Top Stocks 2014, Best Stock Market 2014, Hot Stocks Investing: 8/3/14

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now

After watching "The Wolf of Wall Street," the thought of investing though a financial middleman may seem as appealing as diving into the ocean right after seeing "Jaws."

The movie shows an extreme example of brokers gone wild. In doing so, it reveals one reason why low-cost exchange-traded funds are one of the fastest-growing areas of the financial industry. Investors have been using ETFs more and more as a way to bypass as many middlemen as possible, so they can keep more money for themselves.

While the film shows stockbrokers pitching penny stocks, there are many other ways the financial industry bites and nibbles at retail investors' money. A major example is the $13 trillion mutual fund industry. When a broker sells a mutual fund, they get a cut, albeit one that's far smaller than what the brokers in the movie got for their sales. Mutual funds may also feed Wall Street through commissions by turning over fund portfolios at a rapid rate. Those fees are an additional cost on top of the expense ratio and any loads levied.

Top Healthcare Technology Companies For 2015: Diana Shipping inc. (DSX)

Diana Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services. It transports dry bulk cargoes that include commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s fleet consisted of 23 dry bulk carriers, including 14 Panamax, 1 Post-Panamax, and 8 Capesize dry bulk carriers with a combined carrying capacity of approximately 2.5 million deadweight tonnage. Its customers include national, regional, and international companies. The company was formerly known as Diana Shipping Investments Corp. and changed its name to Diana Shipping Inc. in February 2005. Diana Shipping Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By James E. Brumley]
The recent strength from Sino-Global Shipping America, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SINO) and the now-renewed strength from Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) would suggest those two stocks are among the very best ways to play the rebound currently unfurling in the shipping sector. And to be fair, both are fine companies in their own right. The top play in the dry goods maritime shipping arena, however, may well be Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX). No, DSX isn't one of the fun and exciting small caps in the maritime shipping space. But, there's a lot to be said for size and stability, which SB and SINO can't offer.
[By Terri Stridsberg]
Not to be outdone, Diana Shipping (DSX) has trekked 67.5% higher so far this year, and sports a 52-week gain of more than 72% to wink at the $12.20 level. Even so, the equity saw a 28.2% rise in short interest during the second half of September, and a 35.1% surge during the past two reporting periods.

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: Hawaiian Holdings Inc.(HA)

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., engages in the scheduled air transportation of passengers and cargo. It offers daily service on transpacific routes between Hawaii and Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington, as well as daily service on its inter island routes among the four islands of the State of Hawaii. The company also provides scheduled service on its Pacific routes between Hawaii and Pago Pago, American Samoa; Papeete, Tahiti; Sydney, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Tokyo, Japan; and Seoul, South Korea, as well as other ad hoc charters. As of December 31, 2010, its fleet consisted of 15 Boeing 717-200 aircraft for its interisland routes; 18 Boeing 767-300; and 3 Airbus A330-200 aircrafts for its transpacific, Pacific, and charter routes. Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Earlier this month, Allegiant announced a new route that marks a significant shift in the company's philosophy. Beginning in late October, Allegiant will serve the busy Los Angeles-Honolulu route twice a week. This route is already served by all three major network carriers, as well as Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA ) , with each carrier offering multiple daily flights. What is Allegiant up to? More importantly, will it work?

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: Safe Bulkers Inc(SB)

Safe Bulkers, Inc. provides marine drybulk transportation services worldwide. The company transports various bulk cargoes, primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. As of July 15, 2011, it had a fleet of 16 drybulk vessels, with an aggregate carrying capacity of 1,443,800 deadweight tons. The company?s fleet consists of Panamax, Kamsarmax, Post-Panamax, and Capesize class vessels, as well as 11 further contracted additional drybulk new build vessels to be delivered at various times through 2014. Safe Bulkers, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB) were down 6.99 percent to $7.58 after the company priced 6 million shares at $7.43 per share.

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: Ever-Glory International Group Inc.(EVK)

Ever-Glory International Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of apparel for women, men, and children. Its products include coats, jackets, slacks, skirts, shirts, trousers, vests, skiwear, down jackets, knitwear, and jeans. The company offers its products to the casual wear, sportswear, and outerwear brands, as well as retailers, such as department stores, flagship stores, stores-within-a-store, and specialty stores primarily in Europe, the United States, Japan, and the People?s Republic of China. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 293 retail stores in the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in West Covina, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
Small cap apparel stock G-III Apparel Group, Ltd (NASDAQ: GIII) has been making bullish moves lately plus the stock is up 97.1% since the start of the year, making it the third best performing apparel stock (according to stock screener Finviz)�after small cap�Ever-Glory International Group Inc (NYSEMKT: EVK) and mid cap Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc (NYSE: FNP) followed by mid cap Hanesbrands Inc (NYSE: HBI). But is the G-III Apparel Group dressed for long term success for investors?

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: Micron Technology Inc.(MU)

Micron Technology, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of semiconductor devices worldwide. Its products include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products that provide data storage and retrieval, which include DDR2 and DDR3; and other specialty DRAM memory products, including DDR, SDRAM, DDR and DDR2 mobile low power DRAM, pseudo-static RAM, and reduced latency DRAM. The company also offers NAND flash memory products, which are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor devices that retain content when power is turned off. In addition, it provides NOR flash memory products that are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices; phase change memory products; and image sensor products. Micron Technology?s products are used in a range of electronic applications, including personal computers, workstations, network servers, mobile phones, flash memory cards, USB storage devices, digital still c ameras, MP3/4 players, and in automotive applications. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and retailers through internal sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors, as well as through a Web-based customer direct sales channel. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Axler]
An old spin-out of Eaton Corp. (ETN), Axcelis Technologies (ACLS) designs, manufactures and services ion implantation, dry strip and other processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The semiconductor capital equipment industry is very cyclical, and as a smaller player in the industry, ACLS has not been immune, and gone through protracted periods of losses. In the past few years, the company has taken numerous steps to reposition itself for the next cyclical upswing by listening to its customers and investing heavily in R&D to revamp its product line to expand its addressable market opportunity, right-sizing its cost structure to substantially lower its breakeven level, establishing new collaborative partnerships, and optimizing its balance sheet to unlock value. Now with signs of a cyclical upswing occurring, and being led by memory - Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK), ACLS is poised for accelerating earnings potential beginning in Q4'2013 that could drive its stock price substantially higher. However, with a few nearer-term catalysts on the horizon, investors may not want to wait too long before purchasing shares. As an early indicator, investors should consider that insiders recently purchased the stock in the open market in August at current levels. These stock purchases coincide with the one year anniversary of ACLS's new Purion M product line entering an evaluation period with a major customer. Sell-side analysts are starting to take notice and listening in to the company's recent conference call, which at least opens the door to new broker initiations in the future. The downside risk appears mitigated by ACLS's strengthened balance sheet, and dramatically improved operating financial model that has stemmed further cash burn. As the company hits an inflection point with new customer contracts and proves its earnings cycle is under way, we expect ACLS's valuation discount to peers to narrow and the stock to appreciate substantially

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: First Security Group Inc.(FSGI)

