Van Damme’s Volvo split gone viral

Movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme doing an improbable-looking split -- with each leg set on a truck that is driving backwards.

A cute kid in a Darth Vader outfit using "special powers" to unlock car doors.

A group of adorable babies dancing with adult versions of themselves.

These ads have millions of views on YouTube, tons of buzz on social media and have likely have been conversation topics at dinner tables, lunchrooms and cocktail parties.

But do these popular videos from Volvo, Evian and Volkswagen -- as well as ads gone viral from other brands -- actually help the company?

Absolutely, say marketing experts.

In the case of the new Van Damme ad, which has nearly 7.7 million YouTube views, the publicity will not only aid the overarching Volvo brand, but it could also sell more trucks, says Mediapost.com advertising columnist Barbara Lippert.

"This is completely unique. It's an incredible human way to show the equilibrium of the steering of the truck," she says, adding that "anyone who knows anyone who drives a truck or owns a truck will mention it to them. People love this stuff."

Reaching those current truck drivers and owners was a big part of the marketing strategy, says Volvo spokesman Anders Vilhelmsson.

In using social media rather than a traditional TV ad, Volvo also hoped to boost brand awareness with young people who could be "future truck drivers," he says.

Volvo scored big with this ad, but in reality, most marketers don't come close to garnering this type of digital attention.

"Everybody wants their ads to go viral," says Ted Marzilli, CEO of consumer perception research firm BrandIndex. "But if there was a playbook to do that, you would just follow the recipe and your ad would go viral."

And while garnering views - and positive reviews -- is admirable, it doesn't guarantee brand success. Sometimes, those who make it big have a big problem: folks remember the ad, but not the product it's touting.

"It only help! s the advertiser if people make the connection between the content and the brand," says Toby Southgate, CEO Americas at branding agency Brand Union.

Otherwise, the viewer may recall the actors, the music or the stunts in isolation, he says.

Another issue: consumers giving creative kudos to the wrong brand. For instance, folks often get messages from Visa and MasterCard mixed up, says Marzilli.

But for marketers who get it right -- and successfully link their brand to a much-viewed video -- the payoff can be immense.

"A viral ad can generate 30 million views," says Jonathan Symonds, executive vice president of marketing at advertising analytics firm Ace Metrix. The cost can stretch into the millions of dollars to buy that type of reach on TV, he says.

And many people are not only open to receiving buzzed-about videos from those who pass them on, but they also seek them out themselves.

"Consumers are choosing that content," he says.

As for the Volvo video, ad columnist Lippert sees only one potential downfall, "I can't see any negative at all except if it is proven to be fake," she says.

Volvo's spokesman Vilhelmsson says the action is indeed real.

"There was a safety line" attached to Van Damme that is not visible in the ad, he says, but the actor did do the split between the moving trucks.

"There were rehearsals for several days," he says. "But what you see in the film that is one take without any breaks."

Gamestop Corp. (GME): Upcoming Console Cycle Bodes Well For Gamestop's Fundamentals

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) is incrementally bullish on the upcoming console cycle compared to their views 3 to 6 months ago. The company is expanding into higher-margin revenue streams apart from recording more favorable revenue mix, and that is helping margins.

GameStop is the world's largest multi-channel video game retailer. GameStop's retail network and family of brands include 6,505 company-operated stores in 15 countries worldwide and online at www.GameStop.com.

The company's network also includes www.Kongregate.com, a leading browser-based game site; Game Informer magazine, the leading multi-platform video game publication; and Spawn Labs, a streaming technology company.

[Related -Why Growth Is Deep In The Heart Of Texas]

Previously, management's model assumed the video game industry would shrink 15 percent or so in the next-gen compared to the last cycle.

"With additional information on hardware, software and consumer demand, we think management is beginning to see the potential for industry sales to be at least flat cycle over cycle," Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said in a client note.

The company's used business next year could be stronger than most people currently believe. Given the high margins, any upside in this segment could clearly be meaningful to earnings.

Used video game product revenues for the second quarter were down 6.0 percent to $529 million. New software sales were down 9.3 percent to $430 million, compared with a 19.4 percent decrease in the US market as the company continues to gain market share.

[Related -GameStop Corp. (GME) And A Lesson In Patience]

New hardware sales also dropped 19.4 percent to $148 million, reflecting a consumer pull-back for current legacy consoles ahead of the upcoming launches of Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One – both of which are expected this November.

Consumers reserve their interactive entertainment software dollars for the new console launches later this year. Sony anno! unced the PlayStation 4 will launch in North America on Nov. 15 and Europe/Latin America on Nov. 29. The timing is in line with Street expectations – arriving in North America two weeks before Black Friday. Sony also indicated pre-orders of the PS4 have surpassed one million units, suggesting that demand for its new console appears strong.

Microsoft's Xbox One is expected to go on sale on Nov.22, and would launch in 13 markets around the world, followed by eight additional countries in 2014. Xbox One has 50 announced titles of which 23 titles are slated to be available at launch.

Meanwhile, GameStop management is bullish on the Simply Mac opportunity and its potential to offset some of the cyclical nature of their core video games business.

"We think there is likely to be one more meaningful long-term opportunity that GME will reveal over time. Also, our sense is management is unlikely stray too far from its core business and core competencies," Bhatia said.

In addition, PowerUp Rewards loyalty program remains a key advantage for the company. The program has reached 25 million members in the US and 31 million members worldwide.

Separately, the upside surprise in GTA V (as reported by Take Two) and the strong launches of Battlefield 4 and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag bode well for the company's third quarter and the high anticipation for the launch of next-gen consoles in November bodes well for its fourth quarter.

The company recently sent emails to customers indicating that pre-orders for Xbox One are reopened for a limited time, suggesting GameStop has received an additional allocation for that console.

Top 5 Safest Companies To Watch For 2014

On the face of it, figuring out how a bank makes money is a pretty straightforward affair. A bank earns a spread on the money it lends out from the money it takes in as a deposit. The net interest margin (NIM), which most banks report quarterly, represents this spread, which is simply the difference between what it earns on loans versus what it pays out as interest on deposits. This, of course, gets much more complicated given the dizzying array of credit products and interest rates used to determine the rate eventually charged for loans. Below is an overview of how a bank determines the interest rate for consumers and business loans.

It All Starts with Interest Rate Policy
Banks are generally free to determine the interest rate they will pay for deposits and charge for loans, but they must take the competition into account, as well as the market levels for numerous interest rates and Fed policies. The United States Federal Reserve influences interest rates by setting certain rates, stipulating bank reserve requirements, and buying and selling ��isk-free��(a term used to indicate that these are among the safest bonds in existence) U.S. Treasury and agency securities to impact the deposits that banks hold at the Fed. This is referred to as monetary policy and is intended to influence economic activity as well as the health and safety of the overall banking system. Most market-based countries employ a similar type of monetary policy in their economies.

Top 5 Safest Companies To Watch For 2014: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  The auction news isn't good for investors in Brazil's Petrobras (PBR), but it could well be a boon for China and Chinese oil companies such as PetroChina (PTR) and CNOOC (CEO).

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  There have been some mixed signals coming from Brazil's largest oil company, Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) . The company has been able to pick up its production numbers lately thanks to some of its idle rigs coming back on line. Also, the company seems to be lining itself up well to expand operations into the pre-salt layer, which will be auctioned off for the first time in October. The problem, though, is that the company will need to add to its already large debt load to make it happen.

