Top 5 Income Companies To Own For 2015

Top 5 Income Companies To Own For 2015: Premiere Opportunities Group Inc (PPBL)

Premiere Opportunities Group, Inc., formerly Premiere Publishing Group, Inc., incorporated on March 25, 2005, was a magazine publishing company. The Company's primary objective is to identify an operating company with a view to achieving long-term growth.

The Company had operated principally through two wholly owned subsidiaries Sobe Life LLC and Poker Life LLC. The Company has discontinued all publishing activities. As of December 31, 2011, it had not generated any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  For investors, there are three reasons to be bullish about luxury item stocks, ranging from well-known brands such as Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) and Coach (NYSE: COH), to promising small caps like Premier Opportunities Group (OTC: PPBL).

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-income-companies-to-own-for-2015.html

What's Fueling Alcoa's (AA) 11% Gain?

Top 10 Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy Right Now

Updated from 3:31 p.m. EDT to include aluminum price projections in the fourth paragraph. 

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Alcoa (AA) closed 8.8% higher to $9.36 after an 11.6% spike mid-afternoon. Flat in the early portion of the day, the stock hit its stride at midday to reach a new 52-week high.

Fueling the spike is an across-the-board rally for aluminum producers and a series of positive announcements from the company's management.

Alcoa far surpassed the industry in share price growth, followed by Century Aluminum  (CENX) which gained 8.1%, Aluminum Corp of China (ACH) up 3.7%, Australia-based producers BHP Billiton (BHP) and Alumina Limited (AWC) climbing 3.2% and 2.4% respectively, and Noranda Aluminum Holding  (NOR) 4.7% higher. Kaiser Aluminum  (KALU) lagged the group, gaining 0.94%. Bloomberg credits speculation on future aluminum prices as spurring an industry rally, noting aluminum for delivery in three months rose 2.2% on the London Metal Exchange. The publication also said that investors closing out stock short options could have been a trigger to its meteoric rise.  Also influencing Alcoa's gains, the New York-based company announced it has partnered with Russia's VSMPO-AVISMA to provide high-end titanium and aluminum to aircraft manufacturers internationally. "The agreement marks an important step in leveraging Alcoa's and VSMPO-AVISMA's strengths in innovation and manufacturing to capture opportunities in the high-growth aerospace market," said CEO Klaus Kleinfeld in a statement. "This alliance will enhance Alcoa's competitiveness and position our global aerospace business for continued profitable growth." The joint venture, expected to be operational in 2016, will take advantage of the burgeoning aerospace market, an industry Alcoa forecasts will grow 9% to 10% in 2013 alone. The creator of forged aluminum wheels said it has improved upon its invention, developing a product lighter and stronger than the industry standard. The new alloy designed for use in trucks will increase fleet payload and improve fuel efficiency. Alcoa expects to introduce the alloy to market by early 2014. Alcoa's Engineered Products and Solutions division, which developed and will manufacture the product, contributed 25% of the company's $5.8 billion in total third-quarter revenue. TheStreet Ratings team rates Alcoa Inc as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about its recommendation: "We rate Alcoa Inc (AA) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed -- some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its compelling growth in net income, impressive record of earnings per share growth and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, weak operating cash flow and poor profit margins." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Metals & Mining industry. The net income increased by 116.8% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$143 million to $24 million. Alcoa Inc reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, Alcoa Inc reported lower earnings of 17 cents a share vs. 52 cents a share in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings (35 cents vs. 17 cents). Net operating cash flow has decreased to $214 million or 18.63% when compared to the same quarter last year. In conjunction, when comparing current results to the industry average, Alcoa Inc has marginally lower results. AA has underperformed the S&P 500 Index, declining 6.43% from its price level of one year ago. Looking ahead, other than the push or pull of the broad market, we do not see anything in the company's numbers that may help reverse the decline experienced over the past 12 months. Despite the past decline, the stock is still selling for more than most others in its industry. You can view the full analysis from the report here: AA Ratings Report

At risk of outliving your retirement savings?

In the good old days, retirement was pretty simple. You worked 30 years. Got a pension. And put your money in bonds to make it last.

But this isn't your father's retirement. Back then, life expectancy was such that people only spent less than a decade in retirement.

Today is different. Boy, is it different!

After working for 30 years, it's not out of the question to spend another 30 years in retirement. And that, for lots of people, is the big worry.

People getting ready for retirement are worried that they won't be able to save enough to last. And people already in retirement worry they will outlive their nest eggs.

RETIREMENT LIVING: : 7 mistakes to avoid in retirement planning

In a poll by BlackRock more than half of those surveyed were worried about outliving their savings.

"People are living longer than ever before, dramatically altering the financial challenges in retirement," said Rob Kapito, BlackRock president. "Increased longevity is a blessing, but it's an expensive one, because that translates into the need for a bigger retirement nest egg and access to secure retirement-long income."

One key, financial planners say, is to set a budget in retirement, as you do in your working life. But it's even more important to stick to that budget in retirement since you're living on a fixed amount of money.

Stuart Ritter, vice president of T. Rowe Price Investment Services, says that early in retirement is usually hardest for people to stay on budget. They can start out with their 401(k) or pension in a lump sum, and for most, it's the most money they have ever had in their lives.

"The issue is that the money has to last for 30 years," he says. "That's why we encourage people to think of it more in terms of income (stream), and not as a balance. It can give you a more realistic understanding of what your spending can be like."

Ritter says two key things determine how long your money lasts: how much you save before you retire and how much yo! u spend after retirement.

"The other thing that substantially affects their ability to make their money last is when they actually retire — how long they work," Ritter says. "For those folks, one of the best things they can do to improve their life during retirement is delay (retirement). If working two or three years more means a higher degree of confidence for 30 years in retirement, it may be worth it."

RETHINKING RETIREMENT: Tips for older job searchers

Dana Anspach, founder of Sensible Money in Scottsdale, Ariz., and author of Control Your Retirement Destiny, says she uses three criteria to determine if a client is at risk for running out of money in retirement.

First is the length of retirement. If the client is young and healthy, they should prepare for a longer retirement. Second, she looks at if a client has the discipline to stick to a plan. "Whatever the plan is," she said, "If you can't stick with the plan, you are at greater risk." And third, she says, she looks at the ability to stay on a budget.

"You have to be able to know what you are going to spend," she says. "You can't be wildly off. You have to stick with a disciplined plan and you have to account for the potential length of your retirement, particularly if you are looking to retire early."

STRATEGIES TO MAKE THAT MONEY LAST

All the financial planners say sticking to that budget is key. But if it's clear that the nest egg will not last through retirement, there are other strategies, like working longer, taking Social Security later or even working a part-time job.

Anspach says people often forget to build key expenses into their budgets, things like dental care and eye care. And one of the biggest problems for retirees trying to stay on budget, she says: adult children, whether it's having to help them out after losing a job or getting a divorce.

And when a client is spending too much: "All we can do is say here are your choices," she says. "You have to get your spending down ! to this l! evel or you will run out of money. If a client wants to take more money out, I can't say no. All I can do is warn them."

And as a last resort, she says, she will recommend use of a reverse mortgage or downsizing. "I prefer to not use it as part of their plan," she says. "I use it as a reserve strategy. We need some kind of plan B. Maybe it's moving in with your sister."

Ross Badger, director at Satis Asset Management in London, says retirees must make sure they scrutinize all their expenses.

"There is often a significant savings to be made," he says. "People need to look at utility companies and subscriptions. Review those. Look at payments that automatically go out — insurance premiums. Many times they haven't reviewed it. When we do a detailed review of each expenditure, it's amazing when you hear that people didn't even know that was still coming out. It's also amazing how many people don't check their bank statements."

