The Day After Black Friday: Cyber Monday

What has become the largest day for online sales in any given year is nearly upon us again. Cyber Monday, the first Monday after the long Thanksgiving weekend, is right around the corner, and if history is any guide, it should be another record day for online sales.

Last year, online shoppers spent $1.46 billion on Cyber Monday according to data from comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) and the research firm is projecting that total online spending for the 2013 holiday season will rise from $144 billion a year ago to $164 billion this year. That total includes only desktop PC shopping, and does not take into account traffic and sales from mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.

comScore's projected 14% rise in holiday sales this year would translate into a 14% rise in Cyber Monday sales, and a total of $1.66 billion. Whether that growth actually happens or not depends to a large extent on the outcome of Black Friday sales both in brick-and-mortar stores and online.

Nielsen reports that 88% of consumers plan to use their computers to shop on Cyber Monday. Some 37% of consumers will be using tablets and 27% will be using smartphones. Even more interesting, perhaps, is that 85% Nielsen's respondents said they would not be shopping in retail stores on Black Friday and 46% do plan to shop online on Cyber Monday. Retailers have some work to do to overcome those numbers.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY), for example, is taking on online behemoth Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) by offering many items at prices very close to Amazon's and has concocted a price-matching guarantee as well. To combat such forays, Amazon has been offering Black Friday deals all week and is teasing its Cyber Monday offerings as yet another full week of special deals.

Have all the special deals and prices done nothing more than pull sales forward? We won't know the answer to that until the holiday shopping season is behind us, but there's a good chance that could be happening. The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year is six days shorter than it was last year, and retailers need to pull sales forward if they are going to have a successful year. Overall the season might turn out better than expected, but big sales now, online and off, could mean a tapering as Christmas gets nearer.

Amazon, which received nearly 110 million unique visitors in October, is the sixth-ranked of the Top 50 web properties according to comScore and the leading traditional retailer is Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), with almost 40 million unique visitors. Walmart has lowered its free shipping minimum to $35, matching Amazon's raise from $25 to $35. Last year's Cyber Monday sales were the best in Walmart's history, and the president of the company's U.S. website said that more than two-thirds of Black Friday shoppers at Walmart stores say they plan to shop again on Cyber Monday.

Walmart will also invite customers who use its mobile app, are Facebook fans, or are subscribers to company emails to a pre-Cyber Monday shopping event on Sunday. The company is not planning to leave any stone unturned if it can pull its sales forward and guarantee a winning holiday shopping season early.

The heightened competition for sales this holiday season is good for consumers looking to stretch their gift-giving budgets. They're also getting some help from lower gasoline prices. But that doesn't mean that sales through Christmas will follow a smooth upward trajectory. There's likely to be a plateau and fairly soon given the vigor with which retailers have pumped up this opening weekend.

Rackspace Plunges on Earnings Miss

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rackspace Hosting (RAX) shares were surrendering 7.17% to $45.43 in after-hours trading after the cloud computing company's slide in third-quarter earnings overshadowed better than expected revenue.

The company reported net income of $16 million, declining 40% from the same time last year. The downbeat results were driven by a 24% jump in costs and expenses as the company invested in hardware, in a bid to take market share from giants such as Amazon (AMZN).

Earnings per share came in at 11 cents, down from 19 cents a share from the prior quarter and missing the Wall Street consensus estimate of 16 cents a share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters.

Still, the company managed to post a 16% rise in revenues to $389 million on a 14.5% rise in server deployment, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $387.52 million. "Our customers have been telling us that they want larger and larger applications to run in the cloud and so we're going to accommodate this," Mark Interrante, Rackspace's product vice president told TheStreet. "We've gone to much larger RAM storage sizes. So now we support over 120 gigabytes, and that's four times larger than what we offer currently." Rackspace has begun unrolling its new "Performance Cloud Servers," which the company says deliver disk speeds 132 times more powerful than its existing servers for as little as two-thirds of the price of comparatively sized cloud servers from competitors, and should pave the way for a powerful hosting platform. "One of the things that Rackspace has been very committed to is insuring that the cloud will evolve based on open technology, so we don't repeat the sins of the past where only proprietary vendors are building out technologies in new era," said chief marketing officer Rick Jackson during an interview with TheStreet. --Written by Andrea Tse in New York

Does Procter & Gamble Support Rising Prices Post-Earnings?

With shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) trading around $79, is PG an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Procter & Gamble engages in the manufacture and sale of a range of branded consumer packaged goods. The company operates in five segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric Care and Home Care, and Baby Care and Family Care. The products provided by Procter & Gamble are my regarded as essential to a large segment of the worldwide population. As populations continue to grow and adopt its products and as a leading provider, Procter & Gamble stands to see rising profits for many years. Worldwide demand for Procter & Gamble products will continue to drive profits for this huge conglomerate.

The stock reported earnings before the opening bell October 25, 2013, posting earnings per share of $1.05 and $21.21 billion in revenue, which are relatively in line with expectations. Jon Moeller, the company's CFO, was optimistic about the data, saying that he expects full-year adjusted earnings to rise to 7 percent growth in the second half of the year. The markets took in the news with a lukewarm attitude, with the shares trading down slightly after digesting the report. Not surprising, considering that the stock is already trading near all time highs.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Procter & Gamble stock has been moving higher in the last couple of years. The stock is currently trading near all time high prices but may need a little more time at current prices. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Procter & Gamble is trading slightly above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Procter & Gamble options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Procter & Gamble Options	16%	0%	0%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very minimal amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
November Options	Flat	Average
December Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Procter & Gamble’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Procter Gamble look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	8.33%	-19.85%	7.32%	143.90%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	2.25%	0.86%	2.00%	1.98%
Earnings Reaction	-1.34%*	1.66%	-6.56%	4.01%

Procter & Gamble has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had mixed feelings about Procter & Gamble’s recent earnings announcements.

* As of this writing

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Procter & Gamble stock done relative to its peers, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), and sector?

	Procter & Gamble	Johnson & Johnson	Kimberly-Clark	Colgate-Palmolive	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	17.81%	31.26%	24.40%	21.25%	24.68%

Procter & Gamble has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Procter & Gamble provides a variety of essential products to consumers in a multitude of countries around the world. A recent earnings release has investors expecting a little more from the company. The stock has been moving higher in recent years and is now consolidating near all time high prices. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise, however, investors have had mixed feelings about the company. Relative to its peers and sector, Procter & Gamble has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Procter & Gamble does at current prices.

