Best Undervalued Companies To Own For 2014

New York, New York, July 29, 2013 ��Carl C. Icahn and his affiliates today issued the following open letter to stockholders of Dell Inc.

Dear Fellow Dell Stockholders:

In their Merger Agreement, Michael Dell/Silver Lake agreed with the Dell Board that they would purchase Dell if, and only if, a majority of the outstanding shares held by unaffiliated stockholders voted in favor of the transaction. In that Merger Agreement, the Dell Board agreed with Michael Dell/Silver Lake that none of the current stockholders would be allowed to own shares in the newly formed company ��they would be frozen out. Further, the Dell Board agreed, wrongly in my opinion, to let Michael Dell/Silver Lake purchase the stock at what I view is a very undervalued price.

Even though the Dell Board and Michael Dell/Silver Lake agreed that a majority of the outstanding stock held by unaffiliated stockholders would be required to approve the transaction, and even made that provision of the Merger Agreement non-waivable, this required vote has not been achieved. Reports have indicated, and it is clearly the case, that Michael Dell/Silver Lake did not have sufficient stockholder support at either the July 18 or July 24 meetings.

Best Managed Healthcare Companies To Buy Right Now: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Deep discounter Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) announced today that its current chief operating officer, Gary Philbin, will now also carry the title of president, a position previously held by company CEO Bob Sasser.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Richard Levine/Alamy These aren't the best of times for discount retailers, but it certainly seems as if Family Dollar (FDO) has become the belle of the marked-down ball. Two chains catering to thrifty-minded shoppers have entered into an unlikely bidding war for Family Dollar, and it's shaping up to be a bit more interesting than your typical love triangle between three retailers with the name "Dollar" in their monikers. The story began late last month when Family Dollar announced that it would be acquired by Dollar Tree (DLTR) in an $8.5 billion transaction. It seemed like a simple enough transaction. Dollar Tree would be paying a reasonable 22 percent premium for Family Dollar. The deal would create a discounting behemoth with 13,000 stores across North America. The combined companies would eventually result in trimming $300 million in annual overhead. It seemed like a great way out for frustrated Family Dollar shareholders. The deep discounter had missed Wall Street's profit targets for three consecutive quarters. Analysts see declining profitability on flat sales for its fiscal year that ends this week. It seemed as if Dollar Tree would have Family Dollar all to itself, but then it got some unexpected company. Turning Down a Fistful of Dollars Dollar General (DG) stepped into the picture last week, offering to pay even more for Family Dollar. It offered an all-cash deal valued closer to $9 billion. The deal seemed to be clearly superior on the surface, but Family Dollar's board shot it down. This wouldn't be the first time that a board sided with a friendly buyout offer to a higher hostile one. Arranged deals often mean cushier positions for the acquired company. However, there was a method to the board's madness this time. Family Dollar declined Dollar General's offer because it felt that antitrust regulators wouldn't let that particular buyout go through. Dollar General rings up more than twice as much in sales as Dollar Tree. The bigger the riv

Best Undervalued Companies To Own For 2014: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By P.I.A.]

  This Libra story only involves one location out of several around the globe that are favorable to offshore drillers. Some say the industry itself is poised to outperform. The Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (OIH) could make sense to investors. The fund tracks 25 international companies, with Schlumberger Ltd (SLB) comprising 20.6% of its holdings, compared to 4.3% SDRL. Even with the heavy weighting toward SLB, diversification provides safety.

• [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]

  Many oil and natural gas service companies called the fourth quarter of 2012 a trough in the North American market. By all accounts so far during this reporting period, that appears to be especially prescient. International heavyweights Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) both witnessed signs that a second half turnaround us likely upon them and the industry as a whole.

• [By David Smith]

  Another angle
  Without taking hindsight issue with that statement, I'm forced to compare it to the assessment of the same subject on the same day by Schlumberger's (NYSE: SLB  ) CEO Paal Kibsgaard, who observed during his company's call that "... the main concern in North America land remains the pricing, where the downwards trend in drilling, wireline, and coiled tubing seen in the fourth quarter continued in Q1. In addition, we also saw further downward pricing pressure on a number of hydraulic fracturing bids during the quarter, adding further uncertainty to the North America land market outlook."�

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Halliburton's share-price gains began early in the quarter after the company reported its first-quarter results. Although the company took a massive $637 million charge related to the 2010 Gulf disaster, Halliburton managed to hold its own on the domestic front in a weak environment. Internationally, the company cleaned up, with sales rising 21% and at more than twice that rate in the Eastern Hemisphere. But, perhaps most importantly, Halliburton looked favorably on the near-future for domestic drilling, noting gains in margins, and some pricing power expected to enhance profitability from rising well production. That's consistent with the results we saw from Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) this morning, as the industry leader beat earnings expectations with a nearly 50% jump in its net profits, coming largely from overseas activity, but also posting a 2% revenue increase in North America.

Best Undervalued Companies To Own For 2014: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Other anomalies include Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) falling 7% on slow investments in global infrastructure construction. Thanks to the CAT's large share price, this move dragged the Dow down by 47 points. For a sense of scale, that's more than the 40 points that Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) brought to the table -- with a huge 27% move to the upside. Cisco's long-term vision of dominance across the data center is finally coming together and the market is responding strongly. But like I said, this 27% jump makes less of a difference to the Dow than Caterpillar's much smaller 7% move.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) has increased its common stock dividend to $0.60 per share, the company announced Wednesday, to be paid Aug. 20 to shareholders of record as of July 22.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On one hand, the obvious negative news for the Dow came from Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) , which announced lower profit, reduced capital expenditures, and guidance for future earnings that came in at the lower end of its previous range. In particular, mining-equipment sales were a sore spot for the company, as falling prices for commodities have left miners in a much more precarious financial position that won't support as many large equipment purchases. Yet with all the news from China and elsewhere in recent months pointing toward a slowdown in industrial activity, Caterpillar's news wasn't surprising, even though the stock dropped nearly 1% after initially posting gains near the open.

Best Undervalued Companies To Own For 2014: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Berr]

  Multilevel marketing (MLM) groups such as Herbalife operate through independent sales representatives, who earn money both through the sales of product and by recruiting other people to join their team. This business model — which is used by scores of companies, including�Pampered Chef, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tupperware (TUP) and Mary Kay Cosmetics — is legal provided that actual products are sold.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Herbalife have gained 0.9% to $79.51 this morning in pre-open trading. Its shares have gained 139% this year, a nice gain, but lagging Nu Skin Enterprises 271% rise. Avon Products�(AVP), another multi-level marketer, has gained 21% so far this year, while Tupperware Brands�(TUP) has risen 49%.

• [By John Kell]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Dow Chemical Co.(DOW), Tupperware Brands Corp.(TUP) and Yahoo Inc.(YHOO)

Top 5 Long Term Stocks To Watch Right Now

Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble. (the three witches chanting)
Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1

Triple witching hour refers to the quarterly expiration of index futures, index future options and stock options on the third Friday of March, June, September and December.� This can, and often does, make for some chaotic trading as the large trading houses and hedge funds either close out their inter-related positions or roll them over to the next month. It is less messy than it used to be as the closing out is spread over the entire week and not done all on Friday as in years past. Still, it can make for some violent price swings this week. While not of much concern to the long term investor, the active trader needs to be extra cautious. This is why I recommend that all but the most experienced options traders unwind their positions by Thursday before expiration at the latest.

Combine this with the (soon to be outgoing) Fed chair speaking on Wednesday and the elections in Germany this Sunday and we have all the ingredients for a very volatile market.

Which is why it surprises me that the implied volatility indicator, VIX, is just around 14. That seems low to me given all the uncertainty as the market retests new highs. Hey, in June it was well over 20.

This tells me two things: One, buying a potential move in the stock market (straddles, strangles, etc) is a cheap speculative trade. And, two, if you want to hang on to your stock portfolio even as we're at sky high levels you can buy relatively cheap downside protection in the form of out of the money puts.

Actually, there's a third thing: Being net short option premium at these low levels with the three witches stirring the pot is a bad risk vs reward trade.

