Best ETFs For Trading: International

&l;em&g;These 26 funds are the lowest in cost for positions held three months.&a;nbsp;&l;/em&g;

&l;img class=&q; wp-image-7544 size-full&q; src=&q;http://blogs-images.forbes.com/baldwin/files/2018/07/Forbes-Best-ETFs.jpg?width=960&q; alt=&q;&q; data-height=&q;788&q; data-width=&q;940&q;&g;

Funds holding foreign securities haven&s;t done terribly well in recent years, but if you want to bet on a reversal of fortune, the exchange-traded funds in this table are the cheap way to do it. You can hold a $10,000 position in any of them for three months at a cost of $10 or less. The best operators get your cost down to $2.

Costs reflect bid/ask spreads, expense ratios charged by the fund vendor and any offsets to those expenses from securities lending revenue.

&l;div class=&q;table-wrapper&q;&g;&l;table width=&q;531&q;&g;&l;tbody&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;331&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;3&q; width=&q;72&q;&g;3-month Holding Cost*&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;2&q; width=&q;64&q;&g;Liquidity Score&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Ticker&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Exchange-traded fund&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Diversified&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VEA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;$2.05&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEFA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.46&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VSS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.51&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VEU&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.40&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SPDW&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Portfolio World ex-US&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.68&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHF&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab International Equity&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.96&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VT&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total World Stock&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.04&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IXUS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.60&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VXUS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total International Stock&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.40&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCZ&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.85&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;EFAV&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;7.62&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;ACWI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI ACWI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.94&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHC&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab International Small-Cap Eq&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.95&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IDEV&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Intl Dev Mkts&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.96&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;EFA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.17&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Regional&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VGK&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Europe&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.00&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VPL&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Pacific&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.89&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEUR&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Europe&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.16&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;FEZ&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR EURO Stoxx 50&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.48&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Emerging&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEMG&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1.92&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VWO&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.62&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab Emerging Markets Equity&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;6.76&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SPEM&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.20&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Other&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;BNDX&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total International Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.64&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VNQI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Global ex-US Real Est&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.95&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;THD&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI Thailand Capped&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.81&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;/tbody&g;&l;/table&g;&l;/div&g;

*&l;em&g;Cost of a $10,000 position held for three months. Reflects bid/ask spread, expense ratio and cost offset from securities lending.&l;/em&g;

&l;em&g;Data sources: Morningstar, Bloomberg, fund distributors&l;/em&g;

Over longer holding periods, different ETFs rise to the top in cost efficiency. To see rankings for ten-year investments, see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-for-investors-2018/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs for Investors 2018&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.

For links to the three-month scores in different categories, see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/08/02/best-etfs-for-trading/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs for Trading&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.

What Happened in the Stock Market Today

Stocks opened higher Wednesday but fell during the session, apparently due once again to trade concerns. The�Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI)�and the�S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC)�had modest losses.�

Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change

Dow	(0.32%)	(81.37)
S&P 500	(0.10%)	(2.93)

Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

Technology shares led the market, with the�Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT:VGT)�advancing 1.2%. Crude oil prices moved lower, dragging down the energy sector; the�Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT:XLE) fell 1.4%.

As for individual stocks, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed at a record high after wowing investors with results from its latest quarter, and Pandora Media (NYSE:P) soared on higher paid subscriptions.

Image source: Getty Images.

Apple jumps on strong iPhone sales and services growth

Shares of Apple hit all-time highs, breaking through the $200 level and closing up 5.9%, after the tech titan�announced fiscal third-quarter results�powered by sales of high-priced iPhones and the growth of its services business. Sales grew 17% to $53.3 billion and earnings per share soared 40% to $2.67. Analysts were expecting EPS of $2.18 on sales of $52.3 billion.

Unit sales of iPhones rose 0.7% in the quarter, but iPhone revenue was up 20% to $29.9 billion, thanks to an average selling price of $724 compared with $606 in the period a year earlier. iPad and Mac sales each fell 5%, but services revenue boomed 31% to $9.55 billion and now amounts to 18% of total revenue. The company's Other Products segment, which includes the Apple Watch, grew sales by 37% to $3.74 billion.

"We're thrilled to report Apple's best June quarter ever, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth," said CEO Tim Cook. "Our Q3 results were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline."

Looking forward, Apple guided to Q4 revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion, which is above the analyst consensus. Given the strength of Apple's business heading into rumored iPhone model launches in the fall and the holiday season, it's no wonder the market capitalization of the company flirted with the $1 trillion level today.

Pandora grows paid subscribers

Shares of Pandora soared 14.7% after the music-streaming specialist reported revenue that beat expectations due to an increase of paid subscribers. Revenue of $384.8 million exceeded the analyst consensus forecast of $373 million, and was up 12% excluding discontinued operations. Non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.15, which was $0.01 less than expected.

Advertising revenue declined 2.6% to $271 million, but subscription revenue increased 65% to $114 million. Pandora added 351,000 new paid subscribers in the quarter for a total of 6 million, a 23% increase from the period a year earlier. The number of active listeners fell by 1.2% from the previous quarter to 71.4 million and the total listening hours increased 2.6% sequentially to 5.09 billion. Gross margin was 33%, down from 37% in the period last year.

Investors were most impressed with Pandora's ability to grow its paid membership base, but it's also investing heavily in the ad-supported side of its business. This quarter the company closed on its AdsWizz acquisition and launched its audio programmatic platform. Revenue per ad impression improved to $68.75 from $66.15 a year ago and $55.52 last quarter.�

Pandora faces stiff competition from the likes of Apple and newly public Spotify, but results announced today indicate that it's making progress on its turnaround.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now

tags:MMP,WPZ,COP,WLL,RRC,

November 30, 2017: The S&P 500 closed up 0.8% at 2,647.55. The DJIA closed up 1.4% at 24,272.56. Separately, the Nasdaq was up 0.7% at 6,873.97.

Thursday was an absolutely incredible day for broad�U.S. markets. The Dow again cruised to new highs closing above the 24,000 mark for the first time ever and the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high as well. Crude oil started out positive but faded over the course of the day. The S&P 500 sectors were practically all positive in the session. The best performing sectors were consumer staples, industrials, and energy, up 0.9%, 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively. The worst performing sector was real estate up only 0.1%.

Crude oil was relatively flat at $57.28.

Gold was down 0.7% at $1,277.70.

The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) which traded down about 6% at $27.76. The stock��s 52-week range is $23.87 to $30.96. Volume was 32 million versus the daily average of 5.7 million shares.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Magellan Midstream Partners L.P.(MMP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Bromels]

  Magellan Midstream Partners�(NYSE:MMP),�Royal Dutch Shell�(NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B), and�Darling Ingredients�(NYSE:DAR)�are three energy industry companies that are safe bets to buy and then forget about all summer long.�

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) Q1 2018 Earnings Conference CallMay. 3, 2018 1:30 p.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  In the meantime, Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) is working on a 600,000 BPD pipeline in the region that could be in service by the middle of next year. Magellan is currently evaluating other options such as a joint venture that could optimize the project, which might shift the time frame and scale of the project. In addition, Magellan is eyeing a potential oil export dock in Corpus Christi, Texas, which it sees as an ideal landing spot for crude coming out of the Permian. The up-to-$700 million project could be up and running by 2020 and give Permian producers access to higher global oil prices. Projects like those potentially position Magellan to continue increasing its 5.4%-yielding distribution at a mid-single-digit annual rate for the next several years.

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer, Travis Hoium, and Chuck Saletta]

  Often a high yield is an indication of a stock that's facing some sort of trouble -- but not always. If you take the time, you can find high-yield stocks worth buying if you look in the right places. For example, decidedly low-tech�Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR), beaten-up midstream player�Magellan Midstream Partners, LP�(NYSE:MMP), and renewable power-focused TerraForm Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERP) come from vastly different industries. However, each of these high-yield stocks has a solid business and good growth prospects.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market stayed in a pretty narrow range on Thursday, climbing early in the session but then slowly drifting lower through the afternoon hours. In the absence of major news, investors largely looked forward to key events like trade negotiations among the world's largest economies. Other financial markets saw mixed moves as well, with 10-year Treasury yields climbing above 3.1% while oil prices stayed comfortably above $70 per barrel. Despite the quiet day, some companies had good news that pushed their shares sharply higher. World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE), Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), and Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in Williams Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE:WPZ) by 27.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,682 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 14,458 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Williams Pipeline Partners were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Williams Partners (WPZ)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  There's an interesting dichotomy here, however. Crestwood was looking to stay financially disciplined, but it also needed to invest to grow. Doing both at the same time is difficult, which is why it partnered up with Con Ed in the Marcellus region, Shell Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:SHLX) and First Reserve in the Delaware Basin, and Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) in the Powder River basin. These agreements allow Crestwood to keep expanding its business without having to foot the entire bill for the investments.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Oil prices have been on fire over the past year and recently topped $70 a barrel, which is the highest crude has been since late 2014. That rally in the oil market has helped fuel big-time gains in many oil stocks. Three that stand out are Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC), Hess (NYSE:HES), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) because each has risen more than 20% this year. They might still have additional upside from here given that all three plan on spending billions of dollars to buy back more of their stock.

• [By Chris Lange]

  The number of ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) shares short decreased to 23.15 million from the previous level of 24.60 million. Shares were trading at $52.55, within a 52-week range of $42.27 to $61.32.

• [By Rich Smith]

  And yet, a funny thing has been happening in the market for oil stocks over this past week. All of a sudden, Wall Street analysts are talking up free cash flow as a reason to buy oil stocks. In fact, they can't seem to shut up about it. Over just the past few days, I've seen free cash flow mentioned prominently in the analyses of Wall Street bankers on no fewer than three separate oil stocks: ExxonMobil, Chevron (NYSE:CVX), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Whiting Petroleum Corporation(WLL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE:WLL) – Equities research analysts at Piper Jaffray Companies lifted their Q2 2018 earnings estimates for Whiting Petroleum in a research note issued on Sunday, May 20th. Piper Jaffray Companies analyst K. Harrison now forecasts that the oil and gas exploration company will earn $0.85 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.33. Piper Jaffray Companies currently has a “Hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies also issued estimates for Whiting Petroleum’s Q3 2018 earnings at $0.97 EPS, Q4 2018 earnings at $1.16 EPS, FY2018 earnings at $3.90 EPS, Q1 2019 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q2 2019 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q3 2019 earnings at $1.47 EPS, Q4 2019 earnings at $1.59 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $6.24 EPS.

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the details of DFT Energy LP's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=DFT+Energy+LP

  These are the top 5 holdings of DFT Energy LPWhiting Petroleum Corp (WLL) - 400,000 shares, 18.19% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 2.56%Hess Corp (HES) - 170,000 shares, 11.57% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 30.77%Noble Energy Inc (NBL) - 200,000 shares, 8.15% of the total portfolio. Southwestern Energy Co (SWN) - 1,360,000 shares, 7.92% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 4.62%Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC)
• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Friday was a down day on Wall Street, but losses were generally small, and the market closed well above its lowest levels of the session. Initially, investors seemed concerned about further trade tensions between the U.S. and China, but upon further reflection, they appeared to draw comfort from considerable fundamental strength from key sectors of the industrial economy. Even with the overall market recovering from earlier weakness, some stocks still posted substantial declines. Whiting Petroleum (NYSE:WLL), Global Blood Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GBT), and First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Penn Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 318,157 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,783,000.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $56 from $45 (versus a $50.78 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the thirty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.58.

Top 5 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,421 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,839 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) fell about 3.6% Monday to post a new 52-week low of $14.77 after closing at $15.30 on Friday. The 52-week high is $35.64. Volume of about 9.4 million was about 20% higher than the daily average of around 7.7 million shares traded. The company had no specific news.

• [By Tyler Crowe, Matthew DiLallo, and Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  So we asked three of our investing contributors to each highlight a company they think has a compelling investment case right now in the oil and gas industry. Here's why they selected Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), Range Resources (NYSE:RRC), and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM).

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Media headlines about Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) have been trending somewhat positive on Saturday, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than twenty million news and blog sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Range Resources earned a daily sentiment score of 0.07 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave media headlines about the oil and gas exploration company an impact score of 46.3371462950661 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near future.

Snapchat's Still Suffering at the Hands of Instagram

Ever since Instagram rolled out its Stories feature a couple years ago, Snap (NYSE:SNAP) has seen an impact on Snapchat user growth. But it's not just users that prefer Instagram Stories over Snap's -- it's advertisers, too. Ninety percent of marketers prefer advertising on Instagram Stories instead of Snapchat Stories, according to a recent survey from Cowen. That's actually a slight improvement from the beginning of the year.

More importantly, nearly half of all marketers in the survey said they spent less than anticipated on Snapchat ads during the first half of the year. Instagram, meanwhile, saw its spending intentions increase overall among the marketers surveyed.

With 1 billion total monthly users on Instagram, twice as many using Instagram Stories on a daily basis compared to Snapchat, and the power of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) behind it, Instagram probably isn't done putting pressure on Snap's revenue.

Image source: Instagram.

Stories ads are just getting started

Stories ads are a relatively new format for marketers. Snapchat's only been doing it for two years, and Instagram started offering ads in Stories last March. On Facebook's fourth-quarter earnings call earlier this year, COO Sheryl Sandberg described ads in Stories as "a small but quickly growing part of our revenue."

With Instagram's strong user growth and the relatively low ad load in Stories, there's still a lot of room for Facebook to grow its ad inventory. That's important, as marketers might prefer Instagram for its superior content and targeting capabilities, but will opt for competitors if prices climb too quickly.

Instagram has historically seen between 60% and 67% of its users log into the app daily. That implies over 200 million users are logging into the app, but not clicking on Stories, every day. That's low-hanging fruit for Facebook to convert into additional Stories users. So Instagram can avoid increasing ad load for now if it can encourage more users to click on Stories. It's already taken additional steps to do so, displaying friends' Stories in the middle of the regular feed.

Instagram being in the early stages for ads within Stories is bad news for Snap, which has struggled with engagement in the first half of the year following a botched redesign of the Snapchat app. As long as Instagram continues to expand its ad inventory, that means the preference for Instagram will continue to pressure Snap's top-line growth.

What can Snap do?

Snap isn't going to overcome Instagram's advantages anytime soon. Its best course of action is to do what management says is its only option in a market where products are distributed quickly and freely: innovate.

To that end, Snap has an advantage in augmented reality capabilities, and it's reportedly using it to create visual search capabilities within Snapchat. The new feature would enable users to shop for items they see in the real world simply by pointing their smartphone camera at them. That could potentially enable Snap to do to Instagram what Instagram did to it. Instagram is notably frequently used for shopping.

A visual search product could reinvigorate engagement and open new marketing opportunities for Snap. It's certainly one of the more promising products in Snap's pipeline, as it has real potential to differentiate the company's app from Facebook and other social apps.

But until Snap finds a way to truly differentiate its products -- both consumer-facing and marketer-facing -- it will likely continue to suffer at the hands of Instagram and Facebook.

Buy Federal Bank; target of Rs 120: JM Financial

JM Financial's research report on Federal Bank

Federal Bank reported a strong quarter in 1QFY19, with PAT at INR 2.63bn (+8% above JMFe). The beat in net profit was primarily driven by strong NII growth (+22% YoY), as margins held up for FB. Credit cost was contained at 80bps for FB in 1QFY19, as slippages almost halved sequentially to 2.3% (annualised). Net stress on FB��s loan book (net NPA + other stress) is now at 2% of loans (from 2.3% as of 4QFY18). Management remains confident of containing slippages at INR 11-12bn in FY19E, with credit costs in the range of 65-70bps. Furthermore, FB is positive on its margin outlook, and expects this, along with the containment of credit cost will help it deliver 1% exit RoA by 4QFY19. We remain cautious on the margin outlook for FB and continue to build credit cost of 77bps/74bps in FY19E/FY20E. Our gross slippage expectation of 1.4%/1.2% over FY19E/20E is well below the 2.7% in FY18.

Outlook

We believe FB can deliver RoA/ RoE of 1%/13% in FY20E. Maintain BUY with unchanged TP.

For all recommendations report, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read More First Published on Jul 18, 2018 05:07 pm

Stocks in the news: Karnataka Bank, Ashoka Buildcon, HIL, Chambal Fertilisers, Omaxe

Here are the stocks that are in news today:�

Results Today:�Cyient and Karnataka Bank

Ex-Bonus: Ashoka Buildcon 1:2 and General Insurance 1:1

IDFC: Appoints Rinkoo Somani as interim chief financial officer.

related news Stocks in the news: TCS, Axis Bank, KEC International, IDBI Bank, HFCL, PNB Housing Stocks in the news: HCL Technologies, TCS, IndusInd Bank, Dish TV, SRF, Capital First Stocks in the news: Trigyn Tech, Ashok Leyland, Tata Steel, JP Associates, Fortis

HIL board approves acquisition of German firm through arm

Chambal Fertilisers: Board of directors of Inuva, which is a downstream subsidiary of the company, has approved voluntary winding up of the company under the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Inuva is not having any business operations.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries' subisidiary filed lawsuit against Biofrontera Inc. in USA

Fortis Healthcare board to consider fund raising on July 13

Coffee Day Enterprises: Material subsidiary of the company, Coffee Day Global (CDGL) entered into an agreement with UBER Portier.B.V wherein CDGL is partnering with UBER for obtaining technology services through the 'UberEats' mobile application in order to enable distribution of food products. This may help to augment the retail sale and the contract is for a period of five years.

Shree Cement subsidiary completed acquisition of 97.61% stake UCC

MRO-TEK Realty empaneled with Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) as a national systems integrator partner for enterprise business

Omaxe: Company has executed a Concession Agreement with North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) for the Redevelopment/Reconstruction of Multi level Car Parking at Gandhi Maidan, Delhi.

Satin Creditcare Network: Board has approved the proposal to transfer MSME business of the company to its wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), acquisition of 11,05,493 equity shares of subsidiary Taraashna Services from MV Mauritius.

Shree Ajit Pulp and Paper received export order of Rs 4.06 crore

Smartlink Network Systems: Company has extinguished equity shares in connection with the buyback of 56 lakh equity shares of Smartlink Holdings.

India Gylcols AGM to be held on August 4

MM Forgings approves to issue bonus shares in 1:1 ratio

IFCI revised its short term benchmark rate from 9% to 9.10% p.a. First Published on Jul 12, 2018 07:39 am

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now

tags:FCEL,PQ,ACHN,CNR,

Early on Monday, small cap�Namaste Technologies (OTCMKTS: NXTTF; CNSX: N) announced a Letter of Intent signed between wholly owned subsidiary Cannmart Inc and 7ACRES, a wholly owned subsidiary of Supreme Pharmaceuticals (OTCMKTS: SPRWF; TSXV: FIRE) who will provide Cannmart with a premium range of high quality dried cannabis flower which will be offered in the Company��s medical marketplace.

Supreme is focused on producing high quality cannabis through�curated genetics, quality focused cultivation practices and a post-harvest process that includes a 14-day whole plant drying process and hand finishing of each flower. Under the terms of the LOI, Namaste Technologies has committed to work with Supreme Pharmaceuticals as a preferred vendor as related to possible branded partnerships, in addition to supply for Namaste��s in-house branded medical cannabis, while�all Supreme cannabis will bear the 7ACRES producer��s mark.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap fuel cell stock�FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported Q4 and fiscal year ended October 31, 2017 earnings�with�Q4 total revenues�being $47.9 million versus $24.5 million:����

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Electro Scientific Industries (NASDAQ: ESIO) and FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) are both small-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) posted an increase of 8% in short interest during the two-week period. Some 7.45 million shares were short as of May 31. The stock’s price was $1.76 at Monday’s market close, a spike of about 1.1% for the day, within a 52-week range of $1.08 to $2.49. Shares traded up about 2.5% in the two-week short interest period, and the number of days to cover rose from 14 to 17.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) and HRG Group (NYSE:HRG) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) shares traded up 5.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $1.49 and last traded at $1.45. 12,581,855 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 983% from the average session volume of 1,161,380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.37.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  News headlines about Petroquest Energy (NYSE:PQ) have been trending somewhat positive recently, Accern Sentiment Analysis reports. Accern identifies negative and positive news coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -1 to 1, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Petroquest Energy earned a coverage optimism score of 0.05 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news stories about the energy company an impact score of 47.638327846877 out of 100, meaning that recent news coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the near future.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  News articles about Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACHN) have trended somewhat positive this week, Accern Sentiment reports. The research firm ranks the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than twenty million blog and news sources in real-time. Accern ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative one to positive one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Achillion Pharmaceuticals earned a media sentiment score of 0.16 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the biopharmaceutical company an impact score of 46.941587509483 out of 100, indicating that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the stock’s share price in the near term.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Skeptics might deride a comparison of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) and Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) as an exercise in finding the biggest loser. Both companies continue to post huge net losses every quarter, and their stocks are down by at least 30% over the last 12 months.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACHN) – Research analysts at B. Riley reduced their FY2018 EPS estimates for shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 2nd. B. Riley analyst M. Kumar now anticipates that the biopharmaceutical company will earn ($0.58) per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($0.55). B. Riley has a “Neutral” rating and a $3.50 price objective on the stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Achillion Pharmaceuticals’ FY2019 earnings at ($0.64) EPS, FY2020 earnings at ($0.71) EPS, FY2021 earnings at ($0.70) EPS and FY2022 earnings at ($0.84) EPS.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Avenue Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATXI) rose 29.4 percent to $5.50 in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that its first pivotal Phase 3 trial of IV tramadol achieved the primary and key secondary endpoints. MB Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBFI) rose 16.8 percent to $51.00 in pre-market trading. Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) agreed to acquire MB Financial for $54.70 per share in cash and stock. LiveXLive Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIVX) rose 9.3 percent to $5.40 in pre-market trading after falling 28.92 percent on Friday. Celyad SA (NASDAQ: CYAD) shares rose 9 percent to $29.30 in pre-market trading after climbing 3.26 percent on Friday. Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETH) rose 6.7 percent to $26.40 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.64 percent on Friday. Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) rose 5.4 percent to $3.90 in pre-market trading after gaining 3.06 percent on Friday. Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACIA) rose 5.2 percent to $34.70 in pre-market trading after gaining 1.38 percent on Friday. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (NYSE: WAB) rose 5.1 percent to $100 in pre-market trading. General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) agreed to merge its transportation unit with Wabtec. Sunrun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) shares rose 4.7 percent to $11.50 in pre-market trading. Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) shares rose 4.3 percent to $93.98 in the pre-market trading session. LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) shares rose 4.2 percent to $33.25 in pre-market trading. Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) will buy LaSalle Hotel Properties in a $4.8 billion deal, Bloomberg reported. Monro, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNRO) shares rose 4 percent to $58.35 in pre-market trading as the company posted upbeat quarterly earnings and disclosed that it has acquired Free Service Tire. HUYA Inc. (NYSE: HUYA) rose 3.7 percent to $19.75 in pre-market trading after falling 4.80 percent on Friday.

  Find out what's going

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  State of Tennessee Treasury Department lessened its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 842,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 13,507 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department owned about 0.11% of Canadian National Railway worth $61,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$109.36.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Cormark raised their Q3 2018 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Canadian National Railway in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 10th. Cormark analyst D. Tyerman now expects that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.15 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.14.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its position in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,956,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 522,300 shares during the period. Canadian National Railway accounts for about 1.7% of Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.27% of Canadian National Railway worth $184,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now

tags:BIIB,ALNY,AMGN,ARQL,

Achaogen (NASDAQ:AKAO) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in creating antibiotics to treat MDR (multidrug resistant) bacteria. Its lead candidate, plazomicin, recently was recommended for approval for cUTI (complicated urinary tract infections) on May 2 by an FDA advisory committee. This almost guarantees the FDA will approve the drug for marketing, but the stock price dropped rather dramatically (Achaogen down 26% premarket after Ad Com vote).

The fall was because the committee did not recommend plazomicin for treating bloodstream infections. This brought into question how broadly applicable plazomicin might become. Typically, after receiving the first FDA approval in an indication, companies seek label expansion (approval in other indications) by submitting further trial data. The long-term value of a company may vary greatly by how broadly applicable a commercial drug is.

