For a long time, proponents have expected Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) to make good on the promise of near field communications, or NFC, by transforming an Android device into a secure and highly useful digital wallet. Now, it looks as though the promise may go unfulfilled.
Multiple sources confirm that Osama Bedier, who led the Google Wallet team, has left the company to "pursue other opportunities." Usually, that's code-speak for "he found something better after realizing this job was going nowhere," says Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova in the following interview with the Fool's Erin Miller.
Among the major carriers, only Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S ) offers NFC payments via Google Wallet in a handful of its phones, Computerworld reports. Meanwhile, NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI ) , one of the leading NFC chipmakers, saw revenue inch up just 4% in 2012 and 9% over the trailing 12 months. The stock has traded about even with the S&P 500 year to date. Don't bet on seeing outsized returns till there's more clarity of the future of NFC, Tim says.
Best Communications Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now: Wacker Chemie AG (WCH)
Wacker Chemie AG is a Germany-based company engaged in chemical industry. The Company operates through four business segments: WACKER SILICONES, which produces silicone products, ranging from silanes through silicone fluids, emulsions, elastomers, sealants and resins to pyrogenic silicas; WACKER POLYMERS, which offers a range of polymeric binders and additives; WACKER POLYSILICON, which provides polysilicon, and WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS, which is the life science division of the Company, offers solutions and products for the food, pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. The Company offers its products for a range of sectors, including consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles and the solar, electrical/electronics, basic-chemical industries, medical technology, biotech and mechanical engineering, automotive and construction. The Company also supplies silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
Wacker Chemie AG (WCH), the fourth-largest producer of polysilicon, jumped 9 percent to 56.22 euros, its largest increase since December.
Banks DeclineCommerzbank slumped 3.7 percent to 8.18 euros, for the biggest loss on the benchmark index.
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: Extra Space Storage Inc (EXR)
Extra Space Storage, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. It engages in property management and development activities that include acquiring, managing, developing, and selling, as well as the rental of self-storage facilities. As of December 31, 2006, Extra Space Storage owned interests in 567 properties located in 32 states and Washington, D.C., as well as managed 74 properties owned by franchisees or third parties. As a REIT, the company would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1977 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shauna O'Brien]
On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs announced that it has removed Extra Space Storage, Inc. (EXR) from its Conviction Buy List.
The firm has maintained a “Buy” rating on EXR, and has lowered the company’s price target from $51 to $50. This price target suggests a 12% upside from the stock’s current price of $43.94.
Analyst Andrew Rosivach commented: “We think the stock is inexpensive on forward 2018E AFFO, but the higher 2014E multiple may require the stock to consolidate.”
Extra Space Storage shares were down 21 cents, or 0.47%, during Tuesday morning trading. The stock is up 21% YTD.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
The exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks 36 different REITs … including all of the ones on this list. REZ also includes exposure to the various public storage REITs like Extra Space Storage (EXR). Those firms have also been seeing huge demand as renters need additional space for all of their stuff … especially if they��e downsized from previous homeownership.
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: 1-800 FLOWERS.COM Inc.(FLWS)
1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. together with its subsidiaries, operates as a florist and gift retailer in the United States. The company offers a range of products, including fresh-cut flowers, floral arrangements and plants, gifts, popcorn, gourmet foods and gift baskets, cookies, chocolates, candy, and wine through its telephonic and online sales channels, company-owned and operated retail floral stores, and franchised stores. It provides gourmet gifts, such as popcorn and specialty treats through thepopcornfactory.com; cookies and baked gifts through cheryls.com; chocolates and confections through fanniemay.com and harrylondon.com; gift baskets and towers through 1800baskets.com; Celebrations brand party ideas and planning tips through celebrations.com; and customizable invitations, announcements, and greeting cards through finestationery.com. As of July 3, 2011, the company operated 2 floral retail stores, 1 fulfillment center, and approximately 100 franchised stores located within the United States. It has strategic online relationships with Facebook, Google, AOL, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. The company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Carle Place, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.60 percent to 16,947.43 while the NASDAQ declined 0.75 percent to 4,557.59. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.83 percent to 1,980.97.
