GM Canceled Ignition-Switch Fix in 2005 Due to Costs

David McNew/Getty Images General Motors (GM), after months of studying ignition-switch failures in the Chevrolet Cobalt, canceled a proposed fix in 2005, when a project engineering manager cited high tooling costs and piece prices, according to documents obtained by U.S. congressional investigators. A separate opportunity to address the defect was passed over by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2007, when it opted not to open a formal defect investigation even after an agency official had said a probe was justified, according to an interview between current NHTSA officials and staff members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Those decisions and this year's recall of 2.6 million small cars for faulty ignition switches are set to be the main focus of congressional hearings Tuesday and Wednesday. GM Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra and acting NHTSA Administrator David Friedman are being asked to explain the handling of years of complaints about stalling cars and disabled air bags that have now been linked to the switches and tied to 13 deaths. "Lives are at stake, and we will follow the facts where they take us as we work to pinpoint where the system failed," Representative Fred Upton, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement Sunday. GM opened an engineering inquiry about the Cobalt ignition switch in November 2004, after customers complained the engine "can be keyed off with knee while driving," according to a problem-tracking system document obtained by House investigators. Four months later, the Cobalt project engineering manager rejected a key slot change, citing cost and long lead times. "None of the solutions presents an acceptable business case," according to a GM memo cited by the House committee. 'Early Warning' The chief of NHTSA's Defects Assessment Division emailed other officials in the Office of Defects Investigation in September 2007, saying owner complaints from 2005 and "early warning" data about warranty repairs and injuries justified a probe, according to the memo from the committee. "Notwithstanding GM's indications that they see no specific problem pattern, DAD perceives a pattern of non-deployments in these vehicles that does not exist in their peers," the official said, according the memo issued before a committee hearing on vehicle defects. NHTSA chose not to open a formal defect investigation in 2007 after reviewing the air-bag data. In 2010, after a special crash investigation report was filed with NHTSA about a May 2009 Cobalt crash, the agency again considered a defect probe focused on the car's air bags. For a second time, the agency backed off after further reviewing data, according to the memo. 'At Stake' Barra and Friedman are scheduled to appear before Upton's committee Tuesday, and a Senate committee Wednesday. "As we have stated previously, the agency reviewed data from a number of sources in 2007, but the data we had available at the time did not warrant a formal investigation," a NHTSA spokesman, Nathan Naylor, said. "Recent data presented by GM provides new information and evidence directly linking the ignition switch to the air-bag non-deployment. That's why we are aggressively investigating the timing of GM's recall." The ignition-switch defect in six GM models including the Cobalt and Saturn Ion has been linked to the deaths in at least 31 crashes. GM recalled about 1.6 million cars worldwide in February, and an additional 971,000 last week. "We deeply regret the events that led to the recall," a GM spokesman, Greg Martin, said in an emailed statement. "We are fully cooperating with NHTSA and the Congress, and we welcome the opportunity to help both have a full understanding of the facts." Barra's Leadership GM approved production of the ignition switch in 2002 even though testing showed torque in the part fell short of the company's original specifications, the part's supplier, Delphi Automotive Plc, told House investigators. The congressional hearings present a test of leadership for Barra, who took over as GM's first female CEO on Jan. 15 and said she first learned the details of the recall two weeks later. Barra and other top executives are trying to remake the image of the Detroit-based automaker after last year shedding the final vestiges of U.S. government ownership linked to its 2009 bankruptcy. Barra has apologized for the slow response that resulted in deaths. GM has also hired an outside investigator to probe the delay and has created a vice president position in charge of global vehicle safety, as Barra has sought to shore up GM's image and reinforce the automaker's message that it's recreating itself after its $50 billion taxpayer-funded bailout. Firestone, Ford Upton has said he wants to know why regulations already in place didn't catch the GM problems sooner. Upton led the probe in 2000 over highway deaths linked to Firestone tires on Ford Motor's (F) Explorer sport-utility vehicles. Upton, 60, was the lead House author of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, or Tread Act. The 2000 law boosted communication between carmakers and the government and increased NHTSA's ability to collect data, with automakers required to report more potential threats such as defect claims or lawsuits, and recalls in other nations.

Dump Whole Foods Market to Buy Kroger and Costco

Whole Foods Market (WFM) released its quarterly report yesterday and the numbers were terrible. Due to the dreadful performance, shares have tanked over 8% in today's trading session. The company's previous quarterly report was also bad and I expect it to continue this trend in the upcoming quarters. Therefore, I think investors should sell their Whole Foods Market shares.

Numbers From The Quarterly Report

· Revenue came in at $4.2 billion, up 10% year-over-year, missing the consensus estimate of $4.3 billion.

· On the earnings front, the company reported EPS of $0.42 while the analysts held out for $0.42.

· Same-store sales jumped 5.4% year-over-year, marginally falling short of the analysts' estimate of 5.5%.

· Transactions increased by 3.1%, while the average basket size of customers was 2.3% higher.

· Operating income was $255 million, or 6.0% of sales, and EBITDA were $366 million, or 8.6% of sales.

· Net income was $158 million, or 3.7% of sales, and return on invested capital increased 26 basis points to 13.3%.

Opportunity Giving Rise To Competition

As consumers are becoming more aware about the effects of genetically modified, or GMO, food and repercussions of the industrial fertilizers and pesticides used in farming, they are looking for more transparency in the food they eat. As a result of this, it is expected that the market for organic food in the U.S. will exceed $80 billion by 2015. The organic and natural food market still has large potential for further growth. In 2012, this market was just 3.5% of total food sales in the U.S.A.

However, this huge growth opportunity has also given rise to stiff competition and as a result Whole Foods' underperformance is likely to continue in the upcoming quarters. In fact, the company has revised its earnings and revenue guidance downwards for FY2014 for the second time in a row. The company has reduced FY14 EPS $1.58-$1.65 which is well below the consensus estimate of $1.68.

The bad news doesn't end there. Over the past quarter, Whole Foods was cutting prices (on key products) due to increased competition by companies entering the Organic & Natural food business; particularly Costco (COST) and Kroger (KR). Continued cost reduction will directly eat into the company's gross margin, which will put downward pressure on Whole Foods' bottom-line.

On the bright, Whole Foods Market is planning to open 33-38 stores in fiscal 2014 and 38-45 more in fiscal 2015. Moreover, the company predicts that there exists room for 1,200 stores in the long run, and aims to exceed the count of 500 stores by 2017.

However, I don't think these initiatives will be enough to solve Whole Foods On-hand problems anytime soon. Moreover, Whole Foods' average dollar-volume has dropped significantly to $219.2 in the latest reported quarter. Therefore, I think investors should exit Whole Foods Market as soon as possible.

Kroger Moves

Kroger's third quarter registered positive comps of 3.5%, making it the 40th consecutive quarter of positive comps. This is no mean feat and is the result of Kroger's customer-centric business model. The company is well positioned to continue its growth momentum as well. On the back of comps growth, Kroger's third-quarter revenue jumped 3.2% over last year to $22.5 billion.

The company's customer-first strategy and the strong progress to improve the fresh products segment has been one of the growth drivers. The customer centric business model has, over a period of 10 years, been responsible for an 83% increase in loyal households that keep visiting Kroger for their grocery needs. Focusing on the most loyal brand of customers has been one of the driving forces behind the 40 consecutive quarters of positive comps, and it is all set to sustain the momentum into 41st.

Kroger is confident of its growth going forward because it is capturing only $0.50 of every $1 the loyal customer spends on products that the company sells. It is confident of achieving its fiscal 2013 earnings per share target and projects comps growth of 3% to 3.5% (excluding fuel) for the fourth quarter. For fiscal 2014, it is confident of delivering 8% to 11% earnings-per-share growth targets, which does not include the accruals coming in from the Harris Teeter Supermarkets acquisition last year.

Harris Teeter's acquisition opens up an excellent opportunity for Kroger to access areas with high median incomes such as Northern Virginia and the North Carolina research triangle. Kroger has also jumped onto the organic and natural food bandwagon, aiming at consumers who are driven toward organic and natural food items for reasons of health and supporting local farmers.