�

The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Invest In Right Now: Excel Trust Inc (EXL)

Excel Trust, Inc., incorporated on December 15, 2009, is a vertically integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company�� principal objective is to acquire, finance, develop, lease, own and manage value-oriented community and power centers, grocery anchored neighborhood centers and freestanding retail properties. The Company conducts all of its business through Excel Trust, L.P., a limited partnership, or its operating partnership. The Company operates through three reportable business segments: retail properties, multi-family properties and office properties. The multi-family segment consists of apartment units at one retail property, West Broad Village, which is located in Richmond, Virginia. The office segment consists of two properties, Excel Centre, a portion of which is utilized as its headquarters, and the Promenade Corporate Center. The Company is the sole general partner of its operating partnership. Excel Trust leases its properties to national and regional supermarket chains, big-box retailers and select national retailers that offer necessity and value oriented items and generate regular consumer traffic. In October 2012, the Company acquired six shopping centers. On January 24, 2013, the Company completed the acquisition of Tracy Pavilion, a retail shopping center with approximately 162,000 square feet of gross leasable area located in Tracy, California. In September 2013, the Company announced the sale of Grant Creek Town Center.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned a portfolio consisting of 30 retail properties totaling approximately 5.1 million square feet of gross leasable area, which were approximately 93.4% leased. The Company owns two commercial office properties, Excel Center, a portion of which is utilized as its corporate headquarters, and the Promenade Corporate Center. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had ownership interests in two unconsolidated retail properties totaling 225,113 square feet of gross leasable! area, which were approximately 65.5% leased.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Commercial and retail property owner-operator and real estate investment trust Excel Trust (EXL) raised its quarterly dividend 3% to 17.5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31.
  EXL Dividend Yield: 6.04%
  

Top 5 Long Term Stocks To Watch Right Now: ViroPharma Incorporated(VPHM)

ViroPharma Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes therapeutic products that address serious diseases in the United States and internationally. It focuses on developing products used by physician specialists or in hospital settings. The company markets and sells Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor therapy for the routine prophylaxis against angioedema attacks in adolescent and adult patients with hereditary angioedema, a life-threatening genetic disorder; and Vancocin HCl capsule, an oral capsule formulation for the treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and to treat enterocolitis caused by staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains. It also offers Plenadren, an orphan drug for treatment of adrenal insufficiency in adults; Buccolam, a oromucosal solution for treatment of prolonged, acute, and convulsive seizures in infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents; and maribavir, an antiviral compound for the treatment o f CMV disease through a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. The company?s primary development programs include Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor for management of hereditary angioedema; and VP 20621, a non-toxigenic strain of C. difficile. Its clinical stage drug candidate comprises VP-20629 for the treatment of Friedreich?s Ataxia. The company sells its products directly to wholesale drug distributors and specialty pharmacies/distributors. ViroPharma Incorporated was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap orphan drug stocks Zalicus Inc (NASDAQ: ZLCS), Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) and Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ: VPHM) have been active lately thanks to good news about their orphan drug treatments. In case you aren�� familiar with the term, orphan drug designation by the FDA is granted for drugs targeting conditions affecting 200,000 or fewer US patients annually that are expected to provide significant therapeutic advantage over existing treatments. The designation will also qualify companies for benefits across all stages of drug development, such as�accelerated approval processes, seven years of market exclusivity�after marketing approval, tax credits on�any US�clinical trials, grants and waiver of certain administrative fees.

• [By Sara Sjolin]

  Shares of Shire (UK:SHP) �climbed 0.9% after the drug maker said it is buying rare-disease company ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) �for $4.2 billion, or $50 a share. ViroPharma jumped 25% in the U.S.

Top 5 Long Term Stocks To Watch Right Now: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF)

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (Lionsgate), incorporated on April 28, 1997, is an entertainment company with a presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales. During fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 ( fiscal 2012), Lionsgate released 14 motion pictures theatrically, which included films developed and produced in-house, films co-developed and co-produced and films acquired from third parties. In December 2011, the Company formed a partnership with Saban Capital Group, Inc (SCG) and Celestial Pictures to create Celestial Tiger Entertainment Limited (Celestial Tiger Entertainment), a media company dedicated to entertaining audiences in Asia and beyond. In January 2012, the Company acquired 16 % interest in Celestial Tiger Entertainment. On January 13, 2012, the Company acquired Summit Entertainment, LLC (Summit), an independent global theatrical motion picture development, production, and distribution studio. In February 2012, Tele Munchen Group acquired rights to Charlie Sheen Sitcom ANGER MANAGEMENT for Germany, Austria and German speaking Switzerland from the Company�� international television division. Effective March 26, 2013, CBS Corp acquired 50% interest in The TV Guide Network from the Company. In June 2013, CBS Corp acquired TV Guide Digital, which includes the popular TVGuide.com and TV Guide Mobile properties from the Company.

The Company�� television business consists of the development, production, syndication and distribution of television productions. As of March 31, 2012, it produced and syndicated 19 television shows, which air on 14 networks and distribute over 200 series globally. It distributes its library of approximately 13,000 motion picture titles and television episodes and programs directly to retailers, rental kiosks, through various digital media platforms, and pay and free television c! hannels in the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and indirectly to other international markets through its subsidiaries and various third parties. It also distributes product through Celestial Tiger Entertainment, its joint venture with SCG and Celestial Pictures, a company wholly owned by Celestial Pictures; Horror Entertainment, LLC (FEARnet), its joint venture with Sony Pictures Television Inc. (Sony) and Comcast Corporation (Comcast); Studio 3 Partners LLC (EPIX), its joint venture with Viacom Inc. (Viacom), its Paramount Pictures unit (Paramount Pictures) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), and TV Guide Network, TV Guide Network On Demand and TV Guide Online (www.tvguide.com) (collectively, TV Guide Network), its joint ventures with One Equity Partners (OEP), the global private equity investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Production

The Company takes a disciplined approach to film production with the goal of producing content, which it can distribute to theatrical and ancillary markets, which include home entertainment, pay and free television, on-demand services and digital media platforms, both domestically and internationally. During fiscal 2012, it produced, participated in the production of, completed or substantially completed principal photography of motion pictures, which included Good Deeds, The Hunger Games, What To Expect When You're Expecting, Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection, Step Up Revolution, The Possession, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, The Last Stand, Warm Bodies, Now You See Me, Tyler Perry's The Marriage Counselor, Tyler Perry's We The Peoples and Nurse 3D.

The Company�� television business consists of the development, production, syndication and distribution of television programs. It licenses its television productions to the domestic cable, free and pay television markets, as well as through various digital platforms. During fiscal 2012, it produced 19 televi! sion show! s, aired original programming on 14 networks and distributed over 200 series globally. Domestic television programming includes one-hour and half-hour scripted and reality programming. During fiscal 2012, it produced the episodes of domestic television programming 13 episodes of the fifth season of the series Mad Men,; 13 episodes of the seventh season of Weeds, a half-hour comedy for Showtime; 10 episodes of the fourth season of Nurse Jackie, a half-hour comedy for Showtime; 13 episodes of the third season of Blue Mountain State, a half-hour comedy for Spike TV; and eight episodes of the first season of Boss, a one-hour drama for Starz.

The Company is engaged in the development, acquisition, production and distribution of animation projects for full theatrical release, television and digital versatile disk (DVD) release. Its direct-to-video animated movies with Marvel include Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2, The Invincible Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Hulk vs. Thor/ Wolverine, Planet Hulk and Thor, Tales of Asgard. Its music department oversees music for its theatrical and television slates, as well as the music needs of other areas within its company. Its publishing revenue derives from performance royalties generated by the theatrical exhibition of its films and the television broadcast of its productions. Music released for its theatrical slate includes overseeing songs, scores and soundtracks for all of its productions, co-productions and acquisitions. During fiscal 2012, through its label partner Universal Republic, it released the soundtrack The Hunger Games Songs from District 12 and Beyond. In addition, it released through Universal Republic the score album, The Hunger Games: Music from the Motion Picture, by composer James Newton Howard. During fiscal 2012, it released Music Videos And Performances From The Twilight Saga Soundtracks: Volume 1, a collection of music videos and live performances from bands featured on the soundtracks from the ! first thr! ee Twilight films. In November 2011, it also released the first single from The Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn - Part 1, It Will Rain, by Bruno Mars. During fiscal 2012, it also released soundtracks to One For The Money (Lakeshore Records), Abduction (Epic Records), Warrior (Lakeshore Records), Conan The Barbarian 3D (Warner Brothers Records) and The Devil's Double (Lakeshore Records).

