Monday, March 31, 2014

How LinkedIn Is 3 Times Better Than Facebook

LinkedIn  (NYSE: LNKD  ) was one of the rare tech companies to perform well right out of the IPO gate. The site has become a requisite for professionals hoping to form a broader network of contacts away from the social-gaming interference of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) . The standard profiles are free, but that isn't stopping the company from making money on those users. So how exactly does LinkedIn monetize? In short, LinkedIn has three dedicated ways to monetize users whereas Facebook heavily depends on only one.

Since the IPO in early 2011, LinkedIn shares have risen over 300% and the company now has a price-to-earnings ratio around 855. Whether LinkedIn deserves that sort of P/E comes down to a personal choice on the company's growth potential. But understanding the company-specific monetization metrics can help inform that choice.

How does LinkedIn make money off its members?  

1. Hiring solutions are key to success
The entirety of LinkedIn's fourth-quarter revenue came from three segments: Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, and Premium Subscriptions. Talent Solutions -- formerly called Hiring Solutions -- accounted for 55% of total earnings in the fourth-quarter with $245.6 million in revenue. Historically, Hiring Solutions has served as the primary revenue-grossing division. 

Source: Company filings 

The average person with a LinkedIn profile tends to stay on the receiving end of these services, which largely appeal to companies willing to pay up to have better search tools when trying to fill an open position. But the companies wouldn't use those tools if LinkedIn didn't have the base of experienced members with what amounts to posted resumes. Talent Solution's hiring aid products are purchased through the website and include tools with names like Recruiter Lite and Talent Finder.  

Most of Talent Solutions happens behind the scenes. But LinkedIn's second-largest segment is more out in the open. 

2. Ads stream through LinkedIn experience
Marketing Solutions is essentially advertising revenue brought in through means that include display ads -- a concept that should seem familiar to anyone who has ever used the Internet. But LinkedIn also has sponsored InMail -- or ads in private messages -- and sponsored updates that show up on a user's home page feed.

LinkedIn benefits over Facebook in that its ads don't account for the majority of revenue; in the fourth quarter, advertising accounted for over 90% of Facebook's revenue. And the nature of why and how members use LinkedIn makes the ads seem more organic than on other sites. Facebook can shove in autoplay videos between a friend's marriage announcement and someone posting a mourning message about a recently deceased relative. LinkedIn mostly sticks advertising between work-related conversations and reading materials, which has far less potential for awkwardness.

But, again, LinkedIn's ability to sell advertising spots depends upon people signing up for profiles and returning to those profiles on a fairly regular basis. In the fourth quarter, Marketing Solutions accounted for 25% of overall earnings with $113.5 million in revenue.  

3.  Tempt users with advanced features via subscriptions   
Premium subscriptions account for the smallest slice of LinkedIn's revenue: $86.1 million, or 20% of total fourth-quarter revenue.  But the company stands alone in the social media sphere as offering paid subscriptions in a way that can help a variety of different people.

LinkedIn offers individual subscriptions that allow users greater access to those outside the connection network -- including free messages to people without a shared connection -- and also to see details on who has checked a user's profile. Knowing who's looking can help someone better tailor the profile to attract potential employers.

LinkedIn, of course, offers business subscriptions that can combine with Talent Solutions to form a comprehensive hiring platform. The system could especially help those trying to fill a highly specialized position that may have only a few applications in the geographic area. 

Foolish final thoughts
LinkedIn benefits from the number of different ways the company can monetize its user base. Whether or not LinkedIn's P/E ratio is concerning is still debatable. But the company has grown revenue for the past five quarters and has beat analyst estimates on both revenue and EPS during that period. That, combined with its three monetization paths, make LinkedIn a social-media company to watch.

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Banks Rally as the Dow Fights to Hold On

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is struggling to hold on to the gains it made last week, falling as much as 108 points this morning. Sitting at a 65-point loss at 11 a.m. EDT, the index is suffering from another batch of disappointing economic news from both inside and out of the U.S. On the other hand, two of the Dow's few winners this morning are reaping the rewards of positive earnings news from a rival.

Seasonal slump?
This morning's news that homebuilders' confidence fell for the third month in a row, as well as news of reductions in New York manufacturing, was another blow to the Dow and the economy in general. For the past two weeks, the markets have endured report after report of softening growth in the economy, spurring some analysts to believe that we've hit a seasonal slowdown.

Analysts had anticipated a rise in builder confidence, with the expected increase to result in a reading of 45. Instead their confidence brought down the reading by a point to 43 -- a six-month low. A result of 50 marks builder sentiment toward economic conditions as favorable. Manufacturing in New York fell drastically according to the Empire State index. While analysts had expected a drop to 7 from March's 9.25, the index fell to 3.05 for April.

Outside the U.S., China's GDP growth has many analysts and investors flustered. The country reported a 7.7% growth in GDP for the first quarter, falling far behind estimates of 8%. 

Taking it to the bank
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) are on the rise this morning, largely due to rival Citigroup's (NYSE: C  ) stellar earnings report this morning.

Bank Today's Gain (as of 11 a.m. EDT)
Bank of America 0.74%
JPMorgan Chase 0.31%
Citigroup 2.97%
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) 0.27%

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

After Friday's earnings reports from JPM and Wells Fargo, many bank investors were concerned that there were weaknesses in the banks' fundamentals -- even though both reported record earnings. Continued pressure on interest rate margins and declining mortgage activity were largely at fault for both banks missing analyst revenue estimates. Today's report from Citi proved that the banks still have opportunities to grow in spite of the current economic challenges.

Citi reported EPS of $1.29, beating expectations of $1.13. The bank also reported its fourth consecutive quarter of increased net interest margins -- a difficult feat in this near-zero-interest-rate environment. Both JPM and Wells had reported declines in their NIMs. As pressure continues to squeeze revenues, Citigroup's progress in loan generation and cost reductions signals improvements that other banks may want to take to heart.

Investors continue to be wary of the banking sector. Both Citi and B of A are considered to be at the bottom of the barrel, but both continue to show progress in rebuilding and growing. Bank of America reports earnings on Wednesday, so the pressure now falls on its shoulders to match Citi's good results.

Bank of America's stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it's critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool's premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, Financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

The 4 Stocks That Pushed Markets Higher

March 28, 2014: Markets opened higher on Friday on hopes for more government stimulus to the economies of Japan and Europe. There might also have been some investors looking to pick up shares that have been weaker in the past few days, like technology and consumer goods. In the final minutes of trading the DJIA was up 0.26%, the S&P 500 was up 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.03%.

Today's big market mover among the DJIA stocks was Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) which added 2.07% and traded at $40.13 in a 52-week range of $28.11 to $40.99 just ahead of the closing bell. Volume was on track to be roughly equal to the daily average of around 39 million shares traded. Yesterday's announcement of the availability of Microsoft Office for the iPad continues to give the shares a boost today.

Another big gainer today is Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) which is trading up 1.31% at $97.49 in a 52-week range of $84.79 to $101.74. Crude oil prices are up today and up 2.2% for the week. That's enough to put a charge into the country's largest energy firm which got a further boost from natural gas prices which rose about 4% this past week.

In keeping with its recent volatile behavior, Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) bounced higher today, up 1.29% to $22.30 in a 52-week range of $19.98 to $26.49 after bouncing about the same amount lower yesterday. Share volume was about 15% higher than the daily average of around 43.6 million shares traded. Given the shape of the stock's price curve today, it looks like this could be short covering.

McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) traded up 1.02% today at $97.14. The company said it would offer free coffee at breakfast time for a two-week period beginning next Monday. Investors apparently like the idea that the company is responding to new competitive breakfast offerings. The 52-week range for the stock is $92.22 to $103.70. Trading volume for the shares was about 25% below the daily average of around 5.3 million shares traded.

The stock doing its best to sink the Dow 30 today was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). The credit and debit card issuer was hit with a $5 billion lawsuit this morning. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is the first of the big retailers to file its own case for damages related to card swipe fees charged by Visa and other issuers. Visa's stock traded down 1.91% today at $211.65 in a 52-week range of $161.27 to $235.50. Trading volume was nearly equal to the daily average of around 3.2 million shares traded.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 23 are set to close higher today and 7 are on their way to a lower close.

Friday, March 28, 2014

3 Things That Went Bank of AmericaĆ¢€™s Way This Week

Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC  ) big dividend boost wasn't the only good thing to happen to the bank this week.

Investors in Bank of America were understandably preoccupied over the past several days, as the news of the big bank's dividend hike, to $0.05 per share, hogged all their attention. Though the increase wasn't huge, the psychological boost was enormous, since this was the first time B of A was able to raise its dividend since the financial crisis.

But that wasn't the only positive news for Bank of America in the last week of March. Here are a few more tidbits of good news that came along, giving the big bank's investors even more reason to smile.

1. A big payment to resolve mortgage claims
The announcement that B of A would be paying the Federal Housing Finance Agency $9.5 billion to settle all outstanding residential mortgage bond claims is a real biggie, taking a huge liability off of the big bank's plate. Knowing that 88% of these types of claims have now been put to bed is likely making investors breathe easier, as well.

2. Charges against a former CEO are put to bed
Former Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis, the man who helped turn the bank into the behemoth that current chief Brian Moynihan has been furiously trying to trim down, has settled charges against him related to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Lewis and B of A have both settled claims by the New York Attorney General's office that investors were deceived about the financial status of Merrill during its sale to B of A in late 2008. Both portions of the settlement, Lewis' $10 million and the bank's $15 million will be paid by Bank of America, finally putting "paid" to an unpleasantly nagging issue left over from the tumultuous early days of the financial crisis.

3. A mortgage-related lawsuit gets thrown out
In a blow to the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal magistrate judge in Bank of America's hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, ruled in favor of the bank in a mortgage-backed securities case on Thursday. The DOJ was bringing suit against B of A over $850 million in MBSes that it said were misrepresented to investors, using a law called the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989.

The FIRREA, which enables the government to sue entities based upon damage done to federal institutions, was used to good effect last year against B of A in the so-called "Hustle" suit. That case, in which prosecutors claimed that fraud in Countrywide's fast-paced mortgage loan production pipeline led to losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was a huge win for the federal government.

The DOJ will appeal the ruling, in which the judge stated that FIRREA has historically been used only in cases involving actual mortgage loans, and not MBSes. Right now, though, it's another win for B of A, during one of its most satisfying weeks in years.

The banking sea-change that you can invest in
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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Can Fuel Cell Stocks Learn to React Reasonably Around News?

Two days ago, on Tuesday, the CEO of Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) said that the company had signed a new contract with a global automaker and that details would be forthcoming in two or three weeks. Investors could not wait, though, sending the stock price up nearly 43% for the day.

