Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015

Whole Foods�Market�(NASDAQ:WFM) opened its first store in Austin, Texas, in 1980 and it has since become the undisputed king of organic grocers. The company has laid out plans to open 1,000 stores in the U.S. in the coming decades, but it remains to be seen if its business model can support this kind of growth in the long term. Let�� use our CHEAT SHEET investing framework to decide whether Whole Foods is an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY.

C = Catalysts for the Stock�� Movement

Shares of Whole Foods jumped almost 10 percent on May 7 as the company announced strong second-quarter earnings. The organic grocer improved its gross margin by five basis points in the second quarter. This alleviated some concerns by investors that Whole Foods margin would erode as the competition intensified in the organic food space. Additionally, some analysts thought that Whole Foods��investments in price discounts and promotions would hurt its margins. Instead, these investments were offset by a reduction in administrative expenses due to greater economies of scale and strong comparable store sales growth of 6.9 percent.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Financial Engines Inc.(FNGN)

Financial Engines, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide independent, technology-enabled portfolio management services, investment advice, and retirement income services to participants in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans. The company helps investors plan for retirement by offering personalized plans for saving and investing, as well as by providing assessments of retirement income needs and readiness. Its services include Professional Management, a discretionary managed account service designed for plan participants who want personalized and professional portfolio management services, investment advice, and retirement income services from an independent investment advisor; Online Advice, an Internet-based non-discretionary service that offers personalized advice to plan participants who manage their portfolios directly; and Retirement Evaluation, a retirement readiness assessment provided to plan participants upon plan rollout. The company delivers its services t o plan sponsors and plan participants primarily through connections to eight retirement plan providers in the United States. Financial Engines, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  Our biggest contributor this quarter was Financial Engines, Inc. (FNGN), which provides personalized independent investment management and advice to employees for their retirement plans. The stock rose 26.0%. Revenues grew an impressive 29% in the first quarter, driven by additional corporate clients, more employee participation and stock market appreciation. The company recently introduced "Income Plus" an alternative to "target date" fund offerings, which is being well received and opens up potential new growth opportunities.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Malbex Resources Inc(MBG.V)

Malbex Resources Inc., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal projects in Argentina and Peru. The company primarily explores for gold and silver. Its principal property includes Del Carmen project that covers approximately 15,129 hectares located near the southern end of the El Indio Gold Belt, Argentina. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Hot High Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: XO Group Inc (XOXO.N)

XO Group Inc. (XO Group), formerly The Knot, Inc., is a media and technology company. The Company is engaged in the business of weddings, pregnancy and everything in between, providing young women with the information, products and advice to guide them through the transformative events of their lives. Its family of brands began with the wedding brand, The Knot, and it also include WeddingChannel.com, The Nest, The Bump and Ijie.com. XO Group has its presence in all media from the Web to social media and mobile, magazines and books, and video - and social platforms. XO Group has businesses in online sponsorship and advertising, registry services, ecommerce and publishing.

The Company has a network of Websites under several different brands, TheKnot.com, the wedding Website, WeddingChannel.com, the wedding registry site and wedding vendor review site with nearly 350,000 reviews, TheNest.com, a site for newlyweds and new couples, and TheBump.com, a pre-natal and pregnancy Website. These sites offer content and services tailored to the engaged, newly married, and pregnant audiences. Weddings, nesting, and first-time pregnancy are information-intensive events requiring research, planning, and decision-making.

The sites provides future brides and grooms with databases that draw on thousands of articles about weddings, including planning advice, etiquette, Q&As, real wedding stories, tips on getting engaged, fashion, beauty, grooms, the wedding party, and honeymoons. TheNest.com offers information and resources on merging bank accounts and making dinner, with searchable databases for recipes, home decor, and real estate. For couples who are getting ready for a baby, the same urgent need for information surfaces, which the Company provides at TheBump.com with baby naming tools, nursery decor ideas, and a host of health and development-related information. Each of the content areas offers articles, ideas, hundreds of pho to slideshows, and videos, all covering a wide range of sty! l! es, perspectives, budgets, traditions, lifestyles and ethnicities.

Active Community Participation and Social Networking

The community areas on XO Group websites generate member involvement through message boards, blogs, and personalized interactive services. Women who are planning their weddings actively seek forums to exchange ideas and ask questions. The community areas feature 24-hour activity.

User-Generated Content

Through blogs, message boards, and photo-posting features, all XO Group sites feature many forms of user-generated content related to the particular interests of its audience. Recent brides post wedding photos, vendor reviews, and their own wedding advice for future brides. Recent home purchasers post home-buying stories, before and after photos, and photos of their own home decor ideas. Pregnant women post chronicles of their pregnancies, reviews of their doctors, photos of their nurseries, and stories of their newborns at key developmental stages.

Interactive Tools

TheKnot.com offers, personalized wedding planning tools, including checklists, budgeters, guest list managers, calendars, and reminder services. An online scrapbook gives users the ability to save favorite dresses, articles, photos, vendors, honeymoons, wedding supplies, and other planning information. After a couple�� wedding day, these personalized tools are automatically converted to its newlywed Website, TheNestcom, to help them organize their new life as a married couple. The guest list manager is used to track thank-you notes, and couples receive an entirely new checklist and budgeter to help them organize their newlywed to-dos and finances. On TheBump.com, it offers checklists, budget tools, a baby name tool, and tools to track everything from ovulation to breastfeeding. These tools are also available on mobile platforms, which provide its users the ability to modify budgets an d check off tasks from the convenience of their mobile ph! one! s.

The Company offers personal pregnancy and baby websites through TheBump.com. XO Group Websites offers tools to assist with shopping for key elements of a wedding. Its wedding planning sites highlight a searchable bridal gown database with more than 5,000 gown images from over 200 designers, plus searchable databases for bridesmaid, mother-of-the-bride, and flower girl dresses, bridal accessories, engagement and wedding rings and tuxedos. The sites also offer search tools for honeymoon resorts, jewelry, and tabletop products. Local Resource Listings

The local resource areas on XO Group websites provide access to the local wedding market through online regional guides that host nearly 21,000 local vendors who display over 28,000 profiles, highlighting offerings for reception halls, bands, florists, caterers and other wedding-related products and services across 85 local markets in North America.

One-Stop Registry Shopping Service

WeddingChannel.com is the registry site online. Its patented registry aggregation service offers couples and their guests one place to view all their gift registries via a registry system that searches approximately 4.5 million registries from many retail partners, including Macy��, Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Amazon.com, Tiffany & Co., JCPenney and others. TheBump.com uses the same patented registry aggregation service to focus on baby registries, including Target, Buy Buy Baby, Diapers.com, Pottery Barn Kids and more.

The Company integrates informative content with online shops that feature an array of attendant gifts, favors, and supplies that relate to the wedding itself, as well as apparel, toys, gifts, and other goods for babies. It sells directly to consumers through its integrated shopping destinations, The Knot Wedding Shop, the WeddingChannel Store and The Bump Baby Shop. These online stores offer over 4,000 product s, including cocktail napkins, wedding bubbles and ! bells, ca! ! ndy and c! ookies, ring pillows, toasting flutes, reception decorations, table centerpieces, goblets and glasses, garters, and unity candles.

Broadband Video Content

The Knot TV is a continuous video stream that includes a range of wedding content, including shows about choosing a creative cake, hiring the videographer, planning dream honeymoons and learning about real weddings across the country. It produces video on demand content for The Knot, The Nest, and The Bump brands, covering everything from wedding fashion to home tours to mommy advice. The Knot TV On Demand provides video content from bridal fashion runway shows for brides to watch when they want, including programs on the trends in dresses, silhouettes, necklines, and accessories. Its video content is also distributed to MSN.com video, YouTube, and Sling Media. The Knot TV also features live programming with limited runs of The Knot LIVE, a weekly magazine format show.

Informative E -mail

Members of XO Group Websites subscribe to newsletters and e-mail updates, many of which are targeted with information for members in a specific stage of the wedding planning process. Other newsletters and e-mails are focused on specific topics, including honeymoon deals and personalized e-mails containing relevant local information or offers, such as bridal events or dress sample sales. E-mails are also sent to members of The Nest and The Bump with sponsored promotions and information about their stage of pregnancy or the age of their newborn.

Niche Website Network and Sister Sites

The Company also owns and operates a network of targeted websites that offer services of interest to its core audience of engaged couples. These include niche weddings sites such as ChineseWeddingsbyTheKnot.com, BeachWeddingsbyTheKnot.com, GayWeddingsbyTheKnot.com and over 300 other sites tailored to the searched-for wedding destinations and themes. Th e sites features local listings, forums, real! wedding ! photos! and loca! l planning advice.

The Company sells both the national and local editions of The Knot Weddings magazines through newsstands, bookstores, and on its Website, and it distributes local editions of The Bump pregnancy guide to doctors��offices across the country. It also offers a library of books complementing the content on its lifestages websites.

The Knot Weddings National Magazine

It publishes The Knot Weddings magazine four times a year. It features hundreds of dresses from the industry�� top designers. Also featured is an array of photos of wedding party attire and accessories, including bridesmaid, mother-of-the-bride, and flower girl dresses, as well as veils, shoes, and tuxedos.

The Knot Weddings Local Magazines

It publishes regional wedding magazines semi-annually in 17 markets in the United States. The Knot�� regional magazines combine national editorial content with up-to-date, region-specific information, including sections featuring real weddings within the market, making these publications a must-have wedding planning companion for engaged couples.

The Bump Magazine

A pocketbook-sized magazine for first-time moms, The Bump magazine features local resources and modern advice from its editors and nationally-recognized experts.

The Company sells both the national and local editions of The Knot Weddings magazines through newsstands, bookstores, and on its Website, and it distributes local editions of The Bump pregnancy guide to doctors��offices across the country. It also offers a library of books complementing the content on its lifestages Websites. It publishes The Knot Weddings magazine four times a year.

The Company publishes regional wedding magazines semi-annually in 17 markets in the United States. The Knot�� regional magazines combine national editorial content with up-to-date, region-specific info rmation, including sections featuring rea! l wedding! s within t! he market! , making these publications a must-have wedding planning companion for engaged couples.