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  But over the past few years, the world's largest integrated oil companies have also joined the party. For instance, Brazilian oil major Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) is preparing to drill exploration wells offshore Tanzania, where it holds 50% stakes in two offshore exploratory blocks, while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) has turned its attention to exploratory prospects off the coast of South Africa, where it acquired a 75% stake in blocks owned by Impact Oil & Gas late last year.�

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  Petrobras provides essential energy products and services to growing populations, industries, and economies around the world. The stock has not done too well in recent times, in fact, it is currently trading near multi-year lows. Earnings and revenue figures have been decreasing over recent quarters so investors in the stock have not been pleased. Relative to its peers and sector, Petrobras has trailed significantly in year-to-date performance. STAY AWAY from Petrobras stock for now.

Top 5 Safest Companies To Watch For 2014: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Fluor Corporation�� (NYSE:FLR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Seaton, and Chief Financial Officer, Biggs Porter, will give a presentation to investors at the Credit Suisse 2012 Engineering & Construction Conference in New York on Thursday, June 7 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Fluor Corporation (FLR) is one of the world�� leading heavy construction and engineering firms. I don’t want to imply that this is a bad company because it is actually a very good one. However, Fluor has divisions including Oil & Gas, Industrial Infrastructure, Government, Global Services and Power. Virtually all of them are seeing limited spending as a result of the global slowdown and reduced government spending around the world. The stock is up more than 23% this year, but earnings are actually down on flat revenues. Analysts have been lowering their estimates for the rest of this year as well as 2014, and the stock is currently rated as a by Portfolio Grader. When the economy recovers, I expect will see this company’s fundamentals improve substantially … but until that happens investors should avoid the stock.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  South America has become an unsettled region to mine in. Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM  ) had its Peruvian Conga project brought to a short stop over environmental concerns, while Vale (NYSE: VALE  ) recently abandoned an Argentinean project because of the country's policies.�Costs for Pascua-Lama have ballooned over the past decade and now stand at about $8.5 billion, putting it at risk of becoming an albatross around the miner's neck even before the court decision. Barrick even resorted to bringing in engineering specialist Fluor (NYSE: FLR  ) to expand the scope of its project management before the court order.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  If we look at the sector using Portfolio Grader, we see that many of the big names in the group like Flour (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA) and KBR incorporated (KBR) are rated ��ell.��The anticipated spending for both government and private industry simply hasn�� materialized, and the companies are not seeing revenue or profit growth.

Top Medical Companies To Invest In 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Top 5 Safest Companies To Watch For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) and Nike (NYSE: NKE  ) have been two exceptional beneficiaries of this trend. Under Armour's first-quarter results, for instance, delivered a 27% jump in footwear sales thanks to innovative new running shoe designs. Nike, best known for its shoes made specifically for active individuals, also saw footwear sales jump by double digits in North America and Western Europe in a challenging third quarter.

Fliers look forward to using gadgets gate to gate

Many airline passengers can't wait to make more use of their electronic gadgets now that the Federal Aviation Administration has moved to allow that. But business travelers expect some frustration at continuing restrictions against checking Internet connections such as email.

A survey released in May found that 99% of adult airline passengers carried at least one personal electronic device with them during the previous year, according to the Airline Passenger Experience Association and the industry group Consumer Electronics Association.

The most common gadgets used during flights are smartphones (28%), laptops (25%), tablets (23%), audio players (23%) and e-readers (13%), according to the survey. The national survey of 1,629 adults was conducted by landline and cell phones in December 2012.

"Airline passengers have come to rely on their smartphones, tablets and e-readers as essential travel companions," says Doug Johnson, vice president for technology policy at the Consumer Electronics Association.?

RESTRICTIONS EASED:: FAA loosens rules on e-devices aboard planes
FAA: 'Frequently Asked Questions' on electronic gadgets

Internet connections will still be prohibited at less than 10,000 feet. Voice calls are prohibited during the entire flight.

Scott Riggs of Lees Summit, Mo., who is a chief operating officer for a management group, said through email from a Gogo wifi connection aboard an American Airlines flight that he loves the decision.

"It will allow me to read (Kindle or iPad) from gate to gate and use my PC offline," Riggs said.

Brian Waterson of Boston, a business operations consultant, says that while he uses his laptop on flights to catch up on work, he'll use his iPad for reading because it saves room in his carryon bag.

"This was very exciting news from the FAA, and I am looking forward to hearing more from the airlines on how this will be rolled out," Waterson says.

Jamie Clary, an author from Hendersonville, Tenn., calls i! t a "positive decision" for business and leisure travel.

"When traveling for fun, it allows my kids to keep watching their portable DVD player with headphones," Clary says. "That will be a benefit to passengers with kids and the passengers sitting near kids."

The Global Business Travel Association says business travelers will appreciate being able to keep working throughout their flights.

"These busy road warriors will take every opportunity to stay connected with their customers and partners – the key to success," says Michael McCormick, the group's executive director.

Siggi Ahrens, a consultant from Fort Myers, Fla., will enjoy using a phone or tablet to read or listen to music.

"The downside is there are always some who push the envelope and call or connect," Ahrens says. "How that will be controlled remains to be seen."

Wider use of electronics raises some concerns.

Erik Pearson, a management consultant from Aurora, Colo., worries that passengers will use electronics during boarding and the safety presentation.

"The last thing I want to do is try to crawl over someone on the aisle seat using his laptop on the seatback tray during boarding trying to finish up that last little bit," Pearson says. "I think this will only increase passenger and flight crew frustration, and will further delay boarding."

Three Tech Growth Stocks That Crushed Earnings Expectations

This bull market is rewarding tech stocks in high-growth areas such as mobile, storage, big data and social media.  In my back testing, technology companies in high-growth areas that beat consensus estimates of analysts for earnings significantly outperform the market.

Here are three technology companies that reported earnings Thursday after the market close and crushed the estimates.

Marvell Technology

Marvell Technology (MRVL) is a fabless semiconductor company that ships over one billion integrated circuits every year primarily in the areas of mobile and storage.  In the past, I have listed Marvell in Apple (AAPL) Supplier Gold Mine.  In the future, Marvell has the potential to benefit from new Apple Apple projects such as iTV.

In the after-market, after the earnings report the stock was trading higher by about 6%.

Marvell reported earnings of $0.32 vs. consensus estimate of $0.25; reported revenues of $931.2 million vs. consensus of $871 million.  The company sees earnings of $0.23 – $0.27 compared to consensus of $0.23; company sees revenues of $880 – $920 million compared to consensus of $844 million.

Aruba Networks Aruba Networks

Aruba Networks (ARUN) provides mobility application solutions and network infrastructure for the enterprise.

In the after-market, after the earnings report the stock was trading higher by about 8%.

Aruba reported earnings of $0.16 vs. consensus estimate of $0.14; reported revenues of $160.9 million vs. consensus of $154.06 million.  From the conference call for the next quarter, the company sees earnings of $0.16 – $0.17 compared to consensus of $0.16; company sees revenues of $165 – $169 million compared to consensus of $166 million.

Splunk

Splunk (SPLK) is a 2012 IPO in the field of big data.

In the after-market, after the earnings report the stock was trading higher by about 10%.

Splunk reported $0.00 vs. consensus of a loss of $0.01; reported revenues of $78.6 million vs. consensus of $71.09 million.  The company sees revenues of $88 – $90 million compared to consensus of $86 million.

Follow me here, write me at Nigam@TheAroraReport.com or find me at The Arora Report.  Subscribers to The Arora Report have long positions in Apple and Marvell.

Top 5 Growth Companies For 2014

Now that we are in the heart of earnings season, many investors are zeroing in on company reports to drive the market. While investors seem to be pretty bullish on financials for this quarter, one segment that may also provide some earnings growth is technology.

However, not just any tech company will do, as you will need to drill down into a few key segments for strong earnings growth. In particular, the semiconductor segment could be an interesting choice, thanks to the high Zacks Industry Ranks for this space, and the surging stock prices of many companies in this corner of the tech world. A number of semiconductor firms fit this bill as solid investments during this time frame, but one stands out for its promise this earnings season; Cree (CREE).