BENEFITS: At what age should you start claiming Social Security?

Badger says people in all income groups worry about their money lasting through retirement. But what amazes him is that they have done so little to work out the numbers.

Also, he says, watch the debt. "Despite interest rates being historically low, there is a lot of encouragement to increase the level of debt, buy bigger houses, take holidays," he says. "Keep the debt level manageable. Even when you think you can afford to pay the mortgage payments or loan payment, test what it would do to your finances if interest rates were to increase or double."

And finally, there's inflation to consider. It's a big concern, and it should be, Ritter says. And that's why it's important to make sure you continue to have stocks in your portfolio in retirement, he says.

"Years ago, they could put all their money in bonds," Ritter says. "Rates were higher. People died after seven or eight years (in retirement). Inflation didn't have much time to increase the price of things they wanted to ! buy. Now ! we tell people to plan for 30 years of inflation.

"Inflation at 3% will double the rate of everything you buy in 23 years," he says. "To buy that same dinner out or buy that same cruise ticket or airline ticket. If it takes $40,000 for your lifestyle this year, it will take $80,000 (in 23 years). If your portfolio hasn't been growing, you won't have enough money in there to take out twice as much."

Here's the key to gaining confidence in your long-term savings: "Adjust as you go along," Ritter says. "Expect to have to adjust. Start with a plan. Start with guidance to know where you are going. That gives people confidence to enjoy retirement and confidence that they will have a plan in place to help manage. And they can concentrate on more fun things."

What a default means — and what investors can do

As the deadline to default ticks down, you need to know how it will affect you, and how it will hit your portfolio.

Hitting the debt limit isn't, as some have cast it, "cutting up the nation's credit cards." The more apt analogy would be cutting up the credit card bill and refusing to pay for things you have already bought.

The debt limit is a peculiar law that limits the amount the United States can pay for money that has been authorized by Congress -- the same people who are railing against government spending. And the longer before the U.S. raises the limit, the more people it affects.

STOCKS WEDNESDAY: How markets are doing

Even without passing the limit, the nation's borrowing costs are already rising. The U.S. issues Treasury securities in order to borrow: Treasury bills, notes and bonds are simply IOUs backed by America's promise to repay. When a lender suspects you might not pay on time, it will demand a higher interest rate.

That's happening right now. For example, a three-month Treasury bill that matures Oct. 24 -- seven days after the date the Treasury says the nation will be out of money -- now yields about half a percentage point. While that may not seem like much, the rate on that issue at auction was 0.005%.

Standard & Poor's has already downgraded the nation's credit rating during the last tussle over the debt limit, saying that political brinksmanship was incorporated into the nation's less-than-perfect AA+ rating. On Tuesday, Fitch said it was considering lowering the nation's credit rating as well. Should the U.S. actually default, S&P would lower its rating to "selective default," since nations, unlike companies, typically don't default on all their debts at once.

Were the U.S. to actually default, you could expect other interest rates to rise, such as the rate on the 10-year Treasury note, because lenders would worry about being repaid. Rising rates would hit prices on bond mutual funds. Americans have $2.8 trillion invested in taxab! le bond funds, according to the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry's trade group.

Bonds wouldn't be the only victim. Rising rates means tougher competition for stocks from other investments, and would undermine investors' faith in the economy. The value of the dollar would also fall on world markets, as investors sell dollar-denominated investments for other investments less likely to default.

Rising rates would also rise for other borrowers, since many other rates, such as mortgage rates, key off Treasury rates.

But Treasury borrowers aren't the only ones affected by default. The debt limit applies to all government spending -- Social Security payments, Veterans benefits, even military pay. The government shutdown alone shaves 0.3% a week from fourth-quarter GDP, according to John Chambers, chairman of the Sovereign Debt Committee at S&P, speaking on CBS This Morning. Shutting down payments altogether would be "worse than Lehman Brothers in my judgment, and I think it's needless," Chambers said.

What's an investor to do? As bad as the situation is -- and it's bad -- you need to think carefully about selling your stocks and bonds. If you're investing in a taxable account, you'll trigger capital gains taxes. You may also owe commissions and fees on selling your holdings.

You'll also have to think about where you'll put your money when you sell. If your sales go to a money market mutual fund, you need to be aware that a staple of money funds is Treasury bills. While many funds have taken steps to rid themselves of the most default-prone T-bills, a lengthy default could hurt money fund returns as well.

Other possible moves:

• Consider an inverse fund, which rises when stocks fall, and vice-versa. These funds use futures and options to go in the opposite direction as stocks. Rydex Inverse S&P 500 Strategy fund (ticker: RYURX) is one of the best-known inverse funds.
• Consider buying put options on the S&P 500. A put opt! ion is th! e right, but not the obligation, to sell stocks at a set price. A put option to sell the S&P 500 at current levels would soar if the stock market dropped 10%.
• Consider international bond funds. International stock funds will likely drop along with the U.S. markets. And a default will send the world bond market in turmoil. But a falling dollar is good for investors in international securities.
• Take your risks with a money fund. Even if a money fund let its share price drop below $1, the loss would likely be small. Reserve Fund, the money fund that broke the buck during the Lehman Brothers crisis, saw its share price fall to about 97 cents. But some shareholders had to wait before getting their hands on their money.
• Jump in to the markets in the event of a steep decline -- 5% or more. Big downdrafts tend to focus Congress' attention, and the bounceback rally could be considerable.

Gold is a mixed bet. On the one hand, gold moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. dollar. On the other hand, default could send the nation into recession, which would make inflation unlikely.

All of these strategies have drawbacks. An inverse fund or a put option will get smacked if Congressional leaders emerge with a compromise that allows the country to pay its bills. And if you're sitting on big capital gains – as many are during the past five years – you may have to peel off 20% to Uncle Sam. If your gains are short-term – less than one year – your taxes on your gains will be the same as your income tax rate.

Hot Growth Stocks To Own Right Now

Hot Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: Delphi Financial Group Inc. (DFG)

Delphi Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated employee benefit services. The company operates in two segments, Group Employee Benefit Products and Asset Accumulation Products. The Group Employee Benefit Products segment provides disability, group life, and excess workers? compensation insurance products to small and mid-sized employers. It also offers travel accident, voluntary accidental death and dismemberment, group dental, and limited benefit health insurance products, as well as assumed workers? compensation and casualty reinsurance. This segment markets its group products to employer-employee groups and associations in various industries primarily through independent brokers and agents. The Asset Accumulation Products segment primarily offers fixed annuities, such as single premium deferred annuities, flexible premium annuities, and multi-year interest guarantee products to individuals through networks of independent insurance age n ts. The company also provides integrated disability and absence management services, including event reporting, leave of absence management, claims and case management, and return to work management. Delphi Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Some of Elliott Managements top equity positions in the first quarter 2012 are Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD), Delphi Automotive (DFG), Iron Mountain (IRM) and News Corp. (NWS).

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-growth-stocks-to-own-right-now.html

Stephen Colbert gets nasty with Amazon

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) For Stephen Colbert, the Amazon-Hachette feud is getting personal.

Colbert took time Wednesday night on his Comedy Central show to say he was angry at Amazon for "deterring customers" from buying his books.

The comedian offered viewers stickers saying "I didn't buy it on Amazon" that they can download from his site.

Colbert, whose publisher is Hachette, took Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) to task for what Hachette has said is Amazon's slow restocking of some of its books. Hachette says it's causing "available in 2-4 weeks" messages to appear on titles by Colbert, Malcolm Gladwell, novelist James Patterson, and others.

Some of Hachette's books have been listed as "out of stock", and recently Amazon removed preorder capabilities for some books, according to Hachette.