First Security Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for FSGBank that provides banking and financial products and services to various communities in eastern and middle Tennessee and northern Georgia. The company offers various deposit services, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It offers commercial loans, including loans to smaller business ventures, credit lines for working capital, short-term seasonal or inventory financing, and letters of credit; real estate?construction and development loans to residential and commercial contractors and developers; and consumer loans to individuals for personal, family, and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment and term loans. The company also offers commercial mortgage loans to finance the purchase of real property; commercial leasing for new and used equipment, fixtures, and furnishings to owner-managed businesses; and leasing for forklifts, heavy equipment, and other machinery to owner-managed businesses primarily in the trucking and construction industries. It also provides trust and investment management, mortgage banking, financial planning, and electronic banking services, such as Internet banking, online bill payment, cash management, ACH originations, wire transfers, direct deposit, traveler?s checks, safe deposit boxes, United States savings bonds, and remote deposit capture, as well as equipment leasing. The company operates 38 full-service banking offices and 1 loan and lease production office. Its market areas include in Bradley, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Monroe, Putnam, and Union counties, Tennessee; and Catoosa and Whitfield counties, Georgia. First Security Group was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ning Jia]
The case for First Security Group (FSGI) is interesting. It is bank holding company that is obscure, cheap and unloved. As the company completed the recapitalization earlier this year, I think the market has been under-appreciating its potential to return to growth and profitability as a result of the much-needed recapitalization.
[By Roberto Pedone]
First Security Group (FSGI) operates as the holding company for FSGBank, which provides banking products and services to various communities in Tennessee and Georgia. This stock closed up 6.5% to $2.29 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $2.16-$2.30

52-Week Range: $1.30-$7.45

Tuesday's Volume: 80,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 509,606

From a technical perspective, FSGI ripped higher here right above some near-term support levels at $2.14 to $2.12 with lighter-than-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of FSGI within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if FSGI manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.38 to $2.52 and then once it clears its 200-day moving average at $2.80 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FSGI as long as it's trending above some key support levels at $2.14 to $2.12 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 509,606 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then FSGI will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from June that started at $5.08.

Top 10 Penny Companies To Invest In Right Now: Star Gas Partners L.P.(SGU)

Star Gas Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, operates as a home heating oil distributor and services provider in the United States. It provides its services to residential and commercial customers to heat their homes and buildings. As of March 31, 2011, the company served approximately 408,000 full-service residential and commercial home heating oil, and propane customers. It also sold home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel to approximately 40,000 customers. In addition, Star Gas Partners installed, maintained, and repaired heating and air conditioning equipment, as well as provided ancillary home services, including home security and plumbing to approximately 11,000 customers. Kestrel Heat, LLC operates as the general partner of the company. Star Gas Partners, L.P. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Smith]
Stamford, Conn.-based Star Gas Partners (NYSE: SGU ) is about to get a new CEO.

The company (which, despite the name, actually spends more time delivering oil than gas for home heating), announced Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Dan Donovan intends to retire on Sept. 30. When that happens, Chief Operating Officer Steve Goldman will move up to take the CEO's chair.
[By Marc Bastow]
Home heating oil distributor and services company Star Gas Partners (SGU) raised its quarterly dividend 6% to 8.75 cents per share payable May 9 to shareholders of record May 1.
SGU Dividend Yield: 5.43%
[By Louis Navellier]
Star Gas Parnters (SGU) is in the home heating oil and propane business in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. The company has used smart acquisitions of smaller competitors to become the nation’s largest retail distributor of home heating oil — Star Gas sells heating oil to about 450,000 residential and commercial customers in its region.

Mobile Search Spend Share In UK And Australia Outpaces US

Mobile spend and click share in three of the most mature paid search markets � the U.S., UK and Australia � increased significantly over the past year. The share of paid search spend allocated to mobile paid search spend in the UK and Australia continued to outpace that of the U.S.

The new data, released today by search marketing software firm, Kenshoo., shows all three regions saw mobile search share rise by between 8 and 11 percentage points year-over-year in Q2.

Source: Kenshoo

While average phone CPCs are 12 cents lower than tablet in Australia, the average CPC spread between phone and tablet has narrowed in the US and UK. In the US, average phone CPCs are $0.04 cents lower than tablet. In the UK, the phone CPCs are just .02 euros shy of tablets.

Kenshoo surmises, �Higher CPC for mobile [in the US and UK] reflects marketers getting savvier about how to measure mobile and set different goals for campaigns targeting those devices.�

Oddly, in Australia, Kenshoo found that click-through rates on both tablets and phones fell, bucking the overall trend reported by Google in Q2. The gap between mobile clicks and spend also widened in Australia year-over-year, with 35 percent of spend allocated to mobile and 44 percent of clicks generated from mobile ads.

(Stock image via Shutterstock.com. Used under license.)

Top Value Companies To Own In Right Now

Last year, Oracle (NYSE: ORCL ) CEO Larry Ellison was awarded 7 million stock options, valued at $90.7 million, in the face of significant shareholder disapproval. Oracle's board defended the decision by pointing out that the $90.7 million valuation isn't necessarily an accurate measure of the compensation Ellison will receive.

The board is right to claim that the $90.7 million valuation of Ellison's 2012 pay is misleading. In the end, Ellison's 2012 pay will likely be significantly higher than the $90.7 reported in the company's proxy�--�even if Oracle goes on to underperform.

Here's why.

Options valuation
Oracle points out that the options granted to Ellison had no intrinsic value when they were granted, and would only gain intrinsic value if the stock appreciates. That much is true. The strike price of options granted to Oracle's named executive officers was based on�the closing price of Oracle's common stock on the date the options were granted, so the $90.7 million valuation was entirely based on the time value of the options, which are good for 10 years.

Top 5 Building Product Companies To Invest In Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Monica Gerson]
Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.03 per share on revenue of $623.34 million.

Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.12 per share on revenue of $779.02 million.
[By Jonathan Berr]
Multilevel marketing (MLM) groups such as Herbalife operate through independent sales representatives, who earn money both through the sales of product and by recruiting other people to join their team. This business model — which is used by scores of companies, including�Pampered Chef, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tupperware (TUP) and Mary Kay Cosmetics — is legal provided that actual products are sold.

Top Value Companies To Own In Right Now: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Paul Ausick]
Dollar General�� share price is up less than 6% in the past 12 months, but since the beginning of the year shares have risen more than 22%. And even then, Dollar General�trails Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) in share price growth since January 1. Dollar Tree stock is up 30%.
[By Mani]
Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) is one of the companies that are set to exploit the ongoing trend of consumers' increasing focus on value with significant opportunity to grow its store base, and expand margins.
[By Brendan Byrnes]
Brendan: Not a problem at all. What about the surprising amount of dollar-store companies that are public? You have Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO ) , Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR ) , Dollar General (NYSE: DG ) . You mention, in particular, Family Dollar, which is the lowest market cap out of all of those, as doing the best, an exceptional company. Why?

Top Value Companies To Own In Right Now: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
Finally, Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) rounded out the list of declining Dow stocks, falling 0.6%. The dollar's persistent strength spells trouble for the company's international sales, as the currency's strength make Caterpillar's exports more costly in local currency terms. With competitors from Japan and elsewhere gaining a competitive advantage, Caterpillar will have to work that much harder in an already-challenging environment of slowing economic growth and weak commodity prices.
[By Blake Bos]
In this video, Motley Fool industrials analyst Blake Bos outlines three areas investors need to watch at Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) . First, the integration of acquisitions: Caterpillar has made some historically large acquisitions. How these acquisitions are integrated into the company and how synergies are achieved will be important. Second, commodity prices: One of Caterpillar's acquisitions was Bucyrus, a mining equipment company. While this expanded Caterpillar's presence in the mining industry, that same business is highly sensitive to commodity prices. If commodities fall, so will revenues from this segment. Lastly, Caterpillar is looking to roll out a new manufacturing system to help reduce costs. This could be important for its future growth in China where Caterpillar competes with Komatsu. Right now, Komatsu has the largest market share in China -- Caterpillar will need all the help it can get to successfully compete.

Top Value Companies To Own In Right Now: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Paul Ausick]
Oilfield services giant Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) saw short interest rise 12.5% to 14 million shares, about 1% of Schlumberger�� float. The largest oilfield services company reported fourth-quarter results last week and posted higher EPS and revenues than it did a year ago.

