Moss named CEO of Stephens Media

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Veteran newspaper executive Ed Moss has been named chief executive officer of Stephens Media, parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 75 weekly and daily newspapers in nine states.

Moss, who most recently was president and CEO of the Denver Post, will replace Michael Ferguson on Dec. 2.

Moss previously served as president and publisher of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and was president of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, parent of the Los Angeles Daily News and Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Stephens Media Chairman Warren Stephens praised Moss, saying he "brings a wealth of talent to the company and will spearhead (its) increasing digital efforts."

The Review-Journal reports Ferguson has served in various positions with Stephens Media and its predecessor, Donrey Media Group, since 1968.

Top 5 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now

Before becoming chief executive officer in 2010, Ferguson had been chief operating officer since 1999. He's stepping down and leaving the Las Vegas-based company.

The shift in leadership comes a couple of months after the signing of a nonbinding letter of intent to dissolve the joint operating agreement that has the Review-Journal print and distribute the Las Vegas Sun as a special section.

Both parties have said they expect the dissolution agreement to be finalized by the end of the year.

Funding Real Estate Development Isn't as Simple as You Think

Whenever you see a new project being built in your neighborhood, there is typically a single real estate entrepreneur (usually known as a developer) that is credited as the owner. The developer garners the majority of the public attention, and receives both the accolades and criticism that come with the project. What most people don't know is that this developer has, in fact, only invested a small fraction of the total money needed for the project.

Funding a Real Estate Deal: Debt and Equity

In almost all real estate deals, both debt and equity play enormous roles. Most projects require some level of traditional bank debt. Whether the project costs $1 million, $10 million, or $100 million, a bank is normally involved, providing 60%-80% of the total capital.

So for a $10 million property, a bank might lend $7 million (70%) of the capital, leaving $3 million of equity required. The bank will charge an annual interest rate on the loan they make but will not receive any actual ownership in the property.

So where does the $3 million of equity come from? The developer will then raise 80%-95% of the remaining capital from investors. So in the example above where the developer raised $7 million in debt, he might then raise $2.7 million (90%) of equity from investors and invest $300,000 (10%) himself.

Developer:   $300,000 (3%)
Investors:  $2,700,000 (27%)
Bank:         $7,000,000 (70%)
Total:      $10,000,000

While 3% may not sound like much, $300,000 is a fair amount of money for a single individual or small team to have available as cash. This becomes even truer when you realize that many real estate projects are much larger than $10 million and most real estate developers usually have several projects going at any one time. In short, it adds up.

If you are interested in more details, here is an example of real estate development financials for a property in Washington, DC.

These financial breakdowns also raise a question: if the real estate developer is only providing a fraction of the equity, who is investing the remaining 80%-90%?

Who Really Owns Local Real Estate?

The fact that developers have their names attached to projects has created a misconception that these developers own and control most local real estate. On the contrary, the vast majority of equity is coming from outside investors: high net worth individuals or large investment funds. This outside source of capital is in fact the major driver of how a project gets developed – ultimately these outside investors are the majority owner of the property.

In today's world, raising money from individuals is very inefficient and time-intensive and as a result, most developers choose to raise money from private equity funds.

When a private equity fund invests in a project, it typically holds a super-majority of the equity and therefore keeps the governance rights over major decisions and ultimately has the power. This can cause large problems for the developer if he does not stick closely to the agreed-upon business plan. When push comes to shove, the investment fund can even take over the property and kick out the developer. These realities have resulted in private equity funds becoming the primary driver of real estate development.

There are many consequences of this major corporate ownership, most notably that a fund's primary goal is to drive returns for their investors — not to focus on developing the right project for a neighborhood.

To learn more, check out the investments and developers on Fundrise.

If you're not investing in real estate...

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Delayed retirement credits accrue, but are not compounded

I guess it's true that great minds think alike. Over the past few weeks, I have received similar questions from several financial advisers asking if the delayed retirement credits that retirees accrue when they postpone collecting Social Security benefits beyond their full retirement age are compounded.

The short answer is no.

Workers who reach full retirement age in 2009 or later earn delayed retirement credits worth 2/3 of 1% per month for each month they postpone collecting Social Security benefits up to 70.

And in today's low-interest rate environment, the ability to earn a guaranteed, risk-free return of 8% per year is a huge advantage for retirees.

The delayed retirement credit wasn't always so generous. Prior to 1982, it was a mere 1% per year. Since then, it has gradually increased from 3% beginning in 1982 and then in 0.5% increments every two years starting in 1990 until reaching the statutory cap of 8% in 2009.

Consequently, you can see that a decade or two ago, there was little incentive to delay collecting Social Security benefits. But today's 8% annual incentive to postpone benefits up to 70 makes sense for many clients who are in good health and who have other assets to draw on before collecting Social Security.

As the current full retirement age is 66 for those born from 1943 through 1954, the maximum delayed retirement credit is now worth 32% (four years x 8%). That means if you wait until 70 to collect Social Security retirement benefits, they would be worth nearly a third more than your full retirement-age benefit, also known as your primary insurance amount or PIA.

For those born after 1954, the full retirement age is higher, starting at 66 and 2 months for those born in 1955 and gradually increasing to 67 for those born in 1960 or later. That means the maximum delayed retirement credit will be smaller in the future: only 24% in the case of those born in 1960 and later (three years x 8%).

“Do you know if the Social Security Administration gives a flat 8% a year on the PIA or is it compounded?” asked Janet Critchley, a financial planner and accountant with Brinton Eaton in Madison, N.J. “If it's a flat 8%, then the age 70 benefit would be 132% of the PIA, but if it is compounded, it would be a little higher,” Ms. Critchley noted.

Barry Kaplan, a wealth manager and chief investment officer with Cambridge Wealth Counsel in Atlanta, even did the math. He noted the future value of four years' worth of compounded retirement credits would be closer to a 36%.!

The math is correct, but the policy is not.

Delayed retirement credits are not compounded, but the resulting larger benefit amount will still keep pace with inflation. Future annual cost-of-living adjustments will be applied to the bigger base amount, which includes the delayed retirement credits. That means a bigger bang for each annual inflation adjustment.

For example, if your PIA is $2,000 per month and you receive a 2% cost-of-living adjustment this year, you would receive an annual increase of $480. But if you had waited until 70 and your Social Security benefit is now worth 32% more, or $2,640 per month, that same 2% COLA would boost you annual Social Security income by about $634.

Remember, delayed retirement credits stop at 70, so it doesn't make sense to postpone collecting Social Security beyond then, even if you are still working.

