced that the (free) alternatives to Office are not enough, then you are also likely the same very serious person for whom a 10.6 inch-anything (tablet, laptop, whatever you want to call it) is not enough either. Microsoft made a huge mistake in its launch of Windows 8 one year ago. It shifted the focus to new form factors and a second interface residing in the PC side by side with the traditional desktop. Windows 8 solved the biggest problems with previous Windows versions: Speed, security and stability. People came to dislike Windows in the past because it was slow, had virus problems, and was generally a maintenance nightmare. Windows 8 boots extremely quickly, runs smoothly, has a far more secure environment, and shuts down extremely quickly. It is extremely competitive with Apple's Mac in this regard, and you can buy a decent Windows laptop for $500 (or even less) -- half compared to Apple. The good news here is that you can buy a good Windows PC (laptop) today, at a fair price. It just isn't Microsoft's own Surface device, which is an ergonomic nightmare and generally too expensive for what its form factor offers. With the Surface -- and to some extent Windows 8 in general -- Microsoft finds itself squeezed between the following competitive pressure points:

1. Google Chrome OS: These laptops start at $200 and provide for excellent typing and other basic productivity tasks.

2. Google Android: These tablets are cheap ($100-$350 in most cases) and have 1 million apps.

3. Apple Mac: A proven user-friendly PC operating system starting at $1,000, similar to high-end Windows 8 machines.

4. Apple iPad: Outstanding multimedia machines with 1 million apps. In my view, I see Microsoft continuing to lose share to these four competitive pressure points, and gaining share in no noticeable area. That's big problem for Microsoft. This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage. Follow @antonwahlman At the time of publication, the author was long GOOG and AAPL.

This contributor reads: RealClearPolitics Drudge Report Rush Limbaugh Engadget The Verge On Twitter, this contributor follows: Kevin Eder Byron York Dan McLaughlin David Limbaugh Tyler Durden

Is JPMorgan a Buy At Current Prices?

With shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) trading around $54, is JPM 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

JPMorgan Chase is a financial holding company that provides various financial services worldwide. The company is engaged in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. Financial services companies like JPMorgan Chase are essential for well-functioning economies around the world.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) have all had their credit rating lowered a notch by Moody's Investors Service in response to a change in Moody's view of U.S. government support for big banks and standalone bank considerations. New rules from U.S. bank regulators that will prevent the need to use tax dollars to bail out big banks and will instead require investors to accept losses and require bonds to be converted into equity were part of the reason for the downgrade, as the government will be less likely to provide funds if there's a crisis, Bloomberg reports.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

JPMorgan Chase stock has done relatively well in the past couple of years. The stock is currently trading sideways as it digests the flurry of recent news it has received. 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, JPMorgan Chase is trading above its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

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

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
JPMorgan Chase Options	18.86%	16%	14%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Flat	Average
January Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish 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 JPMorgan Chase’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for JPMorgan Chase look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-112.14%	32.23%	33.61%	54.89%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-7.67%	13.67%	-3.57%	10.16%
Earnings Reaction	-0.01%	-0.30%	-0.60%	1.01%

JPMorgan Chase has seen increasing earnings and mixed revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had conflicting feelings about JPMorgan Chase’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has JPMorgan Chase stock done relative to its peers, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), and sector?

	JPMorgan Chase	Bank of America	Citigroup	Wells Fargo	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	24.84%	28.68%	27.81%	27.53%	28.21%

JPMorgan Chase has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

JPMorgan Chase is a bellwether in the banking space that forms an essential part of the United States financial system. The company, and various others have all had their credit rating lowered a notch by Moody's Investors Service in response to a change in Moody's view of U.S. government support for big banks and standalone bank considerations. The stock has done relatively well in recent months but is now trading sideways as it digests recent news. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been increasing while revenues have been mixed, which has produced conflicting feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, JPMorgan Chase has been an average year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what JPMorgan Chase does this quarter.

Wholesalers boost stockpiles for 3rd month

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesalers increased their stockpiles in September for the third straight month, an indication that they expect more demand from businesses and consumers.

The Labor Department says wholesale stockpiles rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4%. That follows an increase of 0.8% in the previous month. August's increase was the highest in seven months.

Sales at wholesale businesses rose 0.6% in September, up from 0.4% in August.

ECONOMY: Factory production rises 0.3% in October

Stockpiles of computer equipment and machinery increased. Inventories of consumer items such as groceries, clothing and beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages also rose.