The news also lifted shares of FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP) by about 28% and 18%, respectively. But none of the three stocks hit a new 52-week high. That happened two weeks before when Plug Power announced a sale of 1,700 fuel cell-forklifts to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

A week after the Plug Power announcement, FuelCell said it received a $2.8 million federal contract to complete a demonstration project. On the trading day, for every dollar in that contract FuelCell’s market cap rose by $14.

Ballard Power is the company that makes the actual fuel cells that Plug Power and FuelCell Energy integrate into their own end products, so it makes some sense that Ballard should tag along behind the other two stocks.

It turns out, however, that Plug Power’s CEO misspoke on Tuesday. The contract with a global automaker had already been disclosed on March 13 when the company reported quarterly results. That sent the stock plummeting on Wednesday, dragging FuelCell Energy and Ballard Power along behind.

As one research firm has pointed out, these are all “casino” stocks, where the action is what matters, not the direction. Anyone looking for a long-term investment in the fuel cell makers is going to be seriously disappointed before too long.

The big moves in Plug Power’s stock on Tuesday and Wednesday, in the real world, might have moved the stock a few percentage points. But a jump of 42% one day and drop of nearly that size the next day is a signal that there is nothing real about the share price of either Plug Power or its cohorts.

We tried to put a fair value on the stocks earlier this week. It is only a guess, of course, but it is probably no further off than any other guess. Which is to say, who knows what these stocks are worth today or what they will be worth in a year or two? Like everything else, they are worth whatever someone will pay for them.

But who are those someones? Trading these stocks is like playing high-stakes poker — everyone at the table knows how to play the cards; what the winners know is when to bet, when to fold and what their opponents are most likely to do.

Facebook Stock a Strong Buy Despite Oculus Concerns

Facebook Logo Twitter Logo RSS Logo Louis Navellier Popular Posts: Comcast Stock a ‘Triple Play’ of Potential ValueWalt Disney Stock is Still Magic For Investors3 Chinese Stocks Set to Gain On China’s Economic Rebound Recent Posts: Facebook Stock a Strong Buy Despite Oculus Concerns 3 Chinese Stocks Set to Gain On China’s Economic Rebound Walt Disney Stock is Still Magic For Investors View All Posts

Welcome to the Stock of the Day.

Facebook185 Facebook Stock a Strong Buy Despite Oculus ConcernsShares of Facebook (FB) dipped after the social media giant announced plans to buy a virtual reality platform developer, Oculus VR, for $2 billion. This deal has clearly divided Wall Street: Some are warning that this is a frivolous deal in a frothy M&A market while others consider this a bold move to catch the wave of the future. Is the dip a sign of bad times to come or a buying opportunity for FB?

Let’s find out.

Company Overview

We’ve all heard of facebook.com–the social networking website with 1.23 billion monthly active users around the world. Facebook was founded in 2004 by former Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg.

After the site experienced a meteoric rise in popularity over the next eight years, the company went public in February 2012. While the stock has had its ups and downs since then, it appears that the stock has found its footing.

With $7.87 billion in sales brought in last year, the company employs 6,337 worldwide.

Deal Book

On Tuesday Facebook announced plans to buy Oculus VR for $400 million in cash and $1.6 billion in stock. Oculus VR is the developer of a next generation virtual reality headset, which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw as one of the “platforms of tomorrow.”The deal turned heads in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street for several reasons.

First, Oculus is a relatively new company, having began as a Kickstarter-funded project just a few years ago. Second, the technology doesn’t have direct tie-in to social media. The Oculus Rift system has been popular among the video gaming community but it isn’t clear how Facebook could integrate this technology into its current business. Third, the company doesn’t have any revenues to speak of yet; the Oculus Rift is still in the development phase.

So there’s a lot of uncertainty about how this $2 billion investment will pay out in the long-term. Even so, I consider Facebook stock a buy right now, and here’s why:

Future Outlook

Facebook  is tentatively scheduled to report first-quarter results after the close on April 30. And I expect this to be a headline-making announcement: The analyst community is calling for 60.3% annual sales growth and 100% earnings growth. But Facebook’s bottom line could be even stronger: Over the past two months the consensus estimate has been hiked up 9% to 24 cents per share.

This suggests that analysts are struggling to pin down Facebook’s profit potential and that the social media company could post another double-digit earnings surprise (as it has for the past three quarters running).

Looking ahead to FY 2014, Facebook is expected to post 44.4% top-line and 43.2% bottom-line growth. That’s well above the average 33.2% earnings estimate for internet information providers.

Current Ratings

Before you buy any stock, you should always run it through my free Portfolio Grader ratings system. This Moderately Aggressive stock has made a complete turnaround since I added it to Portfolio Grader in May 2013–10 months ago this was a D-rated sell.

Since then the stock has improved in terms of both fundamental health and institutional buying pressure. Out of the eight financial metrics I graded FB on, it received As on four: Sales growth, operating margin growth, earnings growth and analyst earnings revisions.

FB also earned Bs on earnings surprises and return on equity. The only two fundamental areas Facebook needs to improve are earnings momentum (F) and cash flow (C).

Meanwhile, buying pressure is very strong, as shown by the stock’s A-rated Quantitative Grade.

Bottom Line: As of this posting I consider Facebook stock an A-rated Strong Buy.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Buying Back Stock May Help Rebuild the Credibility

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is a bank and financial holding company. Through its banking and various nonbanking subsidiaries throughout the U.S. and in international markets, the company provides a range of banking and nonbanking financial services and products through five business segments: Consumer & Business Banking, Consumer Real Estate Services, Global Banking, Global Markets and Global Wealth & Investment Management, as well as All Other.

Share Repurchase

In Mar 2013, following the approval by the FED, the bank announced to buy back as much as $5 billion in stock. This way credibility will be improving. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said "Buying back common shares is the best way to continue to drive value for our shareholders". As of Dec 31, it reported Basel 1 Tier 1 common capital of $145 billion, and ratio of 11.19%. Its estimated Basel III Tier 1 common ratio stood at 9.96%. All the numbers showed that were well above the regulatory requirements On the other hand, JPMorgan (JPM) reported Basel I Tier 1 common capital of $149 billion, and ratio of 10.7% and estimated Basel III Tier 1 common ratio of 9.5%, while Wells Fargo (WFC) reported Tier 1 common equity ratio under Basel I of 10.82%and common equity Tier 1 ratio under Basel III off 9.78%.

Project New BAC

In 2011, Bank of America launched an initiative called Project New BAC. The idea was simple; eliminate unproductive spending with a goal to improve earnings. Its focus on core services and on cost cutting, expecting total cost savings to reach $8 billion per year by mid-2015. The bank has reduced expenses considerably, about $900 million of cost savings in 2012 and $6billion in 2013. Moreover, operating expenses also declined 4.0% year-over-year to $69.2 billion in 2013. CEO Brian Moynihan detailed the five main aspects targeted by Project New BAC: "capital generation, reducing our costs, managing the risk down, addressing the legacy issues, and driving business growth overall."

P/E, Earnings and ROE

In terms of valuation, the stock sells at a trailing P/E of 19.5x, trading at a discount compared to the industry. Earnings per share (EPS) increased in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. Bank of America´s fourth-quarter earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Finally, I always like to see one of the most important financial ratios applying to stockholders, the best measure of performance for a firm's management: the return on equity. Let´s compare the current ratio with the peer group in the next table:

Ticker

Company Name

ROE (%)

BAC

Bank of America

4.91

WFC

Wells Fargo

12.86

JPM

JPMorgan Chase

8.49

BKU

BankUnited, Inc.

10.83

BBT

BB&T Corp

7.38

As we can see, the firm has a lower ROE than Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Bank United, Inc. (BKU) and BB&T Corp (BBT).

Final Comment

As outlined in this article, the bank impressed investors with its performance in Q4 as well as full-year 2013. Moreover, Project New BAC is expected to take the company to even greater heights in the coming years. Finally, raising capital makes me feel bullish about this company's future profitability.

I would recommend investors to consider adding the stock for their long-term portfolios. Hedge fund gurus have also been active in the company in Q4 2013. Gurus like Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Glenn Greenberg (Trades, Portfolio), Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) have also invested in it.

Disclosure: Victor Selva holds no position in any stocks mentioned.


Also check out: Bill Nygren Undervalued Stocks Bill Nygren Top Growth Companies Bill Nygren High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Bill Nygren keeps buying George Soros Undervalued Stocks George Soros Top Growth Companies George Soros High Yield stocks, and Stocks that George Soros keeps buying
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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Cleanup of Texas oil spill blocks ships

Three cruise ships were among scores of boats trapped by an "extremely serious" oil spill that closed the shipping channel connecting Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico for a second day Sunday, the Coast Guard said.

On Saturday, a barge carrying almost 1 million gallons of heavy oil collided with a ship in the Houston Ship Channel at Texas City. A barge tank containing 168,000 gallons of oil was breached.

On Sunday, the barge was cleared of its remaining contents after about a fifth of its cargo leaked. Oil from the ruptured barge had been detected 12 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico as of Sunday afternoon.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Sam Danus said Sunday that crews were skimming up the thick, gooey oil, but that it was not clear when the channel could reopen. More than six miles of containment booms were being used to protect sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitats.

Two cruise ships and 25 other vessels were waiting to enter the channel from the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. One cruise ship and 34 other boats were waiting to leave Galveston Bay.

Coast Guard officials did allow two cruise ships to travel through the incident area by late Sunday afternoon to minimize inconvenience to the thousands of passengers aboard and limit economic impacts from the spill. However, neither vessel will be allowed to leave the port again until deemed safe to do so.

Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Jim Ritterbusch and Associates in Chicago, said if the bottleneck of vessels eased in a day or so, there probably wouldn't be much impact on fuel prices. A more prolonged backup could push up prices briefly, he suggested.

There was no timetable for a total reopening of the channel, which typically handles as many as 80 vessels daily.

Oil-containment booms are spread out in Galveston Harbor on March 23 in Galveston. Dozens of ships are involved in clean-up efforts to remove up to 168,000 gallons of oil that may have spilled into Galveston Bay after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike. Oil-containment booms are spread out in Galveston Harbor on March 23 in Galveston. Dozens of ships are involved in clean-up efforts to remove up to 168,000 gallons of oil that may have spilled into Galveston Bay after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle, via AP)View FullscreenCrews place protective boom along the seashore near Port Bolivar, Texas. Crews place protective boom along the seashore near Port Bolivar, Texas.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle, via AP)View FullscreenOil-containment booms cut across a sand bar covered with birds on Pelican Island in Galveston, Texas. Oil-containment booms cut across a sand bar covered with birds on Pelican Island in Galveston, Texas.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle, via AP)View FullscreenA seagull lands in heavy crude oil washing up on East Beach in Galveston, Texas. More than 160,000 gallons of the oil have leaked into the bay after a barge, carrying about 924,000 gallons of heavy crude oil, collided with a ship Saturday near the Texas City dike. A seagull lands in heavy crude oil washing up on East Beach in Galveston, Texas. More than 160,000 gallons of the oil have leaked into the bay after a barge, carrying about 924,000 gallons of heavy crude oil, collided with a ship Saturday near the Texas City dike.  (Photo: Jennifer Reynolds, The (Galveston County) Daily News, via AP)View FullscreenEmergency response crews work along side a barge leaking heavy crude oil near the Texas City Dike. Emergency response crews work along side a barge leaking heavy crude oil near the Texas City Dike.  (Photo: Jennifer Reynolds, The (Galveston County) Daily News, via AP)View FullscreenMadison Dwyer, from left, Morgan Dwyer, Seth Thomason and John Lowe walk along East Beach in Galveston, Texas, where heavy fuel oil leaking from a disabled barge is washing ashore. The foursome were waiting to sail out of Galveston aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, which was delayed getting into port due to the spill. Madison Dwyer, from left, Morgan Dwyer, Seth Thomason and John Lowe walk along East Beach in Galveston, Texas, where heavy fuel oil leaking from a disabled barge is washing ashore. The foursome were waiting to sail out of Galveston aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, which was delayed getting into port due to the spill.  (Photo: Jennifer Reynolds, The (Galveston County) Daily News, via AP)View FullscreenThe body of a duck covered in heavy crude oil lays on the beach along Boddeker Road in Galveston, Texas. The body of a duck covered in heavy crude oil lays on the beach along Boddeker Road in Galveston, Texas.  (Photo: Jennifer Reynolds, The (Galveston County) Daily News, via AP)View FullscreenThe Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and the Carnival Magic sit idle with dozens of other ships off the coast of Galveston, Texas. At least 33 vessels, including two cruise ships, are waiting to enter the Houston Ship Channel from the Gulf of Mexico after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike. The Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and the Carnival Magic sit idle with dozens of other ships off the coast of Galveston, Texas. At least 33 vessels, including two cruise ships, are waiting to enter the Houston Ship Channel from the Gulf of Mexico after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle, via AP)View FullscreenA vessel surrounded by a sheen on the water near the Port of Galveston. A vessel surrounded by a sheen on the water near the Port of Galveston.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle, via AP)View FullscreenEmergency crews work along a barge that spilled oil after it was struck by a ship near the Texas City dike in Texas City. Emergency crews work along a barge that spilled oil after it was struck by a ship near the Texas City dike in Texas City.  (Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle via AP)View FullscreenLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:ReplayOil-containment booms are spread out in Galveston Harbor on March 23 in Galveston. Dozens of ships are involved in clean-up efforts to remove up to 168,000 gallons of oil that may have spilled into Galveston Bay after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike.Crews place protective boom along the seashore near Port Bolivar, Texas.Oil-containment booms cut across a sand bar covered with birds on Pelican Island in Galveston, Texas.A seagull lands in heavy crude oil washing up on East Beach in Galveston, Texas. More than 160,000 gallons of the oil have leaked into the bay after a barge, carrying about 924,000 gallons of heavy crude oil, collided with a ship Saturday near the Texas City dike.Emergency resp!   onse crews work along side a barge leaking heavy crude oil near the Texas City Dike.Madison Dwyer, from left, Morgan Dwyer, Seth Thomason and John Lowe walk along East Beach in Galveston, Texas, where heavy fuel oil leaking from a disabled barge is washing ashore. The foursome were waiting to sail out of Galveston aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, which was delayed getting into port due to the spill.The body of a duck covered in heavy crude oil lays on the beach along Boddeker Road in Galveston, Texas.The Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and the Carnival Magic sit idle with dozens of other ships off the coast of Galveston, Texas. At least 33 vessels, including two cruise ships, are waiting to enter the Houston Ship Channel from the Gulf of Mexico after a ship and barge collided near the Texas City dike.A vessel surrounded by a sheen on the water near the Port of Galveston.Emergency crews work along a barge that spilled oil after it was struck by a ship near the Texas City dike in Texas City.AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

Officials report that the first recovery of oiled birds occurred Sunday afternoon. Fewer than 10 affected birds were sighted and recovered for transfer to a wildlife rehabilitation facility established by the Unified Command. Protection of the environment remains a high priority and responders are working in tandem with Texas Parks and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Wildlife Response Services to respond to new reports that should arise.

The Texas General Land Office also has deployed a bird rehabilitation trailer in the area for quick response to impacted wildlife.

The Texas City dike, a popular fishing spot that goes out into the Gulf for a few miles, is also closed.

Lee Rilat, 58, owns Lee's Bait and Tackle, the last store before the access road to the dike, which was blocked by a police car Sunday. If it weren't for the spill, Rilat's business would be hopping.

"This would be the first spring deal, the first real weekend for fishing," said Rilat. He said ships and barges have collided before, but this is the first time — at least this year — that someone has sprung a leak. His wife, Brenda Rilat, said sea fog was hanging over the bay Saturday.

Guard officials received a call Saturday afternoon from the captain of the 585-foot bulk carrier Summer Wind reporting a collision with a barge. The barge contained 924,000 gallons of fuel oil, towed by the motor vessel Miss Susan.

"It is an extremely serious spill," said Coast Guard Capt. Brian Penoyer said shortly after the spill was reported. "There is a large quantity, it will spread."

Miss Susan was moving from Texas City to Bolivar at the time of the collision. Kirby Inland Marine, owner of the Miss Susan and the barges, activate! d an emer! gency response plan.

Six crewmembers of the Miss Susan were injured; none suffered life-threatening injuries, the Coast Guard said.

"As a citizen and resident of the bay area, I am very concerned about the incident," said Jim Guidry of Kirby Inland Marine. "We are concerned about the effective clean-up and protection of the environment."

The Bolivar ferry remains closed to traffic, and a safety zone, established on Saturday to ensure the well-being of response workers and prevent the further spread of oil, was extended along the Houston Ship Channel. This safety zone restricts the transit of vessels not involved in the response from entering the area.

Contributing: KHOU-TV, Houston; Associated Press

Monday, March 24, 2014

Devon Energy Turnaround Spared by Activists

Updated from 3:40 p.m. ET to include Third Avenue Management comments and closing share prices.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It took Devon Energy (DVN) about a decade to grow from a bit player into the biggest independent energy producer in the United States. Now, it may take nearly as long for the driller to prove it can dismantle that sprawling empire.

Devon's woes are similar to those of Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), and Hess (HES) who over-expanded during the 2000's and found themselves short on cash in the years after the financial crisis. Unlike its competitors, Devon hasn't faced the pressure of an activist investor as it restructures. That speaks to the change underway at Devon and, possibly, the scale of the company's issues.

Devon sold its Gulf of Mexico assets to BP (BP) and Apache (APA) for a total of $8.3 billion in 2010, exceeding the company's initial guidance to shareholders. Devon also impressed in February when it sold some of its businesses in Canada for about $2.8 billion, consolidating the company's international footprint to the Alberta oil sands and the Horn River.

This March, Devon completed a merger of its midstream business with Crosstex Energy. The combined company was then spun into general partner and master limited partnership securities, respectively - EnLink Midstream LLC (ENLC) and EnLink Midstream LP (ENLK) -- that will be controlled by Devon. Generally, Devon has exceeded expectations on its sale and spinoff of non-core business lines. "We believe this will help unlock value for the company and highlight the value of these assets," Third Avenue Management, a Devon shareholder wrote in October of the spinoff. Devon contributed its midstream assets to the spinoff entities at a valuation of eleven times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), nearly double the company's value of six times EBITDA at the time, Third Avenue added. Third Avenue Management is among Devon's top-20 shareholders, according to Bloomberg data as of Dec. 31, 2013, and stands out as one of just a few hedge fund investors in the company.

A Push Onshore To replace those divested businesses, Devon has redoubled its commitment to onshore projects in North America. After acquiring GeoSouthern Energy's assets in the Eagle Ford shale for $6 billion last year, Devon's core assets will consist of the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford, Alberta oil sands and other onshore assets such as the Mississippi Lime. Perhaps the restructuring is complete. Devon may now be in a position to grow its oil production significantly and plug cash flow deficits that have stretched into the billions since 2010, according to Goldman Sachs. In that time span, Devon shares have underperformed the SIG Oil Exploration & Production Index by about 25% when factoring in dividends.

Devon shares have gained 3.3% year-to-date, closing Monday trading at $63.91. Goldman now forecasts Devon to grow its oil production by 50% to 330,000 barrels per day by 2016. That rising oil production could help Devon mitigate its exposure to oversupplied natural gas markets and finance any continued cost overruns.

Weak drilling results in the Utica Shale, the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale and the Cline Shale, however, raise concern about Devon's execution. Goldman analyst Brian Singer initiated Devon with a 'neutral' rating on March 18. The analyst said Devon is valued at a lower-multiple than restructuring industry peers; however, there is greater investor unease about the company's ability to meet capex guidance and execute on its drilling program. If Devon succeeds in unwinding a mistimed expansion completed by former chief executive and current chairman Larry Nichols, it will be a rare energy industry turnaround orchestrated without the hand of an activist investor.

Three years of restructuring may also be the foundation from which an activist may emerge. -- Written by Antoine Gara in New York

Stock quotes in this article: DVN, CHK 

Building a successful 2nd career near retirement

When Barry Duckworth, 59, of Sherrills Ford, N.C., was looking for a second career that could last him into his 60s and beyond, he realized he had to be adaptable. "You have to not only accept change but embrace it."

For 30 years, he worked as a licensed general building contractor, overseeing the construction of homes and commercial real estate properties. "It was an unbelievably difficult job to manage multiple projects at multiple sites in multiple areas," he says.

He worked 10 to 12 hours a day and many weekends, but when the economy went south in 2008, he decided to look for a career "where I could be a kinder person. As much as I love the physics of building, it's a tough business. You have to be cast iron."

So Duckworth traded in his hard hat to wear multiple hats as the owner of his own tutor-placement business, matching kids with tutors who come to their homes.

He's like millions of Americans looking for a successful second act or encore career. About 65% of workers say they plan to work for pay after they retire, but only 27% of retirees report working for pay, according to a national survey released Tuesday from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Some people are taking steps so they can have a second career during their golden years.

STORY: Retirees: How to combat loneliness, live longer

STORY: Active second careers: Becoming a personal trainer

When it comes to finding a successful second act, most people simply don't know what they're passionate about, even when they know they want to move in another direction, says Kerry Hannon, author of What's Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties, and Beyond. She has interviewed hundreds of people about their career changes.

For many, their passion is something they did when they were younger, often in childhood, she says. One of her favorite career-change stories is a retired Navy officer who loved going to the circus as a kid, so he became the company manager for a! non-profit circus. His wife, who was a nurse, became the circus wardrobe designer.

Hannon advises career switchers to give themselves three to five years to make the transition. "Go slowly. No one dives into a second career on a whim."

You have to do your homework, volunteer and moonlight to figure out what to do; then you may need to add new skills, she says.

The biggest stumbling block is money, she says. If you're starting off in a new field, chances are you're going to make less money. And if you're starting a business, you may not be able to pay your own salary for a year.

It's important to examine your current skill set and experience to see if they're transferable to different challenges and fields. Search inside, and answer some important questions: What am I best at? Ask friends and colleagues, too, Hannon says.

STORY: Wealthy Americans expect ideal retirement

STORY: The truth about retirement careers

She says to "think of it not as reinventing yourself, but rather as redirecting or redeploying many of the skills you already have in place."

If you like the company you're currently working for, you could see about doing a different job for them, says Debbie Banda, AARP's interim vice president of financial security. Or you can consider becoming an entrepreneur in your encore career. "The fastest-growing age group starting their own businesses are the 50- to 59-year-olds," she says.

Given the fact that people are living longer, you could start a new career at 55 or 60 and "have another 10, 15 or 20 years for your encore career," Banda says.

Maralee DeMark, left, prepares an order for a customer at her restaurant, Two Sisters Market Cafe.(Photo: Chris Keane for USA TODAY)

Some! people, like Maralee DeMark, 56, and her sister, Diane DeMark Smith, 66, turned a lifelong passion into new careers.

After Maralee retired last year from her job as an information technology manager, it took about six months before "I was ready for something new. I was crawling out of my own skin staying at home."

She and Diane, who had retired 10 years earlier, grew up cooking together for holidays and parties, and they both loved to entertain. Last fall, they opened Two Sisters Market Cafe in Terrell, N.C., which features locally grown organic cuisine.

It's hard work, but one of the most rewarding things they've ever done, Maralee says. "I lost 22 pounds in the first three months after we were opened. I have never been more fit — lifting big pots, cleaning."

Diane, who has lost 15 pounds, says they're holding their own financially and "have seen a definite uptick month over month."

Adds Maralee. "I couldn't have afforded this if I hadn't had my first career. This is more of a love and passion for us. We love to see people enjoy our food."

After Duckworth left the construction business, he and his wife, Carolee, who is a career-change specialist and has a doctorate in education, brainstormed about what he would do next. They came up with Mastery Tutors In-Home Tutoring (MasteryTutors.com), a service he offers in several cities in North Carolina and along the East Coast.

Parents describe their child's tutoring needs, then he uses his databases and search engines to winnow down the selections. "The art of it is picking the exact right tutor and making a perfect match," says Duckworth, a high school graduate who is self-taught in everything from computer software to business management.

The beauty of the new career is, "I get to hear about children who blossom as they grasp concepts that were alien to them before.

"Success for us means losing a customer."

Diane DeMark Smith laughs while talking with customers at her restaurant Two Sisters Market Cafe in Terrell, N.C.(Photo: Chris Keane for USA TODAY)

SECOND-CAREER TIPS

Tips for finding a successful second career from Kerry Hannon, author of What's Next?

• Research. Check out websites such as Encore.org, RetiredBrains.com, Workforce50.com and aarp.org/workresources to get an idea of what others are doing and what jobs are out there now. Investigate fields that have a growing demand for workers.

• Have a mental picture of where you want to go. Tape a photograph on your office wall of what it might look like. Journal about your goals.

• Get things moving by taking small steps. That might mean making a phone call to ask for advice or reaching out with an e-mail a day to make a lunch date to discuss possibilities.

• Be practical. You may need to upgrade your skills and education, but take one class at a time. You can add more classes as your direction and motivation become clear.

• Don't lock yourself into a must-have salary. Chances are you'll need to take a pay cut, at least initially.

• Get your life in order. Get physically and financially fit. Change is stressful. When you're physically fit, you have more energy. Lowering debt will allow you to have more choices. Debt is a dream killer. When you have your finances in order, it gives you options. You can be more nimble.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014

The joint monthly web chat for subscribers of The Energy Strategist (TES) and MLP Profits (MLPP) took place last week. The chat is conducted by Igor Greenwald, who is managing editor for TES and chief investment strategist for MLPP, and myself. �

There were four energy sector questions remaining at the end of the chat that required an extended answer, or a bit more research. This week I will answer two of the four questions that were left: One on the importance (or lack thereof) of the Keystone XL pipeline, and one on Nordic American Tankers. Next week�� issue will tackle the other two questions: One on Argentina�� expropriation from Repsol in 2012 and one on Shell�� massive floating liquefied natural gas project.

For answers to some of the remaining MLP questions from the chat, see this week�� MLP Investing Insider.

Q: With the impending development of Canada’s own Western and Eastern pipelines, does the Northern leg of Keystone remain essential for Canadian E&Ps or is it just important to transport from the Dakotas?

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: EMCORE Corporation(EMKR)

EMCORE Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides compound semiconductor-based products for the broadband, fiber optics, satellite, and solar power markets. The company operates in two segments, Fiber Optics and Photovoltaics. The Fiber Optics segment offers broadband products, including cable television, fiber-to-the-premises, satellite communication, video transport, and defense and homeland security products; and digital products comprising telecom optical, enterprise, laser/photodetector component, parallel optical transceiver and cable, and fiber channel transceiver products. This segment?s products enable information that is encoded on light signals to be transmitted, routed, and received in communication systems and networks. The Photovoltaics segment provides gallium arsenide (GaAs) multi-junction solar cells, covered interconnected cells, and solar panels for satellite applications; and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power systems for commercial and utility scale solar applications, as well as GaAs solar cells and integrated CPV components for use in other solar power concentrator systems. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, external sales representatives and distributors, and application engineers worldwide. EMCORE Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, reported that it is ramping production and shipping the Opticomm-EMCORE NEXTGEN OTP-1DVI2A1SU insert cards for the Optiva platform.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: HollyFrontier Corp (HFC)

HollyFrontier Corporation (HollyFrontier), formerly Holly Corporation, incorporated in 1947, is a petroleum refiner, which produces light products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, specialty lubricant products, and specialty and modified asphalt. HollyFrontier operates in two segments: Refining and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (HEP). The Refining segment includes the operations of its El Dorado, Tulsa, Navajo, Cheyenne and Woods Cross Refineries and NK Asphalt. The HEP segment involves all of the operations of HEP. The Company merged with Frontier Oil Corporation (Frontier), on July 1, 2011. On November 9, 2011, HEP acquired from the Company certain tankage, loading rack and crude receiving assets located at its El Dorado and Cheyenne Refineries.

Refinery Operations

The Company�� refinery operations serve the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. HollyFrontier owned and operated five refineries having an aggregate crude capacity of 443,000 barrels per day, as of December 31, 2011. During the year ended December 31, 2011, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and specialty lubricants represented 48%, 32%, 5% and 3%, respectively of its total refinery sales volumes. Its refineries are located in El Dorado, Kansas, (the El Dorado Refinery), Tulsa, Oklahoma (the Tulsa Refineries), which consists two production facilities, the Tulsa West and East facilities, a petroleum refinery in Artesia, New Mexico, which operates in conjunction with crude, vacuum distillation and other facilities situated 65 miles away in Lovington, New Mexico (the Navajo Refinery), Cheyenne, Wyoming (the Cheyenne Refinery) and Woods Cross, Utah (the Woods Cross Refinery). Light products are shipped by product pipelines or are made available at various points by exchanges with other parties and are made available to customers through truck loading facilities at the refinery and at terminals.

The Company�� principal customers for gasoline include other refin! ers, convenience store chains, independent marketers, and retailers. Diesel fuel is sold to other refiners, truck stop chains, wholesalers, and railroads. Jet fuel is sold for military and commercial airline use. Specialty lubricant products are sold in both commercial and specialty markets. LPG�� are sold to LPG wholesalers and LPG retailers. HollyFrontier produces and purchases asphalt products that are sold to governmental entities, paving contractors or manufacturers. Asphalt is also blended into fuel oil and is either sold locally or is shipped to the Gulf Coast. Tulsa West facility is 85,000 barrels per stream day refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It owns Tulsa East facility is 75,000 barrels per stream day refinery that is also located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In September 2011, HEP completed the Tulsa interconnecting pipeline project which facilitated a combined crude processing rate of 125,000 barrels per stream day. The El Dorado Refinery is a coking refinery.

The El Dorado Refinery is located on 1,100 acres south of El Dorado, Kansas and is a refinery. The principal process units at the El Dorado Refinery consists of crude and vacuum distillation; hydrodesulfurization of naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and gas oil streams; isomerization; catalytic reforming; aromatics recovery; catalytic cracking; alkylation; delayed coking; hydrogen production, and sulfur recovery. Supporting infrastructure includes maintenance shops, warehouses, office buildings, a laboratory, utility facilities, and a wastewater plant (Supporting Infrastructure) and logistics assets owned by HEP, which includes approximately 3.7 million barrels of tankage, a truck sales terminal, and a propane terminal. The facility processes approximately 135,000 barrels per stream day of crude oil with the capability. The Tulsa West facility is located on a 750-acre site in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa West facility consists of crude distillation (with light ends recovery), n! aphtha hy! drodesulfurization, catalytic reforming, propane de-asphalting, lubes extraction, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) dewaxing, delayed coker and butane splitter units.

Tulsa West facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains), and an additional 1.2 million barrels of tank capacity was out of service, as of December 31, 2011. The Tulsa East facility is located on a 466-acre site also in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa East facility consists of crude distillation, naphtha hydrodesulfurization, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), isomerization, catalytic reforming, alkylation, scanfiner, diesel hydrodesulfurization and sulfur units. The Tulsa East facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.75 million barrels of tankage capacity on the refinery�� premises, of which approximately 3.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by HEP. The primary markets for the El Dorado Refinery�� refined products are Colorado and the Plains States, which include the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The gasoline, diesel and jet fuel produced by the El Dorado Refinery are primarily shipped via pipeline to terminals for distribution by truck or rail. The Company ships product via the NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. Pipeline to the northern Plains States, via the Magellan Pipeline Company, L.P. (Magellan) mountain pipeline to Denver, Colorado, and on the Magellan mid-continent pipeline to the Plains States. The Tulsa Refineries��principal customers for conventional gasoline include Sinclair Oil Company (Sinclair), other refiners, convenience store chains, independent marketers and retailers. Sinclair and railroads are the primary diesel customers. Jet fuel is sold primarily for commercial use. The refinery�� asphalt and roofing flux products are sold via truck or! railcar ! directly from the refineries or to customers throughout the Mid-Continent region primarily to paving contractors and manufacturers of roofing products. HollyFrontier�� Tulsa West facility also produces specialty lubricant products sold in both commercial and specialty markets throughout the United States and to customers with operations in Central America and South America.

The El Dorado Refinery is located about 125 miles, and the Tulsa Refineries are located approximately 50 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma, a crude oil pipeline trading and storage hub. Both its Mid-Continent Refineries are connected via pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma. In addition, the Company has a transportation services agreement to transport up to 38,000 barrels per calendar day of crude oil on the Spearhead Pipeline from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma, enabling it to transport Canadian crude oil to Cushing for subsequent shipment to either of the Company�� Mid-Continent Refineries or to its Navajo Refinery. The Navajo Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 100,000 barrels per stream day.The Navajo Refinery�� Artesia, New Mexico facility is located on a 561-acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, FCC, residuum oil supercritical extraction, (ROSE) (solvent deasphalter), hydrofluoric (HF) alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, mild hydrocracking, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.

The Artesia facility is operated in conjunction with a refining facility located in Lovington, New Mexico, approximately 65 miles east of Artesia. The principal equipment at the Lovington facility consists of a crude distillation unit and associated vacuum distillation units. Supporting Infrastructure includes 1.1 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of! tankage ! are owned by HEP. The Lovington facility processes crude oil into intermediate products that are transported to Artesia by means of three intermediate pipelines owned by HEP. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Company�� products are shipped through HEP�� pipelines from Artesia, New Mexico to El Paso, Texas and from El Paso to Albuquerque and to Mexico via products pipeline systems owned by Plains and from El Paso to Tucson and Phoenix via a products pipeline system owned by Kinder Morgan�� subsidiary, SFPP, L.P. (SFPP). In addition, the Navajo Refinery transports petroleum products to markets in northwest New Mexico and to Moriarty, New Mexico, near Albuquerque, via HEP�� pipelines running from Artesia to San Juan County, New Mexico.

HollyFrontier has refined product storage through its pipelines and terminals agreement with HEP at terminals in El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Artesia, Moriarty and Bloomfield, New Mexico. The Company uses a common carrier pipeline out of El Paso to serve the Albuquerque market. In addition, HEP leases from Mid-America Pipeline Company, L.L.C., a pipeline between White Lakes, New Mexico and the Albuquerque vicinity and Bloomfield, New Mexico. HEP owns and operates a 12-inch pipeline from the Navajo Refinery to the leased pipeline, as well as terminalling facilities in Bloomfield, New Mexico, which is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, and in Moriarty, which is 40 miles east of Albuquerque. The Navajo Refinery is situated near the Permian Basin. The Company purchases crude oil from independent producers in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, as well as from oil companies.

HollyFrontier also purchases volumes of isobutane, natural gasoline and other feedstocks to supply the Navajo Refinery from sources in Texas and the Mid-Continent area that are delivered to its region on a common carrier pipeline ! owned by ! Enterprise Products, L.P. The Cheyenne Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 52,000 barrels per stream day and the Woods Cross Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 31,000 barrels per stream day. The Cheyenne Refinery processes Canadian crudes, as well as local sweet crudes, such as that produced from the Bakken shale and similar resources. The Woods Cross Refinery processes regional sweet and black wax crude, as well as Canadian sour crude oils into light products. The Cheyenne Refinery facility is located on a 255- acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, coking, FCCU, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization of naphtha and distillates, butane isomerization, hydrogen production, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.6 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 1.5 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.

The Woods Cross Refinery facility is located on a 200-acre site and is a fully integrated refinery with crude distillation, solvent deasphalter, FCC, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.5 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP. The facility processes or blends an additional 2,000 barrels per stream day of natural gasoline, butane and gas oil over its 31,000 barrels per stream day capacity. The Company owns and operates four miles of hydrogen pipeline that connects the Woods Cross Refinery to a hydrogen plant located at Chevron�� Salt Lake City Refinery. The Cheyenne Refinery primarily markets its products in eastern Colorado, including metropolitan Denver, eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Crude oil is transported to the Cheyenne Refinery from suppliers in Canada, Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana via common carrier pipelines owned by Kinder Morgan, Plains All Am! erican Pi! peline and Suncor Energy, as well as by truck.

The Woods Cross Refinery obtains its supply of crude oil from suppliers in Canada, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado as delivered via common carrier pipelines that originate in Canada, Wyoming and Colorado. HollyFrontier manufactures and markets commodity and modified asphalt products in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and northern Mexico. The Company has three manufacturing facilities located in Glendale, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Artesia, New Mexico. The Company's Albuquerque and Artesia facilities manufacture modified hot asphalt products and commodity emulsions from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. The Company�� Glendale facility manufactures modified hot asphalt products from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. HollyFrontier�� products are shipped via third-party trucking companies to commercial customers that provide asphalt based materials for commercial and government projects.

The Company owns Ethanol Management Company, is 25,000 barrels per calendar day products terminal and blending facility located near Denver, Colorado. It also owns a 50% joint venture interest in Sabine Biofuels II, LLC, a 30 million gallon per year biodiesel production facility located near Port Arthur, Texas. The Company owns a 75% joint venture interest in the UNEV Pipeline, a 400 mile 12-inch refined products pipeline from Salt Lake City, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada, together with terminal and ethanol blending facilities in the Cedar City, Utah and North Las Vegas areas and storage facilities at the Cedar City terminal with Sinclair, its joint venture partner, owning the remaining 25% interest. The pipeline has a capacity of 62,000 barrels per calendar day (based on gasoline equivalents). The pipeline was mechanically completed in November 2011.

Holly Energy Partners, L.P.

As of December 31, 2011, the Compa! ny owned ! a 42% interest in HEP, including the 2% general partner interest. HEP owns and operates logistic assets consisting of petroleum product and crude oil pipelines and terminal, tankage and loading rack facilities in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Revenues are generated by charging tariffs for transporting petroleum products and crude oil through its pipelines and by charging fees for terminalling petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, and storing and providing other services at its storage tanks and terminals. In additioin, HEP owns a 25% interest in the SLC Pipeline LLC (SLC Pipeline) that serves refineries in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Revenues from the HEP segment are earned through transactions with unaffiliated parties for pipeline transportation, rental and terminalling operations, as well as revenues relating to pipeline transportation services provided for its refining operations. HEP has a 15-year pipelines and terminals agreement with Alon USA, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Oppenheimer’s Fadel Gheit and Robert Du Boff have become the latest analysts to offer their opinion of refining stocks, when they downgraded Holly Frontier (HFC), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Phillips 66 (PSX), Tesoro (TSO) and Valero (VLO) to Perform from Outperform today.

  • [By John Buckingham]

    HollyFrontier (HFC) has refining operations throughout the Midwest, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain regions.

    Through five complex refineries (which allow Holly to process lower-cost heavy sour crude into a higher percentage of fuel), its subsidiaries produce and market gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, heavy products, and specialty lubricant products.

Top Insurance Stocks For 2014: 1st NRG Corp (FNRC)

1st NRG Corp., incorporated on January 18, 1988, is an exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in the development of the Clabaugh Ranch Field, which is a project developing and producing coal bed methane reserves (CBM). This project includes a development of 6,025 gross acres in the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming. The Company is expanding its activities into unconventional shale through a participation agreement covering approximately 7,000 acres initially and subsequently acquired acreage covering an Area of Mutual Interest in South Eastern Ohio. Its production revenues are entirely from the natural gas produced at Clabaugh Ranch.

The targeted coal seams in the Powder River Basin are part of the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union formation and have been mapped as natural resource developments and exploration have occurred throughout the region. The Company has 42 drilled wells, which have encountered developed coal seams in the Werner, Upper and Lower Smith, Wyodak/Anderson Lower, Gates and Wall formations. In total the Company has identified 515 separate coals seams for development of which only 126 (42 wells X 3 seams) have been completed.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    What�� the Catch With Quantum Energy Inc? According to various disclosures, transactions of $2k and $3.5k have or will occur to mention Quantum Energy in various investment newsletters. On Friday, Quantum Energy released the pricing of its recently announced $5,000,000 BDC funding to be arranged by Data Capital Corp (DCC) where the latter has agreed to assist the former in the formation of a Business Development Company (BDC) by forming Quantum Funding, Inc. as a BDC to raise an initial $5,000,000. Upon receipt of the funding, Quantum Funding, Inc. will then be acquired as a subsidiary by QEGY in a share exchange where the $5,000,000 subsidiary will be acquired for 10,000,000 shares of newly issued restricted common stock for a valuation of $0.50 cents per share. Otherwise and early in the month, Quantum Energy announced it was shifting its focus from the West Texas Barnett Shale fields to North Dakota with the opening of an office in Williston, North Dakota. However, a quick look on Google Finance (as there are no up to date financials on Yahoo! Finance) reveals Quantum Energy has no revenues; a net loss of $0.01M (most recent reported quarter), net income of $2.01M and a net loss of $0.02M for the past three fiscal quarters; and $0.01M in cash to cover $0.34M in current liabilities at the end of last August. Then again, the recent financing deal could get things moving for Quantum Energy next year.

    1st NRG Corp (OTCMKTS: FNRC) Gives a Drilling and Production Update

    Small cap 1st NRG Corp is an exploration and production company currently developing and producing coal bed methane reserves (CBM) in Wyoming. On Friday, 1st NRG Corp fell 25% to $0.0003 for a market cap of $5.02 million plus FNRC is down 97.1% since the start of the year and down 99.8% since July 2010 according to Google Finance.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: Hi Crush Partners LP (HCLP)

Hi Crush Partners LP, formerly Hi-Crush Partners LP, is a domestic producer of monocrystalline sand, a specialized mineral that is used as a proppant to enhance the recovery rates of hydrocarbons from oil and natural gas wells. The Company reserves consist of Northern White sand, a resource existing in Wisconsin and limited portions of the upper Midwest region of the United States. It owns, operates and develops sand reserves and related excavation and processing facilities and will seek to acquire or develop additional facilities. The Company's 561-acre facility with integrated rail infrastructure, located near Wyeville, Wisconsin, enables it to process and deliver approximately 1,600,000 tons of frac sand per year. In June 2013, Hi Crush Partners LP announced the completion of its acquisition of D&I Silica, LLC (D&I).

The Company�� frac sand production is sold to investment grade-rated pressure pumping service providers under long-term, contracts that require its customers to pay a specified price for a specified volume of frac sand each month. The Company owns and operates the Wyeville facility, which is located in Monroe County, Wisconsin and, as of December 31, 2011, contained 48.4 million tons of proven recoverable sand reserves of mesh sizes it has contracted to sell. From the Wyeville in-service date to March 31, 2012, it had processed and sold 555,250 tons of frac sand.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alex Planes]

    Hi-Crush Partners (NYSE: HCLP  ) and U.S. Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA  ) could also pose a threat to CARBO's higher-end products. CARBO has worked feverishly to convince drillers that ceramic proppants are much stronger than sand, and can withstand the high temperatures and pressures of deep, fractured wells. Since Hi-Crush's IPO, however, it does appear that the tide has shifted to sand, as Carbo's revenues have declined�while Hi-Crush and U.S. Silica have gained. Increased competition from a number of Chinese companies that have flooded the domestic market with cheap ceramic proppants is also a danger to CARBO's higher-quality products, provided that the cut-rate ceramics are actually up to the task.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Yesterday, small cap fracking stock CARBO Ceramics Inc (NYSE: CRR) surged 28.32% after reporting earnings while fracking peer U.S. Silica Holdings Inc (NYSE: SLCA) jumped 9.50% and Hi-Crush Partners LP (NYSE: HCLP) rose 3.20%���no doubt on positive sentiment. However, are investors missing anything with CARBO Ceramics and�is it too late to get in on the action there?

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: National Fuel Gas Company(NFG)

National Fuel Gas Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Utility, Pipeline and Storage, Exploration and Production, and Energy Marketing. The Utility segment sells natural gas or provides natural gas transportation services to approximately 727,000 customers in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Jamestown, New York; and Erie and Sharon, Pennsylvania. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services for affiliated and nonaffiliated companies through an integrated gas pipeline system; and 27 underground natural gas storage fields, as well as 4 other underground natural gas storage fields owned and operated jointly with other interstate gas pipeline companies. This segment also transports natural gas for industrial customers and power producers in New York State. It owns the Empire Pipeline, a 157-mile pipeline; and the Empire Connector, which is a 76-mile pipeline extension. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration for, and the development and purchase of natural gas and oil reserves in California, in the Appalachian region of the United States, and in the Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana. As of September 30, 2009, this segment had proved developed and undeveloped reserves of 46,587 thousand barrels of oil and 248,954 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. The Energy Marketing segment markets natural gas to industrial, wholesale, commercial, public authority, and residential customers primarily in western and central New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. The company also develops and operates mid-range independent power production and landfill gas electric generation facilities. National Fuel Gas Company was founded in 1902 and is based in Williamsville, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    National Fuel Gas (NYSE: NFG  ) is hewing tightly to tradition with its upcoming shareholder payout. The company has declared a bump in its quarterly dividend, to $0.375 per share. This will be dispensed on July 15 to shareholders of record as of June 28. That amount is 2.7% higher than the firm's previous four distributions of $0.365 apiece, the most recent of which was paid in April. Prior to that, National Fuel Gas handed out $0.355 per share.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Utilities sector was the leading decliner in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS) was down more than 3.5 percent, while National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) tumbled around 2.6 percent.

  • [By Canadian Value]

    - National Fuel Gas (NFG) for its great land position in the Marcellus shale play. He expects NFG to spin out its utility division and maybe do a joint venture on its big land position.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Thursday

    Earnings Expected From: UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: UTIW), Renesola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), Kroger Company (NYSE: KR), Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG), Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Economic Releases Expected: US factory orders, French unemployment rate, Bank of England interest rate decision, US GDP

    Friday

  • [By Travis Hoium]

    There will be winners, though. Shares of polysilicon maker Renewable Energy fell 7% in trading immediately after the announcement because the company will likely see either lower prices or lower demand. But shares of GCL Poly, who manufactures in China and is the biggest polysilicon maker in the world, jumped 4% on Friday after the news was announced.�Renesola� (NYSE: SOL  ) and LDK Solar� (NYSE: LDK  ) also have lots of unused polysilicon capacity that will likely experience more demand because of the move. The question is if they have sufficient quality to supply the industry.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: Crestwood Equity Partners LP (CEQP)

Crestwood Equity Partners LP, incorporated on March 7, 2001, is a master limited partnership. The Company owns the general partner interest (including the distribution rights) and an approximate 4% limited partner interest of Crestwood Midstream.

In addition, the Company's operations include a natural gas storage business in Texas and a natural gas liquid (NGL) and crude oil supply and logistics business that serves customers in the United States and Canada. On October 7, 2013, Crestwood Midstream Partners LP merged into Inergy Midstream, L.P.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Aimee Duffy]

    With Kinder Morgan's acquisition of Copano Energy officially in the bag, all eyes are on the newest big deal in the midstream world: the merger of Crestwood Midstream Partners (NYSE: CMLP  ) and Inergy (NYSE: CEQP  ) . In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy takes a look at this $7 billion deal, and explains what the ownership structure looks like at the new, yet-to-be-named entity.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: IHS Inc. (IHS)

IHS Inc. (IHS), incorporated on May 5, 1994, is a source of information and insight in areas, such as energy and power; design and supply chain; defense, risk, and security; environment, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability; country and industry forecasting, and commodities, pricing, and cost. The Company is organized by geographies into three business segments: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America; EMEA, which includes Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and APAC (Asia Pacific). IHS sources data and transforms it into information and insight that businesses, Governments, and others use every day to make decisions. Its product development teams have also created Web services and application interfaces. These services allow its customers to integrate the Company�� information with other data, business processes and applications (computer-aided design, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and product data/lifecycle management). The Company develops its offerings based on its customers' workflows, and it sells and delivers them into the industries in which IHS�� customers operate. As of November 30, 2011, HIS focused on five customer workflows: strategy, planning, and analysis; energy technical; product engineering; supply chain, and EHS & sustainability. As of November 30, 2011, it was focused on six verticals: energy and natural resources; Government, defense and security; chemicals; transportation; manufacturing, and technology, media, and telecommunications. In March 2012, the Company acquired Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display industry; the Computer Assisted Product Selection (CAPSTM) electronic components database and tools business, including CAPS Expert, from PartMiner Worldwide, and the digital oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business from Hild Technology Services. In March 2012, the Company acquired IMS Research. In March 2012, the Company acquired BDW Automotive GmbH. I! n May 2012, it acquired Xedar Corporation, a developer and provider of geospatial information products and services. In July 2012, the Company acquired CyberRegs business from Citation Technologies, Inc. In July 2012, the Company acquired GlobalSpec, Inc. On April 16, 2011, IHS acquired ODS-Petrodata (Holdings) Ltd. ODS-Petrodata is a provider of data, information, and market intelligence to the offshore energy industry. On April 26, 2011, it acquired Dyadem International, Ltd. (Dyadem). Dyadem offers operational risk management and quality risk management solutions. On May 2, 2011, the Company acquired Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI). CMAI is a leading provider of market and business advisory services for the worldwide petrochemical, specialty chemicals, fertilizer, plastics, fibers, and chlor-alkali industries. On August 10, 2011, the Company acquired Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT). SMT offers Windows-based exploration and production software, and its solutions are used by geoscientists worldwide to evaluate potential reservoirs and plan field development. On November 10, 2011, it acquired Purvin & Gertz. Purvin & Gertz is a global advisory and market research firm that provides technical, commercial, and strategic advice to international clients in the petroleum refining, natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and petrochemical industries. Energy and Power IHS covers the technical and economic spectrum of energy and power. Detailed records and forecasts on oil, gas and coal supplies, combined with insights on traditional and emerging energy markets, help enable its customers to make decisions. Its offerings include production information on more than 90 % of the world's oil and gas production in more than 100 countries; oil and gas well data that includes geological information on more than four million current and historic wells worldwide; energy activity data that includes current and future seismic, drilling and development activities in more than 180 countries and 335 hydrocarbon-producing regions worldwide; information and research to develop unconventional hydrocarbon resources-shale gas, coal bed methane and heavy oil; knowledge of energy markets, strategies, industry trends, and companies; information and research summits, such as IHS CERAWeek and the IHS Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference, which offer decision makers the opportunity to interact with its experts, and critical information about analysis of coal, nuclear and renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with DrillingInfo, Inc., TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Accenture, Deloitte, Wood Mackenzie, Ltd., Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton, LMKR and Paradigm Ltd. Design and Supply Chain IHS Design and Supply Chain solutions provide information for customers that allow them to manage a product from conception to research and development to production, maintenance and disposal. It also provides companies access to specifications and standards. The Company�� offerings include market and technology research and analysis; standards management solutions, including more than 370 commercial and military standards and specification publishing organizations; advanced product design and process engineering; strategic product content and supply chain management; environmentally compliant product design; counterfeit part risk mitigation; product performance and cost optimization, and indirect parts and maintenance, repair, and operations logistics, inventory and cash flow optimization tables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with SAI Global and Thomson Reuters Corporation. Defense, Risk and Security IHS delivers open source intelligence in the areas of global defense, risk, and security, including maritime domain awareness. IHS offers open source intelligence solutions for military planners, national security analysts, and defense and maritime industry strategy and planning professionals. The Company�� offerings include military and national security assessments; defense equipment and technology information; defense budgets and procurement forecasting; defense industry trends and analysis; terrorism and insurgency analysis; global commercial ship identification and specifications; live tracking of commercial ship movements; shipping and shipbuilding markets and forecasts, and ports and port security information. The Company competes with McGraw-Hill, Gannett, Forecast International and Control Risks Group. EHS and Sustainability IHS EHS and Sustainability solutions support critical decisions around environmental, health and safety, operational risk, greenhouse gas and energy, product stewardship and corporate responsibility. The Company�� offerings include global and local software implementations; material compliance and lifecycle information content; strategic planning services in greenhouse gas management and cap-and-trade; compliance and verification expertise for local, regional, national, and international EHS and sustainability management system responsibilities, and risk management assessment across a range of industries. The Company competes with SAP and Verisk. Country and Industry Forecasting IHS delivers detailed forecasts and analysis of economic conditions within political, economic, legal, tax, operational, and security environments worldwide. Additionally, IHS provides forecasts, market-sizing, and risk assessments for a number of industries worldwide, including aerospace and defense, agriculture, automotive, chemicals, construction, consumer and retail, energy, finance, government, healthcare and pharmaceutical, military and security, mining and metals, commerce and transport, and telecommunications. Its offerings include in-depth analysis of the business conditions, economic prospects, and risks in more than 200 countries and more than 170 industries; security risk analysis and daily updates on both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and sovereign risk ratings in more than 200 countries; event-driven updates of its risk analysis and ratings; short-, medium- and long-term forecasts for business planning and decision making; historical information since 1970; Deep market intelligence for the automotive, agriculture, chemicals, construction, consumer goods, commerce and transport, energy, financial, healthcare and pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and steel industries; and scenario explorations examining alternative outcomes to the questions impacting global business. The Company competes with Economist Intelligence Unit and Moody's Corporation. Commodities, Pricing and Cost IHS offers information, forecasts, and analysis to help its customers understand the how, when, and what of commodity prices and labor costs. IHS analysts monitor and forecast more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs across the regions for sectors, including energy products, chemicals, steel, nonferrous metals, industrial machinery and equipment, electronic components, paper and packaging, transportation, and building materials. Its offerings include analysis and forecasts for more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs; market intelligence of drivers, assumptions, and risks relating to commodity and service prices; cost and price data with actionable insights; forecasts covering global spot market prices, wages, and material costs; advisory forums to assist in monitoring, forecasting, and managing power and energy portfolio project costs, and consulting capabilities that enable clients to source materials. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Paul Ausick]

    The dollar value of global merger & acquisition (M&A) transactions in the oil & gas industry plunged by nearly 50% in 2013 from a record high level in 2012. The transaction count fell by 20% led by a very sluggish first half of the year. The data was reported last Thursday by research firm IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).

  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including Family Dollar Stores�(NYSE: FDO), Micron Technology�(NASDAQ: MU), Constellation Brands�(NYSE: STZ),�IHS (NYSE: IHS), and Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC).

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Top Headline
    IHS (NYSE: IHS) reported an upbeat fourth-quarter profit.

    IHS projects FY14 subscription revenue to rise 6% to 7%. The company projects total revenue of $2.17 to $2.23 billion and an adjusted profit of $5.50 to $5.85 per share. However, analysts projected a profit of $5.58 per share on revenue of $2.2 billion.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Colorado-based IHS (NYSE: IHS  ) will be under new management soon. The business analytics provider announced Wednesday that current President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Key will take over the role of President and Chief Executive Officer from Jerre Stead on June 1.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: Western Gas Partners LP (WES)

Western Gas Partners, LP (the Partnership) is a master limited partnership (MLP) organized by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets. The Partnership operates in East and West Texas, the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming) and the Mid-Continent (Kansas and Oklahoma) and are engaged primarily in the business of gathering, processing, compressing, treating and transporting natural gas, condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil for Anadarko and third-party producers and customers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� assets consist of 11 gathering systems, seven natural gas treating facilities, seven natural gas processing facilities, one NGL pipeline, one interstate pipeline, and interests in a gas gathering system and a crude oil pipeline. Its assets are located in East and West Texas, the Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming), and the Mid-Continent (Kansas and Oklahoma). In August 2012, it has acquired an additional 24% membership interest in Chipeta Processing LLC from Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

On January 13, 2012, the Partnership completed the acquisition of Anadarko�� 100% ownership interest in Mountain Gas Resources, LLC, which owns the Red Desert Complex (Red Desert), a 22% interest in Rendezvous Gas Services, LLC (Rendezvous) and related facilities. Red Desert includes the Patrick Draw processing plant, the Red Desert processing plant, 1,295 miles of gathering lines and related facilities. Rendezvous owns a 338-mile mainline gathering system serving the Jonah and Pinedale Anticline fields in south-western Wyoming, which delivers gas to the Granger complex and other locations. In July 8, 2011, the Company acquired the Bison gas treating facility from Anadarko. In February 28, 2011, it acquired a natural gas gathering system and cryogenic gas processing facilities, collectively referred to as the Platte Valley assets, financed with borrowings under its revolving credit facility. On February 28,! 2011, Kerr-McGee Gathering LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Gas Partners, LP (the Partnership), acquired midstream assets from Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. These assets are located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, northeast of Denver, Colorado, and consist of an approximately 1,054-mile natural gas gathering system and related compression and other ancillary equipment, and gas processing facilities with current cryogenic capacity of 84 one million cubic feet per day.

Rocky Mountains

The Bison treating facility consists of three amine treaters with a combined treating capacity of 450 million cubic feet per day located in the north-eastern corner of Wyoming. The assets also include three compressors with a combined compression of 5,230 horsepower and five generators with combined power output of 6.5 megawatts. The Company operates and has a 100% working interest in the Bison assets, which provide carbon dioxide (CO2) treating services for the coal-bed methane gas gathered in the Powder River Basin. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Anadarko provided approximately 73% of the throughput at the Bison treating facility, and the remaining throughput was from one third-party producer. The Bison treating facility treats and compresses gas from the coal-bed methane wells in the Powder River Basin. The Bison Pipeline, operated by TransCanada, is connected directly to the facility, which is the only inlet into the pipeline. The Bison treating facility also has access to the Ft. Union and Thunder Creek pipelines.

The Company is the managing member of Chipeta, a limited liability company owned by the Partnership (51%), Ute Energy Midstream Holdings LLC (25%) and Anadarko (24%). The Chipeta complex includes a natural gas processing plant with two processing trains, the Natural Buttes plant, and a 100% Partnership-owned 17-mile natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline connecting the Chipeta plant to a third-party pipeline. The Chipeta assets has cryogenic and refrigeration ! processin! g capacity of 670 million cubic feet per day. These assets provide processing and transportation services in the Greater Natural Buttes area in Uintah County, Utah. During 2011, Chipeta began construction of a second cryogenic train at the Chipeta plant with processing capacity of approximately 300 million cubic feet per day. During 2011, Anadarko is a customer on the Chipeta system with approximately 94% of the system throughput. The Chipeta system has access to Anadarko and third-party production in the area with excess available capacity in the Uintah Basin. Anadarko controls approximately 217,000 gross acres in the Uintah Basin. Chipeta is connected to both Anadarko�� Natural Buttes gathering system and to the Three Rivers gathering system owned by Ute Energy and a third party. The Chipeta plant delivers NGLs through its 17-mile pipeline to the Mid-America Pipeline (MAPL), which provides transportation through the Seminole pipeline in West Texas and ultimately to the NGL markets at Mont Belvieu, Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast. The Chipeta plant has natural gas delivery points through the pipelines, which includes Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG), Questar Pipeline Company�� pipeline, and Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd.

The 47-mile Clawson gathering system, located in Carbon and Emery Counties of Utah, to provide gathering services for Anadarko�� coal-bed methane development of the Ferron Coal play. The Clawson gathering system provides gathering, dehydration, compression and treating services for coal-bed methane gas. The Clawson gathering system includes one compressor station, with 6,310 horsepower, and a CO2 treating facility. During 2011, Anadarko is the shipper on the Clawson gathering system with approximately 97% of the total throughput delivered into the system, and the remaining throughput on the system was from one third-party producer. Clawson Springs Field has approximately 7,000 gross acres and produces primarily from the Ferron Coal play. The Clawson gathering s! ystem del! ivers into Questar Transportation Services Company�� pipeline. The Fort Union system is a 324-mile gathering system operating within the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, starting in west central Campbell County and terminating at the Medicine Bow treating plant. The Fort Union gathering system consists of three parallel pipelines and includes CO2 treating facilities at the Medicine Bow plant. At CO2 levels, the system is capable of treating and blending over one billion cubic feet per day while satisfying the CO2 specifications of downstream pipelines. Fort Union Gas Gathering, LLC is a partnership among Copano Pipelines/Rocky Mountains, LLC (37.04%), Crestone Powder River LLC (37.04%), Bargath, Inc. (11.11%) and the Partnership (14.81%). Anadarko is the field and construction operator of the Fort Union gathering system. The NGLs have market access to Enterprise�� Mid-America Pipeline Company (MAPCO), which terminates at Mont Belvieu, Texas, as well as to local markets.

The 810-mile natural gas gathering system and gas processing facility is located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The Granger system includes eight field compression stations with 41,950 horsepower. The processing facility has a cryogenic capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day and refrigeration capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day with NGL fractionation. During 2011, Anadarko is the customer on the Granger system with approximately 54% of throughput, and the remaining throughput was primarily from five third-party shippers. The Granger system is supplied by the Moxa Arch, the Jonah field and the Pinedale anticline across, which Anadarko controls approximately 568,000 gross acres. The Granger gas gathering system has approximately 690 receipt points. The residue gas from the Granger system can be delivered to the pipelines, which includes CIG, Kern River and Mountain Gas Transportation, Inc (MGTI) pipelines through a connect with Rendezvous Pipeline Company, Northwest Pipeline Co (NWPL), Overthrust Pipeline OTTCO, a! nd Questa! r Gas Management Company (QGM).

The 67-mile Helper gathering system, located in Carbon County, Utah, built to provide gathering services for Anadarko�� coal-bed methane development of the Ferron Coal play. The Helper gathering system provides gathering, dehydration, compression and treating services for coal-bed methane gas. The Helper gathering system includes two compressor stations with a combined 14,075 horsepower and two CO2 treating facilities. Anadarko is the shipper on the Helper gathering system. The Helper Field and Cardinal Draw Fields are Anadarko-operated coal-bed methane developments on the south-western edge of the Uintah Basin that produce from the Ferron Coal play. The Helper Field covers approximately 19,000 acres as of December 31, 2011 and Cardinal Draw Field, which lies immediately to the east of Helper Field, also covers approximately 20,000 acres. The Helper gathering system delivers into the Questar Transportation Services Company�� pipeline. Questar provides transportation to regional markets in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah and also delivers into the Kern River Pipeline, which provides transportation to markets in the western United States, primarily California.

The 1,056-mile Hilight gathering system, located in Johnson, Campbell, Natrona and Converse Counties of Wyoming, built to provide low and high-pressure gathering services for the area�� conventional gas production and delivers to the Hilight plant for processing. The Hilight gathering system has 11 compressor stations with 32,263 combined horsepower. The Hilight system has a capacity of approximately 30 million cubic feet per day and utilizes a refrigeration process and provides for fractionation of the recovered NGL products into propane, butanes and natural gasoline. Gas gathered and processed through the Hilight system is from numerous third-party customers, with the nine producers providing approximately 75% of the system throughput during 2011. The Hilight gathering system serves the g! as gather! ing needs of several conventional producing fields in Johnson, Campbell, Natrona and Converse Counties. The Hilight plant delivers residue gas into its MIGC transmission line.