Amazon has reportedly been pressuring Hachette to let it lower prices for e-books and ultimately pay Hachette less for them. Hachette has resisted.

In statement last week about the apparent log-jam Amazon said, "Unfortunately, despite much work from both sides, we have been unable to reach mutually-acceptable agreement on terms."

And it doesn't seem like there's an end in sight to the tiff.

  Colbert a safe choice to replace Letterman

Amazon raised eyebrows last week saying that if customers are inconvenienced by its battle with the book publisher, they should buy Hachette's books elsewhere.

Amazon is the biggest name in book selling and sets the tone for book sales and publishers. Since Amazon is so powerful, publishers often have little choice but to accept Amazon's terms.

Finke’s ‘Bizarre’ Discovery: Stocks Safer in Long Term

One of the longest running debates in the field of investing is whether stocks are indeed long-run winners  — a view most famously articulated by the Wharton School’s Jeremy Siegel and his book Stocks for the Long Run — or the quite opposite notion, most associated with Boston University financial economist Zvi Bodie, that time does not lessen the risk of holding equities.

Siegel’s argument implies that advisors should counsel clients to endure a portfolio’s ups and downs for the long-term gain they can expect, while Bodie argues that the concept of “time diversification” violates bedrock economic theories that there is no free lunch and, further, that equities do not exhibit a decreasing likelihood of loss over time.

The idea has significant implications for financial advisors managing investor portfolios. Siegel has long advocated stock-heavy portfolios, while Bodie has frequently, and passionately, warned investors against taking unnecessary risks, advocating portfolios made up of inflation-protected savings bonds (I-bonds) or Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS).

Now a significant new study, based on a more complete data set, weighs in on the Siegel side, though not without some sympathy for Bodie’s position.

The paper, called “Optimal Portfolios for the Long Run,” is written by Morningstar’s David Blanchett, Texas Tech University professor and Research Magazine contributor Michael Finke and The American College’s Wade Pfau, and has already struck a chord in the world of academic finance, having been downloaded 850 times (as of this writing), though published for just a month.

ThinkAdvisor spoke about the new research with Michael Finke, in Austin, Texas, for the Retirement Income Industry Association’s annual advisor conference.

In what way does your new study update Jeremy Siegel’s extensive research on stocks for the long run?

Siegel just used U.S. data. One of the most compelling arguments against the concept of time diversification is that it’s just data mining, and we have only a limited data set; and the U.S. might be different; it might be exceptional.

We looked at 20 countries and over 2,000 years of data collectively [that is, over 100 years of returns data for each country].

We estimated based on this big data set what the optimal portfolio should be given different time horizons. It’s one of the most basic questions of portfolio construction, and it’s amazingly understudied. And surprisingly there’s little agreement among academics about whether [time diversification] exists. And the best argument about why it shouldn’t exist is that it essentially gives long-run investors a free lunch. They get the higher return for less risk than short-run investors.

Economic theory, of course, says there is no such thing as a free lunch or everybody would line up for it. But you found otherwise?

The bizarre thing is if you have a 30-year time horizon, equities become less risky in terms of purchasing power than holding 1-year Treasury bills and rolling them over. So you’re getting this huge premium, and you don’t have to take any risk to earn it. That shouldn’t happen.

It’s not a 100% certain that time diversification is going to work — nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future. The best we can do is gather as much data as possible and make forward-looking estimates as to what an optimal portfolio should be based on the most thorough possible analysis of backward-looking data.

Does your study factor in varying investor goals and risk tolerances?

We assume different levels of risk aversion and we estimate what an optimal portfolio should be for those different investors at different holding periods.

Your average investor is a short-term investor; the average turnover of an equity is a year.

We have evidence from another study we have done that investor risk tolerance changes during a recession, so people are less willing to take risk during a recession. That means that as equity prices fall, that creates volatility in the short run. But when the market recovers, all of a sudden people’s appetite for risk increases and stocks go up. This creates short-term volatility but tends to be smoothed out over time.

What do your findings imply for financial advisors?

In essence, [time diversification] creates a free lunch for long-term investors and a source of value for advisors who can help clients maintain a risky portfolio.

And are there any other critical implications for academics and financial professionals?

Yes. If you believe in time diversification, you have to believe in market timing.

Stocks become less attractive in a bull market [when prices are high] and more attractive in a recession [when prices are low]. So sentiment is the backbone of time diversification; sentiment drives returns. If you look at risk tolerance tests given to investors, on average they’re more risk averse when the stock market is declining.

What do you think economists like Zvi Bodie would make of these findings?

Zvi Bodie would say that if risk is priced fairly and if markets are efficient then [this time diversification benefit] shouldn’t happen. You only get rewarded for taking real risk. But if markets are sentiment-driven, then you’re getting something for nothing.

As an economist, you don’t want to rely on any strategy that gives people a free lunch; if there is one, then everybody will take it.

And you found that long-term investors can be treated to a free lunch?

A certain percentage of the time, a long-term should lose out, but it happens so infrequently. One of the most interesting things we found is there has been a decline in the equity premium across the world, especially over the last 40 to 50 years; yet the time diversification benefit has been increasing during that time. So while it seems investors have become more risk tolerant in general, they haven’t become less sentimental.

Meaning that they freak out and sell their portfolios?

Exactly.

So should advisors load their clients’ portfolios with stocks or avoid doing so because they’ll freak out?

Your average risk-averse worker is maybe not the ideal market participant to accept a lot of investment risk. If you think of the market as a way of allocating risk from those best able to bear risk and allocating safety to those who [most require] safety, then one would expect that a middle-class worker would not be among those best able to accept investment risk.

And if you believe in sentiment, then you may also have to recognize that these are among the workers most likely to move to cash during a recession.

But investors who have financial advisors and are more sophisticated are more likely to stick with [an equity-heavy portfolio].

The evidence suggests that you should tailor the equity allocation of a portfolio to the duration of the goal. But remember that nothing is ever certain.

You cannot portray risk as not risky, as Zvi Bodie [would affirm]. But it does appear that historically there has been a free lunch.

---

Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:

3 Stocks Shelling Out Surefire Dividends

For dividend investors, there’s good news … and bad news.

The good news is that, if you’re looking for income, it sure hasn’t been hard to find. As of the second quarter’s end, the percentage of stocks paying dividends in the S&P 500 was sitting at a 15-year high. And zooming in on just the last decade, aggregate dividend payments have doubled overall.

The bad news, though, is that many dividend-paying stocks sport misleading headline yields or unsustainable payouts — hardly the kind of income stock you want to snatch up for the long haul, or as a way to weather the current political menu of a government shutdown for dinner and the debt ceiling crisis for dessert.

With that in mind, we sorted through piles of dividend stocks to find some that do offer sustainable, surefire payouts for loyal shareholders thanks to impressive payout histories and sustainable payout ratios.

Take a look:

Johnson & Johnson

Dividend Yield: 3.02%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) isn’t dependable just because it provides everything from Band-Aids to Tylenol to baby shampoo. It also provides shareholders with steady-eddy dividend. Yes, Johnson & Johnson has been paying a dividend since 1944 — a long enough track record to make it a Dependable Dividend stock.

Plus, JNJ boasts a mind-blowing 51 consecutive years of dividend increases, with the payout more than tripling in the past decade alone.

That trend will more than likely continue considering Johnson & Johnson paid out a reasonable $2.40 per in dividends last year — only 47% of its adjusted earnings. Factoring in a recent dividend increase, JNJ is slated to tally a $2.59-per-share annual payout for 2013 — also 47% of the $5.46 per share Johnson & Johnson is slated to earn.