Music released for the Company�� television slate includes overseeing songs, scores and soundtracks for all of its television productions. During fiscal 2012, it released Zou Bisou Bisou, a vinyl single and accompanying digital download derived from Jessica Pare's (Megan Draper) on-screen performance in the first episode of season 5 of Mad Men. In addition, in collaboration with FEARnet.com, it released an original soundtrack forFriday the 13th and for Boss, which featured a collaboration of Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down between Robert Plant and Bosscomposer Brian Reitzell, yielding the show's evocative main title theme.

Distribution

The Company distributes motion pictures directly to the United States movie theaters. It constructs release schedules taking into account moviegoer attendance patterns and competition from other studios' scheduled theatrical releases. During fiscal 2012, Lionsgate released 14 motion pictures theatrically, which included films developed and produced in-house, films co-developed and co-produced and films acquired from third parties. During fiscal 2012, Summit released eight motion pictures theatrically, which included films developed and produced in-house, films co-developed and co-produced and films acquired from third parties. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Mandate Pictures LLC (Mandate Pictures), is a full-service production and financing company.

During fiscal 2012, Mandate Pictures' financed and produced pictures released included 50/50, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and Young Adult. 50/50 was released by Summit in September 2011! . Young A! dult is written by Diablo Cody and released by Paramount Pictures in December 2011. A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in November 2011. During fiscal 2012, Mandate Pictures also financed and produced the Untitled Diablo Cody project starring Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Octavia Spencer and Holly Hunter. As of March 31, 2011, Mandate Pictures' production and development slate included a comedy written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (working title End Of The World). Mandate Pictures also maintains a partnership with Ghost House Pictures as a production label dedicated to the financing, development and production of films in the horror/thriller genre. Under this partnership, Mandate Pictures has produced 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, Drag Me To Hell, 30 Days of Night, The Grudge I and II, The Messengers and Boogeyman.

The primary components of the Company�� international business are, on a territory by territory basis through third parties or directly through its international divisions: the licensing and sale of rights in all media of its in-house product; the licensing and sale of third party product on an agency basis; the licensing of rights in all media of the in-house Summit product on an output basis; the licensing and sale of in-house catalog product or libraries of acquired titles (such as those of Miramax, Artisan Entertainment and Modern Times Group), and direct distribution. The Company sells or licenses rights in all media on a territory by territory basis (other than the territories where Lionsgate and/or Summit self-distribute) of its in-house Lionsgate and Summit product, as well as titles from Mandate Pictures and Ghost House Pictures; its catalog product or libraries of acquired titles, and product produced by third parties, such as Alcon Entertainment, Vendome Pictures, River Road Entertainment, CBS Films, Relativity Media and other independent producers.

During fiscal 2012, the Company�� output deals f! or Summit! product covered nine territories, including new output deals for Australia/New Zealand, Spain, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe, as well as output deals in Canada, France, Germany/Austria, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom. It generates revenue through a sales agency business for third party product. Films sold by it include such in-house productions as What to Expect When You're Expecting, Hope Springs and Now You See Me. Third party films sold by includes Beautiful Creatures and The Railway Man. During fiscal 2012, its sales had record-breaking international box office results with releases, including The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Immortals, and The Hunger Games.

The Company self-distributes motion pictures (excluding Summit releases) in the United Kingdom and Ireland through its subsidiary, Lions Gate UK Limited (Lionsgate UK). During fiscal 2012, Lionsgate UK's theatrical slate included such titles, such as Warrior, Abduction, 50/50, Ralph Fiennes' British Academy of Film and Television Arts Nominated directorial debut, Coriolanus, David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, and The Hunger Games. In May 2011, Lionsgate UK announced that it was co-financing and co-producing a new contemporary sci-fi adventure project The Fallen, and in November 2011, the production of Keith Lemon: The Film, a comedy with Celebrity Juice's host and international ladies' man Keith Lemon. In November 2011, Lionsgate UK also announced a multi-year partnership with Icon Film Distribution for release of theatrical titles moving forward.

Home entertainment distribution includes distribution of product to the home entertainment market, including home video, DVD, Blu-ray, video-on-demand (VOD) and digital/electronic distribution. During fiscal 2011 calendar year, Blu-ray represented 19% of new released packaged media revenue from its theatrical releases. It distributes or sells its titles directly to merchandisers, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Best Buy, Target and Cos! tco, and ! others who buy its DVDs and Blu-ray discs to sell directly to consumers. During 2012, sales to Wal-Mart accounted for approximately 38% of net home entertainment packaged media revenue. It also directly distributes its titles to the rental market through Netflix, Redbox, Blockbuster and Rentrak. In addition to its theatrical releases each year, it also acquires and distributes approximately 70 titles annually that have commercial potential in video and ancillary markets, and approximately 50 digital only titles. It also distributes television product on video, including seasons one through five of Mad Men, seasons one through eight of Weeds, seasons one through four of Nurse Jackie, the first season of Boss, certain Saturday Night Live product in its library, seasons one through three of Blue Mountain State, the entire catalog of the comedy series Moonlighting, the entire catalog of the comedy series Will and Grace, the entire catalog of Little House on the Prairie and certain Disney-ABC Domestic Television series. During fiscal 2012, it also released several direct-to-video titles, including two Tyler Perry titles, Tyler Perry's Laugh to Keep from Crying and A Madea Christmas: The Play, and Set Up. Its fitness lineup includes series, such as Denise Austin, Jillian Michaels, The Biggest Loser and Dancing With The Stars, as well as titles from Billy Blanks Jr., and Jane Fonda. During fiscal 2012, it released on DVD the theatrical release of Madea's Big Happy Family, as well as the direct-to-video releases Tyler Perry's Laugh to Keep from Crying and A Madea Christmas: The Play. Its domestic family entertainment division is a distributor of children's product.

The Company syndicates television programming through its subsidiary, Debmar-Mercury. In fiscal 2012, Debmar-Mercury distributed approximately 1,100 hours and produced approximately 550 episodes of television programming. In fiscal 2013, Debmar-Mercury intends to distribute approximately 1,200 hours and produce approximately 550 episode! s of tele! vision programming. Debmar-Mercury produces and distributes The Wendy Williams Show, distributes the ITV Studios America produced The Jeremy Kyle Show, distributes Tyler Perry's House of Payne and its spinoff, Meet the Browns, and Revolution Studios' produced Are We There Yet, which will air simultaneously in broadcast syndication and on TBS starting in the fall of 2012. Debmar-Mercury also distributes the strips Hell's Kitchen, South Park, True Hollywood Story and Family Feud, which has had first run syndication and has been sold to various television stations through the fall of 2015. Debmar-Mercury continues to distribute a movie library featuring Lionsgate titles, as well as those from Revolution Studios. In July 2011, Debmar-Mercury announced that the first eight seasons of Hell's Kitchen, produced by ITV Studios America, will be exclusively available on the Hulu Plus subscription service beginning immediately, while current episodes from season nine and a rotating selection of library episodes will also be available on the free, ad-supported Hulu service. In April 2011, Debmar-Mercury announced that TBS ordered ten episodes of the new series Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse, a sitcom based on Tyler Perry's hit film Why Did I Get Married?. The series launched in November 2011. In February 2012, Debmar-Mercury received an order from TBS for an additional 35 episodes of the new series. Overall, 439 episodes of Debmar-Mercury's syndicated sitcoms with Tyler Perry have been ordered to-date.

In July 2011, the Company announced that FX had ordered Charlie Sheen's Anger Management. It has more than 1,000 titles in active distribution in the domestic cable, free and pay television markets. Pay television rights include rights granted to cable, direct broadcast satellite and other services paid for by subscribers. It sells its library titles and new product to major cable channels, such as pay networks, including EPIX, HBO, Starz and Showtime, as well as basic cable channels, including USA Net! work, FX,! Turner Networks, BET, ABC Family, SyFy, Lifetime, MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, AMC Networks, OWN, Reelz, Telemundo and Telefutura. It also directly distributes pay-per-view and VOD to cable, satellite and Internet providers, such as Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications, through iN Demand, Charter Communications, AT&T Uverse and Verizon FIOS through Avail-TVN, Cablevision, DirecTV and DISH Network. During fiscal 2012, it completed multi-year licensing agreements with Starz (for greater than 500 titles) and Showtime (for greater than 250 titles). In addition, it continues to distribute its library of motion picture titles and television episodes and programs through EPIX, its joint venture with Viacom, Paramount Pictures and MGM.