Have a Happier Thanksgiving by Dodging These Spending Pitfalls

Getty Images/Cultura RF Even with the most careful planning, a Thanksgiving budget can fall victim to bad weather, cranky relatives, and recipes that stray a bit too far toward the avant garde. Given that this is the last weekend to prepare and shop before your holiday celebration, let's run through some of the more common budgetary traps, and how to dodge them: The "Traditional" Dinner Turkey. Potatoes. Pie. Some things just seem to belong on a Thanksgiving table. According to a survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the average cost to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people has fallen about 1 percent to $49.04 this year. At just $4.90 per person, that's quite a bargain. But some families go overboard on "tradition" and try to include everything that's ever appeared on a Thanksgiving table. That can get costly. "Thanksgiving dinners are notorious for being too elaborate and wasting food," says Coryanne Ettiene, a cooking show host and mother of three. "Create a menu that allows each guest to have two to four sides rather than the common six sides," she says. "Where possible, make your menu from scratch, using similar ingredients to carry the cost across the whole meal. If you have only one recipe that calls for saffron and can't use it in any other dish, maybe you skip the saffron this year." Nan Langen Steketee of Philadelphia cooks a large Thanksgiving dinner each year for more than 20 friends and family. Together, they keep the emphasis on the traditions themselves, rather than which plate they're served on. "We make our own applesauce from a family recipe," she says. "The apples are in-season and not terribly expensive, and it just tastes better." Steketee saves bread scraps in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving to make stuffing, and uses the giblets from inside the turkey for flavor. Her guests all help with the preparations, and then enjoy the meal together. A Plus-One for the Plus-One? A seating arrangement at a large family Thanksgiving dinner can be as complicated as a small wedding's, and the inclusion of last-minute plus-ones can throw off even the most carefully orchestrated meal. But according to the guide for Thanksgiving etiquette by Emily Post, simply saying "no" to those guests isn't very polite. Since getting a firm head count can be difficult with the more spontaneous family members, have a plan in place or some extra sides available to account for drop-ins. A Terminal Wait Not hosting the dinner? More than 40 percent of Americans are planning to travel this Thanksgiving, according to a survey by TripAdvisor. Inclement weather can cause travel delays and all their hidden expenses: airport restaurants, rebooking fees, hotels, and other transportation if it's available. So before heading to the airport, you should have a plan B, and a cutoff in mind for how long you'll be willing to wait until you use it. The Unrequested Wake-up Call Saving on hotel costs by staying with loved ones may seem like a good idea until it's 3 a.m. and the dogs are barking, or the springs of the fold-out are popping through the mattress or a cousin's baby is wailing away. Because so many people do opt for the fold-out couch or guest room, hotel deals actually abound during Thanksgiving weekend. But trying to find one in the middle of the night while sneaking out the back door might be a challenge. Before you arrive, be realistic about accommodations. Now would be a very good time to hunt down a hotel near your holiday gathering and book a room. Overemphasizing the Liquid Liquid refreshments are part of any Thanksgiving dinner, but they don't all need to be top-shelf brands -- or even, for that matter, alcoholic. "The second biggest expense this time of year is the booze," says Ettiene. She suggests that hosts create a specialty cocktail for their Thanksgiving guests, and keep other selections to a minimum.

Rails to Jeans: Screening Splits

Each month we add one stock to our model portfolio, chosen from those that have announced stock splits; there were two splits announced last month, and both scored quite favorably in our rankings, says Neil Macneale, editor of 2-for-1 Stock Split Newsletter.

Both Canadian National Railway (CNI) and VF Corporation (VFC) show very similar numbers in many of the critical categories in our screening process.

For our portfolio, I'm going with Canadian National Railway for two reasons. It is the more profitable of the two, and it is a business I understand. I'm not comfortable when it comes to fashion or fad businesses.

Canadian National Railway was privatized in 1995 and began trading on the NYSE in 1996. The company has thrived, growing both in Canada and the US, mostly through acquisitions of smaller lines. CNI serves all the major commodity industries including coal, oil, lumber grain, and chemicals.

Connecting the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico, it is truly a North American railroad. CNI is a big, stable, profitable business, and the numbers reflect this.

A long-term 8% growth in earnings, a 1.5% dividend yield growing at 12% per year, and a strong balance sheet are all metrics to my liking.

The stock's volatility is about equal to that of the market. The best numbers are the five-year average 25% net profit margin and 20% return on equity. This is a great business!

Meanwhile, the other stock split announcement from October was VF Corporation, an apparel company based in North Carolina.

The company was founded in 1899 and went public in 1959. It has grown internally and through acquisitions, and now owns numerous brands such as Lee, Rustler, Majestic, Nautica, JanSport, Wrangler, Eagle Creek, Timberland, Vans, North Face, and many more.

Such wide diversification mitigates some of my anxiety regarding the fashion business, and most of its numbers are very similar and just as good as those of CNI. It's even a little less volatile and it pays a bigger dividend, but VFC is not quite as profitable.

This is a 4-to-1 split. Its Board of Directors must be very confident and I could hardly argue if you decided to buy it.

Subscribe to 2-for-1 Stock Split Newsletter here…

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A Strategy of Splits

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New GM pickups recalled for possible seat failure

General Motors' redesigned 2014 full-size pickups have been basking in huzzahs -- best you can buy, Consumer Reports says; top five-star federal crash rating; growing pile of thumbs-up reviews.

But now, their first safety recall.

GM says it is recalling 21,721 of the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 models because the seat backs could fail if the trucks are hit from behind. Of the total, 18,972 of the pickups are in the U.S.. Canada has 2,572, Mexico has 103 and 71 are listed as "exports."

GM says it has no reports of crashes or injuries due to the fault.

The automaker says some of the seats passed federal standards and other didn't when GM tested after a report from the Fort Wayne factory that builds the trucks.

A quality inspector there "threw his weight against the front driver's seat" and the seat moved even though the manual recliner mechanism was locked in place and should have prevented movement, GM spokesman Alan Adler says.

Dealers will inspect and adjust the seat backs, if needed, under the new-vehicle warranty, GM says.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now

Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they've bought and sold, via "13F" filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today, let's look at Joel Greenblatt's Gotham Asset Management. It's of great interest to many investors because Greenblatt is the author of the well-regarded and best-selling The Little Book That Beats the Market and because his system�of seeking out companies with high returns on capital and hefty earnings yields. His "Magic Formula" has many fans. As my colleague Morgan Housel has noted, "The simple formula absolutely destroys market averages over time. Greenblatt backs this up with considerable statistical evidence."

The company's reportable stock portfolio totaled $2.0 billion in value as of March 31, 2013.

Interesting developments
So what does Gotham's latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details:

The biggest new holdings are Seagate Technology�and Warner Chilcott. Other new holdings of interest include Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB  ) and Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN  ) . Tellabs offers a satisfying dividend yield of 3.7%, but the networking equipment maker has been facing some headwinds, such as the death of its CEO and the recent departure of its CFO. Its performance has been spotty, besting estimates in its fourth quarter but disappointing them in the recent first quarter.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT)

John Bean Technologies Corporation provides technology solutions for the food processing and air transportation industries in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, JBT FoodTech and JBT AeroTech. The JBT FoodTech segment offers industrial food processing solutions and services used in the food processing industry. Its product offerings include freezer solutions for the freezing and chilling of meat, seafood, poultry, ready-to-eat meals, fruits, vegetables, and bakery products; protein processing solutions that portion, coat, and cook poultry, meat, seafood, vegetable, and bakery products; in-container processing solutions for fruits, vegetables, soups, sauces, dairy, and pet food products, as well as ready-to-eat meals in various packages; and fruit processing solutions that extract, concentrate, and aseptically process citrus, tomato, and other fruits. This segment markets its solutions and services to multi-national and regional industrial fo od processing companies. The JBT AeroTech segment provides ground support equipment for cargo loading, aircraft deicing, and aircraft towing; gate equipment for passenger boarding, and on the ground aircraft power and cooling; airport services for the maintenance of airport equipment, systems, and facilities; military equipment for cargo loading, aircraft towing, and on the ground aircraft cooling; and automatic guided vehicles for material handling in the automotive, printing, warehouse, and hospital industries. This segment markets its solutions and services to airport authorities, passenger airlines, airfreight and ground handling companies, and military forces. John Bean Technologies Corporation sells and markets its products and services through direct sales force, independent distributors, and sales representatives. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois. John Bean Technologies Corporation operates independently of FMC Technologies, Inc. as of July 31, 2008.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: (TELNY)

Telenor ASA operates as a telecommunication company worldwide. It provides mobile communication, fixed line communication, and television (TV)-based services. The company?s mobile communication services include voice, data, Internet, content, and electronic commerce services, as well as customer equipment, such as telephone sets, mobile phones, smart phones, computers, and PABX?s. Its fixed line services comprise analogue PSTN, digital ISDN, broadband telephony, xDSL, Internet, and leased lines, as well as communication solutions. The company?s TV-based services consist of pay-TV services via satellite dish, cable TV-networks, satellite master antenna TV-networks systems, broadband access services to cable TV-subscribers, and broadcasting rights, as well as security solutions to pay-TV operators. It also provides consulting and information technology services; maritime and aircraft telecommunications services; Internet protocol services; and mobile marketing agency service s, as well as manages two funds. The company has approximately 120 million mobile subscriptions. Telenor ASA was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Fornebu, Norway.

