Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now

Mid cap telco equipment stock Alcatel Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) is up 205.9% since the start of the year for a much better performance�verses peers or benchmarks like Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) or the iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF (NYSEARCA: IGN)���meaning its probably worth taking a closer look at the stock as its been producing plenty of good news for a change.�I should note that we have recently added�Alcatel Lucent SA to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio as a�technical based trade because we think shares will continue higher on speculation�about an�improved global footprint�for this leading mobile data network provider.

What is Alcatel Lucent SA?

France based Alcatel Lucent SA provides products and innovations in IP and�cloud networking as well as ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access by serving service providers and their customers, as well as enterprises and institutions throughout the world. In addition, Alcatel Lucent SA's Bell Labs is�one of the world�� foremost technology research institutes that is has been�responsible for countless breakthroughs�which have shaped the networking and communications industry.

Top Integrated Utility Companies To Buy Right Now: Mazda Motor Corp (MZDAY.PK)

Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japan-based company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of automobiles and automobile parts. The Company provides mini vans, compact vehicles, sports cars, sport-utility vehicles, station wagons, sedans, light cars, commercial vehicles, welfare vehicles and special edition automobiles, as well as automobile accessories, including car navigation systems, automobile audio systems, side monitors, rear seat monitors, electronic toll collection (ETC) in-vehicle equipment, security products, driving support products, bulbs, pet carriers and child seats, among others. As of March 31, 2013, the Company had 56 consolidated subsidiaries and 15 associated companies. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Elliott Gue]

  This so-called One Ford initiative involved the US$2.3 billion sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors (TTM) and the US$1.6 billion divestment of Volvo to Geely Automobile Holdings (GELYF.PK). After selling the majority of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp (MZDAY.PK) and discontinuing Mercury, Ford Motor Company's portfolio consists of its eponymous mass-market brand and the higher-end Lincoln.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: HHGregg Inc.(HGG)

hhgregg, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home appliances, and related services. The company offers video products, such as flat panel televisions, blu-rays, and DVD players; appliances, including washers and dryers, refrigerators, cooking ranges, dishwashers, freezers, and air conditioners; and digital camcorders, digital cameras, gaming bundles, home theater receivers, mattresses, MP3 players, computers, personal navigation, tablets, speaker systems, and telephones. It also sells a suite of services, including third-party premium service plans, and third-party in-home service and repair of products, as well as delivery and installation, and in-home repair and maintenance. The company operates its stores under the name of hhgregg. As of February 08, 2012, it operated 208 stores in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  True, there’s probably room for one national chain, such as Best Buy or maybe even HHGregg (HGG). After all, brick-and-mortar retail is hardly dead. But outside of a merger or roll-up, but it’s hard to see how RadioShack — a company that’s been behind the curve for a decade or more — could be the one left standing.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Noble Energy Inc. (NBL)

Noble Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States, West Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, the North Sea, and internationally. Its principal projects include the Central DJ Basin properties in the onshore US; Galapagos and Gunflint projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico; Tamar project in the offshore Israel; Aseng, Alen, and Diega/Carmen projects in the offshore Equatorial Guinea; and West Africa gas projects located in the offshore Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. The company was founded in 1932 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) �shares advanced 5.6%. The oil and gas explorer said Thursday that it will sell its offshore Israel natural-gas licenses for over $1 billion to Australia-based Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  He mentioned Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR  ) , EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG  ) , and Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL  ) as three similarly sized companies that look more attractive from a valuation standpoint. All three are likely to grow twice as fast as Anadarko, yet trade at comparable valuations in terms of debt-adjusted cash-flow multiples using 2015 cash flow estimates (7.6x, 6.1x and 7.2x for Continental, EOG, and Noble, respectively, as compared to�7.3x for Anadarko Petroleum).

• [By CRWE]

  Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL) reported that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell certain oil and natural gas properties in Kansas to an affiliate of Citation Oil & Gas Corp., a privately held Houston based oil and gas company, for approximately $140 million.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Energy Transfer Equity L.P. (ETE)

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., through its direct and indirect investments in the limited partner and general partner interests in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., engages in midstream, intrastate, and interstate transportation of natural gas, as well as in storage of natural gas in the United States. The company?s Intrastate Transportation and Storage segment engages in the ownership and operation of natural gas transportation pipelines and natural gas storage facilities. As of December 31, 2009, it owned and operated approximately 7,800 miles of natural gas transportation pipelines and 3 natural gas storage facilities. This segment sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution companies, industrial end-users, and other marketing companies on the Houston pipeline system. Its Interstate Transportation segment involves owns and operates interstate natural gas pipeline. It owned and operates approximately 2,700 miles of interstate natura l gas pipeline with an additional 180 miles under construction. The company?s Midstream segment engages in the ownership and operation of in service natural gas gathering pipelines, natural gas processing plants, natural gas treating facilities, and natural gas conditioning facilities. This segment owned and operated approximately 7,000 miles of in service natural gas gathering pipelines, 3 natural gas processing plants, 11 natural gas treating facilities, and 11 natural gas conditioning facilities. Its Retail Propane segment operates a retail distribution network consisting of approximately 440 customer service locations in approximately 40 states. The company was formerly known as La Grange Energy, L.P. Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. was founded in 2002 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By codyeustice1@google] global banking and financial service company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. The bank offers financial products, and services, brokerage, insurance, asset management, shipping finance, leasing and factoring markets. It was founded by Swiss banker Jean-Gabriel Eynard and George Starvros in 1841 as a commerical bank. From its inception until the establishment of the Bank of Greece in 1928, it had the right to issue banknotes. The bank listed on the Athens Stock Exchange right after its founding in the 1880s.

  Company History & Operations

  National Bank of Greece was formed in 1841 in Athens, making it the oldest bank in the country. It wasn't government owned from its inception, but had the right of note issue, which it lost in 1928 when Greece established its own central bank. The bank in 1899 aquired the Privileged Bank of Epirus and Thessaly.

  At the beginning of the 20th century the bank began its international expansion. In 1956 the bank aquired the Bank of Athens, which was at the time the second largest bank in Greece. The bank in 1965 aquired the Greek Tapeza Epagelmatikis Pristis (Professional Credit Bank). In 1966 bank governor Georgios Mavros founded the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation. Since the 1999 the bank has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In banking it sold all its operations in Canada to the Bank of Nova Scotia in 2005. The next year the bank sold its U.S. arm, Altantic Bank of New York, to New York Community Bancorp for $400 million (EUR 331 million) in cash. It used the proceeds from these sells to finance aquisitions in Southern Europe.

  The National Bank of Greece has suffered since the the Greek government debt crisis. It had to write off more then $19 billion in debt. The bank has over 500 branches in Greece, Australia, Egypt and the UK. It has banking subidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, South Africa, Turkey, etc.

  Finances

  The bank has an 8% of capital adequacy ra

• [By Robert Rapier]

  This question really piqued my interest. Intuitively, I felt like it was probably true, but I didn’t want to answer the question until I could dig into it a bit more. I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the historical performance of a few publicly-traded general partners versus their limited partner to find out if that hypothesis is supported.

  Consider Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) and its general partner Kinder Morgan  (NYSE: KMI). Over the past year, KMI did indeed outperform KMP, but if we track performance back to the IPO of KMI on Feb. 10, 2011 — KMP outperformed KMI during significant time periods. But both generally tracked each other quite closely in terms of returns.
  
  
  Next consider Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP) and Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE: ETE), which owns the general partner and went public in 2006. ETE has significantly outperformed ETP since its IPO, particularly over the past four years:
  
  
  

  But it is important to note that ETE also has interests in Sunoco Logistics Partners (NYSE: SXL) and Regency Energy Partners (NYSE: RGP).

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR)

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market. The Index serves as the underlying index for the S&P 600/Citigroup Growth and Value Index series. The component stocks are weighted according to the total float-adjusted market value of their outstanding shares. The component stocks in the Index have a market capitalization between $300 million and $1 billion (which may fluctuate depending on the overall level of the equity markets), and are selected for liquidity and industry group representation. The Index is adjusted to reflect changes in capitalization resulting from mergers, acquisition, stock rights, substitutions and other capital events.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Ciovacco]

  In Thursday's ETF analysis, evidence is presented that supports increasing demand for assets that get a tailwind from a weak U.S. dollar, including emerging markets (EEM) and foreign stocks (EFA). Casting a wider economic net, our market model told us to start buying stocks last week even with the threat of a U.S. default. Wednesday, we continued with our incremental allocation shifts by adding some exposure to the energy sector. Thursday, we sat tight holding long positions in small caps (IJR), Europe (FEZ), emerging markets and technology (QQQ). The upper bounds of the bullish S&P 500 trend channel shown below may offer some resistance to the market's near vertical ascent.

• [By John Udovich]

  One of the most famous scenes in the cult classic, the Graduate, was when Mr. McGuire�took Dustin Hoffman�� character aside and said�"Ben, I want to say one word to you, just one word: Plastics"; but what about the Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE: BERY) and its performance verses that of the�iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV), iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: IWR) and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IJR)? I should mention that plastics and the Berry Plastics Group was not the place to be yesterday as the stock took a tumble on reduced guidance.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated(COKE)

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, marketing, and distribution of nonalcoholic beverages, primarily products of The Coca-Cola Company. The company offers sparkling beverages, such as energy drinks; and still beverages, including bottled water, tea, ready-to-drink coffee, enhanced water, juices, and sports drinks. It holds cola beverage agreements and allied beverage agreements, under which it produces, distributes, and markets sparkling beverage products of The Coca-Cola Company in certain regions. The company also distributes and markets still beverages of The Coca-Cola Company, such as POWERade, vitaminwater, and Minute Maid Juices To Go, as well as produces, distributes, and markets Dasani water products under still beverage agreements. In addition, it holds agreements to produce and market Dr Pepper. Further, the company distributes and markets various other products, including Monster energy productsand Sund rop, as well as its own products, such as Country Breeze tea, diet Country Breeze tea, and Tum-E Yummies, a vitamin C enhanced flavored drink, Bean & Body, and Simmer and Bazza energy tea. Additionally, it produces beverages for other Coca-Cola bottlers; and provides restaurants and other immediate consumption outlets with fountain products. The company sells and distributes its products directly to retail stores and other outlets, including food markets, institutional accounts, and vending machine outlets. It operates in North Carolina, South Carolina, south Alabama, South Georgia, middle Tennessee, western Virginia, and West Virginia. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Dzombak]

  In the U.S., Coke announced that it will sell some of its internal bottling operations to its five U.S. independent bottlers: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE  ) , Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, Swire Coca-Cola USA, Coca-Cola Bottling Company High Country and Corinth Coca-Cola Bottling Works. No details were released, but the company did say it expects to close the deals in 2014.

• [By Jesse Solomon]

  Other bellwethers scheduled to report earnings this week include Coca-Cola (COKE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500), and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500).

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Watch In Right Now: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc.(IRWD)

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines targeting therapeutic needs. The company is developing Linaclotide, a first-in-class compound that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, chronic constipation, and other lower gastrointestinal conditions. It also focuses on the research and development of early stage product candidates and preclinical research in various therapeutic areas, including gastrointestinal disease, pain and inflammation, respiratory disease, and cardiovascular disease. The company has a collaboration agreement with Forest Laboratories, Inc. to jointly develop and commercialize linaclotide in North America; a license agreement with Almirall, S.A. to develop and commercialize linaclotide in Europe; and a license agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc. that provides Astellas Pharma with the right to develop and commercialize linaclotide in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It serves patients, payors, and healthcare providers. The company was formerly known as Microbia, Inc. and changed its name to Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in April 2008. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By gurujx]

  Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IRWD) Reached the 3-year Low of $10.02

  The prices of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IRWD) shares have declined to close to the 3-year low of $10.02, which is 51.0% off the 3-year high of $19.67.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  While very upbeat on the sector as a whole, UBS was very cautious on sell-rated Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: IRWD) and ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN). Neutral-rated Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) and Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) were also viewed with a skeptical eye.