The Marcellus Keeps On Paying Dividends

Top China Stocks To Own For 2014

Pennsylvania has had a long history of energy production in the U.S. After all, the first oil well in our nation was tapped in 1859 near Titusville- not in Texas- as many people would guess. That history of strong energy production continues today as the Marcellus shale is quickly growing as the fastest natural gas producing region in the United States. All in all, leading to huge profits for the various energy firms in the region.

Yet, more gains could had in the years ahead.

Output due the increased adoption of hydraulic fracking continues to rise, while new midstream and natural gas cracking facilities are taking advantage of that output. For investors, as the Marcellus continues to grow and mature, there's plenty of profits to be had.

The Natural Gas Hotspot

America's "Saudi Arabia of gas", the Marcellus shale is helping energize the renewed interest in natural gas. The rock formation- which stretches through West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York- is currently the nation's largest reserve of natural gas. And it continues to pay big benefits for those tapping the formation as well as investors.

According to a new report issued by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the production from the Marcellus has now reached levels originally targeted for 2015. Taken as a whole, the shale field is now producing around 12 billion cubic feet per day worth of natural gas or about the equivalent of 2 million barrels of oil per day. Putting it another, if the Marcellus shale was its own country, its production of natural gas would put it in the eighth position- ahead of Saudi Arabia. All in all, since 2009 production at the field has risen about 6 times.

That's huge step in the right direction on the road to energy independence. But investors shouldn't be satisfied with that torrid growth- more is in store for the region.

The key f! or the Marcellus is the number of tapped wells that haven't actually begun producing a drop of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). That's because- despite the field's potential- there's still insufficient pipeline infrastructure in the region. Investment bank Barclay's (NYSE:BCS) estimates that there is roughly 1,546 backlogged wells in the region that need to added to pipeline infrastructure.

As these wells get added into the logistics system, production in the field could explode upwards even more, leading to increased profits at the producing firms. Barclays predicts that production in the Marcellus could increase by an additional 46% this year and by another 29% next year as these wells are finally added in.

Playing The Marcellus's Gassy Potential

With the long-term potential of Marcellus shale to change the future of energy production within the United States, investors should consider adding exposure. Broad-based funds like the First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas (NYSE:FCG) make adding that exposure easy. However, there are plenty of individual ways to win in the Marcellus.

The king of them all could be Range Resources (NYSE:RRC). Already, Range has been the leading firm tapping the Marcellus in both dry gas as well as NGLs production. That's helped the firm see increasing earnings for several quarters now. However, RRC still has plenty of growth on its horizon. The E&P firm predicts that a series of new pipelines- including a new NGL system from Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) –will help boost its production to 3 billion cubic feet equivalent by 2015. That will help drive earnings even higher at Range. Likewise, Marcellus-focused drillers Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:COG) and Rex Energy (NASDAQ: REXX) will also benefit from new pipeline expansions.

Building all of those new pipelines is the midstream trio of MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE:MWE), Sunoco Logistics (NYSE:SXL) and Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ). All hold significant pipeline operations in Pennsylvania and are expanding their offerings to connect many of the backlogged wells. MarkWest is constructing series of pipelines that will send 400,000 barrels of ethane, propane and butane towards the Gulf Coast each day by 2016, while Williams's recent expansion on its Transco Northeast Supply Line has already brought more Marcellus gas to market. All in all, these projects will benefit MWE, ! SXL and WPZ shareholders via expanded cash flows and distributions.

The Bottom Line

For investors, the Marcellus Shale continues to pay benefits. The region's production continues to rise, leading to plenty of profits for the firms that operate within its borders. The previous picks make ideal selections to play the region's growth.

Disclosure - At the time of writing, the author did not own shares of any company mentioned in this article.

More precise numbers = more trust from clients

Clients may have more confidence in financial advisers who use precise numbers, rather than those who round them up or down, new research from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests.

People who use more specific numbers — such as citing a 6.4% return instead of a 6% return — are judged to be more reliable sources and are more likely to be tapped by others for advice, according to a recent study by Danny Oppenheimer, associate professor of marketing and psychology at UCLA.

“For advisers, if you give more precise estimates, people will think you are more confident in your decisions and may be more inclined to trust you,” Mr. Oppenheimer said.

Most previous research on what conveys confidence has focused on physical cues, such as the eye contact of the presenter, their posture and whether they make nervous gestures. This research suggests that specificity with numbers as a confidence booster works even when the information is delivered through written forms of communication.

“So much more communication is happening today in ways that people don't have normal cues,” Mr. Oppenheimer said, noting the increased importance of e-mail and social media in business.

In the first part of the study, 187 undergraduates were asked to read 10 questions and estimate the confidence level of the person who had answered each one. The answers all involved numbers but some offered precise measures, such as “2,611 miles,” while others gave imprecise answers like “2,600 miles.”

Participants judged those who answered with more significant digits to be more confident, Mr. Oppenheimer said.

In the second part of the study, 163 people were paid to participate in a Price is Right-style game where they had to guess the price of different items. They were given audience suggestions like “$60” or $63” and had to choose which audience members would advise them in subsequent rounds.

Researchers found that participants preferred advice from those who gave more precise estimates, said the study, which was co-authored by UCLA's Ashley Angulo and Princeton University's Alexandra Jerez-Fernandez.

Applications for the research include “which politician to vote for, which stock broker to take on as financial advisers, and which doctor to trust with diagnosis,” the authors wrote.

However, one key is to be accurate, Mr. Oppenheimer advised.

Some legal psychological research suggests that when someone makes a statement with a lot of confidence but get it wrong, people are more skeptical of the person in the future, he said, noting that such theories have not been investigated in the context of! investments.

“And of course, it's easier to be wrong, the more specific you are,” Mr. Oppenheimer said.

All Markets are on Fed Watch

Hot Stocks To Invest In Right Now

The global markets will be focused on the announcement from the FOMC this Wednesday, says MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, who shares his view on what may happen.

For the week ahead, what could there possibly be to think about? End of the baseball season?...Oh yeah, the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has a two-day meeting that begins on Tuesday, the 17th of September. It goes to the 18th of September. On the 18th, it's a meeting of the federal open markets committee; that's the committee that sets monetary policy. The big decision is taper or not to taper. The question is whether the Fed will think the economy is strong enough so the Fed can start cutting down on its monthly purchases of about $85 billion worth of treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. They've been doing this to keep loan amount, sort of, mid-term, seven-year rates down to support the mortgage market. At some point, they have to stop.

They can't keep adding $85 billion to even the Fed balance sheet forever without it having some ripple effect in the larger global economy, and the worry that's been roiling the markets; mostly emerging markets, strangely enough, has been that the Fed will start to taper at this meeting.

This has driven interest rates up on the 10-year, so that it's moved up to about 100 basis points; one percentage point in the last year to close to 3%. The worry then, of course, is that interest rates will be high enough to slow the economy, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is really what the market is thinking.

The issue that the market has been trying to figure is, the Fed has said this decision is going to be dated dependent, so the market has been focused on what the data shows, and trying to guess what the Fed is making of this data. In the week before the meeting, really, what we're seeing is that the market has decided the economy may be weak enough so the Fed is not guaranteed to start to taper.

I think if you look at the calendar going forward, it's pretty clear that this is one of the best times, either September or October. I think September is better, just in terms of politics, and what's on the schedule for the Fed to begin taper. That's because you have a big political clash, with Washington coming up over the federal budget. There is no federal budget for the year that starts on October 1.

You have the debt ceiling battle. I think the Fed would like to avoid all of that and have something in place, before all of that gets a chance to make the market kind of crazy. I think the likelihood is that the Fed will indeed taper. I think the likelihood is the Fed will taper a relatively small amount. The consensus, right now, is that we might go from $85 billion a month to $75 billion or $79 billion a month. It's not going to make a huge difference to the economy. I think the likelihood is that when that happens, Wall Street will go, "Oh, so that's what we were worried about?" and pass this off and then they'll move onto the next crisis. I think the next two crises are over the budget and the debt ceiling, are indeed going to be a lot to this last year, and we're destabilizing with this one, but this is my read of what the market is going to be looking for over the next week. Really where attention and market movement is going to come from.