A pocketbook-sized magazine for first-time moms, The Bump magazine features local resources and modern advice from our editors and nationally-recognized experts. Distributed at no charge through OB/GYN offices in 20 markets nationwide, The Bump magazine is specifically designed to connect first-time parents with the information and resources they need to prepare for a baby. It publishes The Bump magazine semi-annually.

The Company offers a library of up-to-date wedding books authored by itsChief Content Officer Carley Roney and published by divisions of Random House and Chronicle Books. Its first three-book wedding planning series published by Random House�� Broadway Books includes The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner, The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, and The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions. These books feature information on everything a bride and groom need to know when planning their wedding and includes worksheets, checklists, etiquette, and answers to frequently asked questions. Its gift book series published by Chronicle Books includes The Knot Book of Wedding Gowns, The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers, The Knot Guide for the Mother of the Bride, and The Knot Guide for the Groom. Its second planning series, published by Random House�� Clarkson Potter, includes The Knot Guide to Destination Weddings, The Knot Book of Wedding Lists and The Knot Bridesmaid Handbook.

The Company offers a series of books for The Nest brand published by Clarkson Potter. The first book in the series, The Nest Newlywed Handbook, goes on the topics of interest to the newlywed, from changing its name to deciding how to divide up the daily chores. The second title, The Nest Home Design Handbook, is a four-color, photo-filled book on home decoration and design.

The Company competes with Brides magazine (published by Conde Nast), Bridal Gui! de (publi! shed by RFP LL! C) and Ma! rtha Stewart Weddings.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Westway Group Inc.(WWAY)

Westway Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides bulk liquid storage and related value-added services worldwide. The company provides bulk liquid storage services for a range of products, including molasses and liquid animal feed products; vegetable oils, tallows, and greases; lignin sulphonate, calcium chloride, and liquid fertilizers; petroleum, petro-chemicals, waxes, and petroleum oil; chemicals; caustics; methyl esters; and asphalts. Its value-added services include transloading and blending of bulk liquids, as well as distribution. The company operates a network of 25 terminals in North America, western Europe, and Asia offering approximately 363 million gallons of bulk liquid storage capacity to manufacturers and consumers of agricultural and industrial liquids. It also produces and sells liquid animal feed supplements, including complex liquid and block supplements; and less complex products that are utilized as ingredients in livestock feeds to enhanc e the appearance, preserve the product, improve the palatability, or act as a binding agent for other dry feed ingredients. Westway Group, Inc. offers liquid animal feed supplements to livestock feed operators, dry feed mills, distributors, dealers, and end users, such as ranchers and feed manufacturers primarily supplying the beef and dairy livestock industries in the United States, Canada, northern Mexico, and eastern Australia. The company was formerly known as Shermen WSC Acquisition Corp. and changed its name to Westway Group, Inc. in May 2009. Westway Group, Inc. is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Intevac Inc.(IVAC)

Intevac, Inc. provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry, and process manufacturing equipment and inspection solutions to the photovoltaic industry. The company operates in two segments, Equipment and Intevac Photonics. The Equipment segment designs, develops, and markets magnetic disks; hard disk drive equipment products, including disk sputtering and disk lubrication systems; technology upgrades; and spare parts and consumables, as well as installation, maintenance, and repair services. This segment also offers capital equipment for the photovoltaic solar manufacturing industry. The Intevac Photonics segment develops, manufactures, and sells digital-optical products for the capture and display of low-light images and materials identification used in military aircraft, ground vehicles, ground soldier head-mounted, and weapon-mounted applications. This segment also provides sensors, cameras, and systems for military applications; Ram an spectrometer table-top and handheld systems for use in forensics, homeland security, geology, gemology, medical, pharmaceutical, and industrial quality assurance applications; and low-light cameras for industrial inspection, bio-medical, and scientific applications. The company sells its products through direct sales force, system integrators, distributors, and value added resellers in the United States, Asia, Europe, and rest of world. Intevac, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Intevac (IVAC) provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry and high-productivity process manufacturing equipment and inspection solutions to the photovoltaic industry. This stock closed up 8.5% to $6.74 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $6.23-$6.75
  
  52-Week Range: $4.06-$6.80
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 263,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 140,032

  From a technical perspective, IVAC soared higher here right off some near-term support at $6.25 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $4.31 to its recent high of $6.80. During that move, shares of IVAC have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of IVAC within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if IVAC manages to take out its 52-week high at $6.80 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IVAC as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $6.25 or at $5.92 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 52-week high at $6.80 with volume that hits near or above 140,032 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then IVAC will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to $8.37. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put $9 to $9.36 within range for shares of IVAC.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Peoples Bancorp Inc.(PEBO)

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as a holding company for Peoples Bank, National Association that provides financial products and services. It offers commercial and retail banking, insurance, brokerage, and trust services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and provides commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; corporate and personal trust services; safe deposit rental facilities; travelers checks, money orders, and cashier?s checks; and telephone and Internet-based banking services. In addition, the company provides a range of life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; and fiduciary and wealth management services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealer; and credit cards to consumers and business es, as well as provides merchant credit card processing services through joint marketing arrangements with third parties. The company offers its financial products and services through 47 financial service locations and 40 ATMs in southeastern Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, and northeastern Kentucky. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Marietta, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Marietta, Ohio-based bank holding company Peoples Bancorp (PEBO) raised its quarterly dividend 7% to 15 cents per share, payable on Feb. 18 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 3.
  PEBO Dividend Yield: 2.60%

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Altius Minerals Corp (ALS.TO)

Altius Minerals Corporation operates in the mining and resources sector in eastern Canada. It owns various exploration stage royalty interests in properties prospective for nickel-copper cobalt, iron ore, uranium, gold, and other base metals; and holds active mineral exploration agreements targeting various mineral commodities. The company also has investments in junior exploration and development stage companies. Altius Minerals Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in St. John�s, Canada.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Abacus Mining & Exploration Cor (AME.V)

Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation, an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada. The company, through a 20% interest in KGHM Ajax Mining Inc., holds a 20% interest in the feasibility stage Ajax copper-gold project located near Kamloops, British Columbia. Abacus Mining & Exploration Corporation was founded in 1983 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Franklin Resources Inc.(BEN)

Franklin Resources Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. The firm provides its services to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts, and partnerships. It manages, through its subsidiary, separate client-focused equity, fixed income, and balanced portfolios. The firm also launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds. It launches hedge funds and provides retirement plans to its clients through its subsidiaries. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe through its subsidiaries. Franklin Resources, Inc was founded in 1947 and is based in San Mateo, California with additional offices in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida, Hong Kong, China, Melbourne, Australia, Sydney, Australia, Nassau, Bahamas, New York City, Paris, France, Rancho Cordova, California, and Toronto, Ontario.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Deane]

  On Thursday, Franklin Resources (BEN) announced that it was declaring a quarterly dividend of 10 cents, a 2.6% cent increase from its previous quarterly payout.

  The San Mate0, CA-based investment management company previously paid a quarterly dividend of 9.75 cents, or 39 cents annually. The new dividend is payable on October 11th, 2013 to all shareholders of record on September 30th, 2013. The ex-dividend date is September 26th, 2013.

  BEN shares were down 10 cents, or .21%, at Thursday’s market close. The company’s stock is up over 11% YTD.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, goes through a few situations where an IRA rollover might not be ideal. Dan notes that Franklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN  ) , AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB  ) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) , and other companies often offer cheaper class of mutual funds that would otherwise carry sales loads or higher fees outside a 401(k). Dan also talks about company stock and the special rules for 401(k)s that own it, as well as the importance of looking at overall fees to decide if your 401(k) is the best place to invest or whether an IRA rollover will help you more.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Who wants in on the action?
  All that said, plenty of mutual fund companies have seen the writing on the wall and are eager to come to market with active ETFs. Mutual fund giants Fidelity, Franklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN  ) , Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS  ) , and Legg Mason (NYSE: LM  ) are just some of the companies looking to follow in PIMCO's footsteps with active ETFs. Each of these companies owes a huge portion of its profits to management fees on the billions in assets that it holds, and each recognizes the need to defend its turf by reaching into the ETF space. For Legg Mason and Franklin Templeton, which already offer closed-end mutual funds that trade on exchanges, moving to ETFs is an even shorter step.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: SVB Financial Group(SIVB)

SVB Financial Group, a diversified financial services company, provides various banking and financial products and services. The company offers deposit products, such as traditional deposit and checking accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as lockbox and merchant services; and lending products and services, including traditional term loans, equipment loans, asset-based loans, revolving lines of credit, accounts-receivable-based lines of credits, capital call lines of credits, and credit cards. It also provides cash management products and services comprising wire transfer and automated clearing house payment services, collection services, disbursement services, electronic funds transfers, and online banking services. In addition, the company offers foreign exchange services; letters of credit, including export, import, and standby letters of credit; investment services and solutions; brokerage; asset management; investment a dvisory services, such as outsourced treasury services; and non-banking products and services, such as funds management, venture capital/private equity investment, and equity valuation services. Further, it provides private banking services comprising mortgages, home equity lines of credit, restricted stock purchase loans, and other secured and unsecured lending services. As of March 09, 2012, the company operated 26 offices in the United States and 7 offices internationally. It serves customers in the technology, venture capital/private equity, life science, wine, and clean tech industries. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Maxfield]

  Given that you clicked on this article, it seems safe to assume you either own stock in SVB Financial (NASDAQ: SIVB  ) or are considering buying shares in the near future. If so, then you've come to the right place. The table below reveals the nine most critical numbers that investors need to know about SVB Financial stock before deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold it.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  While airlines have their ups and downs, Copa is about the best I can think of to weather the storm.

  Best Stocks #4 (Midcap): SVB Financial (SIVB)
  

  I never would have thought one of my picks for the next 20 years would be a bank — let alone one that focuses on entrepreneurs — but here I am.

Top Long Term Stocks To Watch For 2015: Apco Oil and Gas International Inc.(APAGF)

Apco Oil and Gas International Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas primarily in South America. The company has working interests in the Entre Lomas, Bajada del Palo, and Charco del Palenque concessions; and the Agua Amarga exploration permit in the Neuquen basin, Argentina. As of September 30, 2011, it had interests in eight oil and gas producing concessions and two exploration permits in Argentina. The company was formerly known as Apco Argentina Inc. and changed its name to Apco Oil and Gas International Inc. in July 2009. Apco Oil and Gas International Inc. was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Apco Oil and Gas International Inc. operates as a subsidiary of WPX Energy, Inc.

