Target Corporation Reports Strong Start to Black Friday Sales (TGT)

Discount retailer Target Corporation (TGT) reported on Friday morning that it saw some of its highest single day sales on Thanksgiving and its Black Friday sales are off to a “strong start.”

Target said that nearly all of its deals were available online on Thanksgiving day. The retailer’s sales were two times the sales from Black Friday last year. On Thanksgiving day, popular items including the iPad Air, large screen TVs, Nintendo 3DS XL and Zoomer the Robot Dog sold out online by mid-morning.

Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target commented: “Our guests told us they want top gifts at a great value, and our team delivered.”

“Whether online, on their mobile devices, or in our stores, guests shopped Target in unprecedented numbers. And, as always, our team provided the exceptional experience our guests have come to expect from Target,” Steinhafel added.

Target shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Friday. The stock is up 9% YTD.

Thrills and Chills are a Great Investment (IFLM, CMCSK, SEAS, AMCX)

There's a major shift in the kinds of things Americans do to entertain themselves. Just ask the folks at AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:AMCX), SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:SEAS), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSK), and pretty soon, the Independent Film Development Corporation (OTCMKTS:IFLM). These organizations exist to keep their finger on the pulse of what makes entertainment-seeking consumers want, and it's clear from some of the programming choices and decisions these companies are making - and doing well with - that the companies who deliver the new, edgier product stand to earn the most revenue for doing so.

Simply put, U.S. consumers are looking for edgier thrills and chills, whether on TV, the big screen, or at theme parks. You don't have to look far for proof of this idea either. One of the current television season's most-watched television shows was Breaking Bad - an AMC Networks development that chronicled the transition of a teacher into a drug lord, yet became something of a dark hero in the process.

It's not just TV though. It's movies too. The popular Twilight and Underworld sagas were about vampires, while theme parks like Busch Gardens, owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, and Universal Studios, owned by Comcast Corporation, are taking a deliberate effort to make sure visitors come to their Halloween attractions rather than someone else's. Busch Gardens' in-park Howl-O-Scream commands a ticket price of $48 a pop, while Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights bills out at $42.99 per visitor. As proof of just how much companies want to win the fright-wars, AMC Networks has crossed studio lines, licensing its Walking Dead zombie television show's theme (nd name) to Comcast Corporation this Halloween, as the basis for a temporary attraction at both Universal Studios theme parks.

And well they should focus on scaring the daylights out of visitors. Some experts believe the Halloween 'scare' period can drive up to 15% of a theme park's revenue.

But what if the immersive experience of a haunted house (though the term 'haunted house; doesn't do it justice) wasn't just a temporary attraction, but instead lasted all year long? For that matter, what if the immersive experience wasn't just ghouls and goblins, but all sorts of weird, fascinating, and unexplained phenomenon? Enter Independent Film Development Corporation, aka 'IndyFilm'.

The name may be a tad misleading. Though Independent Film Development Corporation has a hand in the creation of independent films, as well as rights to/ownership of a handful of television shows and films, IndyFilmCorp's crowning jewel is the theme park it's developing in New York. Think Disney (or Universal Studios), only less childish. Rather than a flume ride that directs riders through a cartoon briar patch, look for a ride through the River Styx. Forget the Space Mountain coaster ride through outer space. IndyFilm will be developing its own Area 51 crash site. And, no lovable characters dancing around the streets of this park, though visitors may catch of glimpse of Bigfoot every now and then, lurking around the park's wooded areas.

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Though the planned park is yet to be built, the associated resort and hotel already exist, and the land needed to build such a park is located all around the property. Even then though, the company is already whispering plans about several of these slightly-more-intense parks popping up all across the country, with each one focusing on ideas that cater more to that locale's audience. In other words, Independent Film Development Corporation expects an alien-centric theme park to do well in or around Roswell, New Mexico, while the Pacific Northwest may be the best locale for a Bigfoot theme park; the Loch Ness Monster may have to settle for the waters of a coastal region (and yes, and animatronic Nellie is also in the works, at least for the New York locale).

It's a departure from the typical American theme park, but then again, that's the point. Consumer tastes have changed over the last ten years or so, prompted by a combination of technology - on screen as well as off screen - and personal tastes, perhaps with a dash sports-fatigue ... even the NFL isn't creating the same buzz it used to. It's not unusual for TV watchers to flip the channel away from a baseball game and over to Ancient Aliens or Ghost Hunters these days.

Perhaps best of all, investors can still get in on the ground floor of this small, but potent, opportunity. The ticker is IFLM, and the website (with a conceptual drawing of the company's planned first theme park) can be seen here. For more perspective on the stock, visit the SCN research page here.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now

The budget standoff in Congress is over for now, but the U.S. economy is likely to feel the hangover for some time.

Two weeks after Washington's latest showdown, more than half of economists surveyed by USA TODAY -- 56% -- are less optimistic about growth prospects than they were three months ago. The survey of 41 top economists was conducted Oct. 23-24.

What's more, repeated budget battles in Washington the past few years are having a cumulative effect. Sixty-three percent of the economists say the recurring standoffs are hurting the economy "some" or "a lot." The remainder cite "a little" damage.

"We're falling down a fiscal flight of stairs and we're bouncing from one step to the next, one crisis to the next," says Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida. Snaith is among the economists who have turned less optimistic, saying uncertainty among businesses could persist into next year and dampen capital spending.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of medical device company Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR  ) sank 12% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations. �

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Checkpoint Systems, Inc (NYSE: CKP) fights shoplifting or retail theft and other forms of�"shrink��that costs retailers over $112 billion worldwide last year (according to a study funded by the company), meaning it might be an interesting stock to take a closer look at and to compare its performance with that of SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: XRT) and PowerShares Dynamic Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: PMR). Just how bad can shoplifting or shrink be for a retailer? Troubled retailer J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP) has just reported that shoplifting took a full percentage point off the department store chain's profit margins during the quarter. Moreover and given that tens of millions of Americans are now facing higher health insurance costs thanks to Obamacare (which will likely impact consumer discretionary spending),�retailers�will need to find ways to shore up their margins and bottom lines by preventing�retail theft with solutions from company�� like Checkpoint Systems.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Three months after settling upon a new chief executive officer, it looks like Thorofare, N. J.-based Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP  ) will soon have itself a new CFO as well.

Top 10 Financial Companies To Invest In 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nickey Friedman]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) has an even better margin to shoot for, with its 18% restaurant margin. Though both Buffalo Wild Wings and Famous Dave's specialize in sauce-covered meat, Buffalo Wild Wings sells much more high-margin booze. It may be too tall of an order for Famous Dave's to match that margin.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) slipped today after the restaurant chain reported an 11% decline in first-quarter earnings. Same-store sales fell 1.4% for company-owned locations compared to a 2.2% decline in franchised locations. Does the disparity suggest bigger problems ahead? Does Buffalo Wild Wings still have room to grow? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the future of Buffalo Wings.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Fried, Editor, The Buyback Letter]

  Insurance holding company CNO Financial Group (CNO) and its insurance subsidiaries��rincipally Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Washington National, and Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company��erve pre-retiree and retired Americans.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nathalie Tadena]

  Nordstrom Inc.'s(JWN) fiscal third-quarter profit slid 6.2% as the high-end retailer’s sales growth was tempered by the absence of a key sale event that was held earlier in the year, while overhead expenses jumped.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Investors think Waste Management (WM) is a garbage stock right now. Why else would WM's short interest ratio hover around 12.6? Of course, Waste Management is in fact a garbage stock of sorts -- it is the largest waste management service provider in the country. The firm boasts more than 270 landfills and a massive fleet of trash collection vehicles that spans the U.S.

  When I think garbage firms, the first thing that comes to mind is dividends: WM and its peers historically have generous, recession-resistant dividend payouts. Currently, Waste Management's yield adds up to 3.36% annually. Don't forget, dividends are like kryptonite to short sellers.

  WM's willingness to embrace innovation has big potential in the years ahead. Right now, the firm's portfolio includes 22 waste-to-energy plants that are designed to turn the waste that WM literally gets paid to collect into renewable energy that the firm gets paid for again. At this point, the firm's energy plants make up a very small part of its total business, but waste-to-energy projects and the recent acquisition of small oil service firms should look attractive to investors right now.

  Earnings in two months look like the next big catalyst for a short squeeze in WM.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ast produces, distributes and sells weight and health management products with the brand names Medifast, Take Shape for Life, Hi-Energy Weight Control Centers and Woman�� Wellbeing.

  Its return on assets in the third quarter of 2011 was 19.6%, which has been increasing in the past several years. The average return on assets for the specialty retail industry is 10.48% for the trailing 12 months.

  The company�� total assets amounted to $94 million in 2010, which increased from $62.8 million in 2009. Net income also increased to $19.6 million in 2010 from $12 million in 2009.

  Boston Beer Inc. (SAM)

  Boston Beer Inc. is the largest brewer of handcrafted beers in America. Boston Beer is a growing company that recently saw a large increase in its return on assets. It increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 29.7% in 2011, and was negative as recently as 2008. The average return on assets for the beverages industry in the trailing 12 months is 9.47%.

  In 2011, the company�� total assets increased to $272.5 million from $258.5 million in 2010. Net income increased to $66 million from $50 million.

  Alliances Resources Partners (ARLP)

  Alliance Resources Partners is a coal producer and marketer primarily in the eastern U.S. Its ROA has been increasing since 2008 and increased to 22.5% in 2011 from 21.4% in 2010. The average return on assets for the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry in the trailing 12 months is 24.47%.

  In 2011, its total assets increased to $1.7 billion from $1.1 billion in 2010. Its net income increased to $389 million from $321 million.

  Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS)

  Factset researches global market trends and develops analytical tools for investors. Of all of GuruFocus��5-star predictable companies, it has the highest return on assets at 27%. ROA has been increasing over the past several years. The average return on assets for the software industry for the trailing 12 m

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

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

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Nutrisystem have gained 20% to $18.05 at 1:34 p.m., while Weight Watchers (WTW) has risen 3.6% to $39.42. Medifast (MED), however, has dropped 1.9% to $24.94.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Sara Lee Corporation(SLE)

Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Its packaged meat products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, beef, turkey, and cooked ham. It also offers frozen baked products, which comprise frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, pastries, and other desserts. In addition, Sara Lee provides roast, ground, and liquid coffee; cappuccinos; lattes; and hot and iced teas, as well as refrigerated dough products. The company sells its products under Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, State Fair, Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Caf

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  I went out on a limb last week, and now it's time to see how that decision played out.

  I predicted that Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) would close higher on the week. The company behind the da Vinci surgical robotics system took a hit a week earlier after revealing that sales were soft in its latest quarter. I figured the bad news was already out of the way heading into Thursday's report. Unfortunately, the report was an even bigger disappointment. The stock fell 8% on the week. I was wrong. I predicted that the tech-heavy Nasdaq would outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) . This has been a tricky call lately, so how did it play out this time? Well, this was a close race until tech stocks fell on Friday. The Nasdaq moved 0.3% lower, and the Dow managed to close 0.5% higher. I was wrong. My final call was for CSX (NYSE: CSX  ) to beat Wall Street's income estimates in its latest quarter. The railroad giant has been posting blowout quarterly results over the past year, and I was banking on seeing the trend continue. Analysts were looking for a profit of $0.47 a share during the quarter, and it came through with net income of $0.52. I was right.

  One out of three? I can do better than that.

Unemployment falls but hiring slows

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since November 2008, but the government's latest jobs report still shows a muddled picture of the economy.

According to the September jobs report, which was delayed 18 days by the government shutdown, hiring slowed last month. But the unemployment rate fell as more workers said they got jobs and joined the labor force.

Employers added 148,000 jobs in September, fewer than the 193,000 jobs added in August, the Department of Labor reported.

But the good news is the unemployment rate fell to 7.2% as 73,000 people joined the labor force and 133,000 people said they got jobs. That's considered encouraging, after months in which thousands of Americans were dropping out of the workforce.

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Still, 11.3 million jobless people continued to look for work.

Economists called the report a "mixed bag," "underwhelming" and "disappointing."

The conflicting picture comes from two separate surveys conducted each month, which don't always match up. The first survey asks businesses and government agencies about their hiring, while the second survey covers employment status of individual households.

The cloudy picture of the job market isn't likely to clear anytime soon. The economic impact from the shutdown is expected to show up in the October jobs report. Its release will also be delayed until November 8.

That makes it unlikely that the Federal Reserve will start cutting back on stimulus this month.

  Pre-shutdown jobs report: More of the same

The Fed meets next week to reevaluate its plan for winding down its bond-buying program. But independent economists expect policymakers will want to see more data on how the shutdown impacted the economy before they start cutting back on the $85 billion a month in bond purchases.

"The economy is too fragile for the Federal Reserve to touch," said Sung Won Sohn, economist at California State University Channel Islands. "The latest job numbers indicate t! hat the economy is growing at a modest pace at best."

Economists at Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Capital Economics agree: The Fed probably won't slow its asset purchases until January or March of next year.

Stocks rose Tuesday as investors also interpreted the lower unemployment rate as a sign that the Fed will continue stimulating the economy in the months ahead.

Share your story: Are you delaying your start in the workforce?

Construction firms added 20,000 jobs in September, more than the previous five months combined. Temp agencies hired 20,000 workers and state governments added 20,000 education jobs.

Retailers hired 21,000 workers, marking six straight months of strong hiring for the sector.

Meanwhile, restaurants and bars suddenly cut 7,000 jobs -- the first job loss in the industry in three-and-a-half years.

The average American employee worked 34.5 hours a week and earned $24.09 an hour in September, up 49 cents, or 2.1% from a year ago.

U.S. Stocks Edge Higher on Iran Nuclear Pact

 It's not a bad way to start the week.

Major stock indexes kicked off Monday slightly higher to maintain the milestones reached last week, pointing to a stronger start for Wall Street as investor appetite for risk increased and oil prices fell after Iran and five global powers reached a nuclear deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.4points, or 0.22%, to 16,100.76, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.09 points, or 0.06%, to 1,805.83.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, rose 1.44 points to 3,993.71 after earlier exceeding 4,000 for the first time in 13 years.

Trading is expected to be light this week, with markets closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and closing early on Friday.  Also, the data calendar is largely empty, outside of pending home sales for October, released earlier today.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes fell last month for the fifth straight month, offering up the latest sign that higher prices and borrowing costs are cooling the housing recovery.

Interest rates began rising after the Federal Reserve signaled earlier this year it would like to rein in its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program, adding to the cost of a mortgage

But housing took a back seat today to the energy sector. U.S. crude futures fell 1.3% after a breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran over the weekend eased oil supply fears. Brent crude fell 1.6%.

Energy shares felt the pressure WPX Energy (WPX) fell 1.85% to $18.60, and Newfield Exploration (NFX) fell 2.8% to $29.16.

Still, the pact was widely viewed as a benefit for markets here and abroad.

European indexes rallied, with the Stoxx Europe 600 rising 0.4% to 324.01, and the FTE 100 climbing 0.28% to 6,92.78. And in Japan the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.5% to 15,19.13.

Gold, meanwhile, fell sharply, declining 3.3% to $1,241.30.

In company news, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) edged 0.74% to $80.38 after the retailer named Doug McMillon its new chief executive officer, effective February 1.

DaVita HealthCare Partners (DVA) rose 6.75% to $60.35 after giving a 2014 enterprise operating income outlook.

Alcoa (AA) rose 3.8% to $9.59 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to a Buy from a Neutral. Caterpillar (CAT) rose 2.3% to $84.80 after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to a Buy from a Neutral and increased its price target to $100 from $87.

And Campbell Soup (CPB), however, fell 1.3% to $38.87 after Goldman Sachs cut the stock to a Neutral from a Buy, saying it was wrong in its prior assumption that the soup maker was on a path back to sustainable peer group average performance.

Fund sponsors compete for advice attention online

Money managers are seldom singled out for their innovation in technology, but a consulting firm has done just that.

On Thursday, kasina LLC released its annual ranking of fund providers that it says offer the most engaging and substantive web experience for advisers.

Just one in five advisers are using asset managers’ own websites to research their funds, according to kasina data, but firms are working hard to change that by designing more-compelling websites.

“It’s the cost of doing business today,” said Mark McKenna, head of global marketing at Putnam Investments, which ranked second on kasina’s list of fund websites. “We compete in a global environment on a daily basis and we’re striving to be the best.”

OppenheimerFunds Inc., which rolled out a redesigned website for advisers last month, ranked first in kasina’s list of mutual fund sponsors, while the Royce Funds from Legg Mason Inc. rounded out the top three.

Among ETF sponsors, The Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc.’s iShares unit and The Charles Schwab Corp. were at the top of the heap.

These companies aren’t your grandfather’s staid financial services firms. They use social media, ambitious data visualizations and seamless integration for mobile phones and tablet devices to stand out in the crowded $15 trillion U.S. market for funds which advisers help their clients navigate.

In the process, the web has forced asset managers to reinvent the role of wholesalers, sales professionals from asset management firms who used to be one of advisers sources for information. Now they meet with advisers who come prepared with reams — or tablets — full of information from third-party sources such as Morningstar Inc., Bloomberg or IndexUniverse LLC.

Increasingly, money managers are looking outside the financial services industry to innovative, consumer-facing e-commerce websites for guidance on how to market their brand, executives said. When OppenheimerFunds redesigned its website, the company turned to Zappos.com, Amazon.com, the Food Network and Ticketmaster.com for inspiration, said Erik Schneberger, head of digital strategy for the mutual fund firm.

OppenheimerFunds redesigned its website to show more personality, making videos with its portfolio managers, and in it, they discuss not just their investment strategy but their lives and hobbies.

It’s a way for the firm to distinguish its personality and expertise,! a crucial exercise for the asset manager that wants to stand out, according to Julia Binder, who wrote kasina’s study.

“Online, people are very averse to the traditional product pitch,” Ms. Binder said. “They’re looking for solutions to problems, and advisers are too, especially since 2008, 2009, when their phones were ringing off the hook. They want to know how to hedge against volatility; they want to know how they can help members of the ‘sandwich’ generation that are trying to help their parents, trying to provide for their retirement, trying to put their kids through school.”

The asset managers, therefore, have embraced the challenge of delivering compelling and informative content, much like the news and data services such as Reuters News and Dow Jones. Putnam Investments, for instance, is boiling down its analysis of the long-term U.S. debt crisis into an accessible graphic primer. Its website includes a way to compare funds it provides with those of competitors, as well as a blog on how advisers can use technology, Mr. McKenna said.

Asset managers could always connect with advisers through wholesalers, advertisements on third-party websites and through content deals with brokerage intranets. But on asset

NNRX Reports Glucozymeâ„¢ Human Clinical Study Results Nearing Release (OTCBB:NNRX)

Nutranomics, Inc. (NNRX)

Today, NNRX surged (+6.25%) up +0.025 at $.425 with 338,207 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:07PM EDT October 9, 2013).

Nutranomics, Inc. previously reported the results of human patient clinical studies undertaken by the Company regarding Glucozyme™ are nearing a public release date. Glucozyme™ is a proprietary nutritional supplement being developed by Nutranomics that has been shown to aid in the processing of sugars to maintain proper glucose and insulin levels in patients with diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Following the conclusion of the latest Glucozyme clinical studies conducted in Japan and Mexico, the resulting new patient data was compiled and compared with previous testing conducted in North America prior to submission for product approval and distribution in several world markets.

Nutranomics, Inc. (NNRX) 5 day chart:

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now

While the Twitter IPO has been grabing everyone�� attention, biotech IPOs continue to dominate both biotech and IPO news with Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: KPTI) going public yesterday and�Relypsa (NASDAQ: RLYP), TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TLOG), Vital Therapies (NASDAQ: VTL) and Xencor (NASDAQ: XNCR) filing to go public in the near future�(despite the sector producing some�ugly charts�for the month of October) plus�another small cap called TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) has also been producing a steady flow of news:

Karyopharm Therapeutics Debuts. Yesterday, small cap Karyopharm Therapeutics, which is working on a drug that aids the body�� natural tumor-suppressing proteins,�debuted at the top of�its range to raise $109 million in an upsized�offering of 6.8 million shares at $16 apiece with shares closing at $16.81. It should be noted that Karyopharm Therapeutics��lead drug candidate (Selinexor) is in early-stage clinical trials�and the company lost�lost nearly $12.5 million on revenue of $366,000 during the first six months of this year. Biotech IPOs by Region. On an interesting note, Luke Timmerman, the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, has written a�good�article tracking biotech or life sciences IPOs by region. By his count, Boston is home to eight of the 45 (18%) of the life sciences IPOs this year (its companies have also�raised the most money - about $770 million)�plus�the New York/northern New Jersey region is also home to�eight. San Diego�came in third with six IPOs followed by San Francisco with five while only five of the 45 biotech IPOs�came from outside the�US (Three from Israel and two from Europe). However, the above figures may change as by his account, there are 15 additional biotech companies in line to go public. More Biotechs Set IPO Terms. The small cap biotech space is about to be joined by a few new additions as a couple of biotechs file to go public�over the past�week or so: Relypsa, which is developing treatments for renal, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, plans to raise $120 million by offering 6.9 million shares at a price range of $16 to $19 for a market value of $502 million at its midpoint; TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, which is developing small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, plans to raise $90 million by offering 6.4 million shares at a price range of $13 to $15 for a market value of $270 million at its midpoint range; Vital Therapies, a clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for acute liver failure, plans to raise $75 million by offering 4.4 million shares at a price range of $16 to $18 for a market value of $277 million at its midpoint range; and�Xencor, a clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for severe autoimmune and allergic diseases and cancer, plans to raise $75 million by offering 5 million shares at a price range of $14 to $16 for a market value of $325 million at its midpoint range. � Biotech IPO Lockups Explained. If you are an investor in a new biotech IPO and you are worried about what might happen when the lockup period expires, there is a lengthy article on Forbes about potential strategies VC investors will take to fully exit from their investments. Six Ugly Biotech Charts. Despite the steady stream of biotech IPOs or IPO filings, October was actually the biotech sector's worst month so far this year with June�being the only other month this year where the S&P 500 outperformed the biotech sector (or rather the broader market just lost less). With that in mind, The Street recently posted a short article with some rather ugly charts�for�Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc (NASDAQ: CPRX), ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ACAD), Celldex Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: CLDX), BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: BCRX) to illustrate just how rough the month was for some biotech stocks (which actually remain winners for the year though):

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sky-mobi Limited(MOBI)

Sky-mobi Limited engages in the operation of a mobile application store in the People?s Republic of China. It works with handset companies to pre-install its Maopao mobile application store on handsets and with content developers to provide users with applications and content titles. The users of its Maopao store could browse, download, and purchase a range of applications and content, such as single-player games, mobile music, and books. The company?s Maopao store enables mobile applications and content to be downloaded and run on various mobile handsets with hardware and operating system configurations. It also operates a mobile social network community, the Maopao Community, where it offers localized mobile social games, as well as applications and content with social network functions to its registered members. The company owns proprietary mobile application technology in the cloud computing, the MRP format, and SDK development environment. As of March 31, 2011, it had entered into cooperation agreements with approximately 523 handset companies to pre-install Maopao. The company was formerly known as Profit Star Limited and changed its name to Sky-Mobi Limited in October 2010. Sky-mobi Limited was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Sky-mobi (MOBI), which, through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of a mobile application platform embedded on mobile phones to provide mobile application store and services in the People�s Republic of China. This stock has been red hot so far in 2013, with shares up a whopping 88%.

  If you look at the chart for Sky-mobi, you'll notice that this stock recently formed a triple bottom chart pattern at $3.31, $3.28 and $3.40 a share. That bottoming pattern occurred over the last two months. Shares of MOBI have now started to uptrend and flirt with its 50-day moving average of $3.76 a share. That move is quickly pushing MOBI within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MOBI if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.71 to $3.83 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 145,934 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MOBI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $4.96 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give MOBI a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $5.55 to $6.13 a share.

  Traders can look to buy MOBI off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $3.40 to $3.28 a share. One can also buy MOBI off strength once it takes out that breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Best Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

FuelCell Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacturing, and sale of high temperature fuel cells for clean electric power generation primarily in South Korea, the United States, Germany, Canada, and Japan. The company offers proprietary carbonate Direct FuelCell Power Plants that electrochemically produce electricity from hydrocarbon fuels, such as natural gas and biogas. Its fuel cells operate on a range of hydrocarbon fuels, including natural gas, renewable biogas, propane, methanol, coal gas, and coal mine methane. The company also develops carbonate fuel cells, planar solid oxide fuel cell technology, and other fuel cell technologies. It provides its products to universities; manufacturers; mission critical institutions, such as correction facilities and government installations; hotels; and natural gas letdown stations, as well as to customers who use renewable biogas for fuel, including municipal water treatment facilities, br eweries, and food processors. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Had shares of its peers and competitors performed as well, it may not even be worth bringing up. But, Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have done significantly better than FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) since the end of March. And, PLUG has performed considerably better than FCEL and BLDP have since mid-August. This is more than "just a little volatility." This is a leader breaking away from the pack after a very long lull. Thing is, there's plenty more room for Plug Power to keep running.

• [By John Udovich]

  Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has a growing�battery fire mess on its hand but should investors in small cap fuel cell stock Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG) be more worried than investors in fuel cell peers like FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ: BLDP)? After all, Tesla Motors Inc�� battery fire problems seem to result from drivers running over debris that damage�or pierce the undercarriage rather than with the batteries�themselves (as in Boeing�� case). Nevertheless, any news about batteries or fuel cells and the like catching on fire could spill over�and impact peers - unless there are other concerns for investors. ��

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rackspace Hosting Inc(RAX)

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. operates in the hosting and cloud computing industry. It provides information technology (IT) as a service, managing Web-based IT systems for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as large enterprises worldwide. The company?s service suite includes dedicated hosting comprising customer management portal and other management tools that manage data center, network, hardware devices, and operating system software; and cloud computing that enables customers to provide and manage a pool of computing resources, as well as delivery of computing resources to business when they need them. It offers cloud servers, cloud files, and cloud sites, as well as cloud applications, such as email, collaboration, and file back-ups; and hybrid hosting that provides a combination of dedicated hosting and cloud computing services. The company also offers customer support services. It sells its service suite through direct sales teams, third-party channel partners, an d online ordering. The company was formerly known as Rackspace.com, Inc. and changed its name to Rackspace Hosting, Inc. in June 2008. Rackspace Hosting, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  Rackspace has fewer OpenStack contracts that they expected to have by this time, but it�� still early in the game. The stock is also trading at 52 times earnings, which is a negative, and it�� not likely to be resilient if the stock market falters.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: Sotheby�� (NYSE: BID), Otelco (NASDAQ: OTEL), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX), Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) Economic Releases Expected: Italian industrial production, Mexican industrial production, Portuguese trade balance

  Tuesday

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Web-hosting company Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX  ) made an unexpected move last week when it hired Todd Cione to fill the newly created position of sales chief for the Americas.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: OCZ Technology Group Inc(OCZ)

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes computer components for computing devices and systems worldwide. It primarily offers solid state drives, flash memory storage, memory modules, thermal management solutions, AC/DC switching power supply units, and computer gaming solutions. The company?s products are used in industrial equipment and computer systems; computer and computer gaming solutions; mission critical servers and high end workstations; personal computer (PC) upgrades to extend the useable life of existing PCs; high performance computing and scientific computing; video and music editing; home theatre PCs and digital home convergence products; and digital photography and digital image manipulation computers. OCZ Technology Group, Inc. offers its products to retailers, on-line retailers, original equipment manufacturers, systems integrators, and distributors. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, Califo rnia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  The not-so-great and wonderful OCZ
  There was no company-specific news that caused solid-state-drive maker OCZ Technology (NASDAQ: OCZ  ) to fall almost 8% Wednesday. But an article that appeared on Seeking Alpha �questioning whether the company had six months or less to live before it filed for bankruptcy seemed to coincide with its fall.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: OmniVision Technologies Inc.(OVTI)

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets semiconductor image-sensor devices. The company offers CameraChip image sensors, which are single-chip solutions that integrate various functions, such as image capture, image processing, color processing, signal conversion, and output of a processed image or video stream for use in various consumer and commercial mass-market applications; and CameraCube imaging devices that are image sensors with integrated wafer-level optics. It also provides companion chips used to connect its image sensors to various interfaces, including the universal serial bus and other industry standard interfaces; and companion digital signal processors that perform compression in standardized still photo and digital video formats. In addition, the company designs and develops software drivers for Linux, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows, as well as for embedded operating systems, such as Blackberry OS, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows CE, Windows Embedded, and Windows Mobile. Its products are used in mobile phones, notebooks, Webcams, digital still and video cameras, commercial and security and surveillance, and automotive and medical applications, as well as in entertainment devices. The company sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers, as well as indirectly through distributors worldwide. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is up 8.9% at $85.66 after a $3.1 billion asset sale to Sinopec. OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) is down 16.1% at $15.45 after warning on earnings due to lower sales of smartphones. E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) is down 10.1% at $7.80 on a downgrade from JPMorgan.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But if you expand your view of the market, you'll find plenty of big movers and more interesting goings-on. OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) is the big winner this afternoon, soaring more than 19% in the wake of last night's positive earnings report. OmniVision said its cost-reduction strategy had started to bear fruit, revealing a combination of favorable results for its most recent quarter and expectation-beating guidance for the current quarter. In the long run, OmniVision has to demonstrate its ability to keep its image-sensor chips in the most popular smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. So far, though, investors are content with the growth they've seen.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM  ) and OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) are the two camera suppliers, and HTC is reportedly no longer considered a "tier one" manufacturer so it doesn't get priority any more. That implies that one of these image sensor specialists was giving HTC the cold shoulder in favor of bigger names.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Few biotechs were hit as hard as Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) this week, however. Achillion makes up around 2% of the weight of the SPDR Biotech ETF, and its 7.5% loss this week was a major reason for the fund's fall. This stock has failed to capitalize on the markets' surge this year, losing 10% year-to-date. The company only recently named a new CEO, lifting its former R&D head and chief science officer to the top job. Achillion's still in the developmental stage of its life and thus produces no revenue, and the company's cash burn makes it seem likely that more share dilution is on its way as the company looks to advance its hepatitis-C pipeline over the coming years. Until Achillion produces some meaningful results from that pipeline, this stock will remain a risky play in an already risky space.

• [By Keith Speights]

  2. Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  )
  Achillion recently experienced a delay in the game that it had hoped to play. The FDA placed a clinical hold on hepatitis C drug sovaprevir after patients in a phase 1 drug-drug interaction study with the drug combined with ritonavir-boosted atazanavir were found to have elevated liver enzyme levels. Shares dropped 25% in one day as a result.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  An under-$10 biotechnology player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN), discovers, develops and commercializes anti-infective drug therapies in the U.S. and internationally. This stock has been destroyed by the sellers so far in 2013, with shares down big by 66%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Achillion Pharmaceuticals, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways for the last month and change, with shares moving between $2.26 on the downside and $2.98 on the upside. This sideways trading pattern is occurring after shares of ACHN gapped down sharply in late September from $7.50 to under $3 with heavy downside volume. Shares of ACHN are now starting to trend higher and move within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its sideways trading chart pattern.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ACHN if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.85 to $2.98 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 2.76 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ACHN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its gap down day high from September at $3.62 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give ACHN a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started at $7.50 a share.

  Traders can look to buy ACHN off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $2.44 to $2.26 a share. One can also buy ACHN off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

ADP Sets Up Weak and Softening Jobs Numbers for September

Due to the government shutdown, about all we can really expect from the Labor Department is a report on weekly jobless claims. Yes, the national unemployment and payrolls report likely will not be released this Friday. So now investors and traders will have to focus on the national payrolls report from ADP as “the big employment number” this week.

The ADP National Employment Report projects that the private sector added about 166,000 jobs in the month of September. Bloomberg was calling for 180,000 and Dow Jones was calling for 178,000 as the consensus readings. The prior report from August was revised down from 176,000 to 159,000.

ADP signaled that goods-producing employment rose by 19,000 jobs in September, construction payrolls added 16,000 jobs and manufacturing payrolls increased by only 1,000. As the United States has a services-based economy, it should be of little surprise that service-providing industries added 147,000 jobs in September, but this was down from 152,000 in August. Service jobs added were as follows:

Trade/transportation/utilities added the most jobs with 54,000 over the month. Professional/business services employment rose by 27,000. Financial activities actually lost 4,000 jobs.

Top Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now

The quote given was by Mark Zandi, who is chief economist of Moody's Analytics, who said:

The job market appears to have softened in recent months. Fiscal austerity has begun to take a toll on job creation. The run-up in interest rates may also be doing some damage to jobs in the financial services industry. While job growth has slowed, there remains a general resilience in the market. Job creation continues to be consistent with a slowly declining unemployment rate.

With no Employment Situation Report from the Labor Department on Friday, this ADP report is now about the most important jobs report for this week. Unfortunately, this report does not have any great news.

How to Play Today’s “Demand-Pull” Inflation

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now

You can drill down and identify several different sorts of inflation, but they all fall within two general categories: demand-pull and cost-push.

Demand-pull inflation is typically tied to wages, with growing incomes spurring greater consumption of goods and services. As consumption grows, supply tightens and prices go up.

This type of inflation is typically seen in economies that are at or near full employment—i.e., the unemployment rate is typically 4 percent or less. As the economy grows there are fewer and fewer workers to fill available jobs; as a result employers compete with higher wages. You can also see demand-pull inflation in areas which are heavily unionized, giving workers the power to push through wage increases even if the business environment might not be ideal.

Demand-pull inflation is sometimes called monetary inflation, because it can also occur when governments aggressively print money, typically to fund deficits. Good examples are the German Weimar Republic in the 1920s and Zimbabwe in more recent history. Unless production increases in tandem with growth in circulation, you end up with price spirals.

Cost-push inflation occurs on the opposite side of the equation, with input prices rising. That increases a producer’s unit cost, most of which gets passed on to end consumers, which in turn reduces buying power.

Cost-push inflation is most often associated with supply shocks, such as in the 1970s when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries radically cut oil production. That pushed energy prices in the US significantly higher and even resulted in shortages, ultimately pushing the US into recession and resulting in stagflation.

It’s important to differentiate between the two basic types of infl! ation because the policy approaches to combating each are different.

To combat demand-pull inflation, policy makers essentially have to discourage spending while not necessarily reducing employment levels. That is typically achieved through higher taxes which directly drain purchasing power from an economy or raising interest rates to encourage saving.

Unfortunately, cost-push inflation typically can’t be attacked head-on. Since it is usually the result of a shortage of some key commodity, the only direct approach would be to somehow boost production. However, in most countries that lack command economies, governments don’t have the tools to achieve that policy in a timely manner.

Thankfully, though, cost-push inflation typically runs itself out as higher input prices dent economic growth, which ultimately slackens demand. That’s cold comfort in the meantime but, more often than not, governments do best by doing nothing at all.

The US is currently experiencing a bit of both types of inflation, though demand-pull is the more dominant.

While it’s true that the 7.3 percent unemployment rate in the US is still relatively high by historical standards, it has been declining for the better part of three years. Wages have also been relatively stable, even though they aren’t keeping pace with inflation.

Add in slow but steady economic growth and you have a recipe for higher prices driven by growing demand, helped along by increased global competition for resources and money printing by central banks the world over.

And as the global economy continues to improve, the effect will only become more pronounced.

Even as the US government shutdown acted as a drag on the country’s economic growth and dented consumer sentiment, resource producers have been some of the best performing stocks over the past three months.

While the Dow Jones Industrial Average is essentially flat over that period and the S&P 500 has gained ! just 3.1 ! percent, SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (NYSE: XME) is up by 10.7 percent.

Tracking a basket of US-based companies that produce aluminum, coal, copper and steel just to name a few, the exchange-traded fund’s components have been enjoying stable to growing demand of late. After the rout the sector has taken over the past two years, producers have finally rationalized their output to levels where stable prices can be maintained.

They’ve also drastically cut costs in recent years, improving their overall margins, and according to research from Macquarie costs are likely to continue falling from here.

So while inflation is still relatively muted following the global recession a few years back, the pressure is building to the point where attractive entry points are developing.

SPDR S&P Metals and Mining TF rates a buy up to 46, as demand-pull inflation heats up.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now

LONDON --�When weighing up a potential investment, we need to look forward rather than backwards. If you buy a stake in a business, it's the future profits that count -- and the stock market will value your shares based on future expectations.

With that in mind, it can be helpful to review what expert City analysts are expecting a company to earn in the coming years. These expectations can be compared to the share price, to give you a better idea of how the stock market is valuing the business.

Today I'm looking at the earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for�HSBC� (LSE: HSBA  ) (NYSE: HBC  ) , the FTSE 100 banking giant. All my figures are courtesy of S&P Capital IQ.

Analysts expect HSBC's profits to be 65 pence per share this year. This means that compared to today's share price of 736 pence, the market is valuing HSBC's shares on a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 11.

Looking ahead, the consensus then calls for an improvement in HSBC's earnings to 69 pence per share for 2014 before jumping to 75 pence in 2015. The data indicates HSBC's revenues meanwhile might grow more slowly however, from 拢68 billion currently to 拢74 billion by 2015, annual growth of around 2.3%.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: FirstMerit Corporation(FMER)

FirstMerit Corporation operates as the bank holding company for FirstMerit Bank, N.A. that provides a range of banking, fiduciary, financial, insurance, and investment services to corporate, institutional, and individual customers in northern and central Ohio, and western Pennsylvania. The company?s commercial business offers commercial term loans, revolving credit arrangements, asset-based lending, leasing, commercial mortgages, real estate construction lending, letters of credit, cash management services, and other depository products. Its retail business provides various financial products and services, including consumer direct and indirect installment loans, debit and credit cards, debit gift cards, residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, fixed and variable annuities, and ATM network services, as well as deposit products comprising checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company?s wealth business provides a sset management, private banking, financial planning, estate settlement and administration, and credit and deposit products and services. FirstMerit Corporation also offers trust and investment services, including personal trust and planning, and investment management; retirement plan services; retail mutual funds, other securities, variable and fixed annuities, personal disability and life insurance products, and brokerage services; and private banking services, including credit, deposit, and asset management solutions. As of December 31, 2009, it operated a network of 160 full service banking offices and 182 ATMs. The company was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.

Top 10 Bank 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 Dan Caplinger]

  Interestingly, though, this analysis doesn't mention an important factor: Increasingly over the past decade, major mortgage lenders haven't held onto their loans but rather have sold them on to government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae (NASDAQOTCBB: FNMA  ) and Freddie Mac (NASDAQOTCBB: FMCC  ) . During the housing boom, mortgage lenders Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) didn't perform as well as they did because they were securing particularly high margins on their mortgage loans. Rather, they collected transaction-based income by immediately reselling conforming loans to Fannie and Freddie, often retaining streams of income from risk-free mortgage-servicing rights without keeping any liability for potential loan default. Even now, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) relies on strength in mortgage-related income, and decreases in refinancing activity pose a threat to income growth in future quarters -- although unlike many of its peers, Wells has actually retained a good portion of its loans on its own books.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014: Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA)

Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by the United States Congress to support liquidity and stability in the secondary mortgage market, where mortgage-related assets are purchased and sold. The Company�� activities include providing market liquidity by securitizing mortgage loans originated by lenders in the primary mortgage market into Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities (Fannie Mae MBS), and purchasing mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities in the secondary market for its mortgage portfolio. Fannie Mae operates in three business segments: Single-Family business, Multifamily Business (formerly Housing and Community Development (HCD)) and Capital Markets group. Its Single-Family Credit Guaranty and Multifamily businesses work with its lender customers to purchase and securitize mortgage loans customers deliver to the Company into Fannie Mae MBS.

The Company obtains funds to support its business activities by issuing a variety of debt securities in the domestic and international capital markets. Fannie Mae acquires funds to purchase mortgage-related assets for its mortgage portfolio by issuing a variety of debt securities in the domestic and international capital markets. It also makes other investments. Fannie Mae conducts its business in the United States residential mortgage market and the global securities market. It conducts business in the United States residential mortgage market and the global securities market. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company��

Single-Family Business

Single-Family business includes mortgage securitizations, mortgage acquisitions, credit risk management and credit loss management. Single-Family business works with the Company�� lender customers to provide funds to the mortgage market by securitizing single-family mortgage loans into Fannie Mae MBS. Its Single-Family business also works with its Capital Markets group to facilitate the pu! rchase of single-family mortgage loans for the Company�� mortgage portfolio. Fannie Mae�� Single-Family business prices and manages the credit risk on its single-family guaranty book of business, which consists of single-family mortgage loans underlying Fannie Mae MBS and single-family loans held in its mortgage portfolio. Single-Family business and Capital Markets group securitize and purchase primarily single-family fixed-rate or adjustable-rate, first lien mortgage loans, or mortgage-related securities backed by these types of loans.

The Company securitizes or purchases loans insured by Federal Housing Administration (FHA), loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and loans guaranteed by the Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Program of the Department of Agriculture, manufactured housing loans, reverse mortgage loans, multifamily mortgage loans, subordinate lien mortgage loans and other mortgage-related securities. Its Single-Family business securitizes single-family mortgage loans and issues single-class Fannie Mae MBS. Fannie Mae�� Single-Family business securitizes loans solely in lender swap transactions, in which lenders deliver pools of mortgage loans to the Company, which are placed immediately in a trust, in exchange for Fannie Mae MBS backed by these loans. Generally, the servicing of the mortgage loans held in its mortgage portfolio or that backs its Fannie Mae MBS is performed by mortgage servicers on the Company�� behalf. Lenders who sell single-family mortgage loans to Fannie Mae service these loans for the Company. For loans it owns or guarantees, the lender or servicer must obtain its approval before selling servicing rights to another servicer.

Fannie Mae�� mortgage servicers collect and deliver principal and interest payments, administer escrow accounts, monitor and report delinquencies, perform default prevention activities, evaluate transfers of ownership interests, respond to requests for partial releases of s! ecurity, ! and handle proceeds from casualty and condemnation losses. Its mortgage servicers are the primary point of contact for borrowers and perform implementation of its homeownership assistance initiatives, negotiation of workouts of troubled loans, and loss mitigation activities. Mortgage servicers also inspect and preserve properties and process foreclosures and bankruptcies.

Multifamily Mortgage Business

Multifamily business works with the Company�� lender customers to provide funds to the mortgage market by securitizing multifamily mortgage loans into Fannie Mae MBS. Through its Multifamily business, Fannie Mae provides liquidity and support to the United States multifamily housing market principally by purchasing or securitizing loans that finance multifamily rental housing properties. It also provides some limited debt financing for other acquisition, development, construction and rehabilitation activity related to projects that complement this business. Fannie Mae�� Multifamily business also works with its Capital Markets group to facilitate the purchase and securitization of multifamily mortgage loans and securities for Fannie Mae�� portfolio, as well as to facilitate portfolio securitization and resecuritization activities.

The Company�� multifamily guaranty book of business consists of multifamily mortgage loans underlying Fannie Mae MBS and multifamily loans and securities held in Fannie Mae�� mortgage portfolio. Revenues for Fannie Mae�� Multifamily business are derived from a variety of sources, including guaranty fees received as compensation for assuming the credit risk on the mortgage loans underlying multifamily Fannie Mae MBS and on the multifamily mortgage loans held in its portfolio and on other mortgage-related securities; transaction fees associated with the multifamily business, and other bond credit enhancement related fees. As with the servicing of single-family mortgages, multifamily mortgage servicing is performed by the lenders who! sell the! mortgages to the Company. Fannie Mae�� Multifamily business is organized and operated as an integrated commercial real estate finance business.

Capital Markets

Capital Markets group's primary business activities include mortgage and other investments, mortgage securitizations, structured mortgage securitizations and other customer services, and interest rate risk management. Capital Markets group manages the Company�� investment activity in mortgage-related assets and other interest-earning, non-mortgage investments. It funds its investments primarily through proceeds the Company receives from the issuance of debt securities in the domestic and international capital markets. Its business activity is focused on making short-term use of its balance sheet rather than long-term investments. Activities Fannie Mae is undertaking to provide liquidity to the mortgage market include whole loan conduit, early funding, real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMICs) and other structured securitizations and dollar roll transactions. Whole loan conduit activities include its purchase of both single-family and multifamily loans principally for the purpose of securitizing them. During the year ended December 31, 2010, it was engaged in dollar roll activity. A dollar roll transaction is a commitment to purchase a mortgage-related security with a concurrent agreement to re-sell a similar security at a later date or vice versa.

Fannie Mae�� Capital Markets group is engaged in issuing both single-class and multi-class Fannie Mae MBS through both portfolio securitizations and structured securitizations involving third party assets. Its Capital Markets group creates single-class and multi-class Fannie Mae MBS from mortgage-related assets held in its mortgage portfolio. Fannie Mae�� Capital Markets group may sell these Fannie Mae MBS into the secondary market or may retain the Fannie Mae MBS in its investment portfolio. The Company�� Capital Markets group creates single-clas! s and mul! ti-class structured Fannie Mae MBS, for its lender customers or securities dealer customers, in exchange for a transaction fee. The Company�� Capital Markets group provides its lender customers and their affiliates with services that include offering to purchase a range of mortgage assets, including non-standard mortgage loan products; segregating customer portfolios to obtain optimal pricing for their mortgage loans, and assisting customers with hedging their mortgage business.

Although the Company�� Capital Markets group�� business activities are focused on short-term financing and investing, revenue from its Capital Markets group is derived primarily from the difference, or spread, between the interests it earns on its mortgage and non-mortgage investments and the interest it incurs on the debt the Company issues to fund these assets. Its Capital Markets revenues are primarily derived from the Company�� mortgage asset portfolio. Capital Markets group funds its investments primarily through the issuance of a variety of debt securities in a range of maturities in the domestic and international capital markets. Investors in the Company�� debt securities include commercial bank portfolios and trust departments, investment fund managers, insurance companies, pension funds, state and local governments, and central banks.

The Company competes with Freddie Mac, FHA and Ginnie Mae.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Wells Fargo(WFC) & Co. settled with the Federal Housing Finance Agency for allegedly misleading disclosures on mortgage securities the bank sold to Fannie Mae(FNMA) (FNMA) and Freddie Mac(FMCC) (FMCC), according to people familiar with the matter.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Our focused income strategy is proving successful. Today, 62% of the Fund's net assets are in cash and cash equivalents. Sears (SHLD) bonds maturing in 2018 are the Fund's largest non-cash holding, at 23% of net assets, followed by the preferred stock of Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac, at 6% of net assets, and J.C. Penney (JCP) bonds maturing between 2015 and 2017, at 4% of net assets. MBIA bonds were sold in the period, resulting in an above average return.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) is a diversified international financial group, with strengths in the traditional banking businesses of retail banking, asset management, private banking and wholesale banking. The Company also has investments in some of Spain�� companies. During the year ended December 31, 2009, BBVA focused its operations on six major business areas: Spain and Portugal, Wholesale Banking and Asset Management, Mexico, The United States, South America and Corporate Activities. On August 21, 2009, through its subsidiary BBVA Compass, BBVA acquired certain assets of Guaranty from the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC).

Spain and Portugal

The Spain and Portugal business area focuses on providing banking services and consumer finance to private individuals, enterprises and institutions in Spain and Portugal. The main business units included in the Spain and Portugal area Spanish Retail Network, which manages individual customers, high net-worth individuals (private banking) and small companies and retailers in the Spanish market; Corporate and Business Banking, which manages business with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), large companies, institutions and developers in the Spanish market, and Other units, which includes consumer finance, that manages renting and leasing business, credit to individual and to enterprises for consumer products and Internet banking; European Insurance that manages the insurance business in Spain and Portugal, and BBVA Portugal, that manages the banking business in Portugal. The Spanish Retail Network unit services the financial and non-financial needs of households, professional practices, retailers and small businesses. The Corporate and Business Banking unit offers a range of services and products to SMEs, large companies, institutions and developers with specialized branch networks for each segment.

The Company�� European Insurance unit�� activities are conducted through! various insurance companies that provide direct insurance, reinsurance and insurance brokering services in Spain and Portugal and market products for different types of customers (private individuals, SMEs, retailers, professional service firms and providers and self-employed individuals) through this unit�� branch offices. BBVA Portugal manages its banking business in Portugal.

Wholesale Banking and Asset Management

The Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area focuses on providing services to large international companies and investment banking, capital markets and treasury management services to clients. The business units included in the Wholesale Banking and Asset Management area are Corporate and Investment Banking, which coordinates origination, distribution and management of a complete catalogue of corporate and investment banking products (corporate finance, structured finance, syndicated loans and debt capital markets) and provides global trade finance and global transaction services with coverage of large corporate customers specialized by sector (industry bankers); Global Markets, which handles the origination, structuring, distribution and risk management of market products, which are placed through its trading rooms in Europe, Asia and the Americas; Asset Management, which designs and manages the products that are marketed through its different branch networks including traditional asset management, alternative asset management and Valanza (its private equity unit); Industrial and Other Holdings, which helps to diversify the area�� businesses with the aim of creating medium and long-term value through active management of a portfolio of industrial holdings and other Spanish and international projects, and Asia.

During the year ended December 31, 2009, it launched two products: BBVA Bonos Cash (BBVA Cash Bonds), a money market fund for retail customers, and BBVA Bonos Largo Plazo Gobiernos II (BBVA Long-Term Government Bonds), a public-debt fu! nd. In ad! dition it launched through this unit additional fixed-income long-term funds, including BBVA Bonos Corporativos 2011 and BBVA Bonos 2014, which were sold to HNWI customers.

Mexico

The business units included in the Mexico area are Retail and Corporate banking and Pensions and Insurance. BBVA Bancomer launched six new mortgage products for lending to home buyers in 2009. These products included: loans for home improvements, remodeling or additions to homes and financial discount which provides liquidity to construction companies. In Mexico, it operates its pensions business through Afore Bancomer, its insurance business through Seguros Bancomer, its annuities business through Pensiones Bancomer and its health insurance business through Preventis.

The United States

The business units included in the United States area are BBVA Compass and Other units: BBVA Puerto Rico and Bancomer Transfers Services (BTS). During 2009 this unit marketed and sold several new products, The ClearPoints credit card, Business Build-to-order Checking, Compass for your Cause and Money Market Sweep.

South America

The South America business area includes its banking, insurance and pension businesses in South America. The business units included in the South America business area are Retail and Corporate Banking, which includes banks in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela; Pension businesses, which includes pensions businesses in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and Dominican Republic, and Insurance businesses, which includes insurance businesses in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Corporate Activities

The Corporate Activities area handles its general management functions. These mainly consist of structural positions for interest rates associated with the euro balance sheet and exchange rates, together with liquidity management and shareholde! rs��fun! ds.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.

  Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: M&T Bank Corporation (MTB)

M&T Bank Corporation operates as the holding company for M&T Bank and M&T Bank, National Association that provide commercial and retail banking services to individuals, corporations and other businesses, and institutions. It offers business loans and leases; business credit cards; deposit products, such as demand, savings, and time accounts; and financial services, including cash management, payroll and direct deposit, merchant credit card, and letters of credit. The company also provides residential real estate loans; multifamily commercial real estate loans; commercial real estate loans; one-to-four family residential mortgage loans; investment and trading securities; short-term and long-term borrowed funds; brokered certificates of deposit and interest rate swap agreements related thereto; and branch deposits. In addition, it offers foreign exchange, as well as asset management services. Further, the company provides consumer loans, and commercial loans and leases; cred it life, and accident and health reinsurance; and securities brokerage, investment advisory, and insurance agency services. As of December 31, 2009, it had 738 banking offices in New York State, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; a commercial banking office in Ontario, Canada; and an office in George Town, Cayman Islands. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  It was a long engagement, but the union between growth-oriented M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB  ) and Hudson City Bancorp (NASDAQ: HCBK  ) looks like it is definitely back on track.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  The M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) transaction is the only pending deal of 2012 vintage due to various regulatory concerns. MTB currently has 9% short interest outstanding and PACW 15%. Another merger covered is the deal between Provident New York Bancorp (NASDAQ: PBNY) and Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), and the balance are simply too small for us to warrant effort.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: National Bank of Greece SA (NBG)

National Bank of Greece S.A. (the Bank), incorporated on March 30, 1841, is a Greece-based financial institution. It offers a range of integrated financial services, including corporate and investment banking, retail banking (including mortgage lending), leasing, stock brokerage, asset management and venture capital, insurance, real estate and consulting services. In addition, the Company is involved in various other businesses, including hotel and property management, real estate and information technology (IT) consulting. On May 19, 2009, the Bank established Ethniki Factors S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary. On June 8, 2009, Finansbank A.S. established Finans Faktoring Hizmetleri A.S. (Finans Factoring), a wholly owned subsidiary. On June 30, 2009, NBG Luxemburg Holding S.A. and NBG Luxfinance Holding S.A. were merged to NBG Asset Management Luxemburg S.A. On January 18, 2010, the Bank acquired 35% of the share capital of AKTOR FM. On October 16, 2009, United Bulgarian Bank A.D. (UBB) established UBB Factoring E.O.O.D., a wholly owned subsidiary of UBB. On September 15, 2009, the Bank disposed of its investment in Phosphoric Fertilizers Industry S.A.

At December 31, 2009, the Bank operated in Greece through 575 branches, one private banking unit, one unit for financial institutions and 10 specialized banking units that deal exclusively with troubled and non-performing loans. At December 31, 2009, the Bank had over 1500 automated teller machines (ATMs).

Retail Banking

The Bank offers retail customers a number of different types of deposit and investment products, as well as a range of services and products. The Bank offers a range of mortgage products, with floating, fixed, or a combination of fixed and floating interest rates. In February 2009, the Bank introduced a new floating rate product, the ESTIA MIKTO with flexible payment terms. In addition to fire and earthquake property insurance, the Bank offers an optional life insurance plan together with mortgage! s.

The Small Business Lending Unit (SBL Unit) a part of the Bank's retail banking division consists of three credit centers situated in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patrastail. The SBL Unit offers term loans geared towards medium and long-term working capital needs for the financing of asset purchases.

Corporate and Investment Banking

The Bank offers corporate accounts with overdraft facilities, foreign currency loans, variable rate loans, and currency swaps and options for corporate customers. The Bank's commercial loan portfolio in Greece comprises approximately 50,000 corporate clients, including small and medium sized enterprises. It offers the corporate clients a range of products and services, including financial and investment advisory services, deposit accounts, loans denominated in euro and other currencies, foreign exchange services, insurance products, custody arrangements and trade finance services. The Bank lends primarily in the form of credit lines, which are generally at variable rates of interest with payment terms of up to 12 months. In addition, the Bank provides letters of credit and guarantees for its clients.

The Bank�� shipping finance and syndicated loan portfolio consists of first-tier shipping groups involved in diversified shipping activities. The Bank provided project finance advisory services to the Hellenic Republic on two infrastructure projects: the new Attica Motorway and Kasteli International Airport.

Global Markets & Asset Management

The treasury activities provided by the Bank and its subsidiaries include

Greek and other sovereign securities trading, foreign exchange trading, interbank lending and borrowing in euro and other currency placements/ deposits, forward rate agreement trading, repurchase agreements, corporate bonds, and derivative products, such as options and interest rate and currency swaps. The Bank also conducts a portion of its treasury activities through its subsidia! ry CPT. A! s at December 31, 2009; CPT's portfolio comprised Greek government bonds and corporate bonds, with a total value of EUR 1.8 billion.

The Bank offers its private banking services both domestically and internationally from its international private banking units in London. The Bank offers custodian services to its foreign and domestic institutional clients who hold equity securities listed on the ATHEX or listed Greek State debt, as well as remote settlement and custody services on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The Bank offers trade settlements, safekeeping of securities, corporate action processing, income collection, proxy voting, tax reclamation, brokerage services, customized reporting, regular market flashes and information services. The Bank also acts as global custodian to its domestic institutional clients who invest in securities outside of Greece.

The domestic fund management business is operated by NBG Asset Management, which is wholly owned by the Group. NBG Asset Management manages funds that are made available to customers through the Bank's extensive branch network. As at December 31, 2009, NBG Asset Management's total assets under management were EUR 1.9 billion.

National Securities S.A offers a range of investment services to both individual and institutional customers. In September 2009, National Securities S.A. opened a branch in Nicosia, Cyprus, to provide brokerage services to local private investors.

Turkish Operations

The Bank�� Turkish operations include the Finansbank group of companies and NBG Bank (Malta) Ltd. Finansbank's group of companies includes Finans Invest, Finans Leasing, Finans Portfolio Management, Finans Investment Trust, Finans Factoring, IBTech, Finans Pension, and Finans Consumer Finance. As at December 31, 2009, Finansbank operated through a network of 461 branches in 60 cities.

Finansbank Corporate Banking serves corporations through its eight branches in the four cities in Turkey.! Finansba! nk Commercial Banking serves medium-sized companies located in 23 cities in Turkey through its head office, four regional offices (three in Istanbul and one in Ankara) and a distribution network, which includes 61 branches.

Finansbank Investment Banking consists of project finance, corporate finance and technical consulting. Investment Banking acts as a client relations specialist while providing medium to long-term loans and other products. Finansbank Private Banking has been providing investment products and asset management services to individuals through eight private banking centers and 28 private banking corners located in Finansbank's branches in the cities throughout Turkey.

International

The Bank's international operations include the Bank's branches in Albania, Egypt and Cyprus, as well as banking subsidiaries in six countries: NBG Cyprus; Stopanska Banka A.D. in FYROM; United Bulgarian Bank A.D. in Bulgaria; Banca Romaneasca S.A., in Romania; Vojvodjanska in Serbia; and the South African Bank of Athens, as well as other subsidiaries, primarily in the leasing sector. As at December 31, 2009, the Bank had foreign branches in four countries, including one in the United Kingdom, 30 in Albania, one in Cyprus, 15 in Egypt and one in Guernsey (which closed early in 2010).

Insurance

The Bank provides insurance services to individuals and companies through the wholly owned subsidiary Ethniki Insurance Group (EI) and Finans Pension. EI offers a range of products such as life, accident and health insurance for individuals and groups, fire, catastrophe, credit, motor, marine hull and cargo insurance, and general third party liability. EI operates through a network of 2,850 tied agents and 2,620 independent insurance brokers, in addition to selling bancassurance products through the Bank's network. EI provides bancassurance products through our insurance brokerage subsidiary NBG Bancassurance S.A. (NBGB), which assumes no insurance underwr! iting ris! k, and the Bank's extensive network in Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  For investors with more of a penchant for risk who are willing to bet against individual companies, they might consider angling a short sale against a large EU banking giant such as Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN  ) �or focus on a Greece-based bank like the National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG  ) .

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  National Bank of Greece (NBG) is engaged in providing financial services, including retail and commercial banking, global investment management, investment banking, insurance, investment activities and securities trading. This stock closed up 2.5% to $3.61 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $3.49-$3.70
  
  52-Week Range: $2.85-$32.50
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 3.59 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 3.59 million

  From a technical perspective, NBG bounced modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $3.20 with solid upside volume. This stock has been crushed over the last two months, with shares drooping from over $8 to its low of $2.85. Since that drop, the stock has started to stabilize and it's now moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if NBG manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $3.88 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NBG as long as it's trending above $3.20 and then once it sustains a move or close above $3.88 with volume that hits near or above 3.59 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then NBG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.47 to $5.63

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  The broader market was trading roughly flat in the early hours of trading today, but a few financial stocks were still moving higher. National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG  ) continued its�meteoric rise over the past 30 days, and MBIA (NYSE: MBI  ) investors are still reveling over the settlement with Bank of America.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]

  After an incredible run-up this year, the broader market trend was downward this week, to the tune of 1.6%, but some of the stocks out there were hit particularly hard. In this video, Motley Fool financial analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson take a look at what was behind three big dives this week:�National Bank of Greece� (NYSE: NBG  ) ,�Newcastle Investment� (NYSE: NCT  ) , and�American Capital Mortgage Investment� (NASDAQ: MTGE  ) .�

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (FMCC)

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) conducts business in the United States residential mortgage market and the global securities market. The Company operates in three segments: Single-family Guarantee, Investments, and Multifamily. The Single-family Guarantee segment reflects results from the Company's single-family credit guarantee activities. The Investments segment reflects results from the Company's investment, funding and hedging activities. The Multifamily segment reflects results from the Company's investment (both purchases and sales), securitization, and guarantee activities in multifamily mortgage loans and securities. The Company conducts its operations in the United States and its territories.

