CINCINNATI ��AOL founder and venture capitalist Steve Case is on the road ��again ��this time promising winners of his tech start-up tour in four cities that his company will invest $100,000 each in their small businesses.
But that's not all: The entrepreneurs also will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington to pitch their ideas to his company, Revolution venture capital, meet other investors and get the chance to raise even more money.
The four-cities-in-four-days tour ��Detroit on June 24, Pittsburgh on June 25, Cincinnati on June 26 and Nashville on June 27 ��is part of Case's Rise of the Rest initiative, in which he seeks out promising start-ups beyond California's Silicon Valley. He started the program in October 2012.
"Sixty years ago, for example, Detroit was essentially what Silicon Valley is today," Case said in a January interview with Silicon Valley Business Journal. "It was the most vibrant entrepreneurial region in the country, arguably in the world. The technology of the day was the automobile and it was on fire, growing like crazy."
Winmark Corporation operates as a franchisor of four retail store concepts that buy, sell, trade, and consign merchandise. The company franchises retail stores under the ?Plato?s Closet? name that sell and buy used clothing and accessories geared toward the teenage and young adult market; and under the ?Play It Again Sports? name, which sell, buy, trade, and consign used and new sporting goods, equipment, and accessories for various athletic activities, including hockey, wheeled sports, fitness, ski/snowboard, golf, and baseball/softball. It engages in franchising ?Once Upon A Child? branded retail stores that sell and buy used and new children?s clothing, toys, furniture, equipment, and accessories; and ?Music Go Round? branded retail stores that sell, buy, trade, and consign used and new musical instruments, speakers, amplifiers, music-related electronics, and related accessories for parents of children who play musical instruments, as well as for professional and amateur musicians. In addition, the company operates a middle-market equipment leasing business focusing on technology-based assets to serve large and medium-sized businesses; and a small-ticket financing business to serve small businesses. Further, it offers management services to Tomsten, Inc. As of September 24, 2011, the company had 923 franchises in operation. Winmark Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By alicet236]
Chairman & CEO, 10% Owner of Winmark Corporation (WINA) John L. Morgan bought 2,000 shares on July 29, 2013 at an average price of $68.55. The total transaction amount was $137,100.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Winmark (Nasdaq: WINA ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
- [By Monica Wolfe]
Winmark Corporation (WINA)
Chairman and CEO John Morgan of Winmark Corporation made a notable buy on July 29. The CEO purchased 2,000 shares at approximately $68.55 per share. This transaction cost the CEO $137,100. Since his most recent buy, the price per share has increased approximately 5.56%. Morgan currently holds over 1.7 million shares of Winmark.
Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: The Greenbrier Companies Inc (GBX)
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (Greenbrier), formerly Greenbrier Oregon, Inc., incorporated on October 24, 2005, are the designers, manufacturers and marketers of railroad freight car equipment in North America and Europe, a manufacturer and marketer of ocean-going marine barges in North America and a provider of wheel services, railcar refurbishment and parts, leasing and other services to the railroad and related transportation industries in North America. The Company operates in three business segments: Manufacturing; Wheel Services, Refurbishment & Parts; and Leasing & Services.
The Manufacturing segment, operating from facilities in the United States, Mexico and Poland, produces double-stack intermodal railcars, conventional railcars, tank cars and marine vessels.
The Wheel Services, Refurbishment & Parts segment performs wheel, axle and bearing servicing; railcar repair, refurbishment and maintenance activities; as well as production and reconditioning of a variety of parts for the railroad industry in North America. The Leasing & Services segment owns approximately 11,000 railcars and provides management services for approximately 219,000 railcars for railroads, shippers, carriers, institutional investors and other leasing and transportation companies in North America. The Company produces rail castings through an unconsolidated joint venture.
