VIDEO: Will JCPenney Survive 2014?

I joined Varney & Co. on Fox Business this morning to discuss the future of JCPenney (JCP) and JCP stock.

Watch
the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

JCPenney is having a rough go at it today, with JCP stock down more than 9% as of the time of this writing. The impetus for today’s thrashing appears to be the news that Hayman Capital’s Kyle Bass liquidated his large position in JCP stock, admitting in a Bloomberg interview that the purchase was a mistake.

The aggressive buying by Bass — and of several other highly followed investors, including George Soros, Whitney Tilson and Jeremy Grantham — was one of the greatest bullish arguments for the company. JCPenney CEO Mike Ullman also recently put a million dollars of his own money into JCP stock, very visibly showing the world that management — along with the hedge fund masters of the universe — had faith in the turnaround.

Bass’ departure throws a nice big bucket of cold water on this argument.

JCPenney is showing some modest signs of life. Same-store sales rose modestly in October, and they rose by a whopping 10% in November. But we’re also comparing these results to 2012, which was one of the worst years in the company’s history. Same-store sales remain well below their 2011 levels.

There also is the pesky question of margins. Yes, sales are up. But JC Penney is offering some of the most aggressive sales pricing in its history. Gross margins were already in free fall in the first three quarters of 2013–before the Black Friday sales.

Amazon (AMZN) can get away with posting thin margins because it is a growing business and it is a market leader in e-c0mmerce. It also has the faith of its suppliers and of Wall Street behind it. JCPenney has neither of these things, and it has a growing pile of debt.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2015

Between cash and short-term borrowing, Penney has about $2 billion in liquidity at the moment. But unless margins improve, the company will burn through that cash in less than a year. This means Penney will be at the mercy of its lenders to extend additional credit…or face the prospect of bankruptcy.

I made similar arguments in a recent CNBC appearance, commenting that Penney was on an “express train to oblivion.”

The other bullish argument for Penney is simply that it is cheap. And looking at the numbers, you can make a case there. Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT) and Kohl’s (KSS) all trade at price/sales ratios of around 0.5 to 0.6. JCP stock trades for less than half that, at around 0.25 times sales.

Of course, Walmart, Target and Kohl’s are all relatively healthy. JCP is only cheap if you believe the company will survive. And frankly, that is a highly speculative bet.

Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA, is the chief investment officer of the investment firm Sizemore Capital Management. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out his new premium service, Macro Trend Investor, which includes a free copy of his e-book, The New Megatrend Investor: The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy That Will Make You Rich.

Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015

Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2015: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By starskyinvestments]

  Yingli Green Energy (YGE), one of the leading solar panel maker announced not so exciting results for the second quarter 2014 due to macroeconomic headwinds specially in China and tough environment persisting in obtaining finances in the region that slowed down its installation. However, its shipment for PV modules for the quarter second-quarter increased approximately 41% to 888 megawatts quarter-on-quarter on the back of strong demand in the countries such as China, Japan, United States, U.K and many other emerging markets as large scale utility companies started equipping them with its utility-scale PV solutions.

• [By Mr. TopStep]

  The Asian markets closed mostly higher and in Europe 8 of 12 markets are trading modestly higher. This we! ek’s economic schedule starts with the first day of the FOMC two-day meeting, Consumer Price Index, Housing Starts, Redbook and earnings from Bob Evans Farms (NASDAQ: BOBE), Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) and La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB).

• [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Protective Life Corp.(PL), Tibco Software Inc.(TIBX) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co.(YGE)

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  The last few weeks haven't been great for Chinese manufacturers of photovalic (PV) panels. Share prices for key solar panel producers like Trina Solar (TSL) and Yingli Green Energy (YGE) have basically imploded since reaching March highs. YGE alone is down about 40% since then.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/best-solar-stocks-to-buy-for-2015-3.html

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch For 2015

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch For 2015: McCormick & Company Inc (MKC)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (McCormick) manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavorful products to the food industry, retail outlets, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses. The Companys sales, distribution and production facilities are located in North America and Europe. Additional facilities are based in China, Australia, Mexico, India, Singapore, Central America, Thailand and South Africa. The Company operates in two business segments: consumer and industrial. During the fiscal year ended November 30, 2011, the Companys consumer business contributed 59% of sales and 79% of operating income and the industrial business contributed 41% of sales and 21% of operating income.

