NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shareholders are a pain to some CEOs. Always asking for profits and returns for their stake in the company.
Some CEOs resent that. They want time -- usually two years -- to show what geniuses they have really been for the last five years despite their seemingly dismal results.
Patience, they plead.
Forbes magazine summed up the attitude well earlier this year when one of its columnists, Keld Jensen, said if he ever became a CEO, he would send out the following letter: "I don't care what the share value will be for the next two years. We might not make a profit during this period. But we are going to focus all our resources on product research and development with the goal to create the best product the world has ever seen. We're here to change the world!" I'm sure Jensen is a very nice person and he probably likes puppy dogs. But if I ever see his name on the masthead of a company I happen to own -- however small my piece -- I am going to sell straight away. As a shareholder, the only world I want a manager to change is mine -- the owner. If a CEO wants to work in an environment where he can do anything he wants and no one will notice for two years, I suggest he get a job running the Department of Energy. Until then, I like companies with CEOs who remember who runs the company and who owns it and how never the twain shall meet. Google (GOOG) is one place with a lot of folks who scorn the 'let's make money for the shareholders' idea. The share price shows it. Same with Wal-Mart (WMT): It used to be on a mission to charge low prices to create high profits. Then, six years ago, someone decided they needed to start squeezing the carbon out of Wal-Mart's supply chain. They also squeezed out profits. At Ocwen Financial (OCN), you won't find any executives talking such silly stuff. The share price shows it, too. So much so, OCN is today the #1 rated stock in my Best Stocks Now app. I have owned and talked about Ocwen many times over the last several years. Ocwen provides residential and commercial mortgage loans servicing as well as asset management services. OCN has been growing its earnings over the last five years by 35% per year.
Oncothyreon Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. Its primary product candidate, Stimuvax is in two phase III clinical trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The company is also developing PX-866, a small molecule that is in phase II trials for various cancer indications. In addition, it engages in the preclinical development of ONT-10, a cancer vaccine; and ONT-701, a pan-inhibitor of the B-cell lymphoma-2 family of anti-apoptotic proteins. The company operates primarily in the United States and Canada. Oncothyreon Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
D Dipasupil/FilmMagicJustin Bieber's Someday perfume. Plenty of stocks go up and down in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. China Finance Online (JRJC) -- Up 131 percent last week The market's biggest winner last week was China Finance Online, more than doubling after introducing a new trading platform. The Beijing-based financial website operator announced that the new offering was the country's first integrated, Web-based securities trading service platform. At least one noted worrywart disputed the claim. Citron Research -- a popular publisher of bearish reports on stocks -- tweeted that sloppy reporting and a misleading headline were making it seem as if no other online trading platform existed in the world's most populous nation. The bulls won out. Shares of China Finance Online closed sharply higher in each of last week's five trading days. TrueCar (TRUE) -- Up 33 percent last week Closer to home, another online platform moved nicely higher after striking a deal with Chrysler and auto insurer GEICO (BRK-A). TrueCar operates a negotiation-free car buying and selling platform. It launched a platform that could shake up the insurance industry, where roughly 3 million cars are totaled each year. Insurers have typically just written a settlement check and provided a rental car voucher to cover the incident, but TrueCar's new plan would work with launch partners GEICO and Chrysler -- and other members of its insurance affinity partners in the future -- to work with the insured to directly replace the vehicle. TrueCar went public at $9 just three months ago. The stock has been revving higher, going on to more than double in its brief time on the market. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) -- Up 26 percent last week Shares of American Eagle Outfitters moved higher after it posted b
- [By EP Vantage]
Although the subgroup on which this decision is based was large, many will still consider this a risky basis for further study. Some investors thought it was a risk worth taking: shares in Oncothyreon (ONTY), which licensed the drug to Merck and saw its valuation more than halve on news of the Start failure, were trading 22% higher this morning at $2.19; Merck KGaA stock was little changed. But, in the meantime, tecemotide will struggle to shake off the stain of past failure.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 biopharmaceutical player that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Oncothyreon (ONTY), which develops and markets synthetic vaccines and small molecules that treat cancer patients. This stock hasn't done much so far in 2013, with shares down modestly by 3.9%.
