Saturday, April 26, 2014

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015

Research by NSS Labs indicates that in its testing, Microsoft� (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) �Internet Explorer and Google� (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) �Chrome are the safest browsers.

NSS, which bills itself as "the world's leading information security research and advisory company," recenlty unveiled the results of its Browser Security Comparative Analysis: Socially Engineered Malware. Over the course of 28 days, from March 13 through April 9, the firm tested the five, most popular browsers against 754 samples of real-world malicious software. The browsers were�Apple� (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) Safari 5,�Google�Chrome 25/26, Microsoft�Internet Explorer 10, Mozilla Firefox 19, and Opera 12.

The results revealed significant safety differences.

Blocking technologies used by browsers (higher is better).
Source: NSS-Browser Security Comparative Analysis

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: EMCORE Corporation(EMKR)

EMCORE Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides compound semiconductor-based products for the broadband, fiber optics, satellite, and solar power markets. The company operates in two segments, Fiber Optics and Photovoltaics. The Fiber Optics segment offers broadband products, including cable television, fiber-to-the-premises, satellite communication, video transport, and defense and homeland security products; and digital products comprising telecom optical, enterprise, laser/photodetector component, parallel optical transceiver and cable, and fiber channel transceiver products. This segment?s products enable information that is encoded on light signals to be transmitted, routed, and received in communication systems and networks. The Photovoltaics segment provides gallium arsenide (GaAs) multi-junction solar cells, covered interconnected cells, and solar panels for satellite applications; and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power systems for commercial and utility scale solar applications, as well as GaAs solar cells and integrated CPV components for use in other solar power concentrator systems. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, external sales representatives and distributors, and application engineers worldwide. EMCORE Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, reported that it is ramping production and shipping the Opticomm-EMCORE NEXTGEN OTP-1DVI2A1SU insert cards for the Optiva platform.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated (FCH)

FelCor Lodging Trust Incorporated is a publicly owned real estate investment trust. The firm engages in investment and management of properties in the hospitality industry. It invests in the real estate markets of the United States. The firm primarily invests in hotels with a focus on the ownership of upper-upscale, full-service hotels and resorts. It was formerly known as FelCor Suite Hotels, Inc. FelCor Lodging Trust was founded in 1994 and is based in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By George Putnam]

    Steve Halpern: Now, one of the positions that you've looked at is FelCor Lodging (FCH). Could you tell us a little about that?

    George Putnam: Sure. Well, it grew fairly rapidly before the downturn in 2008 and didn't really have a great focus. With the new management team after 2008, they have sold off a lot of non-core properties and are focusing on more upscale properties and strong markets, and they've used the proceeds from asset sales to help the balance sheet. They have paid down a lot of high-priced debt, which also helps the bottom line.

Top 10 Small Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (PETR3)

Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (Petrobras) is a Brazil-based integrated oil and gas company. The Company divides its activities into seven segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; Gas and Power; Biofuel; Distribution and International. Directly or through its subsidiaries, Petrobras is engaged in the research, extraction, refining, processing, trade and transport of oil from wells, shale and other rocks, its derivatives, natural gas and other liquid hydrocarbons, as well as in activities related to energy, development, production, transport, distribution and commercialization of energy. The Company's offering comprises road transportation products such as Automotive Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Natural Vehicular Gas, Lubrax; agriculture and cattle raising products such as Sunflower Meal, among others; Industrial products such as Solvents and Paraffins, among others. The Company provides its services both for individual and business clients. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Maria Levitov]

    Brazil�� Ibovespa advanced amid speculation that a three-session slump for Brazil�� benchmark equity index was excessive. Usiminas, as Usinas de Minas Gerais is known, rose 7.5 percent, while oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR3) contributed the most to the gauge�� advance.

  • [By Julia Leite]

    Brazil�� Ibovespa rose 1.2 percent, reversing a decline of as much as 0.9 percent, as Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR3), Brazil�� state-run crude producer, surged. The real added 1.5 percent.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Volcano Corporation(VOLC)

