Airlines have always had a hard time staying in business, be it due to rising costs, strong competition, or economic cycles. Yet United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) are two companies that have been in the air for decades. As of late, rising fuel costs, salary increases and recession-weary passengers have presented themselves as challenges that both airlines seem to be overcoming.
Catering to the Wealthy
Operating nearly 5,500 daily flights for over 375 domestic and international destinations, United Continental Holdings is the largest U.S. airline. Following its $3 billion merger with Continental, the firm increased sales to approximately $37 billion annually, and currently employs around 88,000 workers. Despite the Continental merger, the company is facing rising fuel costs and strong competition.
In order to make ends meet, add-on charges are seen as a possible strategy to increase revenue. By generating ancillary revenues, through the sale of frequent flier miles, or the introduction of baggage fees, United has been able to balance its finances. Baggage fees alone could generate around $1 billion in high-margin revenue for the airline.
Hot Industrial Conglomerate Companies To Watch For 2015: Paradigm Resource Management Corp (PRDC)
Paradigm Resource Management Corp., formerly China Digital Ventures Corporation, incorporated on March 26, 2007, is a development-stage company. In April 2012, the Company acquired all of the mineral rights properties of ARNEVUT Resources Inc. (ARNEVUT). ARNEVUT is an exploration and mining company. ARNEVUT has an option to acquire majority control of the Island Mountain property from Gateway Gold Corporation (Gateway). The property consists of 53 unpatented lode mineral claims that consists of an area of 920 acres (372 hectares) situated near the northeast end of the Jerritt Canyon Trend. The East Canyon property is located in Elko County, Nevada and Box Elder County, Utah. Most of the claims are located in Box Elder County, Utah. The Zia Uranium property is nine miles northeast of Grants, New Mexico. The property contains uranium mineralization hosted by the Todilto Limestone and probable uranium mineralization hosted by sandstones of the Morrison Formation. These claims are wholly owned by ARNEVUT.
During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Company had no revenue and operations. The principal business of the Company was its Web-based telecom and Internet protocol television (IPTV) businesses.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap resource or green stocks Paradigm Resource Management Corp (OTCMKTS: PRDC), Extreme Biodiesel Inc (OTCMKTS: XTRM) and Pan Global Corp (OTCMKTS: PGLO) have all been getting some attention lately thanks in part to a few paid stock promotions. However, two of these small cap appear to be the subject of minimal paid promotion activity, but even a small paid promotion or investor relations campaign can increase a stock�� volatility. So do these three small cap resource or green stocks have what it takes to deliver some Christmas cheer for investors and traders alike? Here is a quick reality check:
Best Rising Stocks To Own For 2014: Omega Commercial Finance Corp (OCFN)
Omega Commercial Finance Corporation (Omega), incorporated on November 6, 1973, is a commercial real estate financing company that also provides asset backed lending services located in the Miami, Florida area. The Company consults on various financing programs with an emphasis on Loans secured by commercial real estate such as core assets that include office buildings, multi-family residences, shopping centers, industrial, and hotels, as well as asset backed loans secured by account receivables from established companies.
On February 20, 2012, CCRE Capital, LLC (CCRE), its wholly owned subsidiary entered into the Strategic Alliance Agreement (the Strategic Alliance) with Gardens VE Limited (Company No. 07071936), a British Company (Gardens). In January 2013, the Company acquired VFG Securities Incorporated and VFG Advisors Inc. The Company�� subsidiaries include CCRE (CCRE), OMEGA FACTORI and Omega Capital Street LLC.
The Company competes with CapitalSource Inc, Goldman Sachs Commercial Real Estate, Morgan Stanley Real Estate and JP Morgan Chase.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Virginia Harrison]
The other big Olympic sponsors are Visa (V, Fortune 500), Samsung (SSNLF), Panasonic (PCRFF), General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500), Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), Omega (OCFN) and Atos (ATOS). They're staying tight-lipped about the issue in public but a senior official at the International Olympic Committee said this month that several had raised concerns about how the law could affect the Games.
Best Rising Stocks To Own For 2014: iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO)
iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment returns that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the Russell 2000 Index, and measures the performance of the small-capitalization growth sector of the United States equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index and consists of those companies or portion of a company, with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth within the Russell 2000 Index.
The Index represents approximately 50% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 2000 Index. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap custom carry and protective solutions stock Forward Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: FORD) jumped 22.51% earlier today as an apparent turnaround continues, meaning its worth taking a closer look at a stock that�� in a decidedly niche area plus look at the performance of potential investment benchmarks like the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWM), iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWO) and iShares Russell 2000 Value Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWN).
- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday, Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ: LUNA), a rather unusual and innovative small cap stock,�soared some 23.26%���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with its performance verses the performance of small cap benchmarks like the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWM), the�iShares Russell 2000 Value Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWN) or the iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IWO).
Best Rising Stocks To Own For 2014: ANSYS Inc (ANSS)
ANSYS, Inc. (ANSYS) develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and services used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a range of industries and academia, including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, electronics, biomedical, energy and defense. The Company distributes its ANSYS suite of simulation technologies through a global network of independent resellers and distributors (collectively, channel partners) and direct sales offices in global locations. The Company�� product portfolio consists of ANSYS Workbench, multiphysics product, structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, explicit dynamics, electromagnetic, system simulation, simulation process and data management, academic, high-performance computing (HPC), geometry interfaces, meshing and Apache design low-power electronic solutions. On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired Apache Design, Inc.
ANSYS Workbench
ANSYS Workbench is the framework upon which the Company�� suite of advanced engineering simulation technologies is built. The ANSYS Workbench platform delivers productivity, enabling Simulation Driven Product Development.
Multiphysics
The Company�� multiphysics product suite allows engineers and designers to create virtual prototypes of their designs operating under multiphysics conditions. ANSYS multiphysics software enables engineers and scientists to simulate the interactions between structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid flow and electromagnetics all within a single, engineering simulation environment.
Structural Mechanics
The Company�� structural mechanics product suite offers simulation tools for product design. These tools have capabilities that cover a range of analysis types, elements, contacts, materials, equation solvers and coupled physics capabilities all focused towards understanding and solving complex design problems.
Fluid Dynamics
The Company�� fluid dynamics product suit! e offers modeling of fluid flow and other related physical phenomena. Fluid flow analysis capabilities provide all the tools needed to design new fluids equipment and to troubleshoot already existing installations. The fluid dynamics product suite contains general-purpose computational fluid dynamics software and specialized products to address specific industry applications.
Explicit Dynamics
The Company�� explicit dynamics product suite simulates events involving short-duration, large-strain, large-deformation, fracture, complete material failure or structural problems with complex interactions. This product suite is used for simulating physical events that occur in a short period of time and may result in material damage or failure.
Electromagnetics
The Company�� electromagnetics product suite provides field simulation software for designing high-performance electronic and electromechanical products. The software streamlines the design process and predicts performance - all prior to building a prototype - of mobile communication and Internet-access devices, broadband networking components and systems, integrated circuits (IC) and printed circuit boards (PCB), as well as electromechanical systems such as automotive components and power electronics equipment.
System Simulation
The Company delivers the ability to perform complete simulation studies as a system for some of the product designs. This is accomplished through a complete set of physics solutions that are integrated into a multiphysics capabilities set. A collaborative simulation environment provides modeling scalability for evaluating entire systems, including three dimensional (3-D) high-fidelity models, multibody dynamics, circuit reduced-order models, and any combination of these.
Simulation Process and Data Management
ANSYS Engineering Knowledge Manager (ANSYS EKM) is a solution for simulation-based process and data management. ANSY! S EKM pro! vides solutions to all levels of a company, enabling an organization to address the issues associated with simulation data, including backup and archival, traceability and audit trail, process automation and intellectual property protection.
Academic
The Company�� academic product suite provides a portfolio of academic products based on several usage tiers: associate, research and teaching. Each tier includes various noncommercial products that bundle a range of physics and advanced coupled field solver capabilities. The academic product suite provides entry-level tools intended for class demonstrations and hands-on instruction. It provides flexible terms of use and more complex analysis suitable for doctoral and post-doctoral research projects. The Company also provides a product suitable for student use at home.
High-Performance Computing
The Company�� HPC product suite enables insight into product performance. The HPC product suite delivers cross-physics parallel processing capabilities for the full spectrum of the Company�� simulation software by supporting structural, fluids, thermal and electromagnetic simulations in a single HPC solution.
Geometry Interfaces
The Company offers geometry handling solutions for engineering simulation in an integrated environment with direct interfaces to all CAD systems, support of additional readers and translators. It also offers an integrated geometry modeler focused on analysis.
Meshing
Creating a mesh that transforms a physical model into a mathematical model is a critical and foundational step in almost every engineering simulation study. The Company�� meshing technology provides a means to balance these requirements, obtaining the right mesh for each simulation in the most automated way possible.
Apache Design Low-Power Electronic Solutions
The Company�� suite of Apache software delivers power analysis and optimization pl! atforms a! long with integrated methodologies that provide capabilities for managing the power budget, power delivery integrity, and power-induced noise in an electronic design, from initial prototyping to system sign-off. These solutions deliver correlation to silicon measurement, and the capacity to handle an entire electronic system, including IC, package, and PCB.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of simulation software maker ANSYS (ANSS). Like CSC, ANSYS is sandwiched between a horizontal price ceiling above shares around $90 a share and a similar horizontal floor at $83.50 a share. From here, the trading signal comes on a breakout outside of the channel.
Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Rectangles, triangles, and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.
That $90 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant – the move means buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Don't be early on this trade.
- [By Northrop Puckett]
The company is facing headwinds in the broader economy. This can be seen in declining sales in many areas of their business. Regionally, the U.S was flat; Northern Europe was up; Southern Europe was down; and emerging markets were down. Autodesk also lowered quarterly and yearly revenue expectations. This lowering of guidance by Autodesk also matches the same guidance changes made by competitors Parametric Technology (PMTC) and ANSYS (ANSS), so it is not necessarily losing out to its rivals in this case.
Best Rising Stocks To Own For 2014: Aerosonic Corporation(AIM)
Aerosonic Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of aircraft instruments worldwide. It offers mechanical and digital altimeters, airspeed indicators, rate of climb indicators, microprocessor controlled air data test sets, and other flight instruments. The company also produces mechanical and electro-mechanical cockpit instruments, angle of attack stall warning systems, digital cockpit instruments, integrated flight display systems, aircraft sensors and monitoring systems, and integrated multifunction probes, such as integrated air data sensors. It markets its products to manufacturers of corporate and private jets, contractors of military jets, the United States government, and private aircraft owners. The company sells its products directly through its sales personnel, as well as through distributors and commissioned sales representatives who resell to aircraft operators. Aerosonic Corporation was founded in 1953 and is b ased in Clearwater, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Katia Dmitrieva]
Aimia (AIM) Inc.�� decision to move its Aeroplan reward-partnership to Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank is a blow to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which stands to lose customers and as much as C$3 billion ($2.9 billion) in credit-card balances.
Best Rising Stocks To Own For 2014: Vapor Corp (VPCO)
Vapor Corp (Vapor), incorporated in 1987, is engaged in designing, marketing and distributing electronic cigarettes and accessories under the Fifty-One, Krave, VaporX, EZ Smoker, Green Puffer, Americig, Fumre Hookah Stix and Smoke Star brands. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, are battery-powered products that enable users to inhale nicotine vapor without smoke, tar, ash, or carbon monoxide. Electronic cigarettes look like traditional cigarettes and consists of three functional components: a mouthpiece, which is a small plastic cartridge that contains a liquid nicotine solution; a heating element that vaporizes the liquid nicotine so that it can be inhaled; and the electronics, which include: a lithium-ion battery, an airflow sensor, a microchip controller and an light emitting diode (LED), which illuminates to indicate use. When a user draws air through the electronic cigarette, the air flow is detected by a sensor, which activates a heating element that vaporizes the solution stored in the mouthpiece/cartridge, the solution is then vaporized and it is this vapor that is inhaled by the user. The cartridge contains either a nicotine solution or a nicotine free solution, either of which may be flavored. The Company offers rechargeable and disposable electronic cigarettes in two varieties: a two-piece unit, which the Company markets under its DUO product line; and a three-piece unit, which the Company markets under its TRIO product line.
The DUO
The DUO's 2-part construction (battery component and cartridge) features a disposable all-in-one atomized cartridge (also known as a cartomizer). This cartomizer is replaced when the nicotine or nicotine free solution is depleted from use. The all-in-one configuration eliminates the need for maintenance of a separate atomizer and maintains consistent performance of the e-cigarette over time.
The TRIO
The TRIO's 3-part construction (battery component, atomizer, and filter cartridge) features a separate atom! izer from the cartridge; the atomizer is reused and requires separate maintenance over its useful life. Replacement atomizers are available for sale and are easily serviceable by the user. In the TRIO, the only component that needs to be routinely replaced is the refill cartridge (either with or without nicotine).
The Company's electronic cigarettes are sold in kits. In addition to kits the Company sells replacement batteries, replacement mouthpieces that contain the liquid solution and atomizer, for its two-piece configurations as well as mouthpieces with the liquid solution and separate atomizers for its three-piece units. In addition to the Company's electronic cigarette products the Company sells an assortment of accessories, including chargers and simple and fashionable cases. The Company also offers refill cartridges and accessories for its electronic cigarettes. The Company's refill cartridges consist of assorted flavors and nicotine levels (including cartridges without nicotine).
The Company competes with Altria Group, Inc. and Reynolds American Inc.,
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
While there is a�new ��tudy��out claiming�that�electronic cigarettes, or so-called e-cigarettes or e-cigs, may contain a comparable level of carcinogens to regular cigarettes,�speculative investors might still want to take a look at�small cap electronic cigarette stocks like�Hop-on, Inc (OTCMKTS: HPNN), Smokefree Innotec (OTCMKTS: SFIO), Vapor Corp (OTCMKTS: VPCO) and Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp (OTCMKTS: ECIG) as these appear to be the major publicly traded small cap stocks left in the sector. I should note that�all of the�major big tobacco stocks have entered the electronic cigarette market (see Who Are the Big Tobacco Electronic Cigarette Stocks? MO, LO & RAI) through acquisitions or their own R&D initiatives, which might�mean�that an acquisition by big tobacco is off the table as an�exit strategy for investors. �Moreover and as I previously noted, there are concerns about the safety of electronic cigarettes as their popularity grows�while the Wall Street Journal recently reported that the FDA has been in discussions with the e-cigarette industry about a possible online-sales ban of the product.
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