Hot Casino Companies To Buy For 2014: Paychex Inc.(PAYX)

Paychex Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small-to medium-sized businesses in the United States and Germany. It offers payroll processing services, including calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks; production of internal accounting records and management reports; preparation of federal, state, and local payroll tax returns; and collection and remittance of clients? payroll obligations. The company also provides payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing. Its human resource outsourcing services include payroll, employer compliance, human resource and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and the on-site availability of a professionally trained human resource representative, as well as provides employee handbooks, management manuals, and r equired regulatory forms. In addition, the company offers retirement services administration; workers? compensation; business-owner policies; commercial auto; and health and benefits coverage, including health, dental, vision, and life. Further, it provides online human resource administration software products for employee benefits management and administration, and time and attendance solutions. As of May 31, 2010, the company served approximately 536,000 clients in the United States; and 1,700 clients in Germany. Paychex, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  A desire to combine social recruiting services, applicant tracking, and hiring solutions with its own��payroll,�human resource, and�benefits outsourcing expertise was the driving force behind Paychex's (NASDAQ: PAYX  ) acquisition of HR Services and its myStaffingPro software-as-a-service technology.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Telular Corporation(WRLS)

Telular Corporation designs, develops, and distributes products and services that utilize wireless networks to provide data and voice connectivity among people and machines primarily in the United States and internationally. It provides machine-to-machine and event monitoring services, including Telguard that comprises a specialized terminal unit, which interfaces with commercial security control panels and communicates with event processing servers to provide real-time transport of alarm signals from residential and commercial locations to an alarm company?s central monitoring station; and TankLink solution that combines a cellular communicator, wireless data services, and a Web-based application into a single offering, which allows end-users to monitor the product level in a given tank vessel. The company also offers fixed cellular terminals for voice, fax, and Internet access over the wireless networks. It sells its products to security equipment distributors, cellular carriers, and value added resellers. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Telular (NASDAQ: WRLS  ) will most likely soon be an asset belonging to another company. It has entered into an agreement to be bought by private equity firm Avista Capital Partners for total consideration of $253 million. This consists of $12.61 per share in cash and roughly $18.5 million in assumed debt.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now: Plum Creek Timber Company Inc.(PCL)

Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. is a publicly owned real estate investment trust (REIT). The trust owns and manages timberlands in the United States. Its products include lumber products, plywood, medium density fiberboard, and related by-products, such as wood chips. The trust also focuses on mineral extraction and natural gas production, communication, and transportation. Plum Creek Timber Company was founded in 1989 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jacob Roche]

  Weyerhaeuser� (NYSE: WY  ) and Plum Creek Timber (NYSE: PCL  ) have seen sales go up almost 20% in the past three years, and margins are strong. Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek both get a significant amount of their business from the sale of whole logs, manufactured wood, and pulp, making them key suppliers to the increasing demand from different industries. Plum Creek is in a particularly good position, as much of its assets are in the eastern half of the United States, which has been less affected by the beetle.

J.C. Penney to Raise $810M in Equity Offering

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- J. C. Penney (JCP) is looking to raise more than $800 million in equity as the struggling department store chain looks to build up its cash reserves heading into the holiday season.

The Plano, Texas-based retailer said Friday that it would price 84 million shares of common stock at $9.65 a share, well below the closing price of $10.42 on Thursday.

J.C. Penney announced Thursday night that it was planning the public offering, which is expected to close on Oct. 1. The company said it plans to use the net proceeds for "general corporate purposes" and grant its underwriter, Goldman Sachs, a 30-day option to purchase an additional 12.6 million shares.

Shares were tumbling 6.2% to $9.77 in premarket trading. Reports surfaced this week that the troubled retailer was looking for an equity infusion, possibly as high as $1 billion, to get it through the holiday season. J.C. Penney shares have had a rocky week, down 20% since last Friday. On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs credit analysts issued a report initiating an "underperform" rating on the company's debt. The analysts said they had concerns about the company's liquidity. "In our view a combination or weak fundamentals, inventory rebuilding and an underperforming home department will likely challenge J.C. Penney's liquidity levels in [the third quarter]," the Goldman note said. "In order to safeguard against a potentially poor [fourth quarter] holiday season, it is likely that management will look to build a bigger liquidity buffer, as has been suggested by recent press reports. Although we believe this would be a prudent measure for the company, given our expectation for new capital to come in the form of debt (rather than equity), we believe this will be a negative catalyst for creditors." J.C. Penney has already borrowed more than $3 billion this year to fund its turnaround, including a $2.25 billion term loan from Goldman. The investment bank is also said to be advising J.C. Penney on its next steps for capital fundraising. J.C. Penney said on Thursday that it was "pleased with its progress thus far in the company's turnaround efforts and the traction its initiatives are starting to achieve," by seeing "greater predictability in its performance across many areas," according to a statement.

The company still anticipates "positive comparable store sales trends coming out of the third quarter and throughout the fourth quarter of 2013."

--Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks.

Time to Get Back on Board the Shippers (DRYS, NEWL, FREE)

Two months ago, maritime shipping stocks FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE), NewLead Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:NEWL), and DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) were all the rage; traders couldn't get enough of them. The spark for the new strength from DRYS, NEWL, and FREE was a strong - and somewhat surprising - bounce in Baltic Dry Index, which roughly measures the daily charter rate for maritime shipping vessels. It had risen from a low of 698 at the beginning of the year to above 1000 by July to a peak of 2113 in late September. Since these shipping companies had seen a tripling (in less than a year, mind you) of the prices they could charge customers, the rebounding interest in these stocks was certainly understandable. FreeSeas shares more than doubled in value during that time. DryShips nearly did the same. While NewLead Holdings Ltd didn't actually dole out any significant gain, it did draw a lot of new interest during that hot period as a potential "the next one to take off" idea.

As is so often the case with the market, however, the strength from FREE, NEWL, and DRYS just wasn't meant to last. That's because the rise of the Baltic Dry Index wasn't built to last either. It has since fallen back to a value of 1500, and pulled the likes of DryShips, NewLead Holdings, and FreeSeas with it.

Oh, and now may be the exact best time to step into these stocks, if you were lamenting not getting in early on in the previous runup.

It's still a speculative idea to be sure, but not a crazy one. Though technically still falling, the Baltic Dry Index is getting comfortable with a value around 1500, and could/should stay the barring a major economic disruption. Indeed, some of the luckier and more skilled shipper were able to "lock in" long-term charter rates when the Baltic Dry Index (or BDI) was at or near its peak. Even at those elevated rates, not all maritime shipping companies will be able to operate at a profit. Some will though, and they're all getting closer. And, should the BDI start to rise again and perhaps even exceed 2113 (a reasonable possibility), a whole slew of shippers will be at or near breakeven levels, and a few of them will even be sustainably profitable. That's good for all these shippers including DryShips, NewLead Holdings, and FreeSeas since - and no pun intended - a rising tide lifts all boats.