The situation is similar to the situation for another company, Tetraphase (NASDAQ:TTPH), which has been developing a rival drug, with a very different mechanism of action, to treat MDR infections. In the Tetraphase case Phase 3 data for cUTI failed to reach the expected endpoint, but the drug appears on track for a likely approval for treating cIAI (complicated intra-abdominal infections), with a decision due towards the end of August.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Data source: Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

  What happened with Ionis Pharmaceuticals this quarter? Revenue increased thanks to $41 million in royalties from Biogen's (NASDAQ:BIIB) sales of Spinraza, up from just $5 million in the year-ago quarter. Because the tiered royalty rates reset each year, the royalties as a percentage of sales will end up being higher in the quarters to come this year. Despite the higher revenue, earnings turned negative on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis: Ionis and Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKCA) increased spending in preparation for the launch of Tegsedi for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR), and Waylivra for familial chylomicronemia syndrome, a rare disease that causes the buildup of lipids. Ionis is still the majority owner of Akcea, so its financials are incorporated into Ionis' financials. The Food and Drug Administration pushed back its goal for making a decision on the marketing application for Tegsedi (the new brand name for inotersen) to Oct. 6, 2018. Ionis provided additional data analysis that the FDA needs additional time to review. In April, Ionis signed another deal with Biogen to develop antisense drugs for neurological disorders. In the deal, Ionis gets $1 billion up front, including an equity investment, in exchange for Biogen having first choice of neurology targets on which to exclusively collaborate with Ionis. Biogen is paying for everything beyond the initial discovery stage, with Ionis eligible for royalties and milestone payments as the drugs advance.

  Image source: Getty Images.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Drug-developer Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) reported a pretty strong earnings�increase in the first quarter. While revenue growth wasn't as solid, investors appear to be giving management a pass, thanks to its explanations on why slowing first-quarter sales aren't a sign of future trouble.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]
  Markets are keeping a close eye on the 10-year bond, which is hovering near 3% – an important psychological level that is likely to influence future price movements. On Monday, Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co." asked Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald if investors should be worried. Here's what Keith had to say about the 10-year Treasury yield… and how it will affect your stocks and bonds in the future. The price of Brent crude oil topped $75.00 and hit its highest level since November 2014. Oil traders were eyeing the ongoing efforts of OPEC and Russia to reduce excessive production around the globe, rising demand ahead of peak driving season, and the possibility that the Trump administration will slap Iran with a new round of sanctions. Three Stocks to Watch Today: KO, GOOGL, SLM Shares of The Coca-Cola Co.�(NYSE: KO) added 1.2% after the firm easily beat earnings and revenue expectations. The firm cited strong demand for its new flavors of Diet Coke and its Coke Zero Sugar. Demand was so strong for the quarter that the firm reported organic sales growth of 5%. The company reported earnings per share of $0.47, topping estimates by a penny. Revenue of $7.6 billion easily beat Wall Street estimates. Shares of Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) seesawed in pre-market hours. The online search giant topped Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations after the bell Monday. However, shares were off 0.5% after executives announced that its business costs were on the rise. The firm's real estate and computer purchases tripled in one year, to $7.3 billion. About one-third of that total came from its $2.4 billion purchase of the Chelsea Market building in New York City. Good news for SLM Corp.�(NYSE: SLM) investors, but bad news for indebted college students and graduates. The firm – also known as Sallie Mae – topped Wall Street earnings expectations on Monday. The firm said that it increased its loan o
• [By Chris Lange]

  Short interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) increased to 3.86 million shares from the previous 3.45 million. The stock recently traded at $287.00, within a 52-week range of $244.28 to $370.57.

• [By Shannon Jones]

  In this week's episode of Industry Focus: Healthcare, host Michael Douglass and Motley Fool contributor Shannon Jones look at what went wrong with Incyte's Epacadostat, where the company can go from here, and what this unfortunately means for the immuno-oncology sector on the whole. Then, in more pleasant news, the hosts dive into Novartis' (NYSE:NVS) newest acquisition of gene therapy company AveXis. Find out what this means for Novartis, why Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB)�might be getting the stink eye from their investors right about now, whether or not Novartis overpaid to tuck this company under their belt, and more.

• [By Sean Williams, Chuck Saletta, and Brian Feroldi]

  As noted, the ability to take numerous swings for the fence makes Ionis special. It's often a marvel when a mid-cap drugmaker has a half-dozen experimental drugs, let alone one working with 25. Spinal muscular atrophy drug Spinraza, which was licensed to Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), is one such drug that's put Ionis and its antisense technology on the map. Last year, Spinraza netted "just" $882 million in total sales, but delivered $364 million globally in the first quarter of 2018. That extrapolates out to more than $1.4 billion, which means added royalty revenue for Ionis.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ALNY)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  BidaskClub lowered shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday.

• [By Keith Speights]

  I wrote three months ago that I viewed Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) stock as a pretty good pick -- but with a couple of qualifications. First, I didn't think that the biotech would generate returns in 2018 nearly as great as it did last year. Second, I thought that there were even better stocks to buy than Alnylam.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  The delay in an FDA decision for Tegsedi puts it behind competitor Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY), which expects to hear from the FDA by Aug. 11 for its hATTR drug patisiran. But Sarah Boyce, the president at Akcea Therapeutics, doesn't think a few months will really matter: "We don't really feel that's going to have any impact and the drugs will be close enough together from a launch perspective. So not really [going] to make any adjustments, and we're very well prepared to be ready to launch following approval."

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Cory Renauer]

  Patient Amgen Inc.�(NASDAQ:AMGN) shareholders have seen the stock quadruple in price over the past decade, plus they've enjoyed one of the fastest-growing dividends in biopharma. Now that the company's launched a new migraine headache drug, investors are wondering if the former highflier can put on another memorable performance.

• [By ]

  This week we get our first look at quarterly numbers from major drug and biotech giants such as AbbVie (ABBV)  , Amgen (AMGN)  , Biogen (BIIB) , Biomarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN)  and Action Alerts PLUS holding Eli Lilly (LLY) , which all provide the market a glimpse of how the first quarter was for the industry over the next few days," according to Real Money Pro columnist Bret Jensen.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $193.19.

Best Biotech Stocks To Own Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) Director Ronald M. Lindsay acquired 23,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.67 per share, for a total transaction of $63,813.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,213. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) insider Value Fund L. P. Biotechnology sold 1,035,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $5,179,695.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $6.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $5.00. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 134.38% from the company’s previous close.

Intelligent Investment Chain Price Reaches $0.0032 (IIC)

Intelligent Investment Chain (CURRENCY:IIC) traded up 1.3% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 20:00 PM ET on July 4th. One Intelligent Investment Chain token can currently be purchased for $0.0032 or 0.00000049 BTC on popular cryptocurrency exchanges including BCEX and Lbank. Over the last week, Intelligent Investment Chain has traded 7.8% higher against the dollar. Intelligent Investment Chain has a market capitalization of $0.00 and approximately $428,914.00 worth of Intelligent Investment Chain was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours.

Here is how other cryptocurrencies have performed over the last 24 hours:

Get Intelligent Investment Chain alerts: Ripple (XRP) traded 4.6% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.45 or 0.00007633 BTC. Stellar (XLM) traded up 2.3% against the dollar and now trades at $0.21 or 0.00003206 BTC. IOTA (MIOTA) traded up 5% against the dollar and now trades at $1.18 or 0.00018113 BTC. Tether (USDT) traded up 0.1% against the dollar and now trades at $1.00 or 0.00015280 BTC. NEO (NEO) traded up 12.4% against the dollar and now trades at $40.30 or 0.00616009 BTC. TRON (TRX) traded up 0.9% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0387 or 0.00000591 BTC. Binance Coin (BNB) traded down 1% against the dollar and now trades at $13.96 or 0.00213468 BTC. VeChain (VET) traded 1.4% higher against the dollar and now trades at $2.67 or 0.00040742 BTC. Ontology (ONT) traded up 0.5% against the dollar and now trades at $5.06 or 0.00077415 BTC. Zilliqa (ZIL) traded up 16.3% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0900 or 0.00001376 BTC.

Intelligent Investment Chain Token Profile

Intelligent Investment Chain’s total supply is 21,000,000,000 tokens. Intelligent Investment Chain’s official Twitter account is @iichain. Intelligent Investment Chain’s official message board is medium.com/@iichain. Intelligent Investment Chain’s official website is www.iicoin.io.

Intelligent Investment Chain Token Trading

Intelligent Investment Chain can be traded on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: BCEX and Lbank. It is usually not possible to purchase alternative cryptocurrencies such as Intelligent Investment Chain directly using US dollars. Investors seeking to acquire Intelligent Investment Chain should first purchase Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in US dollars such as GDAX, Gemini or Changelly. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to purchase Intelligent Investment Chain using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

Zacks: Analysts Expect Cardlytics Inc (CDLX) to Announce -$0.40 Earnings Per Share

Wall Street analysts forecast that Cardlytics Inc (NASDAQ:CDLX) will announce earnings of ($0.40) per share for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Five analysts have made estimates for Cardlytics’ earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at ($0.48) and the highest estimate coming in at ($0.32). The business is expected to issue its next earnings results on Thursday, August 9th.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Cardlytics will report full-year earnings of ($1.47) per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from ($1.68) to ($1.25). For the next financial year, analysts anticipate that the firm will post earnings of ($0.58) per share, with EPS estimates ranging from ($0.90) to ($0.25). Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of analysts that follow Cardlytics.