SEO Industry Tweets Its Reactions To Google’s SSL Ranking Boost

The SEO industry is abuzz today with the news of Google’s latest ranking signal: Using SSL certificates will provide a boost in Google’s search rankings. (The web hosting industry is all abuzz, too, if you’re curious.) Google says it’s a “very lightweight signal” for now, but one that may become stronger over time because Google wants to all website owners to switch to HTTPS. Lightweight or not, search marketers have been reacting to the news all morning on Twitter. Here’s a collection of some of our favorite tweets so far.

for the record, there’s about 100 things you could do right now that would have a bigger SEO impact than switching to SSL. � Ryan Jones (@RyanJones) August 7, 2014

The information on my site wouldn’t change if it were switched to https, so should https really be a ranking signal? � Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) August 7, 2014

I wonder how many people at Google today are laughing at everyone ready to jump through hoops again. Next �Now we want floating snowflakes.” � Melissa Fach (@SEOAware) August 7, 2014

Google launches domain registrar. Google encourages use of SSL for SEO that are a massive pain to buy. Next, Google starts selling SSL� � Ben Hall (@Ben_Hall) August 7, 2014

Should have invested in the SSL company instead of sinking all my money into that lousy Google authorship photo service. � Cyrus Shepard (@CyrusShepard) August 7, 2014

I suspect it won’t be long before we start seeing secure certificate ads with “Get your Google ranking boost with our SSL certs!” � Jennifer Slegg (@jenstar) August 7, 2014

Today is a day I wish I was in the SSL Certificate business. � lorenbaker (@lorenbaker) August 7, 2014

Wonder what graph of SSL certificate sales will look like June-Sep for providers � Chris Gilchrist (@hitreach) August 7, 2014

I now offer a new SEO service! SSL Installation. 5 years of experience installing SSL�s at a major web host. Guaranteed top rankings! � Dan Silber (@Dan_Silber) August 7, 2014

@RavenJon if G was really that behind SSL, they’d allow us to switch our sites without it being considered a site “move” #justsayin � Rae Hoffman (@sugarrae) August 7, 2014

@rustybrick it’s just added cost for small businesses, and many have no idea what SSL requires if they don’t run e-commerce sites � Derek Edmond (@DerekEdmond) August 7, 2014

Dear Google, I just implemented SSL and I’m STILL not ranking #1 for ‘cheap plumber in Sheffield’. WTF is wrong with you guys??! � ? ingo ? bousa ? (@supaswag) August 7, 2014

Could you please make it stop now? Thanks :) RT @dejanseo: #https pic.twitter.com/VxBACvHhNg � Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) August 7, 2014

Okay, we’ll stop there. Wait. How about just one more?

if ($ssl_start = “Aug 2014″) {$seo_flag = true}; � Michael Gray (@graywolf) August 7, 2014

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now

Canadian stocks rose, with the benchmark gauge poised for the best quarterly performance in a year, as gains in consumer-staples companies and oil producers offset a decline in phone shares amid concern that a U.S. budget impasse may shut down the government.

Trilogy Energy Corp. soared 11 percent after providing an update on its operations in Alberta. Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI/B) slipped at least 1 percent after an analyst with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered his price targets for the nation�� largest wireless carriers due to regulatory risks. BlackBerry (BB) Ltd. increased 0.7 percent to snap three days of losses after reporting second-quarter earnings.

The Standard & Poor��/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) rose 2.46 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,844.08 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge has jumped 5.9 percent this quarter, the biggest gain since September 2012, and is up 3.3 percent in 2013.

��here�� a lot of anxiety going into the weekend,��said Andrew Pyle, fund manager with ScotiaMcLeod Inc. in Peterborough, Ontario. He manages about C$210 million ($204 million). ��obody should be naive out there, to think if we get a worst-case scenario with respect to the U.S. budget impasse that Canada comes out of this unscathed. You could see some very heavy losses in the TSX.��

Top 10 Penny Stocks To Invest In 2015: UniSource Energy Corporation(UNS)

UniSource Energy Corporation engages in the electric generation and energy delivery businesses. The company?s TEP segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 403,000 retail electric customers, including residential, commercial, industrial, and public sector customers in southeastern Arizona. It also sells electricity to other utilities and power marketing entities. As of December 31, 2010, this segment owned or leased 2,245 MW of net generating capacity, as well as owned or participated in electric transmission and distribution system consisting of 512 circuit-miles of 500-kV lines; 1,087 circuit-miles of 345-kV lines; 379 circuit-miles of 138-kV lines; 478 circuit-miles of 46-kV lines; and 2,621 circuit-miles of lower voltage primary lines. TEP segment generates electricity from coal, gas, oil, and solar sources. The company?s UNS Gas segment distributes gas to approximately 146,500 retail customers in Mohave, Yavapai, Coconino, and Navajo c ounties in northern Arizona, as well as Santa Cruz County in southeastern Arizona. As of December 31, 2010, this segment?s transmission and distribution system consisted of approximately 30 miles of steel transmission mains, 4,211 miles of steel and plastic distribution piping, and 136,439 customer service lines. The company?s UNS Electric segment transmits and distributes electricity to approximately 91,000 retail customers consisting of residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Mohave and Santa Cruz counties. As of December 31, 2010, UNS Electric?s transmission and distribution system consisted of approximately 56 circuit-miles of 115-kV transmission lines, 271 circuit-miles of 69-kV transmission lines, and 3,599 circuit-miles of underground and overhead distribution lines. This segment also owns the 65 MW Valencia plant, as well as 39 substations having an installed capacity of 1,788,050 kilovolt amperes. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Tucson, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By David Dittman]
And with its December 2013 offer to buy Arizona-based UNS Energy Corp (NYSE: UNS) for $2.5 billion in cash St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador-based Fortis Inc (TSX: FTS, OTC: FRTSF), making its second foray in the US in two years, signaled its interest in regulated utility assets in states with favorable population and economic trends as a means of driving its growth going forward.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
UNS Energy (NYSE: UNS) shot up 27.75 percent to $58.56 after the company agreed to be acquired by Fortis Utility Group for $60.25 per share in cash.
[By Lauren Pollock]
Fortis Inc.(FTS.T) agreed to acquire UNS Energy Corp.(UNS) for about $2.5 billion, as the Canadian utility moves to boost exposure within the U.S. by acquiring a firm with a presence in the U.S. southwest. Shares of UNS jumped 30% to $59.02 premarket.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.(NUS)

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. develops and distributes anti-aging personal care products and nutritional supplements worldwide. The company sells its personal care products under the Nu Skin brand; and nutritional supplements under the Pharmanex brand. Its personal care product line includes core systems, targeted treatments, total care, cosmetic, and Epoch, a product formulated with botanical ingredients. The company?s nutritional supplements product line comprises micronutrient supplements, targeted solution supplements, and weight management products. It also sells Vitameal, which are nutritious meal products for starving children or purchased for personal food storage. In addition, the company offers other products and services consisting of digital content storage, water purifiers, and other household products. It sells its products primarily through a network of independent distributors in north Asia, the Americas, Greater China, Europe, and the south Asia/Pacific. The c ompany also operates retail stores to sell its products in China. As of December 31, 2010, Nu Skin Enterprises operated 40 stores throughout China. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Provo, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
Nu Skin Enterprises�(NUS) has tumbled 15% to $49.24 after missing earnings forecasts and warning on the second half of the year as China sales slumped.
[By Ben Levisohn]
The muted returns in the major indexes belie the big moves in some individual stocks, which were flying around like, well, Jack Ryan chasing down a Russian terrorist who had–spoiler alert–kidnapped his wife. On the downside, Nu Skin (NUS) plunged 42% this week on reports that the Chinese government would investigate it for being a pyramid scheme. Best Buy (BBY), meanwhile, plunged 35% after it unwrapped holiday sales that were explosively bad. But it was also the week that saw Alcoa (AA) jumped 12% after closing it announced that it would shutter two potlines at its Massena East smelter, while Beam (BEAM) jumped 24% after the bourbon distiller agreed to be purchased by Japan’s Suntory. Tesla Motors (TSLA) gained 17% after saying it would deliver more cars in December than it had forecast.
[By Roberto Pedone]
Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) is a direct selling company, which develops and distributes personal care products and nutritional supplements that are sold under the Nu Skin and Pharmanex brands. This stock closed up 5.4% at $92.96 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 2 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 900,802

