BOSTON (TheStreet) -- There's nothing worse than you or a loved one falling victim to crime, so here's a look at five U.S. communities you can move to where murders, rapes or less-serious incidents such as car thefts rarely occur.
"These places are fantastic choices if you're looking for a safe and stable community," says Andrew Schiller of NeighborhoodScout.com, which recently named the Safest Cities in the U.S. by analyzing crime data for every community with 25,000 residents or more.
NeighborhoodScout compiles its list each year by reviewing crime statistics that local police departments report to the FBI covering all murders, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larceny/thefts auto thefts and forcible (as opposed to statutory) rapes.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: West Marine Inc (WMAR)
West Marine, Inc., incorporated in September 1993, is a specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories. The Company offers an assortment of merchandise for the boat and for the boater. It operates in three segments: Stores, Port Supply and Direct-to-Customer. The Company sells to both retail and wholesale customers in its Stores segment. In addition, the Company has three franchised stores in Turkey. The Company�� Port Supply segment is its wholesale segment. The Company�� Direct-to-Customer, which includes e-commerce, catalog and call center transactions. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Stores segment generated approximately 90% of its net revenues. During 2011, products shipped to Port Supply customers directly from its warehouses represented approximately 4% of its net revenues.
During 2011, its Direct Sales segment offered customers around the world more than 75,000 products and accounted for the remaining 6% of its net revenues. Private label products, which the Company sells under the West Marine, Black Tip, Third Reef, Pure Oceans, Lifesling, SeaVolt and Seafit brand names, usually are manufactured in Asia, the United States and Europe.
Stores Segment
During 2011, the Company opened six stores while closing 14 stores. In December 2011, it opened its Fort Lauderdale Boating Superstore, a 50,000 square foot flagship. Its flagship stores ranging in size from 21,000 to 50,000 square feet, offering an array of merchandise typically about 16,000 items, as well as displays designed to help customers make informed product selections. It also operates large format stores, standard-sized stores and smaller Express stores. Its large format stores range from 13,000 to 19,000 square feet and carry about 11,000 items. The standard-sized stores typically range from 6,000 to 12,000 square feet and carry over 6,000 items. Express stores typically range from 2,500 to 3,000 square feet and carry over 4,000 items, mainly hardware and other supplies needed! for day-to-day boat maintenance and repairs.
Port Supply Segment
Port Supply customers include businesses involved in boat sales, boat building, boat commissioning and repair, yacht chartering, marina operations and other boating-related activities. In addition, Port Supply sells to government and industrial customers who use its products for boating and non-boating purposes. Port Supply, the Company�� wholesale segment, serves wholesale customers seeking convenience and a larger assortment of products than those carried by typical distributors.
Direct-to-Customer Segment
The Company�� e-commerce Website provides its customers with access to a selection of approximately 75,000 products, product advisor tips and technical information, over 450 product videos and customer-submitted product reviews. This segment also provides customers with access to knowledgeable technical advisors who can assist its customers in understanding the various uses and applications of the products it sell. It operates a virtual call center from which its associates assist its customers by taking calls from their homes or from its support center in Watsonville, California. Its virtual call center supports sales generated through its e-commerce Website, catalogs and stores and provides customer service offerings.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Interactive Buyside]
West Marine (Nasdaq: WMAR) is an undervalued retailer. The company is going through a change in focus from a bricks and mortar boat product retailer to a fully integrated retail and wholesale business through bricks and clicks, targeting the boating and water enthusiast customer. Recent results have been affected by a severe rainy and cool spring which hurt boat usage and delayed the start of the season. The company has accelerated cash investments to build larger more productive stores and expand its ecommerce abilities, consequently affecting free cash flow short term. The stock lacks sponsorship as there is only one research report written on the company by a small boutique firm. The stock trades at only book value despite the company being the leading industry player with a solid balance sheet and significant net cash position.