This is Jim Jubak for the MoneyShow.com video network.

Warren Buffett’s Son, Peter, Fires Shot at ‘Charitable-Industrial Complex’

When your name is Buffett and you run a large charitable foundation, you get noticed. Even if your first name isn’t Warren.

You can elbow your way onto The New York Times op-ed page. In mid-July, Peter Buffett, one of Warren’s three children, wrote in The Times that he had identified “something I started to call Philanthropic Colonialism”—a donor’s “urge to ‘save the day’” by trying to solve local problems “with little regard for culture, geography or societal norms,” often with unintended consequences.

Peter Buffett, a musician, with his wife Jennifer runs the NoVo Foundation, set up for him by his father in 2006 with a promise of continuing generous contributions. Last year, the elder Buffett contributed $1 billion to NoVo and to the foundations he had established for Peter’s two siblings.

Now, Peter Buffett wrote in his opinion piece, he saw something worse on the philanthropic landscape: the emergence of a burgeoning charitable-industrial complex at the same time inequality continues to rise.

“Philanthropy has become the ‘it’ vehicle to level the playing field.” Gatherings, workshops and affinity groups abound.

He said the desire of wealth makers to “give back” is “conscience laundering’’—an effort to feel better about “accumulating more than any one person could possibly need.”

This just bolsters the structure of inequality, he wrote.

Buffett bemoaned the influx of “business-minded folks” into the charitable sector, people who ask “‘what’s the R.O.I.?’ when it comes to alleviating human suffering.”

Philanthropy, he said, is experiencing a “crisis of imagination.”

Buffett said he wasn’t seeking an end of capitalism. Instead, “I’m calling for humanism.” He said it was time for a “new operating system,” for “new code.”

He concluded that “as long as most folks are patting themselves on the back for charitable acts, we’ve got a perpetual poverty machine. It’s an old story; we really need a new one.”

ThinkAdvisor asked a number of prominent players in the philanthropy/nonprofit sector what they thought of Buffett’s observations. All declined comment.

The blogosphere was less reticent. Some welcomed his op-ed.

Others took his remarks to task. One writer discussed what he’d gotten wrong about philanthropy. A Huffington Post blogger commented on the “unglamorous truth about ending poverty.”

Yet another writer offered a point-by-point refutation of Buffett’s “so-called charitable-industrial complex” argument.

------

Check out these related stories at ThinkAdvisor:

Is Bing Really Better Than Google Search?

With shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) trading at around $34.85, is MSFT an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

C = Catalyst for the Stock's Movement

Google.com is the most visited website in the world. On Alexa.com, it ranks #1 globally and #1 in the United States. Bing.com ranks #16 globally and #6 in the United States. That's probably higher than most readers would have expected.

There's a good chance that you have seen commercials for Bing It On. In these commercials, someone approaches a stranger on the street and asks them to compare Google and Bing search engines. Of course, the strangers can't see which site is which when they make their choices. After wondering if these commercials were legit, and since a Microsoft article was on deck, it made sense to take an individual stab at Bing It On. It's set up as a split screen. You type in a search term and two different sets of results come up. You then select which search result you felt was more informative, or simply which search result you liked better. The left and right search results don't always belong to the same search engine. In other words, Google won't always be on the left. The results are mixed so the person taking the challenge won't notice which site is which and then keep voting that way due to favoritism. You type in five different search terms and then choose which search results you prefer. As far as individual results go, Bing won 4-1. Pretty impressive! However, Google's numbers are still much stronger.

According to Alexa.com, Google's average pageviews-per-user is 16.01, average time-on-site is 15:25, and average bounce rate (only one page viewed per visit) is 16.80 percent. These numbers are outstanding. Over the past three months, pageviews-per-user has increased 7.02 percent, time-on-site has increased 4 percent, and the bounce rate has declined 1 percent.

Bing's average pageviews-per-user is 4.64, average time-on-site is 3:20, and average bounce rate is 40.4 percent. Over the past three months, pageviews-per-user has increased 1.50 percent, time-on-site has declined 2 percent, and the bounce rate has declined 2 percent. Overall, these are good numbers. They're just not as good as Google. That said, Bing has been gaining at least a little ground. Bing’s traffic has consistently increased over the past two years.

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Microsoft has revealed its Xbox One, which is aimed for living room dominance. It's an all-in-one entertainment system that can allow you to:

Play games Watch television Use voice command Make Skype video calls

It's a great concept, but Microsoft's strategy is missing something. It's understood that the company is aiming for a young audience in order to hook that audience on its products for years to come, but using a gaming console to rule the living room simply isn't going to lead to phenomenal potential. For instance, would your aunt want a gaming console as the main source of entertainment for her living room? She would likely be turned off by the idea.

Now let's get to some numbers. Below is a chart comparing fundamentals for Microsoft, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).

	MSFT	AAPL	GOOG
Trailing P/E	17.98	10.49	27.14
Forward P/E	11.35	9.96	17.06
Profit Margin	21.58%	23.46%	20.92%
ROE	22.58%	33.34%	16.36%
Operating Cash Flow	30.61B	55.26B	16.56B
Dividend Yield	2.60%	2.80%	N/A
Short Position	1.30%	4.40%	1.50%

Let's take a look at some more important numbers prior to forming an opinion on this stock.

T = Technicals Are Strong

Microsoft has outperformed its peers year-to-date.

	1 Month	Year-To-Date	1 Year	3 Year
MSFT	17.90%	32.48%	20.71%	40.77%
AAPL	14.51%	-15.48%	-19.15%	87.27%
GOOG	13.39%	28.22%	47.69%	92.13%

At $34.85, Microsoft is trading well above its averages.

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50-Day SMA	31.46
200-Day SMA	28.58

E = Equity to Debt Ratio Is Strong

The debt-to-equity ratio for Microsoft is stronger than the industry average of 0.30. Microsoft has always managed debt well. This is often underappreciated by investors.

	Debt-To-Equity	Cash	Long-Term Debt
MSFT	0.19	73.79B	14.76B
AAPL	0.00	39.14B	0.00
GOOG	0.10	50.10B	7.38B

E = Earnings Suffered a Setback

Earnings had been improving until there was a setback in 2012. However, earnings are a lot easier to fix than revenue. As far as revenue goes, it has consistently improved on an annual basis. The rate of growth has been sporadic, but the direction has been consistent.

Fiscal Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Revenue ($) in millions	60,420	58,437	62,484	69,943	73,723
Diluted EPS ($)	1.87	1.62	2.10	2.69	2.00

When we look at the last quarter on a year-over-year basis, we see improvements in revenue and earnings.

Quarter	Mar. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013
Revenue ($) in millions	17,407	18,059	16,008	21,456	20,489
Diluted EPS ($)	0.60	-0.06	0.53	0.76	0.72

Now let's take a look at the next page for the Conclusion. Is this stock an OUTPERFORM, a WAIT AND SEE, or a STAY AWAY?

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Conclusion

Microsoft is currently trading at about 18 times earnings while the industry average is 26 times earnings. As always, margins are solid and cash flow is strong. The 2.60 percent yield wouldn't make any sane investor complain, and the stock has even outperformed Apple and Google year-to-date. Analysts like the stock: 17 Buy, 19 Hold, 2 Sell.

What to Expect from Halliburton

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 22. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Halliburton's revenues will grow 0.4% and EPS will wither -10.0%.

The average estimate for revenue is $7.26 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.72.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Halliburton notched revenue of $6.97 billion. GAAP reported sales were 1.5% higher than the prior-year quarter's $6.87 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.67. GAAP EPS were -$0.02 for Q1 compared to $0.68 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 14.0%, 630 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 12.9%, 640 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -0.3%, 940 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $29.65 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.16.