Manufacturing
The Manufacturing segment manufactures a broad array of railcar types in North America which includes railcar types other than coal cars. The primary products offered by the Company include Intermodal Railcars, Conventional Railcars, Tank Cars, European Railcar Manufacturing and Marine Vessel Fabrication. The Company manufactures a range of intermodal railcars. The important intermodal product is articulated double-stack railcar. The double-stack railcar is designed to transport containers stacked two-high on a single platform. The Company produces a range of boxcars, which are used in t! he transport of forest products, automotive, perishables, general merchandise and commodities. It also produces covered hopper cars for the grain, energy, sand and cement industries as well as gondolas for the steel and metals markets and various other conventional railcar types, including Auto-Max car.
The Company�� European manufacturing operation produces a variety of railcar (wagon) types, including a line of pressurized tank cars for liquid petroleum gas and ammonia and non-pressurized tank cars for light oil, chemicals and other products. It also produces flat cars, coil cars for the steel and metals market, coal cars for both the continental European and United Kingdom markets, gondolas, sliding wall cars and automobile transporter cars.
The Company�� Portland, manufacturing facility, located on a deep-water port on the Willamette River, includes marine vessel fabrication capabilities. It manufactures range of Jones Act ocean-going and river barges for transporting merchandise between ports within the U.S. including conventional deck barges, double-hull tank barges, railcar/deck barges, barges for aggregates and other heavy industrial products and dump barges. It focuses on the ocean-going vessels and coal carrying river barges although the facility has the capability to compete in other marine related products.
Wheel Services, Refurbishment and Parts.
Wheel Services, Railcar Repair, Refurbishment and Component Parts Manufacturing segment operates in the independent wheel services, repair, refurbishment and component parts networks in North America, operating in 39 locations. The wheel shops, operating in 12 locations, provide complete wheel services including reconditioning of wheels, axles and roller bearings in addition to new axle machining and finishing and axle downsizing. Its network of railcar repair and refurbishment shops, operating in 23 locations, performs heavy railcar repair and refurbishment, as well as routi! ne railca! r maintenance. It is engaged in the repair and refurbishment of railcars for third parties, as well as of its own leased and managed fleet. Its component parts facilities, operating in four locations, recondition railcar cushioning units, couplers, yokes, side frames, bolsters and various other parts. It also produces roofs, doors and associated parts for boxcars.
Leasing and Services
Leasing-The Company offers flexible financing programs including operating leases and by the mile leases to the customers . The Company leases are full service leases whereby the Company is responsible for maintenance and administration. Maintenance of the fleet is provided, in part, through its own facilities and engineering and technical staff.
Management Services- management services business offers a broad array of software and services that include railcar maintenance management, railcar accounting services, such as billing and revenue collection, car hire receivable and payable administration, total fleet management including railcar tracking using software, administration and railcar remarketing. The Company provide management services for a fleet of approximately 230,000 railcars for railroads, shippers, carriers, institutional investors and other leasing and transportation companies in North America.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Holly LaFon]
Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee
- [By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for Greenbrier Companies (NYSE: GBX ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.
Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (REFG.PK)
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions, incorporated on December 1, 2005, is a provider of integrated supply and distribution technology. The Company�� Seed-to-Sale (S2S) integrated solution is a management and compliance technology for growers, caregivers and dispensaries in the market. The Company also works with public officials and government agencies to expand the acceptance of medicinal cannabis, and the adoption of a legal framework where maximum market expansion is possible. The Company solves the fragmentation problem by identifying tools that are important to dispensaries, and customizing those tools specifically catered to the industry. The Company's solutions include Spark, Ghost and S2S.
Spark
The Company�� SPARK Hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provides customers with enterprise-class hosted phone systems customized to fit customers��needs. SPARK's service is a fully-managed, cloud-based system. The Company offers the convenience of an online Internet Protocol (IP)-based telecommunications system while still delivering substantial savings to customers bottom line.
Ghost
By offering customers a customized, tailored mobile solution, the Company's Ghost Mobile Apps give a marketing tool with a texting and e-mail solution, keeping customers in constant contact with patients and clients. The Company creates an optimized experience in context to each device or screen size.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Alan Brochstein]
Not too surprisingly, supply is starting to increase. We have seen some companies enter the space by expanding their own businesses, but there have been some reverse mergers lately too. I had mentioned Refill Energy (REFG.PK) recently (soon to be Medical Cannabis Financial Group), but earlier this month Promap (PMAP.OB) acquired 94% of Advanced Cannabis Solutions (link to 8-K). As an aside, I think that this company is worth considering given the management team and the business model. Investors should keep in the back of their mind that there are many companies that are quietly developing their business models and could become public over time, especially as the regulatory and legal landscapes improve.
Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: Fairway Group Holdings Corp (FWM)
Fairway Group Holdings Corp., incorporated on September 29, 2006, operates in the retail food industry, selling fresh, natural and organic products, prepared foods, and specialty and gourmet offerings along with a assortment of conventional groceries. The Company focuses on perishable product categories, which include produce, natural and organic, deli, specialty, cheese, butcher, seafood, bakery, coffee and kosher foods. Its non-perishable product categories consist of conventional groceries, as well as specialty foods. It operates two stores on the West Side of Manhattan, New York. As of September 24, 2012, it operated 11 locations in the Greater New York City metropolitan area, three of which include Fairway Wines & Spirits stores.
The Company�� natural and organic product categories include fruits and vegetables, natural and fresh juices, organic OBE beef and organic chicken, fresh organic peanut butter and natural almond butter, fresh roasted coffees and loose teas, dried fruits and nuts, full assortment of natural and organic groceries, cold cuts and cheeses, breads, supplements (homeopathy, vitamins, herbs), nutritional bars and protein powders, health and beauty aids, dairy, including Fairway-branded organic milk, eggs, including Fairway-branded organic eggs, vegetarian dairy alternatives, frozen foods, e gluten-free selections, baby food and baby care items and cleaning products. It offers a classic New York deli counter. It carries smoked salmon prepared using its own recipe and hand-craft its own fresh mozzarella daily.
The Company�� Specialty Imports and Specialty Grocery departments provide shoppers with specialty and gourmet items, such as Lapalisse pure and virgin nut oils; authentic Sicilian foodstuffs; Burgundy's organic La Trinquelinette fruit preserves made in small batches using only unrefined raw cane sugar; ready-to-eat vacuum-packed beets from the Loire Valley; L'Herbier de Milly La Foret verbena, hibiscus, peppermint and linden blossom infusions; L! a Quiberonnaise Vintage Sardines from Brittany, France; Pruneaux d'Agen (stuffed prunes), and Royal Medjool dates, Quercy's soft dried figs and apricots. It carries approximately 115 varieties of specialty olive oil, including numerous imported unfiltered olive oils, and offer all-day, every day tasting of olive oils in each of its stores.
The Company has meat delivered every day and it is cut and packaged at each of its stores within 24 hours of receipt. It also receives daily deliveries of fresh ice-packed chicken. It offers 50 to 80 different selections of fresh fish and seafood in each store every day. It utilizes a combination of on-site and centralized bakeries to produce our baked goods. Its full-service bakery prepares its signature cookies, tarts, cupcakes, baguettes and bagels. It offers over 100 types of artisanal coffee beans sold by the pound, as well as over a dozen varieties of Fair Trade certified and organic coffee.
The Company offers an array of kosher options, including Fairway's branded products, its conventional and specialty groceries, its coffee, as well as its baked goods, dairy, organic, gluten-free, imported and frozen items. It offers a variety of cuts of kosher poultry, red meat and seafood. It carries a range of conventional grocery items. Its grocery aisles are stacked high with the national brand names Tide, Bounty, Kleenex, Charmin, Lysol, Poland Spring, Oreo, Cheerios, Lipton, Hershey's, Coke, Green Giant, and many more. In addition, it offers an array of ethnic groceries that cater to each store's local demographic.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Rich Duprey]
Indeed, shoppers can even find natural and organic produce at Wal-Mart, and with Fairway Group Holdings (NASDAQ: FWM ) having gone public earlier this year, there's no shortage of places shoppers can choose from to buy their all-natural produce. What is Sprouts offering that differentiates it from all of its rivals?�Simply counting on a growth-by-expansion policy entails a lot of risk, so the only thing I see is its claim of better product selection and value.�
- [By John Udovich]
Large cap natural and organic foods supermarket giant Whole Foods Market, Inc (NASDAQ: WFM), otherwise known as ��hole Wallet��r ��hole Paycheck,��is not the only player in the natural or organics supermarket space for consumers and investors alike as mid cap Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ: SFM) and small caps Fairway Group Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: FWM) and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc (NYSE: NGVC) are also players in the space. It should be mentioned that Whole Foods Market is down 15.7% since the start of the year and has a downward trending technical chart, but�shares are�still up 13% over the past year, up 426.3% over the past five years and up 3,108.6% since January 1992.
Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: Vodafone Group PLC (VOD)
Vodafone Group Plc (Vodafone), incorporated in 1984, is a mobile communications company operating across the globe providing a range of communications services. The Company offers a range of products and services, including voice, messaging, data and fixed-line solutions and devices to assist customers in meeting their total communications needs. Vodafone has a global presence, with equity interests in over 30 countries and over 40 partner markets worldwide. It operates in three geographic regions: Europe, Africa and Central Europe; Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, and has an investment in Verizon Wireless in the United States. In October 2010, Vodafone Global Enterprise, the business within Vodafone, announced the acquisition of two telecom expense management (TEM) companies, Quickcomm and TnT Expense Management. In November 2011, the Company sold 24.4% interest in Polkomtel in Poland. In March 2012, Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone, purchased the operating assets of Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania from the Company. In April 2012, its Netherlands-based division, Vodafone Libertel BV, acquired Telespectrum-DJ. On October 31, 2012, the Company acquired TelstraClear Limited. In May 2013, Vodafone Group Plc announced launch of its carrier services business unit.
In Europe, the Company�� mobile subsidiaries and joint venture operate under the brand name Vodafone. Its associate in France operates as SFR and Neuf Cegetel, and its fixed-line communication businesses operate as Vodafone, Arcor, Tele2 and TeleTu. Vodafone�� subsidiaries in Africa and Central Europe operate under the Vodafone brand, or in the case of Vodacom and its mobile subsidiaries, the Vodacom and Gateway brands. Its joint venture in Poland operates as Polkomtel and its associate in Kenya operates as Safaricom. The Company�� subsidiaries and joint venture in Fiji operate under the Vodafone brand, and its joint venture in Australia operates under the brands V! odafone and 3. The Company�� associate in the United States operates under the brand Verizon Wireless.
Vodafone has an international customer base with 370 million mobile customers across the world as of March 31, 2011. Vodafone also caters to all business segments ranging from small-office-home-office (SoHo) and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to corporates and multinational corporations. Through its subsidiaries, Vodafone directly owns and manages approximately 2,200 stores around the world. The Company also has around 10,300 Vodafone-branded stores run through franchise and exclusive dealer arrangements.
The Company�� range of handsets covers all its customer segments and price points, and is available in a variety of designs. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), 14 new handsets were released under its own brand and it shipped 5.8 million. In addition to handsets, it supplies a range of connected smart devices. It supplies the iPhone in 19 markets. During fiscal 2011, the Company launched its USB stick based on 4G/LTE technology in Germany and Verizon Wireless launched in the United States.; Vodafone WebBox; a smartphone roaming data plan that allows the European customers to use their home data plan abroad for only 2 a day to access the Internet, emails and applications; the Android-powered Vodafone 845 and 945 devices; Vodafone TV services; Vodafone 252, which comes pre-loaded with Vodafone M-Pesa for mobile payment services and a prepaid balance indicator that helps customers to keep track of their phone credit to avoid overspending; Vodafone M-Pesa in South Africa, Qatar and Fiji; 3G services in India, and LTE services by acquiring LTE spectrum in Germany.