Volume % Change: 85%

From a technical perspective, NUS ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $85 with heavy upside volume. This move pushed shares of NUS into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $88.20 to $89.69. This move also pushed shares of NUS above the upper-end of its recent range that saw the stock trend between $82 to just above $89.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NUS as long as it's trending above support at $85 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday's high of $93.33 with volume that this near or above 900,802 shares. If we get that move soon, then NUS will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $100 to $105.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: CLARCOR Inc. (CLC)

CLARCOR Inc. provides filtration products, filtration systems and services, and consumer and industrial packaging products worldwide. Its Engine/Mobile Filtration segment offers oil, air, fuel, coolant, transmission, and hydraulic fluid filters for engines used in stationary power generation and mobile equipment applications, as well as for marine, construction, industrial, mining, and agricultural equipment. This segment also provides dust collection cartridges for environmental filtration applications The company�s Industrial/Environmental Filtration segment manufactures specialty industrial process liquid filters; filters for pharmaceutical processes and beverages; filtration systems, filters, and coalescers for the oil and natural gas industry; filtration systems for aircraft refueling, anti-pollution, sewage treatment, and water recycling; bilge water separators; sand control filters for oil and gas drilling; and woven wire and metallic products for filtration of pl astics and polymer fibers. This segment also offers antimicrobial treated filters and electronic air cleaners for use in commercial and residential buildings, hospitals, factories, residences, paint spray booths, gas turbine and dust collector systems, medical facilities, motor vehicle and aircraft cabins, clean rooms, and compressors. Its Packaging segment provides metal, plastic, and a combination of metal/plastic containers and closures for packing dry and paste form products, smokeless tobacco products, lip balms, ointments, and consumer healthcare products. This segment also offers shells for dry batteries; canisters for films and candles; spools for insulated and fine wire; and custom decorated flat metal sheets. The company distributes its products through independent distributors, dealers for original equipment manufacturers, retail stores, and internal sales force, as well as directly to end-use customers. CLARCOR Inc. was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Fra nklin, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Marc Bastow]
Filtration and packaging product provider Clarcor (CLC) announced a 26% dividend increase to 17 cents per share, payable Oct. 18 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 11.
CLC Dividend Yield: 1.22%
[By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Clarcor Inc.'s(CLC) fiscal second-quarter sales and profit rose, bolstered by recent acquisitions, prompting the Franklin, Tenn., filter and packaging company to raise its full-year expectations again. Shares rose 5.6% to $62.10 in light premarket trading.
[By Tom Lydon]
Top holdings based on the index include Acadia Healthcare Companies (ACHC), Amsurg Corporation (AMSG), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), Clarcor (CLC) and Community Health Systems (CYH).

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: CommonWealth REIT (CWH)

CommonWealth REIT is a real estate investment trust launched and managed by Reit Management & Research LLC. The fund invests in the real estate markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in office buildings, industrial buildings, and leased industrial land. CommonWealth REIT was founded in 1986 and is domiciled in United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Kell var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]
Corvex Management LP and Related Fund Management LLC called for an earlier special meeting to replace CommonWealth REIT's(CWH) entire board, with the activist investors criticizing the company’s former board for leaving without engaging in a transition process.
[By Eric Volkman]
CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH ) is keeping the dividend taps open. The real estate investment trust has declared its latest quarterly common and preferred stock distributions. For the former, the company will hand out $0.25 per share "on or about" Aug. 23 to shareholders of record as of July 26. CommonWealth's series D and E preferred stockholders will receive $0.4063 and $0.4531 per share, respectively. Both distributions will be made "on or about" Aug. 15 to holders of record as of Aug. 1.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: CNH Global N.V. (CNH)

CNH Global N.V. manufactures, markets, and distributes a line of agricultural and construction equipment and parts worldwide. It operates in three segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, and Financial Services. The Agricultural Equipment segment provides tractors, combine harvesters, hay and forage equipment, seeding and planting equipment, tillage equipment, and sprayers, as well as cotton picker packagers, and sugar cane and grape harvesters primarily under the Case IH and New Holland brands. The Construction Equipment segment offers heavy construction equipment, such as crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, and articulated haul trucks; and light construction equipment, including backhoe loaders, skid steer and tracked loaders, mini and midi excavators, compact wheel loaders, and telehandlers primarily under the Case and New Holland Construction brands. This segment serves construction companies, municipalities, local governmen ts, rental fleet owners, quarrying and aggregate mining companies, waste management companies, forestry-related concerns, contractors, residential builders, utilities, road construction companies, landscapers, logistics companies, and farmers. The Financial Services segment provides financial products and services, including retail financing for the purchase or lease of the company�s and other manufacturers� new and used products; and facilitates the sale of insurance products and other financing programs to retail customers. This segment also offers wholesale financing to its dealers and rental equipment operators, as well as financing options to dealers to finance working capital, real estate, and other fixed assets and maintenance equipment. CNH Global N.V. sells and distributes its products through dealers and distributors in approximately 170 countries. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CNH Global N.V. is a subsidiary of Fiat Netherlands Holding N.V.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Mike the PhD]
Historically the stock prices of Deere (DE) and other agricultural equipment firms and retailers like Case-New Holland (CNH), Titan Machinery (TITN), AGCO (AGCO), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Valmont (VAL), and Lindsay (LNN) have tended to closely track the price of corn. When corn prices go up, farmers tend to make more money, and they spend that money on new equipment from Deere and other firms. This relationship is especially strong for Deere and Corn, but it holds true for all of the stocks above to some extent. (Correlation coefficients between all of the stock prices above and corn are statistically significant to at least the 5% level, see my blog here for more details.)
[By vaninaegea]
In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?
[By Dan Caplinger]
Kubota isn't the only company aggressively challenging Deere. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO ) has made aggressive expansion efforts in Africa, working with specialty agricultural lender Rabobank to try to help farmers on the continent buy more farming equipment. Moreover, both AGCO and CNH Global (NYSE: CNH ) have made emerging markets like Latin America a high priority, reaping benefits from the more rapidly expanding economies among Latin American nations. Deere has targeted Latin America as well, but it hasn't been as aggressive with its international efforts as its peers. Deere's stock price has reflected its lack of initiative in expanding globally:

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: Transdigm Group Incorporated(TDG)

TransDigm Group Incorporated designs, produces, and supplies engineered aircraft components for use on commercial and military aircraft principally in the United States. The company?s products include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, AC/DC electric motors and generators, NiCad batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, rods and locking devices, engineered connectors and elastomers, cockpit security components and systems, cockpit displays, aircraft audio systems, lavatory components, engineered interior surfaces, and lighting and control technology. Its customers comprise distributors of aerospace components; commercial airlines, including national and regional airlines; commercial transport and regional and business aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); various armed forces of the United States and foreign governments; defense OEMs; system suppliers; and various other industrial customers. TransDigm Group Incorporated was founded in 1993 and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

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 TransDigm Group (NYSE: TDG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
[By Eric Volkman]
TransDigm (NYSE: TDG ) is rewarding its shareholders mightily with an extraordinary payout. The company has declared a special dividend of $22.00 per share, which will be paid on July 25 to shareholders of record as of July 15.

Despite Crackdowns, Tech Support Ads In Search Are Still Cause For Consumer Confusion

Just last month, six international tech support scam operators were ordered to pay more than $5.1 million as a result of charges filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 2012. The scammers typically posed as representatives of major technology companies, convinced consumers that their computers were loaded with viruses and got them to fork over large sums of money to fix what wasn’t broken.

