The site was sufficiently influential that its closing has been written about in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times, and in industry publications such as Platts. As a Financial Times article noted, over the years the mainstream media frequently quoted TOD contributors, and the reason was the high quality of the energy discussions on the site.
I had a history with TOD that I detailed in my farewell post there, The Way I Saw Things. I became involved with TOD shortly after its inception and remained involved to a limited degree up until the end. I want to share my abridged story because my interactions with TOD readers had a huge influence on the way I view the energy industry and human behavior. This in turn has influenced my investment philosophy.In 2005, the year TOD was formed, I was working as a chemical engineer at the ConocoPhillips refinery in Billings, Montana. I worked in the group that was responsible for optimizing refinery economics. We determined which crude grades should be purchased, and then tweaked the refinery based on that crude slate as well as whether margins were higher for diesel or for gasoline.
Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: 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.
Top Financial Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Corrections Corporation of America (CXW)
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) incorporated on September 24, 1998, is a real estate investment trust. The Company is the owner of privatized correctional and detention facilities and prison operators in the United States. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 67 correctional and detention facilities, including 47 facilities that the Company own, with a total design capacity of approximately 92,500 beds in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning of January 1, 2013, the Company has provided correctional services and conducted other operations through TRSs. A TRS is a subsidiary of a REIT that is subject to applicable corporate income tax and certain qualification requirements. In January 2012, the Company closed the operations of the 1,172-bed Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. In January 2013, the Company announced that it has completed an internal reorganization of its business operations.
The Company specializes in owning, operating, and managing prisons and other correctional facilities and providing inmate residential and prisoner transportation services for governmental agencies. In addition to providing the fundamental residential services relating to inmates, its facilities offer a variety of rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, religious services, life skills and employment training and substance abuse treatment. These services are intended to help reduce recidivism and to prepare inmates for their re entry into society upon their release. The Company also provides health care (including medical, dental, and mental health services), food services, and work and recreational programs.
The Company�� customers consist of federal, state and local correctional and detention authorities. During the year ended December 31, 2012, federal correctional and detention authorities represented 43% of its total revenue. Federal correctional and detention authorities primarily consist of the Federal Burea! u of Prisons (BOP), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Its management services contracts typically have terms of three to five years and contain multiple renewal options. Its facility contracts also contain clauses that allow the government agency to terminate the contract at any time without cause, and its contracts are generally subject to annual or bi-annual legislative appropriations of funds.
The Company is compensated for providing prison bed capacity and correctional services at an inmate per diem rate based upon actual or minimum guaranteed occupancy levels. Occupancy rates for a particular facility are typically low when opened or immediately following an expansion. However, beyond the start-up period, which typically ranges from 90 to 180 days, the occupancy rate tends to stabilize. During 2012, the average compensated occupancy of its facilities, based on rated capacity, was 88.2% for all of the facilities it owned or managed, exclusive of facilities where operations have been discontinued.
The Company provides a variety of rehabilitative and educational programs at its facilities. Inmates at facilities the Company manage may receive basic education through academic programs designed to improve literacy levels and the opportunity to acquire GED certificates. The Company also offers vocational training to inmates who lack marketable job skills. Its craft vocational training programs are accredited by the National Center for Construction Education and Research. This foundation provides training curriculum and establishes industry standards for over 4,000 construction and trade organizations in the United States and several foreign countries. In addition, the Company offers life skills transition-planning programs that provide inmates with job search skills, health education, financial responsibility training, parenting training, and other skills associated with becoming productive citizens.
! As of December 31, 2012, the Company provides transportation services to governmental agencies through its wholly owned TRS, TransCor America, LLC, or TransCor. CCA owns 49 correctional and detention facilities in 15 states and the District of Columbia, two of which it leases to third-party operators. The Company also owns two corporate office buildings. Additionally, it manages 20 correctional and detention facilities owned by government agencies. Owned and managed facilities include facilities placed into service that the Company owned and managed. Managed-only facilities include facilities owned by a third party and managed by the Company.
The Company competes with The GEO Group, Inc. and Management and Training Corporation.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Prison REIT Corrections Corp of America (CXW) yields 6.2% and trades at 24.9 times earnings, while�Geo Group (GEO) yields 6.4% on a P-E ratio of 20.8 times.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By Rich Smith]
Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW ) has won a contract extension from the California Department of Corrections, the company announced Wednesday, extending its contract length by three years.
