As 2012 came to a close, investors increasingly questioned the wisdom of owning gold or gold-related stocks and funds. After all, a commodity known as an inflation hedge is of dubious value when inflation is nonexistent. And for investors who still expected the Federal Reserve's aggressive stimulus efforts to eventually fuel inflation, patience was starting to wear thin.
What began as a steady exodus out of gold in the winter morphed into something a lot more dramatic this spring. In the past few months, gold has endured a pair of scary plunges that has pushed even its most ardent supporters to the sidelines. Gold prices now sit at their lowest levels in nearly three years.
Hot Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015: Perfumania Holdings Inc(PERF)
Perfumania Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a wholesale distributor and specialty retailer of perfumes and fragrances in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company distributes designer fragrances to mass market retailers, drug and other chain stores, retail wholesale clubs, traditional wholesalers, and other distributors. It also owns and licenses designer and other fragrance brands. The company sells its products in retail stores on a consignment basis; and online through perfumania.com, an Internet retailer of fragrances and other specialty items. As of July 30, 2011, it operated a chain of 343 retail stores specializing in the sale of fragrances and related products. The company is based in Bellport, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE: VSI), Books-A-Million, Inc (NASDAQ: BAMM) and Perfumania Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PERF) have the dubious distinction of being�the worst performing small cap�specialty retail stocks for this year (according to Finviz.com) with losses of 4.85% and�3% and a gain of 0.61%, respectively, since the start of the year (See my previous article: This Year�� Best Performing Small Cap Specialty Retail Stocks? UNTD, TA & HZO). I should mention that the definition of specialty retail stocks might vary from one stock screener to another, but what�� clear is that these three small cap retail stocks have been heading in the wrong direction for investors for much of this year. �With that in mind, what sort of performance should investors expect from these small cap specialty retail stocks on Black Friday and for the all important holiday season? Here is what you need to be aware of:
Best Up And Coming Companies For 2014: Alliance Capital Management Holding L.P. (AB)
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. provides investment management and related services in the United States and internationally. It offers institutional services, including separately-managed accounts, sub-advisory relationships, structured products, collective investment trusts, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other investment vehicles to unaffiliated corporate and public employee pension funds, endowment funds, domestic and foreign institutions, and governments. The company also provides retail services comprising retail mutual funds, sub-advisory relationships with mutual funds sponsored by third parties, and separately managed account programs sponsored by various financial intermediaries and other investment vehicles. In addition, it provides separately managed accounts, hedge funds, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles for private clients, including high-net-worth individuals, trusts and estates, charitable foundations, partnerships, and private and family corporat ions. Further, AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. offers research services to institutional investors through research, portfolio analysis, and brokerage-related services; and equity capital markets services to issuers of publicly-traded securities. Additionally, it provides distribution, shareholder servicing, and administrative services to its sponsored mutual funds. AllianceBernstein Corporation serves as the general partner of the company. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. was founded in 1987 and is based in New York, New York. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. operates as a subsidiary of AXA.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Inyoung Hwang]
Investors had declared the stock of AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB) a loser. From Jan. 1, 2010, to Aug. 23, 2012, it had declined 43 percent compared with a 33 percent gain for the Standard & Poor�� 500 Index. Nevertheless, on that day, Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Craig Siegenthaler lifted his rating on the New York-based money manager�� shares to a buy.
- [By J. Royden Ward]
AllianceBernstein LP (AB), a master limited partnership, is one of the largest US investment advisors. It actively manages stock and bond accounts for institutions, mutual funds, and well-heeled clients.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, goes through a few situations where an IRA rollover might not be ideal. Dan notes that Franklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN ) , AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB ) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , and other companies often offer cheaper class of mutual funds that would otherwise carry sales loads or higher fees outside a 401(k). Dan also talks about company stock and the special rules for 401(k)s that own it, as well as the importance of looking at overall fees to decide if your 401(k) is the best place to invest or whether an IRA rollover will help you more.
- [By J. Royden Ward]
AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB) offers high quality research and diversified investment services to institutional investors and private clients in major global markets. The company is one of the largest US investment advisors, with assets under management totaling $445 billion, as of January 31.