CREE in Focus

Cree is a North Carolina-based company that focuses on LED products that are used in a number of applications including game displays, automobiles, signage, among others. Beyond their LED division, the company also makes power conversion products, Radio Frequency-based items, and semiconductor materials as well.

Top 5 Growth Companies For 2014: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanin Aegea]

  I have heard many people comment about the insurance policies for cars, houses, life, assets, etc. The arguments always revolve around the same issue: Is it really necessary? What are the chances to be hit by a Hurricane, or to meet a sudden death? Well, nobody really knows. Some individuals however, sleep better when they know a policy backs their life investments. Here, I will look into three insurance companies that concentrate on different policies, or geographies. These are: China Life (LFC), and Conseco (CNO).

Top 5 Growth Companies For 2014: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)

TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  For those looking to invest in real estate stocks, highly recommended is the Dr. Housing Bubble blog. In a recent posting, the "Dr." pointed out that there was a "Lost Generation" when it came to household income. That has not happened for those investing in staffing industry stocks such as Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE: TBI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  When looking at small cap stocks, it is useful to compare the company with others that have expanded in both share price and size. For those considering investing in the $100 billion staffing industry, the growth of TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) shows what could be the potential path for Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC), as both operate in the $29 billion demand labor sector. Other firms have done well in the staffing industry include Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) and ManPower Group (NYSE: MAN).

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  Even though the stock market rallied on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and Standard & Poor's 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) surging, the long term winners will be stocks in the staffing industry such as Paychex(NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Robert Half (NYSE: RHI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

Top 5 Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Not that the actual service Kmart is providing is unique, mind you. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) offers a free ship-to-store feature, as do J.C. Penney,�Radio Shack, Toys R Us,�Nordstrom� (NYSE: JWN  ) , and a number of other retailers. Actually, so committed to customer service is Nordstrom that it's even had employees drive items to a customer's house at no charge to ensure they get it.�

Top 5 Growth Companies For 2014: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) saw its stock down 5% in evening trading on Tuesday after the weight loss player had soft sales and guided expectations lower. Shares were still indicated down about 5%, but volume has not yet started.

Top 5 Growth Companies For 2014: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The lower a company's profit margin, the greater the impact of the medical-device tax as a proportion of net income. For the highly profitable robotic surgical giant Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) , a medical-device tax of 2.3% equates to less than an 8% additional levy on net income from its da Vinci surgical systems using the same assumptions as above, thanks to the company's 30% profit margin. But for Stryker (NYSE: SYK  ) , which has a profit margin of about 15%, the medical-device tax is equivalent to a greater than 15% surtax on income from medical devices.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Arguably, though, the worst news for MAKO came from competitor Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) , which faces controversy over its da Vinci surgical system. The FDA recently announced it would investigate Intuitive's device in light of lawsuits filed by patients alleging injuries and deaths as well as comments from medical experts that the devices add expense without corresponding medical benefits. Although the two companies don't overlap as much as you might think in terms of medical procedures, MAKO is likely to suffer from any fallout from Intuitive's problems.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Shares of microcap fiber optic test and measurement sensor-maker Luna Innovations (NASDAQ: LUNA  ) surged as much as 85% in Monday trading before finally settling down to book a 41% gain for the day. The catalyst: The company announced that it had extended its multiyear agreement to develop and supply "high-speed shape-sensing technology" to robotic surgery giant Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) for use in its da Vinci surgical robots.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Shares of medical robotics maker Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) are in free-fall today after yesterday's earnings, with the stock plummeting 4.7% after losing a bundle yesterday as well. Earnings aren't the disappointment, however: Intuitive destroyed analyst expectations and showed solid growth in both procedures and device sales. Investors haven't been so kind to the stock, however, and with shares of the company down almost 8% in the last five days alone, it's time to ask: Why is everyone selling this stock?

Europe Is a Glass Half Full

In the latest of several reports indicating improvement, the European Commission recently said that its Economic Sentiment Indicator for the euro zone moved into positive territory this month for the first time in more than two years.

European stocks have been rising for more than a year. Many markets, including those of  Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Switzerland, hit new 52-week peaks just last week. They were finally joining US stocks, which have steadily reached higher levels this year, officially broadening the global bull market.

Another sign of reduced financial stress is that yields on government bonds of Italy and Spain, two troubled national economies that are respectively the third and fourth largest in the euro zone, are down sharply from last summer. Plus, the yield spreads compared with German government bonds have shrunk from more than five percentage points to about half that level.

Last year’s turning point came when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, perhaps taking a cue from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, said: “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.”

The main step the ECB took at that time was to fund Europe’s banks with necessary cash via low-cost loans to banks to buy government bonds. This stemmed immediate fears of a euro collapse.

Amid considerable ongoing speculation about the health of European banks, Draghi this week pledged to pump more into the banks if that becomes necessary to avert a possible a credit crunch.

Now, at long last, growth is starting to turn positive. The latest forecast from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is that overall growth for the 17-nation euro zone will be negative again this year. But the OECD has raised its forecasts for several countries.

Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, should gro! w 0.7 percent in 2013, up from the May forecast of 0.4 percent, the OECD says. And France, the second largest, is seen on course for 2013 growth of 0.3 percent this year, compared with a projected contraction of 0.3 percent previously. Outside the euro zone, the UK is expected to grow 1.5 percent, up sharply from the previous 0.8 percent forecast.

Pimco, the world’s largest fixed-income investor, predicts that the euro zone overall will generate slightly positive inflation-adjusted growth in a range between zero and 0.5 percent over the next 12 months. That’s anemic, to put it generously. Nevertheless, it’s an improvement over the 0.5 percent decline in gross domestic product for the year ending in this year’s second quarter. Outside the euro zone, the UK economy is expected to grow 1.5 percent to 2 percent in the coming 12 months, which is downright robust by comparison.

Among other projections, Standard & Poor’s forecasts that the euro zone economy will shrink by 0.7 percent this year, before growing by 0.8 percent in 2014 and 1.3 percent in 2015. Goldman Sachs expects a 2013 contraction of 0.36 percent in 2013, and growth of 0.87 percent next year.

Another plus: While the euro zone has now had eight consecutive quarterly declines in employment, the latest was the smallest yet, with a drop of just 0.1 percent.

This very gradual economic improvement would still be inadequate to reduce the euro zone’s main problems, led by a record-high unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, hefty government debt, and uncompetitive labor costs, benefits and taxes.

What’s more, many uncertainties remain about even the sluggish growth that’s expected. For instance, new data from the ECB showed that bank lending to companies fell in all of the euro zone’s big countries in August.

Last Sunday, Angela Merkel was elected to her third term as German chancellor, also strengthening her position as Europe’s de facto leader.
Sometim! es referred to as “Frau Europa,” Merkel is the only major European leader to have weathered the financial crisis. Her center-right Christian Democratic Union party fell just short of an absolute majority, but no German chancellor has achieved that since 1957.

However, she may have to form a coalition with the opposition Social Democrats, who likely would demand an increased focus on domestic issues, possibly reducing Germany’s enthusiasm for spending more to bail out weaker euro zone neighbors.

Meanwhile, France, Italy and Spain all face significant economic challenges, with troubled political leadership.

So Europe is improving. Its blue-chip stocks generally are attractively valued and pay good income. But the road ahead will remain long and bumpy.

Fidelity zaps more small RIAs with $2,500 quarterly fee

Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services will be charging more of its small registered investment advisers a $2,500 quarterly platform fee, beginning next month.

The firm will begin charging all firms with less than $15 million in assets under custody a $2,500 quarterly fee.

