The following video is from Monday's installment of Where the Money Is, in which Fool analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson highlight for investors the most important stock news from the financial sector.
In this segment, David and Matt discuss ongoing litigation against Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) related to the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. How much damage can the Bank of America brand endure before public opinion turns against the nationally known name?
Bank of America's stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it's critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool's premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, Financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.
Best Tech Companies For 2015: Spdr S&P Pharmaceuticals Etf (XPH)
SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals Exchange Traded Fund (The Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before expenses, the performance of an index derived from the pharmaceuticals segment of a United States total market composite index. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index (the Pharmaceuticals Index).
The Pharmaceuticals Index represents the pharmaceuticals sub-industry portion of the S&P TMI. The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some pharmaceutical stocks to your portfolio, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (NYSEMKT: XPH ) could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.
The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The SPDR ETF's expense ratio -- its annual fee -- is a relatively low 0.35%.
This ETF has trounced the world markets over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can't expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.
Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: NewLead Holdings Ltd.(NEWL)
NewLead Holdings Ltd. operates as an international shipping company that owns and operates product tankers and dry bulk carriers. It operates in two segments, Wet Operations and Dry Operations. The Wet Operations segment transports various refined petroleum products simultaneously in segregated coated cargo tanks that include gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, naphtha, and gas oil. The Dry Operations segment involves in transporting and handling bulk cargoes through ownership, operation, and trading of vessels. As of August 2, 2011, the company operated a fleet of 6 double-hull product tankers and 16 dry bulk vessels. The company was formerly known as Aries Maritime Transport Limited and changed its name to NewLead Holdings Ltd. in December 2009. NewLead Holdings Ltd. was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Athens, Greece.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
To say the last few weeks have been disappointing ones for shareholders of maritime shipping stocks like NewLead Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NEWL), FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE), or Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) would be an understatement. After a fantastic second half of 2013 for most shipping stocks, the industry has been submerged (metaphorically) since the beginning of 2014. For perspective, DSX gained 32% over the course of the last six months of 2013, bur has fallen 5% since then. NEWL, though a loser all throughout the latter part of last year, has fallen a whopping 13% since 2014 began. FREE has performed about the same, offering glimmers of hope in the latter part of 2013, but popping that bubble in the meantime.
- [By James E. Brumley]
October wasn't an easy month to own FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE), NewLead Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NEWL), DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), or any maritime shipper for that matter. They were all down rather sharply after heroic runups in September. DRYS fell 22% last month. NEWL slumped 41% in October. FREE gave up 44% of its value last month. What happened? After all, these same stocks were among some of the hottest names in September. In simplest terms, what happened here is what happens all too often... the market "got it right" in terms of the premise, but overdid it. Now that the dust is settling though, the undertow is kicking in again, but this time at a more reasonable/sustainable pace.
- [By Monica Gerson]
NewLead Holdings (NASDAQ: NEWL) shares dipped 6.56% to touch a new 52-week low of $0.08 after the company completed the acquisition of titles in the Viking Mine located in Kentucky, USA.
- [By James E. Brumley]
Back in early November, yours truly penned some bullish thoughts on FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE), NewLead Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NEWL), and DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS). While each stock has its own merits, the crux of the bullishness was ultimately rooted in the brewing rebound of the Baltic Dry Index... a reflection of the prices companies pay shippers like FreeSeas and DryShips to haul goods over the ocean.
Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA (US)
UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA, formerly Fondiaria SPA, is an Italy- based company engaged in financial sector. The Company is a result of the merger of Unipol Assicurazioni SpA, Milano Assicurazioni SpA and Premafin Finanziaria SpA into Fondiaria Sai SpA. The Company operates through approximately 3 000 agencies under brands, such as Unipol, Sai, La Fondaria, Milano, La Previdente, Nuova Maa and Sasa. UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA specializes in non-life insurance, especially automobile insurance. Additionally, UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA provides products which protect its clients against damage and accident in the field, such as work, home, travel, health, life, aviation, railway, fire, maritime and goods in transit, as well as reinsurance and legal protection. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Nicolas Johnson]
There are a couple of reasons money managers often advise Canadian investors to overcome their home-country bias and to put part of their assets abroad. One goal is to get a chance at higher returns by investing in expanding businesses or industries that are absent from our own stock exchanges. Canada's stock market represents only about 3.4% of the world's $62-trillion (US) in publicly traded companies. A second goal is to diversify wealth and reduce the vulnerability of one's portfolio to a collapse in the Canadian market.
- [By Chris Umiastowski]
Almost one year ago, I added the online travel giant Priceline.com, Inc. (PCLN) to my Strategy Lab portfolio. At the time, the stock had already been a star performer in the S&P 500 (SPX) for several years, and I bought my shares at about $627 (US) each.
- [By John Heinzl]
The company also provides the tax breakdown on its Web site. For example, in 2012, the partnership distributed $1.50 (US) per unit to investors, or $1.4988 (Canadian). (The company��hich owns a global portfolio of utility, energy, and transportation infrastructure assets��ays distributions in US currency, but it also provides the tax breakdown in Canadian dollars.)
- [By Vivian Lewis, Editor and Publisher, Global Investing]
It just bought 334 factories for $372 million (US) in conjunction with AIG (of the US) and Walton St. Capital, a Mexican developer, in northern Mexico, which are 97% occupied.
Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: Supertex Inc.(SUPX)
Supertex, Inc., together with its subsidiary, Supertex Limited, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets high voltage analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (IC) primarily in Asia, the United States, China, and Europe. The company offers high voltage analog multiplexer switches, pulsers, high-speed MOSFET drivers, and discrete high voltage MOSFETs and arrays for the medical electronics market. It also provides LED driver products, including linear regulators and switching regulators for general lighting in automotive, industrial, and consumer applications; and for backlighting in LCD TVs, monitors, and laptop screens. In addition, the company offers electroluminescent lamps for backlighting hand-held instruments, such as cell phone keypads, watches, monochrome flat screens, and MP3 players; and driver ICs for driving non-impact printers and plotters. Further, it provides high voltage amplifier ICs to drive optical micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) for use in optical switching applications in the telecommunications market; high voltage electronic switch ICs for use in telephones; high voltage ICs for use as ring generators; and protection ICs for line cards. Additionally, the company offers ICs and DMOS devices primarily for various industrial applications. It markets and sells its products through direct sales personnel, independent sales representatives, and distributors primarily to original equipment manufacturers of electronic products. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are AutoNavi Holdings Ltd.(AMAP), Dick's Sporting Goods Inc.(DKS) and Supertex Inc.(SUPX)
Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: Vectren Corporation (VVC)
Vectren Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides energy delivery services to residential, commercial, and industrial and other contract customers in Indiana and west central Ohio. It offers natural gas distribution and transportation services, and electric distribution services; and owns and operates coal-fired and gas-fired electric generating facilities with an installed generating capacity of 1,298 megawatts. The company�s electric transmission system consists of 989 circuit miles of 345, 138, and 69 kilovolt lines, and 35 substations; and distribution system comprises 4,281 pole miles of lower voltage overhead lines and 372 trench miles of conduit containing 1,999 miles of underground distribution cable, 96 distribution substations, and 54,000 distribution transformers. In addition, it provides gas marketing, gas portfolio optimization, and other portfolio and energy management services to municipalities, utilities, industrial operations, schools, and healthcar e institutions; mines and sells coal; offers underground construction and repair, performance contracting, and renewable energy services; and invests in energy-related opportunities and services, real estate, and leveraged leases. Further, the company engages in transmission pipeline construction and maintenance; pump station, compressor station, terminal, and refinery construction; and hydrostatic testing services. It serves the automotive assembly, parts, and accessories; feed, flour, and grain processing; metal castings; aluminum products; polycarbonate resin and plastic products; gypsum products; electrical equipment; metal specialties; glass; steel finishing; pharmaceutical and nutritional products; gasoline and oil products; ethanol; and coal mining industries. As of December 31, 2011, it supplied natural gas services to approximately 993,300 customers; and electric services to approximately 141,600 customers. Vectren Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartere d in Evansville, Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Dittman]
Answer: I like NextEra Energy, which has significant renewables exposure and operates in a region with solid economic fundamentals. I also like smaller utes that operate in smaller footprints with solid long-term fundamentals, including Cleco (NYSE: CNL), Pinnacle West, Vectren (NYSE: VVC) and SCANA (NYSE: SCG).
- [By Lawrence Meyers]
I like the diversification, and the fact that the company has offered many of these products for anywhere from 30 years to 100 years may explain why it�� paid a dividend for the last 32 years. That dividend is presently at 4.3%.
Vectren Corporation (VVC)The final stock on our list of secret dividend stocks is Vectren Corporation (VVC). VVC is another an energy play that�� diversified into four segments. The company provides 566,000 customers with natural gas delivery in Indiana.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Exelon (NYSE: EXC), down 1.2 percent, and Vectren (NYSE: VVC), off 2.3 percent.
Top Headline
Hillshire Brands Co (NYSE: HSH) announced its plans to buy Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF) for around $6.6 billion including debt. Hillshire will offer $18.00 in cash and 0.50 shares of its common stock for each Pinnacle share. - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Exelon (NYSE: EXC), down 1.2 percent, and Vectren (NYSE: VVC), off 2.3 percent.
Top Headline
Hillshire Brands Co (NYSE: HSH) announced its plans to buy Pinnacle Foods (NYSE: PF) for around $6.6 billion including debt. Hillshire will offer $18.00 in cash and 0.50 shares of its common stock for each Pinnacle share.
Best Integrated Utility Stocks To Buy For 2014: SLM Corporation(SLM)
SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates, acquires, finances, and services private education loans in the United States. It offers processing capabilities to educational institutions, 529 college-savings plan program management services, and a consumer savings network. The company also provides servicing, loan default aversion, and defaulted loan collection services for loans owned by the Department of Education (ED), Guarantors of FFELP Loans, and other institutions. In addition, SLM Corporation offers campus solutions, which comprise electronic billing, collection, payment and refund, and tuition payment plan administration services. The company promotes its products through the financial aid offices on campuses, as well as through direct marketing to students and their families. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Supply and demand
Of course, there are plenty of interested parties who want the student-loan business to continue to grow in some form. Student-loan specialist Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM ) as well as big banks that make student loans earn substantial profits from their loans, and federal guarantees greatly reduce the risk that lenders take on with some loans, making the absolute level of interest rates much less important for certain types of lending. - [By Caroline Bennett]
Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM ) will be keeping its quarterly dividend steady at $0.15 per share.
The financial services company has paid this amount to investors since�March 2013, after upping the amount 20% from $0.125. Sallie Mae's latest payout will be paid on Dec. 20 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 6.
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