Happy Friday! There are more good news articles, commentaries, and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month. Here are eight fascinating ones I read this week.
Good work if you can get it
Bason Asset Management discusses the curious fees of financial advisors:
The business of investment advice is a strange one. The leading model of advisor fees results in high net worth investors paying high fees simply based on their ability to pay, and not related to the services they receive. An investor with $5,000,000 who meets with his advisor once a year will pay ten times as much as a demanding investor with $500,000 who sees an advisor every quarter.
Insight
Josh Brown shares his notes from a conference with Mohamed El-Erian of Pimco:
When you watch CNBC, what you hear most of the day is to buy this investment because relatively speaking it is cheaper than that one." Everyone seems to be playing this same relative game and "you almost never hear someone recommending something because it is strong on its own."
Top Transportation Stocks To Watch Right Now: Arkansas Best Corporation (ABFS)
Arkansas Best Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services and solutions. The company�s Freight Transportation segment offers aggregate, national, inter-regional, and regional transportation of general commodities; motor carrier freight transportation services; business-to-business air transportation services for exporting freight out of the United States and import into the United States; ocean transport services; global customizable supply chain solutions; and integrated warehousing services. Its Premium Logistics and Expedited Freight Services segment provides expedited freight transportation services to commercial and government customers; and premium logistics services that involve the deployment of specialized equipment to meet line haul requirements, such as temperature control, hazardous materials, geofencing, specialized government cargo, security services, and life sciences. This segment also offers domestic and international f reight transportation with air, ocean, and ground service. The company�s Truck Brokerage and Management segment provides third-party transportation brokerage and management services by sourcing various equipment types, including truckload, flatbed, intermodal, temperature-controlled, and specialized equipment coupled with carrier- and customer-based Web tools. Its Emergency and Preventative Maintenance segment offers roadside assistance and maintenance management services for commercial vehicles through a network of third-party service providers. The company�s Household Goods Moving Services segment provides third-party transportation, warehousing, and delivery services to the consumer, corporate, and military household goods moving markets. As of December 31, 2012, the company operated approximately 3,700 tractors and 20,000 trailers that were used in its line haul and local pickup and delivery operations. Arkansas Best Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
This week's winner
The top dog this week was, again, the star of this deeply discounted value portfolio, Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS ) . The trucking company soared 18% on the week after announcing that its ABF teamsters had ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement, and passed a majority of supplements in the ABF National Master Freight Agreement. This news paves the way for Arkansas Best to, once again, be cost-competitive with its peers without having to reduce its workforce. Shares have now more than doubled in just the past two months.
Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Marquee Energy Ltd (MQL)
Marquee Energy Ltd. (Marquee), formerly Marquee Petroleum Ltd., is a junior oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of petroleum and natural gas reserves in Western Canada. The Company is focused on the Cardium play of West Central Alberta in the Wilesden Green, Carrot Creek and South Pembina areas. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a total of approximately 174,420 gross acres (147,875 net acres) of oil and natural gas leases. In December 2013, it acquired all of the Western Canadian assets of Sonde Resources Corp. (Sonde), including all of its Southern Alberta properties. The Assets are primarily located in Marquee's core area at Michichi, Alberta immediately offsetting Marquee's lands and production. In March 2014, Marquee Energy Ltd completed the acquisition of strategic assets in its oil focused Michichi core area. Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich] Sonde Resources Corp. An oil and gas exploration and production company based in Calgary, Alberta, Sonde Resources Corp held a global portfolio of high potential energy assets including producing oil and natural gas assets in Western Canada and offshore exploration property in North Africa.�Specifically, Sonde Resources Corp had�226,119 gross undeveloped acres in Western Canada and 750,000 acres in a Libya/Tunisia offshore licence. However and last November,�an agreement between Sonde Resources Corp and�Marquee Energy Ltd (CVE: MQL) was announced whereby�the latter�will acquire substantially all of the former���Western Canadian assets, including all of its Southern Alberta properties. These assets�are primarily located in Marquee's core area at Michichi, Alberta, immediately offsetting Marquee's lands and production. Under the deal which concluded at the end of last year, Sonde Resources Corp received 21,182,492 common shares of Marquee Energy Ltd plus $15 million cash with the�shares�being distributed to Sonde Resources Corp's shareholders and Sonde itself retaining the cash�received. In addition, Sonde Resources Corp will retain ownership of about 100,000 net acres of Western Canada exploration assets, split approximately equally between its Eaglesham area Wabamun play and west central Alberta Duvernay play.�Moreover, the company will continue to seek strategic alternatives for this Western Canada exploration acreage, including cash sales, farm-outs, other forms of merger, or other options. Otherwise, Sonde Resources Corp�� business�will focus on�the development of the Zarat field and exploration of the Joint Oil Block in North Africa. On Tuesday, small cap Sonde Resources Corp fell 1.83% to $0.530 (SOQ has a 52 week trading range of $0.51 to $2.11 a share) for a market cap of $29.72 million plus the stock is down 70.5% over the past year and down 55.8% over the past five years.
Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Comerica Inc (CMA)
Comerica Incorporated (Comerica) is a financial services company. Comercia operates in four segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, Wealth Management and the Finance Division. As of December 31, 2011, Comerica owned two active banking and 49 non-banking subsidiaries. The Company's Business Bank meets the needs of middle market businesses, multinational corporations and governmental entities by offering products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services and loan syndication services. On July 28, 2011, Comerica acquired Sterling Bancshares, Inc. (Sterling), a bank holding company.
The Company's Retail Bank includes small business banking and personal financial services, consisting of consumer lending, consumer deposit gathering and mortgage loan origination. In addition to a range of financial services provided to small business customers, this business segment offers a range of consumer products, including deposit accounts, installment loans, credit cards, student loans, home equity lines of credit and residential mortgage loans.
Wealth Management offers products and services consisting of fiduciary services, private banking, retirement services, investment management and advisory services, investment banking and brokerage services. This business segment also offers the sale of annuity products, as well as life, disability and long-term care insurance products. The Finance segment includes Comerica�� securities portfolio and asset and liability management activities. This segment is engaged in managing Comerica�� funding, liquidity and capital needs, performing interest sensitivity analysis and executing strategies to manage Comerica�� exposure to liquidity, interest rate risk and foreign exchange risk.
The Other category includes discontinued operations, the income and expense impact of equity an! d cash, tax benefits not assigned to specific business segments and miscellaneous other expenses of a corporate nature. In addition, Comerica delivers financial services in its four markets: Midwest, Western, Texas and Florida. The Midwest market consists of Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. The Western market consists of the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Washington. California operations represent the the Western market. The Texas and Florida markets consist of the states of Texas and Florida, respectively. Other Markets include businesses with a national perspective, Comerica�� investment management and trust alliance businesses, as well as activities in all other markets, in which Comerica has operations, except for the International market. The International market represents the activities of Comerica�� international finance division, which provides banking services to foreign-owned, North American-based companies and to international operations of North American-based companies.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shauna O'Brien]
Goldman Sachs announced on Tuesday that it has lifted its rating on Comerica Incorporated (CMA) to “Neutral.”
The firm has upgraded CMA from “Sell” to “Neutral,” and has raised the company’s price target from $38 to $42. This price target suggests a 2% upside from the stock’s current price of $40.83.
An analyst from the firm noted: “The market has shown willingness to price the shares at a premium based on CMA�� absolute rate upside, which we do not expect to change much over time.”
“That said, near-term expectations could be at risk given the ~4% decline in loans in 3Q, which if it continues could weigh on its longer-term earnings profile,” the analyst added.
Looking ahead, the firm has lowered its FY2013 earnings estimates from $2.85 to $2.81 per share. FY2014 estimates have been reduced from $2.95 to $2.90 per share and FY2015 estimates of $3.30 per share were maintained.
Comerica shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Tuesday. The stock is up 35% YTD.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Dallas, Texas-based financial services company Comerica (CMA) raised its quarterly 12% to 19 cents per share, payable on Apr. 1 to shareholders of record as of Mar. 14.
CMA Dividend Yield: 1.59% - [By Jim Jubak]
Today's financial service sector reports include regionals Sun Trust Bank (STI) and Comerica (CMA), plus Wall Street's Morgan Stanley (MS).
Full disclosure: I don't own shares of any of the companies mentioned in this post in my personal portfolio. When in 2010 I started the mutual fund I manage, Jubak Global Equity Fund, I liquidated all my individual stock holdings and put the money into the fund. The fund may or may not now own positions in any stock mentioned in this post. The fund did not own shares of any stock mentioned in this post as of the end of December. For a full list of the stocks in the fund, see the fund's portfolio here. For more of Jim's posts and picks check out his free site here or his subscription site here.
- [By GuruFocus]
George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated
Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Reaves Utility Income Fund (UTG)
Reaves Utility Income Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to provide dividend income and capital appreciation. W.H. Reaves & Co., Inc. (Reaves) serves as the Fund's investment adviser. ALPS serves as the Fund's administrator. The Fund intends to invest at least 80% of its total assets in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks, and debt instruments of companies within the utility industry. The remaining 20% of its assets may be invested in other securities, including stocks, money market instruments and debt instruments, as well as certain derivative instruments in the utility industry or other industries.