Previously, the minimum asset level to avoid the fee was $10 million.

Since 2008, Fidelity has required its new RIA clients to have $15 million, but has allowed assets to drop to $10 million before hitting them with the platform fee.

The two minimums were confusing, said Erica Birke, a Fidelity spokeswoman.

“We're just leveling at that $15 million level, just to simplify things for our clients and relationship managers,” she said.

An additional 100 of the firm's 3,200 RIA clients now will face the fee, doubling the number affected, Ms. Birke said.

Like advisers themselves, custodians want larger clients. But the new minimum could risk alienating some Fidelity advisers.

Brian Fenn, president of Carolina Capital Consulting Inc., ended his relationship with Fidelity after the firm dinged him for a platform fee last March.

“We had maybe $12 million with Fidelity, but had a client get divorced so that dropped to $9 million,” he said. “I’d completely forgotten about the minimum.”

Mr. Fenn said he got a $2,500 bill seven days before it was due, even though his contract specified an old rate of $1,200.

“They should have given me a certain amount of time to get” back over the minimum, said Mr. Fenn, who has moved his remaining Fidelity assets to his primary custodian, TD Ameritrade Institutional, where he runs about $190 million.

Ms. Birke stressed that Fidelity wants to help small advisers grow and avoid the fee, either by partnering with other firms or devising growth plans.

“We've had a lot of advisers who were small and are now substantial in size,” she said.

The new fee policy was reported earlier by the RIABiz website.

Five Rules To Improve Your Financial Health

The term "personal finance" refers to how you manage your money and how you plan for your future. All of your financial decisions and activities have an effect on your financial health now and in the future. We are often guided by specific rules of thumb – such as "don't buy a house that costs more than 2.5 years' worth of income" or "you should always save at least 10% of your income towards retirement." While many of these adages are time tested and truly helpful, it's important to consider what we should be doing – in general – to help improve our financial habits and health. Here, we discuss five broad personal finance rules that can help get you on track to achieving specific financial goals.

Do the Math – Net Worth and Personal Budgets

Money comes in, money goes out. For many people, this is about as deep as their understanding gets when it comes to personal finances. Rather than ignoring your finances and leaving them to chance, a bit of number crunching can help you evaluate your current financial health and determine how to reach your short- and long-term financial goals.

As a starting point, it is important to calculate your net worth – the difference between what you own and what you owe. To calculate your net worth, start by making a list of your assets (what you own) and your liabilities (what you owe), and then subtract the liabilities from the assets to arrive at your net worth figure. Your net worth represents where you are financially at that moment, and it is normal for the figure to fluctuate over time. Calculating your net worth one time can be helpful, but the real value comes from making this calculation on a regular basis (at least yearly). Tracking your net worth over time allows you to evaluate your progress, highlight your successes and identify areas requiring improvement.

Equally important is developing a personal budget or spending plan. Created on a monthly or annual basis, a personal budget is an important financial t! ool, because it can help you:

Plan for expenses Reduce or even eliminate expenses Save for future goals Spend wisely Plan for emergencies Prioritize spending and saving There are numerous approaches to creating a personal budget, but all involve making projections for income and expenses. The income and expense categories you include in your budget will depend on your situation and can change over time. Common income categories include:

Alimony Bonuses Child support Disability benefits Interest and dividends Rents and royalties Retirement income Salaries Social security Tips Wages General expense categories include:

Debt payments – car loan, student loan, credit card Education – tuition, daycare, books, supplies Entertainment and recreation – sports, hobbies, movies, DVDs, concerts, Netflix Food – groceries, dining out Giving – birthdays, holidays, charitable contributions Housing – mortgage or rent, maintenance Insurance – health, home/renters, auto, life Medical/Healthcare – doctors, dentist, prescription medications, other known expenses Personal – clothing, hair care, gym, professional dues Savings – retirement, education, emergency fund, specific goals (i.e. vacation) Special occasions – weddings, anniversaries, graduation, bar/bat Mitzvah Transportation – gas, taxis, subway, tolls, parking Utilities – phone, electric, water, gas, cell, cable, Internet Once you've made the appropriate projections, subtract your expenses from your income. If you have money left over, you have a surplus and you can decide how to spend, save or invest the money. If your expenses exceed your income, however, you will have to adjust your budget by increasing your income (adding more hours at work or picking up a second job) or by reducing your expenses.

To really understand where you are financially, and to figure out how to get where you want to be, do the math: calculate both your net worth and a personal budget on a regular basis. This may seem abundantly obvious to some, but people's failure to layout and stick to a detailed budget is the root cause of excessive spending and overwhelming debt.

Recognize and Manage Lifestyle Inflation

Most people will spend more money if they have more money to spend. As people advance in their careers and earn higher salaries, there tends to be a corresponding increase in spending … a phenomenon known as lifestyle inflation. Even though you might be able to pay your bills, lifestyle inflation can be damaging in the long run, because it limits your ability to build wealth: Every extra dollar you spend now means less money later and during retirement.

One of the main reasons people allow lifestyle inflation to sabotage their finances is their desire to keep up with the Joneses. It's not uncommon for people to feel the need to match their friends' and coworkers' spending habits. If your peers drive BMWs, vacation at exclusive resorts and dine at expensive restaurants, you might feel pressured to do the same. What is easy to overlook is that in many cases the Joneses are actually servicing a lot of debt – over a period of decades – to maintain their wealthy appearance. Despite their wealthy "glow" – the boat, the fancy cars, the expensive vacations, the private schools for the kids – the Joneses might be living paycheck to paycheck and not saving a dime for retirement.

As your profe! ssional and personal situation evolves over time, some increases in spending are natural. You might need to upgrade your wardrobe to dress appropriately for a new position, or, with the addition of a baby, you might need a house with one more bedroom. And with more responsibilities at work, you might find that it makes sense to hire someone to mow the lawn or clean the house, freeing up valuable time to spend with family and friends and improving your quality of life.

Recognize Needs Vs. Wants – and Spend Mindfully

Unless you have an unlimited amount of money, it's in your best interest to be mindful of the difference between needs and wants so you can make better spending choices. "Needs" are things you have to have in order to survive: food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and transportation (many people include savings as a need, whether that's a set 10% of their income or whatever they can afford to set aside each month). Conversely, "wants" are things you would like to have, but that you don't need for survival.

It can be challenging to accurately label expenses as either needs or wants, and for many, the line gets blurred between the two. When this happens, it can be easy to rationalize away an unnecessary or extravagant purchase by calling it a need. A car is a good example. You need a car to get to work and take the kids to school. You want the luxury edition SUV that costs twice as much as a more practical car (and costs you more in gas). You could try and call the SUV a "need" because you do, in fact, need a car, but it's still a want. Any difference in price between a more economical car and the luxury SUV is money that you didn't have to spend.

Your needs should get top priority in your personal budget. Only after your needs have been met should you allocate any discretionary income toward wants. And again, if you do have money left over each week or each month after paying for the things you really need, you don't have to spend it all.

Start Saving Early

It's often said that it's never too late to start saving for retirement. That may be true (technically), but the sooner you start, the better off you'll likely be during your retirement years. This is because of the power of compounding – what Albert Einstein called the "eighth wonder of the world."

Compounding involves the reinvestment of earnings, and it is most successful over time: the longer earnings are reinvested, the gre! ater the value of the investment, and the larger the earnings will (hypothetically) be.

To illustrate the importance of starting early, assume you want to save $1,000,000 by the time you turn 60 years old. If you start saving when you are 20 years old, you would have to contribute $655.30 a month – a total of $314,544 over 40 years – to be a millionaire by the time you hit 60. If you waited until you were 40, your monthly contribution would bump up to $2,432.89 – a total of $583,894 over 20 years. Wait until 50 and you'd have to come up with $6,439.88 each month – equal to $772,786 over the 10 years. (These figures are based on an investment rate of 5% and no initial investment. Please keep in mind, they are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into consideration actual returns, taxes or other factors). The sooner you start, the easier it is to reach your long-term financial goals. You will need to save less each month, and contribute less overall, to reach the same goal in the future.

Build and Maintain an Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is just what the name implies: money that has been set aside for emergency purposes. The fund is intended to help you pay for things that wouldn't normally be included in your personal budget: unexpected expenses such as car repairs or an emergency trip to the dentist. It can also help you pay your regular expenses if your income is interrupted; for example, if an illness or injury prevents you from working or if you lose your job.

Although the traditional guideline is to save three to six months' worth of living expenses in an emergency fund, the unfortunate reality is that this amount would fall short of what many people would need to cover a big expense or weather a loss in income. In today's uncertain economic environment, most people should aim for saving at least three to six months' worth of living expenses, and more if possible. Putting this as a regular expense item in your personal budget is the best! way to e! nsure that you are saving for emergencies and not spending that money frivolously. Keep in mind that building an emergency fund is an ongoing mission: Odds are, as soon as it is funded you will need it for something. Instead of being dejected about this, be glad that you were financially prepared, and start the process of building the fund again.

The Bottom Line

Personal finance rules-of-thumb can be excellent tools for achieving financial success. But, It's important to consider the big picture and build habits that help you make better financial choices, leading to better financial health. Without good overall habits, it will be difficult to obey detailed adages like "never withdraw more than 4% a year to make sure your retirement lasts" or "save 20 times your gross income for a comfortable retirement."

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014

Any move into alternative investments should start with an allocation of at least 5%, but in order to have any kind of real impact, that allocation should grow to at least 20%, according to Nadia Papagiannis, director of alternative fund research at Morningstar Inc.

“Five percent is really not going to make a difference, but 20% will start to make a difference,” Ms. Papagiannis said as part of her presentation Monday at the InvestmentNews Alternative Investments Conference in Chicago.

As part of a pre-conference presentation designed to provide a lay of the land with regard to alternative investments, she told the audience of financial professionals to be diligent and to diversify into alternative strategies.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: Blue Dolphin Energy Company (BDCO)

Blue Dolphin Energy Company operates as an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. The company separates crude oil and condensate into off-road diesel and jet fuel for sale into nearby markets, as well as naphtha and atmospheric gas oil for sale to nearby refineries for further processing. It also provides pipeline transportation services comprising gathering and transporting oil and natural gas for producers/shippers operating offshore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the company engages in the oil and gas exploration and production activities. It holds leasehold interests in the North Sumatra Basin-Langsa field located offshore Indonesia; and High Island Block 115 located to the southeast of Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Area Block 321 located to the southeast of Galveston, and High Island Block 37 located to the south of Sabine Pass in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Blue Dolphin Energy Company operates as a subsidiary of Lazarus Energy Holdings, LLC.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: Ark Restaurants Corp. (ARKR)

Ark Restaurants Corp., through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of restaurants and bars, fast food concepts, and catering operations. As of October 2, 2010, it owned and operated 22 restaurants and bars, including 9 facilities located in New York City; 4 in Washington, D.C.; 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada; 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey; 1 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut; and 1 in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as had 29 fast food concepts and catering operations. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon] ght them - and even now - I think their return on buyback would be high and I'd be in favor of it. However, the stocks are illiquid and their free cash flow relative to the dollar value of freely traded shares is not high. As a result, I'm always in favor of RSKIA and ARKR buying back stock. But, I understand it's very hard for them to do in practice unless there is a meaningful holder who signals he wants out of the stock.

  My approach to buybacks is pretty simple. One, I prefer them. Two, I look at the share count history over the last 10 to 20 years as my guide to what the company might do in the future - I want a pattern of predictable behavior. Generally, that means a continuously shrinking share count that shrinks in bull markets and bear markets, panics and recessions and booms and busts and so on. Three, if I'm a buyer of the stock - then the company should be a buyer of its own stock. No questions asked on that one. If the stock is good enough for me to buy it's clearly good enough for the company to buy. Finally, I look for the return on buyback. I tend to focus on the earning power the company is buying relative to the net cash it is spending. If a company has cash on its balance sheet, the amount of net cash consumed by a buyback will be less than it appears because I will end up with a greater percentage ownership of the resulting balance sheet as well as the income statement.

  I want the return on buyback to always be at least 10%. As a rule, the average company will only get returns on its buybacks of 10% or higher if it pays less than 15 times normal earnings. In special cases - fast growing companies, companies where free cash flow vastly exceeds reported income, etc. - it is possible that buybacks above 15 times earnings will return more than 10%. It almost never makes sense for a company to buy back stock at over 25 times earnings. So, for most companies, under 15 times earnings is the green zone for buybacks - 15 to 25 times earnings is

• [By Bram de Haas]

  Ark Restaurants Corp (ARKR) owns and operates 19 restaurants and bars, 22 fast food concepts and catering operations in the USA. This is a short article outlining why they are an interesting company to put on the buy list. It needs to be said, this is not a chain that can roll out their concept or brand nationwide and enjoy terrific growth of their franchise. They chose not to build up brands and instead operate under trade names that suit the unique locations they prefer. The reason that I want to highlight this small company is that in recent years they have faced numerous challenges and adversity (aside from those posed by the general economy) and it's possible they have dealt with the majority, and free cash flow will enjoy a significant uptick in the next two years.

5 Best Casino Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cresval Capital Corp. (CRV.V)

Cresval Capital Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the exploration and development of base and precious metals in Canada. It primarily explores for copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum deposits. The company owns a 100% interest in Bridge River copper project consisting of approximately 7.212 hectares comprising 16 mineral tenure online claims located north of Vancouver, British Columbia; and a 100% interest in the New Raven Project covering approximately an area of 2,707 hectares located near Lillooet in southwestern British Columbia. Cresval Capital was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: RCM Technologies Inc.(RCMT)

RCM Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, and delivery of business and technology solutions for commercial and government sectors in North America. It operates through three segments: Information Technology (IT), Engineering, and Commercial Services. The IT segment provides enterprise business solutions, application services, infrastructure solutions, competitive advantage and productivity solutions, and life sciences solutions. The Engineering segment offers engineering and design, engineering analysis, engineer-procure-construct, configuration management, hardware/software validation and verification, quality assurance, technical writing and publications, manufacturing process planning and improvement, reliability centered maintenance, component and equipment testing, and risk management engineering services. The Commercial Services segment provides long-term and short-term staffing, executive search, and placement servic es in various fields, including rehabilitation, nursing, managed care, allied health care, health care management, and medical office support, as well as offers in-patient, outpatient, sub-acute and acute care, multilingual speech pathology, rehabilitation, geriatric, pediatric, and adult day care services to hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools, sports medicine facilities, and private practices. This segment also offers contract and temporary services, and permanent placement services for full-time and part-time personnel in various functional areas, including office, clerical, data entry, secretarial, light industrial, shipping, receiving, and general warehousing. The company offers its services to aerospace/defense, energy, financial services, life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, public sector, and technology industries. RCM Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is based in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  RCM Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:RCMT) reported that primarily due to unexpected and extended client procedural delays in awarding certain engagements under an existing contract with a major North American utility, the Company’s second quarter revenues and operating income will fall short of its expectations.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: BioLase Technology Inc.(BLTI)

BIOLASE Technology, Inc., a medical technology company, develops, manufactures, and markets lasers and related products focused on technologies for improved applications and procedures in dentistry and medicine. Its principal products provide dental laser systems that allow general dentists, periodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons, and other specialists to perform a range of dental procedures, including cosmetic and complex surgical applications. The company offers two categories of laser system products comprising Waterlase systems and Diode systems. The Waterlase systems use a combination of water and laser to perform dental procedures primarily cutting soft and hard tissue plus bone. Its Waterlase systems include the Waterlase iPlus, the Waterlase MD Turbo, and the Waterlase C100 All-Tissue Dental Laser System. The Diode systems consists of the ezlasetm and iLase, semiconductor diode lasers to perform soft tissue, hygiene, and cosmetic procedures, including teeth whi tening and pain relief. The company also provides medical systems, such as the Diolase 10 diode laser for dental and medical pain relief applications, as well as disposable products and related accessories for its laser systems. In addition, it offers dental imaging equipment. BIOLASE Technology, Inc. sells its products through direct sales force and a network of independent distributors in the United States and internationally. The company was formerly known as Societe Endo Technic, SA and changed its name to BIOLASE Technology, Inc. in 1994. BIOLASE Technology, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: Scripps Networks Interactive Inc(SNI)

Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. operates as a lifestyle content company in the United States and internationally. It engages in the operation of television networks, including Home and Garden Television, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, and Great American Country. The company also operates Websites, including FoodNetwork.com, Food.com, CookingChannelTV.com, HGTV.com, DIYnetwork.com, and Travelchannel.com that are associated with its television networks and other Internet-based businesses serving food, home, and travel related categories. Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers]

  You probably don't know Ken Lowe. Why should you? He's the CEO of Scripps Network Interactive (NYSE: SNI  ) , a five-year-old entertainment holding company that tends to keep clear of controversy. Or at least it used to.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: ProShares Ultra Consumer Goods (UGE)

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10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: Vmware Inc.(VMW)

VMware, Inc. provides virtualization and virtualization-based cloud infrastructure solutions in the United States and internationally. The company?s products address planned and unplanned downtime management, system recoverability and reliability, backup and recovery, resource provisioning and management, capacity and performance management, and security issues. Its cloud infrastructure products and technologies include VMware vSphere, which is a data center platform that also enables live migration of actively running virtual machines across servers or storage locations without disruption or downtime; enables availability for all applications against hardware and operating system failures; and enables centralized point of control for cluster-level networking, as well as automatically manages the placement and balancing of a virtual machine across storage resources. The company also offers cloud application platform solutions that help organizations build, run, and manage enterprise applications in public, private, or hybrid clouds optimized for vSphere. In addition, it provides end-user computing solutions, which provide secure access to applications and data from various devices and location, as well as serves the corporate IT departments through managing and connecting end-user assets delivering them as a managed service. The company?s end-user computing solutions also provide the ability to manage software as a service, Windows, Mobile, or enterprise applications, as well as enhance communication and collaboration between end users. Further, it provides a range of professional services, such as consulting, education, and technical account manager services, as well as customer support services. The company sells its products through distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. VMware, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. VMware, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of EMC Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Scratch one asset from the portfolio of VMware (NYSE: VMW  ) . The company announced that it has sold Zimbra, the self-described "enterprise-class email, calendar, and collaboration solution" provider, to privately held IT firm Telligent Systems. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is seeing a strong reaction to its corporate earnings report. Its third quarter sales were broadly in-line with analyst expectations, but earnings managed to beat the consensus analyst estimates. The VMware report always tends to have a reflection on EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) as EMC is the super-majority shareholder here.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Next Tuesday, VMware (NYSE: VMW  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is not a software company. Yet the majority ownership position its has in VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) makes it is a dual threat. Owning the stock gives investors a top storage name in enterprise hardware, as well as the cloud computing software from its majority stake. The consensus price target for this top tech name is $31. Investors also receive a 1.5% dividend.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: Taseko Mines Ltd(TKO.TO)

Taseko Mines Limited, a mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of mineral properties in Canada. It holds a 75% interest in the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine covering approximately 113 square kilometers located in south-central British Columbia; and the New Prosperity project consisting of a mineral lease and 37 mineral claims covering the mineral rights for approximately 94.9 square kilometers southwest of the City of Williams Lake, British Columbia. The company also owns interests in the Aley project consisting of 104 contiguous mineral claims covering 43.3 square kilometers located in northern British Columbia; and the Harmony gold project comprising 58 mineral claims and 177 square kilometers located in the north-western coast of British Columbia. Taseko Mines Limited was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

10 Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014: support.com Inc.(SPRT)

Support.com, Inc. provides online care services for the digital home and small business primarily in North America. Its services and software products install, set up, connect, repair, and protect personal computers (PCs) and related devices that are essential to its customers; and it offers it as one-time services and subscriptions, and as software products to consumers who prefer do-it-yourself solutions. The company?s online care services include installation and setup services; connect and secure services that configure, connect, and establish secure connections between the computer, the wireless network, and supported devices; diagnose and repair services to identify, diagnose, and repair technical problems comprising the removal of viruses, spyware, and other forms of malware; and mobile device services. Its online care services also consist of tune-up services, which optimizes key systems settings for faster start-up and shut-down, loading of programs, and Internet browsing; online data backup; and server and network monitoring and management, hosted email and virtual desktops, and disaster recovery services. In addition, the company offers various software products, such as Advanced Registry Optimizer to identify and repair errors in the registry database on PCs; Cosmos software to maintain and optimize the performance of PCs; Hard Disk Tune-Up that improves the performance of a computer by defragmenting programs and data stored on the hard drive; MemTurbo, which increases available memory and improves PC performance; RapidStart software for removing or delaying unnecessary startup programs, processes, and services; and SUPERAntiSpyware software, an anti-malware technology. It provides its products and services through its channel partners and directly to consumers. The company was formerly known as SupportSoft, Inc. and changed its name to Support.com, Inc. in June 2009. Support.com, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Support.com (SPRT) is a provider of online care for the digital home and small business. This stock closed up 2.7% to $5.89 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $5.67-$5.92
  
  52-Week Range: $3.67-$6.28
  
  Thursday's Volume: 304,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 377,189

  From a technical perspective, SPRT spiked higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $5.51 with decent upside volume. This move also pushed shares of SPRT into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance at $5.80. Shares of SPRT have been uptrending for the last month, with the stock moving higher from its low of $5.01 to its intraday high of $5.92. During that uptrend, shares of SPRT have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SPRT as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $5.51 or above more near-term support at $5.43 and then once it sustains a move or close above Tuesday's high of $5.92 to its 52-week high at $6.28 with volume that hits near or above 377,189 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then SPRT will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $6.28, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $7 to $8.

• [By Steve Symington]

  What:�Shares of Support.com (NASDAQ: SPRT  ) plunged 26% during intraday trading Thursday after the company beat expectations with its third-quarter results, but outlined disappointing support program changes which will negatively affect its business at Comcast in 2014.

Six Major Blowups of the Week: Chegg, Cisco, NII, Rackspace and More

Sometimes a major bull market just does not help some companies. Bad things can happen in good times. 24/7 Wall St. tracked some of the unusual disappointments from this last week and wanted to create a rogues gallery for its readers.

The hope is that some of these can get their acts together and recover. After all, investors love turnarounds. The problem is that not all turnarounds can turn around. Some industries change, and sometimes there are just shenanigans inside of companies.

These are the six seriously troubled companies we tracked this week. There were others that had atrocious weeks as well, but these were the ones we had some opinion on or had some insight to offer.

