5 Best Valued Stocks For 2015

5 Best Valued Stocks For 2015: Schlumberger N.V .(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory managem! ent services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas .

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Schlumberger NV (SLB)

  Manning & Napier Advisors' largest position is in Schlumberger where they maintain 8,882,428 shares. Their position in Schlumberger represents 3.6% of their total portfolio and 0.67% of the company's shares outstanding. During the first quarter the fund made a reduction of -3.32% by selling 305,133 shares of the company's stock. They sold these shares in the first quarter price range of $86.16 to $97.96, with an estimated quarterly price of $90.27. Since then the price per share is up approximately 13.1%. Manning & Napier's historical holding history:

• [By David Fabian]

  Schlumberger Ltd (NYSE: SLB) recently reported a record first quarter profit, as demand for its advanced energy exploration technology continues to grow.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/5-best-valued-stocks-for-2015.html

Best Beverage Companies To Buy For 2015

Best Beverage Companies To Buy For 2015: Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (CCLAF)

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) with its subsidiaries is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of carbonated soft drinks, still and mineral waters, fruit juices, coffee and other alcohol-free beverages. CCA operates in four business segments: The Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, and Indonesia and PNG segments. CCA is also engaged in the processing and marketing of fruits, vegetables and other food products, and the manufacture and distribution of alcohol ready-to-drink products, and the distribution of premium spirits and beer brands. The Companys principal operations are in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). On January 13, 2012, the sale of CCAs 50% interest in Pacific Beverages to SABMiller was completed. On February 21, 2011, the Company acquired Vending business, a non-alcohol beverage in Australia. On September 7, 2012, CCA acquired an 89.6% shareholding in Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd (Paradise Beverages). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks rose modestly in early Tuesday trade, with the market reacting to a mixed batch of earnings. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) added 0.2% to 5,391.80, with BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) rising 1.7% after its July-December profit almost doubled from a year earlier, beating forecasts. However, smaller rival Arrium Ltd. (AU:ARI) (ARRMF) added 2.5% after reporting a swing back to profit. Other miners got a bump up from rising commodity prices, as Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) gain! ed 2.3% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) added 1.2%, though Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) slipped 0.4%. Shares of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. (AU:CCL) (CCLAF) slumped 5.1% after the drinks firm saw a more than 80% drop in 2013 profit, weighed by a writedown on its fruit-processing business. Packaging firm Amcor Ltd. (AU:AMC) (AMCRF) lost 4.6% after its fiscal-first-half profit fell by about a third.

• [By Daniel Inman]

  Also in Sydney, Coca-Cola Amatil (AU:CCL) (CCLAF) dropped 4.7% after warning that its fiscal 2014 operating profit was likely to fall 5% to 7% on the previous year.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-beverage-companies-to-buy-for-2015.html

Best Specialty Retail Companies To Buy Right Now

Best Specialty Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS)

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble), incorporated on November 19, 1986, is a bookseller. The Company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of April 27, 2013, it operated 1,361 bookstores in 50 states, 686 bookstores on college campuses, and operates one of the Web eCommerce sites, and develops digital content products and software. Barnes & Noble operates in three segments: B&N Retail, B&N College and NOOK. The Companys principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), childrens books, eBooks and other digital content, NOOK and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, educational toys & games, music and movies direct to customers through its books tores or on barnesandnoble.com.

Of the Companys 1,361 bookstores, 675 operate primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC (B&N College), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 686 college bookstores at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble Retail (B&N Retail) operates the 675 retail bookstores. Retail also includes the Companys eCommerce site and Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling or Sterling Publishing), a leader in general trade book publishing.

B&N Retail

This segment includes 675 bookstores as of April 27, 2013, primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. These stores generally offer a dedicated NOOK area, a comprehensive trade book title base, a cafe, and departments dedicated to Juvenile, Toys & Games, DVDs, Music, Gift, Magazine and Bargain products. The stores also offer a calendar of ongoi! ng events, incl uding author appearances and childrens activities. The B&! N Retail segment also includes the Companys eCommerce website, barnesandnoble.com, and its publishing operation, Sterling Publishing. Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet depending upon market size, with an overall average store size of 26,000 square feet. During the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 (fiscal), the Company reduced the Barnes & Noble store base by 0.3 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to 17.7 million square feet. The Companys B&N Retail segment purchases physical books on a regular basis from over 800 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. As of April 27, 2013, Barnes & Noble had stores in 162 of the total 210 Designated Market Area markets.

Sterling Publishing is a publisher of non-fiction trade titles. It is a range of non-fiction and illustrated books and kits across a range of imprints, in categories, such as health and wellness, music and culture, food and wine, crafts and photo graphy, puzzles and games, history and current affairs, as well as a childrens books.

B&N College

B&N College sells new and used textbooks in campus bookstores and online. As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operated 686 stores nationwide. The Companys customer base, which is mainly consisted of students and faculty, can purchase various items from their campus stores, including textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, NOOK products and related accessories, school and dorm supplies, convenience and cafe items.

As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operates 651 traditional college bookstores and 35 academic superstores, which are generally larger in size, offer cafes and provide a sense of community that engages the surrounding campus and local communities in college activities and culture. The traditional bookstores range in size from 500 to 48,000 square feet. The acad! emic su ! perstores range in size from 8,000 to 75,000 square feet. B&! N College! s three customer constituencies are students, faculty members and campus administrators.

NOOK

This segment includes the Companys digital business, which includes the Companys eBookstore, digital newsstand and sales of NOOK devices and accessories to third party distribution partners, as well as to B&N Retail and B&N College. Barnes & Nobles NOOK digital bookstore and Reading Apps provide customers the ability to purchase and read their digital content and access to their Lifetime Library on a range of digital platforms, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, iPad, iPhone , Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac. Barnes & Noble has implemented features on its digital platform to ensure that customers can access their NOOK content from almost all of todays most popular devices.

The Company competes with Target, Books-A-Million, Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, Apple, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Neiger]

  Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) is diving further into social media with a newPinterest app for its Nook Media devices.

  The company said in a press release today that the Pinterest app is now available for download on theNook HD, Nook HD+, Nook Tablet, and Nook Color. The app will come preloaded on new devices, along with a Twitter app and a new Facebook app. Barnes & Noble says Pinterest has long been one of its most requested apps.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP/Dave Martin The last week of February was a redemptive week for three fading retailers, but it's hard to argue that any of them will remain market darlings for long. J.C. Penney (JCP) was one of the market's biggest winners, soaring 29 percent after posting improving quarterly results. The struggling department store chain posted a narrower loss than analysts were forecasting, posting positive comparable-store sales during the holiday ! period fo! r the first time in a couple of years. Barnes & Noble (BKS) also moved higher by 8 percent last week on strong financial results. The bookseller that outlasted Borders came through with a quarterly profit of $0.86 a share, blowing past the $0.61 a share that Wall Street pros were targeting. Its Nook business is still suffering from sharp declines, but its actual superstores are holding up surprisingly well. An analyst at Maxim Group boosted his price target on the shares from $20 to $32. Best Buy (BBY) also got a boost from a better than expected report during the holiday quarter. Best Buy's profit for the holiday period declined to $1.24 a share, but that was well ahead of the $1.01 a share that analysts were expecting. Shares of Best Buy also rose 8 percent on the week. These chains seemed to be on the way out last year, and all of them have brought in new CEOs over the past two years. Seeing the stocks move at least 8 percent higher and as much as 29 percent higher last week may suggest that reports of their deaths have been greatly exaggerated, but let's not assume that the storm clouds have cleared at any of them. Penney Arcade The troubled Ron Johnson era ended at J.C. Penney last year. The retail guru -- who had been instrumental in turning Target (TGT) from "cheap" into "cheap chic" before heading to Apple (AAPL) in time to start rolling out the wildly successful Apple Store chain -- flopped at the meandering department store chain. Investors cheered when Johnson arrived at J.C. Penney in late 201

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday’s session are Men's Wearhouse Inc.(MW), Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc.(BKS)

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  BKS: Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS) shares slid 5.4%. Liberty Media Corp. (LMCA) sa! id Thursd! ay it would sell the majority of its 17% stake in the book retailer.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-specialty-retail-companies-to-buy-right-now.html

Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2015

Best Wireless Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2015: Lumos Networks Corp (LMOS)

Lumos Networks Corp. is a fiber-based service provider in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Company provides data, broadband, voice and Internet protocol (IP) services over fiber optic network. The Company offers a range of data and voice products supported by approximately 5,800 fiber-route miles in Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. Its products and services include metro Ethernet, IP services, business advantage bundle, managed router service, broadband, voice services and Web hosting. On October 14, 2011, NTELOS Holdings Corp. announced a distribution date of October 31, 2011, for the spin-off of Lumos Networks Corp.

The Companys broadband services include Business DSL, Dedicated Business Service, Managed Router Services, Business Broadband XL, Business PC Services and Web Hosting. Its IP services include Integrated Access, IP Trunking, IP Centrex and IP Phones. Its voice service include Business Voice, Busin ess Advantage Bundle, nTouch, Intelligent Messaging, Simultaneous Ring, Conference Calling and Long Distance. Its data services include Metro Ethernet and Quality of Service. Lumos Networks Business DSL provides up to six megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream. Its managed router support service equipment includes staging, installation, configuration, and maintenance while support provides around-the-clock monitoring, management and trouble resolution and direct access to networking experts. Its Business Broadband XL offers a selection of high download speeds. Lumos Networks' Integrated Access solution can integrate local voice, long distance, voicemail, and broadband Internet access. Lumos Networks nTouch brings voicemail linking IP Centrex and nTelos Wireless phone.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Netw! orks (NASDAQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.

  Top Headline
  Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Lumos Networks Corp. (NASDAQ: LMOS) is a leading provider of fiber-based bandwidth infrastructure and IP services in key mid-Atlantic markets. It announced last month it had launched its cloud-based hosted call center solution, which provides best-in-class automated call distribution, integrated voice response and call reporting to help organizations manage call volumes more effectively and efficiently. The service operates over Lumos’s carrier-grade, premium optical network, which provides high-speed, resilient access to the call-center cloud service. The consensus price target for the stock is $20.50. Investors are paid a reasonable 2.7% dividend. Lumos closed Thursday at $20.77.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Networks (NASDAQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.

  Top Headline
  Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-wireless-telecom-stocks-to-watch-for-2015.html

Top 5 Beverage Companies To Own In Right Now

Top 5 Beverage Companies To Own In Right Now: Craft Brew Alliance Inc (BREW)

Craft Brew Alliance, Inc., incorporated on May 4, 1981, is an independent craft brewer. The Company is engaged in brewing, marketing and selling of craft beers in the United States. The Company operates two segments: Beer related operations and Pubs and Other. Beer related operations include the brewing and sale of craft beers from its five breweries. Pubs and Other operations primarily include its five pubs, four, of which are located adjacent to its breweries. The Company brews its Widmer Brothers, Redhook and Kona beers in each of its three mainland production breweries, including New Hampshire Brewery, Oregon Brewery and Washington Brewery. The Company also owns and operates a small manual style brewery, primarily used for small batch production at the Rose Quarter in Portland, Oregon. The Companys beer portfolio is consisted of the Widmer Brothers, Redhook and Kona brand families. On May 2, 2011, the Company sold 42% interest in Fulton Street Brewery, LLC.

The Companys Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen is a golden, cloudy wheat beer with a pronounced citrus aroma and flavor. This beer is usually served with a lemon slice. Its Drifter Pale Ale is brewed with generous amounts of summit hops. It also includes Drop Top Amber Ale and Rotator India Pale Ale. Initial beers in the series 924 series include the Nelson Imperial IPA and the Pitch Black IPA, which is a Pacific Northwest twist on a traditional IPA, brewed in the style of a Cascadian Dark. Beers in this brand are offered as a draft product and as a four pack for bottles. Widmer Brothers beers include Brothers Reserve and Alchemy Project. Widmer Brothers seasonal beers are Citra Blonde, Okto, Brrr and W series.

The Redhook family of beers is consisted of sessionable (lower alcohol by volume) and approachable beers. Its Long Hammer IPA is the beer within the brand family and is English pub-style bitter ale with a bold hop aroma and profile t! hat is not overpow eringly bitter. Its

Redhook Pilsner is a crisp, easy-! drinking, golden lager that is modeled after beers originally brewed in Plzen, Czechoslovakia. Redhook ESB is rich, full-bodied amber ale with a smooth flavor profile featuring toasted malts and a pleasant finishing sweetness. Its Copperhook Ale is copper-colored ale with caramel notes and a clean refreshing finish. The Companys Blueline Series brand is offering from the Redhook brand family for the West Coast beer drinker. These beers are hand crafted by the brewers and are available at its Washington Brewery pub, as well as at select restaurants, bottle shops and public houses in the Seattle, Washington area. Its Brewery Backyard Series is produced at its New Hampshire brewery as a draft product available at the brewerys pub and at select local establishments. Redhook seasonal beers include Nut Brown Ale, Winterhook Winter Ale and Wit.

The Companys Kona Beers brand family is consisted of beers that deliver the essence of the Hawaiian Islands that is A lways Aloha. The Companys Longboard Island Lager is a traditionally brewed lager with a delicate, slightly spicy hop aroma that is complimented by a fresh, malt-forward flavor and a smooth, refreshing finish. Its Fire Rock Pale Ale is a crisp, Hawaiian Style pale ale with pronounced citrus and floral hop aromas and flavors that are backed up by a generous malt profile.

Kona seasonal beers include Koko Brown Ale, American brown ale with a deep amber color and rich mahogany hues. This ale has a smoky, roasted nut aroma and flavor, with a coconut twist. Koko Brown Ale is Konas spring seasonal. Its Pipeline Porter is smooth and dark, with a roasty aroma and earthy flavor. This ale is brewed with fresh 100% Kona coffee. Its Wailua Wheat is golden, sun-colored ale with a bright, citrusy flavor. This beer is brewed with a touch of tropical passion fruit to impart a slightly tart and crisp finish. Kona offers two variety packs: Island Hopper variety 12-! packs and! Big Kahuna variety 24-packs. Both packages include the brewe! rys Lo! ngboard Island Lager along with Fire Rock Pale Ale and then two of its Aloha series seasonal offerings: Koko Brown, Wailua Wheat and Pipeline Porter.

The Company competes with Heineken, Corona Extra and Guinness.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  The fantastic performance and growth of this company was noted by Portfolio Grader back in August and the stock was upgraded to an A. Shares of SAM stock remain a “strong buy” at the current price. When it comes to beer stocks to buy now, this is one of the most tempting.

  Best Booze Stocks to Buy Now -Craft Brew Alliance (BREW)

  Craft Brew Alliance (BREW) makes craft beers under three very popular brands for beer aficionados. The Widmar Brothers, Redhook and Kona brands of beer have all received rave reviews … and that’s just one reason BREW is one of the best beer stocks to buy now.

• [By Chris Katje]

  Publicly traded Craft Brew Alliance (BREW) is the owner of three key craft beer brands. The company, through two mergers, owns the brands Redhook, Widmer, and Kona. One of those brands (Redhook) has a partnership coming with Buffalo Wild Wings that could create coverage of the company's stock and blow revenue estimates out of the water.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-5-beverage-companies-to-own-in-right-now.html

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2015

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2015: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Kohls Corp. (NYSE: KSS) added two national brands to its merchandise lineup this past fall, Juicy Couture and Izod, and Sterne Agee doesnt think the company has mined out that field yet and expects it to add three or four new names in 2014 likely in the mens and athletic wear. Buy-rated Kohls has a price target of $51 and the stock is already overvalued by about 7%. EPS growth in 2014 is tagged at 6% and the stores forward multiple is still just 12.4.

• [By Zahid Waheed]

  Most US retailers didn't post a strong holiday quarter as severe weather conditions kept hurting their sales, and this includedRoss Stores (NASDAQ: ROST  ) . Does this mean that Ross is no longer a buy? Let's find out what the future holds for the company and explore where it stands in relation to peers Kohl's (NYSE: KSS  ) and Gap (NYSE: GPS  ) .

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Among the many retailers that no longer report monthly sales are Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Macys Inc. (NYSE: M), Kohls Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO).

• [By Reuters]

  Joshua Lott/Getty Images NEW YORK -- Several major U.S. retailers posted disappointing sales for November after cautious shoppers pi! nched their pennies at the start of a shorter holiday season. Some of the companies that reported sales gains ramped up bargains to bring in shoppers who appeared hesitant to splurge. Costco Wholesale (COST) said Thursday that sales at stores open at least a year rose 2 percent, below the 3.3 percent increase analysts were looking for, according to Thomson Reuters. The warehouse club chain said consumer electronics sales fell. Same-store sales at L Brands (LTD), owner of the Victoria's Secret lingerie chain, also came in below expectations. Its drop of 5.5 percent was far deeper than the 1.1 percent decline analysts were projecting. Wall Street analysts are expecting 11 top retailers to report a 2.7 percent increase in same-store sales for November, according to Thomson Reuters. Excluding drugstore operators, which get two-thirds of revenue from prescriptions, that gain is estimated at 2.3 percent. Gap (GPS) will report its November sales after U.S. markets close. Retailers have been contending with low consumer confidence and the need to prod shoppers with bargains this holiday season, which has six fewer days because of a late Thanksgiving. The National Retail Federation on Sunday said U.S. shoppers had spent 2.9 percent less this year over the Thanksgiving weekend, the kickoff to the holiday season. The Conference Board, an industry group, said last week that U.S. consumer confidence fell in November after a sharp drop in October as Americans worried about their future jobs and earnings prospects. Earlier this week, J.C. Penney (JCP) reported a 10.1 percent comparable sales increase, partially reversing a disastrous decline in 2012, but the department store chain had to resort to aggressive bargains. The "environment will remain as competitive" through the holiday season, Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman said. I

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/10-best-cheap-stocks-to-own-for-2015.html

Shades of 'Alien' in Jack Link's ads

You might call this an Alien moment.

Imagine using a vastly toned-down, knock-off of one of the scariest moments in the history of film to sell, well, beef jerky.

That's, essentially, what Jack Link's Beef Jerky is attempting to do with a who'd-a-thunk-it ad campaign that debuts June 2. Anyone who's seen the 1979 science fiction classic, Alien, will vividly remember the scene when a nasty, super-spooky-looking alien creature, comes ripping-out of the stomach -- head first -- of one of the space ship's crew members.

Fast forward to 2014. There's no spaceship here. But in three, sure-to-go-viral advertisements, folks with seriously-growling stomachs surprise viewers when wild animal heads -- an eagle, wolf and puma -- come ripping right out of their tummies. The campaign is dubbed "Hangry Moments" -- when your hunger is so debilitating that you're angry.

USA TODAY got an sneak-peek at the three ads. No, they're not at all gory like in Alien. And the animals tend to tame down once fed Jack Link's jerky. But there is certainly an Alien-ness feel to the whole set-up.

Top 10 Gas Companies To Watch In Right Now

The ads:

An eagle pops out of the gurgling stomach of a female passenger on a delayed airplane.A wolf's head emerges from the stomach of a guy whose tummy grumbles during a business meeting.A puma's head pushes out of the stomach of a hungry college student while he is taking an exam.

In each case, a bite of Jack Link's Jerky quells the hunger and nudges the critters back where they came from. Realistic as the animal heads look, they're actually puppets.

"We're fully aware of Aliens, but we were very deliberate about not making the ads seem gross," says Kevin Papacek, director of marketing at Jack Link's. The notion of an angry, animal's head popping out of a gurgling stomach "is something anyone can relate to when their stomach growls."

One of the "Hangry Moments" series

The ad agency wanted no blood or guts flying around. "In a 30-second ad, you can sidestep the larger medical diagram of where this animal comes from," explains Marty Senn, executive creative director at the agency that created the campaign, Carmichael Lynch.

No, there are no plans for future ad knock-offs of Jaws, Psycho or The Exorcist.

Even then, with the long-time Jack Link's slogan, 'Feed your wild side,' says Papacek, "we feel like the possibilities are endless."

One of the "Hangry Moments" series.

Is CBS a Buy At Current Prices?

With shares of CBS (NYSE:CBS) trading around $53, is CBS 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

CBS operates as a mass media company in the United States and abroad. The company operates in the entertainment, cable networks, publishing, local broadcasting, and outdoor segments. Consumers seek entertainment of various forms and through an array of platforms at an increasing rate, and through its segments, CBS is able to fulfill consumer needs as it continues to release content that excites the masses. Consumers around the world always seek varied forms of entertainment, and CBS is dedicated to delivering that media, which can only lead to growth and rising profits well into the future.

CBS and Time Warner Cable's (NYSE:TWC) battle over retransmission fees is now settled, to the advantage of CBS. Time Warner Cable is being forced to pay a significant increase in retransmission fees, although the figure is still below $2 per subscriber per month. The blackout of CBS programming from Time Warner Cable is now ending, just in time for the start of the NFL season.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

CBS stock has been flying higher over the last several years. The stock is now trading near all-time high prices and looks poised to continue. 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, CBS is trading 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 CBS options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
CBS Options	28.36%	60%	57%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
September Options	Flat	Average
October 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 significant 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 CBS’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for CBS look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	16.92%	27.78%	9.32%	20.00%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	6.42%	6.43%	2.99%	1.58%
Earnings Reaction	3.86%	2.04%	3.95%	1.05%

CBS has seen rising earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been upbeat about CBS’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has CBS stock done relative to its peers Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Twenty-First Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), Disney (NYSE:DIS), and sector?

	CBS	Comcast	Twenty-First Century Fox	Disney	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	41.84%	14.13%	45.47%	23.88%	29.58%

CBS has been a relative performance leader, year-to-date.

Conclusion

CBS is one of the largest nationwide providers of entertainment and mass media services. The company's dispute with Time Warner Cable is now settled, to the benefit of CBS. The stock has been rising higher over the last few years and is now trading near all-time high prices. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing which have resulted in upbeat investors. Relative to its peers and sector, CBS has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for CBS to OUTPERFORM.

Will Sales of Ubisoft's 'Watch Dogs' Match 'Assassin’s Creed'?

GameStop (NYSE: GME  ) recently announced that Ubisoft's (NASDAQOTH: UBSFF  ) Watch Dogs is the most pre-ordered next-gen game in the company's history, putting it on track to achieve Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot's bold claim that the title would sell 6.2 million units.

If Watch Dogs can hit that target, it will match initial sales of the first Assassin's Creed title -- which launched one of Ubisoft's most successful original IPs.

Watch Dogs -- which blends together the sandbox elements of Grand Theft Auto, the hacking elements of Person of Interest, and the stealth and parkour qualities of Assassin's Creed -- will be released on May 27 for Sony's (NYSE: SNE  ) PS3, PS4, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PCs. The Nintendo (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY  ) Wii U version has notably been delayed until an unknown date.

Watch Dogs. Source: Ubisoft.

The key question now for Ubisoft is whether Watch Dogs can become a fresh pillar of growth for the company after the last Assassin's Creed title, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, sold 32% fewer copies than its predecessor, Assassin's Creed III.

Ubisoft has released new Assassin's Creed titles annually since Assassin's Creed II (2009), and will release two new Assassin's Creed titles this year -- Assassin's Creed V: Unity for next-gen consoles, and Assassin's Creed: Comet for previous-gen ones.

What Watch Dogs means for Ubisoft
Ubisoft currently has five top franchises -- Assassin's Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy titles, Rayman, and Far Cry. Assassin's Creed is its biggest source of consistent revenue growth, but Watch Dogs could soon join it as a top franchise.

Last year, Ubisoft's revenue fell 20% to €1.01 billion ($1.37 billion) while its gross profit fell 21% to €722 million ($983 million). However, after deducting various expenses related to research, development, and marketing, Ubisoft ended the year with an operating loss of €66 million ($90 million), down from net income of €100 million ($136 million) the prior year.

That steep decline indicates that games, like movies, are becoming more expensive and riskier investments every year. The original Assassin's Creed, for example, cost $20 million to produce. The second title cost $24 million. Assassin's Creed III and IV both reportedly cost around $100 million.

Assassin's Creed III. Source: Ubisoft.

Yet as budgets increase, sales don't necessarily follow.

The second Assassin's Creed title sold over 10 million copies. The next two, Brotherhood and Revelations, didn't. Assassin's Creed III marked a nice comeback with 12.4 million units sold, but the franchise once again slumped to 8.4 million units with Assassin's Creed IV.

It's easy to see Ubisoft's problem -- costs have consistently climbed but sales have been wildly unpredictable. Assassin's Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson famously called triple A games "the last of the dinosaurs" in an Edge interview in 2012, noting the difficulty of sustaining such a high-cost business model with unstable returns.

Earlier this year, Superannuation estimated that Ubisoft's production budget for Watch Dogs had hit $68 million. Although that would be significantly less than Activision Blizzard's (NASDAQ: ATVI  ) $140 million budget for Destiny and Take-Two's (NASDAQ: TTWO  ) $265 million budget for GTA V, it still represents a very confident investment for a new IP.

Yet another cross-platform 'next-gen' title
Although Watch Dogs is being promoted as a next-gen title, it is yet another game that straddles both seventh and eighth generation consoles. The reason, as I noted in a previous article, is obvious -- there are 7.7 million PS4s and 5 million Xbox Ones on the market, but there are 82.8 million PS3s and 81.3 million Xbox 360s.

It would be silly for any video game publisher to ignore that huge market for the sake of cutting-edge graphics. That's why Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA  ) released Titanfall for both the Xbox One and Xbox 360, and why Take-Two will release Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on the PS3 and Xbox 360 instead of next-gen consoles.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Source: Take-Two.

However, that causes two problems for the gaming industry -- it throttles sales of the PS4 and Xbox One, and game developers must spend more time refining their games for both older and newer consoles.

Ubisoft's answer to this problem was to split Assassin's Creed into two series -- one exclusive to the seventh generation and another one exclusive to the eighth. That's a big risk, since the success of Unity, which will be released this holiday season, depends heavily on sales of the PS4 and Xbox One remaining strong throughout the year.

If Watch Dogs is a hit, Ubisoft will be faced with the same three choices that it encountered after Black Flag -- should it play it safe and release another cross-platform sequel, should it up the ante with a next-gen only one, or should it split the franchise into separate seventh and eighth generation titles?

Will Watch Dogs be a hit?
Watch Dogs certainly has the characteristics of a blockbuster IP -- it looks highly polished, employs time-tested gameplay elements from other hit titles, and its hacking mechanics help it stand out in a triple-A market saturated by first-person shooters and sandbox titles. It could certainly be the next Assassin's Creed, which is starting to lose its luster after seven years.

While GameStop and Ubisoft's forecasts bode well for initial sales of the title, gamers and investors should pay close attention to what happens next.

Will triple-A publishers like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and Activision continue playing it safe with cross-platform releases for both newer and older consoles, possibly throttling sales of the PS4 or Xbox One, or will they finally take full advantage of the extra horsepower with exclusive next-gen titles?

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Top China Companies To Watch For 2015

This company may face some obstacles and tough year-to-year comparison in the first half of 2014, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, however, he doesn't think any weakness will be big enough to warrant selling, then rebuying.

Fourth quarter earnings and guidance for 2014, announced on January 22, make it clear that Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is a second half story for 2014.

(Abbott Laboratories is a member of my Jubak's Picks portfolio.)

For the quarter, Abbott reported earnings of 58 cents a share, matching Wall Street estimates. Revenue climbed just 0.4% year-over-year to $5.66 billion, less than the $5.72 billion analysts had projected. A stronger dollar worked against Abbott in the quarter, but even taking out currency effects, worldwide sales still grew by just 3.3%.

For 2014, the company told Wall Street to expect $2.21 to $2.26 a share. That's slightly ahead of the $2.21 consensus projection by analysts.

But that earnings guidance isn't spread evenly over 2014. In the first quarter, for example, Abbott faces tough year-to-year comparisons with the first quarter of 2013, and what are projected as lagging sales and higher marketing expenses for the period. As Abbott's fourth quarter earnings report made clear, the company's infant formula sales still haven't completely recovered from product problems in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and, most importantly, China. Sales of pediatric products outside the United States fell by 3% in the quarter. (Growth in the third quarter hadn't been particularly robust at 3%.) The first quarter, the company noted, will also see higher expenses related to product recalls in those markets and higher marketing expenses, as Abbott spends to rebuild market share and growth. Add a very negative currency effect, from dollar strength in the first quarter, and the year is likely to begin with disappointingly sluggish growth.

Top China Companies To Watch For 2015: ATA Inc.(ATAI)

ATA Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides computer-based testing services in the People?s Republic of China. It offers services for the creation and delivery of computer-based tests utilizing its test delivery platform, proprietary testing technologies, and testing services; and provides logistical support services relating to test administration. The company?s computer-based testing services are used for professional licensure and certification tests in various industries, including information technology (IT) services, banking, securities, teaching, and insurance. Its e-testing platform integrates various aspects of the test delivery process for computer-based tests ranging from test form compilation to test scoring, and results analysis. ATA also provides career-oriented educational services, such as single course programs, degree major course programs, and pre-occupational training programs focusing on preparing students to pass IT and other vocational certification tests; test preparation and training programs and services to test candidates preparing to take professional certification tests in securities, futures, banking, insurance and teaching industries; online test preparation and training platform for the securities and banking industries; and test preparation software for the teaching industry. In addition, the company offers HR select employee assessment solution, an online system that utilizes its proprietary software and an inventory of test titles to help employers improve the efficiency and accuracy of their employee recruitment process. As of March 31, 2010, it had contractual relationships with 1,988 ATA authorized test centers. The company serves Chinese governmental agencies, professional associations, IT vendors, and Chinese educational institutions, as well as individual test preparation services. ATA Inc. was founded in 1999 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Industrials stocks gained Friday, with ATA (NASDAQ: ATAI) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), with shares up 22 percent, and Korn/Ferry International (KFY), with shares up 12 percent. In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.36 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Industrials stocks gained Friday, with ATA (NASDAQ: ATAI) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG), with shares up 22 percent, and Korn/Ferry International (KFY), with shares up 12 percent. In trading on Friday, basic materials shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.36 percent.

