Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Top 5 Diversified Bank Companies To Own For 2014

If you've ever found yourself trying to do something in a mirror ��surgery, for example ��you've probably discovered that it's shockingly difficult to do. You think you're going for the appendix, and you find yourself wandering in the Isles of Langerhans instead.

Investing for retirement often turns many of the investment lessons you've learned and turns them upside down ��in some ways, investing while you're taking money out of your account is starkly different from investing while you're putting money into your account.

We'll be visiting the subject of managing your portfolio in retirement over the next few weeks. But today, let's talk about why some rules are reversed when investing in retirement.

Let's start with an entirely fictional example of Ralph Btfsplk, the luckless retiree. Ralph managed to roll up a $1 million retirement kitty. Ralph read a great deal about retirement, and used several retirement calculators. Using that advice, Ralph decided he could start retirement with a 5% annual withdrawal. He puts his $1 million into a fund that tracks the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

Best Undervalued Companies For 2015: G&K Services Inc (GK)

G&K Services, Inc., incorporated on December 1, 1934, provides branded uniform and facility services programs. The Company serves a base of approximately 170,000 customers. The Company serves customers in all industries, including automotive, warehousing, distribution, transportation, energy, manufacturing, food processing, pharmaceutical, retail, restaurants, hospitality, government, healthcare and many others. The Company provides service to customers of almost every size, from Fortune 100 companies to small and midsize firms. The Company has one million people within its customer base who wear G&K work apparel every work day. In January 2014, the Company announced that it has sold its direct sale program business.

The Company's customer focused relationships involve customers renting or directly purchasing uniforms and providing facility products and services to meet a variety of critical needs in the workplace, including Image, Organization safety and security, Brand awareness, Employee retention, Employee protection and Product protection. The Company also offers facility services programs that provide a range of dust control, maintenance, hand care and hygiene products and services. They include floor mat offerings (traction control, logo, message, scraper, anti-fatigue), towel products (shop, kitchen, bar, bath, dish, continuous roll, microfiber), mop offerings (dust, microfiber, wet), fender covers, selected linen items and restroom hygiene products. The Company's providing of regularly scheduled weekly service of these products and services helps the Company's customers maintain a clean, safe and attractive environment within their facilities for their employees and customers.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [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 G&K Services (Nasdaq: GK  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Diversified Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Interface Inc (TILE)

Interface, Inc., incorporated on August 28, 1981, is engaged in the business of design, production and sales of modular carpet, also known as carpet tile. The Company market modular carpet in over 110 countries under the brand names Interface and FLOR. The Company�� principal geographic markets are the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The Company manufactures carpet at two locations in the United States and at facilities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Thailand and China. The Company distributes its product through two primary channels direct sales to end users, and indirect sales through independent contractors or distributors. In August 2012, the Company sold its Bentley Prince Street business segment to an affiliate of Dominus Capital, L.P.

The Company�� modular carpet system, which is marketed under the global brands Interface and Heuga, utilizes carpet tiles cut in precise, dimensionally stable squares (usually 50 cm x 50 cm) or rectangles to produce a floorcovering that combines the appearance and texture of traditional soft floorcovering with the advantages of a modular carpet system. The Company�� GlasBac technology employs a fiberglass-reinforced polymeric composite backing that provides dimensional stability and reduces the need for adhesives or fasteners. The Company�� also make carpet tiles with a backing containing post-industrial and/or post-consumer recycled materials, which we market under the GlasBacRE brand. The Company also manufactures and sells two-meter roll goods that are structure-backed and offer many of the advantages of both carpet tile and broadloom carpet. The Company also sells its TacTiles carpet tile installation system, along with a range of adhesives and products for carpet installation and maintenance that are manufactured by a third party.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Interface (Nasdaq: TILE  ) reported earnings on April 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Interface missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

  • [By Rex Moore]

    But today Jim's company is the largest craft brewer in the nation, with almost 1% of total beer sales. Many at the recent Craft Brewers Conference count Boston Beer among their most-admired companies. Our Rex Moore took on the tough assignment of covering the conference, and asked about other companies these brewers learned from. Today, New Belgium Brewing CEO Kim Jordan talks about Patagonia, Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR  ) , and Interface (NASDAQ: TILE  ) .

Top 5 Diversified Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Silver Spring Networks Inc (SSNI)

Silver Spring Networks, Inc., incorporated on July 3, 2002, provides a networking platform and solutions that enable utilities to transform the power grid infrastructure into the smart grid. The Company�� networking platform provides two-way communications between the utility back office and devices on the power grid. In addition to its networking platform, it offers a suite of solutions that run on top of its network and complementary services, all of which is referred to as its Smart Energy Platform. Its service offerings include professional services to implement its products, managed services and software as a service ( SaaS), to assist utilities with managing the network and solutions, and ongoing customer support. Its Smart Energy Platform consists of hardware, software and services and combines with devices manufactured by third-party partners to form end-to-end smart grid offerings.

The Company�� solutions include advanced metering, which allows utilities to automate a number of manual processes and improve operational efficiencies, offer flexible pricing programs to consumers, and improve customer service with faster outage detection and restoration; distribution automation, which provides utilities with real-time visibility into the health of the grid, enabling better management and control of power distribution assets to improve grid reliability, and demand-side management, which enables utilities to offer consumers a variety of programs and incentives to use energy more efficiently and reduce usage at times of peak demand. The Company markets its Smart Energy Platform directly to utilities around the world. The Company�� network is composed of its hardware, such as access points and relays, its UtilOS network operating system, and GridScape software suite, which together provide utilities the ability to communicate with and control devices connected to the power grid.

The Company also offers a suite of solutions that run on top of its network, including ad! vanced metering, distribution automation, and demand-side management. These solutions include additional hardware, such as its communications modules and bridges, and applications from UtilityIQ and CustomerIQ software. Its solutions combine with devices from the large number of third parties with whom it collaborates to form end-to-end smart grid offerings built on its network. In addition, itoffers a range of services that enable its utility customers to deploy, operate and maintain its networking platform and solutions. These service offerings include professional services to implement its products, managed services and SaaS to assist utilities with managing the network and solutions, and ongoing customer support.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    A technology stock that's quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Silver Spring Networks (SSNI), which provides a networking platform and solutions that enable utilities to transform the power grid infrastructure into the smart grid. This stock has been on a hot streak over the last six months, with shares up by 22%.

    If you look at the chart for Silver Spring Networks, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $14.63 to its recent high of $22 a share. During that uptrend, shares of SSNI have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of SSNI within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in SSNI if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $22 to $22.73 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 491,731 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then SSNI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $23.90 to its gap down day high from August at $25.25 a share. Any high-volume move above $25.25 a share will then give SSNI a chance to re-fill some of that previous gap down zone that started near $32 a share.

    Traders can look to buy SSNI off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $19.01 a share, or near $18 a share. One can also buy SSNI off strength once it takes out that breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Although small cap smart metering stock Silver Spring Networks Inc (NYSE: SSNI) recently soared on earnings, it also plunged yesterday�after loosing�out on important contract ��meaning it might be time to take a closer look at it along with other smart metering stocks like Itron, Inc (NASDAQ: ITRI) or Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) to see if they are smart investments.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading DOWN
    Shares of Silver Spring Networks (NYSE: SSNI) were down 23.66 percent to $17.91 after the company issued downbeat Q4 forecast. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Outperform to Neutral and cut the price target from $26.00 to $23.00.

Top 5 Diversified Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Safran SA (SAFRY.PK)

Safran SA is a France-based high-technology company which produces aircraft and rocket engines and propulsion systems. It divides its work into three segments: Aerospace, Aircraft, Defense and Security. The Aerospace Propulsion division provides engines, turbines and parts for aircraft, and rocket boosters for civil, military and spatial markets through several subsidiaries, including Snecma, among others. The Aircraft Equipment division produces landing gear, wheels and carbon brakes, aircraft engine nacelles and airborne power electronics through its subsidiaries, including Aircelle, among others. The Defense division includes the subsidiary, Sagem, and makes systems and equipment for inertial navigation and other defense applications to be used on military transport and combat aircraft, helicopters, warships, armored vehicles and artillery systems. In October 2013, the Company completed the sale of its United States-based subsidiary, Global Motors Inc to Allied Motion Inc. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Daniel Lauchheimer]

    Currently, three main companies supply security equipment to the TSA - Safran (SAFRY.PK), Smiths (SMGKF.PK), and Level-3 Holdings (LLL). All three of these companies sell the whole range of their products to the TSA, with an ETD offering included. Recently, however, a new company, Implant Sciences Corporation (IMSC.PK) received approval from the TSA to begin selling their ETD equipment to airport security professionals. This approval has opened the door for IMSC to begin taking some market share away from the more established players in the US and beyond.

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