Marron scores big on Cetera deal

Don Marron Bloomberg News

Donald Marron is batting a thousand.

The Lightyear Capital and former PaineWebber Group Inc. chief executive is two-for-two after handing over the keys in his second deal to sell a major broker-dealer. In a deal announced Thursday, Nicholas Schorsch and his broker-dealer holding company, RCS Capital Corp., agreed to buy Cetera Financial Group Inc. from Lightyear Capital for $1.15 billion.

(Don't miss: Schorsch: RCS Capital is the next Merrill or Raymond James.)

Mr. Marron, who was at the helm when PaineWebber sold itself to UBS in 2000 for $11 billion, has owned Cetera, a leading network of four broker-dealers and 6,600 registered representatives and financial advisers, for just under four years. Since he bought the firm from ING Groep NV in 2010, Cetera's annual gross revenue has almost doubled to more than $1 billion, from $653 million.

Mr. Marron would not disclose how much his firm originally paid for Cetera, but the $1.15 billion price tag represents almost a dollar-for-dollar payout on revenue. From the level of revenue when he bought it, the Schorsch offer represents nearly a doubling of his original investment, not including the capital invested in the multiple acquisitions and upgrades made to Cetera's platform.

Last July, Cetera's chief executive, Valerie Brown, told InvestmentNews that there was “no plan for a liquidity event.” But not long afterward, Mr. Schorsch, who has been snapping up independent broker-dealers since late last year, came knocking with a pre-emptive bid.

“It's a good deal for us,” Mr. Marron said in an interview. “We were not planning to do something at this time.”

The hefty price tag represents one of the largest deals in the independent-broker-dealer space since around 2005 when LPL Financial sold a 60% stake in itself to private equity managers Texas Pacific Group (now TPG Capital) and Hellman & Friedman for roughly $1.5 billion.

While steep, the price is in the range of where brokerage firms are trading as buoyant securities markets boost results, said Dan Seivert, chief executive and founder of Echelon Partners. Among publicly traded companies, LPL is trading at 1.4 times sales, he said. Raymond James Financial Inc. is trading at 1.6 times.

“They want to sell for a price they would have a hard time beating if they stayed in the business for another year,” Mr. Seivert said.

Alois Pirker, a research director at Aite Group, added that as the economy improves ! and other firms reach record highs, more deals could be struck in the space.

“I think we're going to see more of this,” Mr. Pirker said

Why Sherritt International Corp. Shares Dropped Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Sherritt International  (TSX: S  ) fell 12% today after the Canadian miner reported earnings.

So what: Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 17% to C$108.6 million. and Sherritt reported a loss of C$0.46 per share even after pulling out coal operations that are being sold. The quarter also included a C$466.8 million impairment for the sale of those coal assets, meaning the sale price was well above what it cost Sherritt to build them.  

5 Best Construction Stocks To Buy For 2014

Now what: Things are so bad that Sherritt's quarterly dividend is being cut from C$0.043 per share to just C$0.01, taking away most of the stock's yield. Investors have been hoping for a mining recovery for years and it just doesn't seem to be coming, even with the coal sale. I'm staying away from this stock and would wait for positive results to jump in at all.

A top stock for 2014
If you're looking for a better stock to buy today, The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for 2014, and it's one of those stocks that could make you rich. You can find out which stock it is in the special free report "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2014." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

Cliffs Natural Resources: Do the Right Thing

Last week, Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) made changes. Big changes. Very big changes. Huge changes.

AFP Photo/Rio Tinto

Cliffs Natural Resources appointed a new CEO; it cut costs; it postponed its expansion of Bloom Lake; it even beat earnings for the fourth consecutive quarter. It still might not be enough, say Wells Fargo’s Sam Dubinsky and Amir Chaudhri. They write:

Cliffs Natural Resources reported upside to Q4 earnings, but the main focus for shares is the new CEO implementing cost cuts ahead of what could be a challenging iron ore backdrop. While we believe management is making the right movies (particularly the discontinuation of Bloom Lake Phase II in Canada), we remain cautious on shares due to our bearish outlook on iron ore pricing, in addition to customer specific risk (Essar has poor liquidity).

While we believe management is doing everything in its control to improve operations, our cautious stance on iron ore and Essar concerns are hold ups. Should iron ore prices improve on greater China growth, we could turn more positive.

Hot Insurance Companies To Invest In 2014

Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources have dropped 1% to $22.92 today at 3:14 p.m., even as base-metal giants BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) gain. BHP Billiton is up 2.8% to $70.20 after beating earnings forecasts, while Rio Tinto has advanced 1.7%. Vale (VALE) has dropped 1.2% to $14.48.

Happy 100th birthday, Merrill Lynch. We miss you

Bloomberg News

Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. turns 100 today. At least, it would have, if it were a standalone entity, and not a government-rescued Too Big to Fail entity, forced into a shotgun wedding with Bank of America.

I have a warm place in my heart for the firm once referred to as "Mother Merrill." As a young trader, I interviewed for an entry-level position. Right there on the main trading floor, a cavernous affair the size of several football fields in the downtown office. It was unlike any place I had ever been in before. I had plenty of friends who worked on desks there, and eventually came to know many folks in the research department. There was a sense of camaraderie at Merrill, a real feeling that everyone was rowing in unison. In my experience, it was a unique place, with a sense of passion and purpose. And even though I never worked there, I was mentored by a number of traders who did. It was that sort of place.

(See also: Scion remembers Mother Merrill on her 100th anniversary)

The idea of democratizing finance for the middle class was novel. So too was the cash management account, allowing brokerage customers to combine money market, check-writing and credit card all in one account. Win Smith, son of a founding partner (yes, that “Smith”) details this history in "Catching Lightning in a Bottle: How Merrill Lynch Revolutionized the Financial World."

Alas, the late, great Merrill Lynch is emblematic of a bygone era. During its heyday, finance was a field still on the rise. Hard to think of it as a scrappy underdog, but that was then. This was before finance began to dominate industry, prior to morphing into a behemoth that leveraged the U.S. economy to the brink of destruction. Perhaps it is the rosy glow of nostalgia, but I recall a period when name and reputation were paramount; where squeezing every last dime out of a client was never the goal. Where newbies were taken under the wing of the old pros and mentored.

Hot Clean Energy Companies To Invest In Right Now

It started to wobble in the 1990s. The collapse of Orange County, Calif., following the sale of “inappropriate and risky investments” led to a then-massive $400 million settlement; the analyst scandal of the early 2000s and a slew of other problems damaged Merrill's reputation. During the financial crisis, the firm racked up over $20 billion in CDO, sub-prime and related losses. Some estimates had Merrill losing more than $52 million a day over a one-year period.

The financial collapse was the final nail in the coffin for Merrill. Chief executive Stan O'Neal got fired, and John Thain took over. He sold the firm to Bank of America in what has charitably been called a rescue. What exists today bears no resemblance to the Mother Merrill of old.

One of the footnotes to the financial crisis is how the country's perception of those who work in finance has changed. In my two decades! on Wall Street, I have met huge numbers of hard-working, ethical, honest people who toil in this industry. The last crisis led to them being unfairly lumped in with the criminals, fraudsters, scam artists and thieves.

Yes, honest people do work in finance today — they just are not making headlines, and so you need to know where to look for them. The Wall Street I fondly recall has been eclipsed by a coarser, less honorable, headline-grabbing element that has come to epitomize finance to much of the public, and that is a shame. I have been a fierce critic of the Street, so it is with no small amount of irony I find myself defending the world of finance against these overbroad generalizations. Not every CEO is Dick Fuld. No, most fund managers are not Bernie Madoffs, running a billon-dollar Ponzi scheme for decades.

When I was doing research in preparation for writing "Bailout Nation," I was struck how in company after company, a disproportionately small number of executives and traders were able to destroy giant, storied firms which had thrived for decades, or longer. American International Group Inc., a firm that at one time employed more than 63,000 people, was brought down by the 450 people in the financial products division. How does an entire industry get jiu-jitsued by a handful of executives? That is a long and sad story, repeated over and over in firm after firm. It's worthy of another book yet to be written.

Today, we wax nostalgic, and recall Wall Street the way it once was. We miss you, Mother Merrill.

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Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable

Comcast on Thursday will announce its intent to acquire Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Comcast on Thursday will announce its intent to acquire Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal that will combine the two biggest cable companies in the United States.

Comcast (CCV) has agreed to pay $158.82 per share of Time Warner Cable (TWC, Fortune 500) stock, according to two people with direct knowledge of the transaction who insisted on anonymity because the deal will not be publicly announced until Thursday morning.

The two companies expect the merger to receive government approval and take effect by the end of the year, but regulators are likely to take a close look at the potential impact on consumers.

The terms of the deal were first reported on Wednesday night by CNBC.

The apparent deal ends months of jockeying for control of Time Warner Cable, which is the country's second biggest supplier of cable television service, with about 12 million subscribers in markets like New York City and Los Angeles. Charter (CHTR, Fortune 500), a smaller cable company, had been attempting a takeover of the company, but had been rebuffed by Time Warner Cable's board and chief executive.

Comcast had cast a shadow over the negotiations, and had reportedly held talks with Charter about how to potentially divvy up Time Warner Cable's territories.

By swallowing up Time Warner Cable on its own, Comcast will gain even more leverage over the country's marketplace for television, broadband Internet and phone services. Comcast already has about 23 million television subscribers in markets like Philadelphia, where it is headquartered.

Even before the official announcement, questions arose about whether Comcast will be allowed to expand its cable footprint so substantially.

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Regulators used to enforce a rule that prohibited a single cable company from controlling more than 30% of the market. But Comcast led a challenge to that rule in the mid-2000s, and in 2009 a federal appeals court threw out the 30% cap.

The cable company remains remarkably well connected in Washington. In fact, its chief lobbyist, David Cohen, was a guest at the White House state dinner for the French president on Tuesday night.

Related story: Court strikes do! wn net neutrality rules

Still, the Justice Department and other federal agencies will surely line up to scrutinize the proposed combination of Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Sources with direct knowledge of the impending deal said that Comcast, in a nod to concerns about the size of the combined cable provider, would voluntarily divest local cable systems totaling about three million subscribers.

One public interest group, Free Press, signaled immediate opposition to the consolidation.

"In an already uncompetitive market with high prices that keep going up and up, a merger of the two biggest cable companies should be unthinkable," the group's president, Craig Aaron, said in an email. "This deal would be a disaster for consumers and must be stopped."

Free Press similarly opposed Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal, which was approved by the government -- with conditions -- in 2011.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015

In this video, analyst Andrew Tonner talks about Apple's earnings report, which is due next week. The story is certainly the most important in the tech sector, as Apple's stock has been crashing this year.

Andrew focuses on Apple's dividend policy from the upcoming earnings report, as the company is expected to raise its payout on Tuesday. That would not only get investors the return they were waiting for, but it's also likely to improve Apple's share price. Apple's sitting on a $137 billion cash pile and can easily fund a significant dividend increase.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company has been looking at various policies for investors, including an issue of�preferential shares. Andrew says it's important not just for Apple to take this step, but to do it on Tuesday.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Coldwater Creek Inc. (CWTR)

Coldwater Creek Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-channel specialty retailer of women's apparel, accessories, jewelry, and gift items primarily in the United States. It operates premium retail stores located in traditional malls, lifestyle centers, and street locations; merchandise outlet stores; and day spas, which offer spa treatments, including massages, facials, body treatments, manicures, and pedicures, as well as provide relevant apparel and personal care products. The company also offers its products through its e-commerce Web site coldwatercreek.com and catalogs, as well as through phone and mail. As of October 27, 2012, it operated 354 premium retail stores and 38 factory outlet stores, as well as 9 spas. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another earnings short-squeeze prospect is specialty retailer of women's apparel, accessories, jewelry and gift items Coldwater Creek (CWTR), which is set to release numbers Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Coldwater Creek to report revenue of $162.81 million on a loss of 63 cents per share.

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for Coldwater Creek is very high at 18.8%. That means that out of the 12.17 million shares in the tradable float, 3.47 million shares are sold short by the bears. This is a big short interest on a stock with a very low tradable float. If the bulls get the earnings news they're looking for, then this stock could easily explode higher post-earnings.

  From a technical perspective, CWTR is currently trending just below its 50-day moving average and well below its 200-day moving average, which is bearish. This stock has been trending sideways for the last two months, with shares moving between $2.16 on the downside and $2.80 on the upside. A high-volume move above the upper-end of its recent range could trigger a breakout trade for CWTR post-earnings.

  If you're bullish on CWTR, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.51 to $2.69 a share and then once it takes out more resistance at $2.80 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 192,994 shares. If that breakout hits, then CWTR will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from June that started near $3.60 a share.

  I would simply avoid CWTR or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout, and then drops back below some key near-term support levels at $2.35 to its 52-week low at $2.16 a share with high volume. If we get that move, then CWTR will set up to enter new 52-wee

• [By Eric Volkman]

  In turn, it bumps QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC  ) from that index to the S&P SmallCap 600. Finally, QLogic's shift completely displaces Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ: CWTR  ) , which will no longer be on the S&P SmallCap 600.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Mdr Limited (A27.SI)

mDR Limited distributes and retails telecommunications devices and provides mobile related services. It distributes gadgets, and mobile devices and accessories. The company also provides prepaid card services; and after-market services, including retrofit, repair management, and technical services for consumer electronic products and mobile telecommunication equipment. As of November 26, 2012, it operated a network of approximately 50 retail stores under Handphone Shop, 3Mobile shops, Samsung and Nokia concept stores, and Gadget World brand names in Singapore. The company is based in Singapore.

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In 2015: Regis Resources Ltd (RRL.AX)

Regis Resources Limited is principally engaged in the production of gold from the Moolart Well gold mine, construction of the Garden Well gold mine and exploration, evaluation and development of gold projects in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. The Company operates in two segments: Duketon Gold Project (being the Moolart Well Gold Mine) and the Garden Well Gold Project. The Company�� Duketon Gold project is located in the Laverton region 350 kilometers north-northeast of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The project consists a tenement packaging covering over 2,000 square kilometers of ground. Its Moolart Well Gold Mine is located within the Duketon Gold Project. Its Garden Well is a shear hosted Archaean orogenic gold deposit located 100 kilometers north of Laverton in the Duketon Greenstone Belt in Western Australia. On August 9, 2012, it announced that it had executed a letter of agreement to acquire the McPhillamys Gold Project in the Bathurst region of Ne w South Wales.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Pacific Insight El Com Npv (PIH.TO)

Pacific Insight Electronics Corp. designs, manufactures, and supplies electronic modules and complete system/service solutions to the transportation industries in Canada and the United States. The company provides electronic modules, including daytime running lights, signal and brake lamp controls, windshield wiper/washer controls, fan and blower motor controls, seat belt chimes, interior climate control products, Pass Tag RFID theft deterrent systems, signal indicator turnstalk controls, and interior lighting products. It also offers LED lighting products, such as clearance/side marker lamps, PC rated marker lamps, round and oval stop lamps, turn and tail lamps, LED rear trailer lamp kits, white LED utility and license lamps, multifunction strobing LED lamps, and LED strobe warning lamps; wire harness and assemblies; and a range of data bus instruments comprising gauges, tell-tale light bars, displays, gateway modules, and analog input modules. Pacific Insight Electronics Corp. serves original equipment manufacturers in the automotive, commercial vehicle, marine, and off-road markets, as well as aftermarket distribution companies. The company was formerly known as Shanell International Energy Corporation and changed its name to Pacific Insight Electronics Corp. in June 1989. Pacific Insight Electronics Corp. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Nelson, Canada.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Charter Pacific Corporation Ltd(CHF.AX)

Charter Pacific Corporation Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates primarily in the financial services sector in Australia. The company provides corporate advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestments, IPO?s and private placements, restructures, portfolio review, strategic alliances, and joint ventures, as well as debt advisory and American depositary receipts. It also operates an e-commerce portal in the United Kingdom, which features online libraries of Bollywood and south Asian movies in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, and Bengali; clips; and music videos, as well as various Pakistani dramas. In addition, the company offers coatings and equipment technology in both powder and liquid paints. Additionally, it purchases and sells listed investment securities. Charter Pacific Corporation Limited was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Jubilee Gold Inc. (JUB.V)

Jubilee Gold Inc. operates as a mining company in Canada. The company engages in the identification, acquisition, evaluation, and exploration of gold properties in Ontario and New Brunswick. Jubilee Gold Inc. is based in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Rusoro Mining Ltd(RML.V)

Rusoro Mining Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of gold mining and mineral properties in Venezuela. The company holds interests in two producing gold mines located in El Callao district in south-eastern Venezuela; and interests in various exploration projects and one development project in Venezuela. Its producing gold mines include the Choco 10 mine, in which the company holds a 95% ownership interest; and the Isidora mine, in which the company holds a 50% ownership interest. The company was formerly known as Newton Ventures Inc. and changed its name to Rusoro Mining Ltd. in November 2006. Rusoro Mining Ltd. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Porter Bancorp Inc.(PBIB)

Porter Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for PBI Bank that provides commercial and personal banking products and services in Kentucky. The company?s deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, term certificate accounts, time deposits, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, money market accounts, fixed rate certificates, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises residential mortgage, commercial, consumer, and agriculture loans; and real estate loans, including commercial and residential real estate, and real estate construction loans. The company also provides drive-through banking facilities, automatic teller machines, night depository, personalized checks, credit cards, debit cards, Internet banking, electronic funds transfers, domestic and foreign wire transfers, travelers? checks, cash management, vault services, loan and deposit sweep accounts, and lock box services. In addition, Porter Bancorp offers personal trus t services, employer retirement plan services, and personal financial and retirement planning services. As of July 28, 2011, it operated 18 full-service banking offices in Kentucky. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: PROS Holdings Inc.(PRO)

PROS Holdings, Inc. provides pricing and margin optimization software worldwide. It offers PROS Pricing Solution Suite, a set of integrated software products that enables enterprises to apply pricing and margin optimization science to determine, analyze, and execute optimal pricing strategies through the aggregation and analysis of enterprise application data, transactional data, and market information. The PROS Pricing Solution Suite consists of Scientific Analytics to gain insight into pricing performance; Price Optimizer to institute control of pricing policies; and Deal Optimizer to provide guidelines, additional context, and information to sales force. Its products also include PROS Revenue Management Solution Suite, a suite of industry specific revenue management software products for the enterprises in travel target markets. The PROS Revenue Management Solution Suite comprises PROS Analytics to identify hidden revenue leaks and opportunities, PROS Revenue Management product to manage passenger demand with leg- or segment-based revenue optimization, PROS O&D products to manage passenger demand with passenger name record or PNR based revenue optimization, PROS Real-Time Dynamic Pricing product to determine the optimal prices, PROS Group Revenue Management product to manage group request and booking revenues, PROS Network Revenue Planning product to deliver network-oriented fare class segmentation, PROS Cruise Pricing and Revenue Optimization for customers to understand consumers price sensitivities and track competitor behavior, PROS Hotel Revenue Optimization product that helps customers to enhance pricing decision. In addition, the company provides pricing and implementation professional, and ongoing support and maintenance services. It serves customers in the manufacturing, distribution, services, hotel and cruise, and airline industries primarily through its direct sales force. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Santos Ltd(STO.AX)

Santos Limited engages in the exploration, development, production, transportation, and marketing of hydrocarbons. It also offers natural gas, crude oil, condensate, naphtha, and liquid petroleum gas, as well as transports crude oil by pipeline. The company has total proved and probable hydrocarbon reserves of 1,364 million barrels of oil equivalent. It has operations in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and the Kyrgyz Republic. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Adelaide, Australia.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Shell Villages & Resorts Ltd (SVC.AX)

SVC Group Limited engages in the development of retirement villages in Australia. It also focuses on developing residential subdivisions, and senior living and affordable housing projects. The company was formerly known as Shell Villages and Resorts Limited and changed its name to SVC Group Limited in August 2011. SVC Group Limited is based in Sydney, Australia.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Sonora Gold & Silver Corp (SOC.V)