- [By Sean Williams]
The premise here would be that any increase in nationwide drug testing would be bound to turn up additional drug users and could boost the prison population. That would be great news for the GEO Group (NYSE: GEO ) and Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE: CXW ) , which are contracted out through the government to run and service prisons around the country.
Top Financial Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Home Loan Servicing Solutions Ltd (HLSS)
Home Loan Servicing Solutions, Ltd, incorporated on December 1, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is formed to acquire mortgage servicing assets, primarily subprime and Alt-A mortgage servicing rights and associated servicing advances. The Company will engage residential mortgage loan servicers to service the pools of mortgage loans underlying the mortgage servicing rights. The Company acquire and therefore do not intend to develop its own mortgage servicing platform.
The Company is focused to enter into the subservicing agreement to provide for the servicing of the initial mortgage servicing rights for an initial term of seven years. As of December 31, 2010, The Company had neither purchased nor contracted to purchase any mortgage servicing assets, including mortgage servicing rights and related servicing advances.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Sterman]
Although shares of Boulder Brands (Nasdaq: BDBD) are up more than 60% since then, Home Loan Servicing (Nasdaq: HLSS) has merely treaded water while Swift Energy has continued its downward ascent.
Top Financial Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Campus Crest Communities Inc (CCG)
Campus Crest Communities, Inc., incorporated on March 1, 2010, is a self-managed, self-administered and vertically-integrated developer, builder, owner and manager of purpose-built student housing properties in the United States. The Company operates in two segments: student housing operations and development, construction and management services. It owns the general partner interest and owns limited partner interests in Campus Crest Communities Operating Partnership, LP (the Operating Partnership). It holds substantially all of its assets and conducts substantially all of its business, through the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2010, it owned interests in 27 operating student housing properties containing approximately 5,048 apartment units and 13,580 beds. Twenty-one of its properties, containing approximately 3,920 apartment units and 10,528 beds, are wholly owned. On October 19, 2010, it acquired the remaining interest in Campus Crest at San Marcos, LLC, which owns The Grove at San Marcos, from HSRE. In January 2012, the Company acquired 50.1% interests in The Grove. On December 27, 2013, the Company closed its sale of four wholly owned student housing properties. In January 2014, Campus Crest Communities Inc and Beaumont Partners joint venture partnership acquired the 488-room, 22-story Holiday Inn Midtown in Montreal, Quebec.
As of December 31, 2010, the average occupancy for its 27 properties was approximately 88%. Its properties are primarily located in medium-sized college and university markets. As of December 31, 2010, the Company were party to one joint venture arrangement with HSRE, in which it owns a 49.9% interest.
Student Housing Operations
The Company�� student housing operations are consisted of rental and other service revenues, such as application fees, pet fees and late payment fees. In August 2010, the Company opened three additional properties that were owned by the same real estate venture.
Development, Construc! tion and Management Services
The Company provides development and construction services to unconsolidated joint ventures in which it has an ownership interest. The Company acts as a general contractor on all of its construction projects. In addition to its wholly owned properties, all of which are managed by the Company, it also provides management services to uncombined joint ventures in which, it has an ownership interest.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
2013 is panning out to be a rough year for Campus Crest Communities (CCG) -- shares of the small-cap student housing REIT have slid 12.7% since the calendar flipped over to January. While that sounds bad enough as it is, it's actually 31% underperformance vs. the S&P 500. And a quick glance at the chart makes it pretty clear to see why.
CCG is stuck in a textbook downtrend right now, bouncing between trendline resisatnce to the upside and a parallel support level below. You don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out where CCG's high probability price action is from here; it's down. Trendline resistance has acted as a ceiling for shares on the last four tests in 2013 – and with shares hitting their head on that resistance level this week, now's the optimal time to sell (or short) this REIT.
If you're looking for an opportunity to buy CCG, you could be in for a long wait. But the 50-day moving average has been a pretty good proxy for resistance since the start of the summer. I'd recommend waiting for that line to get broken before even thinking about doing anything but selling this stock. Until then, it's toxic.
- [By Lawrence Meyers]
Campus Crest Communities (CCG) operates 33 student housing properties comprising 6,324 apartment units under its ��rove��brand name. It�� a REIT, so it distributes a minimum of 90% of taxable income as a common dividend of roughly 6%, which may even attract other investors. Campus Crest carries $225 million in debt and services it at a rate of about 5%. The company came into its own in 2012, as it reported solid EBITDA of $16.5 million and a profit after debt service and preferred stock payments, which it just started that year.
Top Financial Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Madison Covered Call & Equity Strategy Fund (MCN)
Madison/Claymore Covered Call & Equity Strategy Fund (the Fund), formerly Madison/Claymore Covered Call Fund, is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide current income and current gains, with a secondary objective of long-term capital appreciation. The Fund invests in a portfolio consisting primarily of large capitalization common stocks. The Fund will sell covered call options to seek to generate a reasonably steady production of option premiums.
Madison Asset Management, LLC is the Fund�� investment manager. Madison Asset Management, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Madison Investment Advisors, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Hsu]
Here are four to consider:
PowerShares S&P 500 BuyWrite ETF (PBP), yielding 4.09%
Madison/Claymore Covered Call & Equity Strategy (MCN), yielding 8.94%
Nuveen Equity Premium Opportunity Fund (JSN), yielding 9.19%
BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers (BDJ), yielding 7.39%
The yield on these funds is very attractive. Even more attractive is the fact that many buy-write funds actually are selling at a discount to their net asset value.
- [By Robert Hsu]
Name Type of Security� Recommendation� Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) � MLP August 15, 2013� TeeKay LNG Partners L.P.� (NYSE: TGP) � MLP September 16, 2013� PowerShares S&P 500 BuyWrite Portfol ETF� (NYSE Arca: PBP)� Buy-Write ETF September 30, 2013� Madison Covered Call Equity Strtgy Fd (NYSE: MCN)� Buy-Write ETF September 30, 2013� Nuveen Equity Premium Opportunity Fund (NYSE: JSN)� Buy-Write ETF September 30, 2013� BlackRockEnhanced Dividend Achievers Tr (NYSE: BDJ)� Buy-Write ETF September 30, 2013� Vornado Realty Trust � (NYSE: VNO)� Real Estate
Investment
Trust September 26, 2013�Robert Hsu is the editor of Permanent Wealth Investor and a former hedge fund portfolio manager at Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs. He retired from Goldman at age 31. He since has come out of retirement to establish and preside over his money management firm, Absolute Return Capital Advisors. His retirement experience has given him his current mission: helping investors like you achieve their goal of comfortable retirement through profitable income strategies.
Top Financial Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Aflac Incorporated(AFL)
Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiary, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac), provides supplemental health and life insurance. The company offers various voluntary supplemental insurance products, including cancer plans, general medical indemnity plans, medical/sickness riders, care plans, living benefit life plans, ordinary life insurance plans, and annuities in Japan. It also provides loss-of-income products, such as life and short-term disability plans; and products designed to protect individuals from depletion of assets, which comprise hospital indemnity, fixed-benefit dental, vision care, accident, cancer, critical illness/critical care, and hospital intensive care plans in the United States. The company sells its products through sales associates and brokers, affiliated corporate agencies, independent corporate agencies, and individual agencies. Aflac Incorporated was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Saletta]
Who showed us the money?
On Monday, supplemental insurance giant AFLAC (NYSE: AFL ) paid $9.45 in dividends to the IPIG portfolio. This was the company's third consecutive dividend at $0.35 per share. If it follows its previous trends, we can expect another payment at that level before it gets reviewed for potential increase. - [By Dan Burrows]
Stocks to Sell: Aflac (AFL)
Click to Enlarge Source: Source: Charts courtesy of YCharts
The Aflac (AFL) duck would probably cough up a hairball if it knew how bad June was shaping up to be for AFL stock. Shares in the supplemental insurance company have lost more than 8% so far this year, and the technicals say there’s more pain to come.
- [By Tim McAleenan Jr.]
The next country Mankiw cites for needed exposure is Japan. The most straightforward way for an American stock investor to use common stocks to get Japanese exposure is to buy shares of Aflac (AFL). When you read the balance sheet, you will see that Aflac is really a Japanese company camouflaged as an American insurance company. Check out this part from the company's latest news release:
No comments:
Post a Comment