Costco Looks Good As Well

Costco's comparable-store sales witnessed a year-over-year increase of 5% in the recent quarter. The retailer's total revenue from membership and net sales inched up 5% to $24.5 billion, while on the earnings front it reported an EPS of $0.96, a penny more than the corresponding quarter of 2012.

Costco has managed to grow despite a weak economic environment, as a result of offering a wide range of merchandise at heavily discounted prices, which is what cash-strapped consumers are looking for as they aim to stretch their dollars.

Costco's growth story is primarily based on getting new memberships and also being able to retain members. New members increased by 17% year-over-year in the previous quarter and membership renewals continued their strength in the 90%-plus range. Costco opened 13 new stores in the previous quarter, as compared to 9 last year, and this has driven the new membership signups and benefited the retailer.

As part of its expansion, Costco plans to open 18 new stores in fiscal 2014 in the international markets. Also, Costco has an advantage over a retailer such as Wal-Mart as it carries fewer items, as a result of which it needs fewer staff and hence, offers them far better wages as compared to Wal-Mart.

A Bloomberg report depicts how Wal-Mart has been in a soup due to lack of proper merchandising and dis-organization. Shoppers are failing to find what they need at Wal-Mart stores, which, in turn, is a boon for peers such as Costco. Wal-Mart recently lowered its full year profit forecast and sales have fallen for three quarters straight. Its same-store sales in its recently reported quarter fell 0.3% in the U.S.

Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, which is a direct rival of Costco since it operates on an identical membership model, is also struggling. Comparable store sales at Sam's Club increased 1.1% in the previous quarter while analysts were looking for growth of 1.3%. Going forward, Wal-Mart expects Sam's Club same-store sales to range between flat and 2%. So, Costco has been doing better than Wal-Mart as far as comps growth is concerned and this outperformance could continue as it expands internationally.

Conclusion

Not only is Kroger growing faster than Whole Foods, it is also cheaper as it is trading at 12.27 times its earnings. Costco, on the other hand, should see good growth as it gradually expands its footprint in the global market. Whole Foods' growth is slowing down and I expect that trend to continue throughout 2014. Bad quarterly results never go down well with investors; therefore I think investors should dump Whole Foods Market in favor of Kroger and Costco.

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How A Nadex Binary Is Impacted By Implied Volatility

Implied Volatility can impact the price of an option more than any other factor.

Implied Volatility is a fancy word for an expected move. The longer there is until expiration, the more time there is for the market to move. This is why a binary will be worth more the longer there is until expiration.

In addition, "implied volatility" increases the premium cost of the binary as a large move is expected to take place. For example, before the FOMC or NFP Report, with two hours until expiration, a binaries premium will be closer to $50 than it would be at midnight, when no news is expected within the next two hours and when expected movement is normally low.

If you bought an OTM binary strike both above and below the market several hours before a news event, you may see both sides be profitable, even though the market has not moved and time has passed. This is due to the expected movement flooding into the options market and causing the premium to rise.

Related: What Is A Nadex Binary Option?

Understanding how implied volatility impacts the price of a binary option, by time and by pending government news events, can help a trader know whether they should pay or collect premium to take advantage of the rise or fall in the implied volatility impacting the binary's price.

A simple illustration can be seen in the same phenomenon on stock options before an earnings release. The implied volatility gets sucked out of the binary after the release has happened. Even more premium is removed when there is little movement after a large expected move. This is known as a volatility crush.

Notice the highlighted example below, that shows how the implied volatility for options on AAPL rose before th

Mexico's 'green gold': Growers guard limes

MEXICO CITY — Citrus growers in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz guard their groves as lime prices surge to the point that pistol-packing thieves pick pieces of fruit right off their trees.

Truckers, meanwhile, travel with escorts — especially after criminals started targeting their vehicles and commandeered a cargo of limes worth nearly $50,000 this month.

"There are a lot of people stealing limes, even entering the groves with weapons," says Adriana Melchor, director of fruit exporter Inverafrut.

Limes have always been a coveted crop in Mexico, where a squirt of the small citrus brightens the taste of everything from tacos to tequila to guacamole.

But a combination of poor winter weather, plagues and threats from organized crime have caused production to plunge and prices to rise — a trend that has many Mexicans calling the citrus "green gold."

Newspapers are covering the shortages as prices rise to more than $6 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) in some places. La Prensa, a tabloid catering to the cost-conscious working classes, replaced its usual blood-soaked front-page photos with the headline: "Like Meat!" and a subhead saying limes sell for the same price as chicken.

STORY: U.S. lime market squeezed by shortage in Mexico

Vendors say sales are on the decline, even though limes — along with chilies and salt — accompany many Mexican dishes.

"One year ago it was 15 to 20 pesos ($1.15 to $1.50) per kilogram. Now it's 50 pesos" ($3.80), says Mario Aguilar, who sells fruit from a market near the president's residence in Mexico City and reports people purchasing half of what they used to buy.

Taco stand operator Fidel González used to put out bowls of limes for his patrons. Now he portions out slices selectively to keep costs down.

"We have to charge the same price for our tacos, so we give out less limes," he says.

The quality of limes is also lacking, according to both growers and restaurateurs.

"We're getting a smaller-size lime ! and it doesn't produce as much juice as it should," says Claudio Hall, chef at Fonda El Refugio in Mexico City, where his bartenders now use twice as many limes to make margaritas.

"We just tighten our belts and pay the higher prices," he says.

The consumer prosecutor's office, Profeco, says prices have on average increased by 221% since December and promises to prosecute anyone hoarding the fruit or speculating. Profeco's director, Lorena Martínez, said the sanctions for speculation include prison terms of up to 10 years.

Melchor insists no one is hoarding any fruit — at least not in Veracruz, one of Mexico's three main growing regions and an area famous for its production of Persian limes, which are exported to the U.S. and Europe.

Production in her partners' groves has dropped from 20 tons per day to 3 tons per day, while customers in the USA have offered as much as $90 for a 40-pound box of limes, she says — more than seven times the price of $12 per box paid last year.

Melchor blames bad weather. Hurricane Ingrid stormed through last September, and unusually cold winter temperatures made matters worse.

Producers in other parts of Mexico who supply the domestic market with a smaller, more acidic lime variety suffered other problems such as a plague that wiped out the crop in the western state of Colima.

In the neighboring state of Michaocán, where self-defense groups formed to fight off drug cartels carrying out crimes like kidnap and extortion, a spokesman for the growers' association also blames bad weather. But he acknowledged that insecurity prevented some producers from working their lime groves last year.

"Producers didn't go out to their groves, didn't attend to their trees as they should have," says Leonardo Santibáñez, spokesman for the Citrus Growers Association of the Apatzingán Valley. "This brought about smaller harvests."

The growers formed a group five years ago to fetch better prices for their crops — currently 15 pesos! ($1.15) ! per kilogram (2.2 pounds), Santibáñez says, nearly double the 8 pesos ($0.61) per kilo they received last year. The growers' increased organization and marketing muscle is getting them a better price, Santibáñez says, but he rejects suggestions they're unduly profiting at a time when production from Michaocán can barely supply one-third of the Mexican market.

"The benefit of being organized is that there's a regulation of prices, regulation of harvests, that we take care of each other because if we don't the profits will stay in the commercialization process (and) not be distributed to those in the production process."

Mexican retailers reject any allegations of jacking up prices.

"Our prices are reflecting what we are paying in the market," says Antonio Ocaranza, spokesman for Wal-Mart de México, the nation's largest retailer. "We try to provide the lowest possible price and have been working closely with authorities to share what we are seeing in the market."

Two Reasons Stocks Could Head Higher

TGIF. It had been a painful week for stocks–until today that is, as big gains in GameStop (GME), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) and Newmont Mining (NEM) have helped push the S&P 500 higher.

Why the brighter outlook? Wells Capital Management’s Jim Paulsen offers two  reasons: confidence and emerging markets.