Strong restocking helped drive the economy's 2.8% annual growth rate in the July-September quarter. Rising stockpiles contributed 0.8 percentage point to growth.

Rising stockpiles boost growth because it means factories have produced more goods. And rising sales among wholesalers shows businesses are unlikely to get caught with too many unsold goods on their shelves.

Still, the gains may not last. Consumers and businesses have been spending at a cautious pace. If that continues, companies won't need to keep building stockpiles at the same rapid pace as they did in the third quarter.

Consumers increased their spending at just a 1.5% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the slowest pace in more than two years. And businesses actually reduced their purchases of new equipment.

Those trends suggest that companies won't need to add much to their stockpiles in the October-December quarter. Inventory changes may even subtract from growth.

As a result, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have cut their forecast for fourth-quarter growth to an annual rate of 1.7%, down from a 2% rate.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2014

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce� (NYSE: CM  ) �announced this morning�its second-quarter dividend of $0.96 per share, a 2% increase over the $0.94-per-share payout it made last quarter.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on July 29 to the holders of record at the close of business on June 28. �CIBC has paid a dividend every quarter since 1997 and has increased it almost every year since. Only during the global financial crisis did the dividend remain steady at $0.87 per share. It resumed increasing the payout in 2011.

The board�also declared the dividends for the following series of preferred stock:

Series 26 -�$0.359375 Series 27 -�$0.350000 Series 29 -�$0.337500 Series 33 -�$0.334375 Series 35 -�$0.406250 Series 37 -�$0.406250

The preferred dividends are also payable on�July 29 to shareholders of record at the close of business on�June 28.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $3.84-per-share annual dividend, yielding 4.9% based on the closing price of CIBC's stock on May 29.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2014: BCE Inc. (BCE)

BCE Inc. provides communications solutions to residential, business, and wholesale customers primarily in Canada. The company offers local and long distance telephone services under the Bell Home Phone brand; direct-to-home satellite television (TV) services under the Bell TV name; Internet protocol TV services under the Bell Fibe TV brand; and personal video recorders and online access services. It also provides data services, including Internet access services under the Bell Internet name; Internet protocol based services; and information and communications technology solutions. In addition, the company engages in the rental, sale, and maintenance of business terminal equipment; sale of TV set-top boxes; and provision of network installation and maintenance services for third parties. Further, it offers wireless voice and data communications products and services, such as call display and voicemail, e-mail, Web browsing, social networking, text, picture and video messagi ng, music downloads, ring tunes, ringtones, games and applications, video streaming, live TV, mobile Internet, roaming, and global positioning system navigation services under the Bell and Virgin Mobile brands. Additionally, the company provides media services comprising TV programming services to broadcast distributors. It operates approximately 28 conventional over-the-air stations and 30 English and French-language specialty TV channels; 33 FM and AM radio stations and their related Websites; and Theloop.ca Website. As of December 31, 2012, the company served approximately 2.1 million high-speed Internet access customers through fiber-optic, digital subscriber line, or wireless broadband technology; and 7.7 million wireless customers. BCE Inc. offers its services through call centre representatives, independent dealer stores, and value-added resellers, as well as through its Websites. The company was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Taulli]

  BCE (BCE) is the largest telecom operator in Canada … and sports one whopper of a dividend.

  As should be no surprise, the traditional wired voice services segment continues to be weak for BCE, and that’s something we can expect in perpetuity. However, BCE has diversified into other businesses, such as broadband, IPTV, satellite television, radio and mobile, which is helping to smooth its transition.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  As mobile commerce continues to grow worldwide, Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY  ) this week announced its�customers will be able to securely purchase goods and services with debit or credit using smartphones compatible with Bell Canada's (NYSE: BCE  ) wireless network as part of a new�mobile payment system the two are launching.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Excel became the youngest company to earn a billion dollars annual revenue that year, and was also considered the fourth-largest long-distance carrier by the end of 1996. But the flaws in its business model became too great to ignore as more Americans shifted their calling preferences to mobile phones. Profits plummeted, and after the turn of the century Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE  ) , a major shareholder, acquired full control. Excel became a Bell Canada subsidiary, but was quickly spun off as a new privately held company, only to have this new corporate parent file for bankruptcy in 2004. After emerging from bankruptcy, the former Excel was eventually acquired by another privately held telecom provider. It wasn't the first or the fastest to go big and then go bust, but Excel's story highlights the risks any investor takes in buying up shares based on a very brief history of meteoric growth.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Dalio�� next largest purchase was Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), and three new buys: BCE Inc. (BCE), The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU).