Investor sentiment

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Halliburton is outperform, with an average price target of $49.50.

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Add Halliburton to My Watchlist.

Consumer Confidence Hits 5-Year High (Again)

Consumer confidence is up for the third straight month, notching a 9.6% gain for June, according to The Conference Board's June Consumer Confidence report released today.

After hitting a five-year high last month, this latest 81.4 index reading (once again) puts consumer confidence at its highest level since January 2008. Analysts were taken by surprise, having expected a slight dip from May's unrevised numbers to 75. Despite June's jubilee, confidence still remains well below the index's 1985 100-point benchmark.

"Consumers are considerably more positive about current business and labor market conditions than they were at the beginning of the year," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement today. "Expectations have also improved considerably over the past several months, suggesting that the pace of growth is unlikely to slow in the short-term, and may even moderately pick up."

The index is comprised of responses from a random sample of consumers and, in this latest report, optimism showed some gains. Most notably, consumers claiming jobs are "plentiful" pushed up 1.8 percentage points to 11.7%, although those citing jobs as "hard to get" also increased 0.5 points to 36.9%.

Looking ahead, 20.3% of those surveyed expected business conditions to improve over the next six months, compared to just 11.4% anticipating tougher times. Optimists managed to outweigh pessimists for labor market conditions, as well. A 3.3-percentage-point increase put those expecting more jobs at 19.6%, while respondents predicting fewer jobs fell 3.9 points to 16.1%. 

link

It Might Be the Time for Beer

After a couple of capital increases and what looks like a weak strategy for its growth in different South American countries, Chile's beer king Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU) – most commonly knows as CCU - is selling at a steep discount to its peers. In other words, being down by 23% year to date, I think it might be the time to start thinking of buying CCU's shares.  

A Weak Growth Strategy

CCU recently issued more than 50 million shares and plans to use the proceeds for organic growth as well as M&A in South America. Possible targets could be related to soft drinks in Colombia, dairy in Chile, or a multi-category approach in Argentina and Uruguay (where the company recently acquired a mineral water company). That being said, I agree with most analysts. CCU should focus on its wonderful beer business in Chile (where the company is an effective monopoly) and on returning capital to its shareholders through dividends and buybacks.  

Results Are Still Wonderful

Despite having lost some ground in terms of market share in its main market against its rival, the Brazilian giant AmBev (ABEV), CCU's results are still ameliorating fast. Revenues were up by 13% year over year, EBITDA increased 6% year over year and their net income grew by 21% year over year. Better yet, consolidated organic volumes (the most important figure for beverage companies) increased by 7% year over year while pricing was also up by 5% year over year. That said, cost increases in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay (where the company is still losing money) were behind the 1.2% EBITDA margin contraction. Even when CCU's figures look very compelling, the company needs to work a lot on its cost structure and on focusing on its main market. After all, CCU's 18.4% EBITDA margin is well below AmBev's 50% margins.  

Valuation Contraction Looks Overdone

Despite the unnecessary capital increase, I believe it's time to take a deep look at the shares. Price is! what you pay and value is what you get, and at the current market price, I think you will get more than you pay for if you buy CCU's shares. The Chilean beverage leader sells for 7.7 times 2014 EV/EBITDA and 15 times earnings. Meanwhile, AmBev, which is down by 16% year to date, currently trades at 13 times 2014 EV/EBITDA and 20 times earnings. Even when the Brazilian beverages leader pays a much higher cash dividend yield than CCU (2.95% versus 1.95%), I believe the valuation gap is too wide. Moreover, with CCU you always have the M&A free call attached to the asset. The Chilean beer leader would be a wonderful target for the much bigger AmBev, which has been (unsuccessfully) trying to enter the Chilean market for more than a decade now. The Brazilian company could buy CCU and put into practice its wonderful famous cost-cutting strategies in order to boost margins.

Investors such as Carl Icahn and Richard Perry have held CCU for long periods of time. Maybe they should be buying once more. Always remember: “Price is what you pay and value is what you get.”

Also check out: Carl Icahn Undervalued Stocks Carl Icahn Top Growth Companies Carl Icahn High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Carl Icahn keeps buying

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Stocks Surge on Fed’s “Taper-Lite;” Watch Out for Earnings?

The Fed surprised the market when it decided taper, sending stocks down, then up, as investors took note of the Fed’s dovishness. Goldman Sachs (GS) and Chevron (CVX) rose.

Bloomberg News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8% to close at 16,168, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.7% to top 1,810. Goldman Sachs (GS), which rose 2.6% to $174.84, and Chevron (CVX), which advanced 2.4% to $121.60, helped lift the Dow higher, while just one stock in the blue-chip index dropped: Boeing (BA).

Best Blue Chip Stocks To Buy For 2014

Deutsche Bank’s Alan Ruskin calls the Fed’s decision “taper-lite.” He writes:

…this is a very dovish taper-lite where the Fed has done its utmost to provide an offset with its forward guidance, notably on the inclusion of inflation in the unemployment threshold.   This has clearly tempered the interest rate response which is exactly what they would have wanted.  Risk has responded positively almost immediately, which should be ample vindication that the Fed should not have waited, and fears of a negative impact on financial conditions were exaggerated.  The action today finally gets the uncertainty of when they would taper out the way which is another helpful factor for risk. The fed fund futures curve has barely budged, and even the shape of the curve has shown little change suggesting the Fed's balancing act was largely priced in.

Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brother Harriman Wealth Management, says attention will now turn to earnings growth. In a phone interview today, he said:

If you think about investor attention, it's been so focus on the when and by how much of Fed tapering.  Now that it's happened, what should we focus on next? Psychology is such that now that the uncertainty has been addressed, investor attention will focus on good old fashioned earnings growth and valuations.

In 2014 , the tide won’t come in the way it did in 2013, lifting all boats. What I'm looking for is enough improvement in the underlying economy to flow into the top-line of corporate America,  to drive revenue growth. When profit margins as high as they are, it’s hard to count on profit margins to drive the bottom line. We need the economy to flow through and that at needs to drive earnings.

With earnings growth still sluggish, will this be another case of “be careful what you wish for?”

4:15 p.m. update: This post was updated to reflect closing stock prices.

What to Do if You Win the $636 Million Mega Millions Jackpot

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Slightly more than a year ago, TheStreet asked various money managers, contributors and market experts how they'd advise a newly-minted half billionaire. With Tuesday night's $646 million Mega Millions jackpot, we're at it again.

This time, though, responses from our staff preferred spending the money instead of saving it.

"I'd open a dog shelter," said Natalia Kaspshik, an analyst at TheStreet.

5 Best Small Cap Stocks For 2014

"I'd buy a Major League Soccer team," said Antoine Gara, an M&A reporter. "I'd go to a beach and do nothing," said Alicia Formella, a marketing associate. "Help family and give to charity. Then I'd buy houses," said Kieran McBriar, a graphic artist. I'd buy an island in the South Pacific," said Bill Inman, editor in chief at TheStreet. But for those of you looking for serious investment advice, we discovered that going headlong into stocks may not have been the first choice of the pros. Here are some responses from last year's study: "Finding a brokerage-house/steward that can handle investments in the hundreds of millions of dollars: "My suggestion would be to find one that isn't publicly traded and has a stellar reputation for customer service and not putting pressure on the customer. "An example would be Fidelity Investments. They have conveniently located offices that are pleasant to visit, and they will offer you a generous number of free trades when you open a large enough account." -- Marc Courtenay, Advanced Investor Technologies. "Very simple: 100% U.S. Treasuries and a good tax attorney and estate planner. "Let's do the math: 500,000,000 at 1.66% = $690,000 a month pre-tax. There is no need for risk assets. My motto: You can only eat so many steaks." -- Steve Cordasco, Cordasco Financial Network. "The first rule: Take it slow. With $500 million, you should be set for life. Even if you simply put it in checking accounts and earned no interest at all, you'd never have to worry about running short." -- Richard Saintvilus, TheStreet contributor.