Volcano Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and commercializes intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) products used in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular and structural heart disease. It offers multi-modality consoles, which are marketed as stand-alone units that can be integrated into hospital-based interventional surgical suites, such as catheterization laboratories. The company provides IVUS products, including single-procedure disposable phased array and rotational IVUS imaging catheters; and additional functionality options comprising virtual histology tissue characterization, and ChromaFlo stent apposition analysis. It also offers FFR products, such as pressure and flow consoles, and single-procedure disposable pressure and flow guide wires used to measure the pressure and flow characteristics of blood around plaque enabling physicians to gauge the plaque?s physiological impact on blood flow and pressure. In addition, the com pany develops and manufactures optical monitors for the telecommunication industry; laser and non-laser light sources; optical engines used in the medical OCT imaging systems and advanced photonic components; and sub-systems used in spectroscopy and other industrial applications. Its products under development include image-guided therapy device and micro and thrombectomy catheters. The company?s ongoing clinical studies comprise assessment of dual anti-platelet therapy with drug-eluting stents; vascular evaluation for revascularization; fractional flow reserve and intravascular ultrasound relationship study; adensonine vasodilation independent stenosis evaluation; and evaluation of XIENCE PRIME. It sells its products through direct sales force and distributors, as well as through third parties supply and distribution agreements primarily in the United States, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered i n San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Teresa Rivas]

    Shares of Volcano (VOLC) were up 8% in afternoon trading, following the company�� better-than-expected second-quarter earnings report and a spate of positive analyst commentary.

    The medical device company said it earned 3 cents a share, whereas analysts were expecting a one cent per share loss. Revenues of $101.3 million also topped consensus estimates of $97.9 million.

    Volcano also issued mixed guidance for the full year, saying it expects to earn between 3 and 5 cents a share on revenue of $394 million to $400 million. Analysts are modeling for earnings per share of a nickel on $395.8 million in sales.

    Analysts were also largely positive about the quarter. Canaccord Genuity�� Jason Mills and Jeffery Chu upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy and boosted their price target by $5 to $26 on the news. ��olid or improving revenue growth trends and margin expansion are tried and true drivers of small-cap med-tech multiples. However, since October 2010, VOLC has lost over 20% of its value amid declining growth (admittedly from a high level) and inconsistent gross margin performance, which drove multiple contraction to its current discount relative to the broad comp group. However, improving trends in the core IVUS business, easing Y/Y comps, strong margin expansion potential via manufacturing transition to Costa Rica in 2014, and several catalysts on the horizon (e.g., new products, clinical data), portend a more favorable risk/reward profile in the stock at current trading levels.��/p>

    Raymond James analyst Jayson Bedford reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock and boosted his target price by $1 to $25. �� re-acceleration to double-digit constant currency growth and guidance that was maintained should help improve investor sentiment. At 2.5x EV/Sales, we do not believe investors are giving Volcano credit for its 9-11% top-line growth profile, with visibility into 70% gross margins. Additionally, we expect investor enthusiasm to inc

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Strategist Andrew Garthwaite and team explain why companies like Sprint (S),� American Water Works (AWK), Volcano (VOLC), Southern (SO) and Level 3 Communications�(LVLT) could get hit by the taper:

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Volcano (NASDAQ: VOLC) shares dropped 15.89% to $20.49 in pre-market trading after the company reported Q3 revenue. JP Morgan downgraded the stock from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $29.00 to $24.00.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Instead of an eruption, Volcano (VOLC) got an earnings-induced collapse instead.

    Associated Press

    Medical-device maker Volcano said its third quarter profit would miss Wall Street forecasts, and 2013 sales would also disappoint. And 2014? Well, that didn’t look too exciting other.

    JPMOrgan analyst Christopher Pasquale and team have had enough:

    We are downgrading VOLC shares to Neutral from Overweight following the company�� negative 3Q preannouncement and disappointing initial 2014 growth outlook Monday after the close. While we continue to see significant long-term potential for Volcano�� technologies, we are concerned by persistent headwinds to its core IVUS franchise and slowing FFR growth. With our conviction in a pipeline-driven reacceleration reduced and visibility into meaningful new growth drivers unlikely for several quarters, we are moving to the sidelines.

    Canaccord Genuity’s Jason Mills and Jeffrey Chu also cut Volcano to Hold–just a quarter after upgrading it–and even today’s drop might not make it worth buying. They explain why:

    Our upgrade of VOLC last quarter was predicated on the improving trends in the core IVUS business, FFR continuing as a long-term growth engine, and the potential material gross margin expansion. While Q3 results included pockets of good news, adverse trends predominated.
    While US IVUS rebounded modestly, driven by peripheral IVUS (+40% Y/Y), IVUS and FM results in Japan were very disconcerting to us (-19%, +8%, respectively), and portend share loss, in our estimation. Also, while we still expect significant gross margin expansion long term, it seems we may have to wait longer than expected.

    In sum, we would not aggressively buy weakness unless the stock is over-penalized on these results – i.e. below $20.

    While shares of Volcano have dropped 15% to $20.74, large-cap medical device companies are having a solid day. Boston Scienti

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc (APNT)

Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc., incorporated on May 22, 1989, is engaged in nanotechnology research and development business. The Company's nanotechnology research involves performing contract research and development services for others to develop products and materials for new applications, and then leveraging this research by applying it to other similar applications in other industries. The Company also develops intellectual property (IP) around its products and technologies. The Company develops five technology platforms: nanosensor technology; nanocomposites, based on carbon nanotube composites; thermal management materials; nanoelectronics applications, and electron emission activities, primarily in the display area. The Company's electron emission IP is divided into display activities and non-display activities. Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. is the parent company. Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI) is a subsidiary of ANHI. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company formed EZDiagnostix, Inc., (EZDX).

Sensors

The Company develops sensors based on ion mobility sensor technology and differential mobility spectroscopy. The Company is involved in projects to develop Mercaptan and Methane sensors for uses in the natural gas industry. The Company is also applying this technology to other applications, including agricultural pathology, wound care, and breath analysis. The Company develops hydrogen sensor for use in the measurement of hydrogen in power transformer products. The Company develops carbon monoxide sensor that can last for 10,000 hours on a single battery. The Company's carbon nanotube technology is for use in biosensors. Sensors based on carbon nanotubes or other nanomaterials can be used to detect chemical, organic, or biological warfare agents, as well as explosives, hydrogen, ammonia and numerous other chemicals.

Nanocomposites

The Company is in the advanced stages of development of nanomaterials using carbon nanotube (CNT) and! other composites. Epoxies are used in industries with worldwide markets, with applications, including adhesives, paints, coatings, and composites. In addition to epoxy resins, the Company develops other types of resins, including polyesters and vinyl esters. Vinyl esters are used in a variety of industrial applications, including storage tanks, piping, and construction. The Company develops a process for coating nylon pellets with CNTs to improves electrical conductivity. Nylon 6 with improved electrical conductivity can be used for its anti-static qualities, electrostatic discharge, and electromagnetic/RF shielding.

Thermal Management

The Company markets thermal management material called CarbAl. CarbAl provides a passive thermal management solution for temperature control issues that plague electronics manufacturers. CarbAl is a carbon based metal nanocomposite comprised of 80% carbonaceous matrix and a dispersed metal component of 20% aluminum. The Company also develops a simplified version of CarbAl based on graphite.

Conductive Inks

The Company develops aluminum and silver inks and pastes that is ideal for use in the production of solar cells. The Company also develops aluminum paste that can be used in current solar cell production.

The Company competes with Zyvex Performance Materials, GSI Creos, Amroy Europe, Ltd., DuPont and Ferro

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Anuchit Nguyen]

    India�� S&P BSE Sensex rose, holding at a three-year high, amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings. Engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT) rallied to a three-month high and Asian Paints Ltd. (APNT) surged about 6 percent after reporting profit that beat forecasts.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Questerre Energy Corp (QEC)

Questerre Energy Corporation (Questerre) is engaged in the exploration for, and the development, production and acquisition of oil and gas projects, particularly shale oil and gas. Questerre holds assets in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec. Questerre has three core areas where it conducts the majority of its activity: Oil Shale Mining, Western Canada and the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec. The Company has a 100% interest in two licenses covering approximately 100,000 acres in the Pasquia Hills area of east central Saskatchewan. The Antler area is approximately 200 kilometers from Regina in southeast Saskatchewan. The Vulcan area in Southern Alberta is prospective for natural gas and oil in multiple horizons. The Lowlands are situated in Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City. As at December 31, 2011, the Company had an interest in 98 gross (55.2 net) producing and 40 gross (17.8 net) non-producing oil and natural gas. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    While the Bakken formation is already on most investor radars,�few American investors may realize that the formation stretches North into the oil and gas rich Canadian province of Saskatchewan where�stocks like Surge Energy Inc (TSE: SGY), Questerre Energy Corp (TSE: QEC), Crescent Point Energy Corp (TSE: CPG), Keyera Corp (TSE: KEY) and Centor Energy Inc (OTCBB: CNTO) have been pumping out a good flow of newsworthy news in recent weeks. I should mention that Canada�� oil reserves are ranked #3 after to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia with over 95% of these reserves being the oil sands of Alberta while the neighboring province of Saskatchewan (which the Bakken formation stretches into from South Dakota and Montana) along with offshore areas of Newfoundland also contain substantial production and reserves (Note:�Excluding oil sands, Alberta would have 39% of Canada�� remaining conventional oil reserves,�followed by�offshore Newfoundland with�28% and Saskatchewan with 27%).