There's another reason now would be an ideal time to wade into FREE, NEWL, and DRYS, though, and that's the fact that shipping-mania has subsided. The trade was all the rage back in August and September, and therefore very crowded. The crowd's roar has died down to a whisper now, which means stock prices aren't frothy and you can sneak in before the next runup.

Again, there's some risk here; if the BDI slides under 1500, that could spark a selling avalanche. With just the slightest rise in the Baltic Dry Index's value though, these stocks could give us a repeat performance of this summer's rally. It's a decent risk/reward proposition.

For more trading ideas and insights like these, be sure to sign up for the free SmallCap Network newsletter.

Buy Jabil Circuit Ahead of Earnings

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Jabil Circuit (JBL), which will report fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, still seems misunderstood.

Jabil, which has (among others) Apple (AAPL) and Cisco (CSCO) as very important customers, is without a doubt one of the best brands in the electronics manufacturing service (EMS) business. But the company has been working over the past couple of years to branch out of that business and into what it calls diversified manufacturing service, or DMS.

On many levels, the fact the company wants to build its capabilities in this new area makes plenty of sense, especially considering Jabil can then become an even more important supplier to Apple. The thing is, however, this transition has gone on much longer than investors expected. Therefore, with seemingly very little progress in the company's changeover, the stock had not gone anywhere for almost a year.

Back in June I told you that shares of Jabil, which at the time were trading at around $19, were too cheap to ignore. In that article , I pointed out the stock could reach the range of $25 to $27 per share, assuming that Jabil could deliver modest, free-cash-flow growth and 4% to 6% revenue growth. Considering that Jabil was coming off of a very disappointing quarter, my optimism wasn't well received. However, I will admit: It certainly didn't help the company missed third-quarter revenue estimates -- let me just get that out of the way. The fact that management issued lower-than-expected guidance roughly 2% shy of expectations was a 1-2-punch tough to overcome. Even so, since that article shares of Jabil have advanced by as much as 22.5%, reaching a high of $24.32 two weeks ago. Now, I'm not here to toot my own horn nor suggest that I had any special insight as to the company's future plans. After all, the stock still has slightly less than 3% higher to go before reaching the low end of my $25 target. What I want to clue you in on is why I was so confident three months ago and why I still believe the stock will reach the high end of my $27 target.

I didn't blame investors for their cynicism after the June quarter. But there was, nonetheless, an exaggeration with June's results. While it's true the company's revenue miss was a letdown, it's also true that, by virtue of Jabil's 5.1% year-over-year revenue increase, Jabil's results were nonetheless within management's prior stated range of $4.3 billion to 4.5 billion. Not to mention, on a sequential basis, revenue inched up 1.1%.

Too much was also being made on the less-than-stellar results of the DMS business, which declined 4% year over year. But, as noted, this is a part of the transition management has been working to build. To that end, some struggles are expected. But the company more than made up for this deficit in areas like High Velocity, which jumped 23% year over year and beat prior expectation by 10%.

Along the same lines, Enterprise & Infrastructure revenue, which accounts for 31% of total revenue, advanced 4% year over year. What's more, the company managed to grow gross margin by 10 basis points sequentially, while reducing operating expenses by 20 basis points year-over-year and 10 basis points sequentially.

To that end, despite the revenue miss and the uninspiring guidance, there was evidence of a well-managed business -- one that I believe was grossly undervalued. On Wednesday, following the company's fiscal fourth-quarter and year-end results, Jabil will reveal if my confidence is justified. The Street will be looking for 54 cents in earnings per share, or revenue of $4.53 billion, which represents 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth. To the extent that Jabil can beat the Street's revenue estimates and show better improvement in the DMS segment, management will solidify the company's course. So although I don't want to overstate the importance of one reporting period, this is the first time in almost a year that this stock has shown this level of confidence. With strong growth momentum, I don't see anything preventing the stock from reaching $27. At the time of publication, the author held shares of Apple. Follow @saintssense This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Richard Saintvilus is a co-founder of StockSaints.com where he serves as CEO and editor-in-chief. After 20 years in the IT industry, including 5 years as a high school computer teacher, Saintvilus decided his second act would be as a stock analyst - bringing logic from an investor's point of view. His goal is to remove the complicated aspect of investing and present it to readers in a way that makes sense. His background in engineering has provided him with strong analytical skills. That, along with 15 years of trading and investing, has given him the tools needed to assess equities and appraise value. Richard is a Warren Buffett disciple who bases investment decisions on the quality of a company's management, growth aspects, return on equity, and price-to-earnings ratio. His work has been featured on CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Forbes, Motley Fool and numerous other outlets.

Maria Bartiromo talks with Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban, Internet billionaire, Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star is in fighting form. Recently cleared of insider trading charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is naming names in the government attacks leveled against him which a jury found baseless. I caught up with him to find out what happened and how he cleared his name. Our interview follows, edited for clarity and length.

Q: You have been cleared of all charges of insider trading, a stinging rebuke for the U.S. government. Can you tell us what happened?

A: The SEC took a flyer in 2006 on a case that had no foundation. As the evidence confirmed my position, that there was nothing even resembling insider trading, they refused to drop the case. So we had to spend seven years and a lot of money to get to a point where a jury took just a few hours, including lunch and coffee breaks, to confirm that the SEC did not have a case.

Q: The SEC initially said you used a private tip to avoid a loss on the sale of your 600,000 shares of Internet company Mamma.com shares back in 2004. How did they get this so wrong?

A: Confirmation bias. They ignored fact after fact. Even those written by SEC agents. Instead of dealing with facts, they misrepresented and mislabeled testimony and documentation and ignored the obvious.

Q: The news of a private placement had already leaked in the market so why would they target you specifically?

A: Remember, this dates back to 2006 when Linda Thomsen was head of SEC enforcement. This is just my opinion, but I really get the sense that she had no idea what she was doing. She was looking for a name to prosecute and I was the name she came upon. To give you a sense of timing, they announced the charges against me three weeks before Bernie Madoff was arrested. Maybe she knew Madoff was coming and she wanted something to divert attention from it? Maybe she was just desperate for a skin on the wall. I don't know. What was certain was that they wanted the b! iggest bang for their PR buck. Imagine how I felt to wake up the morning of Nov. 18, 2008, and turn on CNBC to find that I was the non-stop headline. It wasn't fun. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

So to answer your question, I can only guess. You have to ask Ms. Thomsen.

(Editor's note: Thomsen didn't respond to e-mails seeking comment.)

Q: Do you think it's that the SEC doesn't have the right resources and people overseeing business and the securities industry or are they just trying to make examples of high profile people?

A: I think they exemplify what type of organization you should expect when you have nothing but attorneys and in particular former prosecutors running the show. From every dealing and observation I have had of the SEC, it is obvious that lawyers run the show. There is a culture of trying to win, not trying to find justice. There is a culture of looking to find their next job. I always say that SEC equals "Swiftly Enhanced Careers." There is no business sense that I can find. That has, in my humble opinion, led to a bloated entity that has no idea what resources it needs, no concept of what its true goals should be or how to get there. They don't know how to make markets fairer or better at creating capital for business. They just know how to use the courts to litigate matters. (The SEC declined comment.)

Q You refused to settle and went to trial. You had to spend more money on lawyers than on the potential fines you would have had to pay. Why was this so important to take this to the mat.