During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2005 (fiscal 2005), the common stock of electric utilities averaged about 47% of the Fund's portfolio. The telephone sector, particularly rural telecom, was a significant source of dividend income for the Fund, with an average yield of 5.75% in fiscal 2005. Telecommunications common holdings averaged about 19% of the Fund's portfolio during fiscal 2005. Preferred stock holdings, yielding 6.9%, accounted for 8.5% of the Fund's portfolio as of October 31, 2005. The top five holdings of the Fund, as of October 31, 2005, were Duke Energy (7.1%), Ameren Corporation (5.8%), Altria Group (5.4%), Great Plains Energy (5.1%) and AT&T (4.1%).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]
Harry Domash: Well, one that's really good for us has been Reaves Utility Income. It holds primarily US utility and telecom stocks and it's been a pretty good dividend raiser. The ticker is (UTG), paying about a 6.1% yield now and it's a good serial dividend increaser so it's a very good one.
If you're worried about rising interest rates then Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities, ticker (VTA), invests in below investment-grade floating rate bank loans. In other words, these are called senior loans.
They're bank loans that adjust their payouts based on prevailing interest rates, so if interest rates go up, these loans will pay higher dividends, so this is a good hedge if you are concerned about rising interest rates.
Another one that's really performed, and it's paying a 6.9% yield right now, Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities, ticker (GOF), that's actually Claymore Guggenheim, holds corporate and government backed, that it's mostly investment-grade and it's paying a 10.1% yield right now, which is pretty high. Those are three that I could recommend right now.
Steven Halpern: Well, we really appreciate you joining us today and sharing your expertise. Thank you.
Harry Domash: You're welcome.
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Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Telstra Corporation Ltd (TLSYY.PK)
Telstra Corporation Limited (Telstra) telecommunications and information services company providing telecommunications and information services for domestic and international customers. The Company operates in nine segments: Telstra Consumer and Country Wide (TC&CW); Telstra Business (TB); Telstra Enterprise and Government (TE&G); Telstra Wholesale (TW); Telstra Media Group; Telstra International Group; TelstraClear; Telstra Operations and Other. On July 6, 2011, Telstra announced changes to its organisational structure. Effective August 1, 2011, the entire sales and retail customer service workforce, was unified in a single business unit, Telstra Customer Sales and Service, responsible for sales and services to all segments, including consumer, business, enterprise and government customers. On March 27, 2012, the Company sold its 67% shareholding in Dotad Media Holdings Limited, and on July 21, 2011, it sold its 64.4% shareholding in Adstream (Aust) Pty Ltd. On 17 May 2012, the Company acquired an additional 11% interest in Autohome Inc. Effective August 22, 2013, Telstra Corp Ltd acquired NSC Group, a provider of industrial automation services. In November 2013, Telstra Corporation Limited increased its Autohome shareholding from 66% to 71.5%. Effective January 21, 2014, Telstra Corp Ltd acquired O2 Networks, a developer of data networking and network security software.
Telstra Consumer and Country Wide
The TC&CW segment is responsible for providing the full range of telecommunication products, services and solutions (across Mobiles, Fixed and Wireless Broadband, Telephony and Pay TV) to consumer customers in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. This is achieved through inbound and outbound call centres, Telstra Shops (owned and licensed), Telstra Dealers and Telstra Digital. Telstra Digital is responsible for delivering self service capabilities for all Telstra customers, across all phases of the customer experience from browsing to buying and bill ! and service requests.
Telstra Business (TB)
TB is responsible for providing Australia's small to medium enterprises. It provides a range of telecommunications products, services and solutions, including the latest in cloud computing.
Telstra Enterprise and Government (TE&G)
TE&G is responsible for provision of network services and applications and integrated voice, data and mobile solutions. It provides these solutions via Telstra Next Generation Services to enterprise and government customers.
Telstra Operations (TOps)
TOps is responsible for overall planning, design, engineering and architecture of Telstra networks, technology and information technology; construction of infrastructure for its Company's fixed, mobile, Internet protocol (IP) and data networks; delivery of customer services across these networks; operation, assurance and maintenance, including activation and restoration of these networks, and supply and delivery of informationtechnology solutions to support its products, services, customer support functions and its internal needs. It also delivers network-centric professional services, managed services and outsourcing services for Telstra customers.
Telstra Wholesale (TW)
TW is responsible for the provision of a range of telecommunication products and services delivered over Telstra networks and associated support systems to non-Telstra branded carriers, carriage service providers and Internet service providers. Telstra Wholesale also provides services to NBN Co Limited.