Leading and Lagging Sectors Cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell by just 0.50 percent in trading on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance NASDAQ: (ULTA), up 17.5 percent, and 1-800-Flowers.com (NASDAQ: FLWS), up 4.5 percent. In trading on Friday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.89 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais - CEMIG (NYSE: CIG), down 4.7 percent, and CPFL Energia SA (NYSE: CPL), off 4.3 percent. Top Headline Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) reported better-than-expected fiscal first quarter earnings. The Orlando, Florida-based company reported a quarterly loss of $19.3 million, or $0.14 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $42.2 million, or $0.32 per share. Excluding non-recurring items, the company earned $0.32 per share. Its sales surged to $1.6 billion versus $1.53 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.30 per share on revenue of $1.6 billion. Equities Trading UP Conversant (NASDAQ: CNVR) shares shot up 30.25 percent to $34.79 after Alliance Data Systems (NYSE: ADS) announced its plans to buy Conversant for $35 per share. Shares of ULTA Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ: ULTA) got a boost, shooting up 17.69 percent to $114.72 after the company reported upbeat second-quarter results and raised its outlook. The company also unveiled a five-year plan for impressive growth. Sportsman's Warehouse Holdings (NASDAQ: SPWH) shares were also up, gaining 15.89 percent to $7.00 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results. Equities Trading DOWN Shares of Ruckus Wireless (NASDAQ: RKUS) were down 5.19 percent to $14.35. Buckingham
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: Nustar Energy L.P.(NS)
NuStar Energy L.P. engages in the terminalling, storage, and transportation of petroleum products primarily in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. The company operates in three segments: Storage, Transportation, and Asphalt and Fuels Marketing. The Storage segment operates terminal and storage facilities for petroleum products, specialty chemicals, crude oil, and other liquids; and crude oil storage tanks. Its terminals also offer pilotage, tug assistance, line handling, launch, emergency response, and other ship services. The Transportation segment transports refined petroleum products, crude oil, and anhydrous ammonia. This segment operates refined product pipelines in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota; and owns anhydrous ammonia pipelines located in Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska. The Asphalt and Fuels Marketing segment refines crude oil to produce asphalt and other refined products. This segment also purchases gasoline and other refined petroleum products for resale. As of December 31, 2010, the company had 65 terminal and storage facilities providing approximately 80.4 million barrels of storage capacity; 5,605 miles of refined product pipelines with 21 associated terminals that offer storage capacity of 4.6 million barrels, as well as 2 tank farms providing storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels; 2,000 miles of anhydrous ammonia pipelines; 812 miles of crude oil pipelines with 16 associated storage tanks comprising storage capacity of 1.9 million barrels; and 2 asphalt refineries with a combined capacity of 104,000 barrels per day, as well as 2 associated terminal facilities with a combined storage capacity of 5.0 million barrels. Riverwalk Logistics, L.P. serves as the general partner of the company. NuStar Energy L.P. was founded in 1999 and is based in Sa n Antonio, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Only five privately held firms will participate in this two-year contract (extendable up to five years). No publicly traded firms at all were chosen to participate -- but publicly traded firms did still win a few of the day's smaller contracts, among them:
A $76.1 million contract modification awarded to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, a joint venture between Textron� (NYSE: TXT ) and Boeing (NYSE: BA ) , which instructs the JPO to delivery one single additional CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft to the U.S. Air Force by December 2016. A $39.4 million fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for Sysco (NYSE: SYY ) to provide "prime vendor food and beverage support" to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Job Corps in Florida through April 16, 2019. A $32.3 million option exercise for NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS ) subsidiary Shore Terminals LLC to provide "petroleum storage services" to the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps through Nov. 30, 2016. A $7.7 million undefinitized contract modification compensating Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) for "non-recurring sustainment activities" performed on behalf of the government of the United Kingdom, related to the latter's purchase of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets. This contract has a completion date of June 201 - [By Aimee Duffy]
Second-quarter midstream earnings have finally started to trickle in, as energy giants Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP ) and TransCanada (NYSE: TRP ) have reported, as well as a couple of smaller outfits, EQT Midstream Partners (NYSE: EQT ) and NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS ) . The industry is off to a great start, and the week was made even more impressive by a spectacular midstream IPO. More on that later, but first the earnings recap.
- [By Robert Rapier]
NuStar Energy��(NYSE: NS) is one of the smaller midstream partnerships with a market capitalization of $5.1 billion. �The partnership has operations in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Caribbean, the UK and Turkey. After selling off a 50% interest in an asphalt venture earlier in the year, Nustar operates in three segments: Storage, Transportation, and Fuels Marketing.