Get Cardlytics alerts:

Cardlytics (NASDAQ:CDLX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 10th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $32.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.74 million.

Several brokerages have weighed in on CDLX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Co began coverage on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Finally, SunTrust Banks began coverage on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Tuesday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.40.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Cardlytics during the 1st quarter valued at $122,000. California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Cardlytics in the 1st quarter worth about $146,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardlytics in the 1st quarter worth about $148,000. Spark Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardlytics in the 1st quarter worth about $150,000. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cardlytics in the 1st quarter worth about $175,000. 48.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CDLX traded down $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.28. 69,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,419. The stock has a market capitalization of $442.16 million and a P/E ratio of -2.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Cardlytics has a 12-month low of $11.10 and a 12-month high of $25.71.

Cardlytics Company Profile

Cardlytics, Inc operates a purchase intelligence platform in the United States and the United Kingdom. It operates in two segments, Cardlytics Direct and Other Platform Solutions. The company's platform is the Cardlytics Direct solution, a proprietary native bank advertising channel that enables marketers to reach consumers through their trusted and frequently visited online and mobile banking channels.

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Cardlytics (CDLX)

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Sears Is Closing More Stores -- and This Mall Operator Is Happy About It

At the end of 2018's first quarter, once-thriving retailer Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) was operating 381 fewer stores than it was a year ago. And the company's footprint is continuing to shrink. Sears announced more closures recently, and it looks like a total of 275 Sears and Kmart stores could close during 2018 alone.

As a result, many malls across the U.S. are about to be left with massive amounts of vacant square footage, and as a result, many mall operators are getting hammered.

This is particularly true when it comes to lower-end ("Class B" and "Class C") mall operators like CBL & Associates (NYSE:CBL), just to name one example. CBL operates Class B and C malls in mid-sized markets, and a staggering 60% of its properties have a Sears or J.C. Penney (which isn't in much better shape) occupying an anchor location.

Because this is going to lead to lots of empty square footage, it will also likely lead to rent concessions made to remaining tenants to entice them to stay. And many analysts believe rent concessions may not be enough -- store closures throughout CBL's malls could become widespread.

However, massive mall REIT Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) is excited to get those blank canvases back to add value to its properties.

Image source: Getty Images.

This mall REIT sees an opportunity

The difference between mall REITs like CBL and Class-A mall operators like Simon is the financial flexibility the company has. Simon's excellent credit rating, strong balance sheet, and high borrowing capacity allow it to do something about the closures.

As one of the largest REITs in the market, Simon Property Group has invested lots of money in developing the most desirable shopping destinations. In fact, five of the 10 most valuable REIT-owned malls are in Simon's portfolio.

Over the past several years, Simon has been gradually transitioning its properties away from the traditional mall setup (almost exclusively retail and quick-service dining) and into mixed-use properties. Many of Simon's mall properties now have other types of real estate such as hotels, offices, apartments, entertainment properties, and dining options that traditionally wouldn't have been found in malls. And the strategy appears to be widely successful so far.

Because of this new direction, Simon is looking at Sears' store closures as an opportunity. For example, Sears announced that it would close another 63 stores "in the near future" on May 31. This is in addition to previous guidance that 166 of the company's stores would close in 2018.

Well, on the same day as Sears' announcement, Simon issued a press release to calm investors nerves, saying that the "team is fully engaged in capitalizing on this opportunity and continues to pursue plans to replace Sears stores with new and compelling ways to live, work, play, stay, and shop at these Simon destinations nationwide," according to COO Michael McCarty.

McCarty says the company has big plans for former Sears spaces. "A combination of innovative retail, restaurant, and entertainment concepts are in play for each center. Mixed-use elements such as hotel, residential, office, and fitness are also being incorporated," added McCarty.

Simon has already redeveloped several Sears locations

I mentioned briefly that Simon's strategy has been successful so far. Keep in mind that Sears has been closing stores for some time, so Simon has already had quite a bit of practice in this area.

For example, Simon announced in April plans to redevelop five former Sears locations. One will simply turn the Sears into new shops and restaurants. Another will incorporate a 120,000-square-foot athletic facility, as well as residential and restaurant spaces. And another is turning the space into two new restaurants and expanding the space of an existing department store.

Furthermore, it's important to mention that Simon has relationships with several non-retail companies that it could use to its advantage when redeveloping former Sears locations. For example, the company recently expanded its relationship with Marriott. There are more than 15 Marriott-branded hotels at Simon's properties already, and at least five more are in the works.

Is mixed-use the future of malls?

One thing is looking more and more certain: The old mall business model of three or four department stores as anchors, a cookie-cutter food court, and the same collection of stores just doesn't work in the new retail landscape. Shoppers can get most of the same items online -- and often for cheaper prices. And with their savings, they can eat somewhere a bit nicer than the pizza stand in the food court.

While it's still early in the transition, the first signs are pointing toward the success of mixed-use mall properties. Entertainment-oriented tenants like movie theaters, family amusement centers, and more are inherently immune to online competition. A variety of modern dining options gives people more reasons to come to the mall. And hotels, apartments, and offices create a natural source of foot traffic.

With excellent credit ratings and virtually unlimited borrowing capability, Simon is well-positioned to transition its mall properties to adapt to the changing retail environment, and it could turn out to be a bargain at its current valuation of less than 14 times its 2018 expected funds from operations, or FFO.

Dow drops about 260 points at the open as investors fret over trade-war escalation

U.S. stock-index benchmark opened firmly lower to kick off the week, as trade-war fears dogged global markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.94% slumped 263 points, or 1.1%, at 24,835, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.72% retreated by 0.8% at 2,757, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.79% gave up 0.9% at 7,676. Markets were fixated on how trade-policy disputes the U.S. and China. President Donald Trump on Friday announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, and Beijing retaliated by targeting high-value American exports. In corporate news, shares of Tesla Inc. TSLA, +1.60% were in focus after CEO of the electric-car maker Elon Musk showed off the company's newest production line.

Gen Z Graduates Into A New World Of Work, Here Is Why You Should Care

&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image getty size-large wp-image-957456666&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/957456666/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 11: Media producer Oprah Winfrey addresses The USC Annenberg School For Communication And Journalism Celebrates Commencement at The Shrine Auditorium on May 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

Generation Z, the leading edge of young people born after 1997, are now 21 years old. Many of them are graduating from college and listening to the well wishes and advice of graduation speakers. After the microphones are silenced and the last diploma is awarded, Gen Z will enter the workforce.

Today&a;rsquo;s workplace is undergoing an unprecedented rate of change placing new demands on workers of all ages. A new &l;em&g;high velocity workplace&l;/em&g; is emerging &a;ndash; a world of work characterized by the rapid development of new knowledge, an accelerating rate of industry disruption and advancing technology.

Graduation speakers are asking students &l;em&g;to be daring&l;/em&g;, &l;em&g;to hone personal resilience&l;/em&g; and more. My personal favorite is a &l;a href=&q;https://www.npr.org/2018/05/25/614518550/from-oprah-to-rex-tillerson-commencement-speeches-for-the-class-of-2018&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;speech&l;/a&g;, a mixture of practical and aspirational guidance, delivered by Oprah Winfrey to University of Southern California graduates. She advised the class of 2018 to &a;ldquo;eat breakfast&a;hellip;make your bed&a;hellip;recycle&a;hellip;pay your bills on time&a;hellip;and to aim high.&a;rdquo;

But, in the &l;a href=&q;https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/billyjoel/preludeangryyoungman.html&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;words&l;/a&g; of another Baby Boomer, Billy Joel, not from a podium, but in song, sometimes &a;ldquo;just surviving is a noble fight.&a;rdquo;

Surviving &l;em&g;and thriving&l;/em&g; in the emerging high velocity workplace will require Gen Z graduates to confront the new realities of work &a;ndash; realities that are changing the rules of work for all generations. Here are four.

&l;strong&g;School Is Never Out&l;/strong&g;

Sorry graduates. You thought final exams were&a;hellip;well, &l;em&g;final&l;/em&g;. The half-life of education is perhaps shorter than any previous generation perhaps placing&a;nbsp;Gen Z at a higher risk for professional obsolescence in fewer years than&a;nbsp;even the Millennials.