The Company is a carrier of mobile voice traffic in the world providing domestic, international and roaming voice services to more than 370 million customers. Its networks sent and received over 292 billion text, picture, music and video messages during fiscal 2011. The Company ! serves mo! re than 75 million customers with data services, which allow access to the Internet, email and applications on their phones, tablets, laptops and netbooks. The Company provides a range of data products, including Machine-to-machine (��2M�� connections, which allow devices to communicate with one another via built-in mobile SIM cards; Third party billing; Financial services; Near field communication (��FC��, and Mobile advertising. The Company, as of March 31, 2011, served 5.3 million M2M connections around the world. NFC allows communication between devices when they are touched together or brought within a few centimetres of each other. The Company has mobile advertising business in 18 countries with a range of capabilities. Over six million customers use its fixed broadband services in 13 markets to meet their total communications needs. In addition, through Gateway, it provides wholesale carrier services to more than 40 African countries. Other service revenue includes business managed services, such as secure remote network access, and revenue from mobile virtual network operators generated from selling access to its network at the wholesale level. The Company�� enterprise customers range from small-office-home-office (��oHo�� businesses and small to medium-sized enterprises (��MEs��, through to domestic and multinational companies. The Company has 34 million enterprise customers accounting for around 9% of all customers and around 23% of service revenue. The Company focuses on SoHos and SMEs to provide customers with integrated fixed and mobile communications solutions. Vodafone Global Enterprise manages the communication needs of over 560 of the multinational corporate customers. It provides a range of managed services, such as Central Ordering, Device Manager, Spend Manager Solutions, Invoice Manager, Vodafone Neverfail and Telecoms management. The Company offers a range of total communications applications, as well as services for enterprise and consumer customers. Vodafone Alw! ays Best ! Connected software enables customers to stay connected to the Internet on the available connection wherever they are by automatically managing the switching between connection types including mobile broadband, Wi-Fi and LAN. Vodafone PC Backup is an online back-up and restores service that enables users to remotely store data securely and automatically via their Internet connection.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Dividend]
Vodafone Group (VOD) has a market capitalization of $168.43 billion. The company employs 91,272 people, generates revenue of $71.130 billion and has a net income of $1.077 billion. Vodafone Group�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $21.994 billion. The EBITDA margin is 30.92 percent (the operating margin is 10.64 percent and the net profit margin 1.51 percent).
Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund (ETO)
Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund (the Fund) is a closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to provide a high level of after-tax total return. The Fund pursues its objective by investing primarily in dividend-paying common and preferred stocks.
The Fund�� top 10 equity holdings include Freeport-McMoran Copper, Veolia Environment, Southern Copper Corp., Societe Generale, Chevron Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Exelon Corp., Total SA Spon ADR, Entergy Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. Top 10 equity holdings represented 25.3% of total investments as of April 30, 2007.
Advisors' Opinion: Top Promising Companies To Own In Right Now: Cornerstone Total Return Fund Inc (CRF)
Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. (the Fund) is a closed-end, diversified management investment company. Its investment objective is to seek capital appreciation with current income as a secondary objective. The Fund may invest without limitation in other closed-end investment companies and ETFs, provided that the Fund limits its investment in securities issued by other investment companies so that not more than 3% of the outstanding voting stock of any one investment company will be owned by the Fund. It invests in sectors, such as information technology, industrial, financials, healthcare, energy, consumer discretionary and consumer staples. The Fund is managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion: - [By Dividends4Life]
According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer
