LONDON -- To me, capital growth and dividend income are equally important. Together, they provide the total return from any share investment and, as you might expect, my aim is to invest in companies that can beat the total return delivered by the wider market.
To put that aim into perspective, the FTSE 100 has provided investors with a total return of around 3% per annum since January 2008.
Quality and value
If my investments are to outperform, I need to back companies that score well on several quality indicators and buy at prices that offer decent value.
So this series aims to identify appealing FTSE 100 investment opportunities and today I'm looking at�National Grid� (LSE: NG ) , which is well-known for operating Britain's gas and electricity transmission systems. It also runs a gas distribution business in Britain, and has gas and electricity assets in the U.S.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: SINOPEC Shangai Petrochemical Company Ltd.(SHI)
Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited engages in the production of polypropylene compound products, polypropylene products, acrylic fiber products, petrochemical products, synthetic fibers, resins and plastics, and petroleum products in China and internationally. It also involves in the import and export of petrochemical products and equipment. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited is a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]
After selling about $10.8 billion in assets throughout 2012, it looks as though Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK ) is on track for more big sales in 2013. The company just announced this week that it plans to sell 98,000 acres in the Utica shale region of Ohio. Once the sale is completed, it will be the third large influx of capital this year, after the company inked $3.2 billion in joint ventures with Sinopec (NYSE: SHI ) and Total (NYSE: TOT ) this year.�
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: Premier Exhibitions Inc.(PRXI)
Premier Exhibitions, Inc. provides museum quality touring exhibitions worldwide. It develops, deploys, and operates exhibition products; sells apparel, posters, and Titanic-related jewelry; publishes exhibition catalogs; and provides ancillary services, such as audio tours and photographs for public in the exhibition centers, museums, and non-traditional venues. The company operates and promotes various exhibitions, including Bodies Revealed and Bodies, The Exhibition, that display multiple human anatomy sets, which contain a collection of whole human body specimens, single human organs, and body parts; Titanic, the artifact exhibition, which features the artifacts recovered from the wreck site; and Dialog in the Dark that is intended to provide insight and experience to the paradox of learning to see without the use of sight. Premier Exhibitions, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) is projected to post its Q2 earnings.
Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.72 per share on revenue of $292.15 million.
Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: Linear Technology Corporation(LLTC)
Linear Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a line of linear integrated circuits. The company's products include amplifiers, comparators, voltage regulators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, power over Ethernet controllers, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, Advisors' Opinion:
- [By Lauren Pollock]
Linear Technology Corp.'s(LLTC) fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 18% as the chip manufacturer reported higher sales and gross margins.
MeadWestvaco Corp.(MWV) expanded its cost-cutting efforts and said it plans to simplify the structure of its packaging businesses, as it strives to improve its performance.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $339.26 million.
Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.23 per share on revenue of $168.28 million.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: Intel Corporation(INTC)
Intel Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. It offers microprocessor products used in notebooks, netbooks, desktops, servers, workstations, storage products, embedded applications, communications products, consumer electronics devices, and handhelds. The company also provides system on chip products that integrate its core processing functionalities with other system components, such as graphics, audio, and video, onto a single chip. In addition, it offers chipset products that send data between the microprocessor and input, display, and storage devices, including keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, and CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drives; motherboards designed for desktop, server, and workstation platforms, and that has connectors for attaching devices to the bus; and wired and wireless connectivity products consisting of network adapters and embedded wireless cards used to translate and transmit data across networks. Further, the company provides NAND flash memory products primarily used in portable memory storage devices, digital camera memory cards, and solid-state drives; software products comprising operating systems, middleware, and tools used to develop, run, and manage various enterprise, consumer, embedded, and handheld devices; and software development tools that enable the creation of applications. Additionally, it develops computing platforms, which are integrated hardware and software computing technologies designed to offer an optimized solution. The company sells its products principally to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC components and other products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. It has a strategic alliance with Scientific Conservation Inc. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and is based in Santa Clara, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Dividend stocks, too, are great candidates, as dividends are typically taxed at ordinary income tax rates, and in a Roth would accumulate tax-free. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) , for example, recently yielded 4%, and though its recent earnings report was disappointing, it expects profit-margin improvements and is making inroads into the booming mobile market.
- [By Benjamin Pimentel]
Shares of Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) �fell almost 2% ahead of the company�� earnings report due after the market closes. Intel Corp. (INTC) � which was also scheduled to report results Tuesday, fell by 6 cents a share to close at $23.39.
- [By Steve Heller]
Unnecessary confusion
Aside from an absurd writedown, Windows RT could quite possibly be the worst direction Microsoft has gone in recent years. Windows RT is powered by ARM�designs, meaning it is not compatible with legacy Windows applications, which run on Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) x86-powered designs. This fundamental difference has led to confusion between Windows 8 and Windows RT, resulting in the less-than-stellar reception of Windows RT. Ultimately, I believe that Microsoft will have little reason to keep Windows RT in its stable once Intel delivers compelling tablet processors. The prospect of Intel in a $200 to $300 Bay Trail-powered tablet running the full version of Windows 8 could resonate quite well with consumers and potentially provide a catalyst to Microsoft's stock price.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: NetApp Inc.(NTAP)
NetApp, Inc. engages in the design, manufacturing, marketing, and technical support of networked storage solutions. It supplies enterprise storage and data management software, and hardware products and services. The company offers Data ONTAP, an operating system that supports storage area network (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) environments; storage efficiency technologies, including FlexVol, FlexClone, and Deduplication technologies; storage management and application integration software, such as OnCommand management software; fabric-attached storage unified storage systems, which support a range of data for users on various platforms; and virtual storage tier; V-Series network-based virtualization solutions that provide SAN and NAS access to the data stored in heterogeneous storage arrays. It also provides data protection software products, including Snapshot, SnapRestore, SnapVault, and Open Systems SnapVault techologies; MetroCluster products; and SnapMirror data replication solution. In addition, the company offers data retention and archive products, and Flash Cache modules; and storage security products for data security and key management in IP SAN, NAS, and tape backup environments; StorageGRID that enables intelligent data management and secure content retention; and professional services, global support solutions, and customer education and training. It serves energy, financial services, government, high technology, Internet, life sciences and healthcare services, manufacturing, media, entertainment, animation and video postproduction, and telecommunications industries. It offers its products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company was formerly known as Network Appliance, Inc. and changed its name to NetApp, Inc. in March 2008. NetApp, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Brugger]
NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP ) has instituted an enhanced shareholder capital-return plan consisting of another $1.6 billion in stock repurchases over the next three years and a $0.15-per-share quarterly dividend, the company announced yesterday.
- [By MONEYMORNING.COM]
According to IDC estimates, EMC's share of the storage hardware segment is more than 30%. That's about two-and-a-half times that of its nearest competitor, NetApp Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP).
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Wednesday
Earnings Expected From: Macy�� Inc. (NYSE: M), Millennial Media, Inc. (NYSE: MM), NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Economic Releases Expected: Spanish CPI, British unemployment rate, eurozone industrial production, US Federal budget balance, Japanese industrial productionThursday
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) was also down, dropping 2.28 percent to $36.14 after UBS released a bearish report on the company.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.04 percent to $103.71, while gold traded up 0.18 percent to $1,302.40.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: Dupont Fabros Technology Inc. (DFT)
DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, acquisition, development, operation, management, and lease of large-scale data center facilities in the United States. The company leases its data centers to the American and international technology companies to house, power, and cool the computer servers that support their critical business processes. It also provides certain technical services to tenants, including layout design and installation of electrical power circuits, data cabling, server cabinets and racks, computer room airflow analyses, and monitoring. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated seven data centers located in Northern Virginia; one data center in suburban Chicago, Illinois; one data center in Piscataway, New Jersey; one data center in Santa Clara, California. DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. has elected to be taxed as a REIT. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal corporate income t axes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Investors might find it fabulous that DuPont Fabros Technology� (NYSE: DFT ) �has increased its second-quarter dividend, the third time in two years the payout has been increased.
- [By Ong Kang Wei]
For example, Digital Realty (DLR) is the undoubted leader in the data storage industry, with a market cap of $8.3B. Its other three competitors, DuPont Fabros (DFT), CoreSite Realty (COR) and CyrusOne (CONE), have market caps of $1.5B, $930M and $430M respectively. In addition, with the level of complexity involving Digital's business making it immensely difficult for companies to operate data centre facilities, the company is in a good position for future growth. The company also has a wide network of 595 tenants (significantly more than other competitors), including CenturyLink (CTL), AT&T and Morgan Stanley (MS). This further secures its long term business prospects and also its dominance over its competitors.
- [By Rich Duprey]
As noted last month, DuPont Fabros Technology�� (NYSE: DFT ) �increased its�second-quarter dividend�25%, which will be paid on July 15 to shareholders of record on July 5. In addition to announcing this regular $0.25-per-share payout for its common stock, the data center operator also announced yesterday it would be paying dividends on two series of preferred stock, both of which will also be payable on July 15 to shareholders of record on July 5.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: MicroChannel Technologies Corp (MCTC)
MicroChannel Technologies Corporation, incorporated on February 28, 2005, is a development-stage company. The Company is focused on the identification, acquisition, and development of new and potentially commercial opportunities.
As of August 31, 2013, the Company is not engaged in any business operations. As of August 31, 2013, the Company had no revenues.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Bonamour Inc (OTCBB: BONI), Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) and Microchannel Technologies Corp (OTCBB: MCTC) have been attracting attention from variosu investment newsletters lately with at least two of these stocks being the subject of paid promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed paid promotions or investor relation types of activities as its up to investors and traders alike to do their due diligence. So how hot are these small cap stocks? Here is a quick reality check that might cool your appetite:
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: iGATE Corporation(IGTE)
iGATE Corporation provides outsourced information technology (IT) and IT-enabled operations solutions and services worldwide. The company offers various services that include development and maintenance of software application; implementation and support of enterprise applications; package evaluation and implementation; re-engineering; data warehousing; business intelligence; analytics; data management and integration; software testing; IT infrastructure management; business and technology consulting; and enterprise software and systems integration, as well as quality assurance services and product engineering services. It also provides business process outsourcing, transaction processing, and customer interaction services. The company serves various industries, including insurance and healthcare, manufacturing, retail and logistics, banking and financial services, communications and utilities, media and entertainment, life sciences, and product engineering. It has India, Canada, the United States, Europe, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Turkey, South Korea, China, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. iGATE Corporation was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
iGATE (Nasdaq: IGTE ) reported earnings on April 11. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), iGATE beat slightly on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share. - [By Monica Gerson]
Wall Street expects iGATE (NASDAQ: IGTE) to report its Q3 earnings at $0.43 per share on revenue of $289.38 million. iGATE shares gained 3.12% to $28.45 in after-hours trading.
- [By Seth Jayson]
iGATE (Nasdaq: IGTE ) is expected to report Q2 earnings around July 11. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:
The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict iGATE's revenues will grow 4.1% and EPS will grow 21.4%. - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
iGATE (NASDAQ: IGTE) was also up, gaining 10.51 percent to $30.49 after the company reported upbeat Q3 results.
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) were down 11.69 percent to $58.87 after the company lowered its forecast for the third quarter.
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: ParkerVision Inc.(PRKR)
Parkervision, Inc. engages in the design, development, and sale of proprietary radio frequency (RF) technologies and products for use in semiconductor circuits for wireless communication products in the United States. The company provides its wireless technologies for processing RF waveforms in wireless applications. Its technology applies to transmit and receive functions of a radio transceiver. Its transmit portion of the technology, Direct2Power, enables the transformation of a baseband data signal to an RF carrier waveform at the desired power output level in a single unified operation. The company?s receiver portion of the technology, Direct2Data, enables the direct conversion of an RF carrier to a baseband data signal. It also provides engineering consulting and design services to its customers to assist them in developing prototypes and/or products incorporating its technologies. The company licenses its intellectual property and sells integrated circuits for incor poration into wireless devices designed by its customers. It primarily focuses on incorporating its technologies into mobile handsets, as well as to other wireless products that are related to networks serving mobile handsets, such as data cards, femtocells, and machine-to-machine and embedded applications. The company?s technology is also used in non-cellular radio applications comprising military radios. In addition, Parkervision, Inc. develops wireless radio modules for mobile handset and data card applications through a joint development and marketing agreement with LG Innotek Co., Ltd. It serves mobile handset manufacturers and their chipset suppliers in the mobile handset industry. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 technology player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is ParkerVision (PRKR), which designs, develops and markets its proprietary radio frequency technologies and products for use in semiconductor circuits for wireless communication products. This stock has been red hot so far in 2013, with shares up sharply by 105%.
If you take a look at the chart for ParkerVision, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares soaring higher from its low of $2.38 to its recent high of $4.29 a share. During that uptrend, shares of PRKR have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed share of PRKR back above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Shares of PRKR have now moved within range of triggering a major breakout trade.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PRKR if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $4.29 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 2.51 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then PRKR will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from late October that started at $7.50 a share. Some possible upside targets if PRKR gets into that gap down zone with volume are $5 to $6 a share.
Traders can look to buy PRKR off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 200-day moving average of $3.90 a share, or near its 50-day moving average of $3.56 a share. One can also buy PRKR off strength once it takes out $4.29 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Stocks on the Move: ParkerVision Inc. (NASDAQ: PRKR) is down 59.2% at $2.89 following a smaller-than-hoped-for award in its patent suit against Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM). NQ Mobile Inc. (NYSE: NQ) is down 50.7% at $11.28 following a blistering from analysts at Muddy Waters.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
I don't come hear to pat myself on the back, however. I come hear to let you know the same conditions that made American Community overbought and ripe for a reversal and suggested Real Goods Solar, Inc. was ready to rally are now saying - respectively - ParkerVision, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRKR) shares are due for a pullback and Arca Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:ABIO) is on the verge of a big bullish thrust.
- [By Markman Advisors]
Public companies leveraging their patent portfolios, (aka "patent plays"), are getting the market's attention. Companies such as Vringo (VRNG), ParkerVision (PRKR), MGT Capital (MGT), Worlds Inc. (WDDD.OB) and others have presented trading opportunities due to their volatility while retaining the chance for a big payoff to those investors who stay the course. Yet there exist viable patent plays that are still undiscovered. Some of these so called "plays," which are not getting enough attention, are actually real companies making and selling real products or services in contrast to pure patent monetization companies. Some known examples are Single Touch Interactive (SITO.OB) and Blue Calypso (BCYP.OB). This article is focused on another one of these patent plays, On Track Innovations Ltd. (OTIV).
Top 10 Quality Companies To Watch In Right Now: ArthroCare Corporation(ARTC)
ArthroCare Corporation, a medical device company, develops, manufactures, and markets surgical products primarily based on its minimally invasive patented Coblation technology in the Americas and internationally. The company?s Sports Medicine business provides energy-based systems and fixation technologies used to treat soft tissue injuries in the shoulders, knees, and hips. It offers ArthroWands product line that features Coblation based specialized disposable energy-based surgical wands designed for single patient use to treat orthopedic conditions, including shoulder, knee, hip, foot, ankle, elbow, and wrist injuries; and Soft-Tissue Fixation products comprising a line of specialized implants and instruments, such as knotless and traditional anchors for rotator cuff and labrum repairs in shoulder; screws for ligament reconstruction in knee; a range of arthroscopic suture passers; and reusable hand-held instruments, procedural kits, and accessories. The company?s Ear N ose and Throat (ENT) business provides surgical products used to treat conditions performed by ENT healthcare professionals. It offers various products for general head, neck, and oral surgical procedures, including sinus surgery, snoring treatment, nasal turbinates reduction, and adenoid and tonsil removal. The company also provides surgical products for the treatment of spine related and other conditions. Its products include SpineWand devices used to treat soft tissue conditions in spine; Plasma Disc Decompression products for treating contained herniated discs; Cavity SpineWand that reduces the size of malignant lesions in the vertebrae of patients suffering from spinal compression fractures; and WoundWand for acute and chronic wound debridement, and wound cleansing. ArthroCare sells its products to surgeons and specialized medical professionals through sales representatives, and independent sales agents and distributors. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquarte red in Austin, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Laparoscopic surgery or minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is a type of surgical technique where�operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions while small cap stocks ArthroCare Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTC), EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ: EDAP), SafeStitch Medical Inc (OTCBB: SFES) and Arch Therapeutics Inc (OTCBB: ARTH) are all in some way focused on aiding minimally invasive procedures. According to a 2012 report produced by MedMarket Diligence, LLC, approximately 114 million surgical and procedure-based wounds occur annually worldwide,�including�36 million in the US, and perhaps�up to a quarter of these procedures can be described as laparoscopic in nature.�Moreover,�use of the technique is bound to increase�as�it reduces�pain and hemorrhaging plus leads to a�shorter recovery time.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top Headline
Smith & Nephew PLC (NYSE: SNN) announced its plans to buy ArthroCare (NASDAQ: ARTC) for $1.7 billion in cash. Smith & Nephew will pay $48.25 per share in cash to acquire ArthroCare, representing a 6.3% premium to ArthroCare's closing price on January 31.
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