Best Up And Coming Companies For 2014: Value Line Inc (VALU)
Value Line, Inc., incorporated on October 29, 1982, is engaged in producing investment periodicals and related publications and making available copyright data, including certain Ranking System and other information, to third parties under written agreements for use in third-party managed and marketed investment products. The Company operates in two segments: investment periodicals and related publications. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Company�� Wholly-owned operating subsidiaries include Value Line Publishing LLC, Vanderbilt Advertising Agency, Compupower Corporation (CPWR) and Value Line Distribution Center (VLDC). The Company markets under brands including Value Line, the Value Line Logo, The Value Line Investment Survey and The Most Trusted Name in Investment Research.
Investment Related Periodicals and Publications
The investment periodicals and related publications offered by Value Line Publishing LLC (VLP) covers a spectrum of investments, including stocks, mutual funds, options and convertible securities. The services generally fall into four categories include Comprehensive reference periodical publications; Targeted, niche periodical newsletters, and Current and historical financial databases. The services (The Value Line Investment Survey, The Value Line Investment Survey - Small and Mid-Cap, The Value Line 600, and The Value Line Fund Advisor Plus) provide both statistical and text coverage of a number of investment securities, with a focus placed on Value Line's research, analysis and statistical ranks. The Value Line Investment Survey is the Company's premier service, published each week and covering approximately 1,700 stocks.
The newsletters (The Value Line Special Situations Service, The Value Line Fund Advisor, The Value Line Convertibles Survey and The Value Line Options Survey) provide information on securities. The Company offers online versions of its products at the Company's Website, www.valueline.com. T! he Value Line Investment Survey is an investment periodical research product providing both timely articles on economic, financial and investment matters and analysis and ranks for equity securities. The Value Line Investment Survey is an investment periodical research product providing both timely articles on economic, financial and investment matters and analysis and ranks for equity securities. The Value Line Investment Survey - Small and Mid-Cap is an investment research product that provides short descriptions of and data for approximately 1,800 small and medium-capitalization stocks.
Value Line Investment Analyzer is a menu-driven software program with filtering, ranking, reporting and graphing capabilities utilizing over 350 data fields for range of industries and indices and for the approximately 1,700 stocks covered in VLP's publication, The Value Line Investment Survey. Value Line Investment Analyzer allows subscribers to apply more than 60 charting and graphing variables for comparative research. Value Line Mutual Fund Survey for Windows is a monthly CD-ROM or Internet product with weekly Internet updates. The program features powerful sorting and filtering analysis tools. It includes features, such as style attribution analysis, a portfolio stress tester, portfolio rebalancing, correlation of fund returns and hypothetical assets. For the Company's institutional customers, Value Line offers both current and historical data for equities, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and convertibles.
Value Line's Fundamental DataFile I contains fundamental data (both current and historical) on approximately 6,400 publicly traded companies that follow United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Estimates and Projections DataFile offering contains the estimates from Value Line analysts on approximately 1,700 companies. Data includes earnings, sales, cash flow, book value, margin, and other popular fields. Projections are for the future one year, three ! year and ! five year periods. The Value Line Mutual Fund DataFile, covers more than 20,000 mutual funds with up to 20 years of historical data with more than 200 data fields. The Mutual Fund DataFile provides monthly pricing, basic fund information, weekly performance data, sector weights, and many other popular mutual fund data fields. The Value Line Research Center provides on-line access to select Company investment research products covering stocks, mutual funds, options and convertible securities, as well as special situation stocks.
Copyright Data Fees Programs
The Company has copyright data, which include certain ranking system information and other information used in third party products, such as unit investment trusts, variable annuities, managed accounts and exchange traded funds, which it distributes under copyright data agreements. The Company�� primary copyright data products have been structured as unit investment trusts, ETFs, annuity products and other types of managed products.
Investment Management Services
The Company through its wholly-owned subsidiary ESI, was the distributor for the Value Line Funds. State Street Bank is the custodian of the assets of the Value Line Funds and provides them with fund accounting and administrative services. Shareholder services for the Value Line Funds are provided by Boston Financial Data Services, an affiliate of State Street Bank.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon] be cheap enough. It was an issue of Warren Buffett being confident enough to invest in IBM.