The MIGC system is a 256-mile interstate pipeline regulated by FERC and operating within the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The MIGC system traverses the Powder River Basin from north to south, extending to Glenrock, Wyoming. The MIGC system is well positioned to provide transportation for the natural gas volumes received from various coal-bed methane gathering systems and conventional gas processing plants throughout the Powder River Basin. MIGC offers both forward-haul and backhaul transportation services and is certificated for 175 million cubic feet per day of firm transportation capacity. During 2011, Anadarko is the firm shipper on the MIGC system, with approximately 86% of throughput, with the remaining throughput from 11 third-party shippers. As of December 31, 2011, Anadarko has a working interest in over 1.7 million gross acres within the Powder River Basin. Anadarko�� gross acreage includes substantial undeveloped acreage positions in the expanding Big George coal play and the multiple seam coal fairway to the north of the Big George play. MIGC volumes are redelivered to the Glenrock, Wyoming Hub, which accesses the interstate pipelines, which includes CIG, Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transportation Company, Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Company, and Wyoming Interstate Gas Company. Volumes are also delivered to Anadarko�� MGTC, Inc. (MGTC) intrastate pipeline, a Hinshaw pipeline that supplies local markets in Wyoming.

The 179-mile Newcastle gathering system, located in Weston and Niobrara Counties of Wyoming, was built to provide gathering services for conventional gas production in the area. The gathering system delivers into the Newcastle plant, which has gross capacity of approximately two million cubic feet per day. The plant utilizes a refrigeration process and provides for frac! tionation! of the recovered NGLs into propane and butane/gasoline mix products. The Newcastle facility is a joint venture among Black Hills Exploration and Production, Inc. (44.7%), John Paulson (5.3%) and the Partnership (50.0%). The Newcastle gathering system includes one compressor station with 560 horsepower. The Newcastle plant has an additional 2,100 horsepower for refrigeration and residue compression. Gas gathered and processed through the Newcastle system is from 12 third-party customers, with the four producers providing approximately 92% of the system throughput during 2011. The producer, Black Hills Exploration, provided approximately 62% of the throughput during 2011. The Newcastle gathering system and plant primarily service gas production from the Clareton and Finn-Shurley fields in Weston County. Propane products from the Newcastle plant are typically sold locally by truck, and the butane/gasoline mix products are transported to the Hilight plant for further fractionation. Residue gas from the Newcastle system is delivered into Anadarko�� MGTC pipeline for transport, distribution and sale.

The Platte Valley system, located in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, consists of a processing plant with current cryogenic capacity of 100 million cubic feet per day, two fractionation trains, a 1,099-mile natural gas gathering system and related equipment. The Platte Valley gathering system has 13 compressor stations with a combined 17,011 of operating horsepower. During 2011, approximately 8% of the Platte Valley system throughput was from Anadarko and the remaining throughput was from various third-party customers, the EnCana Corporation. There are 713 receipt points connected to the Platte Valley gathering system as of December 31, 2011. The system is connected to its Wattenberg gathering system. The Platte Valley system is primarily supplied by the Wattenberg field and covers portions of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Elbert, and Weld Counties, Colorado. The Platte Valley system de! livers NG! Ls through the pipelines, which includes local markets, ONEOK Overland Pass Pipeline, and the Wattenberg Pipeline owned and operated by DCP Midstream (formerly the Buckeye Pipeline). In addition, the Platte Valley system can deliver to the CIG and Xcel Energy residue gas pipelines.

The Wattenberg gathering system is a 1,781-mile wet gas gathering system in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, north and east of Denver, Colorado, and includes six compressor stations and combined 72,579 of operating horsepower. The Fort Lupton processing plant has two trains with combined processing capacity of 105 million cubic feet per day. During 2011, Anadarko-operated production represented approximately 66% of system throughput. Approximately 29% of Wattenberg system throughput was from two third-party producers and the remaining throughput was from various third-party customers. There are 2,129 receipt points and over 5,900 wells connected to the gathering system as of December 31, 2011. The Wattenberg gathering system is primarily supplied by the Wattenberg field and covers portions of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield and Weld counties. Anadarko controls approximately 762,000 gross acres in the Wattenberg field. Anadarko drilled 472 wells and completed 2,090 fracs at the Wattenberg field during 2011, and had identified 1,200 to 2,700 opportunities to increase production, including new well locations, re-fracs and recompletions. The Wattenberg gathering system has five delivery points, with the primary delivery points, which includes Anadarko�� Wattenberg processing plant, Fort Lupton processing plant, and Platte Valley processing plant.

The White Cliffs pipeline consists of a 526-mile crude oil pipeline that originates in Platteville, Colorado and terminates in Cushing, Oklahoma. It has an approximate capacity of 80,000 barrels per day. At the point of origin, it has a 100,000-barrel storage facility and a truck-loading facility with an additional 220,000 barrels of storage. The pipeline is a! joint ve! nture owned by SemCrude Pipeline LP (51%), Plains Pipeline LP (34%), Noble Energy, Inc. (5%) and the Partnership (10%). The White Cliffs pipeline has two throughput contracts with Anadarko and Noble Energy. During 2011, Anadarko was the shipper on the White Cliffs pipeline. The White Cliffs pipeline is supplied by production from the Denver-Julesburg Basin and is the only direct route from the Denver-Julesburg Basin to Cushing, Oklahoma. The White Cliffs pipeline delivery point is SemCrude�� storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, a major crude oil marketing center, which ultimately delivers to the mid-continent refineries.

Mid-Continent

The 1,953-mile Hugoton gathering system provides gathering service to the Hugoton field and is primarily located in Seward, Stevens, Grant and Morton Counties of Southwest Kansas and Texas County in Oklahoma. The Hugoton gathering system has 44 compressor stations with a combined 92,097 horsepower of compression. Anadarko is the customer on the Hugoton gathering system with approximately 76% of the system throughput, during 2011. During 2011, approximately 19% of the throughput on the Hugoton system was from one third-party shipper with the balance from various other third-party shippers. The Hugoton field is a natural gas fields in North America. The Hugoton gathering system is connected to DCP Midstream�� National Helium plant, which extracts NGLs and helium and delivers residue gas into the Panhandle Eastern pipeline. The system is also connected to the Satanta plant, which is owned by Pioneer Natural Resources Corporation (51%) and Anadarko (49%), for NGLs and helium processing and delivers residue gas into Kansas Gas Services and Southern Star pipeline.

East Texas

The 323-mile Dew gathering system is located in Anderson, Freestone, Leon and Robertson Counties of East Texas. The Dew gathering system has 10 compressor stations with a combined 36,175 horsepower of compression. Anadarko is the only shipper on the ! Dew gathe! ring system. As of December 31, 2011, Anadarko has approximately 833 producing wells in the Bossier play and controls approximately 122,000 gross acres in the area. The Dew gathering system has delivery points with Pinnacle Gas Treating LLC, which is the primary delivery point and is described in more detail below, and Kinder Morgan�� Tejas pipeline.

The Pinnacle gathering system includes the Partnership�� 266-mile Pinnacle gathering system and its Bethel treating plant. The Pinnacle system provides sour gas gathering and treating service in Anderson, Freestone, Leon, Limestone and Robertson Counties of East Texas. The Bethel treating plant, located in Anderson County, has total CO2 treating capacity of 502 million cubic feet per day and 20 long tons per day of sulfur treating capacity. During 2011, Anadarko was shipper on the Pinnacle gathering system with approximately 90% of system throughput and the remaining throughput on the system was from four third-party shippers. The Pinnacle gathering system provide gathering and treating services to the five-county area over, which it extends, including the Cotton Valley Lime formations, which contain concentrations of sulfur and CO2. The Pinnacle gathering system is connected to Atmos Texas pipeline, Enbridge Pipelines (East Texas) LP pipeline, Energy Transfer Fuels pipeline, Enterprise Texas Pipeline, LP�� pipeline, ETC Texas Pipeline, Ltd pipeline, and Kinder Morgan�� Tejas pipeline. These pipelines provide transportation to the Carthage, Waha and Houston Ship Channel market hubs in Texas.

West Texas

The 118-mile Haley gathering system provides gathering and dehydration services in Loving County, Texas and gathers a portion of Anadarko�� production from the Delaware Basin. During 2011, Anadarko�� production represented approximately 69% of the Haley gathering system�� throughput, and the remaining throughput is attributable to Anadarko�� partner in the Haley area. As of December 31, 2011, in the great! er Delawa! re basin, Anadarko has access to approximately 355,000 gross acres, is a portion of which is gathered by the Haley gathering system. The Haley gathering system has multiple delivery points. The primary delivery points are to the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline or the Enterprise GC, LP pipeline for delivery into Energy Transfer�� Oasis pipeline. It also delivers into Southern Union Energy Services��pipeline for further delivery into the Oasis pipeline. The pipelines at these delivery points provide transportation to both the Waha and Houston Ship Channel markets.

The Company competes with QEP Field Services Company, El Paso Midstream Group, Inc., XTO Energy, ETC Texas Pipeline, Ltd, Enbridge Pipelines (East Texas) LP, Kinder Morgan Tejas Pipeline, LP, MIGC, Thunder Creek Gas Services, Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Company, TransCanada, Williams Field Services, Enterprise Gas Processing, LLC, Jonah Gas Gathering Company, QEP Field Services Company, Anadarko�� Delaware Basin JV Gathering LLC, Enterprise GC, LP, Targa Midstream Services LLC, Southern Union Energy Services Company, DCP Midstream, Merit Energy, ONEOK Gas Gathering Company, Pioneer Natural Resources and AKA Energy.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By David Fickling]

    Wesfarmers Ltd. (WES), Australia�� largest private-sector employer, fell the most in more than two years in Sydney trading after it said earnings from its Target department stores would drop as much as 43 percent from a year earlier.

10 Best Energy Stocks To Watch For 2014: Athabasca Oil Corp (ATHOF.PK)

Athabasca Oil Corporation, formerly Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., is focused on the exploration and development of unconventional oil resource plays in Alberta, Canada. The Company is organized into two divisions: thermal oil and light oil. Thermal oil includes the Company�� assets, liabilities and operating results for the exploration, development and production of bitumen from sand and carbonate rock formations located in the Athabasca region of Northern Alberta. Light oil includes the Company�� assets, liabilities and operating results for the exploration, development and production of unconventional oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids located in various regions in the province of Alberta. Athabasca has accumulated more than 1.5 million (net) acres of oil sands leases in the Athabasca area of northern Alberta. The Company�� oil sands projects are Hangingstone (100%), Dover West Sands (100%), Dover West Carbonates (100%), Dover (40%), Birch (100%) and Grosmont (50%). Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephan Dube]

    Athabasca's most notable producers:

    Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

    An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.