Chegg, Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) was the IPO disappointment of the week. Sure it has a lot of competition, but IPOs are supposed to be on fire now. Chegg managed to gain almost 3% on Friday to close at $9.13, but one must remember that the IPO price at $12.50 never saw the $12.50 open. The stock opened at $9.80 and closed at $8.88 on the first day, a move which will baffle IPO investors of growth companies who are buying an IPO at a time when major indexes are hitting new all-time highs. By the way, GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC) was a runner-up loser along with Chegg, as this fund owned shares of Twitter and Chegg pre-IPO. The stock price was above $16 before the Twitter IPO and is now down to $12.03 after another 8.8% drop on Friday. Bye-bye.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was the biggest blowup of the week. Sure, other stocks had much larger percentage drops, but not among DJIA components. Its earnings blunder and guidance seem to be magnified by China and international companies pushing back over technology that may be allowing US spy agencies better access into data. All in all it was a huge disappointment. We tracked many analysts cutting their ratings after the report and the expected price target in a year fell by about 10%. John Chambers now has to rethink his turnaround and restructuring plan. Cisco managed a gain of less than 1% on Friday to $21.53, but this still closed down 10.3% from before the earnings report.

NII Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NIHD) is trading as though the worst case scenario is headed its way. This is effective Nextel international, and the closure of its communications sites in Mexico sale did not seem to help matters. That call from a week earlier where HSBC abandoned ship after NII reported a wider loss, predicting that the stock would now go to $2.00 per share, is looking like that could be possible. This one fell another 8.6% to $2.63 on Friday on about 200% of normal volume, and the stock put in a new low over the last decade or so of $2.60 with wide losses expected in 2013 and 2014 on declining sales. Timber!

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) is supposed to be a winner from the small and mid-sized businesses moving to the cloud rather than in-house, but its earnings report early in the week showed that profits were down 40%. A rise in revenue was not assisted because higher expenses and operating costs are hurting here. Investors are getting used to disappointment here. A small gain of 1.3% to $42.21 on Friday was dwarfed by the losses earlier in the week as this was a $49.31 stock before earnings. That makes for another 14% post-earnings loss and now has the stock down by almost half from its 52-week high. Something has to give in here one way or another as well, because Rackspace still trades at 57-times expected 2014 earnings.

Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTS) managed to recover almost 12% on Friday to $14.50, but this one tanked on accusations of having third party transactions that would have inflated the company sales. Shares were down almost 40% on Thursday to $12.95 after having closed at $21.22 the day before. Now there are investigations and everyone is scared despite the company denying the claims and despite the company reaffirming its guidance. This one even traded 19 million shares on Thursday and 20 million on Friday, versus an average of what would be closer to 500,000 or so before the news. Anything tied to “accounting irregularities” sends investors running and brings the regulators and lawyers in.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) remains an entity that is at-risk by our count. The trucking company managed to swing back to a loss on worse than expected earnings, in-part blaming a shortage of drivers and also higher expenses. You would think that lower gasoline prices would be helping matters, but this turnaround just cannot seem to turn around. Shares were down some 20% on Wednesday after earnings, and the drop on Friday was another 6% down to $7.41. The overall drop from Monday’s close of $10.64 was just over 30%. With a wide loss expected in 2013 and another loss expected in 2014, combined with spotty revenue expectations, is it fair to worry about this company’s future?

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014

Chinese stocks rallied, capping the longest streak of weekly gains in four months, on speculation the government will accelerate economic reforms.

Poly Real Estate Group Co. and Gemdale Corp. led a gauge of property companies to the biggest advance among industry groups on the prospect the government won�� impose more real-estate curbs as the economy slows. Sanan Optoelectronics Co. paced an advance for technology companies, surging 7.4 percent. The nation�� economic planning agency said investment projects for airports and gas fields won�� need pre-approval any more. Xi Jinping�� government has set up working groups to draft fiscal changes and financial restructuring, Caixin Online reported.

��here�� speculation President Xi is coming up with detailed reform plans,��Li Jun, a strategist at Central China Securities Co. in Shanghai, said by phone today. ��here�� a lot of expectations for a restructuring of the economy that would benefit the market in the future.��

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (ARI)

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc., a real estate investment trust, engages in originating, acquiring, investing in, and managing performing commercial first mortgage loans, commercial mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States. The company is qualified as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes, if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Mortgage real estate investment trust�Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance� (NYSE: ARI  ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend for its 8.625% Series A cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred stock�of $0.5391�per share for the period ending July 15. That's the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after it was increased 21% from $0.4432 per share.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Citizens Inc (CIA)

Citizens, Inc. (Citizens), incorporated on November 8, 1977, is an insurance holding company serving the life insurance needs of individuals in the United States. The Company operates in three segments: Life Insurance, Home Service and Other Non-insurance Enterprises. Its core insurance operations include issuing and servicing the United States Dollar-denominated ordinary whole life insurance and endowment policies predominantly to high net worth, high income foreign residents, principally in Latin America and the Pacific Rim, through independent marketing consultants; ordinary whole life insurance policies to middle income households concentrated in the midwest and southern United States through independent marketing consultants, and final expense and limited liability property policies to middle and lower income households in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi through employee and independent agents in its home service distribution channel.

Life Insurance

The Company�� Life Insurance segment issues ordinary whole life insurance domestically and in United States Dollar-denominated amounts to foreign residents. These contracts are designed to provide a fixed amount of insurance coverage over the life of the insured. Additionally, endowment contracts are issued by the Company, which are principally accumulation contracts that incorporate an element of life insurance protection. The Company operates the segment through its subsidiaries: CICA Life Insurance Company of America (CICA) and Citizens National Life Insurance Company (CNLIC).

The Company offers several ordinary whole life insurance and endowment products designed to meet the needs of its non-United States policy owners. Its domestic life insurance products focus primarily on living needs and provide benefits focused toward accumulating money for the policyowner. The Company�� life insurance products are principally designed to address the insured�� concern about outliving his or her monthly income,! while at the same time providing death benefits. The primary purpose of its product portfolio is to help the insured create capital for needs, such as retirement income, children's higher education funds, business opportunities, emergencies and health care needs.

Home Service Insurance

The Company operates in the Home Service market through its subsidiaries Security Plan Life Insurance Company (SPLIC) and Security Plan Fire Insurance Company (SPFIC), and focus on the life insurance needs of the middle and lower income markets, primarily in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Its home service insurance products consist primarily of small face amount ordinary whole life and pre-need policies, which are designed to fund final expenses for the insured, primarily consisting of funeral and burial costs.

Other Non-Insurance Enterprises

Other Non-insurance Enterprises includes Computing Technology, Inc., which provides data processing services to the Company, and Insurance Investors, Inc., which provides aviation transportation to the Company. This segment also includes the results of Citizens, Inc., the parent Company.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Peoples Bancorp Inc.(PEBO)

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as a holding company for Peoples Bank, National Association that provides financial products and services. It offers commercial and retail banking, insurance, brokerage, and trust services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and provides commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; corporate and personal trust services; safe deposit rental facilities; travelers checks, money orders, and cashier?s checks; and telephone and Internet-based banking services. In addition, the company provides a range of life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; and fiduciary and wealth management services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealer; and credit cards to consumers and business es, as well as provides merchant credit card processing services through joint marketing arrangements with third parties. The company offers its financial products and services through 47 financial service locations and 40 ATMs in southeastern Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, and northeastern Kentucky. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Marietta, Ohio.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Nomura Holdings Inc ADR (NMR)

Nomura Holdings, Inc. provides financial services in Japan and internationally. The company operates in three divisions: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale. The Retail division primarily offers investment consultation services to retail clients. It also provides various financial instruments, such as stocks, debt securities, investment trusts, and variable annuity insurance products for the short, medium, and long term. As of March 31, 2011, this division operated a network of approximately 174 branches. The Asset Management division involves in the development and management of investment trusts. This division also offers investment advisory services to public and private pensions, governments and their agencies, central banks, and institutional investors. The Wholesale division engages in the fixed income and equity trading, and asset finance businesses. It provides debt securities, foreign currencies, and stocks, as well as related derivatives; and equities securit ies and equity-linked derivatives; and execution services, such as algorithmic trading and transaction cost analysis. This division also involves in underwriting various types of stocks, convertible and exchangeable securities, investment grade debt, sovereign and emerging market debt, high yield debt, structured securities, and other securities; offers financial advisory services and solutions on business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, capital structuring, corporate defense activities, leveraged buyouts, and risk solutions; and operates private equity investment business. The company primarily serves individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies, as well as retail and asset management clients. Nomura Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Japan's average stock valuation compares with Dow member Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) , which also boasts a P/E of 17.6 after running up more than 24% this year, one of the Dow's top gainers. Boeing's a fit match for the P/E after a successful but mixed recent past marred by the 787 grounding drama, even as the company topped earnings expectations this past quarter. Similarly, Japan faces both rewards and challenges from its new, stimulus-paved road. While the easy-money climate has sparked a surge in Japanese financial stocks such as Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR  ) -- a company where revenues jumped 30% on the back of stimulus -- questions linger about how Japan will service its debt, which has grown to more than 200% of GDP, as well as combat the potential of reduced bank lending as a result of low interest rates.

• [By Maureen Farrell]

  Shortly after Lehman declared bankruptcy, Barclays (BCS) paid $1.3 billion for most of the firm's North American operations, its Times Square headquarters, and about 9,000 employees. Nomura Holdings (NMR) paid roughly $200 million for Lehman's operations in Asia.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Fidelity Bancorp Inc.(FSBI)

Fidelity Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Fidelity Bank, PaSB that provides a range of banking services in Pennsylvania. It primarily engages in generating deposits and originating loans. The company?s deposit products include savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, NOW accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as retirement accounts, including individual retirement account certificates and Keogh plan retirement certificates. Its loan portfolio comprises residential real estate loans, commercial and multi-family real estate loans, construction loans, and commercial business loans and leases, as well as installment loans, such as home equity and consumer loans. The company also involves in mortgage securitization transactions. As of September 30, 2010, Fidelity Bancorp provided its services through its main office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as 13 branch offices in Allegheny and Butler counties. The company w as founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Magyar Bancorp Inc.(MGYR)

Magyar Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Magyar Bank, which provides various banking products and services in New Jersey. The company?s deposit products include demand accounts, savings accounts, now accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate loans, construction loans, commercial business loans, home equity lines of credit, and consumer loans. The company also provides non-deposit investment products and financial planning services, including insurance products, fixed and variable annuities, and retirement planning for individual and commercial customers. As of September 30, 2009, it operated five branch offices, including two in New Brunswick, and one each in North Brunswick, South Brunswick, and Branchburg, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Magyar Bancorp, Inc. is a subsi diary of Magyar Bancorp, MHC.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Harleysville Savings Bank(HARL)

Harleysville Savings Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Harleysville Savings Bank that provides various banking products and services primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania. The company accepts various deposit products that include passbook and club savings accounts, NOW and regular checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and jumbo certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises loans secured by first mortgages on single-family residential properties; loans on residential properties, including loans on multi-family residential properties, construction loans, and lot loans on such properties; commercial real estate and commercial business loans; home equity lines, including installment home equity loans and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, such as automobile loans, loans on savings accounts, and education loans. Harleysville also provides remote ATM locations, the Internet, and telephone banking services. It operates six full-service offices located in Montgomery County and one office located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Harleysville, Pennsylvania.

Top Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: SYMPHONY INTERNATIONAL HLDGS LTD ORD NPV(SIHL.L)

Symphony International Holdings Limited is a private equity and venture capital firm focused on strategic long-term direct investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. The firm typically invests in private equity-type deals such as management buy-outs/buy-ins, restructurings, and the provision of later-stage development and expansion capital. It primarily invests in innovative and high-growth consumer businesses primarily in the healthcare, hospitality, and lifestyle sectors. The firm seeks to invest in the entire Asia Pacific region with special focus on India, China, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the emerging markets of Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. It seeks to be the lead or sole investor. Symphony International Holdings Limited is based in Singapore with additional offices in Central, Hong Kong and Road Town, British Virgin Islands.

Honeywell International Inc. (HON): Why China Matters To Honeywell?

Honeywell International Inc.'s (NYSE: HON) future China growth should outperform, even China's overall pace of economic expansion were to slow further.

China's slower pace of economic expansion (over the past 1-2 years) may ultimately not revert toward a re-acceleration the way many aspire. However, the growth across dozens of tier 2, 3 and 4 cities (1 million persons plus) should provide significantly faster growth opportunities than the overall market as these centers industrialize while economic expansion broadens throughout the country.

Pollution presents a serious problem in several cities such as Beijing. Government appears serious toward halting the problem, although this could take a long time

[Related -Honeywell International Inc. (HON): Sales, Margins To Get A "Turbo" Boost]

"Significant business opportunities could ensue, such as more rapid growth of Honeywell's Life Safety respirator masks and building air and water filtration solutions – Honeywell filtration solution content in an "average" sized commercial building in China is roughly $5mm," Deutsche Bank analyst John Inch wrote in a note to clients.

U.S. MNCs have substantially ramped Chinese R&D by over 20x over the past 15 years, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Chinese companies have been increasingly aligning with U.S. multi-national corporations.

Honeywell's future China (non-Aerospace, principally ACS/Turbo) growth will be derived from tier 2+ cities. The company is anticipating adding roughly 85 percent of new headcount in these cities over the next 5 years that will account for about 60 percent of the company's workforce in China.

[Related -Will The Dividend And Buyback Frenzy Continue?]

Meanwhile, aerospace growth in China in the near term is expected to be slow – particularly aftermarket – as central government cutbacks specifically reduce business-class air travel demand, resulting in spare de-stocking among Chinese airlines.

"Se! gment growth is expected to be flat this year, down from 13-15% growth last year. Spare/R&O revenues represent the high majority of Honeywell Chinese Aerospace profit. Overall, high Chinese aerospace infrastructure expansion appears to remain on track," Inch noted.

Honeywell technology (eg, Ground Based Augmentation System or GBAS) continues to distinguish the company in terms of electronics aerospace-industry product development. This quarter, HON faces tough China Aerospace comparisons because of pre-buying a year ago.

The company anticipates the proliferation of Maintenance Service Agreements (MSAs) to drive future regional segment expansion. Long term segment growth to be driven by Chinese flight hour expansion – prospectively high single digits.

"Turbocharger growth in China appears on track for sustainable double-digit growth in future years – Honeywell is the leading global turbocharger player in China along with BorgWarner. Chinese regulation to drive 40% higher fuel economy requirements to approximately 5 liters/100KM by 2020," Inch said.

Honeywell expects industry sales to at least double to 10 million units by 2018 and the company is expected to outgrow the market and is currently in the process of increasing Chinese volume capacity by 2.5x. Honeywell is launching on 13 new vehicle platforms over the next 18 months.

Meanwhile, Honeywell's Process Solutions (HPS) launch of mid-range "PlantCruise" product about15 months ago, having taken only 9 months to develop, and reportedly meeting high success – accounting for 1/3rd of 150 in-country projects currently underway. Total China process market (for Honeywell served market) approaching $3 billion.

Honeywell shares leading position with competitors Emerson and Yokogawa, among other industry players. HPS sales mix roughly 80 percent installation and 20 percent service (service growing at 2x installation growth).

"In our view, Honeywell has developed substantially greater (localized) critical mass! over the! past few years, both within the key China market and across high growth regions globally," Inch added.

With its leading positions across all segments, the company could benefit from up to a point of annual margin improvement from internal initiatives before the contribution benefit of future volume increases.