McCormicks products are sold directly to customers and also through brokers, wholesalers, and distributors. In the consumer segment, products are resold to consumers through a range of retail outlets, including grocery, ma ss merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount, and drug stores under a range of brands. In the industrial segment, products are used by food and beverage manufacturers as ingredients for their finished goods and by food service customers as ingredients for menu items to enhance the flavor of their foods. Customers for the industrial segment include food manufacturers and the foodservice industry supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors.

Consumer Business

The Companys brands in the Americas include McCormick, Lawrys and Club House. The Company also markets brands, such as Zatarains, Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) its brands include the Ducros, Schwartz and Kamis brands of spices, herbs and seasonings and a line of Vahine brand dessert items. In the Asia/Pacific region its primary brand is McCormick, with the exception of India where its joint venture owns and trades under the Koh! inoor brand. The Companys customers span a variety of retail outlets that include grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug stores, served directly and indirectly through distributors or wholesalers. In addition to marketing its products to these customers, the Company is also a supplier of private label items, also known as store brands. More than 250 other brands are sold in the United States with additional brands in international markets.

Industrial Business

In its industrial business, the Company provides a range of products to multinational food manufacturers and foodservice customers. The foodservice customers are supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors. Its range of products include seasoning blends, natural spices and herbs, wet flavors, coating systems and compound flavors. In addition to a broad range of flavor solutions, we strive to achieve customer intimacy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Corporate earnings took a back seat today to the Feds latest policy decision. Still, quarterly financial results, and other news sent shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) and Tupperware (TUP), falling during regular market hoursHeres a rundown of several of todays moves:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Speaking of consecutive dividend increase streaks, food processor Hormel (HRL) increased its dividend for the 48th consecutive year, while spice maker McCormick (MKC) upped its dividend for a 28th consecutive year.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  McCormick & Co. McCormick & Co., one of the best known names in the spice business, is recalling a batch of ground oregano because it might be contaminated with salmonella, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The recall involves small containers (0.75 ounce size) of McCormick ground oregano with a UPC code on the label of 0-523561-6 and was "Best By" dates of Aug. 21! , 2016 an! d Aug. 22, 2016. They appear on the labels with this code: "BEST BY AUG 21 16 H" and "BEST BY AUG 22 16 H." McCormick (MKC) said the recall is limited to those specific containers, which were shipped in 1,032 cases to 41 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and several countries. The oregano was shipped between April 4 and Aug. 5. Salmonella bacteria can make anyone sick, but the illness is particularly dangerous to young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. And even a healthy person who gets infected with the organism is likely to have a fever and suffer abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. The FDA said it has not received any reports of consumers getting sick from the oregano. The contamination was discovered by the FDA during routine testing. McCormick said grocery stores have been notified to remove the products from their shelves and distribution centers and destroy them. If you have the recalled oregano, you're urged to get rid of it and the container, and contact McCormick at 1-800-632-5847, weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time to get a replacement, a refund or ask any questions. You don't need to return it to the store where you purchased it.

• [By Sure Dividend]

  No matter how much information we have, people will always need to eat. One way to look at if an industry has managed to grow over decades is to see how many Dividend Aristocrats the industry claims. Dividend Aristocrats are businesses that have increased their dividend payments for 25 or more consecutive years, and meet certain size and liquidity requirements. These are businesses that have withstood all of the changes of the last 25 or more years, and managed to grow consistently and profitably. There are 54 Dividend Aristocrats. The list below shows the Dividend Aristocrats whose primary business relates to food and/or beverages:

  McDonalds (MCD) Coca-Cola (KO) PepsiCo (PEP) McCormick & Co. (MKC) Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) Hormel Foods (HRL) Brown-! Forman (B! F.B) Sysco (SYY)

  Of the 54 Dividend Aristocrats, eight (~15%) make their money from food and/or beverages. Interestingly, six of the seven (ADM and SYY are the exception) make their money from branded consumer food and beverages. If you are looking for slow-changing businesses that grow year after year, branded food companies are a good place to search.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-defensive-stocks-to-watch-for-2015-2.html

Best Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014

Curis (NASDAQ: CRIS) dipped 18.97% to $3.16 in the pre-market session after the company reported Q3 financial results and provided CUDC-427 development update.

Solazyme (NASDAQ: SZYM) dipped 12.46% to $9.06 on Q3 results.

PhotoMedex (NASDAQ: PHMD) shares dropped 12.09% to $11.27 in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter results.

Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares fell 11.42% to $156.61 in the pre-market trading after the company reported a better-than-expected Q3 profit, but issued a weak outlook for the fourth quarter.

