Q: Are social stocks vulnerable to privacy fears?
A: Is 2014 the year investors realize how valuable their personal information is to giant Internet companies?
The year kicked off looking that way when Facebook was sued by a few users for allegedly intercepting and collecting personal data to share with advertisers. Meanwhile, there are continued revelations of about how the National Security Agency is mining personal communications.
Consumers are slowly becoming aware that many of the "free" online services aren't really free. In exchange for the services, the giant companies behind them are scanning personal message and e-mails to gather lucrative information to advertisers. There's also a rising realization that e-mails and other communication aren't private. Facebook isn't the only company at risk. Google may have started the trend by scanning for keywords in personal emails sent using Gmail to sell to advertisers.
Top Oil Stocks To Watch For 2015: People's United Financial Inc.(PBCT)
People?s United Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for People?s United Bank that provides commercial banking, retail and business banking, and wealth management services to individual, corporate, and municipal customers. Its Commercial Banking segment provides commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate lending, and commercial deposit gathering services, as well as equipment financing, cash management, correspondent banking, and municipal banking services. The company?s Retail and Business Banking segment offers consumer and business deposit gathering services; consumer lending products, including residential mortgage, home equity, and indirect auto lending; business lending; and merchant services. Its Wealth Management segment provides trust services, corporate trust, brokerage, financial advisory services, investment management services, and life insurance and other insurance services, as well as private banking services. The company also offers online and telephone banking, and investment trading services, and automated teller machine (ATM) services. As of March 31, 2011, it operated a network of approximately 341 branches, including full-service supermarket branches, investment and brokerage offices, and commercial banking offices, as well as approximately 518 automated teller machines in Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1842 and is headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividends4Life]
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Linked here is a detailed quantitative analysis of People's United Financial Inc. (PBCT). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:
Best Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Compania Cervecerias Unidas S.A. (CCU)
Compa帽ia Cervecerias Unidas S.A., through its subsidiaries, produces, bottles, sells, and distributes beverages primarily in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. It offers super-premium, premium, medium-priced, and popular-priced brands of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer under 12 proprietary brands and 4 licensed brands, such as Royal Guard; Royal Light; Heineken; Budweiser; Paulaner; Austral; Kunstmann; D'olbek; Cristal; Cristal Cero 0掳; Cristal Black Lager; Cristal Light; Escudo; Morenita; Lemon Stones; and Dorada brands. The company also produces and markets ultra-premium, reserve, varietal, and popular-priced wines under the brand families comprising Vi帽a San Pedro Tarapac谩, Vi帽a Santa Helena, Vi帽a Misiones de Rengo, Vi帽a Mar, Vi帽a Alta茂r, Bodega Tamar铆, Finca la Celia, and Vi帽a Leyda. In addition, it offers cider and spirits under the brand names of Real, La Victoria, Saenz Briones 1888, and El Abuelo; pisco, rum, and ready-to-drink cocktails under the Control C , Mistral, Campanario, Sierra Morena, Pisco Bauz谩 and Havana Club, Chivas Regal, and Absolut Vodka brand names; and home-made sweet snacks products under the Calaf, Natur, and Nutrabien brand names. Further, the company produces and sells tea; sports and energy drinks; carbonated beverages, including cola and non-cola, as well as non carbonated beverages; fruit juices; mineral water, sparkling and still water, purified water, and home and office delivery water products; and nectars. It serves small and medium sized retail outlets; retail establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, and bars for on-premise consumption; wholesalers; and supermarket chains. Compa帽ia Cervecerias Unidas S.A. also exports its products to Europe, Latin America, the United States, Canada, and others. The company was founded in 1850 and is based in Santiago, Chile. Compa帽ia Cervecerias Unidas S.A. is a subsidiary of Inversiones y Rentas S.A.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By fedezaldua]
After a couple of capital increases and what looks like a weak strategy for its growth in different South American countries, Chile's beer king Compania Cervecerias Unidas (CCU) – most commonly knows as CCU - is selling at a steep discount to its peers. In other words, being down by 23% year to date, I think it might be the time to start thinking of buying CCU's shares.
- [By Patricio Kehoe] s largest brewer (with about 80% of the market�� share) and No. 2 in the Argentine market, behind Quilmes, which owns 75% of that market. With investment gurus Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Manning & Napier Advisors buying the company�� shares this past quarter, I believe this company�� business model is worth a deeper look.
Running the Market
As the only brewer in Chile with a nationwide distribution network, United Breweries benefits from significant economies of scale, in addition to its brand power. The company�� product portfolio not only features the Cristal beer brand, but also includes wine, spirits and company-owned non-alcoholic beverages. In addition to this, the firm benefits from licenses to sell PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) and Heineken beverages, while also importing Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (BUD)�� Budweiser beer to Chile and Argentina. This strong market position has allowed the firm to generate excess returns on invested capital above 20%, making it an attractive investment.
Furthermore, United Breweries��business model is focused on market expansion, and in 2013 the company raised 15% of its market capital (CLP 340 billion) in order to fun acquisitions in Paraguay and Argentina. This latter country has been particularly endorsing the firm�� growth, boosting 2006�� 16% market share to 23% in 2012. This raise is probably due to the CLP 27 billion that the brewer spent on capital expenditures in Argentina. Looking forward, the company is set on expanding its core businesses by targeting the non-alcoholic Argentine market, the Chilean snack and dairy industry, as well as expanding into nearby markets of Peru, Uruguay, Colombia or Ecuador. And although the risk of an overpayment for acquisitions remains, I believe the company�� cost advantage in serving the Southern region of Chile will allow for margins to stay intact.
Valuation and Risks
Nevertheless, United Breweries��market dominance in Chile t
Best Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Powershares Buyback Achiever Portfolio (PKW)
PowerShares Buyback Achievers Portfolio (Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the Share BuyBack Achievers Index (the Index). The Index is designed to track the performance of companies that meet the requirements to be classified as BuyBack Achievers. To become eligible for inclusion in the Index, a company must be incorporated in the United States, trade on the NYSE, the AMEX or the NASDAQ, and must have repurchased at least 5% or more of its outstanding shares for the trailing 12 months. The Index consists of stocks of companies selected by Mergent, Inc. (the Index Provider) pursuant to its own selection methodology. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.
The Index is rebalanced on the last trading date of April, July and October based on the constituents��modified market capitalizations as of the last trading day in March, June and September, respectively. The Fund generally will invest in the stocks comprising the Index in proportion to their weightings in the Index. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Index. The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Index.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roadmap2Retire] href="http://roadmap2retire.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/buybacks.jpg">
Stock Buybacks
One company that has resorted to financial engineering for quarter after quarter is International Business Machines Corp (IBM) ���nd it's only a matter of time before patience runs out. The company has seen declining revenues and cash holdings, while debt has continued to pile up. The company has been squeaking out quarters resorting to layoffs to keep the shareholders happy - and for the sake of the IBM shareholders, I hope management changes this path that they are heading down on.
On the other hand, General Electric (GE), with all the cash available, has been investing heavily in growing its business. GE is cutting losing business segments that are not lucrative anymore such as the appliance business, which it sold to Electrolux for $3.3B recently, and spun-off Synchrony Financial (SYF) ��its retail finance arm. Instead, GE is now returning to its industrial roots and expanding into new horizons such as oil & gas exploration and pipeline infrastructure tech, green energy investments such as wind, solar and fuel cells etc. These are lucrative businesses and I fully support the management in their decision as a shareholder. Note that GE, like others, has a share repurchase plan ��especially in 2013, GE has bought a lot of its own shares after selling its stake in NBC.
A plethora of companies have a history of buying at highs and selling at lows. This goes against any logic when it comes to good financial sense. When times are good and companies are flush with cash, like the current environment, the management authorizes buying its own shares and during lean times - after market crashes and/or recessions, the companies cut back on share repurchases. So, the question for the retail investors is: Instead of investing or paying down debt, if the company is buying its own shares and the insiders are selling, should you be buying? It comes as no
- [By Joon Choi]
Meanwhile, investors have been flocking to buy PowerShares Buyback Achievers (PKW), pushing the price into overbought territory.
Currently, the monthly relative strength indicator (RSI) reading is 83.7. (A reading over 70 is considered to be overbought.) To put this figure in perspective, the monthly RSI of the Nasdaq Composite was 85.9 on March of 2000 (the index peak), and we know what happened afterwards.
Best Integrated Utility Companies To Watch In Right Now: Datalink Corporation(DTLK)
Datalink Corporation data center solutions and services to mid and large-size companies in the United States. It engages in assessing, designing, deploying, and supporting infrastructures, such as servers, storage, and networks; and reselling hardware and software from original equipment manufacturers. The company?s portfolio of solutions and services comprise consolidation and virtualization services; data storage and protection services, including local and remote backup, disaster recovery, archive, and compliance services; advanced network infrastructure services that includes assessment, design, and deployment of network infrastructures; and business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. It also offers a suite of practice-specific consulting, analysis, design, implementation, management, and support services. Datalink Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tess Stynes var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(fu]
Data-center infrastructure and services provide Datalink Corp.(DTLK) posted results for the first three months of the year that badly missed expectations and also provided an outlook for the current quarter below consensus. Shares fell 21% to $10 premarket.
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