Buckminster Fuller coined the idea of &l;a href=&q;https://www.bfi.org/search?search_api_views_fulltext=knowledge+doubling+curve&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;knowledge doubling&l;/a&g; which suggests that knowledge, in a given field or human endeavor, doubles at a predictable, but accelerating rate. Fuller argued that in 1900 human knowledge doubled about every 100 years and by 1950 knowledge doubled every 25 years. A 2006 IBM &l;a href=&q;http://www-935.ibm.com/services/no/cio/leverage/levinfo_wp_gts_thetoxic.pdf&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;study&l;/a&g; forecasted that human knowledge might be doubling every 11 hours! Today it is widely accepted that knowledge doubles, but at different rates in different fields. Medical education provides a startling example. One researcher projects that by 2020 medical knowledge might double every 73 days.

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Just when you thought you were done with school, you will be back in the classroom (on campus or online) sooner than you think. Just consider what might be the half-life of computer programming languages that dominate today only to become storied skills tomorrow?

Even for Gen Z, the first generation where the Internet always existed, the accelerating pace of technological advance will soon transform their smart phones and smart speakers into technologies reminiscent of rotary phones and high fidelity stereos. Continuous learning and skills building is no longer the hallmark of the high achiever; it is now the required behavior of the workplace survivor.

&l;strong&g;Industry Destruction &a;amp; Disruption&l;/strong&g;

Political economist &l;a href=&q;https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Schumpeter&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Joseph Schumpeter&l;/a&g;, wrote about &l;a href=&q;https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Socialism-Democracy-Joseph-Schumpeter/dp/1169832121/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&a;amp;psc=1&a;amp;refRID=QDM0Q3TSZ3ATBCDSK35V&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;creative destruction&l;/a&g; long before consultants began muttering about &l;em&g;disruption&l;/em&g;. Schumpeter argued that every business model contains the seeds of its own destruction. Organizations are designed to address the problems and solutions available at the time of their creation. Technology certainly accelerates creative destruction but so do social, political and economic forces &a;ndash; driving some businesses to the top of markets and others into oblivion.

Baby Boomers graduating in 1968 entered a work environment that featured unimaginable technological achievement. Against the backdrop of the first humans to land on the moon, the class of &a;rsquo;68 must have believed that they, and the organizations they worked for, were vanguards of the future. But, few of the companies that were the titans then, are giants today. Some no longer exist.

A comparison of the Fortune 500&a;rsquo;s top 25 companies in &l;a href=&q;http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500_archive/full/1968/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;1968&l;/a&g; and &l;a href=&q;http://fortune.com/fortune500/list/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;2018&l;/a&g; shows more than changes in revenues among leading companies, it also reveals the transience of industries that once appeared to offer careers for a lifetime. A job in the petrochemical, steel or telecommunications industries made sense in 1968. For Gen Z, Fortune&a;rsquo;s top 25 in 2018 reflects only five firms from 1968 and a profound change in the mix of leading industries. Today retail, health and financial firms have displaced petrochemical, steel and telecommunications companies that garnered top spots decades earlier.

The class of 2018 is walking off graduation platforms and into 50-plus years of work. Which industries will be transformed? Will transformation occur faster during Gen Z&a;rsquo;s work life than previous generations? Gen Z workers will need to be agile. Many Baby Boomers, and even some Gen X&a;rsquo;ers, committed to one company to &l;em&g;build&l;/em&g; a career. It may no longer be effective career planning to bet decades, let alone five-decades of work, on one or two firms or even industries. Gaining experience and developing skills that apply &l;em&g;across&l;/em&g; industries&a;nbsp;is fast becoming a requirement for&a;nbsp;workers&a;nbsp;to&a;nbsp;successfully navigate five-plus decades of work.

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&l;img class=&q;dam-image shutterstock size-large wp-image-1058584430&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/1058584430/960x0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;639&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Shutterstock

&l;strong&g;Yes, The Robots Are Coming&l;/strong&g;

Artificial intelligence, and robotics generally, is changing the workplace. &l;a href=&q;https://hbr.org/2016/10/robots-will-replace-doctors-lawyers-and-other-professionals&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;No one is exempt&l;/a&g;. From commercial drivers that will be displaced by the widespread deployment of autonomous vehicles, to physicians who will be second fiddle to an AI diagnostician, every Gen Z professional will need to rapidly adapt to the new human-robot workplace.

Working with robots will not necessarily be a &l;em&g;to be, or not to be&l;/em&g; question for Gen Z workers. But, artificial intelligence will require humans to adapt to new ways of working. Some Gen Z workers will need to learn how to be a robot&a;rsquo;s supervisor, while others may be supervised by a &a;lsquo;bot. Gen Z professionals, such as those in law or financial advice, will have to learn how to partner with AI &a;ndash; not just to excel in their profession, but to simply keep their job. Future annual performance reviews may include how well you work with your human colleagues &l;em&g;and&l;/em&g; how well you collaborate with your robot colleague.

Gen Z graduates have an entire career ahead of them. However, many Baby Boomers, Gen X&a;rsquo;ers and Millennials will be navigating the same rapidly changing workplace for years and decades to come &a;ndash; a future of work that has new unarticulated rules and demands for all workers.&l;/p&g;

3 Top Dividend Stocks to Buy Right Now

Everyone has their investing preferences, and people have studied the efficacy of various investing methods over the years. Unsurprisingly, all of those types of investing -- growth, value, income, etc. -- share one common trait: Buying and holding over long time periods.

If you are looking to buy a few stocks with that long-term strategy in mind, we have three dividend stocks for you. Here's why our Fool.com contributors think�TerraForm Power (NASDAQ:TERP), China Mobile (NYSE:CHL), and Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) are ones you should consider right now.�

Image source: Getty Images.

New management, new investment opportunity

Tyler Crowe (TerraForm Power): When TerraForm Power was a subsidiary of its former parent, the now-bankrupt SunEdison, it was unsurprising that investors decided to tuck tail and run. When SunEdison went under, asset manager Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) acquired TerraForm. That change of management is monumental to the investment thesis for TerraForm and its future.

On the surface, TerraForm was a solid business idea. It owned and operated a portfolio of solar and wind power generating assets that all had long-term power purchase agreements in place for years. The problem it ran into with SunEdison was that the parent company would sell it assets at rates that were favorable to SunEdison, and it used a lot of debt and equity to finance those deals. That strategy eventually put both TerraForm and SunEdison in a financial bind that led to the latter's bankruptcy.

The reason that having Brookfield at the helm is such a monumental change is that Brookfield's business strategy for these kinds of businesses is the exact opposite of SunEdison's. Rather than focusing on growth at all costs and relying heavily on external sources of capital, Brookfield's objective is to grow individual share value by acquiring assets selling at a discount and funding some of its growth with free cash flow. It has used this approach with all of its various partnerships -- there are a lot of them -- and it has been a pretty successful approach thus far.

BIP Total Return Price data by YCharts.

Brookfield has to do a lot of cleaning up at TerraForm. It plans to wring out $25 million in operational costs and amortize close to $500 million in project-level debt. As Brookfield gets TerraForm in fighting shape, today's price looks like a great entry point.

China's top wireless carrier

Leo Sun (China Mobile): China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in China, lost 16% of its market value over the past 12 months amid concerns about 5G expenses and ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. However, the company remains one of the safest income plays in China.

China Mobile pays semiannual dividends that vary year to year based on its earnings growth, but its yield has generally stayed between 3% and 5% over the past five years. Its yield has consistently been higher than the dividends from its two main peers,�China Unicom�and China Telecom.

China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom are all state-backed enterprises, and the Chinese government often rotates the management at the three telcos. That oversight provides a wide safety net and ensures that the three telcos collaborate on certain deals, like the sale of their towers to China Tower in late 2015.

China Mobile hit 899.7 million mobile subscribers in April, representing 4.6% growth from a year earlier. Within that total, its 4G customers jumped 16.7% to 669.3 million. Its wireline customer base also grew 44% to 127.1 million -- giving it a wider base for cross-selling bundled products.

Analysts expect China Mobile's sales and earnings to rise 3% and 1%, respectively, this year. That growth seems glacial, but its stock is also dirt cheap at 10 times this year's earnings. Investors looking for an overseas telco play with a low valuation and decent dividend should consider buying this stock.