The Company delivers content through a range of digital media platforms. It distributes first run theatrical films, television series, its movie library, third party product and product not available on DVD to distribution outlets, including iTunes, Amazon, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's Playstation Network, Netflix, Best Buy/CinemaNow, Hulu, YouTube, and Wal-Mart/Vudu. Through its partnership with EPIX, it offers product through the Internet and to multiple devices for consumption anytime/anywhere by EPIX subscribers. EPIX has subscription pay television rights to new releases and movies from the libraries of its partners and makes these movies available to Netflix 90 days after their premium pay television and subscription on demand debuts. In addition, its licensing relationship with Netflix continues. In April 2011, it announced a multiyear syndication deal with Netflix pursuant to which it licensed the first four seasons of Mad Men to be watched instantly by Netflix members beginning July 2011, with additional seasons being added annually after they air on their respective seasons on the AMC network.

The Company operates FEARnet, a branded multiplatform programming and content service provider of horror genre films, in connection with partners Comca! st and So! ny, and owns an interest in Break Media, a viral marketing company that creates new opportunities for showcasing the feature films and television programming. In addition, it has partnered with YouTube to create branded Lionsgate channels, which enable the Company to post full length films and television episodes and to post promotional scenes from its film and television libraries. In addition to sharing advertising revenue from the channel, a banner on the page leads to its online shop, where the films and shows highlighted in the promotional scenes are available for purchase as DVDs or Blu-ray discs in digital form.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers]

  Marvel, meanwhile, has plenty of characters that could star in a darker comic-book film. The Punisher is an obvious choice, Tim says, though Lions Gate's (NYSE: LGF  ) two tries with films based on the vigilante did poorly enough that the studio returned the movie rights to Disney.

Top 5 Long Term Stocks To Watch Right Now: Intellicell Biosciences Inc (SVFC)

Intellicell Biosciences, Inc., formerly Media Exchange Group, Inc., incorporated on March 8, 1999, is engaged in regenerative medicine company focused on the expanding regenerative medical markets using a process to separate adult autologous vascular cells (AAVC's) from blood vessels in adult adipose (fat) tissue. The Company is also exploring and undertaking, either on its own or in collaboration with a third party, providing a service for the collection, processing and storage of autologous cells for future use. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has developed technologies that allow reproducible separation of stromal vascular fraction (IntelliCell) containing adipose stem cells that can be performed in tissue processing centers and in doctors��offices. On June 3, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of Intellicell Biosciences, Inc. The Company formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, ICBS Research, Inc.

The Company's process involves the application of ultrasonic cavitation (sound waves) to the extracted adipose tissue, which results in the separation AAVC's from the blood vessels in adult adipose (fat) tissue. This AAVC, or stromal vascular fraction (IntelliCells), are removed from the patient at the point of care, and separated at the point of care under the supervision of its certified technicians following current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) and current good tissue practices (cGTPs), and the cells are then returned to the medical professionals at the point of care for use a patient's own body (autologous treatment), by way of a same-day clinical procedure for homologous use of these cells.

Intellicell Biosciences, Inc., formerly Media Exchange Group, Inc., incorporated on March 8, 1999, is engaged in regenerative medicine company focused on the expanding regenerative medical markets using a process to separate adult autologous vascular cells (AAVC's) from blood vessels in adult adipose (fat) tissue. The Company is also exploring and undertaking, either on ! its own or in collaboration with a third party, providing a service for the collection, processing and storage of autologous cells for future use. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has developed technologies that allow reproducible separation of stromal vascular fraction (IntelliCell) containing adipose stem cells that can be performed in tissue processing centers and in doctors��offices. On June 3, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of Intellicell Biosciences, Inc. The Company formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, ICBS Research, Inc.

The Company's process involves the application of ultrasonic cavitation (sound waves) to the extracted adipose tissue, which results in the separation AAVC's from the blood vessels in adult adipose (fat) tissue. This AAVC, or stromal vascular fraction (IntelliCells), are removed from the patient at the point of care, and separated at the point of care under the supervision of its certified technicians following current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) and current good tissue practices (cGTPs), and the cells are then returned to the medical professionals at the point of care for use a patient's own body (autologous treatment), by way of a same-day clinical procedure for homologous use of these cells.

The Company competes with Cytori Therapeutics, Stem Cell Assurance, Inc., Osiris, Aastrom Biosciences, Aldagen, BioTime, Baxter International, Celgene, Geron, Harvest Technologies, Mesoblast, Regenexx, NeoStem, X-Cell Center, Stem Cells, Athersys, and Tissue Genesis, Life Technologies, Asterand, pacific biosciences of california inc. and AllCells, LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  To say that shares of IntelliCell BioSciences, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SVFC) has been disappointing since 2011 would be an understatement. SVFC has been an outright disaster since 2011, falling from a peak of $19.00 to a low of, well, just a few pennies as of late last year. In fact, there are those who are understandably wondering how the company is still alive, only producing about a half a million dollars in revenue in 2012, and then dialing that figure back down to nothing for the last few quarters. Yet, there's just something about a company that refuses to go away.... something compelling now.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Well, though I give myself a C for timing, it looks like I'm going to be able to give myself an A for stock-picking. Back on January 27th I deemed IntelliCell BioSciences, Inc. (OTCMKTS:SVFC) was a compelling buy, and though SVFC was stagnant for a month after that, it looks like the stock's finally getting on its horse. If you didn't get it then, you may want to get in now.

Best Paper Stocks To Own Right Now

Best Paper Stocks To Own Right Now: UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM1V)

UPM-Kymmene Corporation is a Finland-based paper and forest products company. The Company operates, along with its subsidiaries, in three segments: the Energy and Pulp segment is divided into three units: Energy, which includes the Company's hydropower plant and shares in energy companies; Pulp, which includes the Company's pulp mills, and Foster and Timber, which includes forests, wood procurement, sawmills and further processing; the Paper segment includes the Company's paper mills, producing magazine paper, newsprint, fine papers, and specialty papers, and the Engineered materials segment is structured into two units: Label, which includes label-stock factories and slitting, and distribution terminals, and Plywood, which includes plywood mills. The Company's other operations include the wood plastic composite unit, development units and logistic services. On October 2, 2013, it completed the sale of the wood processing mill in Aigrefeuille d'Aunis, to Groupe FP Boi s. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  UPM-Kymmene Oyj (UPM1V) fell 3.9 percent to 12.18 euros. UBS AG lowered Europe's second-largest papermaker to sell from neutral. The brokerage said that demand for the company's product will not recover in Europe and that the industry will probably reduce its capacity next year.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  UPM-Kymmene (UPM1V), a rival maker of paper, dropped 1.9 percent to 10.23 euros.

  Aryzta surged 4 percent to 60.45 Swiss francs, the biggest gain since March 28. The owner of bakery brands including Delice de France and Otis Spunkmeyer posted full-year revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion), beating analysts' estimates of 4.43 billion euros. The company also forecast a double-digit percentage gain in 2014 earnings.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-paper-stocks-to-own-right-now-2.html

5 Best Gas Utility Stocks To Own For 2014

Popular Posts: 8 “Triple A” Stocks to Buy5 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now17 Oil and Gas Stocks to Sell Now Recent Posts: 5 Stocks With Crummy Earnings Growth ��KWK GNK SOL CRK LM 5 Stocks With Bad Cash Flow ��KWK STP ATPG EDN AONE 5 Stocks With Strong Cash Flow ��KT XIN ZA MIL GSL View All Posts

This week, these five stocks have the worst ratings in Earnings Growth, one of the eight Fundamental Categories on Portfolio Grader.