One tactic used by the operators was to run paid search ads on computer branded support queries– such as� “Microsoft support.” The�FTC said at the time,

“the scammers hoped to avoid detection by consumers and law enforcers by using virtual offices that were actually just mail-forwarding facilities, and by using 80 different domain names and 130 different phone numbers.”

The practice of using different domains and subdomains with branded trademarks in search ad display was widespread last summer when Search Engine Land reported on the state of tech support advertising on Google. Advertisers still use phone numbers as the primary call-to-action in the ads. Taking transactions offline makes it harder for the search engines to account for the user experience and determine whether an ad should be disabled. It’s also easier to scare consumers into thinking their computers are overrun with viruses in a phone conversation.

Below is an example of ads for �Google support� spotted last August. Notice the use of the �Google� and �Gmail� in the subdomains to skirt trademark policies.

Then: Tech support ads using trademarks and promoting login and password recovery help were ubiquitous.

This spring, AOL, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo announced the formation of a consortium called TrustInAds.org aimed at exposing and educating lawmakers and the public about malicious advertising. The group’s first Bad Ads Trend Report focused on tech support advertising scams. Facebook and Google said they took down over 4,000 suspicious advertiser accounts links to more than 2,400 tech support websites.

The results today on Google are markedly improved from a year ago. Yet there are often discrepancies in when ads for tech support companies appear in the search results. These companies get away with much more on Bing.

Here’s a look at what consumers can expect to find today when searching for tech support online.

Today, Branded Tech Support Results Are Not Consistent

Though I’ve been told the fact that Google results on brand related queries for tech companies outside the TrustInAds.org consortium is not intentional, the differences are often striking.

Today, it�s rare to see any ads appearing on Google for the phrases “Facebook login help,” �Facebook support,� �Gmail login support� or “Google support.” For Google-related queries, the search engine often displays a Quick Answer with the direct customer service phone number at the top of the page.

Most Facebook support queries yielded no ads, on occasion a Facebook brand ad displayed.

In contrast, many other tech companies continue to have their trademark terms used or squatted on by support advertisers.

Ads On Microsoft And McAfee Queries

While search results on “Gmail login support” and “Yahoo mail login support,” for example, are typically ad-free, results for queries on Microsoft products are almost always shown with ads.

Below is a result for “Hotmail login support,” surfaced by brand monitoring firm BrandVerity. Both ads promise login help. The first ad has grammatical errors: “Call Toll Free & Get Fix Hotmail Login & Password Problems By Expert.”

A search for “Outlook login help” also yields ads. The first ad from myPhoneSupport uses “Microsoft Outlook” in the ad headline, display URL and ad copy. In this case, the company is a Microsoft partner and presumably has permission to use the trademarks in its ad copy.

�The second advertiser, Box Support, is not a certified Microsoft partner and is not using the trademarks in its ad copy.

On the Microsoft partner site, there is just one�user review�for MyPhoneSupport.com, but the complaint echoes problems surfaced in the FTC�s case: “They kept me 2 hours remotely scanning my computer for viruses…”.

On recent searches for “McAfee support” and �McAfee Support�, Google is now displaying the customer support numbers for each company in a Quick Answer box. Here though, it appears below ads from support companies often using the trademarks in ad headlines, copy and/or display URLs.

Again, these advertisers are often partners or affiliates and may have permission to use the Microsoft and McAfee trademarks. Or maybe these companies just aren�t as stringent about enforcing trademark usage in search. The tech support companies advertising on these terms � iYogi, MyPhoneSupport.com, FixNow.us, Guruaid.com � are major players in this sector and the most active advertisers.

Still, it’s easy to see how consumers could be confused and think that the website Microsoft.Myphonesupport.com is Microsoft’s actual customer service help site, for example.

Bing Is Much Less Restrictive

In nearly every tech support search, Microsoft-owned Bing displayed ads — regardless of the tech company being queried. On a search for “Google support,” we saw an ad from ITechline.com promoting support for “Google Chorme [sic]“.

Ads display on queries for Microsoft’s own terms, such as�”Microsoft login support” and “Microsoft Outlook login support,” as shown below.

What’s particularly striking on Bing is the number of ads that are loaded up with sitelinks repeating the same phone number. In this ad below on a search for “Facebook password,” spotted by BrandVerity, Techsupportive.com is promoting help for “Facebook password recover” and “Support for Facebook Application/Password.” The phone number is repeated in the ad copy and every sitelink.

This next set of ads were found running on a search for “Apple support” last week. Again, these advertisers are abusing the sitelinks by stuffing them with the same phone number. And none of these advertisers are using call extensions, which allows click activity to be tracked. (Guruaid was the only advertiser I saw using actual call extensions on Bing, though the company also puts phone numbers in the ad copy and sitelinks.)

BrandVerity also found odd things happening in customer support ads on Bing in sectors outside of tech.

Work To Be Done

Many of these tech companies offer legitimate tech support and consumers should be able to find these types of services. (Though ads promoting login and password recovery help using company trademarks are particularly concerning.) Where the issue becomes gray is on branded terms. You can see how easy it is for consumers to mistake many of these ads as coming from the tech companies themselves. The matter is further confused when some brand query results are shown with ads and others almost never are.

In a sector pocked by bad actors, the tech brand companies themselves as well as the search engines should take greater steps to enforce trademark usage. The search engines should adopt greater consistency in when and how ads are displayed on branded tech support queries.

Update: BrandVerity’s Sam Engel has written a follow-up post that I recommend that digs into ads promoting “official” customer service numbers on branded queries like those in the Lego and Newegg examples above. Engel found these so-called connection service ads showing on Google as well. Consumers who connect to a brand via these ads can end up paying exorbitant rates for what could have been a toll-free call.

Despite Crackdowns, Tech Support Ads In Search Are Still Cause For Consumer Confusion

One tactic used by the operators was to run paid search ads on computer branded support queries– such as� “Microsoft support.” The�FTC said at the time,

Below is an example of ads for �Google support� spotted last August. Notice the use of the �Google� and �Gmail� in the subdomains to skirt trademark policies.

Then: Tech support ads using trademarks and promoting login and password recovery help were ubiquitous.

Here’s a look at what consumers can expect to find today when searching for tech support online.

Today, Branded Tech Support Results Are Not Consistent

Though I’ve been told the fact that Google results on brand related queries for tech companies outside the TrustInAds.org consortium is not intentional, the differences are often striking.

Most Facebook support queries yielded no ads, on occasion a Facebook brand ad displayed.

In contrast, many other tech companies continue to have their trademark terms used or squatted on by support advertisers.

Ads On Microsoft And McAfee Queries

While search results on “Gmail login support” and “Yahoo mail login support,” for example, are typically ad-free, results for queries on Microsoft products are almost always shown with ads.

�The second advertiser, Box Support, is not a certified Microsoft partner and is not using the trademarks in its ad copy.

Still, it’s easy to see how consumers could be confused and think that the website Microsoft.Myphonesupport.com is Microsoft’s actual customer service help site, for example.

Bing Is Much Less Restrictive

Ads display on queries for Microsoft’s own terms, such as�”Microsoft login support” and “Microsoft Outlook login support,” as shown below.

BrandVerity also found odd things happening in customer support ads on Bing in sectors outside of tech.

Work To Be Done

Despite Crackdowns, Tech Support Ads In Search Are Still Cause For Consumer Confusion

One tactic used by the operators was to run paid search ads on computer branded support queries– such as� “Microsoft support.” The�FTC said at the time,

Below is an example of ads for �Google support� spotted last August. Notice the use of the �Google� and �Gmail� in the subdomains to skirt trademark policies.

Then: Tech support ads using trademarks and promoting login and password recovery help were ubiquitous.

Here’s a look at what consumers can expect to find today when searching for tech support online.

Today, Branded Tech Support Results Are Not Consistent

Though I’ve been told the fact that Google results on brand related queries for tech companies outside the TrustInAds.org consortium is not intentional, the differences are often striking.

Most Facebook support queries yielded no ads, on occasion a Facebook brand ad displayed.

In contrast, many other tech companies continue to have their trademark terms used or squatted on by support advertisers.

Ads On Microsoft And McAfee Queries

While search results on “Gmail login support” and “Yahoo mail login support,” for example, are typically ad-free, results for queries on Microsoft products are almost always shown with ads.

�The second advertiser, Box Support, is not a certified Microsoft partner and is not using the trademarks in its ad copy.

Still, it’s easy to see how consumers could be confused and think that the website Microsoft.Myphonesupport.com is Microsoft’s actual customer service help site, for example.

Bing Is Much Less Restrictive

Ads display on queries for Microsoft’s own terms, such as�”Microsoft login support” and “Microsoft Outlook login support,” as shown below.

BrandVerity also found odd things happening in customer support ads on Bing in sectors outside of tech.

Work To Be Done

New Foursquare App Bets The Company On Personalization

After months of anticipation, the new Foursquare app has finally arrived. It will be available this morning from the three major app stores. The new app is built around two principal concepts: Tips and Tastes.

It attempts to create a better “local search” experience using data (in the background) and personalization. Taking aim at Yelp and similar apps, the company said on its blog this morning:

The new Foursquare frees you from having to read long, random reviews, wondering if those people share your tastes. With Foursquare, find things based on your tastes, the places you like, and the friends and experts you trust most.

I haven’t used it quite enough in the real world to come to a firm conclusion yet about its mainstream viability in a highly-competitive market. But with its emphasis on recommendations and personalization, the app does manage to stand apart from Yelp, Google and other similar apps (e.g., Zagat, TripAdvisor).

Foursquare has taken all the data it has amassed over the past five years to generate individualized recommendations nearby or for other specific locations you select. When you open the new Foursquare you’re presented with what the company calls a “taste game” (above). A set of labels you select, it asks you to identify things you like and are interested in (e.g., fish tacos, mimosas).

These suggestions are extracted from Foursquare Tips and are very quick and easy to select. You can do as much or as little explicit personalization as you like; there are many opportunities later to modify these lists. It’s a pretty simple process and it’s probably one, accordingly, that most people will engage with.

Even if they don’t, there’s considerable personalization going on in the background based on other variables such as those you follow, your check-in history and your movements in the world. Foursquare is creating a profile of your tastes based in part on where you go. However, the company says that none of this data is used for any other purpose or shared with others (in your network or other third parties).

Swarm check-ins are integrated pretty seamlessly into the app; although if you haven’t downloaded Swarm you’ll be prompted to. Essentially from the business profile page, when you check-in, you’re taken to a framed page from Swarm and then sent back to the new Foursquare. (It sounds more awkward than it is.)

As we previously discussed Foursquare hopes to further personalize and differentiate by creating experts whom users follow in specific categories or for specific types of suggestions (e.g., coffee expert, taco expert, city expert). As you follow more people or entities your “follow graph” becomes richer and another variable or signal for Foursquare personalization.

Users become experts by being active and leaving Tips. The degree to which Tips are saved or liked by others determines one’s expertise. This system is intended to encourage participation, content creation and quality.

If you follow Greg Sterling, taco maven (not that I am), for example, my taco-related Tips and recommendations will be among those that are served up to you as part of your personalized experience on Foursquare.

The app’s overall objective is to provide a faster, more credible, reliable and individualized way to find places and things you’ll like. However, there’s more complexity and more moving parts here than on something like Google or Yelp. That may be a deterrent for some.

I do think, however, the app mostly succeeds in creating a unique user experience. It may thus get a second look or new life for those who had used Foursquare in the past but more recently stopped using it. I’m not as certain how Foursquare loyalists will react. Many of them don’t like Swarm or the splitting off of check-ins from the main app (this repairs that to an extent).

Foursquare has been doing interesting things with data and recommendations for quite some time, though it wasn’t entirely obvious to people. The new app takes it all to the next level and makes it more explicit.

I’m sure there are a number of ways to streamline and improve the app, which will come. But this is good start on something that takes the various layers and flavors of data and context to offer up a new and different local discovery experience.

(Stock image via Shutterstock.com. Used under license.)

5 Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now

5 Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Public Storage(PSA)

Public Storage operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It engages in the acquisition, development, ownership, and operation of self-storage facilities in the United States and Europe. The company?s self-storage facilities offer storage spaces for lease on a month-to-month basis for personal and business use. Public Storage also has interests in commercial properties containing commercial and industrial rental space; facilities that lease storage containers; and ancillary operations, which include reinsurance of policies against losses to goods stored by its self-storage tenants, retail operations comprising merchandise sales and truck rental operations. As of December 31, 2008, the company had interests in 2,012 self-storage facilities with approximately 127 million net rentable square feet in 38 states; and 181 self-storage facilities with approximately 10 million net rentable square feet in 7 western European nations. It also had direct and indirect equity int erests in approximately 21 million net rentable square feet of commercial space located in 11 states in the U.S. As a REIT, the company would not be subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. Public Storage was founded in 1971 and is based in Glendale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Susan J. Aluise]
Like all ETFs, REZ offers the diversification of a mutual fund, with low expenses and the advantages of trading on a major exchange just like a stock. REZs top holdings include multifamily REITs like AvalonBay (AVB), Equity Residential (EQR), Essex Property Trust (ESS) as well as Public Storage (PSA) common stock, which also benefits from the rental housing boom.
[By Jonas Elmerraji]
$29 billion self-storage REIT Public Storage (PSA) stands apart from most of the other names on this list because of its structure. As a self-st! orage stock, the firm receives far more revenue directly from consumers than the typical retail landlord ever would. Likewise, it generally leases storage units on a month-to-month basis rather than through a long-term arrangement. Despite the glaring differences, PSA is still a REIT worth taking a closer look at in 2014.

Hedge funds agree. They picked up 2.37 million shares of PSA last quarter.

Public Storage owns approximately 140 million square feet of leasable storage units spread across 38 states here in the U.S. as well as parts of Western Europe. Unlike a conventional landlord, where location is typically the deciding tenant factor, brand matters to PSA. Because the items stored at PSA's facilities are inherently valuable (they must be worth something for customers to bother storing them), customers are more likely to weigh a brand's reputation before securing space. Public Storage's huge scale gives it advertising and reputational advantages that smaller rivals can't match. Demand remains high for storage facilities in 2014, and that tailwind should help to propel growth.

Financing is another space where PSA stands out from its peers. Unlike most REITs, Public Storage has historically opted to finance most of its growth through equity rather than debt, leaving just $360 million in net borrowings on its balance sheet at last count. Right now, PSA pays out a 3.3% dividend yield.
[By Laura Brodbeck]
Friday
Earnings Expected From: Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), OM Group, Inc. (NYSE: OMG), Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Economic Releases Expected: US ISM manufacturing index, Canadian manufacturing PMI, British manufacturing PMI, Norwegian unemployment rate
Posted-In: Bank Of England Federal ReserveNews Eurozone Commodities Previews Global Economics Federal Reserve After-Hours Center Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga

source from ! Top Penny! Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/5-best-japanese-stocks-to-watch-right-now.html

For More Accurate Shipping Rates In Google Shopping, Merchant Center Gets Shipping Configuration Tool

Google launched new features today to help merchants customize the shipping rates that display in Google Shopping. The shipping configuration tool is now available in Google Merchant Center, and a new shipping label attribute can be used in product feeds to group products with similar shipping requirements.

The updates are meant to help eliminate situations in which consumers find higher shipping costs on a merchant’s website than what was shown in Google Shopping.

The shipping configuration tool offers:

More Shipping Models: There are now more shipping options and merchants can now set rules-based customized shipping methodsMultiple Shipping Methods: Offer different shipping methods, say ground and express, in the same country.� Google will display the lowest possible price.Customize For Location: Set rates based on countries, states, or cities.Simple Exclusions: Indicate when products do not ship to certain regions.Shared Library: Save shipping methods to reuse across custom configurations.

The shipping label attribute allows merchants to assign a label to a set of products that have specific shipping requirements, such as perishable, promotion or bulky.

Google is automatically migrating shipping settings to the new tool. For more information on using the shipping configuration tool, see the Google support page.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014

Last week was a great week to be a dividend investor. Not only did two of my top stocks declare fresh dividends, but both companies also raised those payouts. The ability to enjoy a rising dividend is one reason why I much prefer the income from my dividend stocks than the fixed rate I could be earning on a bond.

But not all dividend-paying stocks are equal. Some companies pay unsustainably high dividends, which is why it is important to double check the company's ability to actually pay its dividend, even if a raise would suggest investors have nothing to fear. With that in mind, let's drill down a bit deeper into the two companies that just gave me a raise.

A gushing of income growth
Oil and gas production company, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP ) , announced that it was providing investors with a 4.5% raise this week. The company's CEO, Ryan Lance, pointed out that "[a] compelling dividend is a key part of our offering to shareholders and this increase is aligned with our commitment to target consistent dividend growth over time." This is actually the first raise investors have seen in a while because the company has been in the process of a major three-year repositioning program in which it shed billions of dollars in assets, including its refining arm Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX ) .

Top 10 Clean Energy Companies To Invest In 2015: Ingles Markets Incorporated(IMKTA)

Ingles Markets, Incorporated operates a supermarket chain in the southeast United States. Its supermarkets offer food products, including grocery, meat and dairy products, produce, frozen foods, and other perishables; and non-food products, such as fuel, pharmacy products, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise, as well as provides private label items. The company?s stores also offer products and services, such as home meal replacement items, delicatessens, bakeries, floral departments, video rental departments, and greeting cards, as well as a selection of organic, beverage, and health-related items. In addition, it engages in the fluid dairy processing and shopping center rental businesses. The company operates 203 supermarkets, including 74 in Georgia, 69 in North Carolina, 36 in South Carolina, 21 in Tennessee, 2 in Virginia, and 1 in Alabama. As of September 24, 2011, it operated 74 in-store pharmacies and 70 fuel centers; owned and operated 70 shop ping centers of which 58 contain an Ingles supermarket; and owned 94 additional properties that contain a free-standing Ingles store; and owned 13 undeveloped sites. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
Ingles Markets (NASDAQ: IMKTA ) will release its quarterly report on Monday, and investors have been pleased to see shares of the regional grocery-store chain rise to levels not seen since before the financial crisis. Yet from its vantage in the Southeastern U.S., Ingles Markets has to be concerned about the impact that Kroger's (NYSE: KR ) proposed buyout of Harris Teeter (NYSE: HTSI ) might have on the competitive landscape in the region, with a potential threat to Ingles' future prospects looming over the company's stock.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: Equity One Inc. (EQY)

Equity One, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, management, acquisition, renovation, and development of neighborhood and community shopping centers in the United States. Its shopping centers are anchored by supermarkets, drug stores, or discount retail store chains. As of December 31, 2006, the company?s property portfolio consisted of 179 properties, including 166 shopping centers, 6 development parcels, and 7 non-retail properties. As a REIT, Equity One would not be subject to federal tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in North Miami Beach, Florida with an additional office in Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dividend King]
Equity One Inc. (EQY): Equity One Inc. is trading just under its 52-week high of $20.27. The stock issues an annual dividend of $0.88, has a yield of 4.40% and a payout ratio of 142%.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: Invesco Plc(IVZ)

Invesco Ltd. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to individuals, typically high net worth individuals. It also manages accounts for institutions. The firm manages separate client focused equity, fixed income, balanced portfolios. It also launches equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe. It invests in core, growth, and value stocks of small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap companies. The firm employs a fundamental and quantitative analysis with a bottom-up stock picking approach to make its investments. It conducts in-house research to make its investments. Invesco Ltd. was founded in December 1935 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sean Williams]
Investment management firm Invesco (NYSE: IVZ ) , which typically caters to high-net-worth individuals and offers a myriad of ETFs, rose 6.8% after reporting its first-quarter results. For the quarter, profits jumped nearly 15% to $0.49 per share as clients and investors flooded into its ETFs. Total cash inflows totaled $19.2 billion for the quarter -- a record for the company. It also didn't hurt that Invesco boosted its dividend by 30% to $0.225 per quarter. Even after today's move, at just 13 times forward earnings, there could still be room to run higher.
[By Ben Levisohn]
What a difference a day makes. After plunging yesterday, stocks gained today as investors came to terms with the Federal Reserve’s revised schedule for higher rates, sending shares of Invesco (IVZ), Zions Bancorporation (ZION), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) soaring.
[By Dan Caplinger]
Lately, though, T. Rowe Price hasn't benefited as much from share-price gains. Competitor Invesco (NYSE: IVZ ) has managed to expand its margins and produce growth among its current lineup of funds, with exposure to a big range of markets that leaves it broadly placed to serve its customers' needs. But for T. Rowe Price and peer Federated Investors (NYSE: FII ) , investors haven't been putting as much money to work in their funds as analysts had expected to see, and that has led to some growth shortfalls. Federated in particular missed its earnings estimates in its most recent quarter, and analysts see growth there slowing to just 3%. T. Rowe Price has better prospects, retaining its double-digit revenue growth, but after a substantial move upward at the beginning of the year, its stock has treaded water.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: Rowan Companies Inc.(RDC)

Rowan Companies, Inc. provides onshore and offshore oil and gas contract drilling services in the United States and internationally. The company offers its contract drilling services through its fleet of 28 self-elevating mobile offshore drilling platforms and 30 deep-well land drilling rigs. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
Offshore drillers like Ensco (ESV), Seadrill (SDRL) and Rowan (RDC) are sinking today, but shares of Transocean (RIG) have managed to stay afloat.
AFP
Transocean has gained 0.9% to $41.85 at 1:22 p.m. today, even as Ensco has fallen 1.3% to $50.89, Seadrill has plunged 3.1% to $34.87 and Rowan has dipped 0.8% to $30.89.
[By Ben Levisohn]
This year started so badly for Seadrill (SDRL), Transocean (RIG) and Rowan (RDC) and other offshore drillers that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some investors are seeing value in their beaten down shares. The folks at Raymond James, however, see conditions at offshore drillers getting worse before they get better.
[By Ben Levisohn]
As a result, Gerry cut Atwood Oceanics, Ensco (ESV) and Noble Energy (NE) to Market Perform from Outperform. He raised Rowan (RDC) to Outperform from Market Perform. Rowan was also a favorite of Barclays.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: Northern Oil and Gas Inc.(NOG)

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the Williston Basin Bakken play, the United States. As of June 30, 2011, the company?s principal assets included approximately 158,046 net acres located in the northern region of the United States; and 439 gross wells. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. is based in Wayzata, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Matt DiLallo]
4. Northern Oil & Gas (NYSEMKT: NOG )
Bakken-focused Northern Oil & Gas delivered oil production growth of 93.4% last year. The company spent about $485 million to drill a total of 48.3 net wells, which delivered that production growth. What's unique about Northern is that it typically just takes a small, non-operated stake in each well, as the company actually participated in the drilling of 563 gross wells last year. That spreads its risk, as one dry hole won't have much of an impact on its returns. The company plans to continue to grow its oil production this year, as it's currently working with its partners to drill 152 gross (12.2 net) wells to keep oil production growing.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: TechTarget Inc (TTGT)

TechTarget, Inc., incorporated on September 14, 1999, is a provider of specialized online content and brand advertising that brings together buyers and sellers of corporate information technology (IT) products. The Company sells customized marketing programs that enable IT vendors to reach corporate IT decision makers who are researching specific IT purchases. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated a network of 115 Websites, each of which focuses on a specific IT sector, such as storage, security or networking. The Company�� content platform consists of a network of websites that it complement with targeted in-person events. On April 26, 2011 it announced that it had completed the acquisition of the Websites, product offerings, and events associated with Computer Weekly and MicroScope. In December 2012, the Company acquired the Websites and product offerings of LeMagIT.