Best Safest Companies To Own In Right Now: Nash-Finch Company(NAFC)
Nash-Finch Company operates as a wholesale food distributor in the United States. The company?s Military segment distributes grocery products to the United States military commissaries and exchanges in the United States and the District of Columbia, Europe, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Azores, Egypt, and Bahrain. Its Food Distribution segment sells and distributes various branded and private label grocery products and perishable food products to approximately 1,500 independent retail locations through its 14 distribution centers. This segment also provides various services, including promotional, advertising, and merchandising programs; installation of computerized ordering, receiving, and scanning systems; retail equipment procurement assistance; accounting, budgeting, and payroll contract services; consumer and market research; remodeling and store development services; supply chain through Internet services; and securing existing grocery stores. The company?s Retail segment operates corporate-owned grocery stores under the Sun Mart, Econofoods, AVANZA, Family Thrift Center, Pick ?n Save, Family Fresh Market, Prairie Market, Saver?s Choice, Wally?s Supermarkets, and Wholesale Food Outlet banners primarily in the states of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This segment?s conventional grocery stores offer a range of grocery products and services, such as fresh meat counters, delicatessens, bakeries, eat-in cafes, pharmacies, banks, and floral departments, as well as provide check cashing, fax services, and money transfer services. As of December 31, 2011, the company served 93 retail stores operating under the IGA banner and 50 retail stores under the Food Pride banner; and operated 43 conventional supermarkets, 1 AVANZA grocery store, 1 Wholesale Food Outlet grocery store, and 1 Saver?s Choice store. Nash-Finch Company was founded in 1885 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jeremy Bowman]
What: Shares of Nash-Finch (NASDAQ: NAFC ) and Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN ) jumped as much as 16% and 15%, respectively, after Spartan said it would buy Nash-Finch, primarily for its military stores.
- [By Alex Planes]
Sysco has avoided the margin compression suffered by chicken producers Tyson (NYSE: TSN ) and Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM ) and which was more deeply felt by smaller food-service operator Nash-Finch (NASDAQ: NAFC ) . (It is omitted from this chart due to its drop into outright negative operating margin territory (a decline of roughly 250% in two years.) However, fellow food-service company United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI ) has actually improved its margins, and restaurant chains both large and small (well, mid-size) have done an admirable job of holding the margin line in the face of rising input costs. So it appears that scale alone isn't enough to help Sysco outrun the rising costs of its products.
Best Safest Companies To Own In Right Now: 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 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.
- [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.
Best Safest Companies To Own In Right Now: Rio Tinto Plc(RIO)
Rio Tinto plc engages in finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. The company produces aluminum products, including bauxite, alumina, and aluminum; copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and nickel; diamonds; minerals, such as borates, titanium dioxide feedstocks, high purity iron, metal powders, zircon, and rutile; thermal and coking coal, and uranium; and iron ore and salt. It primarily operates in Australia, North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and southern Africa. The company was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Rio Tinto plc is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Spinning off the assets, which some analysts suggest could be worth as much as $20 billion Australian, gives BHP the chance to shave off those less profitable businesses that it might otherwise have a difficult time selling into a depressed market for those commodities. Rival Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) has pulled several businesses off the market after hanging out a shingle saying it was willing to sell them, because of a lack of buyers wanting to pay up for what the miner thought they were worth.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
We've seen the flip side of that trend play out in recent years, as rock-bottom interest rates in the U.S. have encouraged investment in higher-yielding income investments in places like Australia, Brazil, and South Africa. Interest from foreign investors got to be so extensive in Brazil that the federal government imposed a tax on foreign investors in bonds in order to curb demand and slow the pace of the Brazilian real's appreciation. Exchange-rate issues also likely played a role in the health of the commodities markets, as mining giants BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP ) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) in Australia benefited from increased demand largely for base metals. Similarly, South African gold miners AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU ) and Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI ) outperformed rivals from elsewhere in the world, benefiting from strength in the South African rand currency.
- [By Alyce Lomax]
In January, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) CEO Tom Albanese walked without a payout. That's good news for the company's shareholders, because U.K.-based Rio Tinto had to write down $14 billion previous to his departure. Glance at a five-year chart and you'll see Rio Tinto has been on a downward trajectory for years. Unfortunate acquisitions marked his tenure and sullied his reputation.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
What national minimum wages mean for investors
It's important to realize that minimum-wage laws affect companies only to the extent of their operations in their home countries. For instance, in Australia, mining giants BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP ) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) have to follow minimum-wage laws for their Australian operations, but elsewhere around the world, both companies have faced labor disputes over pay levels that in some cases are much lower than what Australian law would require domestically. Moreover, even as Eaton (NYSE: ETN ) , Actavis (NYSE: ACT ) , and other companies have moved or are in the process of moving their corporate headquarters to Ireland, you shouldn't expect a huge shift of employees that would require higher pay.
Best Safest Companies To Own In Right Now: PCM Fund Inc (PCM)
PCM Fund, Inc. (the Fund), formerly PIMCO Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust, Inc., is a non-diversified, closed-end bond fund. The Fund's primary investment objective is to achieve current income by investing in a portfolio comprising primarily commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). These securities are fixed-income instruments representing an interest in mortgage loans on commercial real estate properties, such as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, apartment buildings, nursing homes and industrial properties.
Capital gains from the disposition of investments are a secondary objective of the Fund. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes in CMBS. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) is the Fund's investment manager.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sally Jones]
Founded in 1986 by the legendary investor Bill Miller, Private Capital Management (PCM) is now owned by portfolio manager and CEO, Gregg Powers. He is widely-known for his research skill and has been a key driver at PCM since 1988.
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