Monday, March 2, 2015

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (MDRX) has extended its relationship with North Shore-LIJ Health System, a large healthcare system serving the New York metropolitan area. The five-year outsourcing contract to manage North Shore-LIJ�� IT services is expected to generate $400 million of revenues for Allscripts.

Allscripts has implemented the Sunrise Clinical Manager, Enterprise Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Care Management in North Shore-LIJ�� network. In addition, the leading player in the health care information technology (HCIT) market has joined forces with North Shore-LIJ to set up an Innovation Lab to develop advanced technology solutions and tools to cater to the region�� healthcare market.

Our Take

Allscripts��recurring revenues reflect its ability to retain its existing client base. Recently, the company won several new clients such as Liberty Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and UK-based ProMedica, among others.

However, Allscripts lost significant market share in 2012 due to a number of factors, such as, failed strategic initiatives, overhauling of top management and a significant fall in bookings. As Allscripts is no longer a take-over candidate, as per the reversal of their strategic plan, growth of the company under a new management remains uncertain. Further, a potentially challenging selling environment, higher R&D investment, legal expenses along with client support and infrastructure investments raise concerns for Allscripts.

Hot Transportation Stocks To Own For 2015: General Communication Inc.(GNCMA)

General Communication, Inc. provides communication services to residential and business customers under the GCI and Alaska Wireless brand names in Alaska. The company?s Consumer segment provides local and long distance voice services; video services and products, including cable, high-definition television, digital video recorder, premium channel programming, video on demand, and pay-per-view programming services; Internet access; and fixed and mobile wireless voice and data services. This segment also sells handsets, personal computer wireless data cards, and accessories to residential customers; and offers bundled services and products, which comprise long-distance, cable television, cable modem Internet access, local access, and wireless services. Its Network Access segment provides interstate and intrastate-switched message telephone, multi-protocol label switching, frame relay, private line and dedicated Internet, and wireless services to GSM and CDMA wireless carrie rs. The company?s Commercial segment offers local and long distance communication, video, Internet, data network, managed, wireless, and bundled products and services. Its Managed Broadband segment offers Internet access, data network, and managed services to rural school districts, hospitals, and health clinics. The company?s Regulated Operations segment provides wireline communications services, including local access and long-distance, and Internet services and products, to residential, business, and governmental customers in areas of rural Alaska. General Communication, Inc. sells its services primarily through direct contact marketing, as well as through local media advertising, and its retail stores and Website. As of December 31, 2011, it had approximately 87,900 long-distance customers, 138,100 local access lines in service, 142,600 basic cable subscribers, 139,900 wireless subscribers, and 119,400 cable modem subscribers. The company was founded in 1979 and is bas ed in Anchorage, Alaska.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Radovsky]

    Alaska Communications and General Communication (NASDAQ: GNCMA  ) -- also known as GCI -- have finalized the transaction they proposed last summer to form The Alaska Wireless Network, or AWN, both companies announced today.

  • [By Dan Radovsky]

    Alaska Communications and General Communications, (NASDAQ: GNCMA  ) , or GCI, today signed the network sharing agreement they proposed last summer.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Long Distance Carriers: This industry fell 1.97% by 10:50 am ET. General Communication (NASDAQ: GNCMA) shares dropped 2.2% in today's trading. General Communication's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 0.98%.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: iShares International Select Dividend ETF (IDV)

iShares Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund that seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs)) in the Dow Jones World Developed-Ex. U.S. Index, an index representative of the Europe, Pacific, Asia and Canada (EPAC) regions, which covers developed markets, excluding the United States. To be included in the Index, the securities must have paid dividends in each of the previous three years; must have a previous year�� dividend per share, which is greater than or equal to its three year average dividend payout ratio; must have a five-year average dividend per share, which is less than or equal to 1.5 times the five-year average dividend payout ratio of the corresponding Dow Jones country index, and must have a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $3,000,000 a day. The Index is reviewed annually.

The Fund invests in securities of companies that are located in or whose securities are principally traded in the markets of the EPAC regions. The Fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in component securities and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including money market mutual funds. The Fund will only concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that its Index is so concentrated. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors. The Fund�� index provider is Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The index provider determines the rel! ative weightings of the securities in the Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Index.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some international dividend-paying stocks to your portfolio but don't have the time or expertise to hand-pick a few, the iShares Dow Jones International Select Div ETF (NYSEMKT: IDV  ) could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.

    The basics
    ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The iShares ETF's expense ratio -- its annual fee -- is a relatively low 0.50% -- and it recently yielded more than 5%!

    This ETF has performed �well, outstripping the MSCI EAFE index over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can't expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.

  • [By Jim Powell]

    At the minimum, your family trust should hold the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY). I also think you should consider the iShares International Select Dividend Fund (IDV) that invests in foreign companies with good payment histories.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: Skechers U.S.A. Inc.(SKX)

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of footwear for men, women, and children in the United States and internationally. The company offers various products comprising casuals, such as boots, shoes, and sandals for men, as well as slip-ons, lug outsole and fashion boots, and casual sandals for women; dress casuals; relaxed fit for men; sandals; and casual fusion under the Skechers USA brand name. It also provides a line of sport footwear for men and women, including men?s lifestyle athletic footwear, lightweight women?s sneakers, and sport sandals under the Skechers Sport brand name. In addition, the company offers men?s and women?s casuals, field boots, hikers, and athletic shoes under the Skechers Work brand name; and a range of infants, toddlers, boys, and girls? boots, shoes, and sneakers under the Skechers Kids brand name. Further, its product line includes Skechers Active products, such as casual everyday and sport fusi on sneakers for females; Tone-ups and Tone-ups Fitness products comprising casual and athletic-inspired sandals for women, as well as sneakers; Shape-ups toning footwear for men and women; and Skechers Resistance Runner technical shoes for runners. Skechers U.S.A. markets its products through department and specialty stores, athletic and independent retailers, and boutiques, catalog and Internet retailers, as well as through own e-commerce Website and retail stores. As of February 15, 2011, it operated 105 concept stores, 99 factory outlet stores, and 40 warehouse outlet stores in the United States, as well as 28 concept stores and 16 factory outlets internationally. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Smith]

    Herbalife (NYSE: HLF  ) has had a rough time of things so far this year, and things got even rougher when the multilevel marketer got sucked into an insider trading scandal at KPMG last week. When a KPMG partner was caught selling inside information on two clients he was auditing, Skechers (NYSE: SKX  ) and Herbalife, and subsequently "fired" both clients,�Skechers shares skated away unscathed -- but Herbalife lost more than $100 million in market cap.

  • [By John Kell var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]

    Skechers USA Inc.'s(SKX) first-quarter profit soared as the footwear company reported broad sales growth in the U.S. and abroad, while also striking a bullish tone about demand later this year. The latest period’s results easily topped Wall Street’s expectations. Shares climbed 12% to $41.38 premarket.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: Rockwell Medical Technologies Inc.(RMTI)

Rockwell Medical Technologies, Inc. manufactures, sells, and distributes hemodialysis concentrate solutions and dialysis kits primarily in the United States, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. The company?s hemodialysis product duplicates kidney function in patients with failing kidneys, known as end stage renal disease, an advanced stage of chronic kidney disease; and dialysis solutions are used to maintain life, remove toxins, and replace nutrients in the dialysis patient?s bloodstream. Its products include Renal Pure and CitraPure liquid acid concentrate, Dri-Sate dry acid concentrate and mixing systems, RenalPure powder bicarbonate concentrate, and SteriLyte liquid bicarbonate concentrates; and various ancillary products comprising blood tubing, fistula needles, specialized custom kits, dressings, cleaning agents, filtration salts, and other supplies. The company also has a license to manufacture and sell soluble ferric pyrophosphate (SFP), a Phase III clinical trial p roduct to improve the treatment of dialysis patients with iron deficiency. Rockwell Medical Technologies sells its products to domestic hemodialysis providers through direct sales people and independent sales representation companies, as well as through independent sales agents and distributors internationally. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Wixom, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]

    Rockwell Medical (RMTI) manufactures hemodialysis concentrate solutions and dialysis kits, and it sells, distributes and delivers these and other ancillary hemodialysis products primarily to hemodialysis providers in the U.S. and internationally. This stock closed up 5.3% to $5.17 in Tuesday's trading session.