Quicksilver Resources () is involved in the acquisition, development, exploration, production, and sale of natural gas and crude oil. KWK also gets F’s in Earnings Momentum, Cash Flow, Operating Margin Growth and Sales Growth. Shares of the stock have declined 14.7% since January 1. This is worse than the S&P 500, which has seen a 12.1% increase over the same period. .

Hot Railroad Stocks To Own For 2015: Guggenheim S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG)

Rydex S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the S&P 500/Citigroup Pure Growth Index (the Index). The S Index is narrow in focus, containing only those S&P 500 companies with strong growth characteristics as selected by Standard & Poor��. The Index contains approximately one-third of the equities of the S&P 500 Index.

The Fund uses a passive management strategy to track the performance of the Index. The Fund invests in substantially all of the securities in the Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Index. The Fund's investment advisor is Rydex Investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

5 Best Gas Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Investors Bancorp Inc.(ISBC)

Investors Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Investors Savings Bank that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company accepts deposits and originates loans. Its deposit products include savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company offers commercial real estate, construction, multi-family, and commercial and industrial loans; and consumer loans, including home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, as well as mortgage loans secured by one-to four-family residential real estate. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 82 full-service branch offices located in Essex, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Union, and Warren Counties, New Jersey; Nassau and Queens, New York; and Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey. Investors Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Investors Bancorp, MHC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Royal]

  I'm about to buy shares in Investors Bancorp (NASDAQ: ISBC  ) , a soon-to-demutualize thrift that is undervalued. The thrift has quickly grown assets since it went public in 2005 and, with improving credit metrics and a solid return on equity, the bank is ready to make the final leap to full public ownership. So my Special Situations portfolio will acquire shares shortly. Here's why I like the stock.

• [By Tim Melvin]

  He also pointed out that the approaching completion of Roma Financial (ROMA) and Investors Bancorp (ISBC) has some interesting implications for bank stock investors. Both are mutual holding companies, and the newly formed bank is expected to complete the process and do a second-step conversion offering. That will be a fairly large deal, much larger than most second-step offerings, as the combined banks should be somewhere around $3 billion in market cap. There will be larger investment banks involved, complete with road shows and institutional meetings to promote the deal. The attention could well cause a revaluation of the mutual holding company and converted thrift sector of the banking market.

5 Best Gas Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund (VTA)

Van Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund focuses to invest primarily in loan and debt instruments (and loan-related or debt-related instruments) (collectively, credit securities) of issuers that operate in a variety of industries and geographic regions located throughout the world. The Fund's investment adviser is Van Kampen Asset Management (the Adviser). The Fund's investment subadviser is Avenue Europe International Management, L.P. (the Subadviser).

The Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment purposes) in any combination of credit securities, including senior secured floating rate and fixed-rate loans (Senior Loans); second lien or other subordinated or unsecured floating rate and fixed-rate loans or debt, and other debt obligations, including high-yield, high-risk obligations (such as securities that are rated below investment grade by a nationally recognized credit rating organization or unrated securities that are deemed to be of comparable quality). The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in structured products, including collateralized debt and loan obligations (collectively, structured products). The Fund may also invest in swaps, including credit default, total return, index and interest rate swaps. To the extent that the Fund invests in structured products or swaps that adjust exposure to credit securities, such investments will be counted for purposes of the Fund's 80% policy.

The Fund may invest in credit securities of any credit quality, and may invest without limitation in obligations below investment grade. Any of the Fund's investments may be issued by non-stressed, stressed and distressed issuers, including issuers in bankruptcy, provided that with respect to the portion of the Fund's assets to be managed by the Subadviser, the Subadviser will generally not invest in securities that at the time of investment have a total! yield above the applicable Avenue-Credit Thresholds. The Fund may invest in credit securities of any maturity or duration, and although the Fund will not be managed for maturity or duration, given the nature of the Fund's portfolio, the Fund's portfolio will likely have a low average duration (generally, four years or less). In addition, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in equity securities obtained through debt restructurings or bankruptcy proceedings. The Fund may utilize credit securities derivative instruments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]

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

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

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

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

  Harry Domash: You're welcome.

  Subscribe to the Dividend Detective here...

• [By John Dowdee]

  The following 10 funds satisfied all of these conditions:

  BlackRock Float Rate Strategies (FRA). This CEF sells at a discount of 3%, which is low compared to an average premium of 2% over the past year. The distribution has been managed at 6.1% and a small amount (less than 10%) has been return of capital (ROC). However, this has not negatively affected net asset value (NAV) so has not been destructive. The fund holds 447 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. FRA utilizes 27% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.7%, including interest payments. Eaton Vance Floating Rate (EFR). This CEF sells at a 1% premium, which is low compared to an average premium of 5% over the past year. The distribution is 6.2%, none of which was ROC. The fund holds 800 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. About 85% of the securities are from U.S. companies. EFR utilizes 35% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.8% including interest payments. ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR). This CEF sells for a premium of 2%, which is below the average premium of 5%. It has a distribution of 6.8%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 350 holdings, virtually all in senior loans and from US companies. PPR utilizes 29% leverage and has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Dynamic Credit Opportunities (VTA). This CEF sells for a discount of 5%, which is below the average discount of 1%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 495 holdings, with 76% in floating rate loans. About 25% of the loans are from non-US companies. VTA utilizes a relatively low 20% leverage but still has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Senior Income (VVR). This CEF sells for a discount of 1%, which is below the average premium of 3%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has over 500 holdings, with 89% in floating rate loans. Almost all (95%) securities are from US companies. VVR ut

5 Best Gas Utility Stocks To Own For 2014: Caplease Funding Inc (LSE)

CapLease, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT), focused on financing and investing in commercial real estate that is net leased primarily to single tenants with investment grade or near investment grade credit ratings. It provides private and corporate owners of net lease real estate with equity, debt, and mezzanine financing options. The company is organized to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and accordingly it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Capital Lease is based in New York City.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Louis]

  Schorsch�� company had about $15 billion in pending acquisitions at the end of last month, including Phoenix-based Cole, according to Bloomberg Industries. American Realty agreed in May to purchase CapLease Inc. (LSE) for about $2 billion, and in July said it would acquire American Realty Capital Trust IV in a transaction it values at $3.1 billion. The deal for New York-based CapLease is scheduled to be completed this week.

• [By Nandini Sukumar]

  London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE) hired Brian Schwieger from Bank of America Corp.�� Merrill Lynch unit, three people with knowledge of the plans said.

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of CapLease (NYSE: LSE  ) , a REIT focused on investing in commercial real estate that is net-leased, soared as much as 23% after agreeing to be acquired by American Realty Capital (NASDAQ: ARCP  ) for $2.2 billion.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015

Since being added to the Dow Jones Industrials index last September, shares of Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) are up just over 11%. In the same period, Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) is up 57%. That is not an entirely fair comparison: Nike’s market value is about $126 billion, compared with Under Armour’s $13 billion, and size often makes a difference when it comes to growth. Adding 57% to $126 billion is a lot harder than adding the same amount to around $7.5 billion.

When Nike reported fiscal third-quarter results after markets closed Thursday night, earnings per share were up 3% and beat the consensus estimate by $0.04. Revenues also beat estimates, and the company is heading into the World Cup tournament with orders up 12% to $10.9 billion for the period between March and July.

The not-so-good news came from China, where future orders are down 1% and where a strong dollar negatively impacts currency exchange rates. The company also noted rising costs for chemicals and leather as headwinds.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: Clariant AG (CLN)

Clariant AG is a Switzerland-based holding company engaged in the chemical sector. The Company's key markets include Paints, comprising decorative interior and exterior, primers, varnishes, anticorrosion and industrial applications, Construction, comprising concrete applications, roofing, tiling, sealants and primers, Adhesives, comprising wood, paper, lamination, packaging and Pressure Sensitive Adhesives, and Textile, leather and paper, comprising various functional effects and coatings. The Company diversifies its business into several units, including Additives, Catalysis & Energy, Emulsions, Functional Materials, Industrial & Consumer Specialties, Leather Services, Masterbatches, Oil & Mining Services, Paper Specialties, Pigments and Textile Chemicals. In every business unit, the Company diversifies five geographical regions, including Europe, Latin America, North America, Asia/Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. In January 2014, it sold its Detergents & Intermediates business. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Clariant slid 1.6 percent to 15.57 francs, dropping for a seventh day. UBS removed the company from its most preferred list because of the shares��recent rally. Clariant (CLN) has surged 26 percent this year, while the SPI has gained 21 percent.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: HB Fuller Co (FUL)

H.B. Fuller Company, incorporated on December 16, 1915, is formulator, manufacturer and marketer of adhesives, sealants and other specialty chemical products. The Company operates in five segments: North America Adhesives, Construction Products, Europe, India, Middle East and Africa (EIMEA), Latin America Adhesives and Asia Pacific. Sales operations span 40 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific region, India, the Middle East and Africa. Industrial adhesives represent the Company's core product offering. The Company also provides its customers with technical support and solutions designed to address their specific needs. The Company has a variety of product offerings for residential construction markets, such as tile-setting adhesives, grouts, sealants and related products. These products are sold primarily in the Company's Construction Products operating segment. On September 10, 2012, the Company acquired Engent, Inc. On August 6, 2012, the Company sold its Central America Paints business. In June 2013, HB Fuller Co announced that it has finalized the purchase of Plexbond Quimica S/A.

The Company's North America Adhesives, EIMEA, Latin America Adhesives and Asia Pacific operating segments produce and supply industrial adhesives products for applications in various markets, including assembly (appliances, filters, construction), packaging (food and beverage containers, flexible packaging, consumer goods, package integrity and re-enforcement, durable and non-durable goods, etc.), converting (corrugation, tape and label, paper converting, envelopes, books, multi-wall bags and sacks), nonwoven and hygiene (disposable diapers, feminine care, medical garments, tissue and towel), performance wood (windows, doors, wood flooring) and textile (footwear and sportswear). The North America Adhesives operating segment includes a range of specialty adhesives, such as thermoplastic, thermoset, reactive, water-based and solvent-based products. Sales are made primarily throug! h a direct sales force with a smaller portion of sales through distributors.

The Construction Products operating segment includes products used for tile setting (adhesives, grouts, mortars, sealers, levelers, etc.), heating, ventilation and air conditioning and insulation applications (duct sealants, weather barriers and fungicidal coatings, block fillers). Construction Product sales are made primarily through distributors and to a lesser extent big box retailers and a direct sales force. The EIMEA operating segment is comprised of an adhesives component with the same range of products as the North America Adhesives operating segment. EIMEA adhesives sales are made through both a direct sales force and distributors. The Latin America Adhesives operating segment is similar to that of the North America Adhesives operating segment and sales are made primarily through a direct sales force. The Asia Pacific operating segment is similar to that of the North America Adhesives operating segment, with one exception. The Asia Pacific operating segment also includes caulks and sealants for the consumer market and professional trade, sold through retailers. Other adhesives sales are made through a direct sales force and distributors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Adhesives maker�H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout almost 18% from $0.085 per share.

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  Because shares of H.B. Fuller Co. (FUL) have rallied over 50% in the past year, analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded the chemical products maker early on Friday on a valuation call.

  The analysts downgraded FUL from “Buy” to “Hold” and see shares reaching $50. This price target suggests a 10% upside to the stock’s Thursday closing price of $45.44.

  H.B. Fuller shares were down 84 cents, or 1.85%, during pre-market trading on Friday. The stock is up 30.5% year-to-date.

Top Building Product Companies To Invest In 2015: LSB Industries Inc (LXU)

LSB Industries, Inc., incorporated on January 21, 1977, is a diversified holding company involved in manufacturing and marketing operations through its subsidiaries. The Company together with its wholly owned subsidiaries owns Chemical Business and Climate Control Business. Chemical Business manufactures and sells nitrogen-based chemical products produced from four facilities located in El Dorado, Arkansas; Cherokee, Alabama; Pryor, Oklahoma, and Baytown, Texas for the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products in the niche markets the Company serves consisting of geothermal and water source heat pumps, hydronic fan coils, large custom air handlers, modular geothermal and other chillers and other related products used to control the environment in commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems. On October 31, 2012, Zena Energy LLC acquired working interests in certain natural gas properties located in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, within the Marcellus Shale.

Chemical Business

The Company�� products in the Chemical Business include high purity and commercial grade anhydrous ammonia for industrial and agricultural applications, industrial and fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (AN), urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), sulfuric acids, nitric acids in various concentrations, nitrogen solutions, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and various other products. The Company�� Chemical Business is a supplier to chemical and industrial companies. Its other products include anhydrous ammonia, ammonium nitrate ammonia solution for agricultural applications, blended and regular nitric acid, mixed nitrating acids, and industrial grade AN and solutions for the mining industry. The Company sells hese agricultural products to farmers, ranchers, fertilizer dealers and distributors primarily in the ran! ch land and grain production markets in the United States. The Company�� Chemical Business establishes long-term relationships with wholesale agricultural distributors and retailers and also sells directly to agricultural end-users through its network of wholesale and retail distribution centers. The Company�� Chemical Business manufactures and sells industrial acids and other chemical products primarily to the polyurethane, paper, fibers, fuel additives, emission control, and electronics industries. Its Chemical Business is also a niche market supplier of industrial and high purity ammonia for many specialty applications, including the reduction of air emissions from power plants.

Climate Control Business

The Company�� Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of standard and custom designed geothermal and water source heat pumps and hydronic fan coils, as well as custom air handlers and modular chiller systems, including modular geothermal chillers and simultaneous heating and cooling modules. These products are for use in commercial/institutional and residential HVAC systems. Its products are installed in some of the commercial/institutional developments in the United States, including the Prudential Tower, Rockefeller Plaza, Trump Tower, Time Warner Center and many others. In addition, it has presence in the lodging sector with installations in numerous Hyatt, Marriott, Four Seasons, Starwood, Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotels, among others. Its Climate Control Business manufactures and distributes its products from seven facilities located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Company also provides geothermal heat pumps in residential and commercial/institutional applications. Its products are sold to the commercial/institutional markets, as well as single and multi-family residential new construction, renovation and replacements. The Company is a provider of hydronic fan coils targeting commercial and institutional markets. It manufactures its products in many! sizes an! d configurations, as required by the purchaser, to fit the space and capacity requirements of hotels, motels, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, office buildings and other commercial/institutional or residential structures. The Climate Control Business sells its products primarily to mechanical contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors. Its Climate Control Business market includes commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems.

The Company competes with Agrium, CF Industries, Coffeyville Resources, Dyno Nobel, Koch, Potash Corporation, Yara International, Carrier, Trane, Nortek, McQuay, and Bosch.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  With a market cap of only $893 million, it's not like LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU) is the kind of company that garners a ton of attention. On the other hand, over the past several months, LXU has garnered far more attention than it likely wanted. The turbulence seems to be mostly behind it, however, and though the stock is now overbought thanks to the proverbial clearing of the dust, for long-haul investors, LSB Industries may be worth a closer look.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  LSB Industries (LXU) manufactures and sells geothermal and water source heat pumps and air handling products and chemical products. This stock closed up 4.6% at $33.72 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 543,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 147,784
  
  Volume % Change: 252%

  From a technical perspective, LXU ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $31.45 and back above its 50-day moving average of $32.51 with heavy upside volume. This stock also flirted with its 200-day moving average at $35.22, before closing just below that level at $33.72.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LXU as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $32.51 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 200-day at $35.22 to Friday's high of $36 with volume that's near or above 147,784 shares. If we get that move soon, then LXU will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $40.37 to $42.79.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: BioAmber Inc (BIOA)

BioAmber Inc. (BioAmber), incorporated on October 15, 2008, is a chemical company. The Company manufactures its bio-succinic acid in a facility using a commercial scale 350,000 liter fermenter in Pomacle, France. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 487,000 pounds, or 221 metric tons, of bio-succinic acid at this facility. Succinic acid is used to manufacture a range of products used every day, including plastics, food additives and personal care products, and can also be used as a building block for a range of derivative chemicals. The Company produces and sells bio-succinic acid using its process for petroleum-derived succinic acid. It also has additional bio-based products under development with partners including bio-succinic acid derivatives, such as BDO, and applications of bio-succinic acid, such as plasticizers, polyurethanes and de-icing solutions. During 2011, the Company created a wholly owned subsidiary, BioAmber International, S.a.r.l.