If you take a look at the chart for Oncothyreon, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways inside of a consolidation chart pattern for the last month and change, with shares moving between $1.63 on the downside and $1.95 on the upside. Shares of ONTY have been finding some buying interest of late right above its 50-day moving average of $1.73 a share. This stock is now starting to push within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ONTY if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.93 to $1.95 a share and then once it takes out more resistance at $1.98 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 689,364 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ONTY will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 200-day moving average of $2.12 a share to $2.70 a share.
Traders can look to buy ONTY off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day at $1.73 a share or around more support at $1.63 a share. One can also buy ONTY off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
- [By Ant贸nio Costa]
Oncothyreon Inc (NASDAQ: ONTY) is firming just above key support at $1.78 and a triangle has taken shape over the last few weeks. The stock is starting to show signs of accumulation with high upside days and low downside days. This stock is poised for a move and I suspect that it will explode to the upside. In addition, Inside trading has been very active over the last month. They are buying now after pausing years.
Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Nelnet Inc (NNI)
Nelnet, Inc.,incorporated on December 21, 1977,is an education services company focused primarily on providing fee-based processing services and education-related products and services in four core areas: asset management and finance, loan servicing, payment processing, and enrollment services (education planning). The Company's products and services help students and families plan, prepare and pay for their education and make the administrative and financial processes more efficient for schools and financial organizations.
In addition, the Company earns interest income on a portfolio of federally insured student loans. The Company's operating segments include: Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing, Tuition Payment Processing and Campus Commerce, Enrollment Services and Asset Generation and Management.
Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing
The primary service offerings of Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing segment includes Servicing FFELP loans, Originating and servicing non-federally insured student loans, Servicing federally-owned student loans for the Department of Education, Servicing and outsourcing services for FFELP guaranty agencies, including FFELP guaranty collection services and Providing student loan servicing software and other information technology products and services. The Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing operating segment provides for the servicing of the Company's student loan portfolio and the portfolios of third parties. The loan servicing activities include loan conversion activities, application processing, borrower updates, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliations, and claim processing.
Although similar in terms of activities and functions as FFELP servicing (i.e., disbursement processing, application processing, payment processing, statement distribution, and reporting), non-federally insured loan servicing activities are not required to comply with provisions of the Higher Education Act ! and may be more customized to individual client requirements. The Company serviced non-federally insured loans on behalf of approximately 20 third-party servicing customers as of December 31, 2012.
The Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing operating segment provides servicing support for guaranty agencies, which are the organizations that serve as the intermediary between the United States federal government and FFELP lenders, and are responsible for paying the claims made on defaulted loans. The Department has designated approximately 30 guarantors that have been formed as either state agencies or non-profit corporations that provide FFELP guaranty services in one or more states. Approximately half of these guarantors contract externally for operational or technology services. The services provided by the Company include providing software and data center services, borrower and loan updates, default aversion tracking services, claim processing services, and post-default collection services. A portion of guaranty servicing revenue earned by the Company relates to rehabilitating delinquent loans (collection services).
The Student Loan and Guaranty Servicing operating segment provides student loan servicing software, which is used internally by the Company and licensed to third-party student loan holders and servicers. These software systems have been adapted so that they can be offered as hosted servicing software solutions that can be used by third-parties to service various types of student loans, including Private, Federal Direct Loan Program, and FFEL Program loans. The Company earns a monthly fee from its remote hosting customers for each borrower on the Company's platform, with a minimum monthly charge for contracts.
Tuition Payment Processing and Campus Commerce
The Company's Tuition Payment Processing and Campus Commerce operating segment provides products and services to help students and families manage the payment of education costs at all leve! ls.It als! o provides education-focused technologies, services, and support solutions to help schools with the everyday challenges of collecting and processing commerce data. The Company's financial needs assessment service serves over 3,600 schools and dioceses, helps schools evaluate and determine the amount of grants and financial aid to disburse to the families it serves. The Company's donor services allow schools to assess and deliver strategic fundraising solutions using the latest technology.
The higher education market consists of nearly 4,400 colleges and universities. The Company offers two principal products to the higher education market: actively managed tuition payment plans, and campus commerce technologies and payment processing.
The Company has actively managed tuition payment plans in place at approximately 650 colleges and universities. Higher education institutions contract with the Company to administer payment plans that allow the student and family to make monthly payments on either a semester or annual basis. The Company collects a fee from the student or family as an administration fee.
The Company's suite of campus commerce solutions provides services that allow for families' electronic billing and payment of campus charges. Campus commerce includes cashiering for face-to-face transactions, campus-wide commerce management, and refunds management, among others.
Enrollment Services
The Enrollment Services segment offers products and services that are focused on helping colleges recruit and retain students and helping students plan and prepare for life after high school and military service. The primary products and services the Company offers as part of the Enrollment Services segment: Inquiry Generation - Inquiry generation services include delivering qualified inquiries or clicks to third-party customers, primarily higher education institutions, Inquiry Management (Agency) services, which include managing the marketin! g activit! ies for third-party customers, primarily higher education institutions, in order to provide qualified inquiries or clicks, Inquiry Management (Software) services, which include the licensing of software to third-party customers, primarily higher education institutions, Digital marketing services include interactive services to connect students to colleges and universities and are sold primarily based on subscriptions. Digital marketing services also include editing services for admission essays. Content Solutions - Content solutions includes test preparation study guides, school directories and databases, career exploration guides, on-line courses, scholarship search and selection data, career planning, and on-line information about colleges and universities. Its Content solutions includes providing list marketing services to help higher education institutions and businesses reach the middle school, high school, college bound high school, college, and young adult market places.
Asset Generation and Management Operating Segment
The Asset Generation and Management segment includes the acquisition, management, and ownership of the Company's student loan assets, which was historically the Company's product and service offering. The Company generates a substantial portion of its earnings from the spread, referred to as the Company's student loan spread, between the yield it receives on its student loan portfolio and the associated costs to finance such portfolio. The student loan assets are held in a series of education lending subsidiaries and associated securitization trusts designed specifically for this purpose. In addition to the student loan spread earned on its portfolio, all costs and activity associated with managing the portfolio, such as servicing of the assets and debt maintenance, are included in this segment.
Student loans consist of federally insured student loans and non-federally insured student loans. Federally insured student loans were made un! der the F! FEL Program. The Higher Education Act regulates every aspect of the federally insured student loan program, including certain communications with borrowers, loan originations, and default aversion.
The Company competes with SLM Corporation, reat Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc. (Great Lakes), Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), and Sallie Mae.
Advisors' Opinion: Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fifth Third Bancorp (FFH)
Fifth Third Bancorp (the Bancorp), incorporated on October 7, 1974, is a diversified financial services company. As of December 31, 2011, the Bancorp had $117 billion in assets, operated 15 affiliates with 1,316 full-service Banking Centers, including 104 Bank Mart locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores, and 2,425 automated teller machines (ATMs) in 12 states throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern regions of the United States. The Bancorp operates in four business segments: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending and Investment Advisors. The Bancorp also has a 49% interest in Vantiv Holding, LLC.
Commercial Banking
Commercial Banking offers credit intermediation, cash management and financial services to large and middle-market businesses and government and professional customers. In addition to the traditional lending and depository offerings, Commercial Banking products and services include global cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing and syndicated finance.
Branch Banking
Branch Banking provides a range of deposit and loan and lease products to individuals and small businesses through 1,316 full-service Banking Centers. Branch Banking offers depository and loan products, such as checking and savings accounts, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards and loans for automobiles and other personal financing needs, as well as products designed to meet the specific needs of small businesses, including cash management services.
Consumer Lending
Consumer Lending includes the Bancorp�� mortgage, home equity, automobile and other indirect lending activities. Mortgage and home equity lending activities include the origination, retention and servicing of mortgage and home equity loans or lines of credit, sales and securitizations of t! hose loans, pools of loans or lines of credit, and all associated hedging activities. Indirect lending activities include loans to consumers through mortgage brokers and automobile dealers.
Investment Advisors
Investment Advisors provides a range of investment alternatives for individuals, companies and not-for-profit organizations. Investment Advisors is made up of four main businesses: Fifth Third Securities (FTS), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Bancorp; Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. (FTAM), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Bancorp; Fifth Third Private Bank; and Fifth Third Institutional Services. FTS offers full service retail brokerage services to individual clients and broker dealer services to the institutional marketplace. FTAM provides asset management services and also advises the Bancorp�� family of mutual funds. Fifth Third Private Bank offers holistic strategies to affluent clients in wealth planning, investing, insurance and wealth protection. Fifth Third Institutional Services provide advisory services for institutional clients including states and municipalities.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Bloomberg]
Mattel (MAT), the world's largest toymaker, agreed to buy Mega Brands (MB) for $460 million, acquiring the biggest challenger to Lego A/S in the construction-toy market. Mattel is offering C$17.75 ($16) a share, according to a statement today, a 36 percent premium over yesterday's closing price. The board of Montreal-based Mega Brands unanimously approved the transaction, and investors holding 39 percent of the stock, including Chief Executive Officer Marc Bertrand and Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH), agreed to the deal. The purchase of Mega Brands, the world's second-largest maker of snap-together blocks, will fill a product hole for Mattel. It doesn't have its own construction line, locking it out of a $4 billion market in the U.S. and Europe. The category also is a bright spot in a toy industry that has seen growth stall in the U.S. Mattel considered starting its own construction line, then opted instead to buy Mega Brands because it would be faster and less risky, Mattel CEO Bryan G. Stockton said on a call with reporters. Mattel got its first taste of construction in 2012 when it debuted blocks for its Barbie brand through a licensing deal with Mega Brands. Mattel realized that replicating this kind of expertise would take years, Stockton said. 'About Growth' "This acquisition is all about growth," Stockton said. "We see an opportunity to expand our brands in this category across boys, girls and preschool." Mattel shares rose 0.8 percent to $37.44 at 10:34 a.m. in New York. They had declined 9 percent over the past year through yesterday. Shares of Montreal-based Mega Brands surged 36 percent to C$17.73 today in Toronto. Mattel is coming off a lackluster holiday season, with sales sinking 6.3 percent -- the biggest quarterly drop since 2009. The El Segundo, California-based toymaker has looked to acquisitions to boost sales in the past. In February of 2012, it paid $680 million to buy HIT Entertainment, owner of Thomas the Tank Engine. It also acq
Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc.(MFLX)
Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. engages in the engineering, design, and manufacture of flexible printed circuit boards and related component assemblies for the electronics industry. The company offers integrated flexible printed circuits and component assembly solutions, such as design and application engineering, prototyping, high-volume fabrication, component assembly, and testing. It serves original equipment manufacturer and electronic manufacturing service providers in various sectors of the electronics industry, such as mobile phones and smart phones, tablets, consumer products, portable bar code scanners, computer/data storage, and medical devices. The company operates in the United States, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom. Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California. Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. is a subsidiary of WBL Corporation Limited.
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 Multi-Fineline Electronix (Nasdaq: MFLX ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Inphi Corporation (IPHI)
Inphi Corporation provides high-speed analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications, datacenter, and computing markets worldwide. Its analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions offer high signal integrity at data speeds while reducing system power consumption. The company�s semiconductor solutions are designed to address bandwidth bottlenecks in networks, maximize throughput and minimize latency in computing environments, and enable the rollout of next generation communications, datacenter, and computing infrastructures. Its solutions provide a high-speed interface between analog signals and digital information in high-performance systems, such as telecommunications transport systems, enterprise networking equipment, datacenters and enterprise servers, storage platforms, test and measurement equipment, and military systems. The company also provides 40G and 100G high-speed analog semiconductor solutions for the communications market and high- speed memory interface solutions for the computing market. Its products include amplifiers and modulator drivers, clock and data recovery, isolation memory buffer, register, and SerDes products that perform a range of functions, such as amplifying, encoding, multiplexing, demultiplexing, retiming, and buffering data and clock signals at speeds up to 100 Gbps. Inphi Corporation sells its products directly through its sales force, as well as through a network of sales representatives and distributors to original equipment manufacturers. The company was formerly known as TCom Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Inphi Corporation in February 2001. Inphi Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Roberto Pedone]
Inphi (IPHI) provides high-speed analog and mixed signal semiconductor solutions for the communications, datacenter and computing markets. This stock closed up 4.7% at $13.25 in Monday's trading session.