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2014: S&P 500/Barra Value(SU)

Suncor Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated energy company. The company involves in the development of petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; acquisition, exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas in Canada and internationally; transportation and refining of crude oil; and marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products primarily in Canada. Its Oil Sands segment produces bitumen recovered from oil sands through mining and in-situ technology, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock, diesel fuel, and by-products. This segment?s products include gasoline and distillates. The company?s Natural Gas segment acquires, explores, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, oil, and by-products from reserves located primarily in western Canada, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, and the Arctic Islands. Its International and Offshore segment engages in the exploration and pro duction of oil and gas in offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, in the North Sea, and in Libya and Syria. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil at Suncor's refineries in Edmonton, Alberta; Montreal, Quebec; and Sarnia, Ontario in Canada, as well as in Commerce City, Colorado into a range of petroleum and petrochemical products for sale to retail, commercial, and industrial customers. It also transports crude oil through pipelines in eastern and western Canada, as well as through wholly-owned pipelines in Wyoming and Colorado; and produces specialty lubricants and waxes. In addition, this segment operates retail sites in Canada under the Petro-Canada brand; and in Colorado under Phillips 66 and Shell brands. Suncor Energy Inc. also engages in third-party energy trading activities. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Calgary , Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  For instance, Total SA (NYSE: TOT  ) recently abandoned its Voyageur Upgrader project, deciding to sell its 49% stake in the project to its joint-venture partner, Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU  ) , for $500 million. Total defended the move to scrap Voyageur ��a 200,000-barrels-a-day facility designed to "upgrade" bitumen into crude oil ��by saying that it was "no longer justified from a strategic and economic" standpoint.

Top 5 Bank Companies To Own For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN)

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. operates as a vertically integrated non-hazardous solid waste management company in North America. It operates through three segments: Canada, the U.S. south, and the U.S. northeast. The company provides waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers in 13 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 6 Canadian provinces. It also owns and operates a power generating plant fuelled by landfill gas; and generates and sells methane gas. The company was formerly known as IESI-BFC Ltd. and changed its name to Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. in May 2011. Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Vaughan, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Keep in mind, though, this is a sectorwide problem, not just one affecting Waste Management. Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions (NYSE: BIN  ) delivered an 11% increase in first-quarter revenue but succumbed to a decrease of 0.5% in recycling revenue because of lower realized metal prices. �

Top 5 Canadian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Yamana Gold Inc.(AUY)

Yamana Gold Inc. engages in gold and other precious metals mining, and related activities, including exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation. It also explores for copper, molybdenum, zinc, and silver metals. The company's portfolio includes 7 operating gold mines namely Chapada; El Pen Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Itinerant]

  Goldcorp, Newmont (NEM) or Agnico-Eagle use similar definitions. The important element here is the so-called 'sustaining capital expenditure', which is the capital required to sustain existing production levels. The table below is taken from the Agnico-Eagle presentation referenced above and provides a comparison of company-wide AISC for some of the major gold miners, including Goldcorp, Barrick Gold, Newmont Mining, Yamana Gold (AUY), Randgold (GOLD), Kinross (KGC), Agnico-Eagle Mines, Eldorado Gold (EGO), Goldfields and Centerra (CAGDF.PK). The difference between cash costs and AISC is significant. It is also important to note that these AISC are still noticeably below the present spot price for gold.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  In 2008, when most of the market was crashing, Passport�� returns when down with it, like most funds. They posted a 50.9 percent loss that year. Though 13Fs from the period are not available, a Forbes article from April 2008 says that a quarter of the fund was invested in basic materials such as iron ore and gold miners, with other large positions in Indian financial exchange firm Financial Technologies, Asian education company Raffles Education, Yamana Gold (AUY) and Transocean (RIG).

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Gold spiked higher yesterday on news of more violence in the Middle East and an afternoon tumble in the dollar. Gold for December delivery is up 2.34% to $1364 an ounce. Gold stocks are up even more. Jubak's Picks portfolio members Goldcorp (GG) and Yamana Gold (AUY), for example, were up 5.94% and 5.55%, respectively, as of 2:45 PM New York time.

• [By Steve Symington]

  To be sure, take a look at how prominent miners such as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) and Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY  ) have performed relative to the S&P 500 since then: