5 Best Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now

China announced it is shooting for 7.5% GDP for 2014. At the sound of that target, DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS  ) and�Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX  ) are likely celebrating. China is the primary country these days responsible for rising market rates for dry shipping, but something in the announcement may warrant a bit of caution.

The positive side
According to Nikos Roussanoglou of Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide, this is positive news for dry shipping. Though the number is slightly down from the 7.7% GDP growth of 2013, it's still an aggressive economic growth target that, if achieved, would have a large positIve impact.

China growth tends to result in much higher demand for dry shipping volumes. For example, as Roussanoglou points out, China imported approximately 1 billion tons of cargo in 2008, and that figure more than doubled to 2.1 billion in just five years for 2013. The number one commodity in demand for China is iron ore for its production of steel. BIMCO's chief shipping analyst Peter Sand puts it well when he says, "The sheer size of the world's second-largest economy now gives so much impetus to our industry that we have become addicted to China."

Top 5 Computer Hardware Companies To Buy Right Now: Key Tronic Corporation(KTCC)

Key Tronic Corporation, doing business as KeyTronicEMS Co., together with its subsidiaries, provides electronic manufacturing services (EMS) to original equipment manufacturers primarily in the United States, Mexico, and China. Its EMS services include product design, surface mount technologies for printed circuit board assembly, tool making, precision plastic molding, liquid injection molding, automated tape winding, prototype design, and full product builds. The company also manufactures keyboards and other input devices for personal computers. Key Tronic markets its products and services primarily through its direct sales department aided by field sales people and distributors. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Spokane Valley, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Computer Peripherals: This industry rose 2.21% by 10:15 am ET. The top performer in this industry was Key Tronic (NASDAQ: KTCC), which gained 0.3%. Key Tronic's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 14.57%.

5 Best Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Caribou Coffee Company Inc.(CBOU)

Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. owns and operates coffeehouses. The company offers premium coffee and espresso-based beverages, as well as specialty teas, handcrafted beverages, foods, coffee lifestyle items, branded merchandise, and related products. It also sells whole bean and ground coffee to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, office coffee providers, airlines, hotels, sports and entertainment venues, college campuses, and online customers. In addition, the company sells blended coffees and licenses its Caribou Coffee brand to Keurig, Inc. for sale and use in its K-Cup single serve line of business. Further, Caribou Coffee Company franchises its brand to partners to operate Caribou Coffee branded kiosks and coffeehouses, as well as sells Caribou Coffee branded products to partners for resale in these franchised locations. As of July 3, 2011, it operated 407 company-owned coffeehouses located in 16 states and the District of Columbia; and 147 franchised coffeehouses in th e United States and international markets. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ou Coffee is a gourmet coffee company that owns the second-largest number of coffeehouses in the U.S. After rising significantly in the second quarter of 2011, its stock price dropped in the fourth quarter, when Joel Greenblatt purchased it. He bought 52,794 shares at an average price of $13.27.

  The company has increased revenue and EBITDA almost every year since 2005, reaching $284 million and $22.4 million, respectively, in 2010. Its return on equity and return on assets also turned positive in 2009 and increased in 2010; return on assets increased from 10.1 percent in 2009 to 15 percent in 2010, and return on assets increased 6 percent to 9.2 percent in 2010. Free cash flow, which Greenblatt typically considers highly important, has been positive only two years since 2005, in 2008 and 2009.

  Cofeehouse sales have increased for the last eight quarters, including 4.1 percent in the quarter ended Oct. 2, 2011. Much of the company�� sales growth has come because it has begun selling food.

  The outlook for Caribou�� growth is also positive. Daily coffee consumption increased to 40 percent of 18-24 year olds in 2011 from 31 percent of the age group in 2010, returning to its 2009 level, according to the National Coffee Drinking Study from the National Coffee Association. Caribou recently began growing as well. In the third quarter of 2011, it opened three company-owned stores, its first in over three years, and in the fourth quarter, it opened five more. For 2012, it plans to open 55 to 70 new locations and issued fiscal year 2012 net sales growth guidance of 10 percent.

  Caribou�� P/E, P/S and P/B ratios:

  CBOU pe,ps,pb Interactive Chart

  See Joel Greenblatt�� portfolio here and also check out the Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies, and High Yield stocks of Joel Greenblatt.

5 Best Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund (GPM)

Old Mutual/Claymore Long-Short Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and current gains. The Fund�� secondary investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund invests in a portfolio of equity securities and by selling securities short in the S&P 500 Index that it believes will under perform relative to the average stock in the S&P 500. The Fund will also write (sell) call options on equity indexes and, to a lesser extent, on individual securities held in the Fund�� portfolio.

The Fund�� investment adviser is Claymore Advisors, LLC. Analytic Investors, Inc. (Analytic) is the Fund�� sub-adviser. It invests in various sectors, including financials, information technology, industrials, healthcare, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, materials, utilities and telecommunications.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.

5 Best Shipping Stocks To Own Right Now: Perry Ellis International Inc.(PERY)

Perry Ellis International, Inc. engages in designing, sourcing, marketing, and licensing apparel products for men and women in the United States and internationally. The company?s men?s wear offerings include casual sportswear and bottoms, dress shirts and pants, jeans wear, golf apparel, sweaters, sports apparel, swimwear and swim accessories, active wear, outerwear and leather accessories. Its women?s wear offerings comprise dresses, sportswear, and swimwear and swim accessories. The company offers its products under the brand names of Perry Ellis, Axis, Tricots St. Raphael, Jantzen, John Henry, Cubavera, the Havanera Co., Centro, Solero, Natural Issue, Munsingwear, Grand Slam, Original Penguin, Mondo di Marco, Redsand, Pro Player, Manhattan, Axist, Savane, Farah, Gotcha, Girl Star, MCD, Laundry by Shelli Segal, C&C California, Ben Hogan, and Rafaella. It also licenses the Nike brand for swimwear and swimwear accessories; the JAG brand for men?s and women?s swimwear and cover-ups; the Callaway Golf brand and Top-Flite for golf apparel; the PGA TOUR brand, including Champions Tour for golf apparel; and Pierre Cardin for men?s sportswear. The company distributes its products primarily to wholesale customers, including department stores, national and regional chain stores, mass merchants, specialty stores, sporting goods stores, the corporate wear market, and e-commerce, as well as clubs and independent retailers. As of March 2, 2011, it operated 38 Perry Ellis and 3 Original Penguin retail outlet stores primarily in upscale retail outlet malls across the United States and Puerto Rico; 1 Perry Ellis and 1 Cubavera retail store in Miami, Florida; and 7 Original Penguin retail stores in upscale demographic markets in the United States. The company was formerly known as Supreme International Corporation and changed its name to Perry Ellis International, Inc. in June 1999. Perry Ellis International, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquarte red in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Perry Ellis International Inc.(PERY) cut its outlook for the fiscal year, citing weakness in its third quarter. The clothing company said revenue was hurt by reduced shipments, primarily due to the reduction of private-label business for the mid-tier channel, as well as reduced sales through its direct retail channel. Shares fell.

• [By Adem Tahiri]

  Perry Ellis International (NASDAQ: PERY  ) is an apparel company that designs, markets, and licenses its brand-name products. The stock has dropped by nearly half this year, and it has sparked the interest of many value investors. Last Thursday, fourth-quarter earnings results beat lowered expectations and gave the stock a small bump.�

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014

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Mainland China has leapfrogged the United States to become the biggest e-commerce market on Earth.

We wanted you to hear about some of the best new opportunities.

So you can reap the biggest payoffs...

These Will Be Some of the Biggest Winners

As of early last week, we'd pulled down gains of 10% with NetEase Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: NTES), 28% with Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU), and 37% with Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq ADR: BIDU).

But the biggest winner is Bitauto Holdings Ltd. (NYSE ADR: BITA), a leading e-commerce player focused on China's surging auto market.

Radical Technology Profits Editor Michael Robinson told us about Bitauto in the February Private Briefing report "Detroit + Silicon Valley + Beijing = One Heck of a Profit Play."

Top 10 Construction Companies To Own For 2015: Forest Laboratories Inc (FRX)

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (Forest), incorporated on April 11, 1956, develops, manufactures and sells branded forms of ethical drug products, most of which requires a physician's prescription. The Company also focuses on the development and introduction of new products, including products developed in collaboration with licensing partners. Its products include those developed by the Company and those acquired from other pharmaceutical companies and integrated into its marketing and distribution systems. The Company�� principal products include Lexapro, its selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults and adolescents and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in adults; Namenda, its N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) antagonist for the treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease; Bystolic, its beta-blocker for the treatment of hypertension; Savella, its selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) for the management of fibromyalgia and its newest marketed product Teflaro, a broad-spectrum hospital-based injectable cephalosporin antibiotic for the treatment of adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. On April 13, 2011, the Company acquired Clinical Data Inc. (Clinical Data), a specialty pharmaceutical company.

Aclidinium

In June 2011, the Company ahs submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for aclidinium (aclidinium bromide), a long-acting antimuscarinic agent developed as an inhaled therapy for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). When given by inhalation, aclidinium leads to bronchodilation by inhibiting airway smooth muscle contraction. Aclidinium is rapidly hydrolyzed in human plasma to two major inactive metabolites. Aclidinium is administered to patients using a multi-dose dry powder inhaler (MDPI). This inhaler was designed with a feedback system which, through a ��olored control window��and an a! udible click, helps confirm that the patient has inhaled correctly. It contains multiple doses of aclidinium, includes a visible dose-level indicator, and also incorporates features such as an anti-double dosing mechanism and an end-of-dose lock-out system to prevent use of an empty inhaler.

Linaclotide

Linaclotide is being investigated for the treatment of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) and chronic constipation (CC). Linaclotide is an agonist of the guanylate cyclase type-C receptor found in the intestine and acts by a mechanism. Linaclotide increases fluid secretions leading to increased bowel movement frequency and reduces abdominal pain. Linaclotide is administered orally but acts locally in the intestine with no measurable systemic exposure at therapeutic doses and is intended for once-daily administration.

Viibryd

As a result of its acquisition of Clinical Data, Inc. (Clinical Data) completed in April 2011, the Company obtained worldwide rights to develop and market Viibryd (vilazodone HCl) a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and a 5-HT1A receptor partial agonist developed by Clinical Data for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Viibryd became available to patients during the June 2011 quarter and was formally launched in the U.S. in late August 2011.

Daliresp

In February 2011, the Company received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the marketing of Daliresp (roflumilast). Daliresp is once-daily, orally administered, selective phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) enzyme inhibitor, developed by its partner, Nycomed GmbH (Nycomed), as a treatment to reduce the risk of exacerbations in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with chronic bronchitis and a history of exacerbations.

Namenda

Namenda (memantine HCl) is an N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonist for the treatmen! t of mode! rate and severe Alzheimer�� disease. In June 2010, Namenda XR was approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe dementia of the Alzheimer�� type. Namenda XR is a 28 milligrams once-daily extended-release formulation of Namenda. The Company has obtained the exclusive rights to develop and market memantine in the United States by license agreement with Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KgaA (Merz) of Germany, the originator of the product.

Bystolic

Bystolic is a beta-1 selective beta-blocker with vasodilating properties. Bystolic decreases heart rate and myocardial contractility and suppresses rennin activity. The Company licensed exclusive United States and Canadian rights to Bystolic from Mylan Inc. (Mylan).

Savella

Savella (milnacipran HCl) is the Company�� selective serotonin and norepinephrine inhibitor (SNRI) for the management of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain and decreased physical function. The Company licensed the United States and Canadian rights to develop and commercialize Savella from Cypress Bioscience, Inc. (Cypress). Its license agreement includes two patents covering the use of Savella for the management of fibromyalgia.

Teflaro

In October 2010, the Company received marketing approval from the FDA for Teflaro (ceftaroline) for the treatment of adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, including cases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia and with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, including cases caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Teflaro is a spectrum, hospital-based injectable cephalosporin antibiotic with activity against Gram-positive bacteria and common Gram-negative bacteria. Teflaro is a member of the cephalosporin class of antibiotics. The worldwide rights (excluding Japan) to Teflaro are in-licensed on an exclusive basis from Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (Takeda). Teflaro is als! o covered! by two United States patents that relate to the ceftaroline formulation that expire in 2021 and that may provide additional exclusivity.

Avibactam

Avibactam is designed to be co-administered with select antibiotics to enhance their spectrum of activity. The Company received the exclusive rights to administer avibactam with ceftaroline as a combination product in North America. Avibactam is a beta-lactamase inhibitor designed to be co-administered with select antibiotics to enhance their spectrum of activity by overcoming beta-lactamase-related antibacterial resistance.

Lexapro

Lexapro�� is a SSRI for the treatment of MDD in adults and adolescents and GAD in adults. Lexapro�� (escitalopram oxalate) single isomer version of citalopram HBr, for the treatment of MDD in adults and adolescents and GAD in adults.

Cariprazine

Cariprazine is an oral D2/D3 partial agonist. Cariprazine is also undergoing Phase III trials for schizophrenia and acute mania associated with bipolar depression, bipolar depression and as an adjunct treatment for MDD.

Levomilnacipran

Levomilnacipran is a once-daily, selective norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake inhibitor, two neurotransmitters known to play an essential role in regulating mood, and is being developed for the treatment of MDD.

GRT 6005

In December 2010, the Company entered into a license agreement with Grunenthal GmbH for the co-development and commercialization of GRT 6005 and its follow-on compound GRT 6006, small molecule analgesic compounds being developed by Grunenthal for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain. GRT 6005 and GRT 6006 are compounds with pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profiles that may enhance their effect in certain pain conditions. GRT 6005 has completed initial proof-of-concept studies in nociceptive and neuropathic pain with further Phase II studies planned prior to initiation of Phase III s! tudies.

TTP399

In June 2010, the Company entered into a license agreement with TransTech Pharma, Inc. (TransTech) for the development and commercialization of TTP399, a functionally liver selective glucokinase activator (GKA) discovered and developed by TransTech for the treatment of Type II diabetes. Early Phase I testing suggests that pharmacological enhancement of glucokinase activity may lower blood glucose in diabetic patients.

Azimilide

In April 2011, the Company entered into an agreement with Blue Ash Therapeutics, LLC (Blue Ash) pursuant to which it acquired the worldwide rights to azimilide, a class III antiarrhythmic agent developed by Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals. Based on its mechanism of action and results of clinical trials, azimilide was determined to be suited for use in patients with a history of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and who have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. In 2010, the FDA agreed to one additional Phase III study to support a regulatory submission for azimilide in the U.S.

RGH-618

RGH-618 involves a series of compounds that target metabotropic glutamate receptors and are agonists, which represent potential agents for the treatment of anxiety, depression and other central nervous system (CNS) conditions. In March 2012, the Company initiated a Phase I study in healthy volunteers of RGH-618.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Tuesday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Healthcare stocks surged 1% in today's trading. Leading the sector was strength from Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) and Chindex International (NASDAQ: CHDX) on acquisition news.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Forest Laboratories (FRX) surged 9.7% to close at $56.32, marking the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The drug maker unveiled plans to trim $500 million in costs, and spend at least $400 million buying back its stock.

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014: Ur Energy Inc(URG)

Ur-Energy Inc., an exploration stage junior mining company, engages in the identification, acquisition, evaluation, exploration, and development of uranium mineral properties. The company has 13 projects located in Wyoming and Nebraska, the United States; and 3 exploration projects located in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada. Its landholdings cover approximately 90,000 acres in the United States and approximately 140,000 acres in Canada. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap nuclear fuel stock USEC Inc (NYSE: USU) is up some 300% this week���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the company along with the performance potential uranium or nuclear stock peers Uranium Resources, Inc (NASDAQ: URRE), Denison Mines Corp (NYSEMKT: DNN), Ur-Energy Inc (NYSEMKT: URG) and Uranerz Energy Corp (NYSEMKT: URZ).

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If you listened to my bullish calls from December 27th and/or February 24th about Uranerz Energy Corp. (NYSEMKT:URZ), Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE), and Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSEMKT:URG), then congratulations - you're now up as much as 50%, depending on when you stepped into a trade, and which stock you chose. Now get out. See, as well as URZ and URG have done and are doing (URRE not so much), it looks like the short-term rally I first spotted a little more than a couple of months ago has fully run its course, and now these names are setting up a pullback.

• [By The Energy Report]

  DS: Two of our top picks are Cameco Corp. (CCJ) and Ur-Energy Inc. (URG). For Cameco, we've got a $25/share target and an outperform rating. This company is the industry's go-to, the blue chip uranium company. It's organically growing very low-cost operations, which are for the most part in very safe jurisdictions. It has a lower-risk approach to contracts, with a targeted pricing mix of about 40% fixed-pricing and 60% market-related pricing in the contract book. The company's got a solid balance sheet. We think it's going to end Q3/13 with about $800M in working capital and another $2 billion [$2B] in undrawn lines of credit. It's also diversified across the nuclear fuel chain, with exposure not only to its core uranium mining business but also with nuclear fuel services, like conversion and fuel fabrication. It's got a stake in the Bruce nuclear power plant as well as a newly bolted-on uranium trading business, so it's quite diversified. On top of that, Cameco pays a 2% dividend. We think it offers a very attractive risk/reward proposition at these levels.

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014: Redwood Trust Inc.(RWT)

Redwood Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust, together with its subsidiaries, engages in investing, financing, and managing real estate assets. The company?s investments include residential and commercial real estate loans; and securities backed by residential and commercial loans, including senior and subordinate securities. The senior securities are those interests in a securitization that have the first right to cash flows and are last to absorb losses; and subordinate securities are those interests in a securitization that have the last right to cash flows and are first in line to absorb losses. As of March 31, 2011, it had 77 real estate owned properties primarily in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, and Georgia. It would elect to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, the company would not be subject to federal income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of net taxable income to its stockholders. Red wood Trust, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Mill Valley, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  On the mortgage front, Two Harbors notes that it has acquired a passel of prime jumbo home loans, which it likely plans to securitize. The company's CEO, Tom Siering, also addresses this issue on the earnings call, where he states that the trust was involved in a $400 million securitization of prime jumbo loans. This puts Two Harbors in the company of mREIT Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT  ) , which has nearly single-handedly brought back the jumbo-loan securitization market over the past two years. If Redwood's success is any indication -- it recently reported first-quarter net income�of $61 million, compared to the year-ago figure of $30 million -- Two Harbors is on the right track.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Luxury market is doing just fine
  Jumbo loans are back, and these mortgages -- which start at $625,000 in some affluent areas -- are being given out like candy�to those with the wealth to back them up. Once considered risky because they are not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, lenders are falling over themselves to make these loans, driven by a securitization market dominated by entities like Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT  ) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) . Earlier this month, Redwood offered its seventh securitization backed by jumbos, and JPMorgan just recently announced�its second offering of the year, as well.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Real estate investment trust��Redwood Trust� (NYSE: RWT  ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.28 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 12% from $0.25 per share.

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014: Applied Micro Circuits Corporation(AMCC)

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation, a semiconductor company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, sells, and supports integrated circuits for processing, transporting, and storing information. It offers physical layer products, which transmit and receive signals in a high-speed serial format, and convert high-speed serial formats to low-speed parallel formats and vice versa; framer and mapper products that transmit and receive signals to and from the physical layer in a parallel format are used in high-speed optical network infrastructure equipment; and embedded processor products for wireless infrastructure, wireless LAN, residential, datacenters, and enterprises. The company also offers packet processor ICs, which receive and transmit signals to and from the framing layer and perform the processing of packet and cell headers; and cell switching products that include packet routing switch fabric devices and queuing managers; and printed circuit boar d assemblies to OEMs. Its products are used in wireline and wireless communications equipment, such as wireless access points, wireless base stations, multi-function printers, enterprise and edge switches, blade servers, storage systems, gateways, core switches, routers, network attached storage, and transport platforms. The company offers its solutions for the enterprise, telecom, and consumer/small medium business markets primarily in the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Europe, and other Asian countries. Applied Micro Circuits Corporation was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Applied Micro Circuits (NASDAQ: AMCC) named Douglas T. Ahrens as its Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Applied Micro shares declined 2.40% to close at $12.63 yesterday.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC) also has a high single digit exposure to Cisco Systems. Applied Micro�� product portfolio and continued efforts to provide maximum consumer satisfaction have augmented its market position. The integrated offload engines and advanced PacketPro architecture offer quality service and security and performance to its customers. The consensus price target for the stock stands at $13.

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014: Giant Interactive Group Inc (GA)

Giant Interactive Group Inc. (Giant Interactive), incorporated on July 26, 2006, is an online game developer and operator in China. The Company focuses on massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) that are played through networked game servers, in which a number of players are able to simultaneously connect and interact. The Company operates 11 online games, among which nine are self-developed, including the five games in the Zheng Tu (ZT) Online Series. As of December 31, 2010, its game development team consisted of 934 members, which includes product development and enhancement teams for each of its MMORPG and multiplayer online (MMO) games.

In January 2010, the Company acquired China operation licenses for Elsword and Allods Online, two three dimensional (3D) MMORPGs. In November 2010, the Company acquired Julun Network. On December 6, 2010, Zhengtu Information, Giant Network and Shanghai Juyan Network Technology jointly established Beijing Huayi Juren Information Technology Co., Ltd with 51%, 34% and 15% interest, respectively. On December 31, 2010, Zhengtu Information sold its 51% interest in Huayi Juren Information to Huayi Brothers Media Corporation. In May 2010, the Company acquired Snow Wolf.

The Company has built nationwide distribution and marketing networks to sell and market its prepaid game cards and game points. As of December 31, 2010, its distribution network consisted of more than 130 non-exclusive regional distributors and reached over 96,000 retail outlets, including Internet cafes, software stores, supermarkets, bookstores, newspaper stands and convenience stores located throughout China. The Company also sells game points through its official game Website. The Company generates its revenues from licensing of its games to third party operators in other territories, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Russia and other Russian speaking territories. In addition, it has also licensed its ZT Online Green Edition to! Shenzhen Tencent Computer Systems Company Limited (Tencent), on a non-exclusive basis for operation of such game on Tencent�� QQ game platform in China.

ZT Online

ZT Online is a two-dimensional, online role-playing game set in ancient China, and was the first game that was wholly developed by its internal product development team. ZT Online players assume one of five different roles, including soldiers and magicians, in 10 different kingdoms. In order to play ZT Online, players must log into one of multiple shards, or independent copies of the game world. Players can only interact with other players in his or her respective shard at any given time, and its technology enables players to travel among the different shards. The Company has developed technology for use in ZT Online that allows up to 40,000 players to play together in a single shard at any given time. ZT Online is free of charge to play. Players may purchase physical or virtual prepaid game cards and game points on its game Website or from Internet cafes and other distribution points, which allow their characters to obtain gold coins, one of the currencies used in the ZT Online game. Players may also earn silver coins for their characters when they fulfill tasks or adventures in the game world.

The game has gold coin vouchers, which are offered both as a salary to players who meet certain requirements and as a reward in connection with certain of its promotions. Players may trade silver coins for gold coins, and vice-versa, inside the game. Neither gold coins, gold coin vouchers, nor silver coins may be used by players to purchase any items or services outside of the ZT Online game. ZT Online allows players to purchase a range of virtual items and services for their characters using their gold and/or silver coins. These include weapons, clothing, pets, ceremonies and rites, and others. Weapons may be repaired or replaced by purchases of certain in-game raw materials or by payment of additional gold or! silver c! oins. ZT Online offers a play experience, where players can choose to enter the game 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ZT Online can be accessed from any location with an Internet connection. It has licensed ZT Online to Lager Network for operation in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, licensed ZT Online to VinaGame for operation in Vietnam, and licensed ZT Online to Atrum Nival for operation in the Russia and other Russian speaking territories.

ZT Online PTP

ZT Online PTP is pay-to-play MMORPG game developed by the Company, and is based on the ZT Online free-to-play game. As in ZT Online, players assume one of five different roles in 10 different kingdoms. ZT Online PTP also requires players to log into one of multiple shards, while enabling players to travel between different shards. ZT Online PTP requires players to pay to play the game by purchasing physical or virtual prepaid game cards on its game Website or from Internet cafes and other distribution points. ZT Online PTP shares the same graphics and system requirements as ZT Online.

Giant Online

Giant Online is a military-themed MMORPG. Giant Online players may assume one of 14 different roles, such as detectives and spies. As with ZT Online, the game world in Giant Online is divided into a number of regions. Each player must guide his or her character to develop skills and cooperate with other players to fight against players from other regions. Players can equip their characters with a range of modern weaponry. Apart from waging war, characters can also engage in forms of in-game social interaction, such as friendship and even romance. Giant Online enables players, and groups of players, to purchase a range of virtual items and services. These virtual items and services include weapons, vehicles and pets. Giant Online is a 2.5 dimensional game, the background and items in the game are depicted three dimensionally, while the characters are depicted two dimensionally.

King of! Kings III

K III is a three-dimensional online role-playing experience set in a European-style magical world. Players assume the roles of K III heroes as they explore across a virtual world of forests and medieval cities and castles. K III is the third episode of the King of Kings series of MMORPGs.

My Sweetie

My Sweetie is a 2.5D free-to-play casual MMO game, which allows players to create virtual characters, raise virtual pets on their personal computer desktops and go online to interact with other virtual pet-owners. My Sweetie is the game developed pursuant to its Win@Giant program.

XT Online is a 2.5D ancient Chinese martial arts MMORPG that was developed by Snow Wolf, a game development studio. XT Online enables users to practice different schools or styles of martial arts with the goal of becoming a master, while focusing on brotherhood and trust-building with other martial artists. The Golden Land is a free-to-play medieval strategy browser game, which was developed by Juhe Network, one of its 51% owned game development studios. ZT Online II is an internally-developed free-to-play 2D sequel to its game ZT Online. ZT Online II was developed by an internal studio that it is reorganizing into Jujia Network, one of its 51% owned game development studios.

Dragon Soul is an internally developed 3D ancient Chinese MMORPG developed by Chengdu Jufan Network Technology Co. Ltd. (Jufan Network) one of its 51% owned game development studios. Spirits of the Warriors is a free-to-play 3D MMORPG based on the Three Kingdoms period of ancient Chinese history.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA  ) has quickly replaced its chief executive. One week after announcing the resignation of Yuzhu Su, the company revealed that its board has tapped Wei Liu as its new CEO.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA) shot up 11.97 percent to $11.34 after the company received a non-binding proposal to acquire the company for $11.75 per share.

• [By Rich Smith]

  With their stock trading near a 52-week high, and up 61% from a year ago, a Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA  ) insider is cashing out at the top.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Giant Interactive Group Inc.(GA) named three of its directors to a special committee intended to review a nonbinding proposal to take the online-game company private. Last week, investors including former chief executive Chairman Yuzhu Shi and Baring Private Equity Asia offered to acquire the stake they don’t already own for $11.75 a share.

Best Healthcare Technology Companies To Own For 2014: Griffon Corp (GFF)

Griffon Corporation (Griffon), incorporated on December 29, 1970, is a diversified management and holding company that conducts business through wholly owned subsidiaries. Griffon oversees the operations of its subsidiaries and provides direction and assistance to its subsidiaries in connection with acquisition and growth opportunities as well as in connection with divestitures. Griffon conducts its operations through three businesses: Home and Building Products, consists of two companies, Ames True Temper, Inc and Clopay Building Products; Telephonics Corporation, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and provides logistical support for aircraft intercommunication systems, radar, air traffic management, identification friend or foe equipment, Integrated Homeland Security Systems and custom, mixed-signal, application-specific, integrated circuits, and Clopay Plastic Products produces, develops specialty plastic films and laminates for a variety of hygienic, health care and industrial applications. Effective December 31, 2013, the Company announced that its subsidiary, Ames True Temper acquired Northcote Pottery.

Home and Building Products

HBP consists of two companies, Ames True Temper, Inc (ATT) and Clopay Building Products (CBP). ATT is a global provider of non-powered landscaping products that make work easier for homeowners and professionals. ATT�� brand portfolio includes Ames, True Temper, Ames True Temper, Garant, Hound Dog, Westmix, Dynamic Design and Southern Patio, as well as contractor-oriented brands, including UnionTools, Razor-Back Professional Tools and Jackson Professional Tools. Some of the products include Long Handle Tools, Wheelbarrows, Snow Tools, Planters and Lawn Accessories, Striking Tools, Pruning and Garden Hose and Storag. CBP is a manufacturer and marketer of residential, commercial and industrial garage doors to professional installing dealers and home center retail chains. CBP offers garage doors made primarily from steel, plastic composite ! and wood, and also sells related products, such as garage door openers, manufactured by third parties. The majority of CBP�� sales are for home remodeling and renovation, with the balance for the new residential housing and commercial building markets.

Telephonics Corporation

Telephonics specializes in advanced electronic information and communication systems for defense, aerospace, civil, industrial, and commercial applications for the United States (U.S.) and international markets. Telephonics designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and provides logistical support for aircraft intercommunication systems, radar, air traffic management, identification friend or foe equipment, Integrated Homeland Security Systems and custom, mixed-signal, application-specific, integrated circuits. Telephonics is also a provider of advanced systems engineering services supporting air and missile defense programs, as well as other threat and situational analysis requirements. Telephonics is a supplier of airborne maritime surveillance radar and aircraft intercommunication management systems, the segment�� two product lines. Telephonics is a first-tier supplier to prime contractors in the defense industry, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, MacDonald Dettwiler, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Sikorsky Aircraft, and is at times a prime contractor to the United States Department of Defense and the United States Department of Homeland Security (Homeland Security). On April 22, 2013, Telephonics signed a definitive agreement to form a Joint Venture (JV) with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd to provide the Indian Ministry of Defense and the Indian Civil sector with radar and surveillance systems, identification friend or foe devices and communication systems.

Clopay Plastic Products

lopay Plastic Products produces and develops specialty plastic films and laminates for a variety of hygienic, healthcare and industrial uses in the United States and cert! ain inter! national markets. Products include thin gauge embossed and printed films, elastomeric films, laminates of film and non-woven fabrics, and perforated films and non-wovens. Plastics have two manufacturing facilities in Germany from which it sells plastic films throughout Europe and the Middle East and Africa.

The Company competes with Fiskars Corporation, Truper Herramientas S.A. de C.U., Suncast Corporation, Colorite Waterworks, Swan and Techniplex.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  On March 4, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), the chairman and chief executive officer of GAMCO Investors Inc. added Griffon Corporation (GFF) at an average price of $12.61 and currently holds 6,752,733 shares of the stock, worth 0.01% of his portfolio.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Home and building products manufacturer Griffon (NYSE: GFF  ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.025 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after raising the payout 25% from $0.02 per share.

• [By CRWE]

  Griffon Corporation (NYSE:GFF) will present at Deutsche Bank�� 20th Annual Leveraged Finance Conference to be held at The Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ at 8:50 a.m. local time on Wednesday, October 10th.

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Invest In Right Now

5 Best Cheapest Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Hillenbrand Inc(HI)

Hillenbrand, Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells funeral service products to licensed funeral directors operating licensed funeral homes. The company?s products include burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers, vaults, urns, and selection room display fixturing for funeral homes, as well as other personalization and memorialization products and services, including Web-based applications, and the creation and hosting of Websites for licensed funeral homes. It markets its products under the Batesville and Options brand name through direct sales force in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The company also designs, produces, markets, sells, and services bulk solids material handling equipment and systems for various industrial markets, including plastics, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, power generation, coal mining, pulp and paper, frac sand, industrial minerals, agribusiness, recycling, wood and forest pr oducts, and biomass energy generation. It offers feeders and pneumatic conveying equipment under the K-Tron brand name; and size reduction equipment, such as hammer mills, double-roll crushers, wood and bark hogs, chip sizers, screening equipment, pneumatic and mechanical conveying systems, storage/reclamation systems, and specialty crushers and other equipment under the Pennsylvania Crusher, Gundlach, and Jeffrey Rader brand names. In addition, the company manufactures dry material separation machines that sort dry, granular products based on the particle?s size serving various industries, including frac sand, potash, urea, phosphates, chemical, agricultural, plastics, and food processing. The company sells its material handling equipment and systems worldwide through a combination of a direct sales force, and a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Hillenbrand, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected: Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD), Hillenbrand Inc (NYSE: HI), Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Economic Releases Expected: German retail sales, French consumer confidence, German unemployment rate, eurozone CPI, eurozone PPI, US trade balance, US redbook

  Wednesday

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/5-best-cheapest-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now-3.html

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Clear Channel Media & Entertainment (CCMO)

Today, CCMO has shed (-5.17%) down -0.30 at $5.50 with�100 shares in movement thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:54AM EDT June 21, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.

Clear Channel Media & Entertainment and Fleetwood Mac previously reported a landmark agreement ��the first direct performing rights partnership between a radio company and an artist ��that will enable the group to receive revenue from airplay on Clear Channel�� digital and broadcast radio platforms. The group�� new EP, Extended Play, features the first recording of new Fleetwood Mac music since the release of ��ay You Will��over a decade ago.

��leetwood Mac has consistently pushed the envelope ��creating new sounds, making music that seems designed for radio and looking at the industry in new ways,��said Irving Azoff of Azoff Music Management, a representative of the band. ��t�� fitting that a group that�� played such an integral role in radio and music history would be the first band to take such a major step — helping the music industry create a sustainable digital marketplace so it can thrive for decades to come. We��e delighted to join Clear Channel in creating a new model for the music industry, one that will be good for performing artists, good for music fans, and good for the people who have invested their talent, time and money.��/p>

Top High Dividend Stocks To Invest In 2015: Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA)

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. engages in the development, production, and exploitation of animated feature films and characters worldwide. It provides animated feature films and characters for the theatrical, home entertainment, television, and merchandising and licensing markets. The company also offers television specials and series, live entertainment properties, online virtual worlds, and related consumer products. It has approximately 21 animated feature films, including Shrek the Third, Shrek 2, and Madagascar. The company has strategic alliances with McDonald?s, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Samsung. DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Glendale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Dreamworks is a provider of highly-demanded entertainment products to eager audiences around the world. A recent deal with Netflix may increase exposure for the company. The stock is now digesting gains after a strong surge higher, in recent months. Over the last four quarters, earnings have decreased for the company while revenue figures have been mixed which has produced mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, Dreamworks has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Dreamworks to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Brian Nichols]

  Thanks to visionaries like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Reed Hastings, and Larry Page, the way we view, interact, and process data has changed and this includes all of the major industries within technology and entertainment. Today, it's a mobile world, yet the one industry that remains unchanged is very much the movie industry. According to DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA  ) CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, this could spell trouble, especially for the likes of Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ: CKEC  ) , Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC  ) , and AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC  ) .