If you want consistency, you got it.

Things look just as promising when you consider cash. JNJ’s payout was just over half of its $4.43 in free cash flow per share for 2012. And the diversified consumer goods giant boasted over $17 billion on its balance sheet in the most recent quarter — a pretty hefty cushion in case waters get rough here or there.

Chevron

Dividend Yield: 3.31%

If you’re looking to dig up a solid dividend, look no further than oil and gas giant Chevron (CVX). The Dependable Dividend stock has been paying a dividend for an jaw-dropping 101 years, and has increased that payout by over 185% in the past decade alone.

On top of that, you can count on that dividend for the long haul. In 2012, Chevron paid out $3.51 per share in dividends — less than 28% of its total adjusted earnings for the year.

Plus, CVX upped its quarterly payout this year — something its done every year since the turn of the century — and that $4-per-share annual payout still looks sustainable, as the company is slated to earn $12.16 for the year.

The one thing to note is that Chevron does have a high payout ratio when you compare its dividend to its free cash flow, as a good chunk of the company’s operating cash goes to capital expenditures — which have been on the way up of late. But there’s still some wiggle room; last year’s dividends took up a manageable 86% of free cash flow, and earnings (and thus FCF) are slated for solid growth of 7% per year over the next half-decade.

And for the cherry on top, Chevron has a huge war chest of cash to dip into if things get a little rocky — and that cash cache has been growing in recent years. At the end of the most recent quarter, the oil and gas giant had more than $20.6 billion in cash and equivalents vs. a mere (relatively speaking, of course) $8 billion back in 2009.

Bank of Montreal

Dividend Yield: 4.23%

Head north of the border and you’ll come across Bank of Montreal (BMO), our final safe income pick. If you were impressed by Chevron’s century of dividend payments, consider this: BMO has been rewarding loyal shareholders since 1829. For perspective, remember that the U.S. was just over 50 years old at that time.

Bank of Montreal also hasn’t been shy about ramping up its payments. Over the past decade, BMO’s dividend has soared 120%, including increases in 2012 and 2013.

Last year’s bump put BMO’s annual payout at $2.82 per share — a reasonable 50%, give or take, of the company’s earnings and free cash flow.

And factoring in the most recent increase — which bumped the quarterly payout to 74 cents per share, good for a yield north of 4% — the dividend looks just as sustainable. Based on expected adjusted earnings, Bank of Montreal will be using only 48% of its earnings to reward shareholders this year, and 46% of its earnings next year.

And that’s only if it doesn’t toss shareholders yet another dividend boost. And such a boost seems likely considering BMO is slated for double-digit earnings growth over the next half-decade — higher than the industry average.

As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

IPO demand jumps as three more hit the market

The Empire State Building may not be the world's tallest anymore, but it still helped set a new record Wednesday.

Following the initial public offerings of three companies, including the operator of the Empire State Building, the IPO market has officially shaken off the malaise of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.

Shares of retailer Burlington Stores, real estate firm ReMax and Empire State Realty Trust saw their initial public offerings start trading Wednesday, and they gained 47%, 23% and 1%, respectively, on their first days.

But more important, with the IPOs of these three companies, there have been 155 companies selling shares to the public for the first time this year. That's a noteworthy accomplishment in that it's the first sign of the moribund IPO market coming back to life since the financial crisis all but killed interest in deals.

And that's not even including the much-anticipated IPO of online message service Twitter, expected to file its prospectus with the public in weeks, if not days.

TWITTER IPO: Social media giant poised to make IPO filing public

At 155, the number of IPOs this year is up 52% from the same point last year, says Renaissance Capital.

There haven't been this many companies going public in a year since 2007, when there were 213, just before the financial crisis decimated the plans of companies to sell stock to the public.

The amount of money raised by companies this year so far, $33.3 billion, is down 6.2% from this point last year, Renaissance says. But that's actually a healthy sign, as the IPO market is reopening to smaller companies looking to grow and expand, the lifeblood of a vibrant IPO market. For years, investors shied away from smaller companies to focus on large, old and more established companies.

Hot Dividend Companies For 2015

Hot Dividend Companies For 2015: PetroChina Company Limited(PTR)

PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and tradi ng businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  2. Russia: 6041.28 quadrillion BTU
  Russia is a giant of natural gas, the national gas company Gazprom and Norway's Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) represent 40% of total natural gas imports in Europe, and that is just half of it. Back in March, Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PetroChina's (NYSE: ! PTR  ) state-owned parent company to deliver 1.34 trillion cubic feet per year starting in 2018. The MOU is a long time coming -- the two countries have been working on this deal for more 15 years.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-dividend-companies-for-2015.html

Top 10 Valued Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 10 Valued Stocks 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 Lawrence Meyers]

  As a convenience store, it doesn’t have direct competition fromDollar Tree (DLTR) or Family Dollar (FDO) because these dollar stores arent exclusively focused on food (and they have no gasoline or cigarette sales), and theyre targeted at the folks who are trying to save money over convenience, not vice versa. The convenience angle is another reason whyWalmart (WMT) and Costco (COST)aren’t competitors, since those behemoths are about a total shopping experience.

• [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  Costly market share gains
  The problem is that Family Dollar has had to pay up for its increasing market share and sales levels. The company's gross profit margin fell by more than a full percentage point, to 34.7% last quarter. In contrast, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) booked an expansion of profits, to 35.2%, continuing a trend that's seen it pull away from Family Dollar.

• [By Brendan Byrnes]

  Brendan: Not a problem at a! ll. What about the surprising amount of dollar-store companies that are public? You have Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO  ) , Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) , Dollar General (NYSE: DG  ) . You mention, in particular, Family Dollar, which is the lowest market cap out of all of those, as doing the best, an exceptional company. Why?

• [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.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-valued-stocks-to-buy-right-now.html

Hot Low Price Companies To Own For 2015

Hot Low Price Companies To Own For 2015: Markel Corp (MKL)

Markel Corporation is a financial holding company serving a range of markets. The Company markets and underwrites specialty insurance products. The Company operates in three segments: the Excess and Surplus Lines, the Specialty Admitted, and the London markets. It also owns interests in industrial and service businesses, which operate outside of the specialty insurance marketplace. On January 1, 2012, the Company acquired Thompson Insurance Enterprises, LLC (THOMCO). On July 13, 2011, the Company acquired PartnerMD, LLC. On October 19, 2011, the Company acquired an 83% interest in WI Holdings Inc. (Weldship). In April 2012, its subsidiary, Markel Ventures, acquired a majority interest in Havco WP LLC. In July 2012, Markel Corporation announced that Ellicott Dredge Enterprises, LLC, through its subsidiary Rohr International Dredge Holdings, Inc., acquired IDRECO GmbH. In January 2013, OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd sold Essentia Insurance Company to the Company. In May 2013, it announced that it has completed its acquisition of Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd.

Excess and Surplus Lines Segment

Business in the Excess and Surplus Lines segment is written through two distribution channels, professional surplus lines general agents who have limited quoting and binding authority and wholesale brokers. The business produced by this segment is written on a surplus lines basis through either Essex Insurance Company or Evanston Insurance Company. During the year ended December 31, 2011, in the Excess and Surplus Lines segment, it wrote business through regional underwriting offices, which include Markel Northeast (Red Bank, NJ), Markel Southeast (Glen Allen, VA), Markel Midwest (Deerfield, IL), Markel Mid South (Plano, TX) and Markel West (Woodland Hills, CA and Scottsdale, AZ). Product offerings within the Excess and Surplus Lines s! egment fall within the product groupings, which include Property and Casualty, Professional Liabili ty, and Other Product Lines. Property coverages consist of f! ire, allied lines (including windstorm, hail and water damage) and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind on both a primary and excess basis. Its property risks range from small, single-location accounts to multi-state, multi-location accounts. Casualty product offerings include a range of liability coverages targeting apartments and office buildings, retail stores, contractors and recreational and hospitality businesses. It also offers products liability coverages on either an occurrence or claims-made basis to manufacturers, distributors, importers and re-packagers of manufactured products.