Single-Family Guarantee Segment

In the Company�� Single-family Guarantee segment, it purchases single-family mortgage loans originated by the Company�� seller/servicers in the primary mortgage market. The Company uses the mortgage securitization process to package the purchased mortgage loans into guaranteed mortgage-related securities. The Company guarantees the payment of principal and interest on the mortgage-related security in exchange for management and guarantee fees. The Company�� customers are lenders in the primary mortgage market that originate mortgages for homeowners. These lenders include mortgage banking companies, commercial banks, savings banks, community banks, credit unions, Housing Finance Agency (HFAs), and savings and loan associations. The Company�� customers also service loans in its single-family credit guarantee portfolio.

Mortgage securitization is a process, by which the Company purchase mortgage loans that lenders originate, and pool these loans into mortgage securities that are sold in global capital markets. The United States residential mortgage market consists of a primary mortgage market that links homebuyers and lenders and a secondary mortgage market that links lenders and investors. The Company part! icipates in the secondary mortgage market by purchasing mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities for investment and by issuing guaranteed mortgage-related securities. In the Single-family Guarantee segment, it purchase and securitize single-family mortgages, which are mortgages that are secured by one- to four-family properties. The types of mortgage-related securities it issue and guarantee include PCs, REMICs and Other Structured Securities and Other Guarantee Transactions. The Company also issue mortgage-related securities to third parties in exchange for non-Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities. The non-Freddie Mac mortgage-related securities are transferred to trusts that were specifically created for the purpose of issuing securities, or certificates, in the Other Guarantee Transactions.

Investments Segment

In the Company�� Investments segment, it invests principally in mortgage-related securities and single-family performing mortgage loans, which are funded by other debt issuances and hedged using derivatives. In the Company�� Investments segment, it also provides funding and hedging management services to the Single-family Guarantee and Multifamily segments. The Company�� customers for its debt securities predominantly include insurance companies, money managers, central banks, depository institutions, and pension funds. The Company funds its investment activities by issuing short-term and long-term debt. The Company�� PCs are an integral part of its mortgage purchase program. The Company�� Single-family Guarantee segment purchases many of its mortgages by issuing PCs in exchange for those mortgage loans in guarantor swap transactions. The Company also issue PCs backed by mortgage loans that it purchased for cash.

Multifamily Segment

The Company�� multifamily segment issues Other Structured Securities, but does not issue REMIC securities. The Company multifamily segment also enters into other guarantee commitments for mult! ifamily H! FA bonds and housing revenue bonds held by third parties. The Company acquires a portion of its multifamily mortgage loans from several large seller/servicers.

The Company competes with Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), Mae Federal Housing Administration/the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (FHA/VA) and Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang]

  On Friday, the Journal reported that the bank agreed to pay roughly $4 billion to the Federal Housing Finance Agency to settle claims that it misled Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) �about the quality of loans sold to them ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.

• [By Alex Dumortier, CFA]

  Federal National Mortgage Association (NASDAQOTCBB: FNMA  )
  Federal mortgage agency Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae, is a conundrum, and a speculative vehicle par excellence. On the back of a spectacular 676% run-up this year (see the following graph), the company has become, to my knowledge, the most valuable over-the-counter penny stock there is. With its twin, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (NASDAQOTCBB: FMCC  ) , both of which were nationalized in 2008, during the credit crisis, these companies now have a combined market value of $5.5 billion.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The challenge of retiree mortgages
  Recently, Fannie Mae (NASDAQOTCBB: FNMA  ) and Freddie Mac (NASDAQOTCBB: FMCC  ) made it a little easier for retirees to get new mortgages or to refinance their existing mortgages. By changing the rules for what a lender can consider as income to include retirement account balances in IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar accounts, the mortgage agencies hope to make it easier for low-income seniors to make beneficial moves like refinancing existing debt to capture low interest rates or moving from a large family home to a more modest home to free up locked-in home equity.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: First Commonwealth Financial Corporation(FCF)

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for First Commonwealth Bank that provides consumer and commercial banking services to individuals and small and mid-sized businesses in central and western Pennsylvania. The company offers personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings accounts, health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, and IRA accounts. It also provides secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and mortgage loans, safe deposit facilities, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, and student loans, as well as Internet and telephone banking, and automated teller machine services. In addition, the company offers commercial banking services, including commercial lending, small and high-volume business checking accounts, on-line account management services, ACH origination, payroll direct deposi t, commercial cash management services, and repurchase agreements. Further, it provides various trust and asset management services, as well as a complement of auto, home, business, and term life insurance. Additionally, the company offers annuities, mutual funds, stock, and bond brokerage services through an arrangement with a broker-dealer and insurance brokers. It operates 115 community banking offices in western Pennsylvania and 2 loan production offices in downtown Pittsburgh and State College, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joshi Madhavi]

  Operating cash flow has been quite volatile over the last five years. All of this cash flow does not come to the company�� shareholders though. The reason is an employee of the Group holds a 49.9% minority interest in the shares of a group entity and has an option to acquire a further 12.6% of the shares. Major portion of the profit/operating cash flow seems to go out to minority interest holders. In 2010, 15% of net income went to minority interest ��this has increased to more than 60% in 2012. After deducting this, the free cash flow (FCF) coming to company shareholders has reduced to $3.5 million in 2012.

• [By Ray Merola]

  Global recession notwithstanding, International Paper has re-imagined itself as a strong cash generator. I focus upon Free-Cash-Flow (FCF), thereby subtracting routine capital expenditures from Operating Cash. What remains is what Warren Buffett refers to as "Owner Earnings," or what is left over after a company has handled all aspects of running and maintaining its business.

• [By Fede Zaldua]

  Overall, the company is trying to resist European volume trends while successfully putting in practice its pricing power. Even when market-trends flow against Imperial's top-line, the company should be able to grow its Free Cash Flow (FCF) per share once again in 2013 -its 2013 FCF yield should be as high as 9%. Some businesses are simple great. They deliver growing cash yields to its owners even when conditions are tough.

• [By Paul McWilliams]

  Trailing 12-month free cash flow (FCF) was $1.58 per fully diluted share, versus Cree's reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.32, and net cash per fully diluted share increased by $2.06 year-over-year.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  The debate over whether the nation's largest banks are too big to fail rages on, as does the question of just how much in implicit subsidies these banks enjoy because of this notion. When it comes to Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , the two megabanks have been found to be much more dependent on TBTF-generated backstops than peers JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , particularly when it comes to profits -- which would dip into the negative zone for both B of A and Citi if funding subsidies were removed.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: State Street Corporation(STT)

State Street Corporation, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company?s Investment Servicing business line provides products and services, including custody, product- and participant-level accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; record-keeping; foreign exchange, brokerage, and other trading services; securities finance; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loan and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; and performance, risk, and compliance analytics. This segment also offers shareholder services, which comprise mutual fund and collective investment fund shareholder accounting. Its Investment Management business line provides a range of investment management, investment research, and other related services, such as securities finance; and strategies for managing passive and active financ ial assets, such as enhanced indexing and hedge fund strategies for U.S. and global equities and fixed-income securities. The company serves mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and investment managers. State Street Corporation was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  State Street (NYSE: STT) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.18 per share on revenue of $2.51 billion.

  Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.86 per share on revenue of $2.14 billion.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Similarly, investment management and services company State Street (NYSE: STT  ) added 4.1% in spite of a lack of news. The move does, however, come just a few days after TheStreet.com reiterated its buy recommendation on the stock. It's also worth noting that State Street Chairman and CEO Joseph Hooley will be presenting at the Morgan Stanley�Financials Conference in two weeks. Usually conferences like these allow investment firms like State Street to instill confidence in analysts, and it's not uncommon to see upgrades (and downgrades) follow these meetings.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  In the fourth quarter, Yacktman�� biggest additions to his holdings were Research In Motion (RIMM) and Avon Products (AVP). He also surprised followers by venturing into financials, with new positions in Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), State Street Corp. (STT) and Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS).

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Chen today has buy recommendations on IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) and asset manager State Street Corp. (STT)

  The top analyst of large-cap banks in the Greenwich Associates/Bloomberg Markets ranking is Betsy Graseck of Morgan Stanley. In one of her best calls, she saw bad news for JPMorgan as good news for investors.