In recent weeks, I've talked at length about the narrowing of the market advance -- namely, that the bull market isn't over, but it is getting much more selective.
Large investors that have the firepower to move stocks up or down are selling lower-quality stocks and concentrating on those with the strongest fundamentals. This is starting to show up in consumer-related stocks.
It seems consumers are focusing on only the best stores with the products and services that best fit their needs. They have not stopped shopping, as retail sales have been reasonably steady and consumer confidence showed gains last month -- they have simply become more selective about where they shop and how they spend their money.
Also, it is important to resist the urge to pick a bottom in retail stocks that fall out of favor, because once you begin to lose your customer base it can take a long time to regain consumers' confidence.
Top 5 Quality Stocks For 2014: Vermillion Inc.(VRML)
Vermillion, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostics tests that help physicians to diagnose, treat, and improve outcomes for patients. It develops diagnostic tests in the fields of oncology, hematology, cardiology, and women?s health with the initial focus on ovarian cancer. The company?s lead product includes OVA1, an ovarian tumor triage test that enables pre-surgical identification of women who are at high risk of having a malignant ovarian tumor. It is also developing various programs in other clinical aspects of ovarian cancer, as well as in peripheral arterial disease. The company has strategic alliance agreement with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated; and collaborations with various academic and research institutions to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests. It serves clinical reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, and physician offices. The company was formerly known as Ciphergen B iosystems, Inc. and changed its name to Vermillion, Inc. in August 2007. Vermillion, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
It's not an uncommon situation. While investors are scouring the news (or lack thereof) from a company, they're not paying much attention to the stock itself. Big mistake, as stocks can and do have a life of their own, sometimes independently of the company. Vermillion, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRML) is the most recent example of this alarming disconnect. While news from the company of late has been fairly benign and a little non-existent, shares of VRML has been inching towards a key technical line in the sand that if crossed under could spark a fairly rapid selloff.
Top 5 Quality Stocks For 2014: Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NVMI)
Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, produces, and sells integrated process control metrology systems and stand-alone metrology solutions used in the manufacturing process of semiconductors. Its metrology systems measure various thin film properties and critical circuit dimensions during various steps in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The company provides metrology systems for thin film measurement that is used in chemical mechanical polishing and chemical vapor deposition applications; optical CD and metal line thickness systems for use in post-copper chemical mechanical polishing applications; and optical critical dimension systems for lithography and etches applications. It also offers integrated thickness monitoring systems for chemical mechanical polishing process control that enable wafer-to-wafer closed loop control. The company serves various sectors of the integrated circuit manufacturing industry, including logic, ASIC, foundries, and memory manufactures, as well as process equipment manufacturers. Instruments Ltd. sells its products in the United States, Europe, Japan, and rest of the Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel.
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 Nova Measuring Instruments (Nasdaq: NVMI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Kansas City Southern (KSU)
Kansas City Southern, through its subsidiaries, engages primarily in the freight rail transportation business. It operates north/south rail between Kansas City, Missouri, and various ports along the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in the midwest and southeast regions of the United States. The company also operates direct rail passageway between Mexico City and Laredo in Texas, serving various Mexico?s industrial cities and 3 of its shipping ports; and a 157-mile rail line extending from Laredo, Texas to the port city of Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as owns the northern half of the rail bridge at Laredo, Texas. In addition, Kansas City Southern holds a concession to operate a 47-mile railroad located adjacent to the Panama Canal, as well as operates and promotes commuter and tourist passenger services. Further, the company operates a bulk materials handling facility with deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico at Port Arthur, Texas that stores and transfers petroleum coke from rail cars to ships primarily for export; and a railroad wood tie treatment facility. It serves customers conducting business in various industries, including electric-generating utilities, chemical and petroleum products, industrial and consumer products, agriculture and mineral products, automotive products, and intermodal freight transportation. The company was formerly known as Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Kansas City Southern in 2002. Kansas City Southern was founded in 1962 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri.
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 Monica Gerson]
Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.11 per share on revenue of $622.27 million.
Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.19 per share on revenue of $3.76 billion.
Top 5 Quality Stocks For 2014: Williams-Sonoma Inc.(WSM)
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of home products. It offers culinary and serving equipment, including cookware, cookbooks, cutlery, informal dinnerware, glassware, table linens, specialty foods, and cooking ingredients; and bridal and gift items under the Williams-Sonoma brand name. The company also provides home furnishing categories, including furniture, textiles, decorative accessories, lighting, and tabletop items under the West Elm brand name; bed and bath products under the Pottery Barn brand name; and children?s furnishings and accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand name. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. sells its home products through four retail store concepts, which include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm; six direct-mail catalogs that comprise Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed and Bath, PBteen, and West Elm; and six e-commerce Websites, which consist of williams-sonoma.com, potte rybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com, pbteen.com, westelm.com, and wshome.com. As of January 30, 2011, it operated 592 stores, including 260 Williams-Sonoma, 193 Pottery Barn, 85 Pottery Barn Kids, 36 West Elm, and 18 outlet stores located in 44 states of the United States; Washington, D.C.; Canada; and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chris Hill]
In this installment, Motley Fool One analyst Jason Moser explains why he's watching Joy Global (NYSE: JOY ) . And Motley Fool Asset Management's Tim Hanson explains why he's watching Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM ) .
- [By Sue Chang]
After Wednesday�� closing bell, Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) �reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings of $1.38 a share and announced an increase in quarterly dividend to 33 cents a share from 31 cents a share. Shares of Williams-Sonoma rose more than 6% in after-hours trading.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
World Point Terminals L.P. (NYSE: WPT) was initiated as Outperform with a $23 price target at Credit Suisse.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Bed Bath & Beyond stands to benefit from the upturn in the housing market that we've seen recently. Already, rival Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM ) , which operates the higher-end Pottery Barn home-furnishings chain, reported extremely strong sales, with its West Elm division showing the strongest results. With Pier 1 (NYSE: PIR ) also having shown signs of benefiting from the booming market, Bed Bath & Beyond should finally enjoy some macroeconomic tailwinds to support its results.
Top 5 Quality Stocks For 2014: SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc.(SSNC)
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. provides software products and software-enabled services to financial services providers primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. Its software products and services allows its clients to automate and integrate front-office functions, such as trading and modeling; middle-office functions, including portfolio management and reporting; and back-office functions comprising accounting, performance measurement, reconciliation, reporting, processing, and clearing. The company?s products and services comprise management/accounting, real-time trading systems, treasury operations, financial modeling, loan management/accounting, property management, money market processing, and training products. Its software-enabled services consist of financial data acquisition, transformation, and delivery services; and business process outsourcing investment accounting and investment operations, hosting of its application softw are, automated workflow integration, automated quality control mechanisms, and interface and connectivity services. The company also offers on- and offshore fund administration services; outsourced administration services and software; real-time trade matching utility and delivery instruction database; securities data services; and broker-neutral and platform-neutral connectivity services. It serves institutional asset management, alternative investment management, and financial institutions vertical markets, as well as commercial lenders, corporate treasury groups, insurance and pension funds, municipal finance groups, and real estate property managers. The company was formerly known as Sunshine Acquisition Corporation and changed its name to SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. in June 2007. SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of SS&C Technologies (NASDAQ: SSNC ) have skyrocketed by as much as 10% today after the company posted record first-quarter results.
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