Small Cap Business Intelligence Stocks Looking Like a Smart Portfolio Addition: MSTR, BIRT & QLIK

Yesterday, small cap business intelligence stock MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR) surged 18.44% after reporting better-than-expected third quarter earnings – meaning it might be a good idea to take a closer look at it along with small cap peers Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: BIRT) and Qlik Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: QLIK) to see what they might offer small cap investors. After all, everyone is being inundated with huge amounts of data from multiple sources, but its the following small cap stocks that provide software platforms to help customers try to make sense of it all: 

MicroStrategy Incorporated. Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy Incorporated calls itself a leading worldwide provider of enterprise software platforms that provide the most flexible, powerful, scalable and user-friendly platforms for analytics, mobile, identity and loyalty — either on premises or in the cloud. With operations in 26 countries worldwide, MicroStrategy Incorporated serves millions of business users at nearly 4,000 companies across 20 industries around the world. On Monday after the market closed, MicroStrategy Incorporated reported a 4% revenue increase to $141.9 million, a 6% product license revenue increase $33.8 million and a 4% product support and other services revenue increase to $108.2 million. However and what really blew investors away was the massive expectations beat on net income as the company reported $17.1 million (or $1.52 per share on a diluted basis) verses net income of $4.8 million (or $0.43 per share on a diluted basis). A closer look though reveals the net income boost came from a $12.7 million release of liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits; but even with the tax benefit, MicroStrategy Incorporated still soundly beat earnings expectations for the bottom line. It should also be noted that earlier this month, MicroStrategy Incorporated unveiled its new MicroStrategy Analytics Platform, a comprehensive family of powerful, easy-to-use analytics solutions that is the company's most important new software release in years which it says is the culmination of over two decades of innovation in analytics and business intelligence. On Tuesday, MicroStrategy Incorporated rose 18.44% to $119.17 (MSTR has a 52 week trading range of $82.72 to $120.77 a share) for a market cap of $1.35 billion plus the stock is up 27.4% since the start of the year, up 8.5% over the past year and up 193.7% over the past five years.

Actuate Corporation. The founder and co-leader of the BIRT open source project, which is used by more than 2.5 million developers around the globe and serves as the foundation of Actuate Corporation's commercial offerings, applications built with BIRT and BIRT iHub deliver "more business and consumer insights to more people than all BI companies combined." Actuate Corporation has over 5,000 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas that include financial services, technology and the public sector. Early last August, Actuate Corporation announced a twelve month $40 million share repurchase program thanks to the "continued solid performance associated with Actuate's BIRT and BIRT iHub business, as well as management's confidence in the future of this business." The last time Actuate Corporation reported earnings, it had reported $34.9 million in revenue verses $36.2 million; license revenues of $16.2 million as compared to $15.7 million; and service revenues of $18.7 million verses $20.5 million reported (it should be noted that the fiscal first quarter of 2013 marked the end of the quarterly revenue stream from the Company's June 2010 settlement agreement with Oracle which involved the recognition of $1.3 million in revenues for each quarter from Oracle). Non-GAAP net income came in at $4.4 million verses non-GAAP net income of $6.3 million for the same period last year and the CEO noted:

"Continued solid double digit growth of total BIRT iHub-based business and iHub-based license business provides momentum for Actuate. In addition, we are seeing solid momentum for BIRT Analytics less than a year after its acquisition."

Otherwise, Actuate Corporation is scheduled to report third quarter 2013 financial results on Tuesday, November 5. On Tuesday, Actuate Corporation rose 0.63% to $8.04 (BIRT has a 52 week trading range of $4.97 to $8.23 a share) for a market cap of $385.43 million plus the stock is up 46.2% since the start of the year, up 25.8% over the past year and up 240.7% over the past five years.

Qlik Technologies Inc. Founded in Sweden in 1993, Qlik Technologies is the company behind QlikView, a leading Business Discovery platform that delivers user-driven business intelligence to more than 29,000 customers in 100 countries. Late last week, Qlik Technologies was sinking after third-quarter revenue came in lower than analysts had expected and after the company cut its guidance for full-year revenue and profit. Specifically, Qlik Technologies reported a 21% revenue increase to $104.1 million as license revenue increased 12% to $54.5 million, but there was also a weaker than expected performance in Europe and Asia Pacific. Net income came in at $3 million (or 3 cents per share) - up from $151,000 (or break-even per share) a year earlier. The CEO noted:

"We continued to advance further into the enterprise space as reflected by the increase in large deals that we closed, and our view of the long-term market opportunity is unchanged. However, our continued success in attracting enterprise-level sales opportunities is adding complexity to our overall sales process, which needs to be better aligned with the market dynamics we are experiencing. We are taking action to bring more discipline to the management of our growing pipeline, and we expect these changes to take some time to fully impact our results, which is reflected in our fourth quarter guidance."

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However, Pacific Crest pointed out Qlik Technologies' sales in the Americas jumped 35% last quarter and sees strong evidence that its positive thesis on the company remains intact. Moreover, Pacific Crest thinks that the company can be acquired. On Tuesday, Qlik Technologies fell 1.70% to $26.06 (QLIK has a 52 week trading range of $16.71 to $37.56 a share) for a market cap of $2.29 billion plus the stock is up 21.7% since the start of the year, up 39.2% over the past year and up 103.6% over the past five years.

With that in mind, it should also be mentioned that MicroStrategy Incorporated has a trailing P/E of 21.31 and a forward P/E of 58.70; Actuate Corporation has a trailing P/E of 75.14 and a forward P/E of 17.87; and Qlik Technologies has no trailing P/E and a forward P/E of 62.05.

Finally, here is a look at the performance of all three small cap business intelligence stocks:

As you can see from the above chart, all three small cap business intelligence stocks have put in a pretty respectable performance for investors over the long term.

Apple’s Share Slipped as 251 Million Smartphones Shipped in Third Quarter

Global shipments of smartphones grew 45% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2013 to a record 251 million units. The quarter also marks the first time total shipments topped a quarter billion.

Samsung Electronics topped the list with a record 88.4 million units shipped and a record 35% market share. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which reported earnings earlier Monday afternoon, reported sales of 33.8 million units and market share of 13%. Huawei Technologies shipped 12.7 million units to retain the third largest share of the market with a 5% share.

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Both Samsung and Huawei market share in the quarter compared with the same quarter in 2012. Apple's share slipped from nearly 16% a year ago to 13% this year. Apple's volume grew by 26% year-over-year, while Samsung's shipment volume rose by 55% and Huawei's volume grew 67%.

The data comes from research firm Strategy Analytics' Wireless Smartphone Strategies service and is published on the company's blog.

The only other companies named in the results were LG Electronics and Lenovo. Once-powerful industry leaders Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) are lumped together in the "Others" category. Neither has a market share above Lenovo's 4.3%.

The following chart from Strategy Analytics tells the tale:

New York Post Rumors, The Dark Side And The FOMC

This was an interesting week.

It started with the always interesting CEO of Overstock.com (OSTK) congratulating Steve Cohen, the CEO of SAC Capital, on his SEC indictment and invoking a reference to Star Wars to describe Cohen's darkness, at least in Patrick Byrne's estimations.

It ended with The New York Post, a one time legitimate newspaper suggesting that J.C. Penney (JCP) had lost the support of CIT (CIT), the largest commercial lender in the apparel industry, which is lead by the charisma challenged past CEO of The NYSE (NYX) and Merrill Lynch, who reportedly knows credit risk as much as he knows outrageously expensive waiting room and office furniture.

The problem is that if CIT isn't willing to float the money to vendors who supply J.C. Penney, its wares won't find their way into stores. Consumers like their shopping trips to take place in stores that actually have merchandise.

At about 3:18 p.m. ET, the carnage on J.C. Penney's stock began, taking it from a gain for the day to a deep loss on very heavy volume, approximately triple that of most other days.

Lots of people lost lots of money as they fled for the doors in that 42-minute span, despite the recent stamp of approval that George Soros gave to J.C. Penney shares. His money may not have been smart enough in the face of yellow journalism fear-induced selling.

The very next morning a J.C. Penney spokesperson called the New York Post article "untrue." It would have helped if someone from CIT chimed in and set the record straight. While the volume following the denial was equally heavy, very little of the damage was undone. As an owner of shares, Thane's charisma would have taken an incredible jump had he added clarity to the situation.

So someone is lying, but it's very unlikely that there will ever be a price to be paid for having done so.! Clearly, either the New York Post is correct or J.C. Penney is correct, but only the New York Post can hide behind journalistic license. In fact, it would be wholly irresponsible to accuse the article of promoting lies -- rather, it may have recklessly published unfounded rumors.

By the same token, if the J.C. Penney response misrepresents the reality and is the basis by which individuals chose not to liquidate holdings, the word "criminal" comes to my mind. I suppose that J.C. Penney could decide to create a "Prison within a Store" concept, if absolutely necessary, so that everyday activities aren't interrupted.

For the conspiracy-minded, the publication of an article in a "reputable" newspaper in the final hour of trading, using the traditional "unnamed sources" is problematic and certainly invokes thoughts of the very short sellers demonized by Patrick Byrne in years past.

Oh, and in between was the release of the FOMC meeting minutes, which produced a big yawn, as was widely expected.

I certainly am not one to suggest that Patrick Byrne has been a fountain of rational thought, however, it does seem that the SEC could do a better job in allaying investor concerns about an unlevel playing field or attempts to manipulate markets. Equally important is a need to publicly address concerns that arise related to unusual trading activity in certain markets, particularly options, that seem to occur in advance of what would otherwise be unforeseen circumstances. Timing and magnitude may in and of themselves not indicate wrongdoing, but they may warrant acknowledgement for an investing public wary of the process. A jury victory against Fabrice Tourre for fraud is not the sort of thing that the public is really looking for to reinforce confidence in the process, as most have little to no direct interaction with Goldman Sachs (GS). They are far more concerned with mundane issues that seem to occur with frequency.

Perhaps the answer is not clos! er scruti! ny and prosecution of more than just high profile individuals. Perhaps the answer is to let anyone say anything and on any medium, reserving the truth for earnings and other SEC mandated filings. Let the rumors flow wildly, let CEOs speak off the top of their heads even during "quiet periods" and let the investor beware. By still demanding truth in filings, we would still be at least one step ahead of China.

My guess is that with a deluge of potential misinformation, we will learn to simply block it all out of our own consciousness and ignore the need to have reflexive reaction due to fear or fear of missing out. In a world of rampantly flying rumors, the appearance of an online New York Post article would likely not have outsized impact.

Who knows, that might even prompt a return to the assessment of fundamentals and maybe even return us to a day when paradoxical thought processes no longer are used to interpret data, such that good news is actually finally interpreted as good news.

I conveniently left out the monthly Employment Situation Report that really ended the week, but as with ADP and the FOMC, expectations had already been set and reaction was muted when no surprises were in store. The real surprise was the lack of reaction to mildly disappointing numbers, perhaps indicating that we're over the fear of the known.

As usual, the week's potential stock selections are classified as being in Traditional, Double Dip Dividend, Momentum or "PEE" categories. (see details).

One of last week's earnings related selections played true to form and dropped decidedly after earnings were released. Coach (COH) rarely disappoints in its ability to display significant moves in either direction after earnings and in this case, the disappointment was just shy of the $52.50 strike price at which I had sold weekly puts. However, with the week now done and at its new lower price, I think Coach represents a good entry point for new shares. With its newest competitor, at! least in! the hearts of stock investors, Michael Kors (KORS) reporting earnings this week, there is a chance that Coach may drop if Kors reports better than expected numbers, as the expectation will be that it had done so at Coach's expense. For that reason, I might consider waiting until Tuesday morning before deciding whether to add Coach to the portfolio.

Although I currently own two higher priced lots of its shares, I purchased additional shares of Mosaic (MOS) after the plunge last week when perhaps the least known cartel in the world was poised for a break-up. While most people understand that the first rule of Cartel Club is that no one leaves Cartel Club, apparently that came as news to at least one member. The shares that I purchased last week were assigned, but I believe that there is still quite a bit near-term upside at these depressed prices. While theories abound, such as decreased fertilizer prices will lead to more purchases of heavy machinery, I'll stick to the belief that lower fertilizer prices will lead to greater fertilizer sales and more revenue than current models might suggest.

Barclays (BCS) is emblematic of what US banks went through a few years ago. The European continent is coming to grips with the realization that greater capitalization of its banking system is needed. Barclays got punished twice last week. First for suggesting that it might initiate a secondary offering to raise cash and then actually releasing the news of an offering far larger than most had expected. Those bits of bad news may be good news for those that missed the very recent run from these same levels to nearly $20. Shares will also pay a modest dividend during the August 2013 option cycle, but not enough to chase shares just for the dividend.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) released its earnings this past Thursday and the market found nothing to commend. On the other hand, the price drop was appealing to me, as it's not every day that you see a 5% price drop in a company of this caliber. For your tr! oubles it! is also likely to be ex-dividend during the August 2013 option cycle. While there is still perhaps 8% downside to meet its 2 year low, I don't think that will be terribly likely in the near term. Big oil has a way of thriving, especially if we're at the brink of economic expansion.

Safeway (SWY) recently announced the divestiture of its Canadian holdings. As it did so, shares surged wildly in the after hours. I remember that because it was one of the stocks that I was planning to recommend for the coming week and then thought that it was a missed opportunity. However, by the time the market opened the next morning, most of the gains evaporated and its shares remained a Double Dip Dividend selection. While its shares are a bit higher than where I most recently had been assigned, it still appears to be a good value proposition.

Baxter International (BAX) recently beat earnings estimates, but wasn't shown too much love from investors for its efforts. I look at it as an opportunity to repurchase shares at a price lower than I would have expected, although still higher than the $70 at which my most recent shares were assigned. In this case, with a dividend due early in September, I might consider a September 17, 2013 option contract, even though weekly and extended weekly options are available.

I currently own shares of Pfizer (PFE), Abbott Labs (ABT) and Eli Lilly (LLY) in addition to Merck (MRK), so I tread a little gingerly when considering adding either more shares of Merck or a new position in Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), while I keep an eye of the need to remain diversified. Both of those, however, have traded well in their current price range and offer the kind of premium, dividend opportunity and liquidity that I like to see when considering covered call related purchases. As with Baxter, in the case of Merck I might consider selling September options because of the upcoming dividend.

Of course, to balance all of those wonderful healthcare related stocks, following its recent ! price wea! kness, I may be ready to add more shares of Lorillard (LO), which have recently shown some weakness. The last time its shares showed some weakness, I decided to sell longer-term call contracts that currently expire in September and also allow greater chance of also capturing a very healthy dividend. As with some other selections this month, the September contract may have additional appeal due to the dividend and offers a way to collect a reasonable premium and perhaps some capital gains while counting the days.

Finally, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) is a repeat of last week's earnings related selection. I did not sell puts in anticipation of the August 7, 2013 earnings report as I thought that I might, instead selecting Coach and Riverbed Technology (RVBD) as earnings related trades. Inexplicably, Green Mountain shares rose even higher during the past week, which would have been ideal in the event of a put sale.

However, it's still not to late to look for a strike price that is beyond the 13% implied move and yet offers a meaningful premium. I think that "sweet spot" exists at the $62.50 strike level for the weekly put option. Even with a 20% drop, the sale of puts at that level can return 1.1% for the week.

The announcement on Friday afternoon that the SEC was charging a former Green Mountain low level employee with insider trading violations was at least a nice cap to the week, especially if there's a lot more to come.

Traditional Stocks: Barclays, Baxter International, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lorillard, Merck, Royal Dutch Shell, Safeway

Momentum Stocks: Coach, Mosaic

Double Dip Dividend: Barclays (ex-div 8/7)

Premiums Enhanced by Earnings: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (8/7 PM)

Remember, these are just guidelines for the coming week. The above selections may be become actionable, most often coupling a share purchase with call option sales or the sale of covered put contracts, in adjustment to and consideration of market movements. The ! over-ridi! ng objective is to create a healthy income stream for the week with reduction of trading risk.

Source: New York Post Rumors, The Dark Side And The FOMC

Disclosure: I am long ABT, BCS, JCP, LLY, LO, MOS, MRK, PFE, RVBD, and I may buy, add shares or sell puts in BAX, BCS, BMY, COH, GMCR, LO, MOS, MRK, RDS.A and SWY. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Additional disclosure:

European Stocks Advance as Volvo, EasyJet Shares Jump

European stocks rose to an almost eight-week high as data signaled Germany is leading a revival in euro-area manufacturing and companies posted results that exceeded estimates.

Volvo AB (VOLVB) advanced the most in 10 months after the world's second-largest truckmaker reported second-quarter earnings that beat forecasts. EasyJet climbed 3.7 percent after saying quarterly sales rose 11 percent on higher capacity utilization and revenue per seat. Syngenta (SYNN) AG fell 4 percent after posting first-half profit and revenue that trailed forecasts.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.6 percent to 301.1 in London, the highest close since May 30. The benchmark pared earlier gains of as much as 1 percent. The index has rebounded 9.2 percent from this year's low on June 24 as central banks around the world pledged to continue stimulus measures.

"I've been positively surprised by the earnings season so far," said Michael Woischneck, who helps oversee about $9.3 billion at Lampe Asset Management in Dusseldorf, Germany. "Companies are holding up quite well and guidance from CEOs seem to show they are confident with their road maps ahead. I'm not saying I expect the next big boom in Europe, but there are signs that the economy is not getting worse."

National benchmark indexes climbed in all 18 western European markets today, except Greece. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent, while Germany's DAX gained 0.8 percent and France's CAC 40 rose 1 percent.

Manufacturing Revival

Preliminary data today showed euro-area manufacturing is expanding this month for the first time since July 2011. A manufacturing index based on a survey of purchasing managers increased to 50.1 from 48.8 in June, Markit Economics said. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted 49.1. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

In Germany, manufacturing unexpectedly expanded in July and services growth accelerated.

A U.S. report showed sales of new houses in the world's largest economy rose more than forecast in June to the highest level in five years. Purchases climbed 8.3 percent to an annualized pace of 497,000 homes, the Commerce Department said in Washington. The median estimate of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a gain to 484,000.

Volvo gained 5 percent to 97.90 kronor. Second-quarter earnings before interest and taxes of 3.26 billion kronor ($505 million) exceeded the 3.22 billion-kronor average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Revenue increased to 72.8 billion kronor, compared with the 71.6 billion kronor average estimate.

EasyJet Rallies

EasyJet advanced 3.7 percent to 1,385 pence. Europe's second-largest discount airline said third-quarter sales rose 11 percent and that full-year earnings should beat analyst estimates as it adds customers on routes where network carriers are withdrawing.

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Ryanair Holdings Plc, which posts quarterly results next week, rose 4.8 percent to 7.37 euros in Dublin. A gauge of travel and leisure companies posted the best performance on the Stoxx 600.

Edenred rallied 7.1 percent to 24.34 euros, its biggest advance since August 2011. The provider of employee-benefit vouchers set a target of 370 million euros ($490 million) to 390 million euros for current operating profit in 2013.

Syngenta Earnings

Syngenta, the biggest maker of crop chemicals, fell 4 percent to 371 Swiss francs, its largest decline since September 2011. Adjusted earnings of $15.92 a share in the first half missed the average analyst projection for $17.15, as cold weather across Germany and the U.S. hurt demand for its fungicides.

Tod's SpA (TOD), an Italian maker of luxury shoes and handbags, dropped 3.9 percent to 119.50 euros, its biggest retreat in eight months. UBS AG cut its rating on the stock to sell from neutral, saying it expects weak sales growth in the first half of 2013 to pull down profit margins. UBS also said it doesn't expect a takeover bid for Tod's as some investors have argued. The company releases results on Aug. 7.

The number of shares changing hands in companies listed on the Stoxx 600 companies was 14 percent lower than the average of the past 30 days, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

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Natural gas and electricity retailer�Just Energy (NYSE: JE  ) announced yesterday its monthly July dividend of $0.07 Canadian per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three months after cutting the payout 32% from $0.10333 Canadian per share in April.

The board of directors said the dividend is payable on July 31 to the holders of record at the close of business on July 15. The energy retailer has made monthly payouts to investors under its current organization since 2011, but has been paying dividends to investors since 1997.�The dividend is designated as an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes.

Just Energy also notes that for U.S. and Canadian investors that own a minimum of 100 shares, they can avail themselves of the company's dividend reinvestment and share purchase plan.

It also said�that as of June 30, the conversion price for each $1,000 Canadian of its outstanding 6% convertible unsecured subordinated debenture that it issued on Oct. 2, 2007, has been adjusted in accordance with the trust indenture dated Dec. 2, 2007, to $25.04 Canadian convertible into 39.94 common shares of Just Energy.

Hot Canadian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.(RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates in the cruise vacation industry worldwide. It owns five cruise brands, which comprise Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Club Cruises, and CDF Croisi�es de France. The Royal Caribbean International brand provides various itineraries and cruise lengths with options for onboard dining, entertainment, and other onboard activities primarily for the contemporary segment. It offers surf simulators, water parks, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, and shore excursions at each port of call, as well as boulevards with shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. The Celebrity Cruises brand operates onboard upscale ships that offer luxurious accommodations, fine dining, personalized services, spa facilities, venue featuring live grass, and glass blowing studio for the premium segment, as well as resells computers and other media devices. The Pullmantur brand provides an array of onboard activities and serv ices to guests, including exercise facilities, swimming pools, beauty salons, gaming facilities, shopping, dining, complimentary beverages, and entertainment venues serving the contemporary segment of the Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American cruise markets. The Azamara Club Cruises brand offers various onboard services, amenities, gaming facilities, fine dining, spa and wellness, butler service for suites, and interactive entertainment venues for the up-market segment of the North American, United Kingdom, German, and Australian markets. The CDF Croisieres de France brand offers seasonal itineraries to the Mediterranean; and various onboard services, amenities, entertainment venues, exercise and spa facilities, fine dining, and gaming facilities for the contemporary segment of the French cruise market. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated 39 ships with a total capacity of approximately 92,650 berths. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was founded in 1968 and is headqua rtered in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  4. Cruising for a bruising
  A fire broke out on Royal Caribbean's (NYSE: RCL  ) Grandeur of the Seas, forcing the cruise line to cut that journey short and cancel the next sailing of the vessel that was supposed to leave out of Baltimore today.

Hot Canadian Companies To Watch In Right Now: PerkinElmer Inc.(PKI)

PerkinElmer, Inc. provides technology, services, and solutions to the diagnostics, research, environmental, industrial, and laboratory services markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Human Health and Environmental Health. The Human Health segment develops diagnostics, tools, and applications to help detect diseases earlier, as well as accelerate the discovery and development of critical new therapies. This segment provides early detection for genetic disorders from pre-conception to early childhood, as well as digital x-ray flat panel detectors and infectious disease testing for the diagnostics market. It also provides a suite of solutions, including instrumentation for automation and detection solutions, in vitro and in vivo imaging and analysis hardware and software, and a portfolio of consumable products, such as drug discovery and research reagents that enable researchers to enhance the drug discovery process. The Environmental Health segment offers t echnologies and applications to facilitate the creation of safer food and consumer products, secure surroundings, and efficient energy resources. This segment provides analytical technologies that address the quality of environment, sustainable energy development, and ensure safer food and consumer products; analytical instrumentation for the industrial market, which includes the semiconductor, chemical, petrochemical, lubricant, construction, office equipment, and quality assurance industries; and laboratory services. The company markets its products and services directly through its own sales forces and distributors for customers, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, laboratories, academic and research institutions, public health authorities, private healthcare organizations, doctors, and government agencies. PerkinElmer, Inc. was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  The Department of Defense awarded a dozen separate contracts Thursday, worth more than $225 million in aggregate. Notable winners (among publicly traded companies) included:

• [By David Goodboy]

  In other bullish news, TrovaGene entered into a material agreement with multibillion-dollar diagnostics technology leader PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) to jointly develop a test to determine a person's risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The terms have not been disclosed, but PerkinElmer will make milestone payments to TrovaGene. 

• [By Daniel Lauchheimer]

  Let us contrast this with TROV's progress. TROV has secured two critical partnerships -- with Illumina (ILMN), and PerkinElmer (PKI). Company filings on the ILMN deal don't provide much detail, but the filings with the PKI deal detail how PKI wants to use TROV's science to develop a new t assay to detect the presence of hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC). While these two partnerships do not guarantee approval in any way, they do provide a solid validation for TROV's technology.

Top Small Cap Companies To Own In Right Now: Everest Re Group Ltd.(RE)

Everest Re Group, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, underwrites reinsurance and insurance in the United States (the U.S.), Bermuda, and international markets. The company operates in five segments: U.S. Reinsurance, U.S. Insurance, Specialty Underwriting, International, and Bermuda. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies within the United States. The U.S. Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance primarily through general agents, brokers, and surplus lines brokers in the U.S. The Specialty Underwriting segment writes accident and health, marine, aviation, and surety business within the U.S. and worldwide through brokers and directly with ceding companies. The International segment offers non-U.S. property and casualty reinsurance. The Bermuda segment provides reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and cas ualty markets and reinsurance to life insurers through brokers and directly with ceding companies, as well as offers reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets. The company was founded in 1973 and is based in Liberty Corner, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Last August, I purchased Everest Re (RE) when it fell within the value parameters outlined in today's article. I wrote an article about the stock titled: Everest Re: Low Risk High Reward http://www.gurufocus.com/news/143388/everest-re-low-risk-high-reward

Hot Canadian Companies To Watch In Right Now: North American Energy Partners Inc. (NOA)

North American Energy Partners Inc. provides heavy construction and mining, piling, and pipeline installation services to customers in the Canadian oil sands, industrial construction, commercial and public construction, and pipeline construction markets. The company operates in three segments: Heavy Construction and Mining, Piling, and Pipeline. The Heavy Construction and Mining segment focuses on providing surface mining support services for oil sands and other natural resources. Its activities include land clearing, stripping, muskeg removal, and overburden removal to expose the mining area; the supply of labor and equipment to supplement customers� mining fleets supporting ore mining; and provision of general support services, such as road building, repair and maintenance for mine and treatment plant operations, and hauling of sand and gravel. This segment also engages in the construction related to the expansion of existing projects-site development and infrastructure ; and the provision of environmental and tailings management services. In addition, it provides industrial site construction for mega-projects; and underground utility installation services for plant, refinery, and commercial building construction. The Piling segment installs driven, drilled, and screw piles, as well as caissons and earth retention, and stabilization systems. It also designs, manufactures, and sells screw piles and pipeline anchoring systems worldwide, as well as provides tank maintenance services to the petro-chemical industry in Canada and the United States. The Pipeline segment provides small and large diameter pipeline construction and installation services, as well as equipment rental to energy and industrial clients. The company�s fleet includes approximately 900 pieces of diversified heavy construction equipment supported by approximately 750 pieces of ancillary equipment. North American Energy Partners Inc. was founded in 1953 and is headquartered i n Calgary, Canada.

Hot Canadian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)

AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  AerCap (AER) provides aircraft leasing and aviation finance services. This stock closed up 3.3% at $18 in Wednesday's trading session.

  Wednesday's Volume: 740,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 318,589
  
  Volume % Change: 85%

  From a technical perspective, AER jumped higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $17.27 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last five months, with shares moving higher from its low of $14.84 to its recent high of $18.16. During that uptrend, shares of AER have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of AER within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if AER manages to take out its 52-week high at $18.16 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in AER as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $17.27 or above more near-term support at $17.17 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 52-week high at $18.16 with volume that's near or above 318,589 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then AER will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $20 to $23.

Hot Canadian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company, through its subsidiaries, provides retail, commercial, and corporate banking services primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Community Banking; Wholesale Banking; and Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement. The Community Banking segment offers deposits, including checking, market rate, and individual retirement accounts; savings and time deposits; and debit cards. Its loan products comprise lines of credit, auto floor plans, equity lines and loans, equipment and transportation loans, education loans, residential mortgage loans, health savings accounts, and credit cards. This segment also provides equipment leases, real estate financing, small business administration financing, venture capital financing, cash management, payroll services, retirement plans, loans secured by autos, and merchant payment processing services; purchases sales finance contracts from retail merchants; and a family of funds, and investment managemen t services. The Wholesale Banking segment offers commercial and corporate banking products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, letters of credit, asset-based lending, equipment leasing, international trade facilities, trade financing, collection services, foreign exchange services, treasury and investment management, institutional fixed-income sales, commodity and equity risk management, insurance, corporate trust fiduciary and agency services, and investment banking services. This segment also provides banking products for commercial real estate market, and real estate and mortgage brokerage services. The Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement segment offers financial advisory, brokerage, and institutional retirement and trust services. As of December 31, 2010, the company served its customers through approximately 9,000 banking stores in 39 States and the District of Columbia. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in San Franci sco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jessica Alling]

  We all saw the share prices tank after JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM  ) , Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) reported earnings. But did the banks' earnings really justify the negative reactions they received? In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jessica Alling discusses the reason for the drops and why Foolish investors should see past the initial reactions.�

• [By Kate Gibson]

  J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) �reported a quarterly loss, its first under Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) �reported a 13% increase in third-quarter profit, even as its mortgage banking income declined steeply.

• [By John Maxfield]

  A similar concept explains why Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , the nation's fourth largest bank by assets, has had so much success over the past few years. That is, it alone is responsible for upwards of a third of the domestic mortgage market. It controls, if you will, the narrows of the multitrillion-dollar home lending industry.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]

  David also explains how Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) and Bank of America's current low valuations may represent a longer-term opportunity for investors, and he looks at Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) as an example of how a bank stock might provide great returns to investors in the future, despite a relatively high current valuation.

When Amazon Breaks the Stock Market Scale

In this year's letter to shareholders, Amazon.com  (NASDAQ: AMZN  )  CEO Jeff Bezos writes:

...as I frequently quote famed investor Benjamin Graham ... "In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine." ... We want to be weighed, and we're always working to build a heavier company.

With this analogy, there are times when the market's scale could add some pounds that Amazon lacks -- that is, the stock could be overvalued. But looking at history, Amazon constantly ends up weighing more than what the market believes, and then outperforms in its weight class.

So, what about now? It would be crazy to think this trend of outperformance will keep going for a $150 billion company that reports losses instead of profits, right? Here are some reasons to the contrary.

Market opportunity
Amazon, of course, began selling books. Now it enters any industry it deems lucrative. Even though it operates in a breadth of industries from Web services to publishing to video entertainment, and it seems like there aren't many more industries to take on, it can still grow through depth. To Amazon, it's all about the customer experience, and giving incentives and features that will attract new customers and keep old ones. If this strategy proves effective, it could grow its share in any of its many businesses.

Take retail sales as an example. Only about 8% of U.S. retail sales happen online. And, Amazon accounts for only 15% of this 8%. Not all retail will happen online in the future, but it seems there is still plenty of the market that online retail, and Amazon, can gobble up. And this is especially true as one of the largest negatives of ordering online -- having to wait for the thing to ship -- is negated with same-day shipping.

Or take its Web service business. At the end of last year, it was estimated to have a 36% share in the infrastructure-as-a-service market, and 18% share in the platform-as-a-service market, and both of these markets are only 15% of the total infrastructure service market. As cliche as it has become, the "cloud" is where everything is headed.

And let's not discuss rumors of the upcoming Amazon phone.

The past is no guarantee
Looking at Amazon's stock price over its life, there was never a bad time to buy:

AMZN data by YCharts.

Even at the peak of the dot-com era, and even right before the Great Recession, an investment in Amazon always beat the market. That means nothing for the future, but it's a sign that the market inherently undervalues Amazon's potential. Jeff Bezos still leads the company, and the approach to business has never changed. Betting on a huge company to become bigger while it runs a highly fragmented line of businesses could be a dangerous proposition, but for as dominant as Amazon seems today, it can become even more pervasive.

Or, in terms of Bezos' and Graham's weight analogy, Amazon has only finished its appetizer at the all-you-can-eat buffet, while the market thinks that it's already on dessert.

Amazon won't be the only one to rule retail
The retail space is in the midst of the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of last century. Only those most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward those investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today; just click here to read more.

Facebook playing with fire by policing beheading videos

Rather than set a bright-line policy on violent images, Facebook must now decide what is the right context for clips of people being decapitated.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Facebook has enacted a murky, case-by-case policy on violent content, setting the company on a precarious path.

Facebook (FB, Fortune 500)temporarily banned graphic, violent content from its site back in May, when clips including a particular video of a woman being beheaded were spreading across the site. That video resurfaced recently after Facebook quietly lifted the ban on graphic videos, and it once again caused a stir.

Facebook defended its decision on Monday after a BBC article publicized the lifting of the ban, but just 24 hours later, Facebook once again decided to take the video down.

But rather than set a bright-line policy on violent images, Facebook instead backed itself into a gray area. The site removed the specific beheading video that caused the flap -- but going forward, the site said it will make a determination about each post individually.

Facebook said it will allow the videos to stay up as long as posters "condemn" the violence and warn viewers of the graphic nature of the content. But the content will be removed if it is deemed to be shared for "sadistic pleasure or to celebrate violence."

10 Best Growth Stocks To Buy Right Now

Related story: Facebook kills search privacy setting

In doing so, Facebook has created yet another murky policy -- and thrust itself into making difficult decisions around controversial content on a case-by-case basis.

Instead of determining whether or not this content is allowed on Facebook, the site will now play the jury for each violent post that makes the rounds. If context is truly the key, why did Facebook remove this specific beheading post from the site entirely? Surely some of the users posting it were condemning the horrific act.

In explaining the new policy, Facebook said its philosophy is that people use the site to raise awareness of important issues -- and that sometimes involves violent images.

That may be true, but by getting into the context game, Facebook is making itself an easy target for the ongoing debate over what is censored on the site. Facebook has already gotten flak over controversial policy decisions involving issues like images of breastfeeding mothers -- which are sometimes banned and sometimes not.

With over 1.1 billion Facebook users, it's only a matter of time before anot! her shocking bit of violence goes viral on the site. And now Facebook has put itself in the position of moral compass for all of those scandals going forward.

Investing In A Speculative And Slow Growth Environment

The halcyon days of the 1960s may be long gone but they aren't forgotten, at least not by me. It would be nice if we could have the kind of investment climate we had then. The political parties put country ahead of party. The Fed (astutely chaired by William McChesney Martin) cut interest rates in 1961 and sparked a recovery from the recession that began a few years earlier. There was good balance in the robust capital spending boom that ensued. The employment rate was high and discretionary income grew steadily. Inflation was modest. Interest rates were steady until the Fed increased them in 1969 because of inflationary pressures caused by heavy government borrowing needed to finance the Vietnam War.

In 1962, I could have hung the financial page on the wall of my office, thrown a dart, and picked a winner. As a securities analyst, I didn't do that (at least not when anybody was watching) when deciding which stocks I would recommend. Figuratively speaking, picking a winner was almost as easy as shooting a fish in a barrel.

I sure as heck wouldn't throw a dart at the financial page today unless, of course, I was looking for a stock I could sell or short. Nowadays we see politicians putting party ahead of country. And, we see the extremist among the politicians acting as if they are mercenaries for vested interest groups. We also see the Fed stumbling as it uses an unproven QE theory about economic stimulus (it's nothing more than a bailout or rescue). There is little need for corporations to launch capital expansion programs despite low interest rates. We have high unemployment and little growth in discretionary income. The Fed is more concerned about fighting deflation than inflation…. That, by itself, tells us the underpinnings of the economy are fragile.

For all intents and purposes, it looks like Bernanke is throwing in the towel on his ineffective QE policies. I'm sure there are some bankers, corporate executives, and operatives on Wall Street who, having axes to grind, wo! uld disagree with me. Self-interest directs the world so such disagreement is understandable and it should be expected. Nevertheless, tapering by the Fed should put pressure on the politicians in Washington to quit squabbling and put country ahead of party. It should do that but it may not, because it looks like John Boehner will not bring the immigration bill to the floor unless a majority of the Republican caucus is in favor of passing it. In other words, the hard liners among the Republicans have veto power over any legislation that the Senate passes. And, therefore, there is little chance that bills can pass if supported by Democrats and a minority of Republicans. This is a sad state of affairs, especially when you consider that the Republicans control the House (due to gerrymandering) even though incumbent Democrats got over a million votes more than them in the last election. Boys act like boys and so do a lot of congressmen. So, there is no indication that the political divide will be ended.

We live in troubled times and they aren't likely to get much better in the months (or maybe even years) ahead. Therefore, slow growth, if any, is indicated for the near-term future. And with things being in a state of flux at the Fed and in Congress, it is anybody's guess (and therefore speculative) how things will turn out. Investors should make their investment decisions with that in mind.

Because of the fragile nature of economies around the world, it would not be surprising to see very severe problems in a few countries. We know about riots in Greece and Brazil and the news coming out of China shows that country is under financial stress. Japan is desperate for growth. Various countries in Europe aren't basket cases yet. We won't know if the current setup is a house of cards until after the event and, if and when we know that it is, it will be too late to do anything about it. That's a frightening thought but I didn't want to do an ostrich act and bury my head in the sand by not mentioning it.!

Wh! en the stock market is going up investors want stocks that will produce capital gains. When the market is moving sideways, investors want high dividend income. And when it is going down, they want safety of principal. It's hard to find a stock that will score high on all three counts even at the best of times. But these are not the best of times and the investor's top priority should be safety of principal followed by dividend return. Capital gains should be pursued but only when the risk-reward ratio is favorable. Even in down markets, some stocks can perform well. What I advocate is easier said than done. I wrote what I did to provoke thought and understanding of the risks the investor runs by being in the market. I am not averse to trading the market for short term gains and I expect to be doing some of that in the weeks ahead.

Instead of expressing my thoughts in vague generalities, let me be specific and tell you what I am actually doing on a real time basis to cope with the market dynamics occurring right now: I have a core position in one stock, which is the RAIT Financial Trust (RAS). Its size is about 60% of what I would consider to be a "full" position. I also have a lot of cash that I intend to use for trading purposes. Last Friday I sold shares of RAS at $7.55 which I bought on Monday with a low-ball bid of $7.11, so my gain on the trade was 6.2%. In early trading yesterday (Monday July 1) RAS is priced at $7.67, up from where I sold on Friday. That's great news because I accomplished what I wanted to do with the trade and now paper profit on the core shares in my portfolio is increasing.

RAIT is a turnaround situation resulting from the wreck that it was in following the real estate debacle in 2008. There was a complete revamping of its business base, frequent dividend increases, and analysts are currently projecting large increases in its AFFO for 2013 and 2014. The current dividend yield is 7.1% and I expect the quarterly rate to be increased again this year and next! . So I am! comfortable holding the stock in my portfolio and I will continue to trade new positions in it, and probably other stocks, until the correction taking place in the general market is over.

And until the correction is over, I won't bid up for a stock I want to trade but I will try a low-ball bid or even buy with a limit order at or near the market. I intend to hold newly purchased shares for short-term trading purposes and cut losses short if the price drops about 2% below that which I paid. And if I see things happen that give me cause to conclude the market is going to drop significantly, I am ready to buy shares in an inverse ETF like SDS or SPXU for downside protection of my over-all portfolio. I prefer the SPXU because it is 3X the change in the SPY and I can buy it for a lesser amount of money and get the same protection as the SDS which is 2X. When the correction is over I will go back to taking what I regard as "full" positions in my portfolio.

Investors should stay informed about the equities in their portfolios. Seeking Alpha and Yahoo Finance are excellent sources for investment information. Since you are reading this on SA, I assume that you are well versed on what it has to offer. There are two features about Yahoo Finance that I would like to tell you about. I use both fundamental and technical analysis in doing what I do. I doubt that many of you are well versed on technical analysis, but that should not deter you from doing it. Anybody can do a credible job when it comes to technical analysis of a stock. But before proceeding, I want to warn you that what works for a stock doesn't work very well when it comes to the general market because there are other considerations that are of overriding importance.

Just follow these instructions:

(1) go to Yahoo Finance and type in the ticker symbol of interest.

(2) From the menu on the left select "Basic Tech. Analysis."

(3) From the menu on top, compare your stock with the S&P Equal Wei! ght Index! (RSP) or the S&P Industrial index (SPY). That will show you how your stock has been performing in comparison to the overall market. You want your stock to be a leader in the market and not a laggard.

(4) Then from the moving averages, select 10, 20, and 50 (they must be selected one at a time). These aren't the time intervals I use but they will do.

(5) Having done that, you are now ready to render an informed opinion as a "market technician." If the stock's price is above the trend lines, the indication is that it will go higher; if below, it is likely to go lower.

(6) Trend reversals are difficult to forecast in advance but they don't have to be. They occur when the trend lines as indicated by the moving averages are newly broken. In order for the reversal to be complete, all three of the moving averages have to be broken. Once broken, you either have a "durable" reversal or a "false" reversal. With lots of practice, you can learn how to (A) make decisions early in the reversal process and (B) distinguish between durable and false reversals.

(7) Technical analysis is a continuing process and it doesn't forecast anything by itself. It shows you the up-to-date end of the stock's price history. With that as guidance you can be the forecaster and make an informed guess regarding the stock's price action beginning with the next trading day which is, of course, the growing edge of the future. Try it. You'll like it.

(8) Technical analysis is an art and not a science. Stay up to date and you'll take the mystery out of stock price movements. Become self-reliant and you'll chain the wheel of fortune and never have to sit in fear of its rotation as far as the stock market is concerned.

Another technique that could be used to keep up to date on stocks of interest to you is as follows: (1) go to Yahoo Finance and click on the "Portfolios" tab. (2) Create a portfolio by listing the your stocks as directed. (3) Create a shortcut s! o it appe! ars on your desktop. It's that simple. When you want to see your portfolio, click on the shortcut. You will get up to date quotes on the stocks chosen. Furthermore, below those quotes you will see a list of current news items on each stock in the portfolio.

Yahoo and Seeking Alpha are truly excellent sources for investment information, and you can't beat the price. It's zero with a double your money back guarantee (not valid on rainy days) if you are not satisfied for any reason whatsoever. If you have any trouble with the people at Yahoo or Seeking Alpha just tell them that Tom sent you.

Source: Investing In A Speculative And Slow Growth Environment

Disclosure: I am long RAS. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014

Oil-field service company�Nabors Industries� (NYSE: NBR  ) �recently reduced its income guidance for the second quarter. The company said it now expects operating income to be in a range of $88 million-$91 million, which is below consensus estimates of $118 million. This sent its stock down by more than 6%.�

Photo credit: Flickr

Interestingly, its peers had virtually no reaction to its announcement despite the fact the company pointed to intense competition being one of the problems. Nabors also suggested that bad weather negatively affected its results. Overall, the company saw lower sales of capital equipment as well as reduced service and rental activity. Further, it saw weakness particularly in its pressure pumping business in North America.�

Investors may wonder if peers like�Halliburton� (NYSE: HAL  ) �and�Schlumberger� (NYSE: SLB  ) �were pressured this quarter as well. Both companies have waded through the sluggish North American market by relying on growth overseas. If that trend continues, it should continue to mute some of the weakness Nabors experienced.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Markwest Energy Partners LP (MWE)

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (MarkWest Energy) is a master limited partnership engaged in the gathering, processing and transportation of natural gas; the transportation, fractionation, storage and marketing of natural gas liquids (NGLs), and the gathering and transportation of crude oil. It provides services in the midstream sector of the natural gas industry. The Company also provides processing and fractionation services to crude oil refineries in the Corpus Christi, Texas area through its Javelina gas processing and fractionation facility. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated in four segments: Southwest, Northeast, Liberty and Gulf Coast. Effective December 31, 2011, the Company acquired the remaining 49% interest in MarkWest Liberty Midstream. On February 1, 2011, the Company acquired Langley processing plant.

Southwest Segment

The Company owns a system in East Texas that consists of natural gas gathering pipelines, centralized compressor stations, a natural gas processing facility and an NGL pipeline. The East Texas system is located in Panola, Harrison and Rusk Counties and services the Carthage Field. Producing formations in Panola County consist of the Cotton Valley, Pettit, Travis Peak and Haynesville formations. During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 77% of its natural gas volumes in the East Texas System result from contracts with six producers. The Company sells substantially all of the purchased and retained NGLs produced at its East Texas processing facility to Targa Resources Partners, L.P. (Targa) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 19.4% of its consolidated revenue in 2011.

The Company owns a natural gas gathering system in the Woodford Shale play in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma. The liquids-rich natural gas gathered in the Woodford system is processed through Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), its equity investment, or other third-party processors. In addition, it owns the Foss Lake! natural gas gathering system and the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing complex, all located in Roger Mills, Beckham, Custer and Ellis Counties of western Oklahoma. The gathering portion consists of a pipeline system that is connected to natural gas wells and associated compression facilities. The Company also owns a gathering system in the Granite Wash formation in Wheeler County in the Texas panhandle that is connected to its Western Oklahoma processing complex. The Company completed the expansion of the Western Oklahoma natural gas processing plant in October 2011.

Approximately 70% of its Oklahoma volumes result from contracts with three producers in 2011. The Company sells substantially all of the NGLs produced in the Western Oklahoma processing complex to ONEOK Hydrocarbon L.P. (ONEOK) under a long-term contract. Such sales represent approximately 13.2% of its consolidated revenue in 2011. The Company owns a number of natural gas gathering systems located in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico, including the Appleby gathering system in Nacogdoches County, Texas. It gathers a portion of the gas produced from fields adjacent to its gathering systems, including from wells targeting the Haynesville Shale. In addition, it owns four lateral pipelines in Texas and New Mexico.

Northeast Segment

The Company�� Northeast segment assets include the Kenova, Boldman, Cobb, Kermit and Langley natural gas processing plants, an NGL pipeline and the Siloam NGL fractionation plant. In addition, it has two caverns for storing propane at its Siloam facility and additional propane storage capacity under a long-term firm-capacity agreement with a third party. The Northeast segment operations include fractionation and marketing services on behalf of the Liberty segment. The Company owns and operates a crude oil pipeline in Michigan (Michigan Crude Pipeline) providing transportation service for three shippers.

Liberty Segment

The Company pr! ovides na! tural gas midstream services in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia through MarkWest Liberty Midstream. It is a processor of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, with gathering, processing, fractionation, storage and marketing operations.

Utica Segment

Effective January 1, 2012, the Company and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) formed MarkWest Utica EMG, a joint venture focused on the development of natural gas processing and NGL fractionation, transportation and marketing infrastructure to serve producers' drilling programs in the Utica shale in eastern Ohio. During 2011, the Utica Segment did not have any operations.

Gulf Coast Segment

The Company owns and operates the Javelina processing facility, a natural gas processing facility in Corpus Christi, Texas that treats and processes off-gas from six local refineries operated by three different refinery customers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 40% interest in Centrahoma Processing LLC (Centrahoma), a joint venture with Cardinal Midstream, LLC (Cardinal). Centrahoma owns certain processing plants in the Arkoma Basin and Cardinal operates an additional processing plant that is not owned by Centrahoma but is located adjacent to and operates in conjunction with the Centrahoma plants.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  1 midstream company to watch
  But the company that has perhaps invested most aggressively in Utica infrastructure is MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE  ) . In just the past year alone, it has completed 60 miles of gathering pipelines, commenced operations at two major gas plants in the region, and hammered out agreements with a handful of major operators, including Gulfport Energy (NASDAQ: GPOR  ) , Antero Resources, PDC Energy, Rex Energy, and ��most recently ��CNX.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Abbvie (ABBV)
  Ameren Corp. (AEE)
  Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG)
  E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (DD)
  ENSCO (ESV)
  Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
  General Mills (GIS)
  H&R Block (HRB)
  Hancock Holding (HBHC)
  Kraft Foods Group (KRFT)
  Lorillard (LO)
  Magellan Midstream Partners LP (MMP)
  MarkWest Energy Partners L P (MWE)
  McDonald’s (MCD)
  Microchip Technology (MCHP)
  NextEra Energy (NEE)
  Regency Centers (REG)
  TELUS Corp. (TU)
  West Corp. (WSTC)
  Williams Companies (WMB)

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Worthington Energy Inc (WGAS)

Worthington Energy, Inc. (Worthington), formerly Paxton Energy, Inc., incorporated July 30, 2004, is an oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in Texas and in the Gulf of Mexico. Worthington�� assets in Texas consist of a minority working interest in limited production and drilling prospects in the Cooke Ranch area of La Salle County, Texas, and Jefferson County, Texas, all operated by Bayshore Exploration L.L.C. (Bayshore). The Company�� assets in the Gulf of Mexico consist of a leasehold working interests in certain oil and gas leases located offshore from Louisiana, upon which no drilling or production has commenced as of December 31, 2011, and a 10.35% interest in the recently drilled I-1 well and a 2% royalty interest in 14,400 acres in the Mustang Island Tract 818. On March 27, 2012, it acquired certain assets from Black Cat Exploration & Production, LLC.

In Texas, the Company has working interests ranging from 4% to 31.75% (net revenue interests ranging from 3% to 23.8125%) in the various wells. In the Gulf of Mexico it has a 70% leasehold working interest, with a net revenue interest of 51.975%, of certain oil and gas leases in the Vermillion 179 tract and 10.35% interest in the recently drilled I-1 well and a 2% royalty interest in 14,400 acres in the Mustang Island Tract 818. As of December 31, 2011, it had one producing well that generated average total monthly net revenue.

The Mustang Island 818-L Field, located in the Kleberg County waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is a field re-habilitation project targeting bypassed or only partially produced gas-condensate. Total production from the wells within the seismic coverage was 125.6 billion cubic feet. In January 2011, the Hercules Offshore 205 jack-up rig was contracted to re-enter the I-Well on the Mustang License Area. The oil and gas leases are located in the VM 179, which is in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico offshore from Louisiana. VM 179 is at 85 inches water depth approximately ! 46 miles offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Buy For 2014: Energy XXI(Bermuda)

Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and operation of oil and natural gas properties onshore in Louisiana and Texas, and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The company operates or has interest in 419 gross producing wells in 41 producing fields on 254,891 net developed acres. As of June 30, 2011, its net proved reserves were 116.6 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Gastar Exploration Ltd (GST)

Gastar Exploration Ltd (Gastar) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil in the United States. The Company�� principal business activities include the identification, acquisition, and subsequent exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties with an emphasis on unconventional reserves, such as shale resource plays. As of December 31, 2011, it is pursuing the development of liquids-rich natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachia area of West Virginia and, to a lesser extent, central and southwestern Pennsylvania. The Company also holds prospective acreage in the deep Bossier play in the Hilltop area of East Texas and conduct limited coal bed methane (CBM) development activities within the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. The Company is a holding company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Josh Young]

  The parallel to Goodrich in the transaction is Gastar Exploration (GST), which has approximately 100,000 net acres in the Hunton (excluding additional exposure from the WEHLU deal). Gastar, similar to Goodrich prior to the Sanchez TMS deal, seems to trade at a discount to a $2,000 per acre implied value for its unconventional oil acreage. In fact, Gastar's CEO recently said he thought the current liquidation value of Gastar's Marcellus assets would be $4-7 per share, net of debt, versus the current $4.25 share price.

• [By David Smith]

  Earlier, the company had pocketed $75.2 million by selling to Gastar Exploration (NYSEMKT: GST  ) leasehold acreage in Oklahoma's Kingfisher and Canadian counties. It'll obviously require a passel of sales of that magnitude to shore up an overweight balance sheet.

• [By Heather Ingrassia]

  Gastar Agreement: On April 1st it was announced that Gastar Exploration, Ltd. (GST) had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire proven reserves and undeveloped leasehold interests in Kingfisher and Canadian counties of Oklahoma from Chesapeake Energy Corporation, repurchase Chesapeake's common shares of the Company and settle all litigation for $1 million. Although smaller in scope than most of Chesapeake's previous asset-shedding transactions, the agreement with Gastar accomplishes two things. First, is the fact the settlement resolves the legal wrangling both companies were engaged in and as a result Chesapeake walks away with $85 million of the potential $130 million they were suing for. Second, is the fact Chesapeake wipes it hands of acreage, that although producing, may not be producing as much as Chesapeake had once hoped, and therefore was worth much more to Gastar in the long run.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: ConocoPhillips(COP)

ConocoPhillips operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company?s Exploration and Production (E&P) segment explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its Midstream segment gathers, processes, and markets natural gas; and fractionates and markets natural gas liquids in the United States and Trinidad. The company?s Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets, and transports crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels. Its Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. This segment offers olefins and polyolefins, including ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products; aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene, and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers; and various specialty chemical products comprising organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalyst s, drilling chemicals, mining chemicals, and engineering plastics and compounds. The company?s Emerging Businesses segment develops new technologies and businesses. It focuses on power generation; and technologies related to conventional and nonconventional hydrocarbon recovery, refining, alternative energy, biofuels, and the environment. This segment also offers E-Gas, a gasification technology producing high-value synthetic gas. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Fitzsimmons]

  ConocoPhillips (COP) released Q2 2013 earnings that beat consensus estimates by $0.12/share. While the company has been performing flawlessly on its strategic multi-year transformation plan by disposing of non-core assets, organically growing production, and providing a compelling dividend, the story this quarter was early signs of the 3-5% growth in cash margins the company has promised. As a result, COP's Q2 earnings beat was in stark contrast to slightly disappointing results from Chevron (CVX) and a disastrous earnings report from ExxonMobil (XOM).

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  However, BP is planning a comeback in the Gulf in a big way as it plans to spend $4 billion annually over the next decade to grow its production in the Gulf. It's not alone as the Gulf is also starting to draw in some new players that are starting to make quite a splash. For example, earlier this year ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  ) announced two significant deepwater discoveries in the Gulf. These discoveries are likely the first of many for the company as it has been quietly building up its net acreage in the Gulf over the past few years. In fact, the company has more than doubled its acreage over the past two years, and it recently was the high bidder on 30 more blocks of Gulf acreage. As�ConocoPhillip and other peers�develop this recently acquired acreage, we could see production estimates for the region head even higher.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Vecta Energy Corp (VER)

Vecta Energy Corporation is engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Company has non-operated interests in three areas: the foothills of Alberta, northeast BC and the Brewster area in central Alberta. The Company has interest in the Brewster area of west central Alberta (in townships 42, 43 and 44; range 12-13, W5). These lands are prospective in the Belly River formation at depths of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, as well as deeper zones including Nordegg, Rock Creek, Ellerslie, Ostracod, Falher and Notikewin. A total of six wells have been drilled on Company acreage. The 102/01-26-043-13 W5 well is producing 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids. The 15-11-043-13 W5 well is producing of 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids.

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Linn Energy LLC (LINE)

Linn Energy, LLC (LINN Energy) is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company�� properties are located in the United States, primarily in the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, Michigan, California and the Williston Basin. Mid-Continent Deep includes the Texas Panhandle Deep Granite Wash formation and deep formations in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mid-Continent Shallow includes the Texas Panhandle Brown Dolomite formation and shallow formations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois. Permian Basin includes areas in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Michigan includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of the state. California includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. Williston Basin includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota. On December 15, 2011, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located primarily in the Granite Wash of Texas and Oklahoma from Plains Exploration & Production Company (Plains).

On November 1, 2011, and November 18, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On June 1, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties in the Cleveland play, located in the Texas Panhandle, from Panther Energy Company, LLC and Red Willow Mid-Continent, LLC (collectively Panther). On May 2, 2011, and May 11, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin. On April 1, 2011, and April 5, 2011, the Company completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On March 31, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin from an affiliate of Concho Resources Inc. (Concho). During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed other smaller acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties located in its various operating regions. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 7,759 or 69% of its 11,230 gross productiv! e wells.

Mid-Continent Deep

The Mid-Continent Deep region includes properties in the Deep Granite Wash formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths ranging from 10,000 feet to 16,000 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma and Kansas, which produce at depths of more than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Deep proved reserves represented approximately 47% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 49% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 285 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Mid-Continent Shallow

The Mid-Continent Shallow region includes properties producing from the Brown Dolomite formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths of approximately 3,200 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois, which produce at depths of less than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Shallow proved reserves represented approximately 20% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 70% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 665 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin is an oil and natural gas basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico and produce at depths ranging from 2,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Permian Basin proved reserves represented approximately 16% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 56% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Michigan

The Michigan region includes properties producing from the Antrim Shale formation in the northern ! part of t! he state, which produces at depths ranging from 600 feet to 2,200 feet. Michigan proved reserves represented approximately 9% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 90% were classified as proved developed reserves.