For starters, he believes that confidence will trump rising interest rates. He writes:

Interest rates are starting to rise in this recovery but so is confidence.  Despite concerns this year about higher interest rates, the speed of the Fed’s exit strategy, disappointing weather-impacted economic reports and some old school Cold War rumbles, consumer confidence rose to its highest level in more than six years in March!  If history is any guide, so long as confidence continues improving, the stock market may surprise many by its persistence despite higher yields and Fed tapering.  So far, the primary reason yields are rising and the Fed is considering monetary policy normalization is because “confidence” surrounding the economic recovery is improving.

Indeed, in judging when the stock market may pause, rather than watching the Fed or interest rates, history suggest investors may be better served by staying focused on confidence.

And what about those emerging markets? Well, this week they’ve been rising–a lot. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has gained 5% this week as of 1:56 p.m. today, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is down 0.3%. How extreme has the turn in emerging markets been? Consider this chart:

 

The upshot: “If [emerging markets have turned,” Paulsen says, the overall stock market “is likely to get a boost.”

The S&P 500 has gained 0.3% to 1,855.38, as GameStop has risen 6.9% to $39.90 after falling 4% yesterday following disappointing earnings, while Cognizant Technology Solutions has advanced 5.2% to $50.07 after it was upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Newmont Mining is up 4.7% as gold miners rally.

Hot Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now

Raymond James’ (RJF) employee broker-dealer channel will open an office in two weeks in the Golden Triangle area of Beverly Hills, Calif., the firm said Tuesday. It also says it just recruited a team from Merrill Lynch in Alabama with roughly $160 million in client assets and yearly fees and commissions of more than $1 million.

“We are so proud to plant a flag in Beverly Hills, which is one of the Garden Spots of the World,” said Lisa Detanna, managing director and senior vice president of investments at Raymond James & Associates, in a press release.

Detanna, who has been in the business for 23 years, will head the office. The advisor began her career in 1990 with Drexel Burnham and joined Raymond James in early 2011.

During her career, Detanna also has worked for Morgan Stanley (MS), Citigroup (C), Merrill Lynch (BAC), Dean Witter and Wedbush Securities. She is a Rotarian, past-president of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce and past head of the city’s Economic Development Council.

Hot Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (NYSE: TC) was at 54% discount to its book value of $8.30 per share at the time, and the stock price of $3.90 is up from $3.03 Deutsche Bank’s team nailed upside of more than 28% here. Its price target was $4 at the time versus a consensus target of $4.50 at the time. The 52-week range here is $2.42 to $4.55, but we would point out that the consensus price target is $3.93.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are Chesapeake Energy�puts, and shares of Discovery Communications. Other new holdings of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) , and Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas's productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, is expected to grow by 30% annually over the coming years. It recently reported 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-ago levels, and proven reserves up 417%. Halcon was recently one of my colleague Joel South's top two energy holdings, and analysts at Stifel recently upped its rating�from Hold to Buy.

Hot Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Patricio Kehoe] ating price of the commodity, along with the geopolitical risks involved in mining in African nations such as Ghana, are just two of the obstacles the firm is facing. In addition, as one of the smallest gold mining firms in the industry, with a market cap of just $122 million, Golden Star has had a very difficult time financing its latest expansion projects. With share prices tumbling towards all-time lows, gurus such as Steven Cohen, Chuck Royce and Arnold Schneider have already sold out their positions in the troubled firm.

  Why Have Gurus Lost Faith in Golden Star?

  Despite aggressive expansion over the past decade, the Toronto-based gold mining firm has not been able to take advantage of its increased production output. Gold prices might have exploded over a ten-year period, yet the recent six-month decline has put a huge strain on Golden Star. The expedited maturation of its mines is particularly troubling, since the accelerated extraction rates, which allowed for short-term profits, are now falling considerably. The impact of the company�� excessive overproduction on profits and growth is clear: decreasing gold reserves mean less production, and thus reduced revenue for the gold miner. When the decline in metal prices are taken into account, the outlook is even more grim.

  In addition to overexpansion at the wrong time, Golden Star�� position has weakened due to its comparably less efficient operations. Unlike industry peers, such as IamGold Corp. (IAG) or Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI), the majority of the Toronto-based miner�� assets contain refractory ore, which is far more expensive to extract than non refractory ore. And, in an attempt to switch production to the lower cost gold ore, and thus increase margins, Golden Star has depleted its mines��non refractory ore. With low reserves and mounting cash costs, the firm inevitably turned to new acquisitions.

  Overpriced Acquisitions and Geopolitical Risk

  The purchase

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Clash of the titans
  When bears are raging on the gold bullion market, it's not surprising to see gold stocks getting mauled as well. Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  ) was the biggest loser in the sector, losing a quarter of its market cap on no company-specific news, though a report last Friday indicated that a large number of hedge funds had recently dumped their positions in the mid-tier miner. Yet it wasn't all that much better among the majors, either, as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) fell almost 13% and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 14%.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  )
  It's simple physics: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. When gold prices nosedived earlier this week, gold miners with historically higher operating costs took the brunt of the hit. For the most part, that meant that development-stage miners, and those operating in Africa, where labor and political costs make cost-effective mining a challenge, took it on the chin. Possibly no stock was hammered more than Golden Star Resources, a gold miner in Ghana, which lost about one-quarter of its value on Monday alone.

Top Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Within equities, we believe that most companies will be negatively impacted by rising interest rates, but we did identify some exceptions. For example, the CME Group is a Chicago-based operator of numerous trading exchanges including a large volume of 铿�ed income futures contracts. Higher interest rates and greater interest rate volatility tends to be a catalyst for greater trading volumes, and hence, greater revenue for CME (CME). The company was our top-performing U.S. investment in the last three months with gains of nearly 30%. The insurance industry is another area that we believe can offer resilience in the face of rising rates. This quarter we added to our positions in Manulife Financial in Canada, AmTrust Financial in the U.S., and introduced U.K.-based Aon to our international portfolio. Many of our insurance companies enjoyed strong performance this quarter and helped offset the declines suffered within the 铿�ed income portfolio.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: Black Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH), CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME), Leapfrog Enterprises (NYSE: LF), Hill International, Inc. (NYSE: HIL) Economic Releases Expected: eurozone manufacturing PMI, British construction PMI, US factory orders, Chinese services PMI, Indian services PMI

  Tuesday

Hot Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: Australian Dollar(AU)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited primarily engages in the exploration and production of gold. It also produces silver, uranium oxide, and sulfuric acid. The company conducts gold-mining operations in South Africa; continental Africa, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, and Tanzania; Australia; and the Americas, which include Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. It also has mining or exploration operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Colombia. As of December 31, 2010, the company had proved and probable gold reserves of 71.2 million ounces. The company has a strategic alliance with Thani Dubai Mining Limited to explore, develop, and operate mines across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, formerly known as Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited, was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  The second largest market cap company, at $11.22 billion, is Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (AU). Its afternoon stock price of $29.15 is within 5% of its three-year low, and has experienced a more significant drop than Newmont ��it is down 44.9% from its high price of $52.86 a share.

• [By Profit Confidential]

  Graham Ehm, Executive Vice President of South African-based AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), one of the biggest gold producers in the global economy, stated the company is looking to save $500 million over the next 18 months, as capital expenditures will only be going towards their highest-quality assets. (Source: Mining Weekly, August 5, 2013.)

• [By Patricio Kehoe] stion arises: Why is First Eagle bullish regarding such a company? The answer might lie in the huge discount at which the third-largest gold producer by output is trading, along with a certain degree of long-term optimism.

  Huge Holdings Point to Long-Term Commitment

  Since First Eagle recently increased its stake in Anglogold by more than 20%, bringing his total holding to over 32.5 million shares, I believe we are looking at a long-term investment. I am keen on pointing this out, since the stock is currently performing very poorly, and has already lost around 275% of its value year to date. Above average production costs and plummeting gold prices have put a huge deal of pressure on the gold miner, leading to very poor results. In addition, since many of its operations are in geopolitically risky countries such as Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, shareholders have been shedding this stock in large volumes.

  Although Anglogold had a very rough year, and will continue to face elevated cash costs and reduced margins going into 2014, there are some positive signals looking forward. One of the most promising features, are the firm�� operations in South America and Australia, which are enjoying solid organic growth. Although investors will have to wait some years for assets in these regions to reach full production, large profits should be achieved in the long-term. In other words, First Eagle surely has its eyes set on the company�� new projects, and their future growth potential.

  Projected Growth and Low Price

  Another attractive feature investors must keep in mind is a stock�� growth potential. When looking at Anglogold, this becomes especially relevant, as a comparison to Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) will demonstrate. Anglogold currently offers 13.6% returns on invested capital, compared to Barrick�� -2.8%, and has an EBITDA growth rate of 465.7%, the highest in the industry. Thus, whereas the Canadian miner has a negative EPS

Hot Gold Companies To Watch In Right Now: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  New Gold Inc. (NSYEMKT: NGD) completed its takeover of Rainy River Resources back in October. New Gold got 4 million ounces in a good jurisdiction (Ontario) and paid less than book value.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Hamed singles out Goldcorp (GG) and Yamana Gold (AUY) as two companies that have strong production growth, falling costs, declining capital obligations and less debt than competitors. New Gold (NGD), meanwhile, should have the lowest all-on costs in the group at $731 an ounce, but its capital spending is likely to notes, Hamed says. Hamed rates Goldcorp and Yamana Overweight, while New Gold is rated Equal Weight.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.

3 Hot Stocks to Trade (or Not)

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.

>>Beat the S&P 2014 With 5 Stocks Everyone Else Hates

From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy as Stocks Test New Highs

These "most active" names are the most heavily-traded names on the market -- and often, uber-active names have some sort of a technical or fundamental catalyst driving investors' attention on shares. And when there's a big catalyst, there's often a trading opportunity.

Without further ado, here's a look at today's stocks.

Five Below

Nearest Resistance: $44

Nearest Support: $40

Catalyst: Earnings Beat

First up is discount retailer Five Below (FIVE). Shares of FIVE are up more than 13% this afternoon following a 31% increase in fourth-quarter profits. The firm earned profits of 45 cents a share, a number that came right in the middle of its previously issued guidance. With 62 new stores planned for this year, investors are bidding up shares on hopes that FIVE's growth trajectory will keep up.

From a technical standpoint, today's breakout in FIVE is a bullish signal. Shares had been forming an ascending triangle bottom for the last couple of months, but that triggered and reached its price objective today. Looking forward, if shares can crack newfound resistance at $44, it's a buy signal.

Owens Corning

Nearest Resistance: $44

Nearest Support: $42

Catalyst: Technical Setup

Shares of composite and building materials company Owens Corning (OC) are moving in a tight range on big volume this afternoon, the aftermath of a technical setup in shares. OC is currently stuck in a rectangle pattern, a consolidation setup that's formed by a set of horizontal resistance and support levels.

If OC moves through $44 resistance, then buyers have a signal to jump in. Otherwise, if shares violate $42 support, sellers are definitively in control of this stock.

Exelixis

Nearest Resistance: $44

Nearest Support: $40

Catalyst: Delayed Phase III Results

It doesn't get much worse than what investors in small-cap biotech firm Exelixis (EXEL) are seeing today. Shares of the stock are down more than 36% this afternoon, following news that the results of Exelixis' phase III trials for its Cabozantinib prostate cancer treatment. Investors had been hoping to see results of the trial this year -- and revenues from the treatment soon afterwards. Analysts at Credit Suisse report that the delay is negative, and shares are getting shellacked in this session as a result.

Exelixis had already been trending lower, but today's news means that this chart is broken. There's a whole lot more supply of shares than demand, and more downside looks likely. Investors looking for a bargain should wait for this stock to catch a bid before thinking about getting in.

To see these stocks in action, check out the at Most-Active Stocks portfolio on Stockpickr.



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love

>>3 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Bad Countries, Good Investments

Last week, White House press secretary Jay Carney offered a bit of investment advice.

“I wouldn't … invest in Russian equities right now … unless you're going short," Carney said in response to a reporter’s challenge that Russian stocks were actually rising, signaling the inefficacy of U.S. and European sanctions.

But according to Mebane Faber of Cambria Investment Management, which subadvises ETF portfolios and issues its own, Carney’s advice was “irresponsible” for several reasons.

“First of all, you shouldn’t recommend to the general public shorting anything,” he says in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “Most retail investors don’t understand the mechanics of shorting but also how much you can lose — the entire account plus some. Looking at Russia — its market goes up and down 5% in a day — its volatility is double that of the U.S. stock market.”

But apart from those technical and generalize risk-based reasons, the overriding reason to short the White House’s investment advice is because Russia is likely to outperform world stock markets in the coming years,” Faber says.

“I don’t recommend shorting a market that is down 60% from its peak. If Russia settles down, Russia could very easily double or triple [in the next two or three years].

“That’s one of the most moronic statements I have ever heard out of the White House, that’s for sure,” he adds.

Moronic — “idiotic” was added later for emphasis — but also telling.

“These are statements you hear when countries are as cheap as Russia. The headlines are all negative."

And indeed the “buy when there’s blood on the streets” investment axiom fits well, in a qualitative sense, with the quantitative approach Faber is taking in his new Cambria Global Value ETF (GVAL), which launched earlier this month.

Faber, widely followed for his investment research, blogging and controversial stance against buy and hold, has timed the release of a new book to lay out the theory behind his new ETF.

Called “Global Value: How to Spot Bubbles, Avoid Market Crashes, and Earn Big Returns in the Stock Market,” the book is premised on the Graham- and Dodd-style value investing later enhanced by Robert Shiller.

The idea is that smoothed-out earnings — Shiller CAPE, or cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio, is a good example — provides a useful signal of future market performance; a high Shiller CAPE in the late ’90s, for example, foretold the bear market of the 2000s, according to this thinking.

What’s more, bubbles can be bigger abroad than in the U.S., Faber says.

“Our starting point is that the investor who is U.S.-focused should start to invest at a minimum half in foreign markets. Most invest 70% to 80% in the home market.”

Yet out of the 44 countries Cambria tracks, the U.S. happens to be one of the most expensive, weighing in at nearly half of world market cap, Faber says. That should worry investors, particularly those who remember when Japan’s market inflated to nearly half of world market cap, reaching a P/E in the high 90s.

Faber assures that the U.S. is not in a similar bubble — its Shiller CAPE is 25. “It’s a headwind, not a tailwind,” he says.

“But markets usually bottom out with secular bears with P/Es in the high single digits or 10, and top out in 30s or high 20s,” he says.

Accordingly, most of the world today is “pretty cheap,” but not so the U.S. And its best market performance came in a year with a CAPE of 11, and its worst starting point was 23, which is why Faber is enthusiastic about applying CAPE forecasting to foreign markets, something he says has not yet been done.

While the principle is simple and straightforward — “it’s nothing more than value investing,” he says — the difficulty goes back to the White House’s seemingly intuitive if questionable investment advice.

“Buying the cheapest countries means buying … the worst of the worst geopolitical headlines,” Faber says.

Faber’s book illustrates the phenomenon by showing that the lowest-quartile CAPEs a year ago included countries like Greece, Argentina and Russia, whereas the U.S. was represented among the highest-CAPE countries.

Yet 2013 returns were in the double digits — usually high double-digits — for the low-CAPE countries, and were mostly negative for the high-CAPE countries.

Two exceptions were the countries today locked in geopolitical dispute: the U.S., whose market outperformed despite its high CAPE, and Russia, which lagged, despite its low CAPE.

“That’s why it’s important to invest in a basket,” Faber says, adding that “Russia is incredibly cheap; nobody can argue with that on any value metric.”

Greece’s financial woes grabbed a lot of negative headlines, but then its CAPE fell to 2 in the summer of 2012 and its market has been up over 200% since then. The Spanish economy attracted almost equally negative headlines in recent years, yet its market rose nearly 32% last year.

While countries like Russia can continue to go down — something Faber’s basket of investments is intended to mitigate — a key part of Cambria’s investment strategy is simply the avoidance of investing in the most expensive countries.

Today that means the Denmark, Indonesia and the U.S. — the three most expensive — whereas the cheapest countries today are Greece, Russia and Hungary.

The strategy is that simple — only the names change year in and year out. Faber’s fund rebalances just once a year.

“Higher frequency rebalancing hurts a portfolio; one year looks optimal,” he says, adding he even considered doing so once every two years.

Within the universe of cheap countries, Faber seeks to enhance the deep value orientation of GVAL by buying the 10 stocks with the most favorable valuations (above $200 million in market cap); the portfolio’s 100 stocks are equal-weighted.

Faber acknowledges it can be emotionally difficult for individual investors, and often professional investors, to buy Russia — “Russia then invades Poland … and you have egg on face.”

But he adds: “One of the nice benefits of the fund is that it removes the individual country risk.”

You don’t have to have the courage to buy Russia or Greece alone. It’s a "bad basket" of sorts whose value exceeds its parts. But its risk is also less than its parts. That’s the kind of coming up short Faber can buy into.

---

Check out El-Erian to Global Investors: Be Worried (but Don’t Panic) on ThinkAdvisor.

Facebook Enters the Matrix, Buys Oculus VR for $2 Billion

Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesGamers wear high-definition virtual reality headsets, manufactured by Oculus VR, at an expo in London. Facebook (FB) has announced one of the most peculiar acquisitions in its 10-year history. It has agreed to buy virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR for $2 billion in cash and stock. "There are not that many companies building technologies that can be the next major computer platform," said Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in a conference call with investors. "We are making a long-term bet that immersive virtual reality will be a part of people's lives." I recently wrote about Oculus, which is developing the Rift virtual reality system for PCs. It's racing against Sony (SNE), which also has its own prototype VR technology, called Project Morpheus, for the PlayStation 4. The Rift, which looks like a thick pair of darkened goggles, lets gamers immerse themselves in a rich, computer-generated 3D world. It's not yet for sale in stores, but the company just unveiled a kit for developers, which sells for $350. The startup, based in Irvine, Calif., was founded by the excellently named 21-year-old Palmer Lucky. It has one of the most famous game developers in the world as its chief technology officer -- John Carmack, the maker of iconic shoot-'em-ups Doom and Quake. So imagine chatting with your Facebook friends not just via instant messages or VoIP calls, but by settling into a virtual cafe with them for an imaginary cup of coffee. Or visiting a doctor halfway across the world and explaining your symptoms in a virtual examination room. Remember Second Life? Like that, but with electronic headwear. For now, the Rift is aimed at gamers. But Zuckerberg seems to be paying more attention to the Rift's other potential uses. He writes:

After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home. This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

Facebook stock dropped slightly in after-hours trading on the announcement. It recently announced an acquisition of text-messaging company WhatsApp for $16 billion. Oculus raised $91 million from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz. Chris Dixon, a partner at the venture capital firm, said he didn't quite believe in the Rift until he visited the company's headquarters and tried it on for the first time. He says he was instantly sold and compared previous attempts at VR to the ill-fated Apple Newton in the 1990s: "People in tech knew we would have handheld computers. The only question was when." In VR, he added, "The reality is that the technology -- like screens, sensors, and software -- hasn't been good enough until now." (Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg Businessweek, is an investor in Andreessen Horowitz.) Dixon's bet, and now Facebook's, is that the Rift is the iPhone for virtual reality. And the acquisition gives Facebook a way to combat Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and others in the hardware business.

5 Best Prefered Stocks For 2014

With gold prices running at an all time high, Gold ETFs seems to have caught the fancy of the investor. Ironically, it is because of  the rising prices that it might not be the best time now to get into this commodity. However, as history has indicated, investors tend to flock when an asset is closer to it� high and thus gold ETF� seem to be the flavor of the season with all & sundry rushing into cashing on the gold fever.

Having cautioned about the rush to invest in gold, it must be said that, if one is looking to invest in gold, exchange traded funds are a convenient mode of doing it. There are many benefits, including, no risk of loss, no storage headache or expenses etc.,

Here's a quick look at this mode of investment:

ETFs: Understanding the avenue

ETFs are passively managed funds and are designed such that the returns provided are closely related to that of physical gold in the spot market. Investing in Gold �ETFs is the closest to buying physical gold.

5 Best Prefered Stocks For 2014: Numerex Corp.(NMRX)

Numerex Corp. provides business services, technology, and products used in the development and support of machine-to-machine solutions for the enterprise and government markets worldwide. The company offers Numerex DNA that includes hardware and smart devices, cellular and satellite network services, and software applications that are delivered through Numerex FAST (Foundation Application Software Technology). Its customers subscribe to device management, network, and application services through hosted platforms. The company distributes its products through value added resellers, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. It serves security, energy and utilities, healthcare, financial services, government, transportation, and supply chain markets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap machine-to-machine (M2M) stock Elecsys Corp (NASDAQ: ESYS) jumped 8.99% yesterday and is up 254% over the past year, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock and its performance verses other small cap M2M stocks like Digi International Inc (NASDAQ: DGII), Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX) and Sierra Wireless, Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR). First of all though, I should mention that machine-to-machine (M2M) broadly refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type and this can be through any type of technology ranging from instruments to networks to applications that create connections between devices.

5 Best Prefered Stocks For 2014: Aastrom Biosciences Inc.(ASTM)

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., a regenerative medicine company, engages in developing autologous cell therapies for the treatment of severe and chronic cardiovascular diseases. The company?s autologous expanded cellular therapy technology uses single-pass perfusion to produce human cell products for clinical use. Its clinical development programs include CLI program, which is in phase IIb clinical development for the treatment of serious and advanced stage of peripheral arterial diseases; and DCM development program, which is in Phase II for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The company also has two ongoing U.S. Phase II trials investigating surgical and catheter-based delivery for its product in the treatment of DCM. Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

   

  Another under-$10 biopharmaceutical player that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Aastrom Biosciences (ASTM), which is a regenerative medicine company focused on the development of cell therapies to repair or regenerate damaged or diseased tissues. This stock has trended modestly lower over the last three months, with shares off by 4.9%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Aastrom Biosciences, you'll notice that this stock just recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $3.16 to $3.14 a share over the last month and change. Following that bottom, shares of ASTM have started to spike higher and move back above its 50-day moving average of $3.58 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of ASTM within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in ASTM if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $4.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 140,540 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ASTM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6.25 to $6.80 a share. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give ASTM a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap-down-zone from last August that started at $12 a share.

  Traders can look to buy ASTM off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average of $3.58 a share. One can also buy ASTM off strength once it starts to clear $4.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Hot Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: Amerco (UHAL)

AMERCO, through its subsidiary U-Haul International, Inc., a do-it-yourself moving and storage operator that supplies products and services to help people move and store their household and commercial goods in the United States and Canada. The company engages in the rental of trucks, trailers, specialty rental items, and self-storage spaces primarily to the household mover as well as sales of moving supplies, towing accessories and propane. It also offers eMove, an online marketplace, which connects consumers to independent moving help service providers and independent self-storage affiliates, as well as manages self-storage properties. In addition, the company provides loss adjusting and claims handling services, as well as underwrites moving and storage protection packages, including Safemove and Safetow that provide moving and towing customers with a damage waiver, cargo protection, and medical and life insurance coverage; Safestor, which protects storage customers from loss on their goods in storage; and Super Safemove that offer rental customer with a layer of primary liability protection. Further, it provides life and health insurance products primarily to the senior market through the direct writing or reinsuring of life insurance, medicare supplement, and annuity policies. The company rents its orange and white U-Haul trucks and trailers, as well as offers self-storage rooms through a network of approximately 1,400 company operated retail moving centers and approximately 15,000 independent U-Haul dealers. Its rental fleet consists of approximately 101,000 trucks, 82,000 trailers, and 33,000 towing devices, as well as operates approximately 1,115 self-storage locations in North America, with approximately 411,000 rentable rooms. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Reno, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Given my druthers, were I asked to recommend a truck rental shop today, I think I'd have to go with U-Haul owner AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL  ) instead. It's got the free cash flow that Ryder lacks, plus a cheaper P/E, a slightly faster growth rate, and a smaller debt load. Honestly, I don't "love" AMERCO either -- but it's a heck of a better value than Ryder.

5 Best Prefered Stocks For 2014: Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc (FCS)

Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. (Fairchild) focuses on developing, manufacturing and selling power analog, power discrete and certain non-power semiconductor solutions to a range of end market customers. The Company is a supplier of power analog products, power discrete products and energy-efficient solutions, according to iSuppli. Its products are used in a range of electronic applications, including sophisticated computers and Internet hardware; communications, including wireless phones; networking and storage equipment; industrial power supply and instrumentation equipment; consumer electronics, such as digital cameras, displays, audio/video devices and household appliances, and automotive applications.

The Company�� product groups are organized by the end markets, which include Mobile, Computing, Consumer and Communication (MCCC), Power Conversion, Industrial and Automotive (PCIA) and Standard Discrete and Standard Linear (SDT). It invested in the wafer fabrication power semiconductor technology, including low and mid voltage PowerTrench, advanced insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), as well as advanced high power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) fabrication technologies.

Mobile, Computing, Consumer and Communication (MCCC)

The Company designs, manufactures and markets high-performance analog and mixed signal integrated circuits, low voltage power MOSFETs for mobile, consumer, computing, and communication applications. It has a portfolio of PowerTrench technology products. Its analog and mixed signal products are focused on the mobile end- markets.

Analog products monitor, interpret, and control continuously variable functions, such as light, color, sound, and energy. It forms the interface with the digital world. It provides a range of analog products that perform such tasks as voltage regulation, audio amplification, power and signal switching and system management. Analog voltage regulation circ! uits are used to provide constant voltages, as well as step up or step down voltage levels on a circuit board. These products enable improvements in power efficiency, lighting management, and improve charge times in ultraportable products. These products are used in a variety of mobile, computing, communications and consumer applications.

In addition to the power analog and interface products, it also offers signal path products. These include analog and digital switches, universal serial bus (USB) switches, video filters and high performance audio amplifiers. The analog switch functions are typically found in cellular handsets and other ultra portable applications. The video products provide a single chip solution to video filtering and amplification. Video filtering applications include set top boxes and digital television. Its solutions include surface mount devices, tiny packages, chip scale packages, and leadless carriers.

The Company also design, manufacture and market power semiconductor solutions for computing, communications, mobile, consumer and industrial applications. Power semiconductor solutions include, power discrete MOSFETs, analog integrated circuits, and fully integrated multi-chip and monolithic power solutions. Its power MOSFETs are primarily used in power delivery and power control applications. Power delivery and control applications are ubiquitous across data consumption, processing and communication applications. It produces advanced low power MOSFETs under its PowerTrench brands. The advanced power MOSFETs applications are used in smartphones, tablets, notebook personal computer, high performance gaming, home entertainment systems, servers, data communication, and routers.

The Company competes with Analog Devices, Inc., Linear Technology Corporation, Maxim Integrated Product, Inc., Micrel Inc, ON Semiconductor Corporation, ST Microelectronics N.V., Intersil Corporation, International Rectifier Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG and T! exas Inst! ruments Incorporated.

Power Conversion, Industrial and Automotive (PCIA)

Fairchild design, manufacture and market power discrete semiconductors, analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs) for broad power conversion/power management, industrial, and automotive applications. Its products are building blocks that help convert a semi-regulated energy source (alternating current (AC)or direct current (DC)) to a regulated output for electronic systems (AC-DC, DC-AC, and DC-DC conversion). Its discrete devices are individual diodes or transistors that perform power switching, power conditioning and signal amplification functions in electronic circuits. The Company�� analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (IC) are used to control discrete semiconductors in applications, such as power switching, conditioning, signal amplification, power distribution and power consumption. It manufacture discrete products using vertical DMOS MOSFETs, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), Bipolar, and ultrafast rectifier technologies. It manufacture analog and mixed signal ICs using a range of bipolar (Bi), complementary metal oxide (CMOS), BiCMOS, and bipolar/CMOS/DMOS (BCDMOS) processes up to 1,200 volts and down to 0.35um (microns) minimum geometry.

Power MOSFETs are used in applications to switch, shape or transfer energy. These products are used in a range of high-growth applications, including solar inverters, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), data centers and communications, motors, lighting, automotive, computing, displays and industrial supplies. It produce advanced power MOSFETs under its SupreMOS, SuperFET, PowerTrench, UniFET and QFET brands. IGBTs are high-voltage power discrete devices. They are used in switching applications for solar inverters, uninterruped power supply, data centers and communications, motors, industrial, power supplies, displays, television and automotive ignition systems. These applications require lower switching frequencies, highe! r power, ! and/or higher voltages than a power MOSFET can provide. It is a supplier of IGBTs. Rectifier products work with IGBTs and MOSFETs in many applications to provide power conversion and conditioning. Its product is the STEALTH rectifier, providing industry performance and efficiencies in data communications, industrial power supply, displays, television, and motor applications.

Leveraging its power MOSFET and IGBT technologies, it also design and manufacture modules for the industrial, automotive, and home appliance end markets. It design and develop a line of smart power modules (SPM) products targeted to various end applications in consumer white goods and industrial applications, which include room air conditioners, industrial power supplies, solar inverters, pumps, and industrial motors. These are multi-chip modules containing up to 28 components in a single package that includes diodes, power discrete IGBTs or MOSFETs, high voltage power management driver ICs and current and temperature sensors. Similar modules, called APM, are used in automotive applications.

The Company design and manufacture power management semiconductors for line-powered and off-line powered systems that integrate its Power MOSFETs. It sell and market off-line and isolated DC-DC ICs, MOSFET and IGBT gate driver ICs, and power factor correction ICs to the consumer, computing, display, television, lighting and industrial segments.

The Company competes with Infineon Technologies AG, ST MicroelectronicsN.V., International Rectifier Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Power Integrations, Inc., ON Semiconductor Corporation, NXP Semiconductors N.V. and Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

Standard Linear and Standard Discrete (SDT)

Standard Diodes and Transistors products cover a range of semiconductor products, including MOSFET, junction field effect transistors (JFETs), high power bipolar, discrete small signal transistors, TVS,! Zeners, ! rectifiers, bridge rectifiers, Schottky devices and diodes. The Company design, manufacture and market analog integrated circuits for computing, consumer, communications, ultra-portable and industrial applications. These products are manufactured using bipolar, CMOS and BiCMOS technologies. Standard Linear solutions range from bipolar regulators, shunt regulators, low drop out regulators, standard op-amp/comparators, low voltage op-amps, and others. Analog voltage regulator circuits are used to provide constant voltages, as well as to step up or step down voltage levels on a circuit board. Op-amps/comparators are designed specifically to operate from a single power supply over a range of voltages. It also offer low-voltage op-amps that provide a combination of low power, rail-to-rail performance, low voltage operation, and tiny package options which are well suited for use in personal electronics equipment. Its solutions include surface mount devices, tiny packages and leadless carriers.

The Company competes with International Rectifier Corporation, Diodes Incorporated, NXP Semiconductors N.V., ST Microelectronics N.V., ON Semiconductor Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., Vishay Intertechnology, Inc, Osram Opto Semiconductors, OPTEK Technology, OMRON Corporation, Avago Technologies Ltd. and Kodenshi Corp.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  British radar engineer Geoffrey Dummer first made public the concept of integrated circuits on May 7, 1952. This was still years before practical transistor-based electronics would hit the consumer market, but the notion caught on with two very talented engineers: Robert Noyce, founder of Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS  ) , and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. Working independently, the two men would help build the entire semiconductor industry from the ground up, using Dummer's concepts as a starting point.

• [By Alex Planes]

  The Atari 2600 launched at a cost of $199 (equal to about $750 today) in the fall of 1977. The console's first two years on the market almost sent it the way of the Osyssey, since Atari managed to sell less than one million units by the end of 1978�. However, Fairchild Semiconductor's (NYSE: FCS  ) decision to abandon console gaming in 1979 (it had actually beaten Atari to market with the Channel F in �1976, but sold fewer units than the 2600), coupled with the launch of a Space Invaders cartridge for the 2600 in 1980, gave Atari a clear path to huge sales. Two years later, the 2600 had reached ten million households, and console gaming had a foothold. Atari was briefly the crown jewel in Warner's entertainment empire, but this success wouldn't last.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce were part of the founding team behind Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS  ) in 1957. In 11 years, the two men would forge legendary hardware-engineering careers. They developed the first practical integrated circuits, created the most widely recognized "law" of computing power, and built the chips that helped man land on the moon. But after 11 years, the two chip makers left the plodding Fairchild behind for even greater ambitions. On July 18, 1968, they founded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) , a company that would quickly and vastly eclipse their former employer.

5 Best Prefered Stocks For 2014: Brinker International Inc (EAT)

Brinker International, Inc. (Brinker), incorporated on September 30, 1983, owns, develops, operates and franchises the Chili�� Grill & Bar (Chili��) and Maggiano�� Little Italy (Maggiano��) restaurant brands. As of June 27, 2013 (fiscal 2013), the Company's system of Company-owned and franchised restaurants included 1,591 restaurants located in 50 states, and Washington, D.C. It also has restaurants in the Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Chili�� Grill & Bar

Chili�� operates in the Bar and Grill category of casual dining. The Company has operations worldwide, with locations in 32 foreign countries and two United States territories. Chili�� menu features items, such as Baby Back Ribs smoked in-house, Big Mouth Burgers, Sizzling Fajitas, hand-battered Chicken Crispers and house-made Chips and Salsa. The all-day menu offers a range of appetizers, entrees and desserts. A special lunch section is available on weekdays. In addition to its flavorful food, Chili�� offers a line of alcoholic beverages available from the bar, including Margaritas and draft beer. During fiscal 2013, food and non-alcoholic beverage sales constituted approximately 86.1% of Chili�� total restaurant revenues, with alcoholic beverage sales accounted for the remaining 13.9%.

Maggiano�� Little Italy

Maggiano�� is a full-service, casual dining Italian restaurant brand. Its Maggiano�� restaurants feature individual and family-style menus, and its restaurants also have banquet facilities designed to host party business or social events. It has lunch and dinner menu offering chef-prepared, classic Italian-American fare in the form of appetizers, entrees with portions of pasta, ch! icken, seafood, veal and prime steaks, and desserts. The Company�� Maggiano�� restaurants also offer a range of alcoholic beverages, including wines. In addition, Maggiano�� offers a full carryout menu, as well as local delivery services. During fiscal 2013, food and non-alcoholic beverage sales constituted approximately 83.0% of Maggiano�� total restaurant revenues, with alcoholic beverage sales accounted for the remaining 17.0%.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Brinker International Casual dining stocks aren't dead as an investment category. Investors just need to know where the tasty treats can be found on the menu. Chili's Grill & Bar parent Brinker International (EAT) moved higher on Wednesday after reporting better than expected quarterly results. Company sales climbed higher, fueled by a 0.3 percent increase in comparable-restaurant sales. Its international locations fared even better. Some casual dining chains that are bucking the general downward trend and posting positive comps are doing so by discounting aggressively to keep patrons coming. But that's not Chili's game at all. Net margins actually expanded nicely at Brinker, with adjusted earnings per share climbing 18 percent during its fiscal second quarter. The 1,557-unit Chili's chain is doing just fine. But the same can't be said about its competition. Red Ink, Ruby Ink Seeing shares of Brinker open 8 percent higher after posting better than expected quarterly results may be painful for investors in Ruby Tuesday (RT) or Red Lobster parent Darden Restaurants (DRI). Those two stocks took a hit the last time they offered up fresh financials. Ruby Tuesday and Red Lobster are falling out of favor with the hungry, with comps plunging 7.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively in their latest quarters. Both companies have fallen short of Wall Street profit targets in each of their past three quarters. Brinker, on the other hand, has now surpassed bottom-line expectations in three of the past four quarters. With Ruby Tuesday's profits turning to losses and Darden so disillusioned with Red Lobster that it's looking to sell it or spin it off, it's easy to see why savvy investors looking at the casual dining sector are turning to Brinker. The stock hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday, and this could be just the beginning. Tech is the Secret Ingredient Why is Chili's succeeding at a time when profits at many of its peers are receding? Barron's argued earl

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP/Jae C. Hong For all the talk about drones replacing parcel carriers or self-driving cars disrupting the taxi industry, there's a bigger tech revolution happening in the restaurant industry right now that may displace workers far sooner than anything futurists foresee in those other industries. The arrival of tablets and smartphone apps that detail menu items, take orders, and let you settle up your tab at the en of the meal will be a big theme among casual dining chains and even a few independent foodie haunts this year. Brinker International's (EAT) Chili's, DineEquity's (DIN) Applebee's, and a handful of San Francisco fine dining establishments are leading the push to add the technology, which will make waiters and waitresses less necessary. None of the chains have said that these tech initiatives will lead them to reduce waitstaff headcount -- but it doesn't take a lot of foresight to connect the dots. If folks are using table-side tablets to place orders and ask for drink refills, or firing up a smartphone app to pay at the end of a meal, that naturally translates into fewer front-of-house employees needed to keep an eatery going. Order Up In fact, some industry leaders outright deny that mobile tech will displace staff. "This really isn't a labor play," DineEquity CEO Julia Stewart said on CNBC late last year, explaining Applebee's move to deploy 100,000 tablets this year -- one at every table. "It's not about saving labor. This is really about creating an opportunity to talk to our guest, have an interactive conversation with our guest, and give our guest a lot more opportunities." At first, a waitstaff will be instrumental in assisting customers as they use the tablets to place orders or pay their bills. There will also be patrons who are apprehensive about embracing the technology, and Applebee's will still have waiters taking orders the old-fashioned way for people who prefer talking to a person. Chili's is going with a less-comprehensive table

• [By Meetu Anand]

  Brinker International (NYSE: EAT  ) has been no exception to the trend of falling comps, while BJ's Restaurants (NASDAQ: BJRI  ) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI  ) have also followed along�.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now

By Sumit Roy

WGC's managing director of investment worldwide discusses the outlook for the yellow metal.

Kevin Feldman is managing director of investment worldwide for the World Gold Council. Prior to the WGC, he held positions at BlackRock, where he was head of iShares Marketing, as well as Barclays Global Investors, Vanguard and Charles Schwab & Co. His expertise includes global ETF and U.S. mutual funds markets, in addition to marketing, product strategy and general management experience for the World Gold Council. HAI Managing Editor Sumit Roy recently caught up with Feldman to discuss the gold market.

HardAssetsInvestor: Are institutional investors still interested in gold? I ask because assets in ETFs like GLD are still declining to new multiyear lows, even this week.

Kevin Feldman: I think there were two very large macro risks that a lot of institutional investors perceived coming out of the [2008/2009] financial crisis. The first was that quantitative easing would lead to inflationary effects. The second one came in 2011, with all the risks related to concerns about the eurozone breakup.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  IAMGOLD (NYSE: IAG  ) still has an interest in the�Quimsacocha gold mine it sold to INV Metals last year, which has an indicated mineral resource estimated at 3.3 million ounces gold. China's�Ecuacorriente is also pursing a major copper project at Panantza-San Carlos, and International Minerals will seek out gold and silver at Rio Blanco.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Air France led airlines lower, falling 4 percent to 7.30 euros. International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) lost 1.9 percent to 270.7 pence while Deutsche Lufthansa AG slid 2.1 percent to 15.75 euros.