Good luck deciding what to do when you win. -- Written by Joe Deaux in New York. >Contact by Email. Follow @JoeDeaux

The One Way Caterpillar Is Leading the Market

On the back of their worst week since November, U.S. stocks are looking listless today, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) and the narrower, price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) down 0.15% and 0.24%, respectively, at 10:05 a.m. EDT.

Earnings: The week ahead
Each day of this week will see one Dow component report its results, beginning with Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) today (see below), followed by AT&T, Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. Also note that Apple -- oddly, not part of the Dow -- reports tomorrow.

Caterpillar: When you're in a hole, stop digging
Dow component Caterpillar reported its first-quarter results before the opening bell this morning, and while the shares are responding well, up 0.3%, the numbers are hardly encouraging for the broad market. As the Financial Times' James Mackintosh neatly summed up in a tweet:

Caterpillar sums up world perfectly. Profit down, worse outlook, jobs cut, capex reduced. More share buybacks.

— James Mackintosh (@jmackin2) April 22, 2013

Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. Due to the nature of its customer base, the company's health is a barometer of global economic growth. In the first quarter, Caterpillar earned $1.31 per share, falling short of the consensus earnings-per-share estimate of $1.40. Revenue of $13.2 billion came in below the $13.7 billion estimate. Worse yet, the company indicated that full-year EPS for 2013 would be at the bottom end of the $7 to $9 range it had previously provided. Through last Friday, Caterpillar is the worst-performing stock in the Dow, having badly lagged the broad market during that period:

CAT data by YCharts.

Caterpillar blamed a decline in demand for its mining equipment for the first-quarter miss. With the prices of multiple metals (both precious and industrial) having taken a fall since the end of the first quarter, that trend may well continue. While those factors are specific to Caterpillar, I believe the company is representative of the S&P 500 in one critical respect: Earnings estimates will have to come down. Anyone who thinks operating EPS for the S&P 500 will rise 13% this year is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Top High Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now

Despite its troubles, Caterpillar is still the market share leader in an industry in which size matters, and its quality products, extensive service network, and unparalleled brand strength combine to give it solid competitive advantages. Read all about Caterpillar's strengths and weaknesses in The Motley Fool's brand-new report. Just click here to access it now.

Today's 3 Best Stocks

A day after one of the worst losses for the broad-based S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) all year, we're seeing a small rebound, albeit on the heels of economic news that otherwise would not have merited any upside.

The big story of the day was the 7.8% rise in jobless claims to a seasonally adjusted rate of 385,000. Economists had actually been forecasting a drop of 2% in jobless claims, so this was a most unwelcome shift. However, it shouldn't be completely unexpected given the shortfall that we witnessed in the ADP employment report earlier this week. As long as this seesaw battle continues to move five steps forward and four steps back, I believe investors will take their occasional lumps and be satisfied.

For the day, the S&P 500 advanced 6.29 points (0.40%), to finish at 1,559.98. Although the move higher was relatively tame, three companies really turned on their afterburners in today's trading.

Big-box retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY  ) was one such company, soaring 16.1%, after announcing an alliance with Samsung. The collaboration will allow 900 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile locations to open mini Samsung shops within its stores by May that will host a full suite of Samsung products. That figure will expand to 1,400 by the summer. Given the popularity of the Samsung Galaxy series in the smartphone market, this appears to be another strong move by turnaround specialist CEO Hubert Joly. Best Buy's aggressive price-matching tactics, coupled with its cost-cutting efforts, earned it my vote as the only S&P 500 top performer in the first-quarter that I expect will continue to see gains in the second-quarter.

Struggling department store J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) garnered the second spot, tacking on 4.5%, after hitting a new 52-week low earlier in the trading day. The catalyst appears to be an announcement that Penney's will be partnering with seven jewelry designers who are usually reserved for higher-end jewelry and department stores, including Kara Ross and Kenneth J. Lane. The company plans to focus on these brand-name jewelry designers, who will create a line of lower-price-point jewelry for its customer base, in the hope of providing the differentiation from other retailers that it's so sorely missing. I'd call this another good initiative on paper, but color me skeptical, as always.

Finally, energy-drink maker Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST  ) tacked on 4.1% after being named to investment firm UBS' (NYSE: UBS  ) top picks list for the second-quarter. According to Wall St. 24/7, UBS has selected 14 top picks which are expected to return 25% from their current levels, of which Monster is one. There's little denying that Monster has exceeded the growth rate of nearly all of its peers, thanks to the strength in its energy-drink sales. However, an FDA probe into the safety of its drinks, and the potential for increased governmental regulation, is enough of a gray cloud to keep me firmly away from Monster Beverage.

Can the Best Buy rebound continue?
The brick-and-mortar versus e-commerce battle wages on, with Best Buy caught in the middle. After what might have been its most tumultuous year in history, there are now even more unanswered questions about the future for the big-box electronics retailer. How will new leadership perform? Will old leadership take the company private? Will a smaller store format work out for both the company and its brave investors? Should you be one such brave investor? To help answer all these questions, The Motley Fool has released a new premium research report detailing the opportunities -- and the risks -- in store for Best Buy. Simply click here now to claim your comprehensive report today.

Timberland’s Towering Potential

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In times of inflationary peril, hard assets have been shown to outperform in bubble after bubble. Real estate in particular has always been an extremely effective inflation hedge, given that there is limited supply and nearly constant upward pressure on prices over the long-term thanks to population growth.

While all types of real estate typically hold and even gain in value during times of inflation, some types of real estate perform better than others. For instance, commercial real estate such as shopping centers and regional malls can lag other property types due to the negative impact inflation can have on consumer spending.

Residential real estate such as apartment complexes performs better than commercial real estate, given that most units are on year-to-year leases versus the longer five-year terms typical in commercial real estate. Because of more frequent re-pricing intervals and the constant turnover of units, multi-family developments are able to respond much more quickly to rising housing prices.

Interestingly, though, hotels outperform apartments thanks to the fact that those properties are literally re-priced every 24 hours. So as long as the broader economy is still relatively healthy, they are the most nimble of all.

According to data from the Campbell Group, a timberland investment management company with assets under management up and down the West Coast and in the southern US, timberland is probably the best long-term real estate inflation hedge. Their data shows that between 1987 and 2012, timberland showed a correlation to inflation of about 0.45. From a broader perspective, that lagged only US Treasury Bills and the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, which both had correlations of about 0.65.

According to other data, his! torically timber prices have increased much faster that overall prices for more than a century and, during America’s last great inflationary run between 1973 and 1981, timberland values gained an average 22 percent annually.

And demand isn’t expected to slow any time soon. In 2011, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations forecasted wood demand will double by 2040.

Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE: WY) has long been one of my favorite plays on timberland and it has recently become even more attractive.

The company operates in four basic units: wood products, cellulose fibers, timberlands and real estate.

The wood products division, which generates about 40 percent of revenue, produces and markets joists used as structural supports, oriented strand board used in walls and floors, and lumber that’s found at any do-it-yourself or hardware store.

Making products that are used in everything from toothpaste and newspapers to diapers and bandages, Weyerhaeuser’s cellulose fibers operation generates 24 percent of the company’s revenue. Given the ubiquity of cellulose fibers, this business provides buoyancy to the company’s earnings, even in down cycles, and is typically one of its strongest performers in terms of growth.

While about a third of the cellulose fiber the company produces is consumed in North America, about 25 percent is ultimately sold into the ex-Japan Asian market, i.e. China. Another 15 percent usually finds its way to Japan and 12 percent to Europe, with the remainder sold to other emerging markets.