Posted-In: PreMarket LosersNews Movers & Shakers Pre-Market Outlook Markets

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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10 Best Oil Service Stocks For 2015: MicroChannel Technologies Corp (MCTC)

MicroChannel Technologies Corporation, incorporated on February 28, 2005, is a development-stage company. The Company is focused on the identification, acquisition, and development of new and potentially commercial opportunities.

As of August 31, 2013, the Company is not engaged in any business operations. As of August 31, 2013, the Company had no revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Bonamour Inc (OTCBB: BONI), Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) and Microchannel Technologies Corp (OTCBB: MCTC) have been attracting attention from variosu investment newsletters lately with at least two of these stocks being the subject of paid promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed paid promotions or investor relation types of activities as its up to investors and traders alike to do their due diligence. So how hot are these small cap stocks? Here is a quick reality check that might cool your appetite:

Best Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Whitestone REIT (WSR)

Whitestone REIT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) engaged in owning and operating commercial properties in culturally diverse markets in the metropolitan areas. The Company is internally managed and owns a real estate portfolio of 36 properties containing approximately three million square feet of leasable space, located in Texas, Arizona and Illinois. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had one property, which accounted for more than 10% of the total gross revenue and leasing of the properties. In December 2011, the Company announced that it had closed on the purchase of Phase I of Pinnacle of Scottsdale, a 113,108 square foot 100% leased Class A Community Center in North Scottsdale. In December 2011, it purchased shops at Starwood. In August 2012, the Company closed on the purchase of Paradise Plaza, a 125,898 square foot 100%-leased Community Center in Paradise Valley. In September 2012, the Company purchased Village Square at Dana Park, a 310,979 square foot Community Center located in the Mesa submarket of Phoenix, plus six developed pads (total of 2.9 acres) and the adjacent 4.7 acre parcel of development land to add another 200,000 square feet of leasable space. In December 2012, the Company closed on the off-market purchase of The Shops at Pecos Ranch. In April 2013, it closed on the off-market purchase of Headquarters Village, a 89,134 square foot (sf) Community Center located within the Preston Road retail corridor in Plano, Texas. Effective July 1, 2013, Whitestone REIT acquired Anthem Marketplace. In October 2013, Whitestone REIT completed the purchase of Fountain Hills Plaza, retail center in Fountain Hills, Arizona. In December 2013, Whitestone REIT purchased Market Street at DC Ranch in Scottsdale.

As of December 31, 2009, the Company owned a 64.7% interest in Whitestone REIT Operating Partnership, L.P. (the Operating Partnership). As of December 31, 2009, the Company owned a real estate portfolio consisting of 36 properties located in three states. As of December 3! 1, 2009, the occupancy rate at the operating properties was 82% based on leasable square footage.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuben Brewer]

  And, sometimes, being small is actually a good thing. Take, for example, Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR  ) . This company operates a portfolio of roughly 60 properties in Texas, Arizona, and Illinois. That said, it only has one property in Illinois, so it's really focused around just two markets.

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  Returning to U.S. shores, the next of our monthly dividend stocks is Whitestone REIT (WSR), a smaller REIT that specializes in shopping centers.

  I should start by making one point very clear: while I like Whitestone, it is a very different kind of REIT than Realty Income or American Realty Capital Properties. Its property portfolio is far less geographically diversified (with properties in just three states), and it is a much smaller company by market cap ($290 million).

Best Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: MarketAxess Holdings Inc (MKTX)

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MarketAxess), incorporated on April 11, 2000, operates an electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. The Company�� over 1000 active institutional investor clients (firms that executed at least one trade in the United States or European fixed-income securities through its electronic trading platform, during the year ended December 31, 2012) include investment advisers, mutual funds, insurance companies, public and private pension funds, bank portfolios, broker-dealers and hedge funds. The Company�� 87 broker-dealer, market-maker clients provide liquidity on the platform and include most of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading. Through its Corporate BondTicker service, MarketAxess provides fixed-income market data, analytics and compliance tools that help its clients make trading decisions. In addition, it provides Financial Information eXchange (FIX) message management tools, connectivity solutions and ancillary technology services that facilitate the electronic communication of order information between trading counterparties. The Company�� revenues are primarily generated from the trading of the United States high-grade corporate bonds. In March 2013, it announced acquisition of Xtrakter Limited.