But spousal benefits do not qualify for delayed retirement credits. Therefore, even if a husband delayed collecting his benefits until 70, the maximum spousal benefits that his wife can collect is based on half of his full retirement age

The 5 Twitter IPO Angles: Facebook, Pinterest, GSV, LinkedIn, ETFs

The initial public offering of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is scheduled to price late on Wednesday and begin trading on Thursday. Everyone in the world has heard about this IPO (to death), and the last time there was this much of a frenzy for a hot IPO goes back to Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB).

The latest price talk is that Twitter’s IPO will price between $25 and $28 per share as demand is through the roof from prospective investors. The prior expectation was $23 to $25 per share, and that had been raised from a range of $17 to $20 per share.

What is further helping to drive this high demand is that the total number of shares being offered is very small compared to the fully diluted share count. The figure of 70 million shares is large by most comparisons, but this will compare to some 544,696,816 shares outstanding after the IPO. That is less than 13% of the stock coming public out of the chute.

24/7 Wall St. has seen five different angles for investors to evaluate Twitter. Some of these may even have a Twitter investment angle themselves as you will see.

A first concern is that Twitter’s valuation is now perhaps even more than the historic value of Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) if this last price bump holds true. Everyone is turning in larger orders than they ever have hope of getting delivery on. The one difference for sure is that Twitter decided to opt for a NYSE IPO rather than a NASDAQ IPO. We could have predicted as much, and the NYSE testing was shown to be ample for the trading demand on the dry run. Facebook is valued at 59-times expected 2013 earnings and valued at about 44-times expected 2014 earnings.

An angle which you cannot invest in yet nor which has a public stock angle is Pinterest. We had heard that Pinterest was raising more cash in recent weeks ahead of Twitter’s IPO. Now we have confirmation that the FORM D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows the final amount raised was $224,999,956. Call it $225 million for short. We doubted at the time we saw the financing that there was a coincidence that Pinterest was using Twitter’s strength and IPO as cover.

A third angle to consider is the business development company GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC). This is public and it owns a slug of Twitter shares. Its recent peak was $16.90 and the shares were recently down at $15.60. This stock rose into the Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) IPO as well, only to roll over as Facebook’s shares did. The portfolio update from GSV on October 3 showed the following: Twitter, Inc. was shown to have a fair value of GSV Capital investment of $37.6 million, or about 15.1% of net assets at the time. If the IPO price has risen, so has that value. Another hot upcoming IPO of Chegg, Inc. was shown to have a fair value of GSV investment of $14.0 million, worth some 5.6% of net assets. Be advised that this stock has doubled since mid-summer, and shares fell rapidly from $18 down to $10 after the Facebook IPO.

A fourth angle we would consider is LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD). This social network has to be brought up as well. Its IPO was conducted on the NYSE rather than NASDAQ. It also went public with a small float. LinkedIn has backed off of its highs by about 10% since earnings, and it is still worth a whopping 100-times expected 2014 earnings with a $26.5 billion market cap.

The fifth angle here for the Twitter IPO is that there are two key exchange traded fund considerations. The first ETF is the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NYSEMKT: SOCL) ETF. At $19.41 its peak was at $21.15, but it will not own Twitter shares immediately. It does not buy shares of a post-IPO company until after a company comes public. Also, only half of its portfolio holdings are U.S.-based companies. This second ETF is the Renaissance IPO ETF (NYSEMKT: IPO), but this ETF does not take stakes in post-IPO companies until after the fifth day of trading. Some investors may chase these two ETFs thinking they are getting Twitter exposure, but they may not be getting that exposure immediately as they expected. Caveat emptor.

The Twitter IPO is almost here. Then maybe the markets can move on to whatever is beyond that.

UPDATED… Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia, has updated his relative valuation of Twitter (TWTR) based on the new price range. The Twitter valuation ranges with actual dollar values and multiples have been provided by the research firm below.

Source: Sterne Agee

Single-Family Housing Starts Rise 7% in August

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Housing starts rose in August, but homebuilders are still building far fewer homes than expected.

Total housing starts for August was a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 891,000, 0.9% higher than the downwardly revised July estimate of 883,000 and 19% above the August 2012 rate of 749,000.

Economists polled by Bloomberg expected housing starts to rise to 915,000 from the original estimate of 896,000.

Still, single-family housing starts rose 7% in August to a rate of 628,000 from July. Multi-family starts, which are more volatile, fell by nearly 10%. Building permits declined 3.8% from the upwardly revised July estimate of 954,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 918,000. Economists expected permits to rise to a rate of 950,000 from the original estimate of 943,000. Homebuilder confidence has been high in the last several months, but in the most recent survey , builders reported increasing hesitancy on the part of buyers as interest rates have risen. New home sales plunged more than 13% in July. Homebuilders are more sensitive to interest-rate hikes as they tend to cater to mortgage-dependent buyers. Housing starts have lagged other indicators in the recovery. One reason is the industry is still recovering from the housing bust and it has taken time for builders to ramp up. With household formation below normal, homebuilders have been wary of overbuilding. Homebuilders have also kept their inventory lean amid a shortage of labor and supplies and chosen to hike prices instead to boost their margins. But with the recent slowdown in the buying frenzy, builders may be rethinking those price hikes. Mortgage applications in the most recent week ended Sept. 13 climbed 11.2%, with the purchase index up 3% from a week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis. Unadjusted, the purchase index was up 12% from the week earlier. But on year-over-year basis, applications were up only 1%, hardly robust. Still there is pent-up demand and the overall supply of homes for sale is still low on an absolute basis. A healthy recovery in housing starts is essential for the housing market to get back to normal.

-- Written by Shanthi Bharatwaj in New York.

>Contact by Email.

Follow @shavenk

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.

Best Safest Companies For 2014

Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From an electric car maker winning an eye-opening safety rating to a streaming company backtracking on a controversial usage cap again, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. General Motors (GM) -- Winner The country's leading automaker has been bouncing back with strong sales in recent quarters, but it's always been a few steps behind some of its more consumer tech-savvy rivals in assessing smartphone integration with its dashboards. Well, GM is hoping to make up for lost ground by becoming the first car manufacturer to team up with Powermat Technologies to start offering wireless charging mats for smartphones in cars. This is a pretty big deal, especially as drivers rely on their phones more and more for everything from streaming entertainment to telematics. This kind of data slurping also bleeds smartphone batteries. Now drivers will have an easier way to charge their phones on the open road than fumbling for USB or electric chargers. Pandora Media (P) -- Blunder Caps aren't a good look on Pandora. The leading music-streaming service revealed Thursday that it will be eliminating the 40-hour monthly cap that it applies to mobile freeloaders. Getting rid of the cap is probably a smart move. Pandora went through this two years ago, eventually realizing that it was losing listeners as it tried to get them to pay up. The same thing was starting to happen now as growth was slowing considerably. The average number of hours streamed by the typical listener has been declining since the cap kicked in, and the end result is that Pandora's share of the overall radio listening market has suffered. Tesla Motors (TSLA) -- Winner You won't find too many stocks as hot as Tesla this year, and apparently the car is even hotter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration awarded Tesla's Model S with a spectacular overall vehicle safety score. It's the agency's highest score to date, making Tesla's costly sedan the safest car in the country. (.) Naturally that won't be enough to make the electric car the driving choice of the masses when you start at more than $70,000 before a federal tax credit. It will take a few years before Tesla rolls out the more accessibly priced cars for mainstream consumers. However, there are people out there that value safety at any cost, and that's why this safety rating should drum up more sales for the Tesla Model S sedan. Walmart Stores (WMT) -- Blunder After surprising investors with a decline in same-store sales earlier this month, Walmart knows that it will have to try harder to win back shoppers. This week Walmart revealed that it will be beefing up its layaway plans by expanding it to include more products and eliminating the $5 that customers pay to initiate the layaway program. It's easy to question the merits of layaway. Why prepay for a product over the span of two to three months? Isn't it easier to just stash money away under a pillow? Well, it's never that easy for the consumers that resort to layaway. However, Walmart makes the blunder list this week because even as Walmart is promoting that it's doing away with the $5 initiation fee, it's also tacking on a $10 cancellation fee that wasn't there last holiday season. Netflix (NFLX) -- Winner Showtime currently has the exclusive rights to movies put out by Weinstein's TWC and Dimension Films studios during the pay TV window that begins shortly after a theatrical release is available on DVD or pay-per-view. That will change come 2016, as Netflix has just locked up exclusive streaming rights to the movies that the studios will put out starting that year. These are interesting times in the pay TV industry, as consumers are finally having a say in the content that they actually want to pay for. Netflix may have been an unlikely leader in this revolution. Just a few years ago it was merely mailing out DVDs and Blu-ray discs to movie buffs. However, Netflix has embraced streaming to be the disruptor instead of the disrupted. It's paying off again this week with another content deal.

Best Safest Companies For 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Best Safest Companies For 2014: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Associated Press]

  Biden will be giving a speech in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and then pay a visit to state-run oil company Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) .

  Biden will also visit a slum while in Rio and on Friday meet with Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, helping pave the way for her expected state visit to Washington later this year.

• [By Taylor Muckerman]

  All 1.4 million cars that were sold between January and May have to fuel up somehow, and that is where Brazilian powerhouse Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) comes in to the picture. As the largest energy company in the country, Petrobras' gasoline sales would�presumably�follow a similar growth trajectory as auto sales once the retirement of old vehicles is taken into consideration. If the gap between international fuel prices is allowed to be closed ��the recent diesel price hike in March assisted with this ��then revenue from the company's downstream could really take off.

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  That may not be a direct bearish call on Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), Brazil's state-owned oil giant, but it was less than a year ago at the Ira Sohn Conference that Chanos called Petrobras and Vale (NYSE: VALE), the world's largest iron ore producer two of his favorite shorts.

Best Value Stocks For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Symington]

  If you ever wondered how long�Under Armour� (NYSE: UA  ) would be able to maintain its current torrid pace of growth, the company's founding CEO Kevin Plank wants you to know they're only just getting started.

• [By Robert Eberhard]

  I like to think that I've shifted my mentality a bit over the past 18 months. I feel more like an investor than ever before, and plan on holding onto many of my investments for a long time. Once I make an investment decision, I try to avoid thinking about other opportunities that I let slip away. Alas, I am human, and my choice of Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) last year over a group of other qualified candidates has had me thinking recently about the way I make investment decisions. Instead of dwelling on the missed gains, however, I decided to learn from the decision and adjust my thinking going forward.

• [By Anh HOANG]

  Under Armour's (NYSE: UA  ) shares went from around $6.20 per share in March 2009 to nearly $80.30 per share at the time of writing. The stock seems quite expensive because it is trading at around 28.20 times its EV/EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. However, the business has kept growing at an impressive rate. One of the main factors driving the business growth is Under Armour's ability to innovate to keep up with fast-changing customer behavior.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Competition is also an important consideration. Rival Gap (NYSE: GPS  ) has seen a lot of success lately with its general retail business, but one big component of its growth strategy involves its Athleta athletic-apparel stores. Meanwhile, Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) has targeted yoga clothes as part of its overall plan to increase sales to women. Those retailers haven't yet done much to capitalize on the situation, but Lululemon's missteps could eventually give Gap and Under Armour the openings they need to make gains in the space.

Best Safest Companies For 2014: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  If we look at the sector using Portfolio Grader, we see that many of the big names in the group like Flour (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA) and KBR incorporated (KBR) are rated ��ell.��The anticipated spending for both government and private industry simply hasn�� materialized, and the companies are not seeing revenue or profit growth.

Best Value Companies To Watch For 2014

Sooner or later, an activist investor will target a stock you own.

Activist investors have been more active than ever before over the past year and increasingly have gone after some of the most commonly held stocks in Corporate America, including Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), The Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP).

"No company, no matter how large, is beyond the reach of activists," Claudia Allen, a partner and head of the corporate governance practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman, told USA Today. "We are seeing some of the iconic names in Corporate America confronted by activists."

By now most investors realize what this scenario can mean to a company: Stocks can spike (or plunge), and the heads of CEOs may roll.

Just this year, top activist investors have made a lot of waves in the market. A few of the more prominent examples:

A series of mid-August tweets (the first on Aug. 13) from Carl Icahn, perhaps the best-known activist investor of them all, has helped push Apple stock up 5%. Icahn is urging Apple CEO Tim Cook to step up its stock buyback program. The dramatic announcement that CEO Steve Ballmer would be surrendering the reins to Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) within 12 months was driven in large part by efforts of hedge fund ValueAct. The activist shareholder used its large stake in the company to get a seat on the board. Among the items on ValueAct's agenda was a change at the top. MSFT shot up 7% on the day of the announcement. Activist investor Bill Ackman finally threw in the towel this week on his three-year attempt to revive the fortunes of troubled retailer J.C. Penney. He sold his entire 18% stake, 39 million shares, to Citigroup on Aug. 26 for a loss of some $500 million. The episode has helped erase 50% of the value of Penney stock, although the announcement that Ackman had bailed out did give JCP a 2.5% boost. Dan Loeb had much better luck than Ackman with Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO). After building up a 5% stake over 2011 and 2012, Loeb pushed for the ouster of CEO Scott Thomson in favor of Marissa Mayer and persuaded the company to sell 7% of its stake in Chinese Internet company Alibaba. Yahoo bought back Loeb's shares in July, but was able to pocket a profit of nearly 80% - as were any YHOO shareholders who were along for the ride. In one of the craziest cases of activist investing, Ackman and Icahn squared off over nutritional-supplement maker Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) earlier this year. Ackman shorted the stock while Icahn increased his stake. The fight sparked a lot of short-term volatility, but at this point Icahn is winning big time - HLF is up a whopping 75% since the battle began in February.

Clearly, it's a good idea to pay attention to what these shareholders are doing. If you know what to look for, and understand what activist investors do to stocks, you can profit from this growing trend...

Best Value Companies To Watch For 2014: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  2013 has been a stellar year for shares of oil service giant Schlumberger (SLB). Since the calendar flipped over to January, SLB has rallied more than 25%, beating the broad market's impressive pace by double digits. As oil prices linger on the high end of their historic range, SLB is well positioned to keep ticking higher.

  Schlumberger provides must-have services to national and supermajor oil firms as well as smaller E&Ps, offering up niche services like seismic surveys and well drilling and positioning. In a nutshell, SLB's job is to pull oil out of the ground as efficiently as possible. Oil firms turn to Schlumberger because the tasks they need to accomplish are too nuanced or proprietary to pull off in-house. So as long as the company continues to pour cash into R&D for drilling technology and software, the firm should continue to score lucrative contracts.

  Some of Schlumberger's most attractive opportunities right now come from overseas. The firm is one of the largest oil servicers in Russia, a key growth market in the years ahead. It's also got an important presence in smaller oil markets, where it's a big fish in a small pond. A big scale and stellar reputation should guarantee Schlumberger an attractive piece of the oil pie for years to come.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB  ) reported earnings on July 19. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Schlumberger met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Best Value Companies To Watch For 2014: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) , down 1.1%
  For Caterpillar, the past two months have been quite volatile, with the stock having dropped about 10% only to recover nearly all of that lost ground more recently. Just before earnings, Caterpillar took a big hit when the bottom fell out of the gold market, as gold prices fell more than $140 in a single day. The impact of gold's decline on its mining equipment business could be huge, as miners struggling with much narrower margins will have less money to spend on capital expenditures for Caterpillar equipment. Yet since then, macroeconomic moves to bolster world growth, including rate cuts from the European and Australian central banks, have given investors hope that commodities will bounce back and that mining activity will resume. Now, Caterpillar just needs to see that turn into a reversal of horrendous sales trends in recent months.

Hot Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.03 per share on revenue of $623.34 million.

  Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.12 per share on revenue of $779.02 million.

Best Value Companies To Watch For 2014: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jacob Roche]

  With the economy starting to improve, you might think Dollar Tree's (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) fortunes will reverse. The deep discounter provided unemployed and lower-income consumers a safe place in the storm, but with the economic weather clearing up, it would be reasonable to expect consumers to venture out again to higher-end retailers. However, that assumption would be wrong.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  As a convenience store, it doesn’t have direct competition from�Dollar Tree (DLTR) or Family Dollar (FDO) because these dollar stores aren�� exclusively focused on food (and they have no gasoline or cigarette sales), and they��e targeted at the folks who are trying to save money over convenience, not vice versa. The convenience angle is another reason why�Walmart (WMT) and Costco (COST)�aren’t competitors, since those behemoths are about a total shopping experience.

• [By Dan Moskowitz]

  The shiniest dollar
  Many investors and analysts like to debate which dollar store offers the best investment opportunity. The truth is that Dollar General, Dollar Tree Stores (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) , and Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO  ) are all likely to be quality long-term investments.

• [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  Costly market share gains
  The problem is that Family Dollar has had to pay up for its increasing market share and sales levels. The company's gross profit margin fell by more than a full percentage point, to 34.7% last quarter. In contrast, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) booked an expansion of profits, to 35.2%, continuing a trend that's seen it pull away from Family Dollar.

Top 5 Low Price Stocks For 2014

The price of oil rose above $88 a barrel on Friday as traders cautiously returned to commodity markets following sharp sell-offs this week.

At midday, benchmark crude for May delivery was up 30 cents to $88.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday the Nymex contract for West Texas Intermediate rose $1.05 a barrel.

Crude has lost about $9 a barrel since the beginning of the month, as various reports highlighted slower growth in China and still-sluggish growth in the U.S. and elsewhere, while oil supplies remained high.

At the same time investors sold off gold, silver and other commodities, and looked to the stock market for better returns in the long run. The stock market had a volatile week as many of those investors bought and sold shares, looking to consolidate their positions.

Analysts said relatively low prices for oil and a weaker dollar rekindled interest among buyers.

"Crude oil prices rebounded and climbed higher on Friday ... supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and a strong rebound in the global equity markets and increased risk appetite," said a note from Sucden Financial Research in London. A weaker dollar makes crude cheaper -- and a more attractive investment -- for traders using other currencies.

Top 5 Low Price Stocks For 2014: Stonehenge Metals Ltd (SHE)

Stonehenge Metals Limited (Stonehenge) is an Australia-based company engaged in the exploration of its uranium projects in South Korea. The Company through its wholly owned subsidiary Stonehenge Korea Ltd manages the Daejon, Miwon and Gwesan Uranium and Vanadium Projects in South Korea. The Daejon Project is the flagship project of Stonehenge and hosts the known uranium resource in South Korea. The Daejon project comprises: 11 granted Mining Rights, 7 Mining Right applications pending approval and a further 11 Exploration Permits. Gwesan is the second project in the development pipeline for Stonehenge Korea. The Company�� subsidiaries include SK Energy Metals Pty Ltd, Stonehenge Korea Inc and Ginja Minerals Pty Ltd.

Top 5 Low Price Stocks For 2014: Inchcape(INCH.L)

Inchcape plc operates as an independent automotive retailer and distributor. It offers new and used vehicles and parts of various automotive brands, including Audi, BMW / Mini, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota / Lexus, Volkswagen, and Volvo. The company also provides car finance and insurance products, as well as aftersales servicing and parts. It sells its products and services through distribution, retail, and vertically integrated retail market channels primarily in Australasia, Europe, north Asia, south Asia, the United Kingdom, Russia, Baltics, Africa, South America, the Balkans, China, and Poland. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 China Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bioanalytical Systems Inc.(BASI)

Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. provides drug discovery and development services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, and government organizations primarily in North America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe. The company operates in two segments, Contract Research Services and Research Products. The Contract Research Services segment offers various services, including product characterization, method development, and validation; bioanalytical testing to measure drug and metabolite concentrations in complex biological matrices; stability testing to establish and confirm product purity, potency, and shelf life; in vivo sampling services for the continuous monitoring of chemical changes in life; and pharmacokinetic and safety testing services, as well as provides screening and pharmacological testing, preclinical safety testing, formulation development, regulatory compliance, and quality control testing services. The Research Products segment offers analytical products compris ing liquid chromatographic and electrochemical instruments with associated accessories; in vivo sampling products, such as Culex family of automated in vivo sampling and dosing instruments; and Vetronics? products consisting of instruments and related software to monitor and diagnose cardiac function, and measure other vital physiological parameters in cats and dogs. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Top 5 Low Price Stocks For 2014: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (SSNLF)

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. mainly engaged in the production of consumer electronic products. It operates in two divisions: DMC division, which is divided into consumer electronics (CE) and information technology & mobile communications (IM) businesses, as well as DS division, which is divided into semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) businesses. Its CE business engages in the production of color televisions (CTVs), monitors, air conditioners, refrigerators and others. Its IM business engages in the production of printers, computers, handhold phones (HHPs) such as feature phones, smart phones and others, and network systems, among others. Its semiconductor business engages in the production of semiconductors, such as memories, system large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) and others. Its LCD business engages in the production of thin film transistor (TFT) LCDs and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), among others. 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.

• [By Steve Symington]

  But first, a little background ...
  Earlier this week, I took some time to explain how shares of Universal Display�rose by 34.1% in 2013. While that was good enough to narrowly exceed the S&P 500's solid 32.4% total return last year,�Universal Display investors endured more than their fair share of volatility in the process, in part a byproduct of the company's chunky revenue stream, which overwhelmingly relied on a twice-per-year, $20 million patent licensing payment from Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) .

Top 5 Low Price Stocks For 2014: Autoliv Inc (ALV)

Autoliv, Inc. (Autoliv) is a holding company. Autoliv is the supplier of automotive safety systems, with a range of product offerings, including modules and components for passenger and driver-side airbags, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, safety electronics, whiplash protection systems and child seats, as well as night vision systems, radar and other active safety systems. Autoliv has two main operating segments: airbags/seatbelt (including restraint electronics) products and active safety electronics products. In March 2010, the Company acquired Visteon Corporation's radar system business. In April 2010, the Company acquired Delphi's Occupant Protection Systems (OPS) operations in Korea and China. In addition, in April 2010, Autoliv Inc.'s Automotive Holding AS increased its stake in Norma AS from 51% to 93.74%. Additionally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB and ING Luxembourg SA sold their 6.67% and 10% stake, respectively, held in Norma AS. In October 2010, the Company acquired 51% interest in Bejing Delpi Automotive Safety Products. In November 2011, the Company acquired the airbag cushion cut&sew assets from Milliken. In June 2012, the Company sold its subsidiary Autoliv Mekan AB to Verktygs Allians i Hassleholm AB.

Autoliv has approximately 80 wholly or partially owned or leased production facilities located in 28 countries, consisting of both component factories and assembly factories. The Company�� component factories manufacture inflators, initiators, textile cushions, webbing materials, electronics, pressed steel parts, springs and overmoulded steel parts used in seatbelt and airbag assembly, seat subsystems, steering wheels and its active safety and night vision systems, and its other safety electronic systems. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Autoliv�� revenues were approximately 67% of airbags and associated products and approximately 33% of seatbelts and associated products. The Company�� markets are in Europe, North A! merica, Asia-Pacific and Japan. Its customers include the car manufacturers.

During 2010, the products manufactured by Autoliv�� consolidated subsidiaries consisted of approximately 121 million complete seatbelt systems (of which approximately 49 million were fitted with pretensioners), approximately 57 million side-impact airbags (including curtain airbags), approximately 28 million frontal airbag modules, approximately 12 million steering wheels, approximately 11 million electronic units (airbag control), approximately 0.4 million active safety systems and 0.1 million night vision systems. Autoliv owns two principal subsidiaries, AAB and Autoliv ASP, Inc. (ASP). Its AAB and ASP are developers, manufacturers and suppliers to the automotive industry of automotive safety systems. AAB and ASP�� products include seatbelts, frontal and side-impact airbags, steering wheels and seat sub-systems, as well as components for such systems.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Autoliv (NYSE: ALV) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.34 per share on revenue of $2.06 billion.

  Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Allianz (ALV) gained 3.6 percent to 120.70 euros after reporting a 24 percent rise in first-quarter profit to about 1.7 billion euros after results improved at all of its businesses. Operating profit of 2.8 billion euros also topped analysts��estimates.

Siemens Definitely Slimming Down, But Execution Is The ...

Top 5 Growth Stocks To Watch For 2014

German industrial conglomerate Siemens (NYSE:SI) has gotten a great deal more serious about streamlining its operations around those businesses and markets where management believes they have a long-term edge and appealing growth potential. With that, Nokia Siemens Networks is gone, Osram is about to be spun off, and other businesses like water treatment, baggage handling, and low voltage could be on the way out.

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Siemens actually held pretty good share in these businesses, so the streamlining process doesn't really change the fact that Siemens is typically a leader in its chosen businesses. What still has to be proven is whether the company can significantly improve its execution and margins. Relative to many other global industrial conglomerates, Siemens has an unspectacular track record in margins, returns on capital, and free cash flow generation, and management needs to convince the Street that it can do better before the shares will garner a better multiple.
NSN And Osram On The Way Out, Is There More To Follow?
The question(s) of what Siemens would do about Nokia Siemens Networks and Osram have loomed over the company for some time, but investors have clarity on both now.

Osram, Siemens' lighting business, will list on July 8, with shareholders getting one Osram share for every 10 shares of Siemens that they own. Siemens will still hold a 17% stake, but Osram will otherwise be free to pursue its own path as the second-largest lighting company in the world behind Philips (NYSE:PHG).

Siemens and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) also recently announced that they'd reached an agreement whereby Siemens will sell its 50% stake in the Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture to Nokia for 1.7 billion euros. While it's hard to say that Siemens got full value f! or this asset, "full value" was always an ambitious goal anyway and this was likely the best option available that Nokia would also find acceptable.

With these two businesses gone, attention now turns to what Siemens management will do with its water treatment, postal automation, and baggage handling businesses – businesses which collectively contribute about 2.5 billion euros in annual revenue. I don't believe selling the water treatment business will be difficult, but Siemens may also be interested in getting rid of its Low Voltage operations.

SEE: A Primer On Investing In The Tech Industry

Siemens Has Good Share In Attractive Markets, But Execution Is Important
Just looking at what Siemens does, there's no reason to believe this business cannot be successful over the long-term. Along with General Electric (NYSE:GE), Siemens is a leader in both fossil fuel power (steam and gas turbines) and wind power. Siemens is also a significant player in automation alongside ABB (NYSE:ABB), Emerson (NYSE:EMR), and Honeywell (NYSE:HON), a leader in healthcare imaging and diagnostics, and a leader in markets like building environmental controls and intracity trains.

The question is whether Siemens can improve its execution and hit its goals for restructuring and cost improvements. Relative to the likes of ABB, Schneider (OTC:SBGSY), GE, and other peer conglomerates, Siemens has had higher labor/employee costs in recent years and unimpressive margins. To that end, I don't necessarily believe that transactions like the Osram spin-off will be "cure-alls", and I think Siemens management is going to have to deliver actual reported margin improvement before the Street buys into the idea that better margins/returns/cash generation are attainable.

Is it possible? Yes, I believe so. ABB has significantly improved its cost base in recent years and I don't think the two companies are so different that Siemens investors shouldn't take encouragement from what ABB accomplished. That said, fixing European industrial businesses with cost issues is not easy (as Colfax (NYSE:CFX) is learning) and execution risk is significant.

SEE: 5 Must-Have Metrics For Value Investors

The Bottom Line
I'm not sure there's a better correlation in industrial stocks than that between stock price performance and margin improvement. If Siemens management can lift operating margins to the low-to-mid teens levels of peers like ABB, Emerson, and Schneider, these shares could do very well over the next couple of years. At the same time, though, the company will have to deal with strong competition from the likes of GE and ABB, as well as emerging Chinese rivals in several of the company's core markets.

As I'm only willing to give Siemens partial credit today, the shares don't appear to be a tremendous bargain. I'm looking for Siemens to grow its top line at a roughly 3% rate, lower than I project for both ABB and GE, and for free cash flow margin to improve to just under 10% over the next decade. With that, I see fair value at about $107. If I give Siemens the same sort of growth and free cash generation expectations as I do for ABB and GE, the target jumps into the high $130s, so there is definite upside here if Siemens gives cause for optimism on its ability to execute.

At the time of writing, Stephen D. Simpson owned shares of ABB.

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014

Dialysis specialist DaVita HealthCare Partners (NYSE: DVA  ) has a new bean counter.

The Denver-based renal health care specialist announced today that Garry E. Menzel, Ph.D., will join the company in mid-Sptember�as senior VP of finance,�and will take on the role of chief financial officer�the day after the company files its third-quarter report with the SEC. The quarter ends Sept. 30. Jim Hilger, who has served as DaVita's interim CFO since 2012, will continue in his role as the company's chief accounting officer, a position he has held since 2010.

Menzel, 48, was most recently the COO and CFO at biopharmaceutical�Regulus Therapeutics, where he served since 2008. Before that, he had a 14-year career on Wall Street where he was a managing director and global head of life sciences for Credit Suisse and of biotechnology for Goldman Sachs. Menzel also spent several years as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company.

Belieiving they've found an executive with a versatile skill set,�DaVita HealthCare Partners Co-Chairman and CEO�Kent Thiry said, "Given the nimbleness that is required for all health care providers we are excited to have Garry join our leadership team."

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  )
  It's simple physics: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. When gold prices nosedived earlier this week, gold miners with historically higher operating costs took the brunt of the hit. For the most part, that meant that development-stage miners, and those operating in Africa, where labor and political costs make cost-effective mining a challenge, took it on the chin. Possibly no stock was hammered more than Golden Star Resources, a gold miner in Ghana, which lost about one-quarter of its value on Monday alone.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Clash of the titans
  When bears are raging on the gold bullion market, it's not surprising to see gold stocks getting mauled as well. Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  ) was the biggest loser in the sector, losing a quarter of its market cap on no company-specific news, though a report last Friday indicated that a large number of hedge funds had recently dumped their positions in the mid-tier miner. Yet it wasn't all that much better among the majors, either, as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) fell almost 13% and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 14%.

• [By Patricio Kehoe] ating price of the commodity, along with the geopolitical risks involved in mining in African nations such as Ghana, are just two of the obstacles the firm is facing. In addition, as one of the smallest gold mining firms in the industry, with a market cap of just $122 million, Golden Star has had a very difficult time financing its latest expansion projects. With share prices tumbling towards all-time lows, gurus such as Steven Cohen, Chuck Royce and Arnold Schneider have already sold out their positions in the troubled firm.

  Why Have Gurus Lost Faith in Golden Star?

  Despite aggressive expansion over the past decade, the Toronto-based gold mining firm has not been able to take advantage of its increased production output. Gold prices might have exploded over a ten-year period, yet the recent six-month decline has put a huge strain on Golden Star. The expedited maturation of its mines is particularly troubling, since the accelerated extraction rates, which allowed for short-term profits, are now falling considerably. The impact of the company�� excessive overproduction on profits and growth is clear: decreasing gold reserves mean less production, and thus reduced revenue for the gold miner. When the decline in metal prices are taken into account, the outlook is even more grim.

  In addition to overexpansion at the wrong time, Golden Star�� position has weakened due to its comparably less efficient operations. Unlike industry peers, such as IamGold Corp. (IAG) or Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), the majority of the Toronto-based miner�� assets contain refractory ore, which is far more expensive to extract than non refractory ore. And, in an attempt to switch production to the lower cost gold ore, and thus increase margins, Golden Star has depleted its mines��non refractory ore. With low reserves and mounting cash costs, the firm inevitably turned to new acquisitions.

  Overpriced Acquisitions and Geopolitical Risk

  The purchase

Top Blue Chip Companies To Watch For 2014: Northgate Minerals Corporation(NXG)

Northgate Minerals Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in exploring, developing, processing, and mining gold and copper deposits in Canada and Australia. Its principal producing assets include 100% interests in the Fosterville and Stawell Gold mines in Victoria, Australia; and the Kemess South mine located in north-central British Columbia, Canada. The company was formerly known as Northgate Exploration Limited and changed its name to Northgate Minerals Corporation in May 2004. Northgate Minerals Corporation was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  He increased his holdings in gold companies in the fourth quarter accordingly. Gold stocks he found attractive in the fourth quarter are: Novagold Resources (NG), Randgold Resources (GOLD), Iamgold Corp. (IAG), Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), Agnico Eagle (AEM) and International Tower Hill (THM).