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  July 17
  DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA  ) hits theaters everywhere with Turbo on July 17. The latest computer-rendered release out of the studio behind Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar is a movie about an insanely fast snail with dreams of racing in the Indy 500.

• [By Caroline Bennett]

  DreamWorks Animation� (NASDAQ: DWA  ) is in the process of acquiring AwesomenessTV, a "thriving" digital media company and teen-centric Youtube network.

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.(TTWO)

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. publishes, develops, and distributes interactive entertainment software, hardware, and accessories worldwide. The company develops and publishes software titles for various gaming and entertainment hardware platforms, including PlayStation3 and PlayStation2 computer entertainment systems, PlayStation Portable system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, and Wii and DS systems, as well as for the personal computer and games for Windows. It offers products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games and 2K, which publishes titles under 2K Games, 2K Sports, and 2K Play. The company, through its subsidiary, Jack of All Games, also distributes software, hardware, and accessories in North America. Its proprietary brand franchises include Grand Theft Auto; Sid Meier's Civilization; Max Payne; Midnight Club; Manhunt; Red Dead Revolver; Bully; BioShock; Sid Meier's Railroads!; Sid Meier's Pirates!; Carnival Games; and Top Spin, as wel l as licensed brands comprise the sports games Major League Baseball 2K; NBA 2K; and NHL 2K. The company sells its software titles to retail outlets through direct relationships with large retail customers and third party distributors. Its customers include mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, video stores, electronics stores, toy stores, national and regional drug stores, and supermarket and discount store chains. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking. �

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is up by less than 1% despite being touted in Barron’s over the weekend. The financial publication showed that more good is coming here and that shares could rise by another 30%. The only point we might make is that video game stocks already are�seeing such high gains ahead of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 that we cannot help but wonder if all the good news has been priced in even before the new consoles hit the retail shelves.

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Konared Corp (KRED)

KonaRed Corporation., formerly TeamUpSport Inc., incorporated on October 4, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is focused to develop and commercialize on its Website www.teamupsport.com. As of May 31, 2011, the Company had not generated revenue. On October 4, 2013, the Company acquired Sandwich Isles Trading Co. Inc. dba KonaRed.

The Company's Website will be designed to integrate into a single online offering people�� interest in sports with the capabilities of online social networking. The Website will become a sports focused social networking Website.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ: MNST), a mid cap marketer and distributor of energy drinks and alternative beverages, has been a monster of a performer since the end of the financial crisis as the stock is up around 308% over the past five years, but could new or overlooked players like small cap beverage stocks�Jones Soda Co (OTCMKTS: JSDA), Celsius Holdings, Inc (OTCMKTS: CELH) and Konared Corp (OTCBB: KRED) repeat that performance? A look strictly at the long term performance of all three small caps might have you thinking otherwise. After all, none of these small cap beverage stocks are profitable while�the beverage industry can be a long hard expensive slog just to increase market share by one or two points when you are competing for shelf space with industry giants like Pepsi and Coke. But past performance is just that���the past and only part of the story as there is much more to consider about these small cap beverage stocks which could also make them potential acquisition targets by larger beverage players seeking to expand their product line up with innovative products:

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Diana Shipping inc. (DSX)

Diana Shipping Inc. provides shipping transportation services. It transports dry bulk cargoes that include commodities, such as iron ore, coal, grain, and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s fleet consisted of 23 dry bulk carriers, including 14 Panamax, 1 Post-Panamax, and 8 Capesize dry bulk carriers with a combined carrying capacity of approximately 2.5 million deadweight tonnage. Its customers include national, regional, and international companies. The company was formerly known as Diana Shipping Investments Corp. and changed its name to Diana Shipping Inc. in February 2005. Diana Shipping Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Dianna�Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

  Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was started as Buy with a $50 fair value at Janney Capital.

• [By Dan Newman]

  For example, when prices were high and companies, such as Diana Shipping� (NYSE: DSX  ) and�DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS  ) , ordered more ships, these ships were finally completed a few years later when shipping prices had already cratered. Now, Diana's fleet is on average only 6.4 years old, while DryShips' fleet is on average 7.4 years old, when the typical life of a ship is 25 years. While these young fleets might be good as an investment in the future if global trade picks up, today's troubled eurozone and slowing China will leave these newer ships wanting for higher demand.

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: WPP plc (WPPGY)

WPP plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Advertising and Media Investment Management segment plans and creates marketing and branding campaigns; and designs and produces advertisements for television, cable, the Internet, radio, magazines, and newspapers, as well as outdoor locations, including billboards. This segment also has media investment management capabilities in the areas of business science, consumer insight, communications and media planning implementation, interactions, content development, and sports and entertainment marketing. The company�s Consumer Insight segment offers custom research services in various sectors, including strategic market studies; brand positioning; equity research; customer satisfaction surveys; product development; international research; advanced modeling; advertising research; pre-testing, tracking, and sales modeling; and trends and futures research and consultancy. Its Public Relations & Public Affairs segment provi des advice to clients that seek to communicate with consumers, governments, and/or the business and financial communities. This segment�s activities include corporate, financial, and marketing communications; crisis management; reputation management; public affairs; and government lobbying. The company�s Branding & Identity, Healthcare, and Specialist Communications segment engages in branding and identity; healthcare communications; and direct, digital, promotional, and relationship marketing activities. This segment also offers specialist communications services, such as custom media and multicultural marketing; event, sports, youth, and entertainment marketing; corporate and business-to-business; and media, technology, and production services, as well as digital and measurable interactive marketing, digital marketing strategy, mobile solutions, and platforms services. The company has a strategic partnership with Twitter, Inc. WPP plc was founded in 1971 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alan Oscroft]

  WPP (LSE: WPP  ) (NASDAQ: WPPGY  )
  WPP shares have gained a modest 0.5% after the advertising giant revealed an acquisition. The firm's wholly owned operating network VML will take a 49% stake in Polish digital agency Heureka Group, with an option to acquire a majority stake at a later date.

• [By Alanna Petroff]

  2. Earnings expectations: Shares in advertising giant WPP (WPPGY) were higher by roughly 2% in London after the firm reported strong half-year earnings.

• [By Kevin Godbold]

  So this series aims to identify appealing FTSE 100 investment opportunities and today I'm looking at�WPP� (LSE: WPP  ) (NASDAQ: WPPGY  ) , which provides marketing communications services such as advertising and public relations.

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Meridian Bioscience Inc.(VIVO)

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., a life science company, engages in the development, manufacture, sale, and distribution of diagnostic test kits primarily for gastrointestinal, foodborne, viral, respiratory, and parasitic infectious diseases. The company?s diagnostic products primarily consist of C. difficile for the detection of gastrointestinal diseases; Rotavirus and Adenovirus products for pediatric diarrhea detection; H. pylori for stomach ulcers; Enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection and Campylobacter jejuni used in the detection of foodborne diseases; Varicella-Zoster for viral diseases; and Cytomegalovirus for organ transplant infections. Its products also include transport media that store and preserve specimen samples from patient collection to laboratory testing. The company?s diagnostic test kits utilize immunodiagnostic and molecular technologies, which test samples of stool, blood, urine, and other body fluids or tissue for the presence of specific infectious disea ses. In addition, Meridian Bioscience, Inc. manufactures and distributes bulk antigens, antibodies, PCR/qPCR reagents, nucleotides, competent cells, and bioresearch reagents used by researchers and other diagnostic manufacturers. Further, it involved in the contract development and manufacture of proteins and other biologicals under cGMP conditions for use by biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in research for new drugs and vaccines. The company sells its diagnostic test kits through direct sales force and independent distributors to reference laboratories and hospitals, principally in the United States, Canada, Belgium, France, Holland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Africa, the Middle East, and other European countries. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Integrated life sciences company Meridian Biosciences (VIVO) raised its quarterly dividend 5.3% to 20 cents per share, payable on Feb. 14 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 3.
  VIVO Dividend Yield: 3.22%

10 Best Performing Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Spdr S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Etf (XOP)

SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Exchange Traded Fund (The Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before expenses, the performance of an index derived from the oil and gas exploration and production segment of a United States total market composite index. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index (the Oil & Gas Exploration Index).

The Oil & Gas Exploration Index represents the oil and gas exploration and production sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Market Index (TMI). The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Moroney]

  To uncover top picks, we looked for solid track records and reasonable expense ratios. Notable ETFs include SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (XOP), Guggenheim S&P 500 Technology (BATS:RYT), and SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT).

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014

The mantra for gold investment has become pretty clear�"Any positive news that hits the market, we get an opportunity to buy at dips, but incase of negative news we see buying at current market price" this is the trend followed in the market so far.

Although prices of gold have scaled above Rs 29000 per 10 gm in the Indian markets, surged past USD 1,800 per ounce in the international markets, but the trend still looks very much positive with every dip seen as a buying opportunity to accumulate. Gold has been the best performer among all the asset classes with positive QoQ returns post 2008 crisis and have rallied more than 10% in the current quarter so far. Gold's current bull rally has been supported by strong price driver, which are away from the technical factors�e call them the fundamental price drivers. Some of them are discussed below:

Investment and jewellery demand: With increase in number of gold backed Exchange traded funds (ETF's) around the world, spread of knowledge among investors due to increased literacy, high disposable income, etc have helped growth in the investment demand, especially after the 2008 debt-crisis.

Best Quality Companies To Buy For 2015: Synalloy Corporation(SYNL)

Synalloy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells pipes and piping systems in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Metals and Specialty Chemicals. The Metals segment manufactures pipe and piping systems from stainless steel, carbon, chrome, and other alloys for use in the chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, waste water treatment, LNG, mining, power generation, water treatment, brewery, food processing, petroleum, alternative fuels, and pharmaceutical sectors. The Specialty Chemicals segment produces specialty chemicals and dyes for the carpet, chemical, paper, metals, mining, agricultural, fiber, paint, textile, automotive, petroleum, cosmetics, mattress, furniture, janitorial, and other industries. Synalloy Corporation sells its metal products through outside and inside sales employees, manufacturers? representatives, and authorized stocking distributors, as well as directly to engineering firms, construction companies, and project owners. It markets its specialty chemicals directly to various industries through outside sales employees and manufacturers' representatives. The company was formerly known as Blackman Uhler Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Synalloy Corporation in July 1967. Synalloy Corporation was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  New Purchase: Synalloy Corporation (SYNL)

  Tom Gayner initiated holdings in Synalloy Corporation. His purchase prices were between $13.36 and $16, with an estimated average price of $14.21. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.27%. His holdings were 485,343 shares as of 06/30/2013.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: ACI Worldwide Inc (ACIW)

ACI Worldwide, Inc.(ACI), incorporated on November 2, 1993, develops, markets, installs and supports a line of software products and services primarily focused on facilitating electronic payments. In addition to its own products, it distributes, or acts as a sales agent for software developed by third parties. These products and services are used principally by financial institutions, retailers and electronic payment processors, both in domestic and international markets. Its products are sold and supported through distribution networks covering three geographic regions the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Asia/Pacific. Each distribution network has its own sales force that it supplements with independent reseller and/or distributor networks. Its products are marketed under the ACI Worldwide and ACI Payment Systems brands. In March 2013, it completed the acquisition of Online Resources Corp. In November 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Official Payments Holdings, Inc, a provider of electronic bill payment solutions.

The Company�� software products and hosted services deliver a broad range of solutions for payments processing, card and merchant management, online banking, mobile, branch and voice banking, fraud detection and trade finance. Trusted by more than 1,650 organizations globally, ACI serves three primary market audiences: Financial institutions, including national, regional and global banks, community banks and credit unions , Processors and Retailers. Its products cover several different domains within the payments and banking marketplace, which includes Online Banking and Cash Management ,includes the payments and cash flows across accounts globally through the online or mobile channel , Branch , includes the management and processing of monetary, non monetary, sales and account origination financial transactions, Trade Finance, includes the management of all trade related transaction types, both traditional trade and open acc! ount instruments with the ability for end users to view and track those transactions through the online channel, Community Financial Services, includes the online and mobile banking and payment systems, and security solutions that service community banks and credit unions , Retail Banking Payments provides the software to support in house issuance of payment instruments and the management of a consumer payment from transaction acquiring all through the lifecycle within the banking system to settlement; which it split into Payments Processing, and Card and Merchant Management , Wholesale Banking Payments , includes the management of primarily corporate payments and messages through their lifecycle including RTGS payments, ACH payments, and SWIFT transactions , Merchant Retail , includes the management of a consumer payment within a merchant retailer and supporting services such as the management of store and gift card and loyalty programs , Payment Fraud Management, includes securing of payments against fraud and money laundering and Payment Infrastructure, includes the tools and infrastructure to operate and optimize the payments system .

Online Banking and Cash Management, Branch and Trade Finance

Online Banking and Cash Management, Branch & Trade domain offers ACI Enterprise Banker is a comprehensive Internet-based business banking product for financial institutions including banks, brokerage firms and credit unions and can be flexibly packaged for small, medium and business customers. This product provides these customers with electronic payment initiation capability, information reporting, and numerous other payment related services that allow the business customer to manage all its banking needs via the Internet. ACI Global Banker provides single-window access to corporate cash management, trade finance, FXservices, reporting and data exchange. Global Banker supports single-window, Single Sign-On access to a bank�� corporate Internet banking platform. ACI Universal Onl! ine Banke! r is a comprehensive Internet-based banking product for financial institutions including banks, brokerage firms and credit unions and can be flexibly packaged for small, medium and business customers as well as individual consumers. This product provides these customers with electronic payment initiation capability, information reporting, and numerous other cash management services that allow the business customer to manage all its banking needs via the Internet as well as mobile channels.

InterACT Universal Banker is a multi-channel product suite which supports the processing of monetary, non-monetary, sales and account origination transactions across multiple channels including branch, call center and back office, as well as delivering extended branch support for browser based employees , such as relationship managers or calling officers. track their entire trade portfolio of traditional trade and open account instrument over the Internet. This product is also utilized in the wholesale domain. ACI Mobile Channel Manager allows organizations to provide consumers, business and corporate customers with mobile access to functions across the banking and payments spectrum. When used with ACI banking products and payment engines, Mobile Channel Manager enables mobile functions which might include account management, balance inquiries, transfers, bill payments, person-to-person (P2P) payments (including PayPal), pre-paid purchases, remote deposit capture, ATM/branch locator, SMS notifications. This solution is also utilized in the retail domain.

Community Financial Services

Online and Mobile Banking solutions for Community Banks and Credit Unions offers a full-featured self-service banking solution including online banking, voice banking and mobile banking for consumer and small-to-mid-size businesses, all from a single hosted platform. The WebFederal suite provides credit unions with online banking, business solutions, mobile banking, CRM Marketing, and Creative and ! Web Desig! n services. ACI Defense is a full-service security solutions for community banks and credit unions. The ACI Defense suite of solutions helps U.S. financial institutions address security compliance obligations with firewall and intrusion prevention services, security assessments, vulnerability testing, endpoint and mobile protection, email security and encryption and identity theft/anti-phishing services. Online Bill Payment and Presentment provides full-service bill payment solutions for community banks and credit unions, including pay-anyone functionality, online bill presentment, P2P and A2A payments and express pay services.

Retail Banking Payments Payments Processing

The Company's retail payments processing products are designed to acquire electronic payment transactions from transaction generators and route them to acquiring institutions so that they can be authorized for payment. The software often interfaces with regional or national switches to access the account-holding financial institution or card issuer for approval or denial of the transactions (authorization). The software returns messages to the original transaction generator (e.g. an ATM), thereby completing the transactions. Depending on how the software is configured, it can perform all of the functions necessary to authenticate, authorize, route and settle an electronic payment transaction, or it can interact with other systems to ensure that these functions are performed. Payments processing software may be required to interact with dozens of devices, switch interchanges and communication protocols around the world.

BASE24-eps is an integrated electronic payments processing product marketed to customers operating electronic payment networks in the retail banking and retail industries. The modular, open architecture of the product enables customers to select the application and system components that are required to operate their networks. BASE24-eps offers a broad range of features and function! s for ele! ctronic payment processing. BASE24-eps is licensed as a standalone electronic payments solution for financial institutions, retailers and electronic payment processors. BASE24-eps, which operates on International Business Machines��(IBM) System z, IBM System p, Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) NonStop, and Oracle Solaris servers, provides flexible integration points to other applications and data within enterprises to support 24-hour per day access to money, services and information. On the HP NonStop platform, BASE24-eps uses NET24-XPNET, an ACI developed message oriented middleware solution. ACI continues to support and maintain a number of other retail payments engines which are no longer actively marketed to new customers.

BASE24 is an integrated family of software products previously marketed to customers operating electronic payment networks in the retail banking and retail industries. A substantial portion of ACI�� revenues are derived from licensing the BASE24 family of products and providing related services and maintenance as it has been the core of the ACI business since the Company�� inception. The BASE24 product line operates exclusively on HP NonStop servers. The HP NonStop parallel-processing environment offers fault-tolerance, linear expandability and distributed processing capabilities. The combination of features offered by BASE24 and the HP NonStop technology are important characteristics in high volume, 24-hour per day electronic payment systems. BASE24 makes use of NET24-XPNET, an ACI developed message oriented middleware solution.

Postilion is an integrated electronic payments processing system. It authenticates, authorizes, routes and switches transactions generated at ATMs and merchant POS sites as well as provides flexible infrastructure to handle key aspects of the back office functions. The product is used widely across the world, with a particular emphasis in Africa. This product is also used in the merchant retail domain.

Retail Ban! king Paym! ents Card and Merchant Management

ACI Card and Merchant Management solutions are card issuing and merchant management products, which have been successfully used by the payments industry for many years. These products run on IBM System z, and various Unix and Microsoft Windows servers. ACI Issuer is a modern card and account management system. It has been developed to support national, international, and global financial institutions. The system has full multi-currency, multi-product, multi-institution and multi-language capabilities. It manages card portfolios in different countries and for different issuers on a single platform and has been built to fully comply with EMV standards. ACI Acquirer supports the full lifecycle of merchant portfolio management, including merchant onboarding, transaction acquisition, interchange fee qualification, settlement and statement generation. The system is enabled with the flexibility acquirers require to manage complex merchant portfolios.

ACI Interchange is the central monetary transaction manager, processing all incoming customer transactions and maintaining a central transactions database. ACI Interchange also manages the clearing and settlement communication with the international payment schemes, ensuring compliance with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, China Union Pay and JCB. The module can easily be adapted to manage clearing and settlement with additional networks such as domestic payment schemes. ACI Token Manager consists of a suite of products from ACI�� partner Bell Identification B.V. The Smart Card & Application Management System provides for central lifecycle management of smart cards and other tokens as well as the management of the applications activated within the scheme. The Key Management System facilitates the implementation of security concepts based on the generation, storage, recovery, import and distribution of cryptographic keys. The keys are used for encryption and decryption of data and for verific! ation and! authorization of trusted parties using digital certificates. ACI Token Manager for Mobile enables the delivery of payment tokens, such as wallets, to mobile phones.

ACI Payments Manager is an integrated, modular software solution that automates the processing, settlement and reconciliation of electronic transactions, as well as provides plastic card issuance and account management. This product is primarily marketed in North America. ACI Automated Dispute Manager enables issuers, acquirers, processors and payment networks to streamline and automate the dispute management process through workflow-based software components.

Wholesale Banking Payments

The Company�� wholesale banking solutions are focused on global, super-regional and regional financial institutions that provide treasury management services to corporations and correspondent banks. In addition, the market includes non-bank financial institutions with the need to conduct their own internal treasury management activities. ACI Money Transfer System provides high value payments processing, bulk payments processing and SWIFT financial messaging. The high value payments processing function, which produces the majority of revenues for the ACI Money Transfer System, is used to generate, authorize, enrich, route and settle high value wire transfer transactions in domestic and international environments. The ACI Money Transfer System product operates on IBM System p servers using the AIX operating system.

Merchant Retail

ACI Retail Commerce Server is a solution for retailers, is an integrated suite of electronic payments products that facilitate a broad range of capabilities. These capabilities include prepaid, debit and credit card processing, ACH processing, electronic benefits transfer, card issuance and management, check authorization, customer loyalty programs and returned check collection. The Retail Commerce Server product line operates on open systems technologies such as! Microsof! t Windows, UNIX and Linux, with the current installations deployed on the Microsoft Windows platform. ACI In-store Solution supports retailers and drives the retailer�� payment portion of the customer�� in-store purchase experience. The In-store solution prompts the consumer and gathers the necessary card payment details to process the payment request. Importantly, the solution helps retailers control the costs and risk of key regulatory issues such as PCI compliance and data theft at the point of sale.

Payment Fraud Management

ACI Proactive Risk Management is a payment fraud detection system designed to help card issuers, merchants, merchant acquirers and financial institutions combat fraud schemes. The system combines the pattern recognition capability of neural-network transaction scoring with custom risk models of rules-based strategies and advanced client/server account management software. The real time capability enables fraud assessment to be part of the authorization process preventing fraud from occurring. Proactive Risk Management operates on IBM System z, HP NonStop, Oracle Solaris and Microsoft Windows servers. This product offers customers the flexibility to automate activities and processes across the complete lifecycle of a case related to fraud. Cases are created when fraud officers checking an alert within Proactive Risk Manager identify fraud or money laundering. The solution is a basic framework that defines processes for researching and resolving cases, including investigation resources, timeframes, escalation paths and alerts.

Payments Infrastructure

The Payments Infrastructure products provide specific technology extensions to augment the business services provided in the business service domains. ACI Communication Services provides a range of communication services to enable message exchange on multiple platforms in particular enabling applications to support legacy protocols, such as SNA and X.25, running over TCP/IP net! works. It! also supports hybrid networking environments such as IBM�� HPR/IP. This set of products runs on HP NonStop, IBM System z and Unix platforms. ACI Enterprise Security Services is a suite of security solutions that secure access to systems and resources. These products run on the HP NonStop platform and are designed to take advantage of HP NonStop fundamentals.

ACI Web Access Services allows HP NonStop users to securely expose existing applications to peer systems as well as PC clients and Web browsers. Web Access Services supports new GUI client development, standard 6530 and 3270E terminal emulation or automated data stream transformation to give users a range of options for integrating NonStop services across the enterprise. ACI Payment Testing (ASSET) is a simulation and testing tool that allows companies involved in electronic payments to simulate devices and transactions, and perform application testing. ASSET is available for use with BASE24, BASE24-eps, Postilion, and ACI Proactive Risk Manager.

Prognosis is available for use with BASE24, BASE24-eps, Postilion, ACI Proactive Risk Manager, and ACI Money Transfer System. ACI Mobile Alerting powered by Spectrum MoneyGuard offers fraud or service alert options in near real-time with SMS messages to their mobile phones of events affecting their banking transactions. When used for fraud alerting, customers have the option of responding via text (two-way communication) and requesting a block of the card and a confirmation is sent.

Services

It offers its customers a wide range of professional services, including analysis, design, development, implementation, integration and training. It has service professionals within each of its three geographic regions who generally perform the majority of the work associated with installing and integrating its software products, rather than relying on third-party systems integrators. It utilizes a standard methodology to deliver customer project implementations ! across al! l products lines. Within the process, it provides customers with a variety of services, including on-site solution scoping reviews, project planning, training, site preparation, installation, product configuration, product customization, testing and go-live support, and project management throughout the project lifecycle. Product-support-funded services are available to customers after a solution has been installed and are based on the relevant product support category. A team of support analysts and an appointed customer manager are available to assist customers. Technical services are provided to customers who have licensed one or more of its software products. Services offered include programming and programming support, day-to-day systems operations, network operations, help desk staffing, problem resolution, system design, and performance planning and review. Technical services are typically priced according to the level of technical expertise required. ACI�� education courses provide students with knowledge at all levels, to enhance and improve their understanding of ACI products. ACI also provides further, more in-depth technical courses that allow students to use practical labs to enhance what they have learned in the classroom. The ACI trainers��ability to understand customers��systems means ACI can also provide tailored course materials for individual customers.

ACI�� testing services team works within the ACI customer base to establish testing practices and build a standard testing environment that meets an organization�� current needs, and is easily extensible for future requirements. It is important that any testing environment encompasses all aspects of the testing lifecycle (i.e., functional, acceptance, regression and stress testing), as well as allowing ease of use by the appropriate staff. ACI�� testing services can provide this environment as either a stand-alone deliverable or as a fully managed service.

ACI is committed to providing cons! ulting se! rvices to its customer base. In order to do this, it has assembled a team of technicians with many decades of experience, not only with ACI solutions, but also in the payments industry in general. Trusted globally, these consultants are available to provide technical assistance to ACI�� customers across the full range of the ACI portfolio. The consultants��knowledge and understanding of ACI�� customers allow them to define, design and build appropriate technical solutions. This in turn provides an enhanced business offering to customers, ultimately enabling a greater competitive advantage and increased satisfaction. It offers facilities management services whereby it operates a customer�� electronic payments system for multi-year periods. Pricing and payment terms for facilities management services vary on a case-by-case basis giving consideration to the complexity of the facility or system to be managed, the level and quantity of technical services required, and other factors relevant to the facilities management agreement.

The Company competes with Clear2Pay NV/SA (Clear2Pay), Intuit Corporation, Bottomline Technologies, ARGO, FIS, Fundtech Ltd, First Data Corporation, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc, Fiserv, Inc., China Systems, CSI, Misys, CGI, Clear2Pay, Computer Sciences Corporation, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., Pegasystems Inc., OpenWay Group, Total System Services, Inc. (TSYS), Alaric Technology Inc., BPC Banking Technologies, PayEx Solutions AS, Financial Software and Systems, CR2, Lusis Payments Ltd., Opus Software Solutions Private Limited, Atos Origin S.A., Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., First Data Corporation, SiNSYS, TSYS, VISA, MasterCard, Dovetail Software, IBM, Logica Plc, Tieto Corporation, AJB Software Design, Inc., Retalix, Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., Servebase Computers Ltd, Tender Retail Inc., VeriFone Systems, Inc, Actimize, Inc., Fair Isaac Corporation, BAE Systems Detica, ReD, Memento Inc., Norkom Techn! ologies, ! and SAS Institute, Inc., CA Technologies, HP and Oracle USA, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Electronic payments company ACI Worldwide Inc.(ACIW) trimmed its full-year guidance, citing its inability to finalize several contracts that were expected to close in the fourth quarter.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  ACI Worldwide (ACIW) develops, markets, installs and supports a line of software products and services primarily focused on facilitating electronic payments. This stock closed up 5.6% at $51.50 in Monday's trading session.

  Monday's Volume: 922,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 252,148
  
  Volume % Change: 241%

  From a technical perspective, ACIW jumped higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $49.941 with heavy upside volume. This move is coming after shares of ACIW recently dipped from $49.91 to $46 with heavy downside volume. Shares of ACIW are now trending within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ACIW manages to take out its 52-week and Monday's intraday high of $51.88 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ACIW as long as it's trending above that first breakout level of $49.91 or above more near-term support at $48 and then once it sustains a move or close above $51.88 with volume that's near or above 252,148 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ACIW will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $55 to $60.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq: ACIW  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By CRWE]

  ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq:ACIW), a leading international provider of payment systems, released details of its product roadmaps to the market, and described how the combination of ACI and S1 adds innovation, new product capabilities and resources around the globe to support the needs of its customers.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: Servotronics Inc.(SVT)

Servotronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of technology and consumer products primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Advanced Technology Group (ATG) and Consumer Products Group (CPG). The ATG segment designs, manufactures, and markets various servo-control components that convert an electrical current into a mechanical force or movement, and other related products. Its servo-control components include torque motors, electromagnetic actuators, hydraulic valves, pneumatic valves, and similar devices that are principally sold to commercial aerospace, missile, aircraft, government related, medical, and industrial markets. This segment also produces metallic seals in various cross-sectional configurations that are used to fit between two metal surfaces to produce a secure and leak-proof joint. The ATG segment markets its products primarily through its professional staff to the United States Govern ment, government prime contractors, government subcontractors, commercial manufacturers, and end users. The CPG segment designs, manufactures, and sells various cutlery products, including steak, carving, bread, butcher, and paring knives for household use and for use in restaurants, institutions, and private industry; pocket and other types of knives for use in hunting, fishing, and camping; and machetes, bayonets, and other types of knives for military use. This segment also produces and markets other cutlery items, such as specialty tools, putty knives, linoleum sheet cutters, field knives, and other edged products. The CPG segment markets its products through sales personnel and independent manufacturers? representatives to hardware, supermarket, variety, department, discount, gift, and drug stores, as well as to various branches of the United States Government primarily under the ?Old Hickory? and ?Queen? brand names. Servotronics, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is based in Elma, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Severn Trent Plc (SVT) advanced 2.5 percent to 2,070 pence, snapping four days of losses. Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc. and its partners boosted their offer to acquire the water utility to 5.3 billion pounds ($8.2 billion).

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Societe Generale SA, Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG led a selloff in banks, with each falling more than 2 percent. Severn Trent Plc (SVT) sank the most since October 2006 after a consortium of investors dropped their bid for the water utility. Kabel Deutschland Holding AG jumped 8.2 percent after Vodafone Group Plc confirmed it approached the company about a takeover.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: Gentium SpA(GENT)

Gentium S.p.A., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and manufacture of its primary product candidate, defibrotide, an investigational drug based on a mixture of single-stranded and double-stranded DNA extracted from pig intestines. It develops defibrotide for the treatment and prevention of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), a condition that occurs when veins in the liver are blocked as a result of cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation, that are administered prior to stem cell transplantation. The company has completed a Phase III clinical trial of defibrotide for the treatment of severe VOD in the United States, Canada, and Israel; and a Phase II/III pediatric trial in Europe for the prevention of VOD. It also offers sulglicotide that is developed from swine duodenum, and has ulcer healing and gastrointestinal protective properties in South Korea; and urokinase, which is made from human urine to treat various vascular disorders, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. The company was formerly known as Pharma Research S.r.L. and changed its name to Gentium S.p.A. in July 2001. Gentium S.p.A. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Villa Guardia, Italy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals Public Limited Company (NASDAQ: JAZZ) got a boost, shooting up 7.77 percent to $123.65 after the company announced its plans to buy Gentium SpA (NASDAQ: GENT) for around $1 billion.

• [By James Oberweis]

  Gentium Spa (GENT) is focused on the development and commercialization of its leading product, defibrotide, to treat certain complications arising from chemotherapy, and bone marrow and stem cell transplantation therapy.

• [By Sean Williams]

  A parabolic problem
  It has also been a year to remember for shareholders of biopharmaceutical company Gentium (NASDAQ: GENT  ) whose share price has catapulted approximately 600% off its lows thanks to growth in its lead drug Defibrotide (known as Defitelio in the European Union).

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: Want Want China Holdings Ltd (WWNTF)

Want Want China Holdings Limited is an investment holding company. The principal activities of the Company and its subsidiaries are the manufacturing, distribution and sale of rice crackers, dairy products and beverages, snack foods and other products. The Company segments include manufacturing and sale of Rice crackers, including sugar coated crackers, savoury crackers and fried crackers; dairy products and beverages, including flavored milk, yogurt drinks, ready-to-drink coffee, juice drinks, carbonated drinks, herbal tea and milk powder; snack foods, including candies, popsicles and jellies, ball cakes and beans and nuts, and other products, mainly including wine and other food products. Its operations are located in the People�� Republic of China, with the rest located in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. As of December 31, 2011, its subsidiaries included Want Want Holdings Ltd., Long Wave Foods Limited, Want-Want Foods Limited and others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks swung between small gains and losses early Thursday after hitting a seven-month high in the previous session, with the Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) down less than 0.1%. Most mainland Chinese property developers outperformed the markets, with Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. (HK:2777) (GZUHF) rallying 3.4%, after the company reported a 44% month-on-month jump in sales for June. Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. (HK:0813) (SIOPF) climbed 2.6%, and China Resources Land Ltd. (HK:1109) (CRBJF) rose 1.7%. However, several retailers were weak, as Want Want China Holdings Ltd. (HK:0151) (WWNTF) , the country's top food and beverage maker, declined 2%. Hong Kong-based cosmetics brand Sa Sa International Holdings (HK:0178) (SAXJF) fell 1.6%, with a decline in Chinese June non-manufacturing data helping weigh on some retailers. Over on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index (CN:SHCOMP) retreated 0.4%, pulling back from its highest close in two weeks.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  In China, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) is doing a better job transitioning to Japan and project development than most, and it would be a much better pick than most. But still, there are risks, and this Fool's choice is to stick with high-quality U.S. companies for which you don't have to depend on government banks for survival.�

• [By Mani]

  Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, is expected to report its fourth quarter and full year 2013 financial results on�March 5, 2014. The company will hold a conference call on the same day at�8:00 a.m.�Eastern Standard Time to discuss the results and its business outlook.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Stocks To Watch For 2014: Zep Inc.(ZEP)

Zep Inc. produces and markets cleaning and maintenance chemicals, and related products and services for commercial, industrial, institutional and consumer applications. Its products include anti-bacterial and industrial hand care products, cleaners, degreasers, deodorizers, disinfectants, floor finishes, sanitizers, pest- and weed-control products, air-care products and delivery systems, and various automotive maintenance chemicals. The company markets its products and services under various brands, such as Zep, Selig, ArmorAll, Niagara, Enforcer, Zep Commercial, RedMax Pro, Rubbermaid Commercial, Original Bike Spirits, Country Vet, Zep Professional, Microbemax, Misty, TimeMist, i-Chem, TimeWick, and Next Dimension brands, as well as private label and original equipment manufacturer private brands. It serves customers in industrial maintenance, janitorial/sanitation, and automotive markets; transportation, food processing, industrial manufacturing, and food service industr ies; and contractors, small business owners, and homeowners in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Zep (NYSE: ZEP  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Zep doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 3.5%, and inventory increased 11.8%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue grew 7.7%, and inventory grew 11.8%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks OK but not great. Revenue grew 3.4%, and inventory grew 4.7%.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Zep (NYSE: ZEP  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.