Monday's Volume: 838,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 202,080
Volume % Change: 378%
From a technical perspective, IPHI jumped higher here right above some near-term support at $12.44 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last five months, with shares soaring higher from its low of $8.62 to its intraday high of $13.85. During that uptrend, shares of IPHI have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move briefly pushed shares of IPHI into breakout territory, since the stock flirted with some near-term overhead resistance at $13.50.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IPHI as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $12.44 and then once it sustains a move or close above its new 52-week high at $13.85 with volume that hits near or above 202,080 shares. If we get that move soon, then IPHI will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are its next major overhead resistance levels at $14.79 to $16.94, or possibly even $18.
Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: American Eagle Energy Corp (AMZG)
American Eagle Energy Corporation, incorporated on July 25, 2003, is engaged in the exploration for petroleum and natural gas in the States of Nevada, Utah, Texas, Colorado, and North Dakota, the North Sea, and southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, through the acquisition of contractual rights for oil and gas property leases and the participation in the drilling of exploratory wells. Its projects include Benrude Prospect, Spyglass Property, Glacier Prospect, Hardy Bakken Project, and West Spyglass Project. Its primary area of focus is oil deposits located within the Bakken and Three Forks formations in western North Dakota and eastern Montana. As of December 31, 2012, the Company was principally engaged in exploration activities within its Spyglass Property, located in Divide County, North Dakota, where it targets the extraction of oil and natural gas reserves from the Bakken and Three-Forks formations. In October 2013, the Company announced that it has closed on the first part of the acquisition in its Spyglass Project area in the Williston Basin in northwestern Divide County, North Dakota. Effective March 31, 2014, American Eagle Energy Corp acquired a 50% ownership interest in Spyglass Project, North Dakota, an oil, gas exploration, production project.
The Company also holds an interest in a small number of wells located in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, though its focus on these wells will continue to diminish as it pursues the development of its Spyglass Property. In addition to its existing wells, it owns undeveloped acreage interests in the Glacier Prospect, located in Toole County, Montana, the Sidney North Prospect, located in Richland County, Montana. In January 2012, the Company commenced drilling of its first operated well located within the Spyglass Property, the Christianson 15-12 well. As of December 31, 2012, it drilled and completed eight additional operated wells within the Spyglass Property and an additional five wells were drilled. The Company�� West Spyglass Projec! t is located in Divide County, North Dakota and Sheridan County, Montana in the Williston Basin. The Company owns a 25% working interest in the West Spyglass Prospect acreage. Its Hardy Bakken Project is located in the Saskatchewan portion of the Williston Basin and is one of the Company�� two core property holdings, along with the Company's Spyglass Project. The Company's Benrude Prospect is located in Roosevelt County, Montana in the Williston Basin.
Advisors' Opinion: Top Low Price Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Liberty All-Star Equity Fund(USA)
Liberty All Star Equity Fund is a closed-ended equity mutual fund managed by ALPS Advisers, Inc. The fund is co-managed by Matrix Asset Advisors, Inc., Pzena Investment Management, LLC, Schneider Capital Management Corporation, Cornerstone Capital Management, Inc, and TCW Investment Management Company. It invests in the public equity markets of the United States. The fund invests in the stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in the combination of both value and growth stocks of large cap companies. Liberty All Star Equity Fund was formed in October 1986 and is domiciled in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Rich Bieglmeier]
While Quail thinks of the group as Neutral, he points to Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) as a "Buy," up from "Neutral" saying, "[Barrick] has actively shrunk to profitability over the past twelve months, focusing on its key FCF generating operations and divesting non-core strategic assets. Following the equity raise in 2013, we believe the company's financial flexibility has significantly improved."
