In addition to the fact that Canadian stocks generally offer much higher yields than their US counterparts, US investors have also found the Canadian market attractive because of the country�� economic resilience amid the Global Financial Crisis.
Recognition of that relative strength, along with Canada�� resource riches and conservative financial system, helped boost the Canadian dollar above parity with the US dollar for much of� 2011 and 2012.
And while the loonie finally sold off last year, that hasn�� stopped the world�� central banks from continuing to add Canadian dollar-denominated debt to their reserves.
A reserve currency is a currency that is held in significant quantities, usually in the form of highly rated government bonds or bills, by governments and institutions as part of their foreign exchange reserves, which they use to help facilitate international trade.
Top 10 Trucking Companies To Watch In Right Now: Southwestern Energy Company(SWN)
Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas and crude oil in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream Services. The Exploration and Production segment involves in the development of an unconventional gas reservoir located on the Arkansas side of the Arkoma Basin, as well as exploration and production activities in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. This segment also conducts conventional drilling programs in the Arkoma Basin; and development drilling and exploration programs in the Oklahoma portion of the Arkoma Basin, as well as in Texas and Pennsylvania. In addition, it operates drilling rigs in the Fayetteville Shale play, as well as in other operating areas; and explores for natural gas and crude oil under 32 licenses in New Brunswick, Canada. The Midstream Services segment engages in gathering, marketing, and transportin g natural gas in Arkansas, Texas, and Pennsylvania. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s estimated proved natural gas and oil reserves were approximately 4,937 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent. Southwestern Energy Company was founded in 1929 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe]
In some senses, the frenzied exploration for shale oil and gas in the U.S., which is reminiscent of the gold rush, is coming to a close. Now that companies have gone out and staked their claims on landholdings, their next focus will be on optimizing the process of getting oil from the ground and to the market. Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN ) vice president Jim Tramudo stated at the recent EIA energy conference that this shift represents the�"end of the first quarter" in the shale resource game.
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: Gentium SpA(GENT)
Gentium S.p.A., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and manufacture of its primary product candidate, defibrotide, an investigational drug based on a mixture of single-stranded and double-stranded DNA extracted from pig intestines. It develops defibrotide for the treatment and prevention of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), a condition that occurs when veins in the liver are blocked as a result of cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation, that are administered prior to stem cell transplantation. The company has completed a Phase III clinical trial of defibrotide for the treatment of severe VOD in the United States, Canada, and Israel; and a Phase II/III pediatric trial in Europe for the prevention of VOD. It also offers sulglicotide that is developed from swine duodenum, and has ulcer healing and gastrointestinal protective properties in South Korea; and urokinase, which is made from human urine to treat various vascular disorders, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. The company was formerly known as Pharma Research S.r.L. and changed its name to Gentium S.p.A. in July 2001. Gentium S.p.A. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Villa Guardia, Italy.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
A parabolic problem
It has also been a year to remember for shareholders of biopharmaceutical company Gentium (NASDAQ: GENT ) whose share price has catapulted approximately 600% off its lows thanks to growth in its lead drug Defibrotide (known as Defitelio in the European Union).
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: Trex Company Inc.(TREX)
Trex Company, Inc. manufactures and distributes wood/plastic composite products, and related accessories primarily for the residential and commercial decking and railing applications in the United States. The company offers decking products, including Trex Transcend and Trex Enhance protective shells for protection against fading, staining, and scratching; Trex Accents that provides a smooth surface on one side and subtle wood grain on the other; Trex Escapes, a cellular PVC deck board; and Trex Hideaway, a hidden fastening system for specially grooved boards. It also provides railing products comprising Trex Designer Series Railing, which consists of a decorative top and bottom rail, refined balusters, and post caps and skirts; and Trex Transcend Railing for use with Trex decking products, as well as other decking materials. In addition, the company offers Trex Transcend Porch Flooring and Railing System, an integrated system of porch components and accessories; and fenci ng products, such as Trex Seclusions fencing product that uses interlocking pickets for privacy, and Trex Surroundings fencing that uses traditional pickets. Further, it provides TrexTrim product, a cellular PVC residential exterior trim product; steel deck framing systems under Trex Elevations name; and Trex DeckLighting, a line of energy-efficient LED dimmable deck lighting, which is designed for use on posts, floors, and steps. Additionally, the company acts as a licensor in various licensing agreements with third parties to manufacture and sell various products, including Trex Outdoor Furniture; Trex RainEscape, an above joist deck drainage system; Trex CustomCurve, an on-site system that allows contractors to heat and bend Trex products; and Trex Pergolas, a cellular PVC trim product. The company sells its products through wholesale distributors, retail lumber dealers, and Home Depot and Lowe?s stores. Trex Company, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Winc hester, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Alamy There are plenty of stocks going up -- and down -- in any given week. The gainers inspire us to keep investing. The decliners keep greed in check while reminding us about the risks of the equity markets. Let's go over some of last week's best and worst performers. Pike (PIKE) -- Up 49 percent last week The market's biggest winner of last week was Pike, a specialty construction and engineering firm that received a bid to be taken private. J. Eric Pike -- the firm's chairman and CEO -- is teaming up with private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners to buy out shareholders at $12 a share. It's a fair premium, pricing the buyout at a better than 50 percent premium to where the stock was trading when it was announced. A few attorneys are trying to smoke out investors who feel that the CEO-led privatization push isn't fair, but it's likely to stick at that kind of healthy markup. Pike shares may have traded in the low teens last summer, but that was before revenue and earnings began heading the wrong way. Most shareholders should be more than happy to take the money and run. RadNet (RDNT) -- Up 34 percent last week Operating a network of 251 facilities that perform outpatient diagnostic imaging services is looking good for RadNet. The stock moved sharply higher after a strong quarterly report. Revenue inched slighting higher as MRI and CT scan volume increased modestly during the period. However, the real star in the report was RadNet's bottom line. Its cost-cutting and debt-slashing efforts paid off with net income soaring to $0.12 a share after clocking in at a $0.07 a share a year earlier. Analysts were only holding out for $0.05 a share. RadNet also helped improve its standing by boosting its guidance for all of 2014. You don't need any of RadNet's fancy imaging equipment to see that that's a healthy sign. Trex (TREX) -- Up 25 percent last week It was a good week for a pair of home improvement specialists. Shares of CaesarStone (CSTE) moved 20
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Paul Sakuma/AP There were plenty of winners and losers this week, with a few potential mergers coming undone and a maker of electronic learning toys getting schooled. Here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders. Trex (TREX) -- Winner It's summer, and apparently a lot of homeowners decided to invest in sprucing up their outdoor living space. Trex posted strong quarterly results on Monday. The leading maker of weather-resistant wood-alternative decking saw its sales climb 23 percent, and adjusted pre-tax earnings soared 62 percent. There was some weakness earlier this earnings season out of other home improvement specialists, so it's a welcome surprise to see Trex holding up so well. The good news doesn't end there. Trex is eyeing accelerating growth, calling for revenue to climb a better than expected 27 percent in the current quarter. Mergers -- Loser In any week there seems to be a couple of acquisitions or mergers, but sometimes Cupid isn't feeling up to the arrow-slinging task. A couple of big potential buyouts came undone this week when Rupert Murdoch pulled his offer to buy out Time Warner (TWX), and Sprint (S) nixed plans to snap up T-Mobile (TMUS). The deals fell apart for different reasons. Murdoch just didn't have an interest in chasing Time Warner's stock higher in a hostile buyout bid. Sprint realized that regulators weren't going to be happy unless there were four major independent wireless carriers out there. Instant Gratification -- Winner Amazon.com (AMZN) announced on Wednesday that it was expanding its same-day delivery service to six more cities. Prime shoppers in Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, metro areas will now be able to place an order on the website by noon and pay $5.99 to have it delivered that same day. Naturally the selection is limited to items that Amazon stocks locally, but the one knock on Amazon about having to wait a day or two at least for shipme
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: Unione di Banche Italiane ScpA (BPD)
Unione di Banche Italiane Scpa is an Italy-based holding company engaged in the governance, control, coordination and support of Unione di Banche Italiane Group. The Company�� activities are divided into three business segments. The Banking sector comprises of nine network banks of the Group, including IW Bank SpA, Banque de Depots et de Gestione SA and UBI International SA. The Non-banking financial sector includes Centrobanca SpA, Ubi Leasing SpA, Ubi Factor SpA, Ubi Pramerica SGR SpA, Banca 24-7 SpA, Silf SpA, Prestitalia SpA, Ubi Fiduciaria SpA and UBI Gestioni Fiduciarie SIM SpA. The Corporate Centre segment comprises UBI Banca Scpa and Ubi Sistemi e Servizi Scpa, among others. The Company is engaged in the corporate banking, consumer credit, asset management, factoring, leasing, life and non-life bancassurance sectors, among others. On May 6, 2013, it completed merger of Centrobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario e Mobiliare SpA into the Company. Advisors' Opinion:- [By April Yee]
In its annual outlook, released this month, Opec said demand for its crude would dip to between 28 million and 29.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2018, from 30.3 million bpd today.
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: Neogenomics Inc (NEO)
NeoGenomics, Inc. (NeoGenomics) operates a network of cancer-focused testing laboratories. The Company offers testing services, including Cytogenetics testing, which is the study of normal and abnormal chromosomes and their relationship to disease; fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) testing, which is a branch of cancer genetics that focuses on detecting and locating the presence or absence of specific deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences and genes on chromosomes; flow cytometry testing, which is a way to measure the characteristics of cell populations; immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing, this is the process of identifying cell proteins in a tissue section utilizing the principle of antibodies binding specifically to antigens, and molecular testing, which is a cancer diagnostic tool focusing on the analysis of DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA), as well as the structure and function of genes at a molecular level.
The cancer testing services, that the Company offers to community-based pathologists are designed to be a natural extension of, and complementary to, the services that they perform within their own practices. In areas where the Company does not provide services to community-based pathology practices, it may directly serve oncology, dermatology, urology and other clinician practices that prefer to have a direct relationship with a laboratory for cancer-related genetic and molecular testing services. NeoGenomics services these types of clients with a global service offering where it performs both the technical and professional components of the tests ordered.
The Company offers tech-only flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry testing services. These types of testing services generally allow the professional interpretation component of a test to be billed separately from the technical component. Its NeoFISH, NeoFLOW and other tech-only service offerings allow properly trained and credentialed community-based pathologists to extend their own practices by performing ! professional interpretations services.
The Company's tech-only services are designed to give pathologists the option to choose, on a case by case basis, whether they want to order just the technical information and images relating to a specific test so they can perform the professional interpretation, or order global services and receive a test report, which includes a NeoGenomics Pathologist�� interpretation of the test results.
The Company also offers a set of global services to meet the needs of those clients who are not credentialed and trained in interpreting genetic tests and who are looking for specialists to interpret the testing results for them. In its global service offerings, its lab performs the technical component of the tests and its doctor of medicine (M.D.s) and doctor of philosophy (Ph.D) s to provide the interpretation services. Its genetic pathology solutions (GPS) report summarizes all relevant case data from its global services on one summary report.
The Company competes with General Electric Healthcare Services and Novartis, A.G.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
One way or the other, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MACK), Covidien plc (NYSE: COV), NeoGenomics, Inc (NASDAQ: NEO) and�CollabRx Inc (NASDAQ: CLRX) are targeting Barrett's Esophagus�or�esophageal cancer�(the former often leads to the latter) ��a form of cancer that may not be on the top of your list of cancers but is nevertheless on the rise. Approximately 3 million Americans suffer from Barrett's Esophagus, �a condition that�develops as a result of chronic injury from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) where the�normal esophageal lining is replaced with abnormal cells (known as Barrett�� tissue), putting patients at greater risk of developing cancer of the esophagus. And although less than 1% of these patients develop cancer each year, esophageal carcinoma is frequently not detected until later stages, at which point therapy options are limited, extremely invasive, and often ineffective.�This means that�early detection is important�along with�regular surveillance is recommended.�
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc.(SCLN)
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. engages in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of oncology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular, urological, respiratory, and central nervous system disorders in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. Its principal product is ZADAXIN for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, and certain cancers, as well as for use as a vaccine adjuvant or as a chemotherapy adjuvant for cancer patients with weakened immune systems. ZADAXIN has approval in approximately 30 countries, primarily China, the Pacific Rim, Latin America, eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The company markets and sells ZADAXIN principally through its distributors. It is also developing SCV-07, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of oral mucositis and hepatitis C virus. In addition, the company markets partnered products in China, including Depakine, an anti-convulsant; Tritace, an ACE inhibitor for the treatment of hypertension; Stilnox, a hypnotic for the short-term treatment of insomnia; and Aggrastat, a cardiology product. SciClone Pharmaceuticals also has commercialization rights for DC Bead, a product candidate for the treatment of advanced liver cancer in China, as well as for ondansetron RapidFilm, an oral thin film formulation of ondansetron to treat and prevent nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery in China and Vietnam. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SCLN) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.15 per share on revenue of $38.30 million.
Essex Rental (NASDAQ: ESSX) is projected to post a Q4 loss at $0.10 per share on revenue of $22.55 million.
- [By Eric Volkman]
SciClone (NASDAQ: SCLN ) has a new man leading its finance team. The company announced that it hired Wilson Cheung to be its new CFO. Cheung is a longtime executive who most recently served as chief compliance officer, Asia Pacific, at digital marketing agency Velti, following a stint as that company's CFO. Before that, he was CFO and corporate secretary at AXT (NASDAQ: AXTI ) and served in various managerial positions in firms such as KPMG and Yahoo!
Top 10 International Stocks To Buy For 2014: Toll Brothers Inc.(TOL)
Toll Brothers, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, and arranges finance for single-family detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities. It is also involved in building or converting existing rental apartment buildings into high-, mid-, and low-rise luxury homes. In addition, the company develops, owns, and operates golf courses and country clubs associated with various planned communities, as well as individual communities. It serves move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, age-qualified, and second-home buyers in 19 states in the United States. Toll Brothers, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Maxfield]
Given the centrality of the housing market to the national economy, the significance of these results can't be overstated. It's worth noting, moreover, that they provide further confirmation of the growing profitability of homebuilders. Yesterday, for example, the nation's largest luxury homebuilder, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL ) , released earnings for its fiscal second quarter. Among other things, it notched a 36% improvement in net signed contracts on a year-over-year basis. On the heels of today's news, shares of the company are up 2%.
- [By John Maxfield]
Shares of homebuilders are trading lower on the news thanks presumably to the sequential price comparison. At the time of writing, D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI ) is off by 1.15%, PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM ) by 1.55%, Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN ) by 3.66%, and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL ) by 3.46%. While all of these companies have seen their volumes pick up over the past year, we should know a lot more about the current environment tomorrow, with the release of earnings from D.R. Horton and PutleGroup, the nation's two largest homebuilders.
- [By Markos Kaminis]
Some of this change may be due to improving segments of the economy. The real estate recovery has led many homebuilders to discover that a dearth of construction workers exists, as many moved on to other pursuits. As a result, and as I heard from a Toll Brothers (TOL) representative in February, pay in the construction industry is not so bad right now, and could be serving as a draw of the unaccounted for unemployed back into the hunt for jobs. Also, some of the increase could be due to teenagers and recent graduates looking for summer jobs or full-time work. And many senior citizens are being pulled back into the workforce because of financial need. Like I stated previously, when you apply for food stamps or enter the welfare program, you once again report your unemployment, and a good many Americans are probably doing that today.
- [By Susan J. Aluise]
A�rebounding construction market drove rival Toll Brothers (TOL), which reported earnings last Wednesday, to double its quarterly profit. The same trends should positively impact LEN stock, but with a bonus: Last year, LEN revealed it was allocating $1 billion to building apartments in high-growth — and high rent — areas.� Many of the new communities offer luxury amenities such as stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and resort-style pools and fitness centers –�directly catering to the new generation of renters.
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