Bucking the trend

Brian Feroldi (Texas Roadhouse): The last few years haven't been kind to most restaurant operators. Many chain restaurants have been expanding their store base so rapidly over the last decade that some industry watchers believe that the country is�"over-restauranted." With scores of chains reporting declining or flat comps, it's hard to disagree.

However, even in these difficult times, a handful of top-notch operators have continued to thrive. Texas Roadhouse has increased its comps for several years in a row thanks to its focus on value pricing and creating a fun atmosphere for its guests. Last quarter the company posted total same-store sales growth of 4.9% at its company-owned�restaurants. That's a number that any other restaurant chain would kill for.

Texas Roadhouse is also doing a fantastic job at translating the top-line gains into bottom-line success. Net income and EPS jumped by 59% and 58%, respectively, last quarter. While�that's partially attributable to a lower tax bill, management�is also driving margin expansion by keep�its costs in check.

Looking ahead, I think that Texas Roadhouse can continue to thrive as it steadily grabs market share and opens new stores. Analysts think that will lead to 18% growth in EPS over the next five years, which is quite strong for a stock that� costs around 22 times next year's earnings estimates.�Throwing in a 1.6% dividend yield that only consumes 42% of profits is icing on the cake.

Malls May Still Be in Trouble, but the Suffering Is Not Spread Evenly

If there's one thing we know about the "retail apocalypse," it's that the pain of it is being felt most keenly in America's malls.

In this segment of the Motley Fool Money podcast, host Chris Hill and Fool analysts Jason Moser, Matt Argersinger, and Ron Gross review the latest earnings reports from the department stores that anchor those fading monuments to commerce and discover at least some good news: Macy's�(NYSE:M) comps rose nicely, but Nordstrom�(NYSE:JWN)�and J.C. Penney�(NYSE:JCP) managed only fractional gains. They also reflect on the long decline of department store sales -- it's longer than you think -- the planned BJ's Wholesale IPO, the future of J.C. Penney, and more.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on May 18, 2018.

Chris Hill: Let's move on to the malls. We had reports this week from Macy's, JCPenney, Nordstrom. In general, Matty, it's pretty rough out there. Although, Macy's did surprise a lot of people. That stock is up more than 10%.

Matt Argersinger: Right. Macy's had comparable sales up 4.2%. On the flip side, you had Nordstrom, which was just up 0.6%. JCPenney, up just 0.2%. It's a real mixed bag. I was looking at this very long-term chart of the sales of department stores. This is courtesy of the U.S. Census. I was surprised at this. Department store sales, this includes the Macy's and Nordstrom's of the world, sales actually peaked in 2000. So, we have to go back 18 years ago. If you go back to 2000, most people still hadn't heard of Amazon, let alone shopped on it. And we had this narrative, well, this e-commerce rise for the last two decades has really kicked the teeth in at a lot of these department stores.

But really, I think it's more of a phenomenon of consumer behavior. People have decided not to go to malls. Specifically, you're not going to department stores. So, we can talk about the death of malls and the demise of traditional retail, but you can see the retail sales in general have continued to rise for the last two decades, and e-commerce is a part of that. But, I feel like these companies are just slicing and dicing a smaller and smaller pie.

Jason Moser: I'll tell you, in line with what you're saying there, it actually shocked me a little bit to see this week that BJ's Wholesale Club is going to go public again after being taken private a little while back. We talk about Costco and how they've done such a great job in running that bricks-and-mortar store in what's becoming more and more an online environment. To me, there are just so many red flags with that BJ's Club IPO filing. I don't understand exactly what they think they're going to do here. But, they really do have their work cut out for them between Costco and, don't forget, Walmart has Sam's Club, as well.

Hill: Is it possible that what's going on with BJ's is simply, the company that took them private is looking for an exit strategy?

Ron Gross: Ding ding ding ding!

Moser: I think it's more than possible. I think it's very, very likely.

Gross: You know, department stores are not dead. There's always going to be department stores. The problem was, it got out of hand. There were too many stores and the footprint was too large. So, kudos to Macy's, who did what they had to do and closed a hundred stores and laid off thousands of employees. And that hurts, and it's painful. But if the business isn't working, you have to make those tough decisions. This last quarter showed some pretty good results from Macy's. And it'll be interesting to see if they can follow through.

Argersinger: I'll just note that Nordstrom was down about 10% on Friday to $46 a share. So, that $50 take-private deal by the family is looking pretty good right now, if you're a shareholder.

Hill: That was going to be my next question. It seems like, with Nordstrom, for as good a business as that has been over the last 20 years, it seems like a stock that you would be crazy to buy, just because it's all about the Nordstrom family and their attempt to take it private, right?

Gross: Pretty much. And that puts a value on the business that you can see. It's 15X earnings, I want to say, right now, which is not expensive. But, when you look at Macy's at 8X, it gets a little pricey up there, and it doesn't look to me like it would be a market-beater over the next few years.

Hill: The last thing on JCPenney, and I'm sorry to end on this note. Are we getting into RadioShack territory here? It really seems like this business has been so challenged for so long that it's almost a real estate play at this point.

Argersinger: I don't know if it's any kind of play, to be honest with you. I think the mall business, the department store business itself, is shrinking, and JCPenney is just the worst of the worst.

Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates for Stabilus (STM)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Stabilus (ETR: STM):

5/24/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €90.00 ($107.14) price target on by analysts at Berenberg Bank. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/22/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €86.00 ($102.38) price target on by analysts at Warburg Research. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/17/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €85.00 ($101.19) price target on by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/8/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €81.00 ($96.43) price target on by analysts at Credit Suisse Group. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/8/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €100.00 ($119.05) price target on by analysts at Hauck & Aufhaeuser. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/7/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €70.00 ($83.33) price target on by analysts at Commerzbank. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/7/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €68.00 ($80.95) price target on by analysts at Kepler Capital Markets. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. 5/7/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €84.00 ($100.00) price target on by analysts at Warburg Research. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/7/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €91.00 ($108.33) price target on by analysts at equinet AG. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 5/7/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €85.00 ($101.19) price target on by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock. 4/27/2018 – Stabilus was given a new €81.00 ($96.43) price target on by analysts at Credit Suisse Group. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.

Stabilus opened at €84.45 ($100.54) on Friday, according to MarketBeat. Stabilus has a twelve month low of €55.47 ($66.04) and a twelve month high of €83.10 ($98.93).

Stabilus SA, formerly Servus HoldCo SARL is a Luxembourg-based company. The Company is the automotive and industrial supplier. It develops and produces electromechanical drives, gas springs and dampers. Its products in the automotive segment are used in a broad range of applications such as tailgates, hoods, doors and convertible tops.

How 3 Retail Giants Are Going to Slug It Out in India

In this�Industry Focus discussion dedicated to�Walmart's (NYSE:WMT) acquisition of Indian e-tailer Flipkart, the team breaks down the current and future battles in the world's second most populous country between Walmart and its major competitors:�Amazon�(NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA).

Find out about the strategies these three behemoths are using to crack the Indian consumer code.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on May 15, 2018.

Vincent Shen: We're going to move on to the competition, because there's some really interesting developments there. I'll just add that something to keep in mind if you're a Walmart investor or if you're considering picking up shares, you like this opportunity and you like the other opportunities that it has in its bigger markets, like in the U.S. Walmart does have some experience in India as well. It first entered the market about ten years ago in partnership with Bharti Enterprises and has an existing 21 Best Price stores, totaling about 1 million square feet of brick-and-mortar retail presence in the country.

This deal -- the company is funding it with a mix of cash and debt. When the deal closes, Flipkart will be reported as part of Walmart's international segment. That segment generated almost $120 billion of revenue last year, about a quarter of the company's total top line. Just keep in mind that scale here, again. For a company like this, massive, it takes a lot to move the needle.

On the investor call, analysts dedicated a decent amount of time to questions regarding the deal's impact on Walmart's financials. Asit, you mentioned that $0.60 per share headwind for earnings. I'll just expand on that. The purchase will have a negative impact on fiscal 2019 earnings specifically, about $0.25 to $0.30 per share. And then, the following year, due to those ongoing investments in India, the earnings hit will be another $0.60 per share.

You have to keep in mind that for the trailing 12-month period, earnings were $3.28 per share, so that's no small impact on the bottom line. Not only that, another question that cropped up on the investor call that I think is important is, you have to consider whether a $16 billion spend in India -- that's a 5x sales valuation for Flipkart, by the way so quite generous -- will mean that Walmart will be forced to short change its investments in its home market and other markets. Clearly, the company is thinking about its global footprint right now and its operations.

This is actually the second of two big deals from Walmart in the past month or so, because they also had that announcement regarding Asda and Sainsbury in the U.K. market. Really quick, we didn't cover that on Industry Focus. Recently, Walmart announced that it's going to allow its third-place supermarket chain, Asda, to be acquired by the No. 2 chain, Sainsbury, for about $10 billion in a cash and stock deal. Walmart will still hold on to a 42% stake in the combined company, and that company, if it passes regulatory muster, will take the crown as the U.K.'s largest grocer with $70 billion of sales and 2,000 stores. But management is clearly thinking about their international operations and how they want to right-size things and optimize things.

Going back to Flipkart, though, Walmart's management noted that spending and losses in India will shrink over time. But declining losses, that's not the same as turning a profit. As we've seen with the long history with Amazon, that does take time. Management was ultimately unwilling to look out beyond fiscal 2020 to pinpoint when Flipkart, for example, might transition its bottom line to the black.

The last thing I'll note: if you're a Walmart shareholder, the company also has a pretty spotty track record outside North America. The U.S. and Mexico operations, strong, but the company has either shuttered, sold out of, or downsized operations in places like Germany, South Korea, Japan, and Brazil. It also sold its Yihaodian e-commerce arm in China to JD.com for a stake in JD.com. That's a lot of context and considerations to keep in mind. I think, in this case, Walmart has considered some of those challenges, and they've said to themselves, "We're going to write a big check, $16 billion, to take this majority stake and immediately have a place as the No. 1 e-commerce player in this very fast-growing, important market."

The next thing I'd like to touch on is just what Walmart brings to the table for Flipkart, too. You have to keep in mind that Walmart generates significant revenue from groceries, and Flipkart does not. That presents a big opportunity for Walmart to lend its expertise in that food and groceries category. Retail in India is over $650 billion, and grocery and foods account for the majority of that. They represent something very important in that they are consistent, repeatable purchases. Then, not only that, but Walmart will also have plenty of expertise in terms of any brick-and-mortar operations that pop up, the e-commerce supply chains, and it can connect Flipkart, obviously, with a huge network of product vendors and suppliers.

So all in all, I think from what I've seen, Flipkart will remain a more independent part of the international segment, similar to how Marc Lore has been given the reins for e-commerce within the United States. Then, with Flipkart, their branding is really interesting, because they market themselves as this homegrown Indian success story, and they're focused on really great customer experiences.

But that brings us now, finally, to a look at the competitive landscape. Let's talk a little bit about how competition in India is shaping up. How do things look on that end, Asit?

Asit Sharma: The first thing that we want to look at is, I think, delivery logistics, which I mentioned earlier. Ultimately, this will determine who wins in India. When I order from Amazon, I might order toothpaste. I've done it occasionally. I might order some household goods. But again, in India, because of these small grocers -- the term is kirana, it's like your neighborhood grocer -- there's a large amount of goods on a U.S. website or Walmart or Amazon which you simply don't see as much on a Flipkart website or Amazon.in. The battlegrounds are really in electronics, in mobile phones, and in fashion. Flipkart, as you mentioned, Vince, that's where it's been really successful, and that's where Amazon has to compete. So confined to these goods, the delivery becomes extremely important.

Vince, you mentioned the stumbles that Walmart has had over the years with foreign investments. This is the one thing that bothers me about this deal. In competing with Amazon, I do believe that Walmart will have to invest in more infrastructure. One of the reasons they don't want to talk about eventual profits or losses beyond this window of a year or two is because, I think, they're going to the drawing board and figuring out what they need to build out in India to compete with those fulfillment centers and sorting facilities I mentioned.

Amazon is extremely good at understanding local market logistics. One of the things they've done in India is to go into that very difficult thing called the last mile. Here in the U.S., last-mile logistics may mean, from a UPS center, getting that onto your doorstep, or the U.S. Postal Service getting it to your mailbox. You can imagine a city in India, which, they're incredibly dense, very, very, difficult sometimes to find an address.

Amazon has actually partnered up with thousands of these small stores that I mentioned, these kirana stores. They have about 27,000 stores they have relationships with, and they have an app which enables Amazon to take a parcel from its sorting center to these mom and pop shops, and they can wash their hands of the delivery from there. The mom or pop will deliver the goods to this hard-to-find address, maybe behind a bazaar -- that is, a marketplace -- or in a dense neighborhood. The person who delivers it then gets paid once a month using this app. So Amazon is fighting back against Flipkart's really well-entrenched logistical capability. And Walmart is going to have to invest here.

Moving on, we should talk about the other big player in India, and that's Alibaba, the company founded by Jack Ma. Alibaba is sort of interesting. I talked about how Walmart is coming in and getting this one piece. Alibaba is very methodical in the way it enters countries. India is actually its first real big foray outside of China. And they have started with two interesting acquisitions, to me. The first is a company called PayTM, like ATM, it's pronounced Pay-t-m. This is another phone-enabled payment service, and it's a competitor to Flipkart's own PhonePe service. This was acquired in, I believe, 2015. I might need to correct that in a moment.

Shen: It wasn't too long ago.

Sharma: It wasn't too long ago. Alibaba has only been in India, actually, for about two years. Recently, they added to their strategy by acquiring a company called BigBasket. This was a $200 million acquisition of an online grocer. Vince talked about the importance of grocery to Walmart. In a country with 1.3 billion people, where food distribution is a problem and the options for people who have resources -- that is, this burgeoning middle class -- those options are expanding. It's really important to get a foothold in the online grocery marketplace, and Alibaba has made its first investment in this space there.

So you see Alibaba also coming in, picking and choosing its own parts of the battlefield. But you can look for them to also be a formidable competitor. Right now, they don't have the type of market share that Flipkart and Amazon do, but as a Walmart investor, you want to keep your eye on what Alibaba's up to.

Shen: Yeah. I'll say, just to wrap up the competitive discussion, some things to remember, especially with Amazon, is they're entering this Indian market, and I feel like, in the back of their minds, they're kind of remembering what happened to them in China, where they were shut out by domestic players like Alibaba and JD. So they're going to be very aggressive in how they invest in India. I think they've already had plans to invest about $5 billion in the region, and it has only taken them a few years to catch up and take the No. 2 position behind Flipkart in terms of e-commerce. Half of that $5 billion dollars that they've spent, I've found, has been in logistics -- faster, more reliable delivery. Amazon has seen how important that convenience was in setting it apart in its home market, and I'm sure they believe that a robust logistics delivery network will offer similar advantages in this market.

In terms of market share, some of the numbers varied by source, but I found market share figures for Flipkart and for Amazon at about 36% and 20% respectively in 2017. In terms of the war chest for these companies, prior to this Walmart deal, Flipkart's estimated to have raised about $7.5 billion from other investment and funding rounds. As of August last year, the company said that they had about $4 billion on their balance sheet to grow operations in India. But on a monthly basis, I found an interesting number where Amazon is burning through about $35 to $40 million every month in this market, while Flipkart is at about half that, $17 to $18 million, as they've had to rein in their spending a little bit.

Those are the top two players. Alibaba, I think, we've covered the big investments that they've made. In total, I think, they've spent about $2 billion in India through these various start-ups, these various e-commerce companies. Some others that I found include Zomato, that's a food tech start-up; Xpressbees, another logistics start-up. Overall, Alibaba appears to be taking a slower approach, but they're keeping a very long-term mindset as they develop the important pillars to their e-commerce strategy, and that includes, for them, logistics, payments with PayTM, and then grocery.

Closing out our discussion here, I'll note a few other things about this deal and what to look forward to. Brett Biggs, he's the Walmart CFO, he mentioned during the investor call regarding the deal that other parties might actually come in on this investment round. I thought that was interesting to note. I haven't seen any news regarding who those investors might be.

But I actually have seen reports about a potential change of heart from SoftBank and their initial decision to part with their entire 21% stake in Flipkart. Apparently, SoftBank said on paper that they're ready to sell out of their entire stake. That's a big part of this deal and what drove Walmart to make the announcement. But now, they're having second thoughts, potentially. But even if they do, and Walmart doesn't pick up SoftBank's specific stake, they'll still be a majority shareholder, but their stake will be closer to 56%. That's just something interesting to keep in mind as that part of the negotiations is finalized. You mentioned, Asit, earlier, that Walmart will have the option to invest an additional $3 billion more in Flipkart at the same valuation level within a year of closing the current deal. That might bump up its ownership stake as well.