Top China Companies To Watch For 2015: China Mobile(Hong Kong)

China Mobile Limited, an investment holding company, provides mobile telecommunications and related services primarily in the Mainland China. It offers various services comprising local calls, domestic long distance calls, international long distance calls, domestic roaming, and international roaming. The company also provides voice value-added services, including caller identity display, caller restrictions, call waiting, call forwarding, call holding, voice mail, and conference calls; customer-to-customer messages and corporate short message services; and mobile Internet access services. In addition, it engages in other data businesses, which primarily include multimedia messaging services; color ring services that enable users to customize the answer ring tone from various selection of songs, melodies, sound effects, or voice recordings; and mobile reading, mobile gaming, mobile video, mobile payment/wallet, mobile TV, mobile market, and Internet data center services. F urther, the company offers telecommunications network planning, design, and consulting services; roaming clearance services; technology platform development and maintenance services; and mobile data solutions, and system integration and development services, as well as operates a network and business coordination center. Additionally, China Mobile Limited sells mobile phone handsets and devices. As of March 31, 2011, it served approximately 600.8 million customers. The company was formerly known as China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited and changed its name to China Mobile Limited in May 2006. China Mobile was founded in 1997. The company is based in Central, Hong Kong, and is considered a Red Chip company due to its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China Mobile Limited is a subsidiary of China Mobile Hong Kong (BVI) Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  China Mobile Ltd. was incorporated under the laws of Hong Kong on Sept. 3, 1997, as a limited liability company under the name China Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited. China Mobile Ltd. has a market cap of $194.9 billion; its shares were traded at around $48.48 with a P/E ratio of 9.70 and P/S ratio of 2.20. The dividend yield of China Mobile Ltd. stocks is 4.20%. China Mobile Ltd. had an annual average earnings growth of 16.60% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated China Mobile Ltd.�the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.

Best Insurance Companies To Watch For 2015: Ctrip.com International Ltd.(CTRP)

Ctrip.com International, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides travel services for hotel accommodations, airline tickets, and packaged tours in the People?s Republic of China. It also sells independent leisure travelers bundled package-tour products, which include transportation and accommodation, as well as guided tours covering various domestic and international destinations. In addition, the company offers Internet-related advertising, aviation casualty insurance, and air-ticket delivery services. Further, it sells Property Management System, a hotel information software; travel guidebooks, which provide information for independent travelers; and VIP membership cards that allow cardholders to receive discounts from various restaurants, clubs, and bars. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  The company has a current ratio of 10.85% which is higher than the ones registered by E-Commerce China Dangdang, Vipshop Holdings Limited, Asure Software, Inc. and Monster Worldwide, Inc. But for investors looking for a higher ROE, Bitauto Holdings and Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (CTRP) could be better options.

Top China Companies To Watch For 2015: Trina Solar Limited(TSL)

Trina Solar Limited, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells photovoltaic (PV) modules worldwide. The company offers monocrystalline PV modules ranging from 165 watts to 185 watts in power output; and multicrystalline PV modules ranging from 215 watts to 240 watts in power output that provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and other applications. It also involves in the design and production of various PV modules, such as colored modules for architectural applications and larger sized modules for utility grid applications based on customers? and end-users? specifications. Trina Solar Limited sells and markets its products primarily to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Changzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James now that shares have pulled back $20 or so from the 2013 highs. Shares are indicated up over 2% as effectively this removes on of the “sell” biases from the pool of analysts. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) was also given the same upgrade to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Foolish bottom line
  Solar module manufacturers will be the most adversely affected in the near term. Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , for example, makes about half of its own polysilicon but must buy 1.2 GW worth from outside suppliers. Yingli has already said that tariffs will adversely affect costs. The irony of imposing tariffs on U.S. solar exports to China is that China will be the one hurt by them in the long run.�

Top China Companies To Watch For 2015: China Lodging Group Limited (HTHT)

China Lodging Group, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and manages a chain of hotels in the People?s Republic of China. It operates HanTing Express Hotel that targets knowledge workers and value-conscious travelers; HanTing Seasons Hotel, which targets mid-level corporate managers and owners of small and medium enterprises; and HanTing Hi Inn for budget-constrained travelers. As of March 31, 2011, the company had 473 hotels consisting of 259 leased-and-operated hotels and 214 franchised-and-managed hotels; and 162 hotels under development, including 74 leased-and-operated hotels and 88 franchised-and-managed hotels. China Lodging Group, Limited was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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 China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [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 China Lodging Group (Nasdaq: HTHT  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top China Companies To Watch For 2015: Suntech Power Holdings Co. LTD.(STP)

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a solar energy company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products. The company also provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to building solar power systems for certain related party and third party customers. Its products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon PV cells; PV modules; and building-integrated photovoltaics products. In addition, the company provides PV system integration services, including designing, installing, and testing PV systems used in lighting for outdoor urban public facilities, as well as in farms, villages, and commercial buildings; and project development services. Its products are used to provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility applications. The company sells its products through value-added resellers, such as distributors and system integrators; and to end users, such as project develo pers primarily in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Benelux, Greece, the United States, Canada, China, the Middle East, Australia, and Japan. Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Wuxi, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  China's companies now have even less wiggle room to operate, considering lending's either expensive or hard to come by. As investment flows out of the country, unstable companies won't survive, even with government support. Solar-power company Suntech Power's (NYSE: STP  ) recent bankruptcy is an early sign of things to come. Suntech was the first Chinese solar-power company to go public when it hit the market in 2005, and generous public subsidies helped propel its growth. With money tightening across the country, Suntech's questionable business practices sank it -- the first of what could be more troubles to come for weaker Chinese company.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  China won't let its solar industry die without a fight. After handing billions of dollars to manufacturers, including LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , Suntech Power (NYSE: STP  ) , to build capacity they are now generating demand domestically to soak up unsold panels.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Suntech is still alive ... sort of
  The strange news of the week was another forbearance agreement on Suntech Power's (NYSE: STP  ) debt. The company will delay payment of $541 million of notes originally due in March until Aug. 30, the second extension of forbearance. It's unclear exactly how many bondholders agreed to the delay or what Suntech will do in the meantime, but it's supposedly working with creditors to keep the company alive. �

GM recalls 500 new pickups, SUVs over airbags

General Motors announced on Friday that it is recalling about 500 of its redesigned full-size pickups and SUVs from the 2014 and 2015 model years because a supplier provided a potentially faulty part in the control module for the trucks' airbags.

If you are keeping score, this is GM's 7th recall this week and 30th since Jan. 1. The 2014 recalls so far cover about 13.79 million vehicles in the U.S.

The company said that the 500 trucks -- which it has determined have not yet been shipped from their plants or are still on dealer lots -- cannot be sold until the repairs are made. But it said that the so-called "stop-sale" order applies only to this specific group of vehicles and that no other similar vehicles are affected.

That's good news for dealers, going into the Memorial Day selling weekend.

GM spokesman Alan Adler said, "The announcement of this recall demonstrates GM's commitment to quickly identifying recall conditions to minimize the impact on customers."

The recall comes a day after GM announced that global product chief Mark Reuss will lead a new team of five executives charged with determining when and if the GM should recall vehicles -- moving that responsibility unequivocally into the top executive ranks.

The creation of the Reuss team is meant to accelerate GM's response to safety problems and improve communication with customers and government regulators. It's the latest in a series of organizational changes since February when the first of several recalls was issued for defective ignition switches now tied to 13 deaths.

Jeff Boyer, GM's recently appointed global safety chief, said in an interview Thursday that GM's expanded team of 55 product investigators is reexamining existing defect data and also sifting through other sources, such as social media to spot potential issues being talked about online by customers and others.

Reuss told Barclays analyst Brian Johnson on Thursday that the flurry of recall announcements resulting from this reexam! ination effort might continue through mid-summer.

Contributing: Nathan Bomey, Detroit Free Press

Top 10 Construction Material Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Top 10 Construction Material Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL (CBN)

Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL is a Lebanon-based joint stock company that operates in the construction materials industry sector. The Company is engaged in the production and sale of white cement. The Company is a 65.99% owned by Holcim (Liban) SAL. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CanadianValue]

  Nigeria's reformed banking system has provided many foreigners with an attractive means to invest in the fast-growing domestic economy. The banking industry is important, not only because of the rise of microfinance, but because of the move by banks into consumer banking. Until recently, banks were mainly financing large businesses or the government through bond purchases. Following a banking crisis in 2008, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an audit of the commercial banking sector. All banks that failed the audit had their CEOs replaced. The state-owned Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) was created to purchase non-performing loans and recapitalize the unhealthy banks. A recent review of the country's banks by the IMF showed a dramatic increase in profits for the industry in 2012, while the capital adequacy ratio was above the minimum requirement of 10% and non-performing loans were below the mandated threshold of 5%5.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-construction-material-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Finally for rent: bridesmaid dresses

Future bridesmaids of the United States of America, you do not know how good you have it. The most distasteful of your long-endured duties may be nearing its end.

No, you'll still have to sweat bullets over heartfelt toasts and chase your bride's deadbeat college bestie down after she fails to pay her fair share of the bachelorette party tab. But chin up: the days of dropping hundreds on a pastel pink dress you'll never wear again are as good as over thanks to a growing number of options for renting exactly what you need for the big day – and not a day more.

More from OZY.com:

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"Let's be honest, women really don't wear bridesmaids dresses again," says Kelsey Doorey, whose ecommerce company, Vow to Be Chic, launched last year and rents $500 designer bridesmaid's dresses for as little as $95.

Brides usually kick off the process by green-lighting choices for 'maids, who in turn browse online for dresses by designers such as LulaKate and Jim Hjelm and submit three standard measurements (bust, waist, hips). An at-home try-on feature means bridesmaids may test-run two sizes months in advance. The chosen dress arrives in time for the wedding — and, best of all, gets shipped back to where it came from when it's over.

Little Borrowed Dress, which announced a $1.25 million round of seed funding in February offers a similar service. With rentals starting at $50, the company has a collection custom-designed by founder Corie Hardee. Made in New York, there are 12 crinkle chiffon styles in 18 colors that can be mixed and matched. Bridesmaids receive their dress in two sizes two weeks before the wedding, along with a pre-paid envelope for returns.

As for icing, you'll find that on Adorn a bride can walk the aisle in a $27,000 diamond necklace for a $270 rental fee or ask her bridesmaids to rent $145 Swarovski crystal headbands for $45.

It's hardly a gi! rls-only affair. While renting a tux is nothing new for guys, startup The Black Tux aims to improve the Men's Wearhouse experience by offering high-end suits and tuxedos for $95 alongside borrowed accoutrements like shirts, vests, cuff links and shoes – that start at $15. "No more driving to a drab shop in a strip mall, or dealing with pushy salesmen," the site declares. It's been so popular, inventory is currently booked through July 1.

Fear not, more options await from just-launched NextSuit, which sends men's suits by monthly subscription. Wear one or two, for up to 30 days, then send your stash back and wait for the next to arrive. It's geared toward young fashion-inept professionals, but offers an equally elegant solution for guys who don't want to show up at wedding-after-wedding in the same tired duds.

"There are all these options now that are shared economy, green and ecofriendly," says Vow to Be Chic's Doorey.

Not bad things to be wed to.

Ozy.com is a USA TODAY content partner providing general news, commentary and coverage from around the Web. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

Buy Big Banks on Breakup Potential?