A: Because I hate to be bullied. I love this country. The idea that the people who over the first six years of my case ran the SEC could just ignore facts and care only about winning and losing and have no interest in justice, turned my stomach. I have the resources to fight. I felt compelled to take up that fight.

Q: The SEC has been trying to be tougher on wrong doing to show the world they are not asleep at the wheel after missing things li! ke Bernie! Madoff. Are they targeting the wrong people?

A: It's not about who they target, it's the concept that PR solves the problem. The SEC tries to maximize the amount of press they can get. They have yet to prove, or my guess even research and evaluate whether or not there is any correlation between PR and safe markets and efficient capital formation. Despite this lack of knowledge, they keep on taking the same approach year after year. You know the definition of insanity.

Q: You are also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Is this for profit or just for fun? How big of a business is owning a basketball team.

A: It's both. As far as size, it depends on how you value an NBA team. In my case the team isn't for sale, so the value really doesn't matter. The only value that really matters to me is the value I can bring to our customers. I want them to love every minute of a Mavs game, no matter how they consume it.

Q: You are also one of the stars of the show Shark Tank which features financiers analyzing and deciding whether to invest in new products presented by entrepreneurs. What's most important in deciding whether it not to put money into something? What are the important metrics you use to decide?

A: Sometimes you buy the horse, sometimes you invest in the jockey. It really comes down to the actual business and the upside. The ultimate scenario is a great entrepreneur with a business that is poised to explode. But every now and then I love to invest in a company that may not set the world on fire, but has the chance to establish itself, create jobs and have a positive impact.

Shark Tank is so unique in that we send the message every week that the American Dream is alive and well. We have entrepreneurs from all over the country, from every demographic, each with a company that any of our viewers could have created themselves. We send the message that if our entrepreneurs can do it, so can you.

That is something I am proud to be part of. I can't tell you how! many tim! es people have told me the show has inspired them to start their own business or push themselves harder to make their business successful.

That is an amazing feeling for me and why I do the show.

Q: You were active in the '90s with several Internet companies, broadcast.com and others. Twitter went public and Facebook and Google are on fire again. Are we entering another Internet bubble?

A: I wouldn't call it a bubble. In a bubble any company that resembles a high flyer takes off as well. We aren't seeing Twitter or Facebook wannabes go public. We aren't seeing tiny social media companies go public and run up.

What are seeing instead is momentum investments that are driving stocks to new highs. That is not from being in a bubble; it's from the decline in the number of stocks available to investors. I think there are only 3,700 operating companies in the Wilshire 5000. There are fewer than half the number of public companies trading today than there were 15 years ago.

Which makes the point that more and more money is chasing fewer and fewer stocks. The law of supply and demand says that pushes up pricing until there is a better risk reward somewhere else, or something else like a flash crash/Nasdaq freeze destabilizes market confidence and causes money to be pulled from equities again.

And it will happen again. That is probably the only certainty there is in the stock markets.

Q: Are you an Investor in Twitter? What do you think if its prospects?

A: No. It's a great company. I think they did the right thing by limiting the number of shares they offered to the market. That pushed up the price, which puts them in a great position to do a secondary and not only raise more capital at a higher price, but also allows insider shares to be placed in the market in an orderly fashion.

All that said, I have not been chasing stocks here. I have no idea how high they will go, twitter included. I tend to try to be patient, wait on the sidelines, be hedged and whe! n whateve! r happens that will crush stocks, whenever it happens, I will be in great position to buy.

Six Critical Rules For Successful Retirement Investing

Retirement planning is the process of identifying your long term income, determining your intended lifestyle and defining how to reach those goals. When planning for retirement, you'll need to consider a variety of factors, such as when you'll retire, where you'll live and what you'll do. Keep in mind with each additional year you hope to retire early, your investment needs greatly increase. Also consider the difference in cost of living between cities, or even among neighboring zip codes. Add on daily expenses, medical expenses, vacations and emergencies, and you begin to see how the costs of retirement add up.

Your retirement goals will rest largely on the income you can expect during your retirement, and will likely evolve as your ideals, risk tolerance and investment horizon change. While specific investing "rule of thumb" guidelines (like "You need 20 times your gross annual income to retire" or "Save and invest 10% of your pre-tax income) are helpful, it's important to step back and look at the big picture. Consider these six essential rules for truly smart retirement investing.

Understand Your Retirement Investment Options

You can save for retirement in a variety of tax-deferred vehicles, some offered by your employer and others available via a brokerage firm or bank. It's important to take advantage of all your options, including investigating what kind of retirement benefits your employer may offer; some employers still offer guaranteed pensions which is a big bonus during a time of volatility in the stock market.

When building your portfolio in a retirement account, it's important to understand the risk/reward relationship when choosing your investments. Younger investors may focus on higher risk/higher reward investments such as stocks because they have decades left to recover from losses. People nearing retirement, however, are less able to recover and therefore tend to shift their portfolios toward lower risk/lower reward investments such as bonds. Re! tirement vehicles and common portfolio investments include:

Retirement Vehicles:

401(k)s and Company Plans – Employer-sponsored plans, including 401(k)s, that provide employees with automatic savings, tax incentives and (in some cases) matching contributions. Defined Benefit Plans - An employer-sponsored retirement plan where employee benefits paid during retirement based on a formula using factors such as salary history and duration of employment. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) – Individual savings accounts that allow individuals to direct pretax income, up to annual limits, toward investments that can grow tax-deferred. Roth IRA - An individual retirement plan that bears many similarities to the traditional IRA, but contributions are not tax deductible and qualified distributions are tax free. SEP - A retirement plan that an employer or self-employed individual can establish. Contributions to SEP IRAs are immediately 100% vested, and the IRA owner directs the investments. SIMPLE IRAs - A retirement plan that can be used by most small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. Portfolio Investments

Annuities – Insurance products that provide a source of monthly, quarterly, annual or lump sum income during retirement. Mutual Funds – Professionally managed pools of stocks, bonds and/or other instruments that are divided into shares and sold to investors. Stocks – Securities that represent ownership in the corporation that issued the stock. Bonds – Debt securities in which you lend money to an issuer (such as a government or corporation) in exchange for interest payments and the future repayment of the bond's face value. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) – Uniquely structured investment funds that trade like stocks on regulated exchanges that track broad-based or sector indexes, commodities and baskets of assets. Cash Investments – Low-risk, short-term obligations that provide returns in the form of interest payments (for example, CDs and money market deposit accounts). Direct Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) – Plans offered by corporations that allow you to reinvest cash dividends by purchasing additional shares or fractional shares on the dividend payment date. Start Early

No matter what you read about retirement investing, one piece of advice stays the same: start early. Why?

Barring a major loss, more years saving means more money by the time you retire. You gain more experience and develop expertise in a wider variety of investment options. You have more time to survive losses, which increases your ability to recover from major hits and gives you more freedom to try higher risk/higher reward investments. You make saving and investing a habit. You can take advantage of the power of compounding - reinvesting your earnings to create a snowball effect with your gains. Remember that compounding is most successful over longer periods of time. Here's an example to illustrate: Assume you make a single $10,000 investment when you are 20 years old and it grows at 5% each year until you retire at age 65. If you reinvest your gains (this is the compounding), your investment would be worth $89,850.08.

Now imagine you didn't invest the $10,000 until you were 40. With only 25 years to compound, your investment would be worth only $33,863.55. Wait until you're 50 and your investment would be valued at just $20,789.28. This is, of course, an overly simplified example that assumes a constant 5% rate without taking taxes or inflation into consideration. It's easy to see, however, that the longer you can put your money to work, the better. Starting early is one of the easiest ways to ensure a comfortable retirement.