A major driver of the growth in the fiber division is Weyerhaeuser’s innovation in developing proprietary varieties of fibers, helping to shield it from the extremely competitive nature of the cellulose fiber market. With relatively low barriers to entry, the pulp market sees a fairly steady flow of newcomers, particularly when prices are as high as they are now.

For the purposes of an inflation! hedge, w! e’re most interested in the company’s timberlands, which typically account for about a quarter of revenues.

The company controls about 6 million acres of timber forest, with about a third of its holdings located in the extremely productive Pacific Northwest region of the US, which primarily produces Douglas fir. The remaining two-thirds mostly consist of pine producing forests in the Southern US, with about 300,000 acres of pine and eucalyptus property in Uruguay.

The Pacific Northwest is the most productive timberland in the US, thanks to its cool, damp climate and typically abundant rainfall. The Douglas fir that dominates the region is also a much higher value wood than the pine typically harvested in other parts of the country.

The fact that it’s the largest timber producer in the Pacific Northwest makes Weyerhaeuser extremely attractive, because the company’s location gives it easy export access to China. This location also leaves it well placed to pick up the supply slack created by lower production caps in Canada, which is typically a key Chinese supplier.

Weyerhaeuser was hard hit during the 2007-2009 recession. During this period, the company’s earnings plummeted and its share price fell from a high of about $60 to a low of $19. Since then, it has given itself a complete makeover, unloading its paper and corrugated packaging businesses and converting itself into a real estate investment trust in 2010.

That transformation has dramatically improved the company’s performance and efficiency, speeding its return to post-recession profitability. And now it is about to take another transformational step.

Weyerhaeuser has long been one of the top 20 homebuilders in the US, with the company’s real estate division typically accounting for between 10 percent and 15 percent of total revenue. But in bad times such as the real estate bust a few years ago, the homebuilding unit is a serious drag on profits even as it ties up c! apital.
Recognizing that, last month the company announced that it would separate out its homebuilding operations in the coming months, either through a spin off or split off. It will then merge with TRI Pointe Homes (NYSE: THP) in a combination that creates a new top 10 US homebuilder valued at about $3 billion, of which Weyerhaeuser shareholders will own about 80 percent.

While the details of the transaction are still being ironed out—the goal is for the deal to ultimately be tax free—it is expected to close sometime in the second quarter.

The upshot: This company is unlocking significant value for shareholders by creating a standalone homebuilder, while also providing an increasingly attractive inflation hedge. Weyerhaeuser Co is a buy up to 40.

Can AT&T Break Out Of Its Range?

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With shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) trading around $34, is T an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

AT&T is a provider of telecommunications services in the United States and worldwide. Services offered include wireless communications, local exchange services, and long-distance services. AT&T operates in four segments: Wireless, Wireline, Advertising Solutions, and Other. The communications products offered through AT&T's segments reach audiences using just about every widely adopted medium: Internet, voice, television, and mobile. As consumers continue to adopt this technology, providers like AT&T stand to see rising profits.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson complained about the high cost of smartphone subsidies at an investor conference in New York, saying that the days of wireless carriers subsidizing the price of expensive smartphones will soon be over as smartphone penetration inches closer to 100 percent. "When you're growing the business initially, you have to do aggressive device subsidies to get people on the network," Stephen said, according to a report from CNET. "But as you approach 90 percent penetration, you move into maintenance mode. That means more device upgrades. And the model has to change. You can't afford to subsidize devices like that."

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

AT&T stock has been range-bound over the past couple of years. The stock s currently trading sideways and looks set to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, AT&T is trading beow its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of AT&T options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
AT&T options	20.35%	96%	94%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Steep	Average
January Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on AT&T’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for AT&T look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	7.58%	11.67%	-39.59%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	1.58%	-1.46%	0.23%
Earnings Reaction	-1.84%	-1.14%	-5.02%	0.80%

AT&T has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with AT&T’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has AT&T stock done relative to its peers, Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Sprint (NYSE:S), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), and sector?

	AT&T	Verizon	Sprint	T-Mobile US	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-8.06%	-7.49%	44.32%	48.47%	20.31%

AT&T has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

AT&T is a communications and entertainment company that operates around the world. The company’s CEO Randall Stephenson complained about the high cost of smartphone subsidies at an investor conference in New York, saying that the days of wireless carriers subsidizing the price of expensive smartphones will soon be over as smartphone penetration inches closer to 100 percent. The stock has been consolidating in recent years and is now trading sideways. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing, which has left investors pleased with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, AT&T has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what AT&T does next.

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S&P Capital IQ has a positive fundamental outlook for biotechnology over the next 12 months, based on accelerating revenue and earnings growth from several large-cap, profitable names in the group, suggests Steven Silver, S&P Capital IQ equity analyst in The Outlook.

In our view, Amgen (AMGN), Celgene (CELG), and Gilead Sciences (GILD) each has bolstered its long-term growth prospects in recent years.

Celgene, which had been reliant on its multiple myeloma drug Revlimid for the majority of its revenue, secured approval of internally-developed Pomalyst for late-stage multiple myeloma.

Its Apremilast is currently under Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review for the anti-inflammatory condition, psoriatic arthritis, and has also shown promise in such indications as psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis.

In 2010, Celgene acquired rights to cancer drug Abraxane, which was approved in breast cancer at the time of the deal, but has subsequently been approved for lung and pancreatic cancer, the latter of which we view as a major advance in the treatment paradigm.

5 Best Stocks To Own Right Now: AFC Enterprises Inc.(AFCE)

AFC Enterprises, Inc. develops, operates, and franchises quick-service restaurants under the trade names of Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. As of December 25, 2011, it operated and franchised 2,035 Popeyes restaurants in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Cayman Islands, and 25 foreign countries. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By AnnaLisa Kraft]

  AFC Enterprises (NASDAQ: AFCE  ) , which owns the Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen quick- serve chain, once an undiscovered gem, has now soared 66% over the last year.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  AFC Enterprises (Nasdaq: AFCE  ) reported earnings on May 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended April 21 (Q1), AFC Enterprises beat expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

5 Best Stocks To Own Right Now: Lafe Corporation Limited (L05.SI)

Lafe Corporation Limited, an investment holding company, primarily engages in property development, property investment, and property related service businesses. The company is involved in the development, investment, sale, and leasing of real estate properties. It also provides property appraisal, property management, architectural consultancy, building consultancy, corporate administration, real estate agency, security guard, and property consultancy services. In addition, the company holds trademarks It has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the People�s Republic of China. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Singapore. Lafe Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of Clarendon Investments Capital Limited.

Top 10 Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cardiome Pharma Corporation(CRME)

Cardiome Pharma Corp., a life sciences company, engages in developing proprietary drugs to treat or prevent cardiovascular and other diseases. The company offers BRINAVESS, a product approved for marketing in the European Union, Iceland, and Norway for the conversion of recent onset atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm in adults. It also has clinical programs, which focuses on the treatment of atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia (or abnormal rhythm) of the upper chambers of the heart. The company has a phase 1 program for GED-aPC, an engineered analog of recombinant human activated Protein C that completed phase I clinical trials for the treatment of infectious disease. In addition, Cardiome Pharma Corp. has pre-clinical projects that focus on cardiac diseases, ion channel conditions, and other indications. It also has a collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck), for the development and commercialization of vernakalant; and Astellas Pharma US, Inc. t o develop, make, and sell intravenous or injectable formulations of vernakalant in North America. The company was formerly known as Nortran Pharmaceuticals Inc. and changed its name to Cardiome Pharma Corp. in June 2001. Cardiome Pharma Corp. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Back on March 13th I penned some less-than-well-received thoughts on Cardiome Pharma Corp. (NASDAQ:CRME). Basically, I was warning that CRME was just one stumble away from a fairly significant selloff. Given that so many traders were a fan of the biotech stock at the time, merely posing the possibility of a dip was something of a threat to my life and limb.

• [By John Udovich]

  The biotech sector along with small cap biotech stocks Cardiome Pharma Corp (NASDAQ: CRME), Oncolytics Biotech, Inc (NASDAQ: ONCY), Vital Therapies Inc (NASDAQ: VTL) and TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) have all been producing their share of news this week for investors and traders alike to trade on. Moreover and while some 42 ��ife sciences��companies have gone public raising about $3 billion from investors so far this year, there are a growing number of biotechs pulling the plug on upcoming IPOs who are citing market conditions. With that in mind, here is a look at important news from the biotech sector and small cap biotech stocks this week:

5 Best Stocks To Own Right Now: Western Refining Inc.(WNR)

Western Refining, Inc. operates as an independent crude oil refiner and marketer of refined products. The company operates in three segments Refining Group, Wholesale Group, and Retail Group. The Refining Group segment operates two refineries in Texas and Mexico; two stand-alone refined product distribution terminals in New Mexico; and four asphalt terminals in Texas, as well as operates crude oil transportation and gathering pipeline system in New Mexico. It refines various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and other products from crude oil, other feedstocks, and blending components; and acquires refined products through exchange agreements and from various third-party suppliers. This segment sells its products through its wholesale group and service stations, independent wholesalers and retailers, commercial accounts, and sales and exchanges with oil companies. The Wholesale Group segment distributes commercial wholesale petroleum products primarily in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah for retail fuel distributors, as well as for the mining, construction, utility, manufacturing, transportation, aviation, and agricultural industries. The Retail Group segment operates service stations, which include convenience stores or kiosks that sell various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, general merchandise, and beverage and food products to the general public. As of February 24, 2012, it operated 210 service stations with convenience stores or kiosks located in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in El Paso, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Western Refining (NYSE: WNR  ) investors are about to find a few more coins in their pockets. The company has declared a Q3 dividend of $0.18 per share, to be paid on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record as of July 31. That amount is exactly 50% higher than Western Refining's previous disbursement of $0.12, which was handed out in early May.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  It;s been a very robust year for master limited partnership IPOs to say the least. On Thursday, Western Refining (NYSE: WNR  ) successfully spun off its midstream logistics MLP, Western Refining Logistics (NYSE: WNRL  ) . The partnership became the 14th MLP to make its debut this year.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another stock that's starting to trend within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Western Refining (WNR), a crude oil refiner and marketer of refined products. It also operates service stations and convenience stores. This stock is off to a decent start in 2013, with shares up 10.8%.

  If you look at the chart for Western Refining, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares soaring higher from its low of $25.47 to its recent high of $32.09 a share. During that uptrend, shares of WNR have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. This stock has also moved back above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. That move has now pushed shares of WNR within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in WNR if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $32.09 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.96 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then WNR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $34 to $36.50 a share. Any high-volume move above $36.50 will then give WNR a chance to tag its 52-week high at $39.42 a share.

  Traders can look to buy WNR off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below either its 200-day at $30.06 a share or its 50-day at $29.30 a share. One can also buy WNR off strength once it takes out that breakout level with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

  This is yet again another name that the bears are in love with, since the current short interest as a percentage of the float for WNR is crazy high at 39.7%. A monster short-squeeze could easily tr

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Tuesday, the Department of Defense awarded some $2.3 billion worth of contracts for "aviation turbine fuel." Most of the major oil and refining companies came away with contracts, including:

  Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) subsidiary Equilon Enterprises, which claimed the largest award at an estimated $474.1 million in maximum value. Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , winner of a nearly as large contract valued at up to $456.4 million. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , winner of a $405.1 million contract. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , which won $391.4 million. Western Refining (NYSE: WNR  ) , awarded a $268.7 million supply contract.

  In addition, four other, smaller companies also won contracts. All nine contracts state June 30, 2014, as the deadline for delivery.

5 Best Stocks To Own Right Now: Bankers Petroleum Ltd (BNK.TO)

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (Bankers) is engaged in the exploration for and oil in Albania. The Company generates all of the oil revenue from its operations in Albania, which is located northwest of Greece in South Eastern Europe. In Albania, Bankers operates and has the rights to develop the Patos-Marinza and Kucova oilfields pursuant to License Agreements with the Albanian National Agency for Natural Resources (AKBN) and Petroleum Agreements with Albpetrol Sh.A (Albpetrol), the state-owned oil and gas corporation. The Patos-Marinza oilfield is an onshore oilfield in continental Europe, holding approximately 5.1 billion barrels of original-oil-in-place (OOIP). The Company also has rights to exploration Block F (adjacent to the Patos-Marinza oilfield), an 185,000 acre oil and gas prone exploration field. The Company�� subsidiaries include Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd. (BPAL), Bankers Petroleum International Limited (BPIL) and Sherwood International Petroleum Ltd (Sherwood).

No news is good news for stocks?

  Market up on good news? Pinch me! NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Investors won't have to worry about what more good economic news means for the Federal Reserve this week. That's because there won't be much economic news to analyze.

Stocks ended last week on a strong note, thanks to a better-than-expected report on November payroll growth. But the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both ended flat for the week, snapping a run of eight up weeks in a row. The Nasdaq managed to close higher for a fourth straight week.

The Fed has been the main focus for investors since May, when chairman Ben Bernanke first hinted that the central bank could begin to "taper" its $85 billion per month bond-buying program.

The bond purchases, part of a strategy called quantitative easing, have helped a fuel a bull market in stocks since March 2009. But as the economy improves, the Fed has been preparing the market for the day when those purchases will get a bit smaller.

As a result, many investors see good economic news as a bad sign for stocks, since it suggests the Fed will taper soon. But others argue that good economic news is a positive for the market because a stronger economy should translate to better corporate earnings growth.

The bond market seems to be more prepared for tapering. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose jumped as high as 2.93% on Friday -- near their highest levels of the year. While long-term rates are still historically low, the fact that rates are rising is a sign investors expect a Fed pullback on bond purchases soon. Bond yields rise when prices fall, so bond investors are getting ahead of the Fed and selling now.

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The Fed will conclude its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 18. But most investors doubt that current Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will push for a major change in policy before his term ends in January.

The general consensus is that tapering will begin sometime next year after incoming chairman Janet Yellen takes over. Yellen is still waiting official confirmation by the Senate but there is little chance that she will not be approved given that Democrats have a majority in the Senate.

Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors in Sacramento, doesn't expect the Fed to taper anytime soon. "The economy may be improving but there is no way it can stand on its own," he said.

In the meantime, Springer says investors should follow the old Wall Street adage: "Don't fight the Fed."

Springer said stocks could also benefit in the short run from seasonal factors, including the so-called Santa Claus Rally. Over the past 30 years, the S&P 500 has gone up in December 80% of the time, according to data from Schaeffer's Investment Research.

But given how much stocks have already gained, there's no guarantee the trend will hold this year. The Dow is up more than 22% so far in 2013 while the S&P 500 has gained more than 26%. Both have hit a series of all-time highs, and some strategists say stocks are overdue for a pullback.

On the corporate front, there are few companies reporting quarterly results this week. The highlights are gun maker Smith & Wesson (SWHC), Costco (COST, Fortune 500), software company Adobe (ADBE) and yoga apparel retailer lululemon (LULU).

But the market for initial public offerings is still going strong.

Hilton Worldwide hopes to raise $2.2 billion next week in what could be the largest hotel IPO ever. Private equity firm Blackstone (BX) took Hilton private in 2007 for $26.7 billion.