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    What do Questerre Energy Corp. (TSE:QEC) and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSE:CPG) know about oil in Saskatchewan that Centor Energy Inc. (OTCBB:CNTO) doesn't? Absolutely nothing. All three companies know there's oil in the southern part of the Canadian province, and they know exactly how to go get it. The only difference between QEC, CPG, and CNTO is, Questerre Energy and Crescent Point Energy are further along the development of their operations there than Centor Energy.

  • [By James E. Brumley]

    Well, that answers that question. Questerre Energy Corp. (TSE:QEC) and Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSE:CPG) likely knew they had some shale-oil mining neighbors in the Bakken Shale neighborhood in Saskatchewan, Canada, but they hadn't seen much of that competition. That's about to change soon. Adequately funded and eager to begin laying its final mining plans, Centor Energy Inc. (OTCBB:CNTO) is going to officially own 55% of a 21,000 acre shale oil property that's anywhere from just a few miles away to just a few meters away from and Crescent Point Energy's and Questerre Energy's operations in one of the oil-richest known areas in the Bakken formation. And to be clear, it's not like Centor Energy is just getting the ball rolling; the planning for this project has been underway for months. Once the property-acquisition deal is inked in mid-February, CNTO will likely finish up its feasibility study and begin the approval process for its facility later in the year. That's pretty quick, but as was noted, a great deal of the legwork has already been done.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Enduro Royalty Trust (NDRO)

Enduro Royalty Trust (the Trust) is a statutory trust. On May 13, 2011, the Trust was formed by Enduro Resource Partners LLC (Enduro Sponsor) to own a net profits interest representing the right to receive 80% of the net profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from certain properties in the states of Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico (the Underlying Properties) held by Enduro Sponsor as of the date of the conveyance of the net profits interest to the trust. The business and affairs of the Trust will be managed by The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee (the Trustee). In addition, Wilmington Trust Company will act as Delaware trustee (the Delaware Trustee) of the Trust.

The Trust will enter into an administrative services agreement with Enduro pursuant to which Enduro will provide the Trust with certain accounting, bookkeeping, and informational services related to the Net Profits Interest. Enduro Sponsor is a privately-held limited liability company engaged in the production and development of oil and natural gas from properties located in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Statutory trust Enduro Royalty Trust (NYSE: NDRO  ) announced yesterday its July monthly distribution of $0.128817�per unit; it has paid a monthly dividend since November 2011. The distribution announced in May was $0.096825 per unit.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP)

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes companies that are primarily involved in the development and production of consumer products that cover food and drug retailing, beverages, food products, tobacco, household products and personal products.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    The exception to the strong defensive performance: consumer staples. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) has dropped 2.9% this year, making it the worst-performing sector in the S&P 500. Barclays’ Barry Knappexplains what’s gone wrong:

  • [By Chris Versace, Editor, PowerTrend Brief and PowerTrend Profits]

    That, to me, says they're going to favor inelastic goods over elastic ones, so when you think of the things that we need each and every day, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, household cleansers, that sort of thing, that's what brings me into (XLP) and (VDC).

  • [By Markus Aarnio]

    The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was trading as low as $19.28 in March 2009. The index is currently trading at $41.57 or 115.6% above the low made in March 2009.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    4. Cyclical stocks outperform defensive stocks – This puts consumer discretionary, energy, financials, industrials, technology and materials all doing better than consumer staples, healthcare, telecom, and utilities. Doll also prefers a free cash flow yield to dividend yield and dividend growth over dividend yield.

    ETF Recommendation(s): Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF), Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK), Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEArca: OIH)… Avoid Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLP) and Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU).

    5. Dividends, stock buy-backs, capex, and M&A all increase at a double-digit rate – This is led by a lot of cash flow, underleveraged balance sheets, and possible great places to use cash. The argument for higher cap-ex is as follows: “Pent-up demand and aging of plant, equipment and technology argue for increases in those key areas.”