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).

• [By Patricio Kehoe] e, has cash costs of $912 per ounce, and Agnico Eagle�� costs do not even reach the $700 per ounce mark. Hence, it comes as little surprise that revenue has been decreasing steadily, since gold prices are hovering around the $1300 mark at best. As the company is hemorrhaging money, investment gurus the like of John Burbank and Seth Klarman have decided to sell their entire stake in the firm. I agree with this bearish stance, and recommend investors stay away from Kinross Gold.

  Any Long Term Investment?
  
  If you were to follow Jean-Marie Eveillard�� purchases, one would be inclined to see good growth prospects for Agnico Eagle, and thus believe in this stock�� potential. And, you wouldn�� be wrong, as the firm has been growing at a steady pace, with no end in sight to its expansion possibilities. However, with a 171% price premium, investors might be better off waiting until a more favorable entry-point is available. Nevertheless, as a long-term investment, I feel highly optimistic and would thus even consider paying the additional cost.

  Disclosure: Patricio Kehoe holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
  
  Also check out: Jean-Marie Eveillard Undervalued Stocks Jean-Marie Eveillard Top Growth Companies Jean-Marie Eveillard High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Jean-Marie Eveillard keeps buying John Burbank Undervalued Stocks John Burbank Top Growth Companies John Burbank High Yield stocks, and Stocks that John Burbank keeps buying
  The Strategy of Ben Graham ��Warren Buffett�� Mentor From 1923 to 1957 Warren Buffett�� mentor, Ben Graham, followed a strategy of investing in net-nets. He said: ��t always seemed, and still seems ridiculously simple to say that if one can acquire a diversified group of common stocks at a price less than the...net current assets alone��he results should be quite satisfactory. They were so in our experience, for more than 30 years.��br> Today net-nets are rare. They are collected under Gu

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  CME Group Inc (CME) reported on Wednesday that September volume average increased 10% from September 2012, while its third quarter volume average grew 11% from last year.

  For September, volume averaged 13.1 million contracts per day, totaling 261 million for the month. Equity index volume in September averaged 2.9 million contracts per day, a 4% increase from last year. Equity index options volume was up 52% in September.

  Third quarter volume average was 12 million per day, up 11% from a year ago.

  CME Group shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Wednesday. The stock is up 48% YTD.

Best Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (NYSE: TC) was at 54% discount to its book value of $8.30 per share at the time, and the stock price of $3.90 is up from $3.03 Deutsche Bank’s team nailed upside of more than 28% here. Its price target was $4 at the time versus a consensus target of $4.50 at the time. The 52-week range here is $2.42 to $4.55, but we would point out that the consensus price target is $3.93.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Beaten-down companies that you think are likely to recover strongly are also good candidates. Molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) , for example, sports average annual losses of 35% over the past five years, and carries substantial debt, but molybdenum's long-term outlook is promising, with price increases likely, and the company has a promising gold and copper mine on track to start producing by the end of the year. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) is another major molybdenum player, with considerable operations in other metals, as well -- along with new investments in oil and gas production.

• [By Jim Jubak]

  The stock market liked what it heard Wednesday, August 7, from Thompson Creek Metals (TC) after the close in New York. Second quarter adjusted net earnings of 8 cents a share crushed the Wall Street consensus of a penny a share. Revenue climbed 3.8% to $117.8 million versus expectations for revenue of just $1.3.8 million. The company also said that its new Mt. Milligan mine is on schedule with a start-up for the concentrator expected this month, with first ore-feed by mid-August. The company said it expects commercial production to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013, with production ramping to full capacity over the next twelve months.

Sears Guidance Proves That Nothing Can Work There

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) needs to seriously decide what its future will bring. Nothing seems to work, and the guidance it issued after the close of trading on Thursday is just one more atrocious spectacle of what not to do. It really seems that if Sears were ever to become cool again that being cool would be out of style.

Total domestic comparable store sales for the quarter-to-date period were down by a sharp 7.4%. This was a drop of 5.7% at Kmart and a drop of 9.2% at Sears in domestic markets. Here are the blaming points:

Kmart: sales decline reflects declines in most categories including consumer electronics, grocery & household and toys. Sears: sales decline is attributable to decreases in most categories including consumer electronics, tools and home appliances.

Sears Canada also said that its comparable store sales for the quarter-to-date period were -4.4%. It turns out that the Canadians must dislike the Sears experience just a bit less than the Americans dislike it.

Sears claims to have continued to proactively transform its business to a member-centric integrated retailer with its Shop Your Way program and platform. Apparently “shopping your way” means shopping away from Sears.  The company said, “We believe that we are making progress in this transformation, as we are seeing continued increases in our SYW member engagement metrics with 69% of our sales in the nine-week period ended January 4, 2014 derived from members as compared to 58% last year.”

The company is telegraphing that it is intentionally transitioning business models, all of which has impacted its margin and expenses. Sears even spent $69 million more on SYW points expenses compared to the same period a year ago.

Sears now expects consolidated Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of -$65 million to $65 million. That figure was $429 million in last year’s fourth quarter. The company now expects that its reported net loss attributable to shareholders will be between $250 million and $360 million, or between -$2.35 and -$3.39 for the quarter. Sears was only supposed to have a loss of -$0.20 per share if the two analysts that make projections had anything to say.

About the only good news is that was seen was that Sears is considering strategic alternatives for its Sears Auto Center business.

Sears shares closed down over 35 at $42.57, and the stock fell by another 13% to $36.98 in the after-hours market reaction. Oh, and that is a new 52-week low if it holds as the prior 52-week range was $38.88 to $67.50.

4 Health Care Stocks to Watch

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for Repeat Gains in 2014

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume recently.

Natus Medical

Natus Medical (BABY) is a provider of health care products used for the screening, detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical ailments in newborn care, hearing impairment, neurological dysfunction, epilepsy, sleep disorders and balance and mobility disorders. This stock closed up 6.7% to $24.26 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 1.03 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 320,287

Volume % Change: 173%

From a technical perspective, BABY spiked sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $22 and above its 50-day moving average of $21.22 with above-average volume. This move pushed shares of BABY into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, since this stock cleared some near-term overhead resistance levels at $23.03 to $23.38. This breakout also pushed shares of BABY above its previous sideways trading pattern, which saw the stock trend between $20.56 on the downside and $23.38 on the upside.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BABY as long as it's trending above Monday's low $22.62 or above $22 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday's high of $24.66 with volume that hits near or above 320,287 shares. If we get that move soon, then BABY will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $30 to $32.