5 Money Myths You Shouldn't Fall For

Getty Images Conventional wisdom is often a good thing, or at least harmless. For instance, even if chicken soup doesn't help your cold -- and research shows it probably does help -- it won't hurt you. Plus, you'll help keep someone employed in the soup industry. But there are plenty of times when conventional wisdom isn't just wrong -- it can cost you money. So the next time you're about to make a big financial decision, keep in mind that rarely is anything black and white when it comes to the green stuff. Here are five money "rules" that are largely wrong. Carrying a credit card balance will help your credit score. Not at all. If you are carrying a balance you can't pay off, it will help to keep the balance as low as possible because credit bureaus don't like to see a high debt-to-income ratio. In other words, they want to see that you aren't maxed out to the limit every month. So intentionally carrying a balance on your card won't put your credit in better standing or save you money; paying interest only benefits the credit card companies. Having a zero balance every month on your credit card is fine, especially if you're making regular or occasional purchases and paying them off monthly. Credit bureaus like to see that people are using credit cards responsibly. That's why never using a credit card that has a zero balance won't appreciably help your credit score, either. Pay off credit card debt before saving for retirement. Ultimately, it comes down to how much debt you're talking about, and what kind. "One myth that young professionals -- actually, many professionals -- initially question is whether they should pay off consumer debt, like credit cards and student loans, before fully investing in their company's 401(k) plan," says John Oxford, director of external affairs at Renasant, a financial services company headquartered in Tupelo, Miss. What's so wrong with paying off the massive credit card debt you accumulated in your early 20s before sinking money into a 401(k) plan? Oxford says if your company offers a 401(k) contribution match, and you instead shovel money into debt, you'll pass up on what amounts to free money that could have gone toward your retirement. You're also losing out on the potential interest growth, he says. So, yes, save for retirement at the same time, even if that means it will take longer to pay off your debt. Stocks make you rich -- and bonds keep you rich. A good rule of thumb, but this is another gray area. "The bond bull market for the past 30 years is coming to an end," says Jon Ulin, a managing principal at Ulin & Co. Wealth Management, a branch of LPL Financial in Boca Raton, Fla. "Interest rates will begin to rise when the Fed starts to taper the monetary stimulus program. Bonds tend to fall in value when interest rates rise. As [when] there is a greater degree of price volatility for longer bond maturities, investors should move more into short-duration bond investments." Benjamin Sullivan, a certified financial planner with Palisades Hudson Financial Group in Scarsdale, N.Y., echoes that thought. He says it's a myth that retirees should be fully invested in bonds. "Even retirees may have a relatively long time horizon for a portion of their money," he says. "They need the superior growth that stocks can provide to retain purchasing power over their life." Home additions increase your home sale value. Usually they don't, says Patrick Roberts, a certified financial planner and CEO of PKR Investments in St. Louis. If you add on a room or an amenity like a swimming pool for the sole purpose of adding value to your home, he says, you're likely to hurt your pocketbook. That's because even if your addition does add value to the house, you've likely taken on more debt in the process, so you may lose money in the long run. Now, if your house needs a fresh coat of paint, feel free to slather it on. You will probably sell it faster and maybe for a bit more. But when it comes to high-priced add-ons and features, proceed cautiously if your only goal is to add value to your home. Your money is safest in the bank. Not exactly. Money market accounts, savings bonds, your 401(k), a 529 plan and index funds may all be better alternatives (obviously, do your research or talk to your financial adviser). True, if your money is in the bank, it's safe because it isn't going anywhere. Banks' checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $250,000. But if you have a lot of cash sitting in a savings account, you're technically losing money with interest rates so low these days, Sullivan says. "You might have the comfort of seeing a stable account balance, but you are guaranteeing that your buying power will decrease due to inflation," he says. Currently, inflation is at about 1 percent, which is pretty low. Unfortunately, the average savings account yields about 0.06 percent, so you're still losing a bit of money. But a couple of years ago, when inflation was about 3 percent, the loss was more pronounced: People were losing about 3 percent of their income's worth because their savings yields weren't keeping up with inflation, Sullivan says.

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.

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.

Netflix investors need some perspective

In the battle between Netflix (ticker: NFLX) bulls and bears, hyperbole often overshadows the truth. Advocates on both sides like to make grandiose claims about Netflix's fate. Bulls think Netflix is destined to become ubiquitous and extremely profitable, while bears think it's a house of cards.

In all likelihood, the reality is somewhere in between. The true story of Netflix is not about the its dominance or implosion. Instead, Netflix's worth comes down to a rather pedestrian race between revenue growth and content cost inflation. Today, revenue growth is outpacing cost growth, but not by very much. To justify its sky-high valuation, Netflix will need to better leverage its existing content spending in the future.

A view from the bear side

Despite Netflix's strong rebound since the "Qwikster" fiasco in 2011, a surprisingly large number of investors think its business model is unsustainable. For example, TheStreet's Rocco Pendola has repeatedly argued that Netflix is all "smoke and mirrors." Pendola believes that big media companies such as Time Warner (TWX) and Disney (DIS) control the whole industry, and that Netflix can survive only as long as these competitors tolerate it.

However, while Netflix does buy content from big media companies (which rely on the pay-TV industry for most of the revenue), there's no real danger that these companies will cut Netflix off. There's too much money to be made by selling content to services like Netflix. Moreover, there are enough content owners out there that Netflix will always be able to find a few that are willing to play ball.

In short, Netflix's fate is in its own hands. If investors are overrating its prospects, it's not because Time Warner is going to "punkslap" Netflix -- as Pendola has colorfully put it on occasion. It's simply because Netflix won't be able to grow profit rapidly forever.

Bullish beyond belief

At the other end of the spectrum sit uber-bulls such as portfolio managers David Schechter and Brett Icah! n of Icahn Enterprises (IEP) . While company Chairman Carl Icahn (Brett's father) decided to sell a large portion of the company's Netflix holdings in October, Schechter and Brett Icahn think Netflix is still massively undervalued.

The crux of Schechter and Icahn's argument is that Netflix is a superb bargain for consumers at $7.99 a month, and should eventually grow to serve 60 million to 90 million households. They also believe that the business model has massive operational leverage -- i.e., Netflix can grow revenue rapidly without adding much in the way of costs.

This scenario is just as far-fetched as Pendola's bearish one. First of all, while Schechter and Icahn say they "find it difficult to understand why a household would not subscribe to the service," the fact remains that most households do not subscribe to Netflix. Speaking from my own experience as a non-subscriber, I'd say Netflix would have to add a lot of content before it would be worth the price for me.

More broadly, the fact that tens of millions of U.S. households don't use Netflix today suggests that it isn't a "bargain" for them. Pretty much everybody in the U.S. knows what Netflix is -- even my 90-year-old grandmother, who doesn't use the Internet! -- so it's not as if lots of consumers have yet to discover Netflix. The only way Netflix will attract these holdouts (and get existing customers to pay more) is by adding more high-quality content to the service.

The real issue

What will really determine the scope of Netflix's success over the next five to 10 years is how fast content costs rise in relation to revenue. In the press release announcing Icahn Enterprises' sale of Netflix stock, Schechter and Icahn suggest that Netflix could boost domestic streaming revenue by $4.3 billion annually over the next five years. They believe Netflix can drive this growth while adding just $1 billion in content expense!

For some context, let's look at Netflix's revenue and cost growth this year. Through the fi! rst nine ! months of 2013, domestic streaming revenue grew 26% year over year. However, streaming content expense grew almost as quickly, increasing 19% year over year.

For Netflix to add $4.3 billion of domestic streaming revenue in the next five years, it would need to grow at a compound annual rate of 21%. Netflix would have to keep adding subscribers at its recent pace of 5 million to 6 million annually while also raising prices, with no sign of market saturation. At the same time, content cost growth would have to abruptly slow to 9% annually.

Instead, while revenue growth and content cost growth will both moderate on a percentage basis in the next few years, the two growth rates are more likely to converge than diverge. Revenue growth primarily depends upon subscriber growth, and sooner or later Netflix will start to saturate the market. Meanwhile, cost growth is unavoidable: even established slow-growth distributors such as Comcast (CMCSA) are contending with rapidly rising content costs.