Professional liability coverages include solutions for specialized professions, including architects and engineers, lawyers, agents and brokers, service technicians and computer consultants. It offers claims-made medical malpractice coverage for doctors, dentists and podiatrists; claims-made profession al liability coverage to individual healthcare providers, such as therapists, pharmacists, physician assistants and nurse anesthetists, and coverages for medical facilities and other allied healthcare risks, such as clinics, laboratories, medical spas, home health agencies, small hospitals, pharmacies and nursing homes. This product line also includes for-profit and not-for profit management liability coverage, which can be bundled or written mono-line and include employment practices liability, directors' and officers' liability and fiduciary liability coverages. In addition, it offers a data privacy and security product, which provides coverage for data breach and privacy liability, data breach loss to insureds and electronic media coverage.

Other product lines within the Excess and Surplus Lines segment include excess and umbrella products, which prov! ide cover! age over approved underlying insurance carriers on either an occurrence or claims-made basis; env ironmental products, which include environmental consultants! ' profe! ssional liability, contractors' pollution liability and site-specific environmental impairment liability coverages; transportation-related products, which provide auto physical damage coverage for automobiles, as well as all types of specialty commercial vehicles, dealers' open lot and garagekeeper legal liability coverages, vehicular liability and physical damage coverages for local and intermediate haul commercial trucks and liability coverage to operators of small to medium-sized owned and operated taxicab fleets, non-emergency ambulances and multi-line specialty products designed for the characteristics of the garage industry; inland marine products, which provide a range of specialty coverages for risks, such as motor truck cargo coverage for damage to third party cargo while in transit, warehouseman's legal liability coverage for damage to third party goods in storage, contractors' equipment coverage for first party property damage and builder's risk coverage ; ocean marine products, which provide general liability, professional liability, property and cargo coverages for marine artisan contractors, boat dealers and marina owners, including hull physical damage, protection and indemnity and third party property coverages for ocean cargo; casualty facultative reinsurance written for individual casualty risks focusing on general liability, products liability, automobile liability and certain classes of professional liability and targeting classes, which include general liability risks; railroad-related products, which provide first and third party coverages for short-line and regional railroads, scenic and tourist railroads, commuter and light rail trains and railroad equipment, and public entity insurance and reinsurance programs, which provide coverage for government entities including counties, municipalities, scho! ols and c! ommunity colleges.

Specialty Admitted Segment

The business in the Specialty Admit ted segment is written by retail insurance agents who have v! ery limit! ed underwriting authority. Products and programs are marketed directly to consumers or distributed through wholesale producers. Personal lines coverages included in this segment are marketed directly to the consumer using direct mail, Internet and telephone promotions, as well as relationships with various motorcycle and boat manufacturers, dealers and associations. The business produced by this segment is written on an admitted basis either through Markel Insurance Company (MIC), Markel American Insurance Company (MAIC) and FirstComp Insurance Company (FCIC).

The Markel Specialty unit focuses on providing total insurance programs for businesses engaged in specialized activities. The Markel Specialty unit is organized into product areas, which concentrate on particular markets and customer groups, including youth and recreation oriented organizations, social service organizations, amateur sports organizations and horse and farm operations. The Markel American S pecialty Personal and Commercial Lines unit offers its insurance products focuses its underwriting on marine, recreational vehicle, property and other personal and commercial line coverages. The FirstComp unit provides workers' compensation insurance and related services, to small businesses. The FirstComp unit distributes its products through independent insurance agencies.

Product offerings within the Specialty Admitted segment fall within product groupings, which include Workers' Compensation, Property and Casualty, Personal Lines, Accident and Health, and Other Product Lines. Workers' compensation products provide wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment and target main-street, service and artisan contractor businesses, retail stores and restaurants. Property and casualty products i! ncluded i! n this segment are offered on a monoline or package basis and target commercial markets and customer groups. Targeted groups include youth and recreation oriented organizations,! social s! ervice organizations, museums and historic homes, performing arts organizations, bed and breakfast inns, outfitters and guides, hunting and fishing lodges, dude ranches and rod and gun clubs. Personal lines products provide first and third party coverages for a range of personal watercrafts, including older boats, boats and yachts, as well as for recreational vehicles, including motorcycles, snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles (ATVs). In addition, property coverages are offered for mobile homes, dwellings and homeowners that do not qualify for standard homeowner's coverage. Other products offered include special event protection, supplemental natural disaster coverage, renters' protection coverage, excess flood coverage and collector vehicle coverage. Accident and health products offer liability and accident insurance for amateur sports organizations, accident and medical insurance for academic institutions, monoline accident and medical coverage for various markets, sh ort-term medical insurance, pet health insurance, stop-loss insurance for self-insured medical plans and medical excess reinsurance coverage.

Other product lines within the Specialty Admitted segment include coverages for equine-related risks, such as horse mortality, theft, infertility, transit and specified perils, as well as property and liability coverages for farms and boarding, breeding and training facilities; first and third party coverages for auto repair garages, gas stations and convenience stores and used car dealers; general agent programs, which use managing general agents to offer single source admitted and non-admitted programs for a specific class or line of business; first and third party coverages for small fishing ventures, charters, utility boats and boat rentals, and professional liability coverages, which ! it design! s and administers on behalf of other insurance carriers and ultimately assume on a reinsurance basis.

London Insur ance Market Segment

This segment is consisted o! f Markel ! International. Markel International writes specialty property, casualty, professional liability, equine, marine, energy and trade credit insurance on a direct and reinsurance basis. Business is written worldwide through either Markel International Insurance Company Limited (MIICL) or Markel Syndicate 3000 with approximately 15% of writings coming from the United States. Product offerings within the London Insurance Market segment fall within the product groupings, which include Marine and Energy, Professional and General Liability, Reinsurance, Property, and Other Product Lines.

Marine and energy products include a portfolio of coverages for cargo, energy, hull, liability, war, terrorism and specie risks. The cargo account is an international transit-based book covering a range of cargo. Energy coverage includes all aspects of oil and gas activities. The hull account covers physical damage to ocean-going tonnage, yachts and mortgagee's interest. Liability cove rage provides for a range of energy liabilities, as well as marine exposures, including charterers, terminal operators and ship repairers. The war account covers the hulls of ships and aircraft, and other related interests, against war and associated perils. Terrorism coverage provides for property damage and business interruption related to political violence, including war and civil war. The specie account includes coverage for fine art on exhibition and in private collections, securities, bullion, precious metals, cash in transit and jewelry.

Professional and general liability products include professional indemnity, directors' and officers' liability, intellectual property, some defense costs, incidental commercial crime, general and products liability coverages targeting consultants, construction professionals! , financi! al service professionals, professional practices, social welfare organizations and medical products. Professional and general liability p roducts are written on a global basis. Reinsurance products ! include p! roperty and casualty treaty reinsurance. Property treaty products are offered on an excess of loss and proportional basis for per risk and catastrophe exposures. A portion of the excess of loss catastrophe and per risk property treaty business comes from the United States with the remainder coming from international property treaties. Casualty treaty reinsurance is offered on an excess of loss basis and targets specialist writers of motor products in the United Kingdom and Europe. Excess of loss casualty treaty reinsurance also is offered for select writers of employers' and products liability coverages.