The Company develops bio-succinic acid for a range of markets, such as personal care products and food additives, plasticizers, polyurethanes, resins and coatings. The applications for bio-succinic acid include plasticizers, polyurethanes, personal care products, de-icing solutions, resins and coatings, food additives, lubricants and other products. Plasticizers are organic esters that are primarily used to make flexible polyvinyl chloride. Adipic acid is used in polyester polyols, which are used to make polyurethanes. Polyurethanes are used in, among other things, soles for footwear, molded foams for automotive applications, such as car seats and arm rests, and non-foam applications such as coatings, adhesives and sealants. Other applications of bio-succinic acid that are developed and tested by potential customers, which include anti-freeze solutions, solvents, water treatment chemicals and effervescence agents such laundry tablets and bath salts.

The Company competes with Gadiv Petrochemical Industries ! Ltd., Mitsubishi Chemical, DSM, Anqing Hexing Chemical Co Ltd, Anhui Sunsing Chemicals Co., Ltd., Genomatica, Inc., Myriant Corporation and Roquette Freres S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  BioAmber (BIOA) is a sustainable chemicals company. Its proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology and chemical catalysis to convert renewable feedstock into chemicals for use in a wide variety of everyday products including plastics, resins, food additives and personal care products.

• [By Matt Jarzemsky]

  Out of the 2013 vintage, some of the best performers so far this year have been early-stage healthcare firms like BioAmber Inc.(BIOA), up 86% year-to-date through Thursday, and Kindred Biosciences Inc.(KIN), up 82%. A number of high-flying tech startups have also continued to soar. Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc.(FEYE) has gained 67% since the start of the year. Online coupon company RetailMeNot Inc.(SALE) is up 48%.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: NewMarket Corp (NEU)

NewMarket Corporation (NewMarket), incorporated in 2004, is a holding company, which is the parent company of Afton Chemical Corporation (Afton), Ethyl Corporation (Ethyl), NewMarket Services Corporation (NewMarket Services), and NewMarket Development Corporation (NewMarket Development). Each of the Company�� subsidiaries manages its own assets and liabilities. Afton encompasses the petroleum additives business, while Ethyl represents the sale and distribution of tetraethyl lead (TEL) in North America and certain petroleum additives manufacturing operations. NewMarket Development manages the property, which it owns in Richmond, Virginia. NewMarket Services provides administrative services to NewMarket, Afton, Ethyl, and NewMarket Development. NewMarket Services departmental expenses and other expenses are billed to NewMarket and each subsidiary pursuant to services agreements between the companies.

As a specialty chemicals company, Afton develops, manufactures, and blends formulated fuel and lubricant additive packages, and markets and sells these products globally. Afton is a lubricant and fuel additives companies globally. Lubricant and fuel additives are products for maintenance and reliable operation of all vehicles and machinery. Ethyl provides contract manufacturing services to Afton and to third parties and is one of the marketers of TEL in North America. NewMarket Development manages the property, which it owns on a site in Richmond, Virginia consisting of approximately 64 acres.

Petroleum Additives

Petroleum additives are used in lubricating oils and fuels to enhance their performance in machinery, vehicles, and other equipment. It manufactures chemical components, which are selected to perform specific functions and combine those chemicals with other components to form additive packages for use in specified end-user applications. The petroleum additives market is an international marketplace, with customers ranging from oil companies and refineries t! o original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other specialty chemical companies. Lubricant additives are ingredients for lubricating oils. Lubricant additives are used in a range of vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, gear oils, hydraulic oils, turbine oils, and in other application where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized. Lubricant additives are organic and synthetic chemical components, which enhance wear protection, prevent deposits, and protect against the hostile operating environment of an engine, transmission, axle, hydraulic pump, or industrial machine.

Lubricants are used in every piece of operating machinery from heavy industrial equipment to vehicles. Lubricants provide a layer of protection between moving mechanical parts. Lubricants serve the functions, such as friction reduction, heat removal and containment of contaminants.

The Company offers a range of lubricant additive products, each of which is composed of component chemicals specially selected to perform desired functions. It manufactures the chemical components and blends these components to create formulated additives packages. Purchasers of lubricant additives tend to be oil companies, distributors, refineries, and compounders/blenders. The engine oils market�� primary customers include consumers, service dealers, and OEMs. Afton offers products, which enhances the performance of mineral, part-synthetic, and fully-synthetic engine oils.

The driveline additives submarket is consisted of additives designed for products, such as transmission fluids, gear oils, and off-road fluids. Transmission fluids serve as the power transmission and heat transfer medium in the area of the transmission. Gear oil additives lubricate gears, bearings, clutches, and bands in the gear-box and are used in vehicles, off-highway, hydraulic, and marine equipment. Other products in this area include hydraulic transmission fluids, universal tractor fluids, power ste! ering flu! ids, shock absorber fluids, gear oils and lubricants for machinery. These additives are sold to oil companies and often sold to vehicle OEMs for new vehicles. End-products are also sold to service dealers for aftermarket servicing (service-fill), as well as retailers and distributors.

The industrial additives submarket is consisted of additives designed for products for industrial applications, such as hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, industrial specialty applications, and metalworking additives. This submarket also shares in the 30% of the market not covered by engine oils. These products must conform to industry specifications, OEM requirements and/or application and operating environment demands. Industrial additives are sold to oil companies, service dealers for after-market servicing, and distributors.

The types of fuel additives the Company offers include gasoline performance additives, which clean and maintain fuel delivery systems, including fuel injectors and intake valves, in gasoline engine; diesel fuel performance additives, which perform similar cleaning functions in diesel engines; cetane improvers, which increase the cetane number in diesel fuel by reducing the delay between injection and ignition; stabilizers, which reduce or eliminate oxidation in fuel; corrosion inhibitors, which minimize the corrosive effects of combustion by-products and prevent rust; lubricity additives, which restore lubricating properties lost in the refining process; cold flow improvers, which improve the pumping and flow of diesel in cold temperatures, and octane enhancers. It offers a range of fuel additives globally and sells its products to fuel marketers and refiners, as well as independent terminals and other fuel blenders.

Real Estate Development

The real estate development segment represents the operations of Foundry Park I, LLC (Foundry Park I). The Company is exploring various development opportunities for other portions of the proper! ty it own! s, as the demand warrants.

All Other

The All other category includes the continuing operations of the TEL business (primarily sales of TEL in North America), as well as contract manufacturing performed by Ethyl. Ethyl manufacturing facilities include its Houston, Texas and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada plants. The Houston plant is engaged in petroleum additives manufacturing and produces both lubricant additives and fuel additives. The Sarnia plant is engaged in petroleum additives manufacturing and produces fuel additives. The All other category financial results include a service fee charged by Ethyl for its production services to Afton. Its remaining manufacturing facilities are part of Afton and produce both lubricant additives and fuel additives.

The Company competes with Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ExxonMobil Chemical, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Chevron Oronite Company LLC, BASF AG, Chevron Oronite Company LLC, The Lubrizol Corporation, Innospec, Inc., Eurenco and EPC - U.K.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  The biotech sector has been pretty exciting this year�with small cap biotech stocks Prana Biotechnology Limited (NASDAQ: PRAN) and TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) having recently produced noteworthy news for investors�while Acceleron Pharma, Inc (NASDAQ: XLRN), Ophthotech (NASDAQ: OPHT) and BIND Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BIND) have just�set term sheets for their upcoming IPOs. Just consider all of the following recent news:

  Surge in Biotech IPOs. Unquote.com has noted�a surge in biotech IPOs this year as there have been�almost 30 biotech IPOs since January - marking a 13-year high and sparking some concerns about a bubble. More specifically and according to the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), there was just one venture capital-backed biotech IPO in the US in the first quarter of this year, but this was followed by a massive increase of 20 in�the second quarter and a�further six since July. There has also been a small uptick in�venture capital-backed European biotech companies going public (four) with�a listing on the Nasdaq appearing to be the most popular or rather the safest option. � New IPO Term Sheets. This month, a couple of small cap biotech companies announced their terms for upcoming IPOs, including 1)�Acceleron Pharma, Inc, a clinical stage biotech developing protein therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases, plans to raise $65 million by offering 4.7 million shares at a price range of $13 to $15; 2) Ophthotech, a clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics for eye diseases, plans to raise $100 million by offering 5.7 million shares at a price range of $16 to $19; and 3) BIND Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing a platform of targeted and programmable therapeutics, plans to raise $71 million by offering 4.7 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16. Biotechs Invest More on R&D. The 2013 BDO Biotech Briefing examined the most recent 10-K SEC filings of publicly traded companies listed on the Nasdaq Biotechnolog