Do the Math

You make money, you spend money. For many, this is about as deep as their understanding of cash flow gets. Instead of making guesses about where your money goes, you can calculate your net worth. Your net worth is the difference between what you own (your assets) and what you owe (your liabilities). Assets typically include cash and cash equivalents (for example, savings accounts, Treasury bills, certificates of deposit), investments, real property (your home and any rental properties or a second home), and personal property (such as boats, collectibles, jewelry, vehicles and household furnishings). Liabilities include debts such as mortgages, automobile loans, credit card debt, medical bills and student loans. Adding up all of your assets and subtracting the sum of your liabilities leaves you with the total amount of money you truly possess (your net worth), and a clear view of how much money you'll need to earn to reach your goals.

As soon as you have assets and liabilities, it's a good time to start calculating your net worth on a regular basis (yearly works well for most people). Since your net worth represents where you! are now, it's beneficial to compare these figures over time. Doing so can help you recognize your financial strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to make better financial decisions in the future.

It's often said that you can't reach a goal you never set, and this holds true for retirement planning. If you fail to establish specific goals, it's difficult to find the incentive to save, invest and put in the time and effort to ensure you are making the best decisions. Specific and written goals can provide the motivation you need. Examples of written retirement goals:

I want to retire when I'm 65. I want move to a small house near the kids. I want to travel internationally 12 weeks each year. I'll need $48,000 each year to do these things. To retire at 65 and spend $48,000 for the following 20 years, I'll need a minimum net worth of $960,000 (a simplified figure that does not take into consideration taxes, inflation, changes to Social Security benefits, changes to investment earning rates, etc.). Keep Your Emotions in Check

Investments can be influenced by your emotions far easier than you might realize. Here's the typical pattern of emotional investment behavior:

When investments perform well

Overconfidence takes over You underestimate risk You make bad decisions and lose money When investments perform badly

Fear takes over You put all your money into low-risk cash and bonds You don't make any money Emotional reactions can make it difficult to build wealth over time, as potential gains are sabotaged by overconfidence and fear puts a wrench in the spokes of investments that could grow. As such, it is important to:

Be realistic – Not every investment will be a winner, and not every stock will grow as your grandparents' blue-chip stocks did. Keep your emotions in check – Be mindful of your wins and losses – both realized and unrealized. Rather than reacting, take the time to evaluate your choices and learn from your mistakes and successes. You'll make better decisions in the future. Maintain a balanced portfolio – Create a blend of stocks, bonds and other investment instruments that make sense for your age, risk tolerance and goals. Re-balance your portfolio periodically as your risk tolerance and goals change. Pay Attention to Fees

While you are likely focus on returns and taxes, your gains can be drastically eroded by fees. Investment fees cause you to incur direct costs – the fees that are often taken directly out of your account – and indirect costs – the money you paid in fees that can no longer be used to generate returns.

Common fees include:

Transaction fees Expense ratios Administrative fees Loads Depending on the types of accounts you have and the investments you select, these fees can really add up. The first step is to figure out what you're spending on fees. Your brokerage statement will indicate how much you're paying to execute a stock trade, for example, and your fund's prospectus (or financial news websites) will show expense ratio information. Armed with this knowledge, you can shop for alternative investments (such as a comparable lower-fee mutual fund) or switch to a broker that offers reduced transaction costs (many brokers, for example, offer commission-free ETF trading on select groups of funds).

To illustrate the difference that a small change in expense ratio can make over the course of an investment, consider the following (hypothetical) table:



Source: Investopedia estimates

As the table shows, if you invest in a fund with a 2.5% expense ratio, your investment would be worth $46,022 after 20 years, assuming a 10% annualized return. At the other end of the spectrum, your investment would be worth $61,159 if the fund had a lower, 0.5% expense ratio – an increase of more than $15,000 over the 2.5% fund's return.

Get Help When You Need It

"I don't know what to do" is a common excuse for postponing retirement planning. Like ignorantia juris non excusat (loosely translated as ignorance is no excuse), lack of knowledge about investing is not a convincing excuse for failing to plan and invest for retirement.

There are plenty of ways to receive a basic, intermediate or even advanced "education" in retirement planning to fit every budget, and even a little time spent goes a long way, whether through your own research, or with the help of a qualified investment adviser, financial planner, Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or other professional. You're planning for your future well-being, and "I didn't know what to do" won't pay th! e bills when you're 65.

The Bottom Line

You can improve your chances of enjoying a comfortable future if you make the effort to learn about your investing choices, start planning early, keep your emotions in check and find help when you need it. While these steps may seem overly simple, a lack of action can have huge consequences for your financial future. Stay informed and engaged in your retirement planning now to reap the benefits of a well-invested retirement plan later.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014

With shares of Molycorp (NYSE:MCP) trading around $5, is MCP an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Molycorp engages in the production and sale of rare earth products that include oxides, metals, alloys, and magnets for various inputs in existing and emerging applications comprising clean energy technologies, multiple high-tech uses, defense applications, and water treatment technology. The research and exploration of rare earth products has been a hot trend in recent times. If these products to indeed produce significant results, companies like Molycorp stand to see explosive growth. As these technologies continue to be developed, look for Molycorp to make enormous profits if they become mainstream.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Weak

Molycorp stock has witnessed a fair amount of selling pressure that has taken it to relatively low prices. The stock seems to be stabilizing at these prices but there does not seem to be an indication of a trend. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Molycorp is trading slightly below its key averages which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Groupworks Financial Corp(GWC.V)

People Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides human resource, and group benefit and retirement services for companies in Canada. It offers employee group benefit consulting, pension consulting, strategic human resource consulting, student benefits consulting, and third party benefits administration services, as well as recruiting, executive search, and career transition and career management services. The company was formerly known as Groupworks Financial Corp. and changed its name to People Corporation in October 2011. People Corporation was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Austal Ltd(ASB.AX)

Austal Limited engages in the design and construction of aluminum vessels worldwide. The company offers passenger ferries, vehicle-passenger ferries, and offshore vessels for commercial applications; cruise yachts, dinner harbor cruise, live-aboards, and private vessels for leisure and tourism applications; and naval vessels, patrol boats, and auxiliary vessels for defense applications. Its products also include theatre support vessels, combat ships, multi-role vessels, and motor yachts. In addition, the company also offers systems and electronics for the defense, paramilitary, and civil markets, such as real time digital communications networks, and command and control systems for ships and aircraft. Further, it provides vessel support and maintenance services, including contract maintenance, refit and repair, spare parts, training, ship management support services, and consultancy, as well as is involved in chartering vessels. Austal Limited was founded in 1988 and is he adquartered in Henderson, Australia.