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: Community Bank System Inc (CBU)

Community Bank System, Inc., incorporated on April 15, 1983, which wholly owns five subsidiaries: Community Bank, N.A. (the Bank), Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc. (BPAS), CFSI Closeout Corp. (CFSICC), First of Jermyn Realty Company, Inc. (FJRC) and Town & Country Agency LLC (T&C). The Bank operates as a community bank providing a range of banking and financial services to retail, commercial, and municipal customers. As of December 31, 2012, the Bank operates 179 full-service branches throughout 35 counties of Upstate New York, where it operates as Community Bank, N.A. and five counties of Northeastern Pennsylvania, where it is known as First Liberty Bank & Trust, offering a range of commercial and retail banking services. BPAS provides administration, consulting and actuarial services to sponsors of employee benefit plans. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired eight branch-banking locations across its Northeast Pennsylvania markets from Bank of America, N.A.Five of the branches are located in Luzerne County, one is located in Lackawanna County and two are located in Carbon County.

On July 20, 2012, the Bank completed its acquisition of 16 retail branches in Central, Northern and Western New York from HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (HSBC), acquiring approximately $106 million in loans and $697 million of deposits. On September 7, 2012, it completed its acquisition of three branches in Western New York from First Niagara Bank, N.A. (First Niagara), acquiring approximately $54 million of loans and $101 million of deposits.

Lending Activities

As of December 31, 2012, the Bank�� loan portfolio included consumer mortgage loans, business lending, Consumer indirect, Consumer direct and Home equity. Consumer indirect and direct loans consist of personal loans originated both in the branch network and in automobile, marine and recreational vehicle dealerships. Approximately 68% of loans outstanding as of December 31, 2012, were made to consumers ! borrowing on an installment, line of credit or residential mortgage loan basis. The consumer mortgage portion of the Company�� loan portfolio is comprised of fixed (98%) and adjustable rate (2%) residential lending and includes no exposure to subprime, Alt-A or other higher-risk mortgage products. The combined total of general-purpose business lending, including agricultural-related and dealer floor plans, as well as mortgages on commercial property, is characterized as the Company�� business lending activity.

Investment Activities

As of December 31, 2012, the Bank�� investment securities included held-to-maturity, available-for-sale and Other securities. As of December 31, 2012, its held-to-maturity portfolio included U.S. Treasury and agency securities, Obligations of state and political subdivisions, Government agency mortgage-backed securities, Corporate debt securities and Other securities. Its Other Securities included Federal Home Loan Bank common stock, Federal Reserve Bank common stock and Other equity securities.

Sources of Funds

The Bank utilizes a variety of funding sources to support the earning asset base. Overall funding is comprised of three primary sources that possess a variety of maturity, stability, and price characteristics: deposits of individuals, partnerships and corporations (IPC deposits), municipal deposits that are collateralized for amounts not covered by FDIC insurance (public funds) and external borrowings. The various types of deposits offered by the Bank include Noninterest checking deposits, Interest checking deposits, Regular savings deposits, Money market deposits and Time deposits. Borrowing sources for the Company include the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY) and Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as well as access to the brokered certificate of deposit (CD) and repurchase markets through relationships with primary market security dealers.

Subsidiary Activities

The Compan! y�� sub! sidiary, BPAS owns three subsidiaries, Benefit Plans Administrative Services LLC (BPA), a provider of defined contribution plan administration services; Harbridge Consulting Group LLC (Harbridge), a provider of actuarial and benefit consulting services, and Hand Benefits & Trust Company (HB&T), a provider of Collective Investment Fund administration and institutional trust services. HB&T owns two subsidiaries, Flex Corp. (Flex), a provider of administration, servicing and marketing of various flexible employee benefit programs and Hand Securities, Inc. (HSI), an introducing broker dealer. The Company also wholly owns two unconsolidated subsidiary business trusts formed for the purpose of issuing mandatorily redeemable preferred securities.

The Bank owns subsidiaries, such as CBNA Insurance Agency, Inc. (CBNA Insurance), CBNA Preferred Funding Corporation (PFC), CBNA Treasury Management Corporation (TMC), Community Investment Services, Inc. (CISI), First Liberty Service Corp. (FLSC), Nottingham Advisors, Inc. (Nottingham), Brilie Corporation (Brilie), and Western Catskill Realty, LLC (WCR). CBNA Insurance is a full-service insurance agency offering primarily property and casualty products. PFC primarily acts as an investor in residential real estate loans. TMC provides cash management, investment, and treasury services to the Bank. CISI provides broker-dealer and investment advisory services. FLSC provides banking-related services to the Pennsylvania branches of the Bank. Nottingham provides asset management services to individuals, corporate pension and profit sharing plans, and foundations. Brilie and WCR are inactive companies.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By GURUFOCUS]

    Community Bank System Inc. (CBU) operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides banking and financial services to retail, commercial, and municipal customers. August 21st the company increased its quarterly dividend 3.7% to $0.28 per share. The dividend is payable October 10, 2013 to shareholders of record as of September 16, 2013. The yield based on the new payout is 3.3%.

Top Safest Companies To Own For 2015: eBay Inc.(EBAY)

eBay Inc. provides online platforms, services, and tools to help individuals and merchants in online and mobile commerce and payments in the United States and internationally. Its Marketplaces segment operates ecommerce platform eBay.com; vertical shopping sites, such as StubHub, Fashion, Motors, and Half.com; and classifieds Websites, including Den Bl�Avis, BilBasen, Gumtree, Kijiji, LoQUo, Marktplaats.nl, mobile.de, Alamaula, Rent.com, eBay Anuncios, eBay Kleinanzeigen, and eBay Annunci, as well as provides advertising services. The company?s Payments segment offers payment and settlement services for consumers and merchants on and off eBay Websites and other merchant Websites. This segment operates PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to send and receive payments online and through mobile devices; Bill Me Later that enables the United States merchants to offer, the United States consumers to obtain, credit at the point of sale for ecommerce and mobile tra nsactions; Zong, which allows users with mobile phones to purchase digital goods and have the transactions charged to their phone bill; and BillSAFE that enables customers pay for purchases upon receipt of an invoice. Its GSI segment offers an ecommerce services suite for enterprise clients that operate in general merchandise categories, including apparel, sporting goods, toys and baby, health and beauty, and home; and marketing services comprising full-service digital agency, enterprise email marketing, mobile advertising, affiliate marketing, advertisement retargeting, and in-depth analytics services. The company also offers X.commerce platform that provides software developers access to the company?s applications programming interfaces to develop functionality for various merchants; and Magento Connect, which allows developers to market and sell add-on functionality and solutions to merchants that use a Magento storefront. eBay Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquarter ed in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a new tablet from Amazon to Microsoft giving Windows an overdue makeover, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Bank on It: We're just getting started with earnings season, but Monday will be relatively quiet on that front. One of the few companies kicking off the week with fresh financials will be Wintrust (WTFC), a financial holding company with $18 billion in assets. It operates 15 different community bank subsidiaries with 100 different locations. It may not be the same kind of snapshot of the financial industry that we got this past Friday when bigger banks reported, but we can't ignore the importance of community banks in gauging the state of the economic turnaround. Tuesday -- Pop Stars: Coca-Cola (KO) reports on Tuesday, and if that isn't enough we will have PepsiCo (PEP) checking in on Wednesday. Coke and Pepsi have been battling one another for years, but in some ways, they're united against common adversaries these days. Between the growing popularity of making sodas at home, and critics taking them on over the health implications of consuming too many sugary (or artificially sweetened) drinks, it's a whole different kind of cola war these days. Investors looking for growth may want to look elsewhere. Analysts see Pepsi's revenue inching just 2 percent higher when it reports. It's worse for Coca-Cola, with Wall Street targeting a 2 percent decline in sales. Wednesday -- Paypal Day: eBay (EBAY) reports its third quarter results on Wednesday. There was a time when eBay was strictly an online flea market, but these days we're seeing PayPal become a bigger part of the model. Yes, eBay also owns PayPal, the most popular way to settle online transactions outside of plastic. PayPal has started to expand its reach into traditional retailers, making it possible

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    In this video segment, Remer describes the platforms and ecosystems in use for money transfer, how they're evolving with each generation, and what he sees ahead for current giants such as MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) , Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU  ) , and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY  ) .

  • [By Steve Heller]

    Under the rule of John Donahoe, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY  ) has undergone a massive transformation. Between all of its segments, the company expects that by 2015, it will enable more than $300 billion in global commerce, which represents an increase of more than 70% from 2012 levels. But like every great growth story, there are obstacles to overcome. In this video, Fool contributor Steve Heller weighs in on what will keep eBay from meeting its aggressive goal.�

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