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) and Air France-KLM (AF) Group rose with as a gauge of travel stocks as oil prices fell after Iran�� accord. PSA Peugeot Citroen gained 3.7 percent after people familiar with the matter said its chief executive officer plans to step down next year. Fresenius Medical Care AG surged the most in five years after U.S. regulators scrapped a plan to cut Medicare payments next year.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: NEW GOLD INC.(NGD)

New Gold Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, extraction, processing, and reclamation of mineral properties. The company primarily explore for gold, silver, and copper deposits. Its operating properties include the Mesquite gold mine in the United States; the Cerro San Pedro gold-silver mine in Mexico; and the Peak gold-copper mine in Australia. The company also has development projects, including the New Afton gold, silver, and copper project in Canada; and a 30% interest in the El Morro copper-gold project in Chile. The company was formerly known as DRC Resources Corporation and changed its name to New Gold Inc. in June 2005. New Gold Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  January is nearing an end, and that means one thing: Gold miners will start announcing earnings. New Gold (NGD) will get things started on Feb 6, followed by Kinross Gold (KGC) on Feb. 12 and Goldcorp (GG) and Barrick Gold (ABX) on Feb. 13.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  One group of stocks not feeling the optimism today: Gold miners. With fewer concerns that a U.S. attack on Syria will be disruptive and more evidence that tapering will begin this month, the price of the precious metal has dropped 1.6% to $1,388.90 an ounce–and gold stocks are falling with it. New Gold (NGD), for one, has dropped 3% to $6.55, while Barrick Gold (ABX) has fallen 1.3% to $19.25.

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  New Gold Inc. (NSYEMKT: NGD) completed its takeover of Rainy River Resources back in October. New Gold got 4 million ounces in a good jurisdiction (Ontario) and paid less than book value.

Top 5 Media Stocks For 2014: First Majestic Silver Corp.(AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the production, development, exploration, and acquisition of mineral properties with a focus on silver in Mexico. The company owns interests in La Encantada Silver Mine comprising 4,076 hectares of mining rights and 1,343 hectares of surface land located in Coahuila; La Parrilla Silver Mine consisting of mining concessions covering an area of 69,867 hectares; and San Martin Silver Mine comprising approximately 7,841 hectares of mineral rights and approximately 1,300 hectares of surface land rights located in Jalisco. It also holds interests in Del Toro Silver Mine consisting of 393 contiguous hectares of mining claims and an additional 129 hectares of surface rights located in Zacatecas; Real de Catorce Silver Project comprising 22 mining concessions covering 6,327 hectares located in San Luis Potosi state; and Jalisco Group of Properties consisting of mining claims totalling 5,240 hectares located in Jalisco. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Despite the weakness seen in precious metals a few weeks ago, silver has been relatively stable ever since mid-April, with the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) trading in a dollar-wide range ever since. With the presidents of the Chicago and Philadelphia Federal Reserve banks��releasing conflicting statements, turmoil may be just around the corner. Miners like Pan American (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) are still facing operating challenges, while silver streaming darling Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) struggles as well.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  It is no secret that precious metals companies have been taking a pounding for some time now. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: GLD  ) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) , the gold and silver ETFs, have been hard hit and operating companies like First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) have been hit even harder. Through all of these struggles, and in some cases because of them, one precious metals company continues to look attractive for the long term: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) .

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  While many precious-metals companies have been in a slump of late, there is one that belongs perpetually in your portfolio: Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) . The company is not like other miners -- including Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) -- in that it has a unique business plan that insulates it against many of the vagaries of the mining business. Moreover, because silver will always have a significant industrial demand component, even with the heightened volatility you see in the silver market, maintaining exposure to silver is appropriate.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Australian Dollar(AU)

AngloGold Ashanti Limited primarily engages in the exploration and production of gold. It also produces silver, uranium oxide, and sulfuric acid. The company conducts gold-mining operations in South Africa; continental Africa, including Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Namibia, and Tanzania; Australia; and the Americas, which include Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. It also has mining or exploration operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Colombia. As of December 31, 2010, the company had proved and probable gold reserves of 71.2 million ounces. The company has a strategic alliance with Thani Dubai Mining Limited to explore, develop, and operate mines across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, formerly known as Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company Limited, was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Profit Confidential]

  Graham Ehm, Executive Vice President of South African-based AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU), one of the biggest gold producers in the global economy, stated the company is looking to save $500 million over the next 18 months, as capital expenditures will only be going towards their highest-quality assets. (Source: Mining Weekly, August 5, 2013.)

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Golden Star Resources Ltd(GSS)

Golden Star Resources Ltd., a gold mining and exploration company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of gold properties. It owns and operates the Bogoso/Prestea gold mining and processing operation that covers approximately 40 kilometers of strike along the southwest-trending Ashanti gold district in western Ghana; and the Wassa open-pit gold mine located to the east of Bogoso/Prestea in southwest Ghana. The company also has an 81% interest in the Prestea underground gold mine located in Ghana. In addition, it holds interests in various gold exploration projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Cote d?Ivoire, as well as holds and manages exploration properties in Brazil in South America. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Clash of the titans
  When bears are raging on the gold bullion market, it's not surprising to see gold stocks getting mauled as well. Golden Star Resources (NYSEMKT: GSS  ) was the biggest loser in the sector, losing a quarter of its market cap on no company-specific news, though a report last Friday indicated that a large number of hedge funds had recently dumped their positions in the mid-tier miner. Yet it wasn't all that much better among the majors, either, as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) fell almost 13% and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) was down 14%.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Goldcorp Incorporated(GG)

Goldcorp Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) has gained 2.6% to $29.85 today at 10:35 a.m., while Barrick Gold (ABX) has climbed 3.2% to $20.30, Goldcorp (GG) has gained 3% to $30.80 and Newmont Mining (NEM) has risen 1.9% to $32.71. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) has ticked up 0.2% today.

• [By Jack Adamo]

  Steven Halpern: No, that's very helpful. One of the stocks you hold is Goldcorp (GG), in your model portfolio. What's your outlook for Goldcorp?

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  That is very bullish for companies in the gold sector such as Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), Wishbone Gold (OTC: WISHY) and Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY).

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Beaten-down companies that you think are likely to recover strongly are also good candidates. Molybdenum miner Thompson Creek Metals (NYSE: TC  ) , for example, sports average annual losses of 35% over the past five years, and carries substantial debt, but molybdenum's long-term outlook is promising, with price increases likely, and the company has a promising gold and copper mine on track to start producing by the end of the year. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) is another major molybdenum player, with considerable operations in other metals, as well -- along with new investments in oil and gas production.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: CME Group Inc.(CME)

CME Group Inc. operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX regulatory exchanges worldwide. The company provides a range of products available across various asset classes, including futures and options on interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, foreign exchange, weather, and real estate. It offers various products that provide a means of hedging, speculation, and asset allocation relating to the risks associated with interest rate sensitive instruments, equity ownership, changes in the value of foreign currency, credit risk, and changes in the prices of commodities. CME Group owns and operates clearing house, CME Clearing, which provides clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts and counter derivatives transactions; and also engages in real estate operations. Its primary trade execution facilities consist of its CME Globex electronic trading platform and open outcry trading floors, as well as privately negotiated transact ions that are cleared and settled through its clearing house. In addition, the company offers market data services comprising live quotes, delayed quotes, market reports, and historical data services, as well as involves in index services business. CME Group?s customer base includes professional traders, financial institutions, institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, and governments. It has strategic partnerships with BM&FBOVESPA S.A., Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, Singapore Exchange Limited, Green Exchange, Dubai Mercantile Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V., as well as joint venture agreement with Dow Jones & Company. The company was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and changed its name to CME Group Inc. in July 2007. CME Group was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Shares of future exchange operator CME Group (NASDAQ: CME  ) advanced 1.5% after being mentioned favorably on CNBC by commentator Simon Baker. While I normally would recommend paying little attention to the opinions of analysts, today's move could have more to do with the increasing volatility, given the move lower, which is very likely to increase futures contract volume. Sometimes, the worst of times brings about the best business for CME Group, and we could be seeing signs of that with today's big move higher.

Top Gold Stocks To Buy Right Now: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).

• [By Hebba Investments]

  Even with rising Q2 costs, GG still has lower true all-in costs than many of its larger competitors' Q1FY13 costs. Compared to Q1FY13 numbers of competitors such as Yamana Gold (AUY) (costs just over $1300), Kinross Gold (KGC) (costs above $1350), Silvercrest Mines (SVLC) (costs below $1100), Newmont Gold (NEM) (costs around $1300) Agnico-Eagle (AEM) (costs around $1400) and Barrick Gold (ABX) (costs around $1200).