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Invest In 2014: Covalon Technologies Ltd (COV.V)

Covalon Technologies, Ltd., a medical biosystems company, engages in the development and sale of medical products in Canada. It provides therapeutic biomaterials for wound care and surgical applications and coatings. The company�s anti-microbial silver ion-releasing technology is effective against antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli, yeasts, and other microbes. Covalon Technologies serves medical device manufacturers and suppliers. It has a strategic alliance agreement with Amsino International Inc. Covalon Technologies, Ltd. was formerly known as Uroteq Inc. and changed its name to Covalon Technologies Ltd. in March 2004. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Mississauga, Canada.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Blackrock Debt Strategies Fund Inc. (DSU)

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. The fund is co managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC and BlackRock Financial Management, Inc. It invests in the public fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests in the securities of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in High Yield and corporate bonds with an average credit rating of Ba or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. The fund was formerly known as Debt Strategies Fund Inc. BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. was formed on March 27, 1998 and is domiciled in the United States.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A.(SQM)

Chemical and Mining Company of Chile Inc. engages in the production and sale of fertilizers and specialty chemicals in Chile and internationally. The company?s specialty plant nutrients include potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, and specialty blends for crops, such as vegetables, fruits, flowers, potatoes, and cotton, as well as Ultrasol for application via fertigation; Qrop for field application; Speedfol for foliar application; Allganic for organic farming; and Nutrilake for aquaculture. It also produces iodine and iodine derivatives, which are used in a range of medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications, including X-ray contrast media, polarizing films for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), antiseptics, biocides, and disinfectants; and in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, herbicides, electronics, pigments, dye components, and heat stabilizers. In addition, the company provides lithium carbonate for use in various applicat ions comprising batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, primary aluminum, lithium bromine for use in air conditioner equipment, and continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives; and lithium hydroxide, which is used as a raw material in the lubricating grease industry. Further, it offers various industrial chemicals, such as sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and boric acid; and potassium chloride and potassium sulfate. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in Santiago, Chile.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Damas]

  Other players, such as K+S (KPLUY.PK), Israel Chemicals and APC, Belaruskali and Soquimich (SQM) maintained their world shares at Uralkali's expense.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Amid the boom in Latin America lately, Chile has produced substantial amounts of economic success. But the drop in commodities markets around the world has weighed on resource-reliant industries, and Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE: SQM  ) is one of the companies that has suffered from that trend. On Tuesday, the company will release its latest quarterly results, and investors are nervous about whether SQM will be able to meet the growth expectations they have for the chemical company.

• [By Dan Newman]

  Resilient resources
  While weakness in fertilizer markets hurt Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE: SQM  ) this year, higher sales volume and margins in other businesses helped the company grow earnings 19% over 2012. Sociedad has a hand in many industrial resources, from iodine to lithium, and it boasts healthy double-digit profit margins. It is also expanding its production capacity to keep up with a world hungry for more fertilizer-based food and lithium-based batteries. Still, the company failed to meet recent expectations and has missed the market rally this year. If markets get spooked and head downward, investors could find peace of mind in the intrinsic value of Sociedad's physical resources, as well as its 2.6% dividend yield.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch For 2014: Prudential Public Limited Company(PUK)

Prudential plc provides retail financial products and services, and asset management services to individuals and businesses in Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It offers savings, protection, investment, and unit-linked products; manages investments across a range of asset classes for internal, retail, and institutional clients; manages onshore mutual funds; and provides retirement planning, consumer and Islamic finance, and health solutions. The company also provides retirement savings and income solutions; variable annuities; fixed and fixed index annuities; term life, universal life, and variable universal life insurance; permanent individual life insurance; and institutional products, such as guaranteed investment contracts, funding agreements, and medium term note funding agreements. In addition, it offers pensions and annuities; investment plans; and car, health, home, travel, and protection insurance policies. Further, Prudential plc provides fund man agement services for individual and institutional clients. The company was founded in 1848 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David O��ara]

  Prudential
  Back in January, analysts were forecasting that�Prudential� (LSE: PRU  ) (NYSE: PUK  ) �would make EPS for the year of 77.1 pence per share. Following a series of steady upgrades, that figure is now 83.6 pence.

Gates Works to Save Legacy, Adds Activist Investor

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) did something it did not have to do (something that no public company would want to do), so why did it do it? The huge software company said it would add a director from a tiny activist law firm–not one anyone has ever heard of. The announcement come just after the one which said CEO Steve Ballmer would resign. Why would Microsoft panic? (Or, perhaps founder CEO has something secret on his mind)

The company issued a release:

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has signed a cooperation agreement with ValueAct Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm with $12 billion in assets under management that beneficially owns approximately 0.8 percent of the outstanding shares of Microsoft common stock and is one of the company's largest shareholders.

The cooperation agreement provides for regular meetings between Mason Morfit, president of ValueAct Capital, and selected Microsoft directors and management to discuss a range of significant business issues. The agreement also gives ValueAct Capital the option of having Morfit join the Microsoft board of directors beginning at the first quarterly board meeting after the 2013 annual shareholders meeting.

"Our board and management team are committed to enhancing growth and value for Microsoft shareholders, and we look forward to ValueAct Capital's input," said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer.

That is not 8%, it is 0.8%. Gates owns 5.47%. Ballmer owned 3.95%. And Gates is as close to a controlling shareholder as a company (without owning a majority of the stock, or voting control) could have because of his role as founder. Gates, in other words, must have signed off on the deal.

And, it must be Gates’ deal completely. Probably, he has decided that an outside director with an aggressive temperament will roil a board which has acted as minions to Gates and Ballmer. In essence, Gates has the equivalent of a new board to go with a new CEO — which he will undoubtedly pick as well.

Gates, not willing to come back as CEO himself, is doing what he can to shake Microsoft from its slumber — and revive his own legacy in the process.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014

Small cap biotech stocks AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: AVEO), OncoSec Medical Inc (OTCMKTS: ONCS) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST) are focused on or are developing treatments or diagnostic technologies for metastatic cancers. In case you aren�� familiar with the term metastasis or metastatic, it�� the�spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body as cancer cells break away from a primary tumor, penetrate into lymphatic and blood vessels, circulate through the bloodstream and then grow in a new focus (metastasize) in normal tissues elsewhere in the body. In other words, it�� a dangerous form of cancer, but there are some small cap biotech stocks targeting it for diagnostics or treatment:

AVEO Pharmaceuticals. Founded on a unique drug discovery and development approach called the Human Response Platform, AVEO Pharmaceuticals is a cancer therapeutics company committed to discovering, developing and commercializing targeted therapies. Back in June, AVEO Pharmaceuticals announced that it had received a Complete Response letter from the FDA denying approval in its present form the New Drug Application (NDA) for AVEO�� investigational agent tivozanib for the treatment of patients with advanced metastatic renal cell carcinoma as they want an additional clinical study. AVEO Pharmaceuticals then announced a major strategic restructuring�to refocus efforts on the on-going clinical development of tivozanib in colorectal and breast cancer and on the advancement of other key pipeline and preclinical assets.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right Now: Petroquest Energy Inc(PQ)

PetroQuest Energy, Inc. operates as an independent oil and gas company. It engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, as well as onshore and in the shallow waters offshore the Gulf Coast Basin. As of December 31, 2009, the company had estimated proved reserves of 1,931 thousand barrels of oil and 167,361 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. It owned working interests in 9 net producing oil wells and 277 net producing gas wells. PetroQuest Energy was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  PetroQuest Energy Inc. (NYSE: PQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

  Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul McWilliams]

  Paul McWilliams: Oh, absolutely. Another company that most investors probably have never heard of is a tiny little Israeli semiconductor company named EZChip (EZCH).

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  The latest hepatitis-C nightmare came from Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) which plunged 24% on the week after the FDA placed a clinical hold on its lead compound, sovaprevir (previously known as ACH-1625) because of a worrisome drug-to-drug interaction noted in early stage trials. According to Achillion's update, sovaprevir, when studied with atazanavir, was associated with elevated ALT enzymes in the liver, although no serious adverse events were documented. Even though the FDA is allowing Achillion to continue studying sovaprevir in its mid-stage trial with ACH-3102, it's just another setback for Achillion which is miles behind Gilead Sciences�and AbbVie�in terms of time it will take to bring a new hepatitis-C therapy to market.