10 Best Bank Stocks To Own Right Now

Foolish bottom line

Netflix bulls and bears like to argue from extremes. Bears argue that Netflix is a house of cards with no control over its destiny, doomed to crumble because of skyrocketing content costs. Bulls view the situation through rose-colored glasses and expect revenue to grow rapidly without much of a content cost investment by Netflix.

Neither of these scenarios is likely. Revenue growth is modestly outpacing content cost growth today, leading to margin growth and earnings growth at Netflix today. However, today's revenue growth rate (at least domestically) is clearly unsustainable in the long run. The real question investors need to answer is whether Netflix can pull back on content cost growth fast enough to keep margins growing. Otherwise, earnings growth will never live up to bulls' expectations.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content part! ner offer! ing financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now

LONDON -- The shares of�AstraZeneca� (LSE: AZN  ) (NYSE: AZN  ) added 6 pence to 3,359 pence during early London trade this morning after the company said it will write off $140 million following the outcome of a product trial.

The FTSE 100 member confirmed the charge related to the development of fostamatinib, an oral treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and would be taken in the second quarter.

AstraZeneca said the results from a phase 3 test program, alongside data reported previously from earlier trials, had prompted the company not to proceed with regulatory filings for the product.

The blue chip also claimed that hypertension, diarrhea, nausea, headache, and nasopharyngitis were among the treatment's most commonly reported side effects.

AstraZeneca said it would now return the rights for fostamatinib to�Rigel Pharmaceuticals.

Briggs Morrison, managing director, executive vice president of global medicines development and chief medical officer at AstraZeneca, said:

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  As to be expected, the share price has drifted down from the peak after the bullish activity. But long term investors should take note of the resources owned by Octagon 88. Canadian energy assets have drawn "Big Oil" from around the world such as CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). In addition, Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), a major oil firm based in Canada, has Warren Buffett gobbling up its shares.

• [By Claudia Assis]

  Energy companies in the Gulf also shut down about 40% of natural gas production. Several energy firms, including BP PLC (BP) , Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) , Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) ,�Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) �and Chevron Corp. (CVX) , began evacuating workers earlier in the week.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Hawaii only has two operating oil refineries. Tesoro (NYSE: TSO  ) plans to close the one it owns, Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) owns the other, and the cost of shipping crude oil out there is the main reason that gas is so expensive. California is ranked second largely because it has the highest taxes on gas in the country. The combined local, state, and federal taxes tack on just shy of $0.69 per gallon, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Over the past year or so, the rift between Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) has widened dramatically. When Apple first shipped the iPhone, the company prominently featured pre-installed apps for YouTube and Google Maps. Both of those apps were built by Apple but tied into Google's services and data. Both of those apps have since been removed.

Best Value Companies To Buy For 2014: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Associated Press]

  NEW YORK (AP) -- The National Retail Federation on Tuesday urged a federal judge to reject a proposed $7.2 billion settlement with Visa (NYSE: V  ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) over alleged fee-fixing.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kyle Spencer]

  While the USDA's conclusion of 5 weeks maximum reduced consumption will certainly be a relief to investors with exposure to the Asian poultry market -- namely, Yum, Tyson (TSN), and McDonald's (MCD) investors -- I think that relying too closely on the Italian consumers' experience with H5N1 to interpret the reaction of Chinese consumers to H7N9 might potentially be a disastrous assumption.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Monday
  The first trading day of the week kicks off with McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) reporting quarterly results in the morning. After a decade of smooth and consistent store-level growth, monthly comps have been mixed since last October. The world's largest restaurant operator probably hopes that pushing up its Monopoly promotion to summer instead of autumn will help drive sales in the coming weeks, but we'll see what the Big Mac daddy is willing to share on Monday.

• [By The Science of Hitting]

  2) The Street�� Misguided Guidance ��As Howard notes in the first paragraph, the company sacrificed on the experience in order to achieve the growth, development, and scale necessary to go from less than 1,000 stores to 13,000 stores in just 10 years (that�� an average of more than three new stores each and every day for a decade). A lot of this was in hopes of satisfying the street, which led to decisions focused on short-term growth rather than long-term sustainability. Unfortunately, the commoditization of the cookie cutter model destroys brand equity, and leads to price competition; considering that a cup of black coffee at Starbuck�� is more than twice the cost of a black coffee at McDonald�� (MCD), it appears that management made the right decision in rethinking the brand experience and moving back towards the core: differentiation.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  It's one of the steadiest dividend payers on the market, and it's continuing to fly level. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has declared a fresh quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.34 per share, paid on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 23. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution; this was paid in May. Prior to that, Colgate-Palmolive handed out $0.31 per share.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Lately, Johnson & Johnson has presented two different faces to investors. On one hand, the company has faced the challenge of dealing with a weak consumer-products business, as multiple recalls and close regulatory oversight of its production facilities have exacerbated J&J's problems. With its more focused consumer-goods business, Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) has worked harder at taking advantage of international growth opportunities than many of its rivals, and Colgate's strong overseas sales, in comparison to J&J's international weakness, show the effectiveness of that strategy. In particular, Asia has been a focus point for Colgate, with revenue from the region having risen 9% year over year compared with less than 3% growth overall. Moreover, Latin America represents Colgate's biggest region for sales, with more than half again the revenue its U.S. segment produces.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.43 per share on revenue of $7.94 billion.

  Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $30.16 billion.

• [By Efficient Alpha]

  Philip Morris International (PM) is a favorite of mine, not only for its 4% dividend but also for its protection against global inflationary pressures. The company can pass through higher commodity prices and smokers will keep coming back for more. The company has 16% of the international market and is making strong progress in China. Asia accounts for 36% of sales, followed by the EMEA region (27%), the EU (26%) and Latin America/Canada (11%). Shares have posted an annual return of 15% since its spinoff in 2008.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  However, you would be hard-pressed to find any connection between falling smoking prevalence and share performance at Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI  ) , Lorriland (NYSE: LO  ) , Phillip Morris (NYSE: PM  ) , and Altria (NYSE: MO  ) . These companies are some of the best performers in the past decade. In fact, Altria is the best-performing stock of the last half-century!

• [By Morgan Housel]

  For most of the last decade, investors scooped up stocks that had big international exposure with the idea that they would provide a hedge against a weakening dollar. Companies that do most of their business overseas, like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) (73% overseas), Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) (all overseas), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) (85% overseas), looked compelling as a hedge against the U.S. economy's faults.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  On another volatile day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) finished down 115 points, or 0.8%. However, the IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) effect was in full splendor today as the tech giant once again pushed the blue chips down disproportionately. Since the Dow is price-weighted, IBM contributes a sixth of the value of the index, and today, it knocked an additional 0.4% off the finish. Meanwhile, the broad-based S&P 500 fell just 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq actually closed up slightly.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  At the other end of the spectrum is IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) , which is by far the most influential stock in the Dow. Its 5% return over the past year isn't all that bad, but because IBM has more than 10% weighting in the average, its underperformance cost the overall Dow more than a percentage point of returns compared to an equal-weight Dow.

• [By Stoyan Bojinov]

  The New York-based information technology juggernaut, IBM Corp. (IBM), made two announcements on Tuesday that resonated well among shareholders.

  First, the company’s board of directors approved an additional $15 billion to be used for stock repurchases. This brings the total amount designated for share buybacks to over $20 billion, seeing as how there were approximately $5.6 billion left at the end of September 2013 from the prior repurchase authorization. According to company officials, IBM expects to request another repurchase authorization at the October board meeting in 2014.

  The second piece of good news on the day was a declared dividend, adding to the company’s flawless quarterly payout record since 1916. IBM announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.95 per share, payable on December 10, 2013 to shareholders on record as of November 8, 2013.

  IBM shares rallied on Tuesday, gaining a solid 2.69% as the trading session drew to a close. The stock is down nearly 5% YTD.