Telstra Media Group (TMG)
TMG is responsible for the management and growth of the domestic directories and advertising business, including print, voice and digital directories, digital mapping and satellite navigation, digital display advertising and business information services. This includes the management of Yellow Pages, White Pages, Whereis, Citysearch, 1234 and Quotify. It also mana! ges of it! s investment in Digital Media content, services and applications, including Trading Post, Telstra Advertising Network, BigPond content including music, movies, sport and games, Internet Protocol television (IPTV), online portals and the FOXTEL partnership.
Telstra International Group (TIG)
TI is responsible for managing Telstra�� assets outside Australia and New Zealand. It includes CSL New World Mobility Limited, which is its 76.4% owned Hong Kong-based subsidiary in, responsible for providing full mobile services, including handset sales, voice and data products to the Hong Kong market. These services are delivered over CSL�� third generation (3G) and 4G Long Term Evolution networks. Its mainland China business provides digital media services in auto, IT and consumer electronics (this includes the Autohome and Sequel IT businesses). Its managed services and international connectivity business, provides managed network services, international data and voice, and satellite across Asia Pacific, China, India, Europe, and Africa.
TelstraClear
TClear is the Company�� New Zealand subsidiary. TClear is responsible for providing full telecommunications services to the New Zealand market.
Telstra Innovation, Products and Marketing
TIPM is responsible for innovation, product, promotion and pricing across Telstra. TIPM is also responsible for the overall brand, sponsorship, promotion and advertising direction of Telstra, as well as maintaining industry analyst relations and embedding market-based management across the Company. This is done by delivering data-driven customer insights that put the customer at the centre of everything Telstra does.
Corporate areas
Corporate areas provides operational and strategic legal support and advice across the Company; manages Telstra's public policy and communications; provides the functions of corporate
planning, accounting and administration, treasury, risk ma! nagement ! and assurance, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy. The segment also supports in organisational design and change, implementation of people and culture initiatives, leadership development, talent and succession management, health, safety and wellbeing, professional development, workplace relations and all employment and remuneration policies. The segment provides the functions of credit management, billing and procurement.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Hunkar]
Current Dividend Yield: 4.91%
Company: Telstra Corp Ltd (TLSYY.PK)
Sector: Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels
Country: ItalyCurrent Dividend Yield: 6.43%
Sector: Telecom
Country: Australia
Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Nuveen Virginia Premium Income Municipal Fund (NPV)
Nuveen Virginia Premium Income Municipal Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors, Inc. and Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of Virginia. The fund invests primarily in municipal securities rated Baa/BBB or better. It invests in securities that provide income exempt from federal and Virginia income tax. The fund employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P National Municipal Bond Index and the S&P Virginia Municipal Bond Index. Nuveen Virginia Premium Income Municipal Fund was formed on January 12, 1993 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Carnevale]
Moreover, at this point I would like to add that the real meaning of forecasting future earnings is so we can determine what the size and amount of the future cash flows that a stock under consideration might be capable of generating for us. This is important, because assessing the net present value of our expected future income stream, is at the heart of determining fair value (intrinsic value). Calculating net present value (NPV) is functionally-related to today's wide utilization of discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis as a stock selection tool. I will elaborate more on this important metric in part B of this article.
Top 10 Healthcare Technology Companies To Watch For 2014: Gold Resource Corporation (GORO)
Gold Resource Corporation engages in the exploration for and production of gold and silver in Mexico. The company also explores for copper, lead, and zinc. It holds interest in the El Aguila project comprising 10 mining concessions aggregating approximately 20,055 hectares located in the State of Oaxaca. The company also holds interests in the El Rey property covering approximately 2,773 hectares; Las Margaritas property that covers an area of approximately 925 hectares; Alta Gracia property comprising approximately 5,175 hectares; El Chamizo property; Solaga property that include 2 mining concessions totaling 618 hectares; and El Fuego property covering approximately 2,554 hectares. Gold Resource Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
Gold Resource (NYSE: GORO) dropped 20.90% to $6.44. Gold Resource shares have dropped 63.35% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 16.18% in the same period.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Gold and silver miner Gold Resource (NYSEMKT: GORO ) announced yesterday its June monthly distribution of $0.03 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two months after it cut the payout in half from $0.06 per share due to precious metal price volatility.�
- [By Ben Levisohn]
We continue to recommend Newmont, [Coeur Mining (CDE)] and [Gold Resource Corp. (GORO)] as large cap, silver and small cap picks, respectively.
Sterne Agee’s comments come one day after Ned Davis Research upgraded the gold sector to Neutral from Underweight. “…gold miners look to be finally bottoming,” John Laforge and Waren Pies wrote, though they say it’s too early to know if a new uptrend has begun.
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