• [By Keith Speights]

  2. Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  )
  Achillion recently experienced a delay in the game that it had hoped to play. The FDA placed a clinical hold on hepatitis C drug sovaprevir after patients in a phase 1 drug-drug interaction study with the drug combined with ritonavir-boosted atazanavir were found to have elevated liver enzyme levels. Shares dropped 25% in one day as a result.

• [By David Williamson]

  In this video, David Williamson describes how Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) may challenge Gilead's (NASDAQ: GILD  ) dominance in the Hepatitis C drug market. Achillion is concluding phase 2 clinical trials of its oral interferon medication, and so far, things are looking good. If successful in phase 3 trials, Achillion could directly challenge Gilead's interferon medication. For investors, the success of Achillion's drug is attractive, but the potential for Achillion to be a takeover target is even more enticing. The company has a market cap of around $575 million and could easily be bought out by the likes of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN), Active Network Inc.(ACTV) and Harvest Natural Resources Inc.(HNR)

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: FuelCell Energy Inc.(FCEL)

FuelCell Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacturing, and sale of high temperature fuel cells for clean electric power generation primarily in South Korea, the United States, Germany, Canada, and Japan. The company offers proprietary carbonate Direct FuelCell Power Plants that electrochemically produce electricity from hydrocarbon fuels, such as natural gas and biogas. Its fuel cells operate on a range of hydrocarbon fuels, including natural gas, renewable biogas, propane, methanol, coal gas, and coal mine methane. The company also develops carbonate fuel cells, planar solid oxide fuel cell technology, and other fuel cell technologies. It provides its products to universities; manufacturers; mission critical institutions, such as correction facilities and government installations; hotels; and natural gas letdown stations, as well as to customers who use renewable biogas for fuel, including municipal water treatment facilities, br eweries, and food processors. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Had shares of its peers and competitors performed as well, it may not even be worth bringing up. But, Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have done significantly better than FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) since the end of March. And, PLUG has performed considerably better than FCEL and BLDP have since mid-August. This is more than "just a little volatility." This is a leader breaking away from the pack after a very long lull. Thing is, there's plenty more room for Plug Power to keep running.

• [By Green Energy Addict]

  On June 3, 2013 I gave my 5 Bullish Signs ahead of the FuelCell Energy (FCEL) Q2 2013 earnings report. I cited the large backlog as one of the reasons for my bullish views. I gave as my reasoning the following:

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Sparks]

  Growth investing relies on a simple premise: Find great companies that will outperform over the long haul, outgrowing their premium valuations over time. This, of course, is easier said than done. In the video below, Fool contributor Daniel Sparks discusses a great way to tell the gold from the fool's gold. To illustrate, he takes a look at Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM  ) and Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) .

Whole Foods Gets Tastier: 23 Companies Increasing Dividends

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When earnings reports roll in, so do the dividend increases. This week, we saw a veritable tidal wave of dividend increases, from Megacap stocks like Halliburton (HAL) and Whole Foods (WFM) to smaller players like  CTS Corporation (CTS), companies were scrambling to boost their dividend payouts. A total of 23 companies increased their dividends this week.

(Note: All dividend yields are as of 11/8.)

Consumer electronics residential furniture and household appliances lessor Aaron’s (AAN) raised its quarterly dividend 23.5% to 21 cents per share, payable on Jan. 3 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2. The increase marks the 8th consecutive year AAN has raised its annual dividend.
AAN Dividend Yield: 2.86%

Pharmaceuticals company AmerisourceBergen (ABC) raised its dividend 12% to 23.5 cents per share, payable on Dec. 2 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 18.
ABC Dividend Yield:

Retail properties real estate investment trust Acadia (AKR) raised its quarterly dividend 9.5% to 23 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15.
AKR Dividend Yield: 3.51%

Natural gas distribution and storage company Atmos (ATO) raised its quarterly dividend 5.7% to 37 cents per share, payable on Dec. 9 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 25. The increase marks the 26th consecutive year Atmos has raised its annual dividend.
ATO Dividend Yield: 3.26%

Electronic component and sensor equipment manufacturer CTS (CTS) raised its quarterly dividend 14% to to 4 cents per share, payable on Jan. 31 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 27.
CTS Dividend Yield: 0.86%

High-quality office and multi-family real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett (DEI) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30.
DEI Dividend Yield: 3.38%

Off-shore contact drilling service provider Ensco (ESV) raised its quarterly dividend 50% to 75 cents per share, payable on Dec. 20 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 9.
ESV Dividend Yield: 4.90%

Commercial and retail property owner-operator and real estate investment trust Excel Trust (EXL) raised its quarterly dividend 3% to 17.5 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31.
EXL Dividend Yield: 6.04%

Oil field services company Halliburton (HAL) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 15 cents per share, payable on Dec. 27 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 6.
HAL Dividend Yield: 1.09%

Senior housing and medical office buildings real estate investment trust Health Care REIT (HCN) raised its quarterly dividend 3.4% to 76.5 cents per share, payable on Nov. 20 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 12.
HCN Dividend Yield: 5.07%

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%

Bermuda-based reinsurance solutions provider Maiden Holdings (MHLD) raised its quarterly dividend 22% to 11 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 2.
MHLD Dividend Yield: 3.79%

Customized debt and equity financing company Main Street Capital (MAIN) raised its quarterly dividend 10% to 16.5 cents per share for January, February, and March. The payable, record and ex-dividend dates are as follows: payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30; payable on Feb. 14 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 21; payable on Mar. 14 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 20.
MAIN Dividend Yield: 6.36%

Media and marketing company Meredith (MDP) raised its quarterly dividend 6.5% to 40.75 cents per share, payable on Dec. 13 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 29. The increase marks the 20th consecutive increase in Meredith’s annual dividend.
MDP Dividend Yield: 3.08%

Retail shopping mall real estate investment trust Pennsylvania REIT (PEI) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share, payable on Dec. 16 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 2.
PEI Dividend Yield: 4.74%

Industrial automation power, control and information systems company Rockwell Automation (ROK) raised its quarterly dividend 12% to 58 cents per share, payable on Dec. 10 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8.
ROK Dividend Yield: 2.08%

Entertainment theme park operator Six Flags (SIX) raised its quarterly dividend 4.4% to 47 cents per share, payable on Dec. 9 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 25.
SIX Dividend Yield: 5.14%

Specialty paper manufacturer and distributor Schweitzer-Mauduit (SWM) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 36 cents per share, payable on Dec. 26 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 27.
SWM Dividend Yield: 2.78%

Leaf tobacco supplier Universal Corporation (UVV) raised its quarterly dividend 2% to 51 cents per share, payable on Feb. 10 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 13.
UVV Dividend Yield: 4.06%

Oil exploration and production company Vermillion Energy (VET) raised its monthly dividend 7.5% to 21.50 cents (Canadian) per share, and is expected to be payable on February 17.
VTE Dividend Yield: 1.52%

Natural and organic foods supermarket chain Whole Foods (WFM) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 12 cents per share, payable on Jan. 28 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 17.
WFM Dividend Yield: 0.83%

Independent oil and gas producer W&T Offshore (WTI) raised its quarterly dividend 11.1% to 10 cents per share, payable on Dec. 3 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 18.
WTI Dividend Yield: 2.25%

Casino developer, owner and operator Wynn Resorts (WYNN) raised its quarterly dividend 25% to $1.25 per share, payable on Dec. 6 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 20.
WYNN Dividend Yield: 3.07%

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at Investorplace.com. As of this writing he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. For more payout winners, see previous weeks' lists of Companies Increasing Dividends.