    Tuesday's Range: $4.89-$5.25

    52-Week Range: $3.16-$8.59

    Tuesday's Volume: 1.15 million

    Three-Month Average Volume: 1.26 million

    From a technical perspective, RMTI bounced sharply higher here right above some near-term support levels at $4.81 to $4.65 with decent upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of RMTI within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if RMTI manages to take out its 200-day moving average at $5.24 and then once it clears more near-term resistance at $5.94 with high volume.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in RMTI as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $4.81 to $4.65 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.26 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then RMTI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to $8.50.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Small cap dialysis stock Rockwell Medical Inc (NASDAQ: RMTI) looks set to decline when the market opens after Brean Capital initiated coverage with a sell rating and a price target of $4.00, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at what is going on with the stock along with�the performance of large cap dialysis stocks DaVita Healthcare Partners (NYSE: DVA)�and Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS) along with small cap dialysis stocks NxStage Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: NXTM).�

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Rockwell Medical (NASDAQ: RMTI) was also down, falling 19.90 percent to $10.80 after Brean Capital initiated the company at a Sell rating and a $4 price target.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: State Bank of India (SBIN)

State Bank of India (SBI) is an India-based commercial bank. Its primary banks include Treasury, Corporate / Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking and Other Banking business. The Treasury Segment includes the entire investment portfolio and trading in foreign exchange contracts and derivative contracts. The Corporate / Wholesale Banking segment comprises the lending activities of Corporate Accounts Group, Mid Corporate Accounts Group and Stressed Assets Management Group. These include providing loans and transaction services to corporate and institutional clients and further include non-treasury operations of foreign offices. The Retail Banking Segment consists of branches in National Banking Group, which primarily includes Personal Banking activities, including lending activities to corporate customers having banking relations with branches in the National Banking Group. This segment also includes agency business and automated teller machines (ATMs). Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Calev Ben-David]

    Credit-default swaps for the State Bank of India (SBIN), a proxy for the sovereign, have risen by almost two thirds since May 22, while the rupee slid about 10 percent. In Turkey, swaps jumped by about half, and the currency dropped about 6 percent.

  • [By Lyubov Pronina]

    India�� S&P BSE Sensex Index dropped 4 percent in Mumbai as State Bank of India (SBIN) tumbled to the lowest level in four years. ICICI Bank Ltd. slumped 5.2 percent. The rupee touched an unprecedented 62.0050 per dollar today before closing 0.3 percent weaker from Aug. 14 at 61.6550 in Mumbai, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: Nature's Sunshine Products Inc.(NATR)

Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc., a natural health and wellness company, together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and direct sale of nutritional and personal care products worldwide. The company offers herbal products in the form of capsules or tablets; and single herbs and herb combinations in the form of liquid herbs and extracts under ALJ, Cardio Assurance, Blood Pressurex, LBS II, CleanStart, Mistica, Liquid Chlorophyll, Noni Plus, and Core Greens brands. It also provides vitamins and mineral supplements, including a line containing natural antioxidants in the form of chewable or non-chewable tablets under EverFlex, Super Supplemental, Vitamin B Complex, Probiotic Eleven, Food Enzyme, ProArgi-9 Plus, SyneMax, and Vitazone brands; and personal care products, such as oils and lotions, aloe vera gels, herbal shampoos, herbal skin treatments, toothpastes, and skin cleansers under Tei-Fu, Pau-D Arco, EverFlex, Pro-G Yam, Hydrating Toner, 5 in 1 Shampoo, Repair Complex, and Bright Renewal Serum brands. In addition, the company offers various other products, such as homeopathic products, powders, sales aids, and other miscellaneous products under Lavender Oil, Tei-Fu Oil, Peppermint Oil, Flower Essences, and Massage Oil brands. It sells its products to a sales force of independent distributors and managers, who use the products themselves or resell them to other independent distributors or consumers. Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Provo, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a direct marketer of wellness supplements stepping up with healthy financials (we hope) to Olive Garden's parent checking in with a report on the dreary state of casual dining, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Human Nature Nature's Sunshine Products (NATR) distributes natural wellness products through its growing direct sales force of more than 340,000 reps worldwide, and it also happens to be kicking off the new trading week with its latest financials. Analysts expect to see healthy bottom-line growth in Monday morning's quarterly report. They predict a profit of $0.35 a share, well ahead of the $0.28 a share it rang up a year earlier. The rub is that Nature's Sunshine has come up short against Wall Street profit targets in three of the past four quarters. Tuesday -- Photoshop These Financials Adobe Systems (ADBE) reports on Tuesday. The desktop publishing software giant behind Photoshop, Flash, and PDF authoring platform Acrobat has seen better days. The market's bracing for a dip in revenue and profitability in its latest quarter. That probably isn't much of a surprise. There are now free or nearly free Web-based alternatives to many of Adobe's products. The alternatives may not have as many features, but they're more than enough for casual users. Adobe is going to need new products to get back on the growth track. Wednesday -- New Home Sales Brewing One of the economy's biggest turnaround stories is the residential real estate revival. Folks are buying houses again and they're willing to pay more for them, which is making developers a lot of money. After all, their component costs aren't rising at the same clip as home prices. We'll get a great snapshot of the industry this week. KB Home (KBH) reports on Wednesday, and Lennar (LEN) follows a day lat