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: LinnCo LLC (LNCO)
Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) sole purpose is to own LINN Energy, LLC (LINN) units. LINN is independent oil and natural gas company. LINN is focused on the development and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties, which include various producing basins within the United States. LINN�� properties are located in eight operating regions, which include Mid-Continent, which includes properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle; Hugoton Basin, which includes properties located primarily in Kansas and the Shallow Texas Panhandle; Green River Basin, which includes properties located in southwest Wyoming; Permian Basin, which includes areas in west Texas and southeast New Mexico; Michigan/Illinois, which includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of Michigan and oil properties in southern Illinois; California, which includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin; Williston/Powder River Basin, which includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, and East Texas, which includes properties located in east Texas. On March 30, 2012, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties (Properties) located primarily in the Hugoton Basin of Southwestern Kansas from BP America Production Company (BP). On May 1, 2012, LINN completed the acquisition of certain oil and natural gas properties located in east Texas. In December 2013, Linn Energy LLC and Linn Co, LLC (Linn Co) announced the completion of the merger between LinnCo and Berry Petroleum Company (Berry), where LinnCo had acquired all of Berry's interest.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, LINN drilled a total of 294 gross wells. As of June 1, 2012, LINN had interests in approximately 15,000 gross productive wells (approximately 71% operated) and approximately 1.8 million net acres across seven regions in the United States.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Not that an investors needs to choose just one, but Raymond James has a clear preference for LinnCo (LNCO) over Linn Energy (LINE). Raymond James analysts Kevin Smith and Jeff Schmidt explain why:
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: Xyratex Ltd.(XRTX)
Xyratex Ltd provides modular solutions for the enterprise data storage industry and hard disk drive (HDD) capital equipment for the HDD industry. It offers enterprise data storage solutions that include storage enclosures, which provide a common technology platform that reduces qualification time for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers and includes management interface software, standardized across enclosures, and provides easy integration as new platforms; integrated application platforms that comprise embedded storage platforms, which incorporate embedded server modules into its storage enclosures; and HPC Solutions that consolidate controllers, storage enclosures, application platforms, operating system, data protection, Lustre File System, and management software into a optimized scale-out storage platform that can be deployed in hours rather than weeks. The company also designs and manufactures a range of process test systems, which incorporate mechanical and electronic hardware, and firmware for controlling the HDD operating environment during the formatting of the disk drive. In addition, it provides automated solutions comprising substrate and media inspection systems; servo track writers and related subassemblies; and head testing systems that test and process HDD components throughout the manufacturing process. The company markets and sells its products primarily to OEMs and disk drive manufacturers, as well as to other companies in North America, Asia, and Europe. Xyratex Ltd was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Havant, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Xyratex (NASDAQ: XRTX ) saw a steep decline in its Q2 EPS, but the results were still good enough to beat expectations. For the quarter, revenue was a little more than $216 million, down significantly from the $322 million in the same period the previous year. Net profit saw a more precipitous fall, dropping to $2.9 million ($0.11 per diluted share) from Q2 2012's $7.0 million ($0.24). On a non-GAAP basis, those numbers were $2.7 million ($0.10 per diluted share) and $9.3 million ($0.32), respectively.
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: Baidu Inc.(BIDU)
Baidu, Inc. provides Chinese and Japanese language Internet search services. Its search services enable users to find relevant information online, including Web pages, news, images, multimedia files, and blogs through the links provided on its Websites. The company also offers online community-based products and entertainment platforms; an instant messaging service; and a consumer-oriented e-commerce platform. In addition, it designs and delivers online marketing services and auction-based P4P services that enable its customers to reach users who search for information related to their products or services. The company serves online marketing customers consisting of small and medium sized enterprises, large domestic corporations, and Chinese divisions or subsidiaries of multinational corporations primarily operating in the medical, machinery, education, franchising, electronic products, e-commerce, ticketing, tourism, information technology, consumer products, real estate, entertainment, and financial services industries. It sells its online marketing services directly, as well as through its distribution network. The company was formerly known as Baidu.com, Inc. and changed its name to Baidu, Inc. in December 2008. Baidu, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) was started with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse.
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Swann.
- [By Kevin Chen]
Baidu� (NASDAQ: BIDU ) has acquired PPS, an Internet video provider, for $370 million.
The deal is expected to close during the second quarter of 2013. Once completed, Baidu will consolidate the PPS online video business into Baidu's financial statements. Baidu will also merge the PPS video library with iQiyi, Baidu's video platform. PPS will operate as a sub-brand of iQiyi. Combined, the merger will make Baidu China's largest online video provider by number of mobile users and total viewing time.�
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Renren (NYSE: RENN ) will release its quarterly report on Wednesday, and longtime investors have to be disappointed by the Chinese social-media company's inability to regain much of the 75% its shares have lost since its early 2011 IPO. Even with Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU ) having taken an interest in parts of Renren's business, it's unclear whether Renren can use Baidu's leadership position among Chinese Internet companies to bolster its overall growth going forward in order to emulate American counterpart Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) .
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