This year’s been a painful one for JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC)–even if they’re gaining today. MKM Partner’s David Trone has the perfect prescription for upside: Break them up.

Bloomberg News

Bank of America has dropped 6.1% so far this year, while JPMorgan has fallen 7.3% and Citigroup has slipped 10%. Trone explains why he thinks Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup not only should but will split up into their component parts:

…we believe the break-up of the universal banks is inevitable — not a question of “if,” but “when.” Clearly, current management teams do not agree with us, and are consistently defending the model, despite all evidence to the contrary. This simply represents the age-old “agency problem,” whereby managements do what’s best for them, not shareholders. However, in due course, we believe shareholder value will win out. We believe it is only a matter of time before activists come knocking on the door of one of the universal banks.

Trone’s recommendation comes with a caveat: Don’t expect Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup to break up anytime soon. “For patient multi-year investors, we recommend the universal bank stocks because we believe they will ultimately be split-up, thus releasing significant pent-up shareholder value,” Trone says. “However, we see little chance of this emerging with the next twelve months.”

Still, he does think Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase can gain 20% during the next 12 months, helped by a US economy that “continues to grow at a modest pace.” He iniated all three at Buy.

Shares of Citigroup have gained 0.7% to $46.87 at 3:22 p.m., while JPMorgan Chase has risen 0.9% to $54.19 and Bank of America has advanced 0.7% to $14.64.

Time for advisers to get smarter about smart beta strategies

As the universe of strategic-beta products continues to swell it is refreshing to see some efforts being made to help investors and advisers understand how these strategies can be used inside portfolios, as opposed to just pointing out how much better they are than traditional indexes.

Charles Schwab & Co. is making strides in that direction with a rudimentary but effective means of integrating strategic beta into portfolios that include active and index funds.

For starters, let's point out that the most important thing anyone needs to know about strategic beta funds is that they are not traditional market-cap weighted indexes.

Beyond that, all bets are off because strategic beta products (aka, smart beta, alternative beta, fundamental indexing, enhanced indexing, quantamental indexing, etc.) are as unique as they are plentiful.

In essence, these hybrids of indexing and quantitative active management products are not helping to shed a reputation of being overly complex by using a half-dozen different phrases to identify the category. But that's what happens when something starts to take off. And take of it has.

Morningstar Inc. counts strategic beta ETF assets at nearly $350 billion, up from $175 billion two years ago.

The growth is coming from a loyal but still largely concentrated following of new believers of diversifying away from the punishing math of cap-weighted indexed investing that includes automatically adding exposure to the highest value stocks.

“I understand that financial theory says market-cap weighting is correct, but financial theory represents the way things are supposed to work,” said Rob Arnott, chief executive of Research Affiliates, a pioneer in strategic beta strategies.

“Think of a cap-weighted portfolio as having a growth tilt toward momentum and popularity,” he added.

While it is easy to make the case against cap-weighted indexing, it doesn't automatically lead to a slam-dunk sale for strategic beta, primarily because strategic beta is represented by a very diverse mix of quantitative strategies.

As Morningstar's director of passive funds research Ben Johnson explained it, “The common thread among them is that they seek to either improve their return profile or alter their risk profile relative to more-traditional market benchmarks.”

10 Best Growth Stocks To Invest In Right Now

For example, the Direxion Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index ETF (QQQE) offers equal exposure to each of the 100 underlying stocks in the index.

Across the univ! erse of more than 400 strategic beta ETFs tracked by Morningstar the specific emphasis can range from volatility to value bias.

Another way of looking at the differences between cap-weighting and strategic beta strategies is to consider the underlying exposures.

At the end of 2013 the traditional cap-weighted S&P 500 Index had a 9.8% exposure to consumer staples, which compares to 20.8% for the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index.

On an equal-weighted basis, the same index had a 7.9% exposure to consumer staples.

The utilities sector stands out as an even more extreme example. The cap-weighted S&P had a 2.9% exposure to utilities in December, compared to 23.7% for the low-volatility index, and 6.1% for the equal-weighted S&P.

“We believe that alternative beta strategies can serve as a nice compliment to both market-cap and actively-managed funds,” said Anthony Davidow, vice president and asset allocation strategist at Schwab's center for financial research.

With that in mind, Mr. Davidow's team has developed some basic pie chart models and portfolio construction levers to help advisers to incorporate strategic beta into client portfolios.

The four key levers to determine where strategic beta might fit are tracking error, loss aversion, alpha, and cost.

Each lever is applied across a table that includes market-cap indexing, strategic beta, and active management.

For example, if tracking the broad market indexes is a high priority with an investor, a portfolio should be more heavily allocated to a market-cap index, and have a lower allocation to a strategic beta fund.

If alpha is the main objective, strategic beta is the best option along with active management, because the market-cap indexes are not designed to provide alpha.

Looked at another way, the Schwab pie-chart models offer general allocation suggestions for market exposure objectives.

Domestic large-cap growth, for example, would include a 50% allocation to strategic beta funds, 30% in market-cap indexe! s, and 20! % in active funds.

Emerging markets exposure, meanwhile would include 50% in active management, 30% in strategic beta, and 20% in market-cap indexes.

“We believe each style has a role in the portfolio, and each will have its day in the sun,” Mr. Davidow said. “I don't hear a lot of advisers saying they want to give up all together and allocate entirely to [strategic beta], but a lot of advisers just buy without thinking what they are getting with regard to cap-weighted indexes.”

5 Rocket Stocks Ready for Blastoff

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- 2014's stock market performance so far has been a bit, well, uninspiring. Since the calendar flipped to January, the big S&P 500 index has climbed a whopping 1.6%. And drilling down to individual names yields some even less impressive returns.

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But the statistics still favor more upside this year, following 2013's huge run higher. Since 1975, there have been only 11 years when the S&P 500 has returned more than 20% in a single calendar year. And in those years, average gains for the following year have come in at a hefty 12.8%.

That means that Mr. Market could still have a lot of catching up to do in the latter half of this year. To take full advantage of the trend, we're turning to a fresh set of "Rocket