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: Uralkaliy OAO (URALL.PK)

Uralkaliy OAO (Uralkali OJSC) is a Russia-based company, which is engaged in the chemical industry. The Company specializes in the production of potash fertilizers. Its product portfolio comprises pink muriate of potash (PMOP), white muriate of potash (WMOP) and granular (GMOP). The Company is active through representative offices, located in Moscow and Beijing, as well as numerous subsidiaries, located countrywide and in Panama, Belarus, Singapore, Brazil and others. Uralkaliy OAO operates on the potassium and magnesium deposits located in Berezniki, Perm and Saint Petersburg. Its production assets include seven plants and five mines. Uralkaliy OAO sells its products domestically, as well as abroad in over 40 countries, including the United States, China, Brazil, India and South-East Asia, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Gallagher]

  The potash spat continues to get uglier, as Belarus investigators reportedly intend to seize property and assets of Russia's Uralkali (URALL.PK) following the collapse of the joint Russian-Belarussian potash venture.

• [By Chris Damas]

  This morning Russian potash giant OJSC Uralkali (URALL.PK) presented first half 2013 financial and operating results and more importantly, much anticipated comments on the strategy of the company and the state of the international potash industry, the latter blind-sided by the leading potash company's split with marketing partner JSC Belaruskali of Belarus.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (MX)

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation designs and manufactures analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high-volume consumer applications. It operates in three segments: Display Solutions, Power Solutions, and Semiconductor Manufacturing Services. The Display Solutions segment offers source and gate drivers, and timing controllers that cover a range of flat panel displays used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), 3D and organic light emitting diode televisions and displays, notebooks, and mobile communications and entertainment devices. The Power Solutions segment develop, manufactures, and markets power management solutions, including metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, power modules, analog switches, LED drivers, DC-DC converters, voice coil motor drivers, and linear regulators. This segment offers its products for a range of devices, including LCD, LED, 3D televisions, smartphones, mobile phones, desktop PCs, notebooks , tablet PCs, and other consumer electronics, as well as for industrial applications, such as power suppliers, LED lighting, and home appliances. The Semiconductor Manufacturing Services segment manufactures various products comprising display drivers, LED drivers, audio encoding and decoding devices, microcontrollers, touch screen controllers, RF switches, park distance control sensors for automotives, electronic tag memories, and power management semiconductors. This segment offers semiconductor manufacturing services to fabless analog and mixed-signal semiconductor companies. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation provides its products and services to consumer electronics OEMs, subsystem designers, and contract manufacturers through a direct sales force, as well as through a network of authorized agents and distributors in the United States, Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Macau. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Shares of MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. (MX) �fell 13% to $12.50 on moderate volume after the company said it incorrectly stated revenue and has to restate its financial statements going back to 2011. Also, the company withdrew its guidance for the fourth quarter.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, consumer gadget chip maker MagnaChip Semiconductor (NYSE: MX  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: Givaudan SA (GIVN)

Givaudan SA is a Switzerland-based holding company engaged in the fragrance and flavor industry. The Company has two business divisions: Fragrances and Flavors. The Fragrances business segment comprises the manufacture and sale of fragrances into three global business units: Fine Fragrances, comprising signature fragrances and line extensions, Consumer Products, comprising fabric and personal care, hair and skin care, household and air care, as well as oral care, and Fragrance Ingredients. The Flavors business division comprises the manufacture and sale of flavors into four business units: Beverages, comprising flavors for soft drinks, fruit juices and instant beverages; Dairy, comprising ice cream, yoghurt, desserts and yellow fats; Savory, covering soups and sauces, among others; and Confectionery. The Company is also engaged in research and development activities, which comprises the development of a palette of perfumery raw materials, both synthetic and natural. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Celeste Perri]

  Nestle SA (NESN) is selling Givaudan (GIVN) SA shares worth $1.27 billion at yesterday�� closing price to institutional investors, winding down its stake in the world�� largest flavorings maker.

• [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 Given Imaging (Nasdaq: GIVN  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Berkeley Group Holdings Plc (BKG) surged 8.3 percent after saying first-half profit rose 22 percent. London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE) climbed 2.4 percent after Bank of America Corp.�� Merrill Lynch unit recommended buying the stock. Givaudan SA (GIVN) lost 1.3 percent after Nestle SA said it will sell $1.27 billion of shares in the world�� largest flavorings maker.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: ICL Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL)

ICL Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL) is an Israel-based company, engaged in the fertilizer and specialty chemical sectors. The company operates in three segments: Fertilizers, Industrial Products, and Performance Products. The Fertilizers segment is engaged in the production of standard, granular, fine red and white potash from three sources, as well as in the production of phosphates, such as phosphate rock, phosphoric acid, fertilizers and animal feed addictives. The Industrial Products segment produces flame retardants, such as brominates and organ phosphorus; elemental bromine, and other chemicals. In addition the Performance Products segment produces specialty phosphates, such as technical, food grade and electronic grade phosphoric acid, phosphate salts, food additives and wildfire safety products, as well as alumina and other chemicals. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Claudia Maedler]

  In Israel, the TA-25 Index (TA-25) gained 1.9 percent at the close in Tel Aviv as Israel Corp. jumped 9 percent, the most since July 2009, to 1,755 shekels. The shares soared along with those of its Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) unit, which advanced 6.4 percent on speculation that a possible change in ownership of Russian potash producer OAO Uralkali could help stabilize prices of the crop nutrient.

• [By Gwen Ackerman]

  Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), the fourth-largest potash producer in the world by sales, is weighing on the Tel Aviv benchmark stock index on concern the government will exact higher royalties amid a global oversupply.

Top 10 Chemical Companies To Watch For 2015: Enzymotec Ltd (ENZY)

Enzymotec Ltd., incorporated on March 08, 1998, is engaged in manufacturing of ingredients and medical foods company. Its technologies, research, and clinical validation process enables the Company to develop differentiated solutions across a variety of products. The Company markets its product portfolio primarily to established global consumer companies and target large and growing consumer health and wellness markets. Its clinically validated products include bio-functional lipid-based compounds designed to address dietary needs, medical disorders and common diseases. The Company operates in two segments: Nutrition and VAYA Pharma. In addition to its existing products, the Company has several other products to address additional indications in the development phase. enzyme processes; lipid modification; lipid analysis; and process technology and development.

Nutrition

The Company�� Nutrition segment develops and manufactures nutritional ingredient products based on lipids, such as phospholipids, which form the structural basis of cell membranes and are easily recognized, incorporated and used by the body. Its customer base for this segment includes formula and nutritional supplement companies such as Biostime and IVC. Its two selling nutritional ingredient products are InFat, a clinically-proven fat ingredient for infant formula, and krill oil. Its other products in this segment are targeted at improving brain health and providing benefits in memory, learning abilities and concentration.

VAYA Pharma

VAYA Pharma, develops, manufactures and sells branded, prescription-only medical foods for the dietary management of patients with certain medical conditions or diseases having special, medically determined nutrient requirements. Although medical foods must be safe and effective as demonstrated in human clinical studies, they do not require the same expensive and time consuming regulatory approval process typical of prescription drugs. In addition to! its existing products, it has several other products to address additional indications in the development phase.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  Finally, as opposed to what we just discussed, the firm is currently Zacks Rank # 4��ell, and it also has a longer-term recommendation of ��eutral�� A Sell rating indicates that the stock, over the next 1 to 3 months, will perform at an annualized rate of 4.8%, which is not attractive for investors. For investors looking for a Strong Buy Rank, BioLife Solutions, Inc. (BLFS) and Enzymotec Ltd. (ENZY) could be the options.