Property products target a range of insureds, providing coverage ranging from fire to catastrophe perils, such as earthquake and windstorm. Business is written either in the open market or on a delegated authority basis for direct and facultative risks. Open market business is written mainly on a global basis by its underwriters to London brokers, with each ri sk being considered on its own merits. The Company provides property coverage for small to medium-sized commercial risks on both a stand-alone and package basis through its branch offices. Other product lines within the London Insurance Market segment include crime coverage targeting financial institutions and providing protection for bankers' blanket bond, computer crime and commercial fidelity; contingency coverage, including event cancellation, non-appearance and prize indemnity; accident and health coverage for affinity groups and schemes, risks accounts and sports groups; coverage for equine-related risks, such as horse mortality, theft, infertility, transit and specified perils; specialty coverages include mortality risks for farms, zoos, animal theme parks and safari parks; short-term trade credit coverage for co! mmercial ! risks, including insolvency and protracted default, as well as political risks coverage in conjunction with commercial risks for currency inconvert ibility, government action, import/export license cancellati! on, publi! c buyer default and war, and products liability, excess and umbrella and environmental liability coverages.

The Company purchases reinsurance. It purchases catastrophe reinsurance coverage for its catastrophe-exposed policies. In addition, certain foreign reinsurers for its United States insurance operations must provide collateral equal to 100% of recoverable, with the exception of reinsurers who have been granted authorized status by an insurance company's state of domicile. When appropriate, it pursues reinsurance commutations, which involve the termination of ceded reinsurance contracts. Reinsurance treaties are purchased on an annual basis.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brendan Mathews]

  It's a great idea to get children interested in investing early, and buying some stocks for them is a great way to accomplish that. I'd recommend using a very long-term buy-and-hold strategy focused on high-quality, sustainable businesses. I'd forgo dividends and focus on long-term appreciation (just my personal opinion). Stocks that I'd recommend for this strategy include Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) , Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B  ) , CarMax (NYSE: KMX  ) , and Markel (NYSE: MKL  ) . All are great companies that I'd be happy to hold for a decade.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer]

  There are also some companies that strive to make their filings easy to follow and have an obvious desire to make sure investors understand their business. Specialty insurer Markel  (NYSE: MKL  ) is a superb example of that. While I wouldn't say that an insurance newbie will sail through Markel's filings, the writing and explanations are about as accessible as one could hope for from a fairly complex busines! s.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]

  In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is, banking analysts David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer rank insurance stocks. The stocks ranked include: Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A  ) (NYSE: BRK-B  ) , Markel (NYSE: MKL  ) , AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , and Aflac (NYSE: AFL  ) . Berkshire Hathaway may be No.1 in the guy's hearts, but it is it also the top pick in their rankings?

• [By John Reeves]

  Author and investor William Thorndike recently wrote a book looking at eight CEOs who outdid the S&P 500. In this video, John Reeves looks at what distinguished these CEOs. One characteristic: decentralized operations. CEOs like Warren Buffett allow managers to do their jobs without micro-managing them. These top CEOs also are frugal and don't spend a lot on themselves. They also tend to be skeptical and avoid the limelight. Perhaps, most importantly, exceptional CEOs don't follow the crowd. They make their own decisions without influence from Wall Street.  Some companies that Thorndike recommends are Leucadia National  (NYSE: LUK  ) and Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL  ) . Thorndike also likes Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) as a great example of a company doing its own thing and with a healthy disregard for Wall Street experts.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-low-price-companies-to-own-for-2015.html

Top Value Stocks To Own Right Now

Top Value Stocks To Own 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 Richard Stavros]

  For example, Dollar General (NYSE: DG), the nation’s largest dollar-store chain with 11,100 locations, offered a weak profit outlook in the early part of the year after reporting weak fourth-quarter sales. And Dollar Tree (Nasdaq: DLTR), which operates about 5,000 locations, missed profit expectations for the holiday quarter in February. What has happened to the American consumer? Even McDonald's sales were flat in April.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  This isn't some growing new industry set to take the world further into the 21st century. It's an old concept that hasn't innovated, won't innovate, and will slowly but surely die out over this century. When I walk into a Walgreens, I see a miniature Target (TGT), a more expensive Dollar Tree (DLTR), and a provider of prescriptions in a world where everything is becoming mail order.

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

Top Transportation Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top Transportation Stocks To Buy For 2015: Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BWP)

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP is a limited partnership company. The Company owns and operates three interstate natural gas pipeline systems including integrated storage facilities. Its business is conducted by its primary subsidiary, Boardwalk Pipelines, LP (Boardwalk Pipelines) and its subsidiaries, Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC (Gulf Crossing), Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP (Gulf South) and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC (Texas Gas) (together, the operating subsidiaries), which consist of integrated natural gas pipeline and storage systems. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it formed Boardwalk Midstream, LP (Midstream), and its operating subsidiary, Boardwalk Field Services, LLC (Field Services), which is engaged in the natural gas gathering and processing business. In December 2011, Boardwalk HP Storage Company, LLC (HP Storage), a joint venture between Boardwalk Pipelines and Boardwalk Pipelines Holding Corp. (BPHC) acquired Petal Gas Storage, L.L.C. (Peta l), Hattiesburg Gas Storage Company (Hattiesburg). In December 2011, it acquired a 20% equity interest in HP Storage.

The Companys pipeline systems originate in the Gulf Coast region, Oklahoma and Arkansas and extend north and east to the midwestern states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. It serves a mix of customers, including producers, local distribution companies (LDCs), marketers, electric power generators, direct industrial users and interstate and intrastate pipelines. The Company provides a portion of its pipeline transportation and storage services, through firm contracts, under which the Companys customers pay monthly capacity reservation charges. Other charges are based on actual utilization of the capacity under firm contracts and contracts for interruptible services. During 2011, approximately 82% of its revenues were derived from capacity reservation charges under firm contracts; approximately 14% ! of its revenues were deriv ed from charges-based on actual utilization under firm contr! acts, and approximately 4% of its revenues were derived from interruptible transportation, interruptible storage, parking and lending (PAL) and other services. Its expansion projects include South Texas Eagle Ford Expansionand Marcellus Gathering System and HP Storage.

Pipeline and Storage Systems

The Companys operating subsidiaries own and operate approximately 14,200 miles of pipelines, directly serving customers in twelve states and indirectly serving customers throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. In 2011, its pipeline systems transported approximately 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Average daily throughput on its pipeline systems during 2011 was approximately 7.3 billion cubic feet. Its natural gas storage facilities are comprised of eleven underground storage fields located in four states with aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 167.0 billion cu bic feet. the Company operates the assets of HP Storage on behalf of the joint venture.

The principal sources of supply for our pipeline systems are regional supply hubs and market centers located in the Gulf Coast region, including offshore Louisiana, the Perryville, Louisiana area, the Henry Hub in Louisiana and the Carthage, Texas area. Its pipelines in the Carthage, Texas area provide access to natural gas supplies from the Bossier Sands, Barnett Shale, Haynesville Shale and other gas producing regions in eastern Texas and northern Louisiana. The Henry Hub serves as the designated delivery point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its pipeline systems also have access to unconventional mid-continent supplies, such as the Woodford Shale in southeastern Oklahoma and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. The Company also accesses the Eagle Ford Shale in southern Texas; wellhead supplies in no! rthern an! d southern Louisiana and Mississippi; and Canadian natural gas through an unaffil! iated pip! eline interconnect at Whitesville, Kentucky.

Gulf Crossing

The Companys Gulf Crossing pipeline system originates near Sherman, Texas, and proceeds to the Perryville, Louisiana area. The market areas are in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Florida through interconnections with Gulf South, Texas Gas and unaffiliated pipelines.

