Throughout the stock market's record run, U.S. stocks have largely ignored troubling signs about the global economy. But last night, a 7% plunge in Japan's stock market sent the yen soaring against the dollar and shot bond yields sky-high, raising concerns about the nation's ability to service its massive national debt. Meanwhile, disturbing news from China about industrial purchasing activity also weighed on investor sentiment. Despite some better numbers in the U.S. economy, including a drop in jobless claims and rising new-home sales, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) wasn't able to avoid losses, although it recovered from earlier losses of more than 125 points to sit 77 points below breakeven by 10:50 a.m. EDT. Broader U.S. benchmarks fell roughly in tandem with the Dow, while European stock markets dropped between 2% and 3%.
Bucking the downward trend is Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) , which soared 13% after CEO Meg Whitman said last night in the tech giant's quarterly report that her turnaround plan remains on track. The company posted impressive gains in cash flow from operations, and even though overall profit has not yet fully recovered, investors appear to be giving Whitman more latitude to see her long-range strategy play itself out. With initiatives in cloud computing, big data, and the mobile industry, HP is doing its best to move beyond its PC roots and create better growth opportunities for the future.
Hot Cheapest Stocks To Buy Right Now: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)
TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Some good news. Seadrill�� UDW rigs West Jupiter and West Saturn which were ordered in February and April 2012, respectively, were delivered in August 2014 at a cost of $1.1 billion. The West Jupiter is expected to start its contract with Total S.A. (TOT) during late Q414 at a day rate of $567k for 5-years, for a backlog of $1.0 billion. The West Saturn is expected to start its contract with ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) early Q115 at a day rate of $633.8k for 2-years, for a backlog of $463.3 million. Both rigs are slated to work in West Africa.
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
Refining weakness common among oil majors
Shell is not the only oil major suffering from an underperforming downstream segment. In fact, all of its peers, including Total (NYSE: TOT ) , ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) , Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) , and BP (NYSE: BP ) , blamed weak refining margins for disappointing financial performances last year. Exxon's fourth-quarter downstream earnings plunged by $852�million�to $916�million, while Chevron's international downstream earnings plunged by nearly 80% to $125�million. - [By Robert Rapier]
Twenty-thirteen opened with one of Royal Dutch Shell’s (NYSE: RDS-A) two Arctic drilling rigs breaking free from a tow ship and running aground off the coast of Alaska. Shell sent the two Arctic drilling rigs to Asia for extensive repairs. The accident prompted more calls for restrictions on oil exploration in the Arctic. Shell wants to try again in 2014, but Senate Democrats are asking for a delay in further Arctic oil exploration.
Nevertheless, oil companies rushed north to explore for oil. Norway awarded 24 oil and gas exploration licences to 29 companies, mostly in the Arctic Barents Sea. The licenses were scooped up by international majors like Shell, BP (NYSE: BP), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Total (NYSE: TOT) and Statoil (NYSE: STO), in hopes of reviving Norway’s falling oil production.
Other Arctic nations are also pushing forward with plans for oil exploration in the Arctic. Russia has aggressively defended its interests there, seizing a Greenpeace ship and detaining its crew after the group attempted to interfere with Russia’s Arctic drilling.
- [By Aaron Levitt]
Those huge fields are just the kind of plays that the large super-majors –�Exxon�(XOM), Chevron�(CVX) and Total�(TOT) and the like — are clamoring to add. And with the downside now known — a max of $14.6 billion dollars — APC could finally be buy-out bait for one of the giants.
Top European Companies To Watch For 2015: British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c.(BTI)
British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars, cigarettes, smokeless snus, roll-your-own, and pipe tobacco products under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Rothmans, Peter Stuyvesant, Benson & Hedges, and State Express 555 brand names. It has operations in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, eastern and western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. British American Tobacco p.l.c. operates independently of Remgro Ltd. as of November 03, 2008.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
How bad has performance of Phillip Morris been? Its shares have dropped 1.9% during the past 12 months, while American-focused Altria Group (MO) has gained 15%. British American Tobacco (BTI) has gained 3%, Reynolds American (RAI) has advanced 14%, and Lorillard (LO) has jumped 26%.
Top European Companies To Watch For 2015: BP p.l.c.(BP)
BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James O'Toole]
Anadarko was also on the hook for huge clean-up costs following the 2010 oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko owned a 25% stake in the ill-fated well, and agreed to pay well operator and majority shareholder BP (BP) $4 billion in 2011 to cover its share.
- [By Eric Volkman]
BP (NYSE: BP ) has let go of one of its South American assets. The company reached an agreement to sell its 60% stake in Brazil's Polvo shallow-water oil field to domestic company HRT Oil & Gas. The price is $135 million, which will be paid in cash.
- [By Damian Illia]
In a previous article we saw the 13-F's holdings of Absolute Return Investors. Here, let麓s analyze one of them, Chevron Corporation (CVX), and see if it is appropriate to be in that long portfolio. The firm does not need too much introduction. The company�� upstream operations include exploring, developing and producing crude oil and natural gas, and processing, liquefaction, transportation and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas. The company�� downstream operations include refining crude oil into petroleum products, and manufactures and markets commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses and fuel and lubricant additives. The firm's largest competitors include BP Plc (BP) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM).
Top European Companies To Watch For 2015: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Johanna Bennett]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid decided today to cut government payment to dialysis clinics. So why did share prices for DaVita HealthCare Partners (DVA) and rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rise so steeply today?
- [By Ben Eisen]
DaVita (DVA) �gained 8.9% and Fresenius (FMS) �rose 7.2%.
- [By Charles Carlson, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Horizon Investment Services]
For investors looking for growth but also income, I especially like three health-care related stocks��resenius Medical (FMS), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and Smith & Nephew (SNN).
Top European Companies To Watch For 2015: Telefonica SA(TEF)
Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Ebix (NASDAQ: EBIX ) will be very busy in the near future doing work for a major South American telecom incumbent. The company announced that it has signed a deal with Telefonica's (NYSE: TEF ) Brazilian subsidiary Telefonica/Vivo (NYSE: VIV ) , also known as Telefonica Brasil,�to supply its services for the latter's eHealth Self Care initiative, which aims "to provide health assistance and complimentary services to their millions of clients." Ebix will utilize its A.D.A.M. Health Content Exchange solution to make this happen.
- [By Roger Conrad, Founder and Chief Editor, Capitalist Times]
Roger Conrad: Well, one that I read about actually in the very first issue of Conrad's Utility Investor is a company called Telefonica (TEF). This one is a company that has had a pretty tough several years.
- [By Charles Sizemore]
Next Page
European Dividend Stocks to Buy: Telefonica (TEF)Dividend Yield: 6%
And finally, we get to one of my favorite long-term holdings, Spanish telecom giant Telefonica (TEF).
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Is Europe back?
Certainly, some of the enthusiasm about Europe has to do with the stabilization of economic prospects throughout the region. Germany, France, and Spain are still reporting sluggish GDP numbers, but some early signs suggest that the recession could already have hit bottom in many countries in Europe. Perhaps more importantly, just the fact that conditions on the continent haven't gotten markedly worse has seemed to bolster investor confidence. In particular, Spain's recovery has given investors in Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) new hope that efforts to keep its telecom business strong not just in Europe but in Latin America as well could bear fruit.
Top European Companies To Watch For 2015: Aegon NV(AEG)
AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.
Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.
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