California

The California region consists of the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. California proved reserves represented approximately 6% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 93% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Williston Basin

The Williston Basin is one of the premier oil basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in North Dakota and produce at depths ranging from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Williston Basin proved reserves represented approximately 2% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 48% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Those parsing what’s available seem to think the Hedgeye report takes aim at Kinder’s accounting for maintenance spending, its acquisition strategy and its commodity hedging.�Sounds much like the topics in the Hedgeye case against Linn Energy�(LINE).

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Heckmann, as I said, wasn't the only company that had a problem with the weather last quarter. Oil and gas producer LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) had a number of issues in the quarter, with the weather negatively affecting its production volumes during the quarter. The company specifically pointed to severe winter weather in February and March that hit its operations in Oklahoma and Texas that caused the company significant production and drilling delays.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Linn Energy (LINE) has gained 2.6% to $28.62 in pre-open trading a day after said it would buy some properties in the Permian Basin for $525 million. That comes on the heels of its 13% rise yesterday following reports that it had received a response from the SEC regarding its takeover of Berry Petroleum requesting additional paperwork. Perhaps I was a little, well, premature when I wrote this.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Oil and gas MLP LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) has become a battleground stock this year. Vicious short-sellers have called the company's accounting aggressive, if not erroneous. Further, those who are negative on LINN assess its worth as low as $5.50 a unit. Needless to say, it's been a rough year for investors in LINN, especially after it was disclosed that the SEC would now be looking into its books.�

Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014: Bankers Petroleum Ltd (BNK.TO)

Bankers Petroleum Ltd. (Bankers) is engaged in the exploration for and oil in Albania. The Company generates all of the oil revenue from its operations in Albania, which is located northwest of Greece in South Eastern Europe. In Albania, Bankers operates and has the rights to develop the Patos-Marinza and Kucova oilfields pursuant to License Agreements with the Albanian National Agency for Natural Resources (AKBN) and Petroleum Agreements with Albpetrol Sh.A (Albpetrol), the state-owned oil and gas corporation. The Patos-Marinza oilfield is an onshore oilfield in continental Europe, holding approximately 5.1 billion barrels of original-oil-in-place (OOIP). The Company also has rights to exploration Block F (adjacent to the Patos-Marinza oilfield), an 185,000 acre oil and gas prone exploration field. The Company�� subsidiaries include Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd. (BPAL), Bankers Petroleum International Limited (BPIL) and Sherwood International Petroleum Ltd (Sherwood).

Shutdown cost billions in wages, shopping, more

The 16-day government shutdown cost the economy jobs, delayed mortgages and lost retail sales — at least $12 billion worth, and maybe as much as $24 billion.

As federal workers returned to work Thursday, statisticians and business people began toting up the damage:

• Estimates of the toll range from $12 billion to $24 billion for the U.S. economy, or as much as $1.5 billion per day, and as many as 250,000 jobs. The shutdown trimmed fourth-quarter growth by 20%, economist Joel Naroff said — an outcome any business would "consider a disaster.''

• At least 400,000 government employees will be paid for all 16 days they didn't work and roughly the same number will get paid for not working during part of the shutdown. The government has not disclosed that cost

MORE: In fiscal fight, Obama looks to next battle

• Consumer confidence plunged. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to its lowest level since March in data released Thursday. The share of people predicting economic conditions will get worse fell faster than at any time since the 2008 collapse of investment bank Lehman Bros. One result: Hyundai's CEO John Krafcik said this week that October car sales could drop about 10%.

• The U.S. Travel Association said the shutdown cost $152 million a day in lost travel and related activity. Federal parks were closed, accounting for much of the losses. Washington-area hotel occupancy dropped 9% from late September levels in the first week of October, according to Destination D.C.

In Colorado Springs, home of the Air Force Academy, all six group events scheduled at Edelweiss Restaurant the past couple of weeks were canceled, reducing the eatery's revenue by about 10%, says owner Deiter Schnakenberg.

• The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said applications for mortgages dropped 7% last week, to the lowest levels seen since 2007. "The government shutdown had a notable impact on the mortgage market last week," the association said.

The sun begins to rise behind the Capitol building on Oct. 17 in Washington. A bipartisan bill was passed by the House and Senate to end the partial government shutdown and raise the nation's debt limit.  Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesFullscreen U.S. Park Service workers remove road closure cones as government workers return to their jobs in Washington. President Obama signed a bill that will fund the government until Jan. 15 and allow the government to pay bills until Feb. 7.  Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesFullscreen Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., left, leaves the House after a bipartisan bill to end the partial government shutdown and raise the nation's debt limit passed the House and the Senate on Oct. 16 at the Capitol in Washington.  Andrew Burton, Getty ImagesFullscreen President Obama delivers a statement to reporters at the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after lawmakers reached a bipartisan deal to avoid default and reopen the government.  Charles Dharapak, APFullscreen Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, embraces Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., after the Senate voted to fund the federal government and raise the debt limit.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen A television image shows the final vote total in the House of Representatives.  House TV via APFullscreen Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, walks through Statuary Hall with his entourage as he prepares to vote in the House of Representatives to end the government shutdown and raise the debt limit at the Capitol.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., heads to the Senate floor on Capitol Hill.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., discusses the bipartisan bill at a news conference on Capitol Hill. With Schumer are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas., listens during a joint hearing with the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill.  Susan Walsh, APFullscreen House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, talks with House Budget Committee ranking member Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., as a congressional staff member waits by the door after a House Democratic leadership meeting on Capitol Hill.  Alex Wong, Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to the media after Senate Republicans reached a last-minute agreement to avert a financial default and end the partial government shutdown.  H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYFullscreen Journalists question Sen. Lidsay Graham, R-S.C., at the Capitol.  H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYFullscreen Furloughed federal employees protest against the partial government shutdown outside the Capitol on Oct. 16.  H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYFullscreen Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, is mobbed by reporters.  H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAYFullscreen Reverend Jim Wallis, center, leads a prayer in front of the Capitol.  Andrew Burton, Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., arrive at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office for a meeting on Oct 16.  Andrew Burton, Getty ImagesFullscreen Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., walks to his office on Capitol Hill.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, left, arrives at the Capitol on Oct 16.  Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen House Rules Committee member Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., makes a phone call outside the committee room after the panel postponed its work on a House bill that would reopen the government and avert a financial default on Oct. 15.  J. Scott Applewhite, APFullscreen A congressional staffer delivers pizzas at the Capitol as the Senate and House work on a deal to end the partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.  Alex Wong, Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., left, talks with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., before the start of a Senate Democratic Policy luncheon at the Capitol.  Alex Wong, Getty ImagesFullscreen House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is followed by reporters as he leaves Capitol Hill.  Carolyn Kaster, APFullscreen President Obama, center, and Vice President Joe Biden, center left, meet with the Democratic leadership in the Oval Office of the White House.  Pablo Martinez Monsivais, APFullscreen Sen. Susan Collins , R-Maine, talks with reporters after a weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill.  Jim Watson, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Omayra Hernadez protests against the partial government shutdown at the offices of Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in Doral, Fla.  Joe Raedle, Getty ImagesFullscreen Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, answers questions from the press after a meeting of House Republicans at the Capitol in Washington.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Terri Shreiner waves an American flag during a rally against the partial government shutdown at the National World War II Memorial in Washington.  Carolyn Kaster, APFullscreen Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., center, is surrounded by reporters after leaving the office of Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Oct. 14 on Capitol Hill. Reid and McConnell are attempting to hammer out a deal to end the partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, speaks with Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., in an elevator on Oct. 13 in Washington.  Andrew Burton, Getty ImagesFullscreen Tourists pose for pictures during a visit to the Statue of Liberty in New York City. The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public after the state of New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site during the federal government shutdown.  Kena Betancur, Getty ImagesFullscreen A protester demonstrates in front of the White House.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Protesters remove barricades around the National World War II Memorial during a demonstration demanding an end to the government shutdown.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Protesters demonstrate against the government shutdown at the National World War II Memorial.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen A protester dressed as comic book superhero Captain America joins veterans during a demonstration at the World War II memorial.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Protesters demonstrate at the World War II memorial.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Park ranger Patti Vanscyoc gives directions to park visitors at the entrance to the now-open Zion National Park on Oct. 12 in Springdale, Utah.  David Becker, Getty ImagesFullscreen Kayvan Khiabani photographs the scenery above the north fork of the Virgin River in Zion National Park.  David Becker, Getty ImagesFullscreen Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks during a press conference Oct. 10 at the Capitol in Washington. Boehner announced he is prepared to have the House vote on a short-term increase in the debt limit.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a rally to urge Congress to end the partial government shutdown outside the U.S. Capitol. The shutdown is in its 10th day.  Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesFullscreen Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is surrounded by photographers before testifying about the government debt ceiling before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill. Lew told the committee that failure to renew the government's ability to borrow money could damage financial markets and threaten jobs and savings.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Chris Cox of Mount Pleasant, S.C., pushes a cart loaded with a lawn mower and other gardening tools near the Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 9 in Washington. Cox is mowing and cleaning up the grounds around the Lincoln Memorial during the government shutdown.  Manuel Balce Ceneta, APFullscreen A woman protests against the partial government shutdown outside the Capitol.  Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesFullscreen Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, speaks with his communications director, Adam Jentleson, on the steps of the Capitol.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., second from left, walks through Statuary Hall at the Capitol.  Mark Wilson, Getty ImagesFullscreen Protesters demonstrate in Washington.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Anglers stage a protest against the closure of Everglades National Park in Islamorada, Fla. About a third of the 2,380-square-mile park encompasses Florida Bay and is closed to Florida Keys guides and recreational fishermen.  Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau, via APFullscreen Protesters demonstrate againist government shutdown on Capitol Hill on Oct. 4 in Washington.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Federal workers demonstrate against the government shutdown in front of the Capitol in Washington.  Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Grand Canyon National Park Ranger Jason Morris talks to people on a motorcycle at the closed park entrance on Oct. 3 in Arizona. National parks are closed as Congress remains deadlocked over federal government funding.  Brian Skoloff, APFullscreen Demonstrators protest against the government shutdown outside the office of Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., outside his office in Lafayette, Ind.  Brent Drinkut, The Journal & Courier, via APFullscreen Greg Frus, a contract aircraft mechanic with L-3 Vertex, works in a closed National Guard aircraft maintenance facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Frus is a contractor and is not currently affected by the shutdown.  Ted S. Warren, APFullscreen Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., walks to the chamber as Congress continues to struggle with the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington.  J. Scott Applewhite, APFullscreen Protesters demonstrate against the partial government shutdown in front of the Capitol in Washington.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., center, speaks to reporters about the impact of the government shutdown on small business owners on Capitol Hill.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen A sign informs visitors the National Mall is closed.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen World War II veteran Tom Lyle, seated, is escorted by a member of Honor Flights through the World War II Memorial in Washington. Veterans are being allowed past barricades at the memorial.  Jim Watson, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., leads a tour in the Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congressional staffers and interns usually lead constituent tours, but due to the government shutdown, members of Congress have begun to lead tour groups from their home states.  Evan Vucci, APFullscreen Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., center, speaks with students from North Carolina and exchange students from Denmark on Capitol Hill in Washington. The students were not able to tour the Capitol building because of the partial government shutdown.  Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen People walk past a barricade preventing them from entering the World War II Memorial during a partial government shutdown in Washington.  Susan Walsh, APFullscreen Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks after a meeting with President Obama at the White House.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., speak to the media with after a meeting with President Obama at the White House.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Furloughed federal workers chant slogans and shout as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and fellow House Republicans hold a news conference on the West Front of the Capitol.  Chip Somodevilla, Getty ImagesFullscreen A protester demonstrates on Capitol Hill.  Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen A man peers through the locked front doors of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif.  David McNew, Getty ImagesFullscreen Vicki Maturo chants slogans during a protest against the government shutdown outside the federal building in Los Angeles.  Jae C. Hong, APFullscreen Joe Lee, left,and Lance Frye protest against the partial government shutdown outside the World War II Memorial in Washington.  Alex Wong, Getty ImagesFullscreen A child stands on the barricade around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.  Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Jorge Alvarez, a National Park Service employee, hangs a sign in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial the second day of a partial government shutdown in Washington, D.C.  Jim Lo Scalzo, epaFullscreen Barricades close a street in front of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington.  Carolyn Kaster, APFullscreen A furloughed government union worker demonstrates on Constitution Avenue in Washington.  Win McNamee, Getty ImagesFullscreen Sebastian Ramirez hikes out of the Bright Angel Trail on Oct. 1 in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.  Tom Tingle, The Arizona Republic, via APFullscreen A sign tells employees where to pick up their furlough letters at Mt. Rainier National Park administration building near Ashford, Wash.  Pete Caster, The Chronicle, via APFullscreen TOPSHOTS A protester covers his mouth with a dollar bill as he joins others in a demonstration in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2013 urging congress to pass the budget bill. US President Obama slammed Republicans for shutting down the government as part of an "ideological crusade" designed to kill his signature health care law. The US government shut down on October 1, 2013 for the first time in 17 years after a gridlocked Congress failed to reach a federal budget deal amid bitter brinkmanship. Some 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed in a move reminiscent of two previous shutdowns -- for six days in November 1995 and 21 days from December that year into early 1996. AFP Photo / Jewel SamadJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images ORG XMIT: 182975099 ORIG FILE ID: 523439997  JEWEL SAMAD AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen Signs inform people that the Statue of Liberty is closed due to a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1 in Battery Park, N.Y.  Robert Deutsch, USA TODAYFullscreen A vendor has no customers after the Statue of Liberty was closed in New York.  Robert Deutsch, USA TODAYFullscreen Independence Mall in Philadelphia was closed due to the government shutdown.  Eileen Blass, USA TODAYFullscreen Park Rangers erect barricades around Independence Hall at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.  Matt Rourke, APFullscreen Furloughed federal employees demonstrate at Independence National Historical Park.  Matt Rourke, APFullscreen A sign informs visitors to Faneuil Hall, the nation's oldest public meeting hall, that restrooms are closed as a result of the partial government shutdown in Boston.  Stephan Savoia, APFullscreen Visitors take photographs outside the closed San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.  Justin Sullivan, Getty ImagesFullscreen National Park Service worker Michael Faw posts a sign at Crissy Field in San Francisco.  Justin Sullivan, Getty ImagesFullscreen Hot Springs National Park employee Stacy Jackson prepares to set up a barricade to close Arlington Lawn at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.  Richard Rasmussen, The Sentinel-Record, via APFullscreen Jeanne Holler, deputy refuge manager at the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Center, closes the facility in Bloomington, Minn.  Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune, via APFullscreen House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., second from left, takes a question from a member of the news media on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.  Michael Reynolds, epaFullscreen President Obama delivers remarks about the launch of the Affordable Care Act and the partial government shutdown in the Rose Garden of the White House.  Chip Somodevilla, Getty ImagesFullscreen Lake Mead National Recreation Area park maintenance worker Donna Curry locks up a restroom facility near Boulder City, Nev.  Julie Jacobson, APFullscreen World War II Veteran George Bloss looks out over the National World War II Memorial in Washington. Veterans who traveled to Washington from across the country were allowed to visit the World War II memorial after it had been officially closed because of the partial government shutdown.  Carolyn Kaster, APFullscreen Members of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight to tour the World War II Memorial in Washington.  Jared Soares for USA TODAYFullscreen A National Park Service ranger puts up a sign indicating all facilities at the Martin Luther King Historic Site in Atlanta.  Erik S. Lesser, epaFullscreen National Zoological Park police officer Will Jones informs visitor Miguel Miranda and his family that the Smithsonian zoo is closed in Washington, D.C.  Manuel Balce Ceneta, APFullscreen Fay Wagstaff, a visitor from El Paso, Texas, sits on the front steps of the closed Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington.  Carolyn Kaster, APFullscreen Park Ranger Scott Rolfes locks a gate on a road over the dam at Saylorville Lake in Saylorville, Iowa.  Charlie Neibergall, APFullscreen Nathan Boggs installs an ArtPrize Top 10 painting entitled "Polar Expressed" in a tent outside the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. The tent was set up to display artwork that were inside the museum before a federal government shutdown closed the facility.  Chris Clark, APFullscreen Muriel Guglielmo, center, talks to a Statue of Liberty tour operator in New York. Guglielmo, of Grospierres, France, was surprised tthat the statue was closed due to a government shutdown.  Mark Lennihan, APFullscreen A sign informs visitors of the closing of the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial near Paris, France. The cemetery houses the remains of U.S. troops who died in World War I and World War II.  Pierre Andrieu, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen A U.S. Park Police officer and National Park Service employees close the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty ImagesFullscreen People stand in front of temporary fencing after monuments were closed on the National Mall in Washington. National Park Service facilities were closed and 21,000 employees furloughed after Congress was unable to agree on a spending plan.  Chip Somodevilla, Getty ImagesFullscreen A U.S. Park Service employee puts up a closed sign on the restrooms at the World War II Memorial ticket office in Washington.  Chip Somodevilla, Getty ImagesFullscreen U.S. Park Police place barricades around the World War II Memorial.  Chip Somodevilla, Getty ImagesFullscreenLike this topic? You may also like these photo galleries:ReplayAutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide

Top 10 Gold Stocks For 2014

"Most of (the economic damage) comes from government employees and contractors not doing their jobs," said Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at consulting firm IHS. ``Then maybe there's a loss in people not doing some spending they would have, or delaying. It's a real noticeable hit to the economy, more so because we weren't growing that fast to begin with.''

Federal contractors will take a major hit, since many companies that laid hundreds of thousands of people off won't be able to pay them back wages. One example: Herndon, Va.-based logistics provider EDJ Associates, which furloughed about a dozen of its 45 employees, said Vice President David Moretti.

"It's difficult because unlike the federal government, we're not able to pay them back for the time they didn't work," he said.

The impact on retailers may last into the crucial holiday season, said National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz — especially because the short-term deal reached by Congress and the White House may spark another showdown in early 2014.

"We know in some areas there is less foot traffic," especially at car dealerships, Kleinhenz says.

The closing of federal offices that handle mortgages, small business loans and certain permits, along with disrupted tourism, cut about $7 billion from the economy's fourth-quarter growth, Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said.

In Dallas, Coldwell Banker Realtor Ron Burch said one of his sales is on hold because his client couldn't reach workers at the Veterans Affairs for help with a VA-insured mortgage. In Washington, Coldwell's David Bediz said a client put a contingency in a home-buying contract that the deal could only close once the shutdown ended.

The shutdown affected high finance ! as well. ! Goldman Sachs chief financial officer Harvey Schwartz said tension over the talks helped freeze clients of the investment bank, which announced Thursday that it missed third-quarter revenue forecasts by about $600 million.

"Activity from the client base was picking up pretty much really broadly in the early part of September, but then of course people got very focused on the government debate,'' Schwartz said on a conference call with stock analysts. "It was still an environment of uncertainty.''

Economists expect the recovery to regain momentum within six months, much as the economy accelerated by mid-1996 after a shutdown ended in January, Edelstein said. But Beth Ann Bovino, chief U.S. economist at Standard & Poor's, suggested that with another deadline already set, government workers who get reimbursed for lost wages may not feel like spending them.

"They'll get it back, but with the uncertainty about what will happen in a few months, they may want to keep a cushion,'' she said.