By the way, let�� look at IBM�� past record:
10-Year Average Return on Assets: 10.3%
10-Year Annual Sales Growth: 2.8%
10-Year Annual Asset Growth: 1.9%
As you can see, IBM isn�� much of a growth company. But that doesn�� mean the shares can�� be growth shares. IBM has improved margins and bought back stock. That has led to a 20% annual increase in earnings per share compared to just a 3% annual increase in total revenue.
So can we answer the question of why Warren Buffett is interested in companies like IBM and Norfolk Southern (NSC) rather than Hewlett-Packard and Value Line?
Well, Value Line is obviously too small an investment for Buffett. But we��e using it as a stand in for all the publishers Buffett once loved but now shuns.
Buffett is a return on investment investor. He isn�� exactly a growth investor or a value investor ��if by growth we mean total revenue growth and if by value we mean the company�� value as of today.
Buffett wants to compound his money at the fastest rate possible. So he looks at how much of the company�� sales, assets, etc. he is getting. Basically, he looks at a price ratio. And then he looks into the company�� return on its own sales, assets, etc. When you take those two numbers together you get something very close to a rate of return.
The last part you need to consider is the change in assets versus the change in sales (and earnings). Does the company need to grow assets faster than earnings?
Or ��like See�� Candy ��can it grow sales a little faster than assets?
Let�� take a look at Norfolk Southern as a good example of the kind of railroad Buffett would own ��if he didn�� own all of Burlington Northern.
Norfolk Southern
10-Year Average Return on Assets: 4.9%
10-Year Annual Sales Growth: 6.0%
10-Year Annual Asset Gr
- [By Geoff Gannon]
If a company has an at risk business, it can allocate capital to other areas. Many successful companies no longer engage in the business they started in. If American Express (AXP) stayed in its original business, it wouldn't be around today. The same is true of IBM, MMM, and BRK.B. Some companies choose to pay large dividends or buy back stock while the business is failing rather than allocating capital into a different industry. Let's look at Value Line (VALU). Over the last 10 years, Value Line has paid out about 85% of the company's current market cap. It's a dying business. It had a decision to make. It could allocate capital to new areas inside the corporation, it could pay dividends, or it could buyback stock. It chose to pay dividends.
Best Up And Coming Companies For 2014: Mattress Firm Holding Corp (MFRM)
Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (Mattress Firm), incorporated on January 5, 2007, is a specialty retailer of mattresses and related products and accessories in the United States. The Company conducts its operations through its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, Mattress Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries. As of August 2, 2011, the Company and its franchisees operated 620 and 107 stores, respectively, primarily under the Mattress Firm name, in 60 markets across 25 states. The Company focuses on the national brands, but also offers its customers its Hampton and Rhodes private label mattresses. The Company has introduced its YuMe brand. On October 15, 2010, the Company acquired Peak Management, LLC. On December 1, 2010, the Company acquired Maggie's Enterprises, Inc. In May 2012, Mattress Firm announced the completion of its acquisition of regional bedding company, Mattress Giant Holding Corp. Effective September 9, 2013, Mattress Firm Holding Corp, a unit of JW Childs Associates LP, acquired Olejo Inc, a provider of ecommerce retail services.
The Company�� stores carry national mattress brands, with a range of styles, sizes, price points and features. The Company provides its customers with their choice of traditional mattresses, including Sealy and Simmons, as well as specialty mattresses, such as Tempur-Pedic. In addition to its mattress selection, the Company offers a range of bedding-related products and accessories.
Conventional Mattresses
Conventional mattresses, such as those of Sealy (including Sealy Posturepedic and Stearns and Foster) and Simmons (including Simmons Beautyrest), utilize steel-coil innersprings. During the fiscal year ended February 1, 2011, the conventional mattresses represented approximately 75% of bedding industry sales in the United States and approximately 60% of the Company�� total sales. In addition to these national brands, the Company also offers its Hampton and Rhodes private label mattresses.
Specialty Mattresses
Specialty mattresses, such as those manufactured by Tempur-Pedic and select comfort, utilize materials other than steel-coil innersprings to provide comfort and support. In fiscal 2010, the specialty mattresses represented approximately 30% of the Company�� total sales. The Company is expanding its assortments in the categories, including viscoelastic foam mattresses and yume sleep system. Viscoelastic foam, also referred to as memory foam or polyurethane foam, features a temperature sensitive foam core that reduces pressure points and tossing and turning by contouring to one's body. The Company has introduced a sleep system made of foam produced from coconut oil, utilizing a technology that uses ambient air to heat and cool the mattress surface.