Gulf South

The Companys Gulf South pipeline system is located along the Gulf Coast in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The on-system markets directly served by the Gulf South system are generally located in eastern Texas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. These markets include LDCs and municipalities located across the system, including New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, and other end-users located across the system, including the Baton Rouge to New Orleans industrial corridor and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Gulf South also has indirect access to off-system markets through numerous interconnections with unaffiliated interstate and intrastate pipelines and storage facilities. These pipeline interconnections provide access to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States.

Gulf South has two natural gas storage facilities. The gas storage facility located in Bistineau, Louisiana, has approximately 78 billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity from which Gulf South offers firm and interruptible storage service, including no-notice service. Gulf Souths Jackson, Mississippi, gas storage facility has approximately five billion cubic feet of working gas storage capacity, which is used for operational purposes and is not offered for sale to the market.

Texas Gas

The Companys Texas Gas pipeline system originates in Louisiana, East Texas and! Arkansas! and runs north and east through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, K! entucky, ! Indiana, and into Ohio, with smaller diameter lines extending into Illinois. Texas Gas directly serves LDCs, municipalities and power generators in its market area, which encompasses eight states in the South and Midwest and includes the Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, and Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan areas. Texas Gas also has indirect market access to the Northeast through interconnections with unaffiliated pipelines. Texas Gas owns nine natural gas storage fields, of which it owns the majority of the working and base gas. Texas Gas uses this gas to meet the operational requirements of its transportation and storage customers and the requirements of its no-notice service customers.

Field Services

In 2011, the Company formed its Field Services subsidiary and transferred to it approximately 100 miles of gathering and transmission pipeline. In 2012, the Company transferred to Field Services a n additional 240 miles of pipeline and two compressor stations. Field Services is developing gathering and processing capabilities in south Texas and Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]

  If that company doesn't fit your investing style, analyst Joel South offers his take on Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (NYSE: BWP  ) . This natural gas-focused operator offers a tremendous distribution yield above 7% and is diversified into the mid-continent and Utica shale regions. Those interested in high distribution yields would be well served by taking a deeper dive here.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-transportation-stocks-to-buy-for-2015.html

Here's Why Hewlett Packard Is a Buy

Hewlett Packard (HPQ) is continuing to drive further action on its end-to-end cost structure. The company provides solutions to individual customers and enterprises. Its personal systems segment offers computers and related products for the commercial and consumer markets. Its enterprises group segment offers servers and other solutions to customers. Hewlett Packard's printing segment provides printer hardware and other solutions to businesses. The company's enterprises segment offers technology consulting and business services. Hewlett Packard was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto.

Financials

Hewlett Packard reclaimed its number one position in both commercial PCs and desktop sectors against the backdrop of a declining market. In the second quarter, the company delivered $0.88 in diluted non-GAAP net earnings per share. This is at the high-end of the company's financial outlook of $0.85 to $0.89 per share. The company's revenue was flat in a constant currency, but Hewlett Packard delivered a very strong cash flow of $3 billion from operations. The company's results were driven by solid performances in its printing, networking, and personal systems segments. In the personal systems segment, Hewlett Packard's revenue went up 7% over the same period in the prior year.

Positive Outlook

For the full-year 2014, Hewlett Packard expects a non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.63 to $3.75. From a GAAP perspective, it expects full-year earnings to be in the range of $2.68 to $2.80. The company expects GAAP net earnings per share for the next quarter to be in the range of $0.59 to $0.63.

Initiatives

Hewlett Packard created a joint venture with Foxconn. Together, both companies will be building a new line of cloud-optimized servers. The partnership intends to redefine the infrastructure economics of the world's largest service providers.

Hewlett Packard's services bookings growth is encouraging. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded Hewlett Packard a cyber security contract worth up to $32 million. Belgium's Flemish government awarded the company a seven-year EUR 500 million contract to offer ICT services to all local and government entities.

Competition

Hewlett Packard's market rivals include Accenture (ACN), International Business Machines (IBM), and the privately held Dell. To gain advantage over the competition, Hewlett Packard is building a lean organization with a focus on its strong performance management.

International Expansion

Hewlett Packard, during the early part of the millennium, was able to realize great returns by expanding its operations in China, India, Brazil and other countries. It has continued with the tradition.

Wings Across China

Recently, China Mobile Limited selected Hewlett Packard's Intelligent Data Operating Layer to power the search capability of its strategic Wireless City platform. Also, Hewlett-Packard teamed up with global packaging company YFY Jupiter for a new initiative that will use straw waste in China to create packaging materials for its products. The program will create multifold benefits for HP.

5 Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Own Right Now

Latin America and other Asian countries

Hewlett Packard has been active in Latin America and Asia. It announced the rollout of its partnerONE initiative in Asia Pacific and Latin America. The project is designed to help the company's partners to grow top line revenue and bottom line profitability. Ultimately, Hewlett Packard wants to use the project to boost its revenue.

Conclusion

Hewlett Packard's businesses cut across the major segments in the computer systems industry. It is positioned to meet the needs of the ever-changing market environment of its sector. The company is optimizing its workforce and reengineering its operations to create the capacity to drive a future growth. Overall, the company has enough room to expand on the international level. Also, its positive cash flow levels are bound to experience a growth in the future. I feel bullish about Hewlett Packard's future profitability.

Currently 0.00/512345 Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

Subscribe via Email Subscribe RSS Comments Please leave your comment:
More GuruFocus Links

Latest Guru Picks	Value Strategies
Warren Buffett Portfolio	Ben Graham Net-Net
Real Time Picks	Buffett-Munger Screener
Aggregated Portfolio	Undervalued Predictable
ETFs, Options	Low P/S Companies
Insider Trends	10-Year Financials
52-Week Lows	Interactive Charts
Model Portfolios	DCF Calculator
RSS Feed	Monthly Newsletters
The All-In-One Screener	Portfolio Tracking Tool

MORE GURUFOCUS LINKS

Latest Guru Picks	Value Strategies
Warren Buffett Portfolio	Ben Graham Net-Net
Real Time Picks	Buffett-Munger Screener
Aggregated Portfolio	Undervalued Predictable
ETFs, Options	Low P/S Companies
Insider Trends	10-Year Financials
52-Week Lows	Interactive Charts
Model Portfolios	DCF Calculator
RSS Feed	Monthly Newsletters
The All-In-One Screener	Portfolio Tracking Tool