The majority of the Company's revenues are derived from monthly distribution fees and commissions for trades executed on its platform that are billed to its broker-dealer clients on a monthly basis. The Company also derives revenues from technology products and services, information and user access fees, investment income and other income. During 2012, the Company�� broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued United States corporate bonds and approximately 72% of the underwriting of newly issued European corporate bonds. MarketAxess�� electronic trading platform provides access to the liquidity provide! d through the participation on its platform of 87 broker-dealer market making clients, including all of the broker-dealers in global fixed-income trading, and over 1000 active institutional investor firms. In addition to services directly related to the execution of trades, the Company offers its clients several other services, including information services, straight-through processing, and technology products and services. MarketAxess offers Application Programming Interface (API) services to its broker-dealer clients for pre-trade, trade negotiation and post-trade services.

The United States High-Grade Corporate Bonds

The United States corporate bond market consists of three categories of securities: investment-grade debt (so-called high-grade); debt rated below investment-grade (so-called high-yield), and debt convertible into equity (so-called convertible debt). The Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond business consists of the United States dollar-denominated, investment-grade debt issued by corporations for distribution in the United States. Both domestic and foreign institutional investors have access to the United States high-grade corporate bond trading on its electronic trading platform. During 2012, its broker-dealer clients accounted for approximately 95% of the underwriting of newly-issued the United States corporate bonds. The Company offers its institutional investor clients access to a range of inventory of the United States high-grade corporate bonds, which is provided and updated daily by its broker-dealer clients.

Eurobonds

The European high-grade corporate bond market consists of a range of products, issuers and currencies. MarketAxess Europe Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary, offers European secondary trading functionality in the United States dollar- and Euro-denominated European corporate bonds to its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients. The Company also offers its clients to trade in other European! high-gra! de corporate bonds, including bonds issued in Pounds Sterling, floating rate notes, European government bonds and bonds denominated in non-core currencies. In the Eurobond credit market, defined as including European high-grade, high yield and government bonds, 23 broker-dealers utilize the Company�� platform.

Emerging Markets Bonds

Emerging markets bond market includes the United States dollar, Euro or local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations domiciled in a developing country. These issuers are located in Latin America, Asia, or Central and Eastern Europe. The agency bond market includes debt issued by a United States government-sponsored enterprise. 59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade emerging markets bonds. During 2011, 414 institutional investor clients utilized its electronic trading platform to trade emerging markets bonds. These institutional investor clients are located in the United States and Europe. MarketAxess also allows its institutional investor clients to transact Euroclear-eligible local currency denominated bonds issued by sovereign entities or corporations in countries that include Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Crossover and High-Yield Bonds

59 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade crossover and high-yield bonds. Trading in crossover and high-yield bonds uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Agency Bonds

41 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade agency bonds. Trading in agency bonds uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Credit Default Swaps

MarketAxess offers trading on its platform for CDS indices and single-names in both the United States and Europe through its traditional RFQ proto! col. Nine! of the Company�� broker-dealer clients are providing streaming, executable CDS index prices. In addition, it incorporated the request-for-market protocol and the streaming markets/click-to-trade protocol into an updated single-screen user interface, giving clients their means of execution.

Asset-Backed Securities

12 of its United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade asset-backed securities. Trading in asset-backed securities uses many of the same features available in the Company�� United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Preferred Securities

17 of the Company�� United States broker-dealer clients use its platform to trade preferred securities. Trading in preferred securities uses many of the same features available in its United States high-grade corporate bond offering.

Corporate BondTicker

Corporate BondTicker provides TRACE data and enhances it with MarketAxess trade data and analytical tools to provide professional market participants with a set of corporate bond price information. The data include trade time and sales information, including execution prices, as well as MarketAxess-estimated, spread-to-Treasuries, for trades disseminated by the TRACE system. The data also include actual execution prices and spread-to-Treasury levels for United States high-grade corporate bond trades executed on the MarketAxess platform. Corporate BondTicker is integrated directly into the MarketAxess electronic trading platform and can be accessed, either when viewing securities inventory or when launching an inquiry. Corporate BondTicker is also available through the Internet for non-trading professional market participants, including, among others, research analysts and rating agencies, who can log in and access the information via an easy-to-use browser-based interface.

The Company provides Corporate BondTicker as an ancillary service to its trading clients and also to other industry parti! cipants. ! It derives revenues from its Corporate BondTicker service by charging for seat licenses per user at its broker-dealer and institutional investor clients, through distribution agreements with other information service providers and through bulk data sales to third parties. The Company also offers a set of reports designed to review and monitor credit trading activity for institutional investor clients. Its compliance product provides a printed history of each inquiry submitted through the MarketAxess trading platform.

Technology Services

Through MarketAxess�� Greenline Financial Technologies, Inc. (Greenline) subsidiary, it provides integration, testing and management solutions for FIX-related products and services. The FIX protocol is a messaging standard developed for the electronic exchange of securities transaction information. It also provides technology consulting and customized development services to its clients. In addition, the Company provides gateway adapters to connect order management and trading systems to fixed-income trading venues.

The Company competes with Thomson TradeWeb, Bloomberg and The New York Stock Exchange

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  If you have found yourself trading more as the markets�become more volatile or struggling to come to terms with low interest rates, small caps like Interactive Brokers Group, Inc (NASDAQ: IBKR), MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: MKTX), Indo Global Exchanges PteLtd (OTCMKTS: IGEX) which are in the electronic brokerage or trading platform business would be well worth taking a closer look at. Here is what you need to know about all three:

Best Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Bank) is engaged in the provision of a range of banking and financial products and services to retail, small business, corporate and institutional clients. The Bank is a provider of integrated financial services, including retail, business and institutional banking, superannuation, life insurance, general insurance, funds management, broking services and finance company activities. Its operating segments include Retail Banking Services, Business and Private Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, Wealth Management, New Zealand, Bankwest and Other. Its retail banking services include home loans, consumer finance, retail deposits and distribution. Its business and private banking include corporate financial services, regional and agribusiness banking, local business banking, private bank and equities and margin lending. The Bank and its subsidiaries ceased to be a substantial holder in Ten Network Holdings Limited, as of September 12, 2012. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Toshiro Hasegawa]

  Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) fell 1.1 percent to A$73.73. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (ST) retreated 1.1 percent to S$3.78 today after posting earnings.

Top 10 Freight Stocks To Own For 2015

Top 10 Freight Stocks To Own For 2015: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)

Heartland Express, Inc. (Heartland), incorporated on August 8, 1986, is a short-to-medium haul truckload carrier. The Company provides regional dry van truckload services through its regional terminals plus its corporate headquarters. The Company transports freight for shippers and generally earns revenue based on the number of miles per load delivered. The Companys primary traffic lanes are between customer locations east of the Rocky Mountains. The Company is a holding company of Heartland Express Inc. of Iowa, Heartland Express Services, Inc., Heartland Express Maintenance Services, Inc. and A & M Express, Inc. Heartland operates nine specialized regional distribution operations in Atlanta, Georgia; Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Chester, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Kingsport, Tennessee; Olive Branch, Mississippi; Phoenix, Arizona, and Seagoville, Texas. The Company operates maintenance facilities at all regional distribution operating centers along wit h shop only locations in Fort Smith, Arkansas and OFallon, Missouri. In November 2013, Heartland Express Inc acquired 100% of the stock of Gordon Trucking, Inc.

The Companys operations department is responsible for maintaining the continuity between the customers needs and Heartlands ability to meet those needs by communicating customers expectations to the fleet management group. They are charged with development of customer relationships, ensuring service standards, coordinating proper freight-to-capacity balancing, trailer asset management, and daily tactical decisions pertaining to matching the customer demand with the appropriate capacity within geographical service areas. They assign orders to drivers based on well-defined criteria, such as driver safety and United States Department of Transportation (the DOT) compliance, customer needs and service requirements, on-time service, equipment utilization, driver time at home, operational effi! ci ency, and equipment maintenance needs. Fleet management is responsible for driver management and development. Their responsibilities include meeting the needs of the drivers within the standards that have been set by the organization and communicating the requirements of the customers to the drivers on each order to ensure successful execution. Serving the short-to-medium haul market (500 miles average length of haul in 2012) permits the Company to use primarily single, rather than team drivers and dispatch loads directly from origin to destination without an intermediate equipment change other than for driver scheduling purposes.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  For this week's round of "Better Know a Stock," I'm going to take a closer look at Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD  ) .

  What Heartland Express does
  Heartland Express is a short-to-medium-haul truckload carrier of general commodities within the United States. It primarily is responsible for shipping automotive parts, retail goods, paper products, and packaged food.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Heartland Express (HTLD) has dropped 2.2% to $19.12 after it was cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

  Allergan (AGN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

• [By CRWE]

  Heartland Express, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTLD) reported that on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, members of its management team will participate in the 2012 KeyBanc Capital Markets Industrial, Automotive and Transportation conference.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-freight-stocks-to-own-for-2015.html