Furniture and Accessories
During fiscal 2010, the Company was in the process of introducing new headboards and footboards, which complement its current bedding products. All of the Company�� stores carry an assortment of bedding-related accessories, including bed frames, mattress pads and pillows. In fiscal 2010, bedding-related products and accessories represented approximately 7% of the Company�� total sales from Company-operated stores.
The Company competes with Mattress Giant, American Mattress, Haverty's, Rooms-To-Go, Macy's, Sears, JC Penney, Walmart, Costco and Original Mattress.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wallace Witkowski]
Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (MFRM) �shares rose 5% to $46.66 after the mattress retailer raised its outlook for the year.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Tomorrow, Mattress Firm (NASDAQ: MFRM ) will release its latest quarterly results. As the consumer segment of the economy has picked up steam over the past several years, discretionary spending on things like mattresses is finally starting to grow, and Mattress Firm has managed to capitalize on that trend.
Best Up And Coming Companies For 2014: Sanderson Farms Inc.(SAFM)
Sanderson Farms, Inc., an integrated poultry processing company, engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen, processed, and prepared chicken products. The company?s prepared chicken product line includes institutional and consumer packaged partially cooked or marinated chicken items. It sells ice pack, chill pack, bulk pack, and frozen chicken in whole, cut-up, and boneless form under the Sanderson Farms brand name. The company sells its products to retailers, distributors, and casual dining operators in the southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, and western United States, as well as to the United States based customers who resell frozen chicken into export markets. Sanderson Farms, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Sanderson Farms (Nasdaq: SAFM ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Geoff Gannon]
If you can choose between owning Sanderson Farms (SAFM) and McCormick (MKC) ��pick McCormick. Spice is just a better product than chicken. Well, ceramic proppant is a really, really good product. It�� the spice of the oil industry.
Best Up And Coming Companies For 2014: Open Text Corporation (OTEX)
Open Text Corporation develops, markets, sells, licenses, and supports enterprise content management (ECM) solutions primarily in North America and Europe. The company?s ECM software and solutions enable customers to manage various types of enterprise content, including business documents, Web content, records, digital assets, email, forms and reports, forums, blogs, wikis, and real time instant messaging and collaboration. Its ECM solutions comprise various components, including document management, which provides repository for business documents, such as Microsoft office, CAD, and PDF; collaboration that offers tools designed to better facilitate people working with each other with content and processes; Web content management, which provides tools for authoring, maintaining, and administering sophisticated Web sites; and records management that enables control of the lifecycle of content objects by associating robust retention and disposition rules with each content as set. The company?s ECM solutions also provide email management services designed to enable the archiving, control, and monitoring of email; capture and delivery tools that provide the means of converting documents from analog sources; digital asset management; business process management services; content reporting tools for analyzing content and generating reports; and Open Text Everywhere that allows the Open Text ECM suite to be available via mobile devices. In addition, it offers industry specific solutions for government, technology/manufacturing, energy, financial services, pharmaceutical and life sciences, legal, and media sectors. Additionally, the company provides learning, consulting, hosting, and customer support and training services. It has strategic alliances with Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, and SAP AG. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Shares of Open Text (NASDAQ: OTEX) got a boost, shooting up 11.95 percent to $101.45 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results and announced a 2-for-1 stock split.
- [By Patricio Kehoe]
The firm is currently Zacks Rank # 3 - Hold, and it also has a longer-term recommendation of ��utperfom�� For investors looking for a Zacks Rank # 1 ��Strong Buy, Dealertrack Technologies Inc (TRAK), Open Text Corporation (OTEX), Pegasystems Inc. (PEGA) Solera Holdings (SLH) or Ultimate Software Group Inc. (ULTI) could be the options.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Shares of Open Text (NASDAQ: OTEX) got a boost, shooting up 12.23percent to $101.70 after the company reported upbeat Q2 results and announced a 2-for-1 stock split.
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