HPQ STOCK PRICE CHART 33.5 (1y: +35%) $(function(){var seriesOptions=[],yAxisOptions=[],name='HPQ',display='';Highcharts.setOptions({global:{useUTC:true}});var d=new Date();$current_day=d.getDay();if($current_day==5||$current_day==0||$current_day==6){day=4;}else{day=7;} seriesOptions[0]={id:name,animation:false,color:'#4572A7',lineWidth:1,name:name.toUpperCase()+' stock price',threshold:null,data:[[1370235600000,24.9],[1370322000000,24.62],[1370408400000,24.19],[1370494800000,24.25],[1370581200000,24.81],[1370840400000,24.49],[1370926800000,24.24],[1371013200000,24.91],[1371099600000,24.93],[1371186000000,24.74],[1371445200000,25.16],[1371531600000,25.44],[1371618000000,25.43],[1371704400000,24.72],[1371790800000,24.15],[1372050000000,23.43],[1372136400000,23.85],[1372222800000,24.01],[1372309200000,24.77],[1372395600000,24.8],[1372654800000,24.93],[1372741200000,25.02],[1372827600000,25.18],[1373000400000,25.58],[1373259600000,25.17],[1373346000000,25.47],[1373432400000,25.93],[1373518800000,26.38],[1373605200000,26.19],[1373864400000,26.38],[1373950800000,26.45],[1374037200000,26.31],[1374123600000,26.33],[1374210000000,25.14],[1374469200000,25.51],[1374555600000,25.73],[1374642000000,26.11],[1374728400000,26.24],[1374814800000,25.99],[1375074000000,25.67],[1375160400000,25.78],[1375246800000,25.68],[1375333200000,26.23],[1375419600000,27],[1375678800000,27.03],[1375765200000,26.44],[1375851600000,26.69],[1375938000000,26.87],[1376024400000,26.77],[1376283600000,26.74],[1376370000000,27.3],[1376456400000,27.18],[1376542800000,25.95],[1376629200000,26.42],[1376888400000,25.88],[1376974800000,25.84],[1377061200000,25.38],[1377147600000,22.22],[1377234000000,22.4],[1377493200000,22.27],[1377579600000,21.99],[1377666000000,22.61],[1377752400000,22.52],[1377838800000,22.34],[1378184400000,22.37],[1378270800000,22.27],[1378357200000,22.12],[1378443600000,22.42],[1378702800000,22.36],[1378789200000,22.27],[1378875600000,22.27],[1378962000000,21.96],[1379048400000,22.07],[1379307600000,21.74],[1379394000000,21.67],[1379480400000,21.795],[1379566800000,21.31],[1379653200000,21.22],[1379912400000,21.2],[1379998800000,21.24],[1380085200000,21.4],[1380171600000,21.3],[1380258000000,21.17],[1380517200000,20.99],[1380603600000,21.31],[1380690000000,21.4],[1380776400000,20.92],[1380! 862800000,21.26],[1381122000000,20.93],[1381208400000,20.75],[1381294800000,22.6],[1381381200000,22.32],[1381467600000,22.8],[1381726800000,22.9],[1381813200000,22.79],[1381899600000,23.28],[1381986000000,23.385],[1382072400000,23.48],[1382331600000,23.55],[1382418000000,24.05],[1382504400000,23.76],[1382590800000,23.88],[1382677200000,24],[1382936400000,23.86],[1383022800000,23.84],[1383109200000,24.2],[1383195600000,24.37],[1383282000000,25.92],[1383544800000,25.77],[1383631200000,25.47],[1383717600000,25.61],[1383804000000,25.69],[1383890400000,25.94],[1384149600000,26.35],[1384236000000,26.22],[1384322400000,26.49],[1384408800000,25.07],[1384495200000,25.21],[1384754400000,25],[1384840800000,24.99],[1384927200000,24.94],[1385013600000,25.03],[1385100000000,25.26],[1385359200000,25.32],[1385445600000,25.09],[1385532000000,27.36],[1385704800000,27.35],[1385964000000,27.32],[1386050400

Behind the Ethanol Scandal

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Something about this decade's economic assumptions has never made sense to me.

The idea that you can anticipate a high and rising price for fuel, regardless of demand, never made sense to me.

What I was taught in economics class was that demand encouraged supply, and at some point the two would balance.

That's what seems to be happening. Shale oil, shale gas, and new strikes around the world are dramatically increasing gas supplies and proven reserves, to the point where one-third of natural gas being pumped in North Dakota's Bakken is being flared, burned away, $100 million in gas a month. [Read: Ex-JPMorgan Traders Could Face 20 Years in Prison ] North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources explained this happens only when the oil flow from a well is being tested. Or, if a producer determines it "is not economically feasible" to connect the gas in a well to a pipeline, they may "seek relief" from paying taxes and royalties on it. If something is not "economically feasible," doesn't that mean the market has cleared at a price below the cost to bring on production? At its current price of $3.67/MCF, according to the latest report on Investing.com, it's still not economically feasible. Prices below production costs have long been the problem with ethanol. The Renewable Fuel Standard was created to bridge this gap, enabling production. The idea that traders may be exploiting this program is separate from the question of supply and demand. You wanted supply and you got it. Genetic engineering is coming to the rescue of fuel prices. A bumper corn harvest, driven by genetically engineered seeds, is driving ethanol prices below those for unblended gasoline. This pressure is going to increase next year. [Read: Stop Blaming Lehman and Banks, Congress Created the Collapse] Ethanol Producer writes that cellulosic alcohol projects, which don't require food crops as fuel, are starting to come on-stream. Science & Enterprise writes that non-fuel crops like castor beans, genetically engineered to be used as fuel, are also heading to market. Venture-funded start-ups like Midori Renewables are preparing new catalysts that get even more fuel sugar from existing feedstocks. So the only recourse left to oil advocates is to attack the the Renewable Fuel Standard that created all this abundance. Take away the bridge, chop off ethanol supplies at the source, and the price pressure on refiners and oil producers may abate.

Issues that appear political are often just economic, and that's the case here. Ethanol, with government aid, is now putting downward pressure on gasoline prices, and the producers of that fuel are howling about unfair competition.

But take away the market pressure of ethanol, do away with the Renewable Fuel Standard, flare enough gas in enough fields, and the market clears at the higher prices fossil fuel producers have built into their own economic models. [Read: Our 401(k)s Show We're Not Taking Investor Confidence Seriously ]

The lesson should be clear. The economic assumptions of this decade are wrong. There is a limit to how high natural gas and gasoline prices can rise before the market bites back. Now that this has happened, producers are squealing like stuck pigs.

Is the answer to give the old-line producers the political power they need to drive new supplies from the market so that they can keep raising costs and prices? Or is it to see that squealing as a victory and increase the pressure, forcing a permanent re-examination of the fuel industries' cost structures? The answer to that one, I think, is obvious. The war against oil is being won, and now is the time to go in for the kill. At the time of publication, the author owned no ethanol stocks. Follow @DanaBlankenhorn This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and a tech reporter since 1982. His specialty has been getting to the future ahead of the crowd, then leaving before success arrived. That meant covering the Internet in 1985, e-commerce in 1994, the Internet of Things in 2005, open source in 2005 and, since 2010, renewable energy. He has written for every medium from newspapers and magazines to Web sites, from books to blogs. He still seeks tomorrow from his Craftsman home in Atlanta.

Hot Media Companies To Watch For 2015

Hot Media Companies To Watch For 2015: Discovery Communications Inc(DISCA)

Discovery Communications, Inc. operates as a non fiction media and entertainment company worldwide. The company provides original and purchased programming across various distribution platforms. Its content covers science, exploration, survival, natural history, sustainability of the environment, technology, docu-series, anthropology, paleontology, history, space, archaeology, health and wellness, engineering, adventure, lifestyles, forensics, civilization, and current events. The company owns and operates nine national television networks in the United States, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Military Channel, Planet Green, Discovery Fit & Health, and Velocity. Discovery Communications also has interests in Oprah Winfrey Network, a pay-television network and Web site; The Hub that features original programming, game shows, and live-action series and specials; and 3net, a three-dimensional network. In addition, it o ffers network branded Web sites, and mobile and video-on-demand services; and distributes various national and pan-regional television networks. Further, the company develops and sells curriculum-based products and services to public and private K-12 schools, such as access to an online VOD service that includes curriculum-based tools, professional development services, and student assessment and publication of hardcopy curriculum-based content; and postproduction audio services to motion picture studios, independent producers, broadcast networks, cable channels, advertising agencies, and interactive producers. As of December 31, 2011, it operated approximately 150 distribution feeds in 40 languages. The company is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Julianne Pepitone]

  At $45 a share, Wieser pointed out, Twitter's valuation isn't too far below more established media companies like CB! S (CBS, Fortune 500), Discovery Communications (DISCA) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500).

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-media-companies-to-watch-for-2015.html