Acadia Healthcare

Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) develops and operates inpatient psychiatric facilities, residential treatment centers, group homes and substance abuse facilities in the U.S. This stock closed up 1.2% at $48.38 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 581,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 291,456

Volume % Change: 96%

From a technical perspective, ACHC spiked modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $47 with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last six months, with shares moving higher from its low of $33.78 to its recent high of $49.14. During that uptrend, shares of ACHC have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of ACHC within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if ACHC manages to take out Monday's high of $48.99 to its 52-week-high at $49.14 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ACHC as long as it's trending above support at $47 or above its 50-day at $45.06 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 291,456 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ACHC 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.

Align Technology

Align Technology (ALGN) designs, manufactures and markets a system of clear aligner therapy, intra-oral scanners and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing digital services used in dentistry, orthodontics and dental records storage. This stock closed up 4.7% at $59.90 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 2.10 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.09 million

Volume % Change: 177%

From a technical perspective, ALGN spiked sharply higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $56.03 with above-average volume. This move pushed shares of ALGN into breakout and new 52-week-high territory, after the stock took out some past overhead resistance levels at $59.80 to $60. Shares of ALGN closed just below $60 at $59.90. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if ALGN can manage to take out Monday's high of $61.09 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ALGN as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $56.03 and then once it sustains a move or close above Monday's intraday high of $61.09 with volume that's near or above 1.09 million shares. If we get that move soon, then ALGN will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $65 to $68.

Best Undervalued Stocks To Buy Right Now

Aratana Therapeutics

Aratana Therapeutics (PETX) is focused on the licensing, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for pets in the U.S. and Europe. This stock closed up 2.9% at $19.67 in Monday's trading session.

Monday's Volume: 220,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 91,441

Volume % Change: 178%

From a technical perspective, PETX spiked notably higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $19.34 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of PETX within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if PETX manages to take out some past overhead resistance levels at $20.81 to $21.91 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PETX as long as it's trending above Monday's low $19.16 or above more support at $18 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that this near or above 91,441 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then PETX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $26 to $28.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>3 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume

>>5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Pay You More in 2014

>>5 Ways You Can Trade Like a Hedge Fund in 2014

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Corinthian Colleges Plunges 4% as California AG Files Suit

Corinthian Colleges (COCO) is tumbling today after California’s attorney general filed suit against the for-profit college for “false and predatory advertising,” among other charges.

From the AG Kamala Harris’s press release:

The complaint alleges that CCI intentionally targeted low-income, vulnerable Californians through deceptive and false advertisements and aggressive marketing campaigns that misrepresented job placement rates and school programs. CCI deployed these advertisements through persistent internet, telemarketing and television ad campaigns. The complaint further alleges that Corinthian executives knowingly misrepresented job placement rates to investors and accrediting agencies, which harmed students, investors and taxpayers.

The AP notes that the charges are similar to those that were filed by now-governor Jerry Brown in 2007 and were settled for $6.5 million.

Corinthian responded in an SEC filing:

On October 10, 2013, Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (the "Company," "Corinthian," "we," "us" or other similar terms) was notified of a civil complaint filed against the Company and several of its subsidiaries by the California Attorney General's Office (the "CA AG"). As previously disclosed, we have been cooperating with an investigation initiated by the CA AG in December 2012, more than nine months ago. The Company was disappointed that it was not given advance notice of the complaint, and did not have the opportunity to discuss the allegations in the complaint with the CA AG before the complaint was filed.

The Company is committed to regulatory compliance and has robust processes in place to correctly record and disclose the job placement information we receive from our graduates and their employers. The Company is proud of the career and technical education that our 15,000 employees provide to more than 80,000 students in the United States and Canada. The Company expects to vigorously defend against this complaint.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014

Shres of Corinthian have dropped 4.2% to $1.96 but don’t seem to be hitting other for profit universities. ITT Educational Services (ESI) has gained 2.2% to $31, Apollo Group (APOL) has risen 0.7% to $20.44 and Devry (DV) is up 0.9% at $31.95.

3 Under-$10 Stocks Moving Higher

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

Nanosphere

Nanosphere (NSPH) develops, manufactures and markets an advanced molecular diagnostics platform, the Verigene System, which enables simple, low-cost and highly sensitive genomic and protein testing on a single platform. This stock closed up 7.8% to $2.47 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.24-$2.49

52-Week Range: $1.72-$4.49

Thursday's Volume: 529,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 564,530

>>5 Ways You Can Trade Like a Hedge Fund in 2014

Top 10 Undervalued Stocks To Invest In 2014

From a technical perspective, NSPH spiked sharply higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $2.14 with decent upside volume. This move pushed shares of NSPH above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.25 to $2.32. Shares of NSPH are now quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if NSPH manages to take out its 200-day moving average of $2.56 and then once it clears some more near-term overhead resistance at $2.58 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NSPH as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $2.14, and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 564,530 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then NSPH will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from last August that started near $3.10. If that gap gets filled with volume, then NPSH could tag $3.50 to $4.

China New Borun

China New Borun (BORN) engages in the production and distribution of corn-based edible alcohol in the Peoples Republic of China. This stock closed up 7.6% to $2.69 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.52-$2.85

52-Week Range: $1.05-$4.40

Thursday's Volume: 832,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 971,761

>>5 Rocket Stocks for 2014 Gains

From a technical perspective, shares of BORN trended sharply higher here with decent upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $1.70 to its recent high of $3.18. During that uptrend, shares of BORN have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of BORN within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if BORN manages to take out Thursday's high of $2.85 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $3.18 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BORN as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.52 or above more support at $2.25 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 971,761 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then BORN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at its 52-week high of $4.40.

Merge Healthcare

Merge Healthcare (MRGE) develops software solutions that facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. This stock closed up 9% to $2.53 a share in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.30-$2.56

52-Week Range: $2.13-$4.71

Thursday's Volume: 741,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 405,350

>>4 Stocks Ready for Breakouts

From a technical perspective, MRGE soared sharply higher here back above its 50-day moving average of $2.37 with above-average volume. This move also pushed shares of MRGE into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.45 to $2.49. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if MRGE can manage to take out Thursday's high of $2.56 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MRGE as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.30 or above more support at $2.20, and then once it sustains a move or close above $2.56 with volume that hits near or above 405,350 shares. If we get that move soon, then MRGE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.82 to its 200-day moving average of $3.01 or even its gap-down-day high from August near $3.20. Any high-volume move above $3.20 will then give MRGE a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap-down zone that started at $4.60.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>Must-See Charts: 5 Trades to Take

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

>>5 Dividend Stocks That Want to Pay You More in 2014

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com.

You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.