Top Information Technology Stocks To Own For 2014: KAR Auction Services Inc (KAR)

KAR Auction Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides vehicle auction services in North America. It operates in three segments: ADESA Auctions, IAA, and AFC. The ADESA Auctions segment offers whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry through online auctions and auction facilities. This segment also provides value-added services, such as auction related, transportation, reconditioning, inspection, title and repossession administration and remarketing, and analytical services. The ADESA Auctions segment sells its products and services through commercial fleet operators, financial institutions, rental car companies, new and used vehicle dealers, and vehicle manufacturers and their captive finance companies to franchise and independent used vehicle dealers. The IAA segment offers salvage vehicle auctions and related services that facilitate the remarketing of damaged or low value vehicles designated as total losses by insurance companies and charity donation vehicles, as well as recovered stolen vehicles. This segment also provides inbound transportation, titling, salvage recovery, and claims settlement administrative services. The AFC segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing, to independent used vehicle dealers. As of December 31, 2012, the company had a network of 67 whole car auction and 163 salvage auction locations, as well as serviced auctions through 104 locations. The company was formerly known as KAR Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to KAR Auction Services, Inc. in November 2009. KAR Auction Services, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Geoff Gannon] ore explicit in detailing the competitive position of Copart and Insurance Auto Auctions. It even gave market share data.

    This is common. Often one company will choose not to give names or put percentages on certain competitive facts. The other company will do so. And even when that is not the case, the two companies will often make statements that ��when taking together ��can give you rough indications of certain realities that neither company entirely intended to provide.

    The same is true for certain suppliers and customers. Although this is complicated by size. Very large customers of small companies are not good sources of information. But smaller companies often provide better insights into the larger suppliers, customers, etc., they deal with. That's because ��due to their small size ��more information is material and is explained in detail.

    I have found situations where one company simply says who the customer is that they are supplying. While the other company explains what product that supply goes into, the purchase amount, whether it is an exclusive arrangement, etc.

    So it is always important to ��at a minimum ��read the 10-Ks, 14As, and (where available) S-1s of every public company in the industry. This will give you a lot of insight into the competitive situation. Sometimes it is helpful to also look at customers and suppliers. However, this is not true of very large customers and suppliers because they will not discuss the specific area you are interested in.

    For example, Honeywell is a large customer of George Risk. It would do me no good to study Honeywell to learn about George Risk. Honeywell is a huge company. What they buy from George Risk is irrelevant to their shareholders. So they do not discuss it.

    An exception to this is where the product sold is going into a huge "generational" type project. Examples include defense, aerospace, video game consoles, operating systems, etc. This can be very hel

  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Vehicle auction services company KAR (KAR) raised its quarterly dividend 31% to 25 cents per share, payable on Jan. 3 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 20.
    KAR Dividend Yield: 3.53%

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