Media Groups

The Company�� online properties in security sector, SearchSecurity.com, SearchCloudSecurity.com, SearchFinancialSecurity.com, SearchMidMarketSecurity.com and SearchSecurity.co.uk offer navigable and structured guides on IT vendor and technology solutions in key sub-sectors, such as network security, intrusion defense, identity management and authentication, data and application security, security-as-a-service, cloud security and security information management software. Its annual Financial Information Security Decisions conference anchors a calendar of topically-focused regional seminars on issues, such as compliance monitoring, data protection, and advanced threat management. Its networking market includes the hardware, software and services involved in the infrastructure and management of both enterprise and carrier voice and data networks.

The Company�� online properties in networking sector, SearchNetworking.com, SearchEnterpriseWAN.com, SearchUnifiedCommunications.com, SearchMobileComputing.com and SearchCloudProvider.com. The Company�� online properties in storag! e sector, SearchStorage.com, SearchDataBackup.com, SearchSMBStorage.com, SearchDisasterRecovery.com, SearchVirtualStorage.com, SearchCloudStorage.com, SearchSolidStateStorage.com and SearchStorage.co.uk address IT professionals seeking solutions in sub-sectors, such as fiber channel storage area network (SAN), solid state storage, virtualization Internet protocol (IP) and Internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI) SANs, network attached storage (NAS), backup hardware and software, and storage management software.

Data centers house the systems and components, such as servers, storage devices, routers and switches, utilized in large-scale, mission-critical computing environments. The Company�� online properties in this sector provide targeted information on the IT vendors, technologies and solutions that serve these sub-sectors. Its properties in this sector include SearchDataCenter.com, covering disaster recovery, power and cooling, mainframe and UNIX servers, systems management, and server consolidation; SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, focused on Linux migration and infrastructures; Search400.com, covering mid-range computing and SearchCloudComputing.com, which covers private and public cloud infrastructure. SearchServerVirtualization.com covers the decision points and alternatives for implementing server virtualization, while SearchVMware.com and RTFM-ed.co.uk focus on managing and building out virtual environments on the most widely-installed server virtualization platform.

The Company�� online properties in online properties in data centre and virtualization technologies include SearchWindowsServer.com, covering servers, storage, and systems management; SearchDomino.com, SearchExchange.com and SearchWinIT.com, each targeted toward senior management for distributed computing environments. This network of sites provides resources and advice to IT professionals pursuing solutions related to such topics as Windows backup and storage, server consolidation, and upgrade pla! nning. Se! archEnterpriseDesktop.com, SearchVirtualDesktop.com, BrianMadden.com and LabMice.net all focus on the deployment and management of end-user computing environments. The Company�� two BriForum conferences focus on desktop virtualization and related technologies.

The Company�� CIO/IT Strategy media group provides content targeted at Chief Information Officers (CIO), and senior IT executives, enabling them to make informed IT purchases throughout the critical stages of the purchase decision process. The Company�� online properties in this sector include SearchCIO.com, which provides CIOs in large enterprises with information focused on critical purchasing decisions; SearchCIO-Midmarket.com, which targets IT managers at small to medium-sized businesses, and SearchCompliance.com, which provides advice on IT-focused regulations and standards to IT and business executives and other senior IT managers. The CIO/IT Strategy Group also includes online resources and events targeted to IT decision makers in prominent vertical industries. SearchHealthIT.com provides strategic IT purchasing information and advice to senior IT and clinical professionals in hospitals, medical centers, university health centers and other care delivery organizations, as well as organizations in the life.

The Company�� Business Applications and Analytics media group focuses on mission critical software, such as databases and business intelligence, content management enterprise resource planning, and customer facing applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software for mid-sized and large companies. The properties in this sector include SearchCRM.com, BeyeNETWORK.com, SearchBusinessAnalytics.com, SearchDataManagement.com, SearchContentManagement.com, SearchOracle.com, SearchSAP.com and SearchManufacturingERP.com. These sites are online resources that provide this specialized information to support mission critical business applications, such as CRM, business intelligence, data management,! content ! management, collaboration, sales force automation, databases and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. The SMB market supports a high degree of specialization by software vendors, as applications are offered that address the business requirements of specific industry verticals, such as construction, manufacturing, and many others.

The application architecture and development sector is consisted of a broad landscape of tools and languages that enable developers, architects and project managers to build, customize and integrate software for their businesses. The Company�� online properties in this sector include TheServerSide.com and TheServerSide.NET, which host independent communities of developers and architects using Java and .NET respectively.

Its Channel properties address the information needs of channel companies classified as resellers, value added resellers, solution providers, systems integrators, service providers, managed service providers, and consultants in the IT market. Its online properties in this sector include SearchITChannel.com, SearchStorageChannel.com, SearchSecurityChannel.com, SearchNetworkingChannel.com and SearchSystemsChannel.com. TechnologyGuide.com operates a portfolio of Internet content sites that provide product reviews, price comparisons and user forums for technology products, such as laptops, desktops and smartphones. Sites include NotebookReview.com, Brighthand.com (covering smartphones) and TabletPCReview.com, PrinterComparison.com, DesktopReview.com and DigitalCameraReview.com.

User Generated Content and Vendor Content

Bitpipe.com and KnowledgeStorm.com are sites that the Company operates and that host vendor-provided content, such as white papers, software downloads, videocasts and Webcasts. Maintaining centralized collections of this vendor content helps its users conduct pre-purchase research more easily, and allows it to maximize the ability of this content to be found by search engines. It provide! s context! ually relevant inclusion of vendor content from Bitpipe.com and KnowledgeStorm.com on the other sites in its network.

The Company competes with United Business Media, QuinStreet, International Data Group and CBS Interactive/ CNet.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Garrett Cook]
Technology shares fell around 0.27 percent in Thursday’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT), down 8.9 percent, and ChinaCache International Holdings (NASDAQ: CCIH), off 4.6 percent.
[By CNNMoney Staff]
What's moving: Target (TTGT) shares were under pressure after the retailer said 70 million individuals had information stolen in the recent data breach of credit and debit cards.
[By Garrett Cook]
Technology shares fell around 0.27 percent in Thursday’s trading. Top decliners in the sector included TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT), down 5.3 percent, and ChinaCache International Holdings (NASDAQ: CCIH), off 2.11 percent.

Top 10 High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014: PCM Fund Inc (PCM)

PCM Fund, Inc. (the Fund), formerly PIMCO Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust, Inc., is a non-diversified, closed-end bond fund. The Fund's primary investment objective is to achieve current income by investing in a portfolio comprising primarily commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). These securities are fixed-income instruments representing an interest in mortgage loans on commercial real estate properties, such as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, apartment buildings, nursing homes and industrial properties.

Capital gains from the disposition of investments are a secondary objective of the Fund. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes in CMBS. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) is the Fund's investment manager.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sally Jones]
Founded in 1986 by the legendary investor Bill Miller, Private Capital Management (PCM) is now owned by portfolio manager and CEO, Gregg Powers. He is widely-known for his research skill and has been a key driver at PCM since 1988.