Sonora Gold & Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties. The company primarily explores for gold and silver deposits. It has an option to acquire the mineral license to the Negese property located in Kilindi District, the United Republic of Tanzania. The company was formerly known as Mont Blanc Resources and changed its name to Sonora Gold & Silver Corp. in July 2008. Sonora Gold & Silver Corp. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Ameriana Bancorp(ASBI)

Ameriana Bancorp operates as the holding company for Ameriana Bank, a state-chartered commercial bank that provides a range of consumer and commercial banking services in Indiana. The company involves in accepting deposits from the general public and investing those funds in various types of loan products. Its deposit products include savings accounts, interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates, and negotiated rate jumbo certificates; and loan products comprise single-family and multi-family mortgage loans, construction loans, commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial loans, small business loans, home improvement loans, and consumer loans. The company, through the subsidiaries of its bank, also offers insurance products and investment brokerage services. It operates through its main office in New Castle and 12 branch offices in New Castle, Middletown, Knightstown, Morristown, Greenfield, Anderson, Avon, McCordsville, Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, and New Palestine, Indiana, as well as a loan production office in Carmel, Indiana. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in New Castle, Indiana.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Tawana Resources NL(TAW.AX)

Tawana Resources NL engages in the exploration and evaluation of diamondiferous kimberlites and alluvials primarily in South Africa, Australia, and Botswana. The company also explores for gold and base metals in Liberia. It has interests in Daniel project, Kareevlei Wes, St Augustines, Lexshell, and Perdevlei properties in South Africa; Flinders Island and Eyre Peninsula properties in Australia; and Orapa property in Botswana. The company has a strategic alliance with Gryphon Minerals Ltd. Tawana Resources NL was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Low & Bonar(LWB.L)

Low & Bonar PLC engages in the manufacture and supply of performance technical textiles and technical coated fabrics to civil engineering, carpet manufacturing, leisure, construction, building products, industrial, print, architecture, and transportation sectors worldwide. Its performance technical textiles comprise synthetic nonwovens for flooring, automotive, and construction applications; three-dimensional polymeric mats and composites for civil engineering, building, and industrial applications; geotextiles, agrotextiles, technical industrial textiles, and fibers for industrial and building sectors; carpet backing yarns for the woven carpet industry; artificial grass yarns for sports surface and landscape industries; and woven fabrics and specialist yarns. The company?s technical coated fabrics include trailer side curtains and transport protection products; printable fabrics for large format advertising; architectural fabrics for permanent and temporary building stru ctures; coated fabrics for storage and containment; and coated fabrics for sun shading, boat, pool, camping, and sports applications. Low & Bonar PLC was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Dow Dividend Companies For 2015: Crew Energy Inc (CR.TO)

Crew Energy Inc. engages in acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in western Canada. It primarily holds interests in various operating areas located in Princess and Deep Basin in Alberta; Septimus in northeast British Columbia; and Lloydminster in Saskatchewan, as well as in central Alberta. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

The Staggering Numbers Your Bank Doesn't Want You to See

Many of us may have a small share of the country's largest banks in our wallet: a debit card, a credit card, or for the old-schoolers, a checkbook.

And each month we get a statement showing our account activity, not the banks'...

That's because there's a staggering number that the banks will never show you, or even reference, on the statement...

Yet it directly impacts what you're paying them... this month... and for years to come.

It's the staggering amount of fines that they've paid out for a litany of misdeeds.

They're all here, in one place. You'll be shocked to see how colossal they are...

The "Gang of Six" Are the Biggest Offenders

The sheer number of abuses the six largest banks in the U.S. have committed - and I'm talking about the giant too-big-to-fail, too-big-to-jail banks - JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley - is enormous.

But not as enormous as the sums they've paid in fines and settlements...

Or to buy back bad mortgages they put into mortgage-backed securities, and the huge legal tab they've run up in dealing with the fallout. 

None of the alleged violations or charges were criminal; they were all civil allegations and charges. So, no one from any big bank has gone to jail, and only a few executives have lost their jobs.

Because it would be such a lengthy read to delineate every individual charge, every settlement, every fine, restitution payment, or other monetary toll banks have paid, and what they didn't admit to but agreed to not ever do again, I'm going to take some liberties and do some condensing.

But don't worry, there's enough here for you to come to your own conclusions.

A Sad, Shocking Scorecard

Let's start with just the numbers the six banks have paid through the end of November 2013.

That includes all third-quarter financial results for credit and mortgage-related settlement costs.  These figures were compiled by SNL Financial and their breakdown is available on their   website.

Bank of America has paid out $43.9 billion; JPMorgan Chase has paid out $26.4 billion; Wells Fargo has paid out $9.5 billion; Citigroup had paid out $4.7 billion; Goldman Sachs had paid out $920 million; and Morgan Stanley has paid out over $329 million

Again, these figures are for credit crisis, mortgage-related settlements starting in 2010 paid up to the end of the third quarter of 2013. The tolls continued in the fourth quarter and will continue into 2014, so they are only going to grow.

In addition to settlement monies, since 2008 the six banks have also had to repurchase ("buyback") $98.9 billion worth of bad mortgages they stuffed into collapsed mortgage-backed securities they sold to investors around the globe.

And, in addition to buybacks and settlement fines, there are restitution and other compensation charges paid out to meet government regulations implemented in response to the housing crisis.

The regulations supposedly help underwater homeowners and foreclosed owners wrongly thrown out of their homes. For all this litigation, the six banks have had to pay their attorneys.

There are no credible breakdowns of what banks call "legal and litigation" expenses that breaks out the cost of their outside counsel. We can only presume those charges are well into the tens of billions of dollars.

But credit crisis and mortgage-related settlements aren't the only measure of banks' misbehavior.

The Housing Crisis Was Just the Start

The too-big-to-jail banks have collectively paid tens of billions more for all kinds of, let's call them what they really are: crimes.

While they may not be crimes in a regulatory sense, if anybody other than a bank had committed these "regulatory" infractions, they would have been charged criminally. That in itself is a crime.

For example, let's take a look at the story behind some of JPMorgan Chase's settlements in recent years.

Be warned - each is more shocking (and disgusting) than the last...

In June 2010, JPM paid $48.6 million to U.K. regulators to settle charges they failed to separate client monies from the bank's money (that's what failed MF Global did)...

And in April 2011, JPM paid $56 million to settle allegations it overcharged active-duty service personnel on mortgages they took out from the bank.

Then, in June 2011, JPM paid $153.6 million to the SEC to settle charges they misled investors on a CDO (collateralized debt obligation) they put together and sold. They didn't tell the investors a hedge fund client of the bank's betting against the CDO actually put soon-to-be-failing instruments into the CDO. It failed.

During July 2011, JPM paid $228 million to the SEC to settle charges it fraudulently rigged 93 municipal bond transactions in 31 states.

In August 2011, JPM settled what should have been charges of "trading with enemy" by paying $88.3 million for improperly processing bank transfers and transactions involving Cuba, Iran, and Sudan.

The next year, in February 2012, JPM settled by paying $100 million, along with Bank of America and others, when it was charged with processing checks by size rather than chronologically, in order to cause overdrafts which customers were charged for.

Sure enough, in the next month, March 2012, JPM paid $150 million to settle a case brought by a pension fund that alleged the bank put them into a structured vehicle that failed.

It didn't stop there; in April 2012, JPM settled with the CFTC for $20 million after admitting it extended credit to failing Lehman Brothers based on customer funds they knew were supposed to be held separate from Lehman's collateral.

After what looked like a summer break from immorality (but wasn't), in August 2012, JPM along with other banks ponied up $1.2 billion to settle charges it conspired (that is, colluded to fix prices) to illegally set credit and debit interchange fees.

November 2012 saw a Thanksgiving turkey of a different kind. That was when JPM paid $296.9 million to settle SEC charges the bank misstated information regarding the mortgage delinquency status of loans it used as collateral for an offering it underwrote.

And the next year, in March 2013, JPM had to repay $100 million and return $546 million it took from MF Global before it failed.

In June 2013, JPM settled charges it helped cause Jefferson County, Alabama's bankruptcy for $1.564 billion. It had to give up a $647 million termination fee it wanted to charge the bankrupt county for ending a wrong-way derivatives swap it sold them. It also gave back $842 million in bonds of a $1.22 billion stinker sewer deal it hoodwinked the county into building, which it helped finance.

The very next month, in July 2013, JPM settled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by paying $410 million when the FERC found the bank manipulated electricity markets in California and the Midwest from 2010 through November 2012.

In September 2013, JPM paid $389 million to settle allegations it charged consumers for credit monitoring services they never got.

At the same time, the banksters at JPM paid $300 million along with insurer Assurant to settle charges it pushed customers into overpriced property insurance for kickbacks from Assurant that it called commissions.

Finally, in September 2013 JPM paid $920 million to the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the OCC, and U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority for covering up the $6 billion loss the London Whale caused the bank. That's the same loss that Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon called a "tempest in a teapot" and a hedge.

October 2013, JPM settled by paying $100 million to the CFTC for its reckless conduct and market manipulation of derivatives connected to the London Whale loss. And of course JPM just settled by paying $2.6 billion for its part in turning a blind eye to Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme.

It's not much for the massively profitable JPMorgan Chase, but these settlements add up to about $8.7 billion over a period of less than four years.

And don't think I'm picking on poor old JPMorgan; it's not alone in its criminal status. Not by any stretch.

I showed you JPMorgan to give you an idea of the scope of mischief. Of course, the other big five leave an ugly trail of settlements that can be tracked online at SNL Financial.

There are just too many to list here.

These are the biggest banks in America...

They are fiduciaries of our money, of America's capital markets, of global commerce...

And I think they are also criminal enterprises.

All this leads to natural questions, like "Where does all that settlement money end up?" and "How do banks account for the payments and restitution they make?"

Stay tuned.

Beer Man: Chocolate, ginger make odd pairing in…

Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.

This week: G-Thing

Magic Hat Brewing Co., South Burlington, Vt.

www.magichat.net

G-Thing is the first dark-malted beer I've had with ginger in it and was surprised by the prominence of malt flavor — not strong, but still apparent. Most ginger beers I've tasted were made with light malts and the ginger flavor easily overshadowed any of the malt.

The ginger in G-Thing is still stronger than the malt, but doesn't cancel it out. However, whether you want a chocolate malt grain flavor with your ginger is another matter. I don't see chocolate ginger candies on the shelves, or hot chocolate with ginger, or, starting from the opposite end, Chinese stir fry with chocolate. You get the drift.

The ginger flavor is fresh and provides a dry finish. It also has a bite to it, but not so much that it becomes bitter or hot. Other areas of the beer were OK, including carbonation, head, body, mouthfeel and lacing, but the overall flavor for me relegated the 5.7% ABV G-Thing to the "that's interesting" category. If you're into ginger, you may find some novelty in the different malts used with G-Thing.

Best Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now

I just don't see ginger as a spice that screams "winter" or "Christmas." Maybe as one ingredient among many, such as clove, nutmeg, allspice, etc., which have been used in a number of Christmas seasonal beers.

Heart of Darkness Stout from Magic Hat is a different matter. Also featuring a 5.7% ABV, its rich chocolate flavor is not marred by spices, but enlightened by excellent dark roast coffee and roasted barley notes. There are hints of raisin and plum that are more typically found in stronger imperial stouts.

The body is creamy with low-to-medium carbonation and while it might be easy to write it off as "imperial stout light," it is refre! shing to have the taste of an imperial in an ale that isn't heavy on the palate or overly alcoholic.

Both G-Thing and Heart of Darkness are in Magic Hat's current Winterland variety 12-pack, which also features No. 9 Not Quite Pale Ale and Encore India Pale Ale. Heart of Darkness is also sold separately. Magic Hat's online Beer Finder link is here.

Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns Click here.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015

Oil prices tumbled as worries about the situation in Syria subsided on Tuesday. Brent crude oil fell to $109.85 at 6:50 GMT on Monday morning as investors gained confidence in a UN program which will destroy Syria's nuclear weapons over the next nine months.

After the US and Russia came to an agreement in which Syria will have a week to turn over its chemical weapons, the threat of military action in the fragile region dissipated. President Obama has said a military strike isn't out of the question if the Syrian government doesn't follow the UN's disarmament plan.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Applied DNA Sciences Inc (APDN)

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., incorporated on September 16, 2002, is a provider of botanical-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) based security and authentication solutions that can help protect products, brands and property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion. SigNature DNA, Cashield, DNANet and BioMaterial Genotyping, its anti-counterfeiting and product authentication solutions, are used in industries, including cash-in-transit (transport and storage of banknotes), homeland security, textiles and apparel, identity cards and other secure documents, law enforcement, pharmaceuticals, wine, and luxury consumer goods. It uses the DNA of plants to manufacture encrypted botanical DNA markers, or SigNature DNA Markers. Cashield is a family of cash degradation inks that stain banknotes stolen from cash-handling or automated teller machine (ATM) systems. Cashield extends its offering beyond its prior singular product, AzSure, to a family of security inks that include Red, Violet, Green, Teal, Indigo, and the original AzSure Blue. It has developed DNANet tactical DNA products for law enforcement, in the form of DNA-marked sprays and liquids. Its BioMaterial GenoTyping solution refers to the development of genetic assays to distinguish between varieties or strains of biomaterials, such as cotton, wool, tobacco, fermented beverages, natural drugs and foods.

SigNature DNA

The Company�� SigNature DNA offering is an authentication systems, while resistant to reverse-engineering or replication, so that it can either be applied independently or supplement existing systems in order to allow for a forensic level of authentication of the sources of a range of items, such as artwork and collectibles, fine wine, consumer products, digital and recording media, pharmaceuticals, financial instruments, identity cards and official documents. Each SigNature DNA Marker is designed and manufactured to be a customized and encrypted botanical DNA marker. It offe! rs rapid readers capable of testing for the presence or absence of any of its SigNature DNA Markers. It offers in-house forensic DNA authentication that confirm authentication sequences in approximately two to four hours. Its SigNature DNA Markers can be embedded onto Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices, banknote threads, labels, serial numbers, holograms and other marking systems using inks, threads and other media. Its SigNature DNA Ink can be applied directly or on a label that is then affixed to the product or item. SigNature DNA Ink can be visible (colored) or invisible. This makes it possible to mark products with a visible, or overt, and/or invisible, or covert, SigNature DNA Marker on any tangible surface, such as a label. SigNature DNA Inks can be used include artwork and collectibles, corporate documents, financial instruments, retail items and pharmaceuticals. Its SigNature DNA Thread, which can consist of any fabric from cotton to wool, is embedded with SigNature DNA Markers and can be used to mark and authenticate products and other items incorporating textiles. SigNature DNA Thread can help textile vendors, clothing and accessory manufacturers and governments authenticate thread, yarn and fabric at any stage in the supply chain. It can also embed its SigNature DNA Markers into raw cotton fiber before manufacture of a finished cotton textile product and authenticate a finished cotton product.

Cashield

Cashield is a range of cash degradation inks that permanently stain banknotes stolen from cash-handling or ATM systems. Cashield extends its offering beyond its prior singular product, AzSure, to a range of security inks that include Red, Violet, Green, Teal, Indigo, and the AzSure Blue.

DNANet

The Company�� DNANet tactical DNA products are for law enforcement, in the form of DNA-marked fixative sprays and liquids, as well as transferable grease. These products marketed to global police forces. DNANet is a tactical forensic syst! em provid! ing DNA codes for covert operations that require absolute proof of authentication. Its FiberTyping offering enables its customers and clients to cost-effectively give assurance to manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and end-users that their products are authentic, that they are made from the fibers and textiles. In a process it calls Pimatyping, it is able to differentiate between Pima cotton grown in different regions globally.

Other Security Devices

The Company�� SigNature DNA Markers can be embedded onto printed barcodes, RFID tags, optical memory strips, holograms, tamper proof labels and other security devices incorporated into products and other items for various security-related purposes. It offers a range of detection options from instant rapid screening to more detailed forensic level authentication Level 1 Spot Test Detection and Level 2 Forensic DNA Authentication.

The Company competes with American Bank Note Holographics, Inc., Applied Optical Technologies, Authentix, ChemTAG, Collectors Universe Inc., Collotype, Data Dot Technology, De La Rue Plc., Digimarc Corp., DNA Technologies, Inc., ID Global, Informium AG, Inksure Technologies, Kodak, L-1 Identity Solutions, Manakoa, Media Sec Technologies, November AG, opSec Security Group plc., SmartWater Technology, Inc., Sun Chemical Corp, Tracetag, Prooftag SAS and Warnex.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Airgas Inc.(ARG)

Airgas, Inc., through its subsidiaries, distributes industrial, medical, and specialty gases, as well as hardgoods in the United States. The company offers various gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, argon, helium, and hydrogen; welding and fuel gases, such as acetylene, propylene, and propane; and carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ultra high purity grades, special application blends, and process chemicals. Its hardgoods products comprise welding consumables and equipment, safety products, and construction supplies, as well as maintenance, repair, and operating supplies. The company also engages in the rental of gas cylinders, cryogenic liquid containers, bulk storage tanks, tube trailers, and welding and welding related equipment. In addition, the company manufactures and distributes liquid carbon dioxide, dry ice, nitrous oxide, ammonia, refrigerant gases, and atmospheric merchant gases. It serves repair and maintenance, industrial manufacturing, energy and infrastructure co nstruction, medical, petrochemical, food and beverage, retail and wholesale, analytical, utilities, and transportation industries. The company operates an integrated network of approximately 1100 locations, including branches, retail stores, packaged gas fill plants, specialty gas labs, production facilities, and distribution centers. Additionally, it provides retail solutions to retail customers, such as florists, grocers, restaurants and bars, tire and automotive service centers, and others. The company markets its products through multiple sales channels, including branch-based sales representatives, retail stores, strategic customer account programs, telesales, catalogs, e-business, and independent distributors. Airgas, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is based in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Airgas (NYSE: ARG) is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $1.22 per share on revenue of $1.28 billion.

  The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.55 per share on revenue of $21.68 billion.

Best Safest Companies To Invest In Right Now: OCI Partners LP (OCIP)

OCI Partners LP, incorporated on February 07, 2013, owns and operates an integrated methanol and ammonia production facility that is strategically located on the Texas Gulf Coast near Beaumont. The Company is a methanol producer in the United States with an annual methanol production capacity of approximately 730,000 metric tons and an annual ammonia production capacity of approximately 265,000 metric tons, and it is in the early stages of a debottlenecking project that increases its annual methanol production capacity by 25% to approximately 912,500 metric tons and its annual ammonia production capacity by 15% to approximately 305,000 metric tons.

Both methanol and ammonia are global commodities that are essential building blocks for numerous end-use products. Methanol is a liquid petrochemical that is used in a variety of industrial and energy-related applications. Methanol is used in industrial applications to produce adhesives used in manufacturing wood products, such as plywood, particle board and laminates, resins to treat paper and plastic products, paint and varnish removers, solvents for the textile industry and polyester fibers for clothing and carpeting. Methanol is also used outside of the United States as a direct fuel for automobile engines, as a fuel blended with gasoline and as an octane booster in reformulated gasoline. In the United States, ammonia is primarily used as a feedstock to produce nitrogen fertilizers, such as urea and ammonium sulfate, and is also directly applied to soil as a fertilizer. In addition, ammonia is widely used in industrial applications, particularly in the Texas Gulf Coast market, including in the production of plastics, synthetic fibers, resins and numerous other chemical compounds.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: Potbelly Corp. (NASDAQ: PBPB) is up 119.1% at $30.68 after a blistering IPO at $14 a share. OCI Partners LP (NYSE: OCIP) is up 5.6% at $19.01 after an IPO at $18.00 a share. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. (NYSE: CHMI) is down 7.6% at $18.48 following its IPO on Friday morning. Discovery Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: DSCO) is up 37.1% at $2.70 following approval of updated specifications for a drug to prevent respiratory distress in premature infants. Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST) is down 9.7% at $5.74 following the sale of $1 billion worth of assets in the Texas panhandle.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  OCI Partners (Nasdaq: OCIP) owns and operates OCI Beaumont, an integrated methanol and ammonia production facility on the Texas Gulf Coast. OCI Beaumont has a methanol production capacity of 730,000 metric tons (MT) per year and an ammonia production capacity of 265,000 MT per year. The facility is in the middle of a debottlenecking project that will increase its annual methanol production capacity by 25 percent and its annual ammonia production capacity by 15 percent.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: OM Group Inc.(OMG)

OM Group, Inc. develops, produces, and markets specialty chemicals, advanced materials, and electrochemical energy storage products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Advanced Materials, Specialty Chemicals, and Battery Technologies. The Advanced Materials segment manufactures inorganic products using unrefined cobalt and other metals and serves the battery materials, powder metallurgy, ceramics, and chemical end markets. It offers cobalt powders, precursors, chemicals, pigments and ceramics, and various raw materials. These products enhance the electrical conduction of rechargeable batteries, as well as strengthen and add durability to diamond and machine cutting tools and drilling equipment. The Specialty Chemicals segment offers electronic chemicals for the printed circuit board, memory disk, general metal finishing, electronic packaging and finishing, and photovoltaic markets. This segment also provides advanced organics comprising additives and driers for paints, and printing inks; rubber adhesion promoters for tires; composite and other catalysts for chemicals; and fuel oil additives, lubricants, and grease additives. In addition, it offers ultra pure chemicals used in the manufacture of electronic and computer components, such as semiconductors, wafers, and liquid crystal displays; and photo-imaging masks, including high-purity quartz or glass plates containing precision, microscopic images of integrated circuits; and reticles for the semiconductor, optoelectronics, and microelectronics industries under the Compugraphics brand name. The Battery Technologies segment provides battery products, primary and secondary batteries, battery management systems, battery chargers, and energetic devices for defense applications; primary and secondary batteries for satellites, aircraft, and the packaging of cells; and miniature batteries to power implantable medical devices. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Cle veland, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  There's no foolproof way to know the future for OM Group (NYSE: OMG  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Friday

  Earnings Expected From: Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), OM Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMG), Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Economic Releases Expected: �US ISM manufacturing index, Canadian manufacturing PMI, British manufacturing PMI, Norwegian unemployment rate

  Posted-In: Bank Of England Federal ReserveNews Eurozone Commodities Previews Global Economics Federal Reserve After-Hours Center Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga

• [By Rich Smith]

  KMG Chemicals (NYSE: KMG  ) is buying OM Group's (NYSE: OMG  ) Ultra Pure Chemicals subsidiaries in the U.S., U.K., Singapore, and perhaps in France as well.

• [By Canadian Value]

  Position % of Fund Assets 1) First American Financial Corp. (FAF) 7.0% 2) Apple, Inc. (AAPL) 6.5% 3) Coinstar, Inc. (CSTR) 4.8% 4) EMC Corp. (EMC) 4.4% 5) Coach, Inc. (COH) 4.4% 6) Kohl's Corp. (KSS) 4.1% 7) Blucora, Inc. (BCOR) 4.0% 8) Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK) 3.1% 9) OM Group, Inc. (OMG) 3.0% 10) American International Group, Inc. (AIG) 2.8% TOTAL 44.1% One area that we believe still offers some value in the market is in high quality, large��ap technology stocks that may be momentarily out��f��avor as they transition from rapid growth to slower growth. In particular, we become interested when that transition is also accompanied by a change in capital allocation policies designed to return more cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. We believe that Apple and EMC are two of the absolute highest quality technology businesses in the world and both have recently announced very material, shareholder��friendly changes to how they will allocate capital.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Linde AG (LING.DE)

Linde AG is a German company engaged in the gases and engineering sector. It operates two divisions: Gases and Engineering, as core divisions, as well as Gist. The Gases Division includes Healthcare, producing medical gases; and Tonnage, as its two global business units; as well as the two business areas Merchant and Packaged Gases, offering liquefied and cylinder gases, and Electronics. The Company�� products are used in the energy sector, for steel production, chemical processing, environmental protection and welding, as well as in food processing, glass production and electronics. The Engineering division offers planning, project development and construction of turnkey industrial plants used in fields, such as petrochemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertilizer plants, to recover air gases, to produce hydrogen and synthesis gases, to treat natural gas, and in the pharmaceutical industry. As of August 13, 2012, the Company acquired Lincare Holdings Inc.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Ashland Inc. (ASH)

Ashland Inc. operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States and internationally. Its Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients segment produces cellulose ethers; and specialty additives and functional ingredients. Its products offer functionality, such as thickening and rheology control; water retention; adhesive strength; binding power; film formation; protective colloid, suspending, and emulsifying action; foam control; and pH stability. The company?s Ashland Hercules Water Technologies segment manufactures papermaking chemicals and supplies specialty chemicals. It offers sizing agents, wet/dry strength additives, and crepe and release additives for tissue manufacturing; and deposit control agents, defoamers, biocides, and other process additives. This segment also provides specialized chemicals and consulting services for the utility water treatment; and performance-based feed and control systems; and monitoring devices and remote system surveillance. Its A shland Performance Materials segment manufactures and supplies specialty chemicals and customized services to the building and construction, transportation, metal casting, packaging and converting, and marine markets. It also offers unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins, and gelcoats; adhesives and specialty resins; and metal casting consumables and design services. The company?s Ashland Consumer Markets segment produces and markets packaged automotive lubricants, chemicals, appearance products, antifreeze, and filters to the private passenger car, light truck, and heavy duty markets. It also operates a quick-lube franchise under the name of Valvoline Instant Oil Change. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in Covington, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Margins matter. The more Ashland (NYSE: ASH  ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Ashland's competitive position could be.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Ashland (NYSE: ASH  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Intrepid Potash Inc (IPI)

Intrepid Potash, Inc.( Intrepid), incorporated on November 19, 2007, is a producer of muriate of potash (potassium chloride or potash) in the United States and are engaged the production and marketing of potash and langbeinite (sulfate of potash magnesia), another mineral containing potassium, magnesium, and sulfate, that is produced from langbeinite ore and as Trio when it refers to sales and marketing. Its Carlsbad assets consist of underground mining operations, which are supported by surface processing facilities. It is also operators of solar solution mining operations, as its Moab and Wendover facilities both utilize these techniques for recovering potash. Its revenues are generated from the sale of potash and Trio. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned five potash production facilities, three in New Mexico and two in Utah. Its two products are potash and langbeinite, which is marketed as Trio.

Potash

The Company derives revenues and gross margin are derived from the production and sales of potash. Its potash is marketed for sale into three primary markets: the agricultural market as a fertilizer, the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, and the animal feed market as a nutrient. Its sales of potash tend to focus on agricultural areas and feed manufacturers in central and western United States, as well as oil and gas drilling areas in the Rocky Mountains and the greater Permian Basin area.

Trio

Trio is marketed into two primary markets, the agricultural market as a fertilizer and the animal feed market as a nutrient. It markets Trio internationally through an exclusive marketing agreement with PCS Sales (USA), Inc. (PCS Sales) for sales outside the United States and Canada and through a non-exclusive agreement for sales into Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CJ Capital Research]

  Potash is an abundant commodity with enough global deposits to last essentially forever. However, Potash deposits that are economically minable are concentrated in only a handful of countries and dominated by a handful of producers like Uralkali, Belaruskali, K+S, Potash Corp , Mosaic (MOS), Agrium (AGU), and Intrepid Potash (IPI).

• [By Tim Gallagher]

  Mosaic (MOS), Agrium (AGU), Intrepid Potash (IPI) and CF Industries (CF) have been moving and trading hand-in-hand, with AGU, BHP and Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (RNF) trading the best, losing the least and rebounding the most since July 30th. IPI has sold off a lot more in the post-news period, as would be expected from a smaller, less established company with mine projects still in development. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) announced plans to proceed with its Jansen Mine Project in Saskatchewan, Canada, potentially tapping the largest and longest-lasting supply in the world known at this time. Scotiabank (BNS) recently commented on Jansen, stating that the added supply "could add the equivalent of 18%-20% of the potash market over recent years." Nearly all of the companies mentioned have had a pretty predictable mix of upgrades and downgrades. That's what makes a market.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  We maintain our Cautious coverage view of Fertilizers, with 5% downside on average to our revised 12-month price targets. Despite recent signs of a price floor emerging, Potash (K) fundamentals remain challenged, in our view, given sustained global over-supply that lead our price forecasts to stay well below 2010-2012 over our forecast period…We downgrade shares of Mosaic to Sell, with 13% downside to our revised 12-month target, as we see an unfavorable risk/reward with shares only 8% below July 2013 levels despite a significantly less favorable K price outlook given our s/d forecasts. We also reiterate our Sell rating on [Intrepid Potash (IPI)], where we continue to see limited FCF generation in 2014- 2016 given our NA K price outlook, even giving [Intrepid Potash] credit for recent cost cutting.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Gains are being seen elsewhere as well, except in shares of The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS). Agrium�Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was up almost 3% at $91.95 in late Monday trading, although this one held up much better in the destructive news phase when the alarming news roiled these stocks. The big winner is Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI), with a gain of 7% to $16.20 in late-Monday trading.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company(DD)

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company operates as a science and technology company worldwide. It operates in seven segments: Agriculture & Nutrition, Electronics & Communications, Performance Chemicals, Performance Coatings, Performance Materials, Safety & Protection, and Pharmaceuticals. The Agriculture & Nutrition segment provides hybrid seed corn and soybean seed, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, value enhanced grains, and soy protein under the Pioneer brand name. The Electronics & Communications segment supplies materials and systems for photovoltaic products, consumer electronics, displays, and advanced printing. The Performance Chemicals segment offers fluorochemicals, fluoropolymers, specialty and industrial chemicals, and white pigments for various markets, such as plastics and coatings, textiles, mining, pulp and paper, water treatment, and healthcare. The Performance Coatings segment supplies high performance liquid and powder coatings for motor vehicle origi nal equipment manufacturers (OEM); the motor vehicle after-market; and general industrial applications, such as such as coatings for heavy equipment, pipes and appliances, and electrical insulation. The Performance Materials segment provides polymers, elastomers, films, parts, and systems and solutions for the automotive OEM and associated after-market industries, as well as electrical, electronics, packaging, construction, oil, photovoltaics, aerospace, chemical processing, and consumer durable goods. The Safety & Protection segment primarily offers nonwovens, aramids, and solid surfaces for the construction, transportation, communications, industrial chemicals, oil and gas, electric utilities, automotive, manufacturing, defense, homeland security, and safety consulting industries. The Pharmaceuticals segment represents its interest in the collaboration relating to Cozaar/Hyzaar antihypertensive drugs. The company was founded in 1802 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Dela ware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But the industry has gone through some major merger and acquisition activity recently. Sherwin-Williams announced last November that it will acquire Mexico's Consorcio Comex for $2.34 billion, giving the company greater geographical and product diversity. That'll be an important source of growth for Sherwin-Williams, as rival PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG  ) recently closed on its $1.05 billion acquisition of Akzo Nobel and its architectural coatings business. Moreover, with DuPont (NYSE: DD  ) having sold off its performance-coatings business, which focuses largely on automotive paint, to private equity firm Carlyle Group, Sherwin-Williams needed to boost its size in order to keep up with its competition.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Linde AG (LNAGF.PK)

Linde AG is a German company engaged in the gases and engineering sector. It operates two divisions: Gases and Engineering, as core divisions, as well as Gist. The Gases Division includes Healthcare, producing medical gases; and Tonnage, as its two global business units; as well as the two business areas Merchant and Packaged Gases, offering liquefied and cylinder gases, and Electronics. The Company�� products are used in the energy sector, for steel production, chemical processing, environmental protection and welding, as well as in food processing, glass production and electronics. The Engineering division offers planning, project development and construction of turnkey industrial plants used in fields, such as petrochemical and chemical industries, in refineries and fertilizer plants, to recover air gases, to produce hydrogen and synthesis gases, to treat natural gas, and in the pharmaceutical industry. As of August 13, 2012, the Company acquired Lincare Holdings Inc.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Zoltek Companies Inc (ZOLT)

Zoltek Companies, Inc. is a holding company, which operates through wholly owned subsidiaries, Zoltek Corporation, Zoltek Zrt., Zoltek de Mexico SA de CV, Zoltek de Occidente SA de CV, Engineering Technology Corporation (Entec Composite Machines), Zoltek Properties, Inc., and Zoltek Automotive, LLC. Zoltek Corporation (Zoltek) develops, manufactures and markets carbon fibers and technical fibers in the United States. The Company is an applied technology and advanced materials company. It commercialization of carbon fiber through composites used in a range of commercial products, which it sells under the Panex trade name. In addition to manufacturing carbon fiber, it produces an intermediate product, a stabilized and oxidized acrylic fiber used in flame- and heat-resistant applications, which it sells under the Pyron trade name. During fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), its net sales to Vestas Wind Systems, a wind turbine manufacturer represented % of its net sales. In October 2011, Zoltek purchased a building in St. Peters, Missouri to house its prepreg operations.

Zoltek Zrt. is a Hungarian subsidiary that manufactures and markets carbon fibers and technical fibers and manufactures acrylic fiber precursor raw material used in production of carbon fibers and technical fibers. Zoltek de Mexico SA de CV and Zoltek de Occidente SA de CV are Mexican subsidiaries that manufacture carbon fiber and precursor raw material. Entec Composite Machines manufactures and markets filament winding and pultrusion equipment used in the production composite parts. The Company�� sales markets are in Europe and the United States. The Company has manufacturing plants in Nyergesujfalu, Hungary, Guadalajara, Mexico, Abilene, Texas and St. Charles, Missouri. Its Texas plant houses carbon fiber manufacturing lines and value-added processing capabilities. Its Missouri plant is engaged in the production of technical fibers for aircraft brake and other friction applications and also produces limited! amounts of carbon fibers. In addition, it has facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah where it designs and builds composite manufacturing equipment and produce resin pre-impregnated carbon fibers, called prepregs. It performs certain downstream processing, such as weaving, knitting, blending with other fibers, chopping and milling and preparation of pre-form, pre-cut stacks of fabric. In addition, its Salt Lake City-based Entec Composite Machines subsidiary designs and builds composite manufacturing equipment and markets the equipment along with manufacturing technology and materials. It also provides composite design and engineering for development of applications for carbon fiber reinforced composites.

The Company competes with Hexcel Corporation, Cytec Industries, Toray Group, Toho Tenax, Mitsubishi Chemical and SGL Carbon.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Toray Industries Inc.(3402.TO), the global market leader in carbon fiber, agreed to buy smaller rival Zoltek Cos.(ZOLT) in a deal valued at $584 million. The Japanese synthetic-fiber maker offered $16.75 a share, a 9.5% discount to Thurday’s close. Zoltek has struggled amid what it has called a cyclical downturn in the wind energy market. Zoltek shares dropped 10% to $16.58 in light premarket trading.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  3. Zoltek (NASDAQ: ZOLT  )
  Zoltek was an interesting investment at the beginning of the year for futurist investors. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of carbon fiber in the world. In fact, its lightweight and high-strength carbon fiber is used almost exclusively in the largest wind turbine blades around the world and played a major role in America's 20-fold improvement in breezy energy capacity since 2000. This material of the future has many other uses and potential uses as well, but Zoltek has never really gained the confidence of the market in any big way: Its market cap was hovering near $300 million at the start of the year.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: PFB Corporation (PFBOF)

PFB Corporation (PFB) is a Canada-based company. The Company, together with its subsidiaries, is engaged in the manufacturing of insulating building products made from expanded polystyrene (EPS) materials and marketing these products in North America. Its main brands include PlastiSpan EPS Product Solutions; Advantage ICFS, Insulspan SIPS, Riverbend Timber Framing and Precision Craft. Expandable polystyrene resin is manufactured at PFB�� polymer plant located in Crossfield, Alberta, for use in downstream EPS manufacturing operations. Plasti-Fab EPS Product Solutions supply the EPS foam core material used to manufacture Insulspan SIPS. Riverbend Timber Framing structures are typically sold with an accompanying Insulspan SIPS enclosure package. Advantage ICF Systems are insulating concrete forming systems that are employed to build insulated foundations and walls from concrete in both residential and commercial markets. On February 1, 2011, the Company acquired Precision Craft Group.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.(POT)

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. produces and sells fertilizers and related industrial and feed products primarily in the United States and Canada. The company mines and produces potash, which is used as fertilizer. It also offers solid and liquid phosphate fertilizers; animal feed supplements; and industrial acids that are used in food products and industrial processes. In addition, the company produces nitrogen fertilizers, as well as nitrogen feed and industrial products, including ammonia, urea, nitrogen solutions, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. Further, it holds the right to mine 785,759 acres of land in Saskatchewan; and 58,263 acres of land in New Brunswick in Canada. The company sells its fertilizers primarily to retailers, dealers, co-operatives, distributors, and other fertilizer producers; industrial products primarily to chemical product manufacturers; and purified phosphoric acid directly to consumers of the product. Potash Corporation was founded i n 1953 and is based in Saskatoon, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniela Pylypczak]

  Morgan Stanley announced on Monday that it has resumed coverage on Potash Corp (POT).

  Morgan Stanley analyst Vincent Andrews stated that the company has assigned the fertilizer stock an “Equal Weight” rating, warning “We remain cautious on the overall potash market, though more because of loose supply/demand fundamentals than because of dynamics in Russia/Belorussia. Potash prices have been moving lower for 8 quarters in a row now (7 of which BPC was fully functioning) and prices were continuing to drift lower in the weeks preceding the BPC break-up (recall Mosaic’s disclosure about lower prices in the Brazilian market on its July 16th earnings call.”

  Potash shares popped 1.55% during Monday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen 21.35%.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT), for instance, lost 16% last year, while Mosaic (MOS) dropped 15%, Intrepid Potash (IPI) plunged 26% and Agrium (AGU) declined 5.9%.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Thursday, PotashCorp (NYSE: POT  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  More importantly, this development means that Mosaic's ability to buy back common shares also remains restricted till November. So the likelihood of a share repurchase this year, which the market was banking on, looks dim. Watch closely for an update in Mosaic's upcoming earnings call. Any hint of a possible buyback this year could boost Mosaic's share price, especially since peer PotashCorp (NYSE: POT  ) has already made clear its intentions of announcing a buyback program before the year ends.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Prospect Global Resources Inc (PGRX)

Prospect Global Resources Inc. (Prospect), incorporated on July 22, 2008, is an exploration and development of a potash deposit located in the Holbrook Basin of eastern Arizona, which it refers to as the Holbrook Project. The Holbrook Project consists of permits and leases on 147 mineral estate sections in the Holbrook Basin of eastern Arizona, along the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau.

The Company holds interest and control the Holbrook Project through its wholly owned subsidiary, AWP. Through AWP, the Company holds potash exploration permits on 38 Arizona state sections, own the mineral rights on eight private sections and hold leases for the mineral rights on 101 private sections which, in total, cover approximately 90,000 acres.

The Holbrook Project

The Company�� Holbrook Project consists of permits and leases on 147 mineral estate sections spanning approximately 90,000 acres in the Holbrook Basin of eastern Arizona. The Holbrook Project is surrounded by the Navajo Reservation to the north and north-east, some Apache and Hopi Reservation grounds to the south, and the Petrified Forest National Park to the west. The Holbrook Basin is a 5,000 square mile kidney-shaped sedimentary basin in east-central Arizona located along the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. The potash beds in the Holbrook Basin are hosted within the Permian Supai Salt Formation. The mineralized zones are located at relatively shallow depths, generally less than 1,600 feet.

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: BASF India Ltd (BASF)

BASF India Limited is a chemical company. The Company�� portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. The Company has six segments: Agricultural Solution, Performance Products, Plastics, Chemicals, Functional Solution and Others. Agricultural Solution includes agrochemicals. Agricultural Solution is seasonal in nature. Performance Products include tanning agents, leather chemicals, textile chemicals, dispersion chemicals, specialty chemicals and high-value fine chemicals. Its performance products are used in the food, pharmaceuticals, animal feed and cosmetics industries. Plastics include expandable polystyrene (EPS), engineering plastics and polyurethanes. Chemicals include inorganic chemicals, intermediates and petrochemicals. Functional Solution includes catalysts, coatings and construction chemicals. Others include technical and service charges.