Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015

With the Federal Reserve standing pat this week, the S&P 500 index has reached another all-time high.

Yet this bull market is proving to be even more fertile for investors in small-cap and micro-cap stocks. Both the iShares Russell Microcap Index and the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index are outperforming the S&P 500 by a solid margin over the past two years.

With no end in sight to the bull market, there's no reason to stop focusing on these small companies at this juncture. If the economy can manage to build a head of steam in 2014 and 2015, then these small stocks should see even deeper investor interest.

Here are three stocks that all trade below $5 and sport market values below $500 million -- and are poised for solid upside if this rally continues.

1. Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX) I took note of heavy insider buying at this language translation services firm back in July, and though shares are up nearly 10% since then, the company's outlook has brightened markedly. 

On the second-quarter conference call, management delivered its most upbeat discussion of business trends in several years, noting that Lionbridge is seeing an expansion in its relationship with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), the return of several other large tech clients that had dropped off in the past few years, and a rising order book with manufacturing and life sciences clients. 

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: Koninklijke Philips NV (PHIA)

Koninklijke Philips NV, formerly Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, is the Netherlands-based parent company of the Philips Group (Philips). The Company operates within three main business sectors, such as Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle, and Lighting, as well as through the Innovation, Group & Services (IG&S) sector. The Healthcare sector offers both personal care and professional products, such as computer tomography equipment, radiography equipment and refurbished systems. Consumer Lifestyle sector offers a range of sound, vision, personal devices and household products, such as television, headphones, kitchen appliances, shavers and digital cameras, among others. Lighting sector offers lighting products, such as professional lamps, light-emitting diodes (LED), ballasts and luminaires, among others. The IG&S segment provides the operating sectors with support through shared service centers. It also includes projects which are not part of the operating sectors. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  European stocks rose for a fourth day, extending a seven-week high, as companies from UBS AG to Royal Philips (PHIA) Electronics NV reported increased profit.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund (MUNI)

PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund, formerly, PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF (the Fund), seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its assets in a diversified portfolio of debt securities whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuer at the time of issuance, exempt from federal income tax (Municipal Bonds). Municipal Bonds are issued by or on behalf of states and local governments and their agencies, authorities and other instrumentalities. The Fund may only invest in the United States dollar-denominated investment grade debt securities, rated Baa or higher by Moody��, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch. It may invest 25% or more of its total assets in Municipal Bonds that finance similar projects, such as those relating to education, health care, housing, transportation and utilities. The Fund�� investment advisor is Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mary Anne & Pamela Aden]

  The ones we like best and recommend buying are the iShares 20+ year Treasury Bond (TLT), the iShares 10-20 year Treasury Bond (TLH), Proshares Ultra 20+ year Treasury (UBT) and Pimco Intermediate Muni Bond strategy ETF (MUNI).

Top 10 Trucking Companies To Watch In Right Now: BankFinancial Corporation(BFIN)

BankFinancial Corporation operates as the holding company for BankFinancial, F.S.B., which provides commercial, family, and personal banking services in Illinois. It accepts deposit accounts, such as savings accounts, NOW accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and IRAs and other qualified plan accounts. The company?s loan portfolio consists of investment and business loans, including multi-family, nonresidential real estate, commercial, construction and land loans, and commercial leases, as well as one-to-four family residential mortgage loans comprising home equity loans, lines of credit, and other second mortgage loans. It also provides financial products and services consisting of cash management, funds transfers, bill payment and other online banking transactions, automated teller machines, safe deposit boxes, wealth management, and general insurance agency services. In addition, the company offers investment, financial planning, and other wealth management services; and sells life insurance, fixed annuities, property and casualty insurance, and other insurance products on an agency basis. It provides its products and services through banking offices and an Internet Branch. As of December 31, 2009, it operated 18 full-service banking offices and 3 express branch facilities in Cook, DuPage, Lake, and Will Counties, Illinois. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Burr Ridge, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Thompson says the firm likes Bank Financial (BFIN) right now. The bank is in the lucrative Chicago market that has seen a lot of consolidation in the past year. The bank has 20 branches in fairly desirable locations and must be on the target list of anyone looking to expand into Chicago.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: SuperValu Inc.(SVU)

SUPERVALU INC., together with its subsidiaries, operates retail food stores in the United States. Its stores offer grocery, general merchandise, health and beauty care, pharmacy, and fuel products. The company operates stores under the Acme, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher?s, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw?s, Shop ?n Save, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Star Market banners, as well as in-store pharmacies under the Osco and Sav-on banners. It operates approximately 2,394 traditional and hard-discount retail food stores, including 899 licensed Save-A-Lot stores. The company also offers supply chain services, which include wholesale distribution of products to independent retailers, including single and multiple grocery store independent operators, regional and national chains, mass merchants, and the military customers, as well as provides logistics support services. SUPERVALU was founded in 1871 and is based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mani]

  Supervalu, Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is expected to release its second quarter financial results on�Oct.17�and hold a conference call on the same day at�7:00 a.m.�Central time.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  2. Grocery-store gas rewards
  Many grocery-store chains offer points that you can use to save on gasoline at local stations. SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU  ) , Safeway (NYSE: SWY  ) , and several grocery retailers established their own proprietary programs as a way to encourage shoppers to spend more money generally as well as to buy certain targeted promotional products. A typical deal might involve saving $0.10 per gallon for every $100 you spend on groceries.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: First Trust Global Wind Energy (FAN)

First Trust ISE Global Wind Energy Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield, of an equity index called the ISE Global Wind Energy Index. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stocks that comprise the Index or in depositary receipts that may include American depositary receipts (ADRs), global depositary receipts (GDRs), European depositary receipts (EDRs) or other depositary receipts (collectively, Depositary Receipts) representing securities in the Index. The Fund invests in sectors, which include Consumer Discretionary, Energy, Industrials, Materials and Utilities. First Trust Advisors L.P. (First Trust) is the Investment Advisor of the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap wind stock Broadwind Energy Inc (NASDAQ: BWEN) is up 203.7% since the start of the year, but investors might want to contain their excitement when they look closer at the�stock and�consider its�long term performance along with the performance of other wind investments like First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: FAN) and wind energy stocks Vestas Wind Systems (OTCMKTS: VWDRY) and China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd (NYSE: MY) to see whether BWEN is just blowing more hot air.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: 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.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: Kaiser Aluminum Corp (KALU)

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, incorporated on February 20, 1987, is engaged in the production of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum products. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 11 focused production facilities in the United States and one in Canada. The Company operates in fabricated products business segment. In addition to the Fabricated Products segment, it has two business units, Secondary Aluminum and Corporate and Other. The Secondary Aluminum business unit sells value added products, such as ingot and billet, produced by Anglesey Aluminium Limited, in which it has a 49% equity investment and which owns and operates a secondary aluminum remelt and casting facility in Holyhead, Wales. Its Corporate and Other business unit provides general and administrative support for its operations. Through its 12 focused production facilities in North America, it manufactures rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products to serve four market applications: aerospace and high strength products (Aero/HS products), general engineering products (GE products), extrusions for automotive applications (Automotive Extrusions), and other industrial products (Other products).

The Company�� Fabricated Products segment produces rolled, extruded, and drawn aluminum products used principally for aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer durables, electronics, electrical, and machinery and equipment applications. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its North American manufacturing facilities produced and shipped approximately 585.9 million pounds of fabricated aluminum products. The Company�� Aero/HS products include heat treat plate and sheet, as well as cold finish bar, seamless drawn tube, hard alloy extrusions, and billet that are manufactured to demanding specifications for the global aerospace and defense industries. It makes aluminum plate, sheet, extruded shapes, and tube for aerospace applications, and it manufactures a variety of specialized rod and bar products that are incorporated! in diverse applications.

The Company�� GE products are standard catalog items sold to metal distributors. Its GE products consist of 6000-series alloy rod, bar, tube, wire, sheet, plate and standard extrusions. The 6000-series alloy is an extrudable medium-strength alloy that is heat treatable and extremely versatile. The Company�� GE products have a range of uses and applications, many of which involve further fabrication of these products for numerous transportation and other industrial end market applications where machining of plate, rod and bar is intensive. The Company�� products are used in the enhancement and production of military vehicles, semiconductor manufacturing cells, numerous electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts and tooling plate. Its rod and bar products are manufactured into rivets, nails, screws, bolts and parts of machinery and equipment.

Automotive products consist of extruded aluminum products for many North American automotive applications. The variety of extruded products that the Company supplies to the automotive industry include extruded products for bumper systems, anti-lock braking systems and structural components and drawn tube for drive shafts. For some Automotive Extrusions, it performs limited fabrication, including sawing and cutting to length. Other products consist of extruded, drawn, and cast aluminum products for a variety of North American industrial end uses, including consumer durables, electrical/electronic, machinery and equipment, light truck, heavy truck and truck trailer applications.

The Company competes with Alcoa Inc., Constellium, SAPA, and Norsk Hydro ASA.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  This week a few companies answered the call and rewarded their shareholders with higher cash dividends:
  
  Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) engages in regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses. January 16th the company increased its quarterly dividend 2.4% to $0.63 per share. The dividend is payable March 15, 2014, to stockholders of record on February 12, 2014. The yield based on the new payout is 4.7%.
  
  Cousins Properties Incorporated (CUZ), a real estate investment trust (REIT), owns, develops, and manages real estate portfolio, as well as performs certain real estate-related services. January 16th the company increased its quarterly dividend 66.7% to $0.075 per share. The dividend is payable February 24, 2014, to stockholders of record on February 10, 2014. The yield based on the new payout is 2.8%.
  
  Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC) generates and distributes electric energy, as well as distributes natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Utility Energy and Non-Utility Energy. January 16th the company increased its quarterly dividend 2% to $0.3900 per share. The dividend is payable March 1, 2014, to stockholders of record on February 14, 2014. The yield based on the new payout is 3.8%.
  
  BlackRock Inc. (BLK) is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors. January 16th the company increased its quarterly dividend 14.9% to $1.93 per share. The dividend is payable March 24, 2014, to stockholders of record on March 7, 2014. The yield based on the new payout is 2.4%.
  
  ONEOK Inc. (OKE) operates as a diversified energy company in the United States. January 15th the company increased its quarterly dividend 5.3% to $0.40 per share. The dividend is payable February 18, 2014, to stockholders of record on February 10, 2014. The yield based on the new payout is 2.5%.
  
  Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (OHI) is a real es

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Kaiser Aluminum Corp.'s(KALU) board raised the quarterly dividend by 17% and also authorized an additional $75 million in stock buybacks.

  Linear Technology Corp.'s(LLTC) fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 18% as the chip manufacturer reported higher sales and gross margins.

• [By David Smith]

  Conversely, smaller Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ: KALU  ) produces more specialty products, is close to being debt free, and generates an operating margin nearly four times that of Alcoa. Further, the California-based company has been accorded a consensus buy rating by the analysts who follow it, against a hold for Alcoa.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: DXP Enterprises Inc.(DXPE)

DXP Enterprises, Inc. engages in distributing maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) products, equipment, and services to industrial customers in the United States. Its Service Centers segment provides MRO products, equipment and services, including technical design expertise and logistics capabilities to industrial customers with the ability to provide same day delivery. This segment?s product categories comprise rotating equipment, bearing, power transmission, hose, fluid power, metal working, industrial supply, and safety products; and services consist of field safety supervision, in-house and field repair, and maintenance services. The company?s Supply Chain Services segment manages the supply-chain of its customers from various industries. This segment designs supply chain inventory management programs, including SmartAgreement, a procurement solution for MRO categories; SmartBuy, an on-site or centralized MRO procurement solution; SmartSource, an on-site procurem ent and storeroom management solutions; SmartStore, an e-catalog solution; SmartVend, an industrial dispensing solution; and SmartServ, an integrated service pump solution. Its Innovative Pumping Solutions segment fabricates and assembles custom-made engineered pump packages consisting of diesel and electric driven firewater, pipeline booster, potable water packages, pigging pump packages, LACT charge units, chemical injection pump packages wash down units, seawater lift pumps, jockey pumps, condensate pump packages, cooling water skids, and seawater/produced water injection packages. DXP Enterprises, Inc. distributes its products and services through service centers and distribution centers to customers in the oil and gas, food and beverage, petrochemical, transportation, mining, construction, chemical, municipal, agriculture, pulp and paper, and other general industrial industries. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Margins matter. The more DXP Enterprises (Nasdaq: DXPE  ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong DXP Enterprises's competitive position could be.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  The position vacated by Salix in the S&P SmallCap 600 will be filled by Agree Realty (NYSE: ADC  ) . Elsewhere on that index, DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ: DXPE  ) �will replace True Religion Apparel (NASDAQ: TRLG  ) . As with Gardner Denver in the S&P MidCap 400, True Religion Apparel is being acquired, in this case by private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ: DXPE) shares climbed 3.46% to $68.42. The volume of DXP Enterprises shares traded was 771% higher than normal. DXP Enterprises' PEG ratio is 0.64.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Houston-based DXP Enterprises (NASDAQ: DXPE  ) has purchased Canada's National Process Equipment, also known as Natpro, the company announced Wednesday. In so doing, DXP expanded its industrial equipment wholesaling business to include Natpro's portfolio of pumps, integrated system packaging, compressors, and related equipment.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: HNI Corp (HNI)

HNI Corporation, incorporated in 1944, is a provider of office furniture and hearth products. The Company operates in two segments: office furniture and hearth products. A broad office furniture product offering is sold to dealers, wholesalers, national office product distributors, end-user customers, and federal, state and local governments. Hearth products include a range of gas, electric, wood and biomass burning fireplaces, inserts, stoves, facings and accessories. These products are sold through a national system of dealers and distributors, as well as Corporation-owned distribution and retail outlets. It manufactures office furniture in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Texas and China. The Company manufactures hearth products in Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington and Pennsylvania. On November 14, 2011, the Company acquired Sagus International, Inc. (Sagus), a designer and manufacturer of educational furniture solutions. In August 2012, the Company BP Ergo Limited, a manufacturer and marketer of office furniture in India.

Eight operating units, marketing under various brand names, participate in the office furniture industry. These operating units include The HON Company, Allsteel Inc., Maxon Furniture Inc., The Gunlocke Company L.L.C., Paoli Inc., Hickory Business Furniture, LLC (HBF), Sagus and HNI Hong Kong Limited (Lamex). The operating unit Hearth & Home Technologies Inc. (Hearth & Home) participates in the hearth products industry. The retail and distribution brand for this operating unit is Fireside Hearth & Home. HNI International Inc. (HNI International) sells office furniture products manufactured by the Company�� operating units in select markets outside the United States and Canada. With dealers and servicing partners located in more than 50 countries, HNI International provides project management services virtually worldwide. The Company distributes its products through a network of independent office furniture dealers,! office products dealers, wholesalers and retailers. The Company is a supplier of office furniture to the nationwide distributors of office products.

Office Furniture

The Company designs, manufactures and markets a range of office furniture in four categories: storage, including vertical files, lateral files and pedestals; seating, including task chairs, executive desk chairs, conference/training chairs, side chairs and educational chairs and desk combinations; office systems (modular and moveable workspaces with integrated work surfaces, space dividers and lighting), and desks and related products, including tables, bookcases and credenzas. Its products are sold under the brand names, such as HON, Allsteel, Maxon, Gunlocke, Paoli, HBF, Artco Bell, Midwest Folding Products, LSI Corporation of America, basyx and Lamex, as well as private labels.

The Company offers a range of storage options designed either to be integrated into its office systems products or to function as freestanding furniture in office applications. The Company sells its freestanding storage through independent office products and office furniture dealers, nationwide chains of office products dealers, wholesalers and national office product distributors. The Company's seating line includes chairs designed for all types of office work.

It offers a complete line of office panel system products for team work settings, private offices and open floor plans. The Company offers whole office solutions, movable panels, storage units and work surfaces that can be installed and reconfigured. The Company and its dealer partners also offer consultative selling and design services for its office system products.

The Company�� offering of desks and related products includes stand-alone steel, laminate and wood furniture items, such as desks, bookshelves, credenzas and mobile desking. The Company's desks and related products are sold to a range of customers from those designing office config! urations ! to small retail and home office purchasers. It offers a range of tables designed for use in conference rooms, private offices, educational institutions, training areas, team work settings and open floor plans. It is North America�� manufacturer and marketer of prefabricated fireplaces, hearth stoves and related products, primarily for the home, which it sells under Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Quadra-Fire and Harman Stove brand names.

The Company�� line of hearth products includes a range of gas, electric and wood burning fireplaces, inserts, stoves, facings and accessories. Heatilator and Heat & Glo are brand in the two segments of the home fireplace market: vented-gas and wood fireplaces. In addition, the Company is also engaged in pellet-burning stoves and furnaces with its Quadra-Fire and Harman product lines, which provide home heating solutions using renewable fuel.

The Company competes with Steelcase Inc., Haworth, Inc., Herman Miller, Inc., Knoll, Inc., The Global Group, Kimball International, Inc., KI, Virco Mfg. Corporation, Teknion Corporation, Travis Industries Inc., Lennox International Inc., Monessen Hearth Systems Co., FMI Products, LLC, Wolf Steel Ltd. (Napoleon) and FPI Fireplace Products International Ltd. (Regency).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  HNI Corp.(HNI) said it plans to close its Midwest Folding Products facility as part of an ongoing cost-cutting effort. The Iowa office-furniture maker said it would consolidate the Chicago production into an existing education-furniture manufacturing facility and estimated it would save $2.3 million a year starting in 2015.

• [By CRWE]

  HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) reported that it has acquired BP Ergo Limited, a leading manufacturer and marketer of office furniture in India which goes to market through a national network of sales branches and dealers supported by two manufacturing locations.

Hot Life Sciences Stocks For 2015: BOK Financial Corporation(BOKF)

BOK Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, offers a range of financial products and services to commercial and industrial customers, and other financial institutions and consumers. It operates in three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers lending, treasury, and cash management services; and customer risk management products to small businesses, middle market, and larger commercial customers. The Consumer Banking segment involves in retail lending and deposit services, and mortgage banking activities, as well as offers indirect automobile lending products. The Wealth Management segment provides fiduciary, brokerage and trading, private bank, and investment advisory services. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 207 consumer banking locations, including branch banking locations and mortgage lending offices; and 1,943 ATM locations. BOK Financial Corporation operates in Oklahoma, Tex as, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Maxfield]

  Given that you clicked on this article, it seems safe to assume you either own stock in BOK Financial (NASDAQ: BOKF  ) or are considering buying shares in the near future. If so, then you've come to the right place. The table below reveals the nine most critical numbers that investors need to know about BOK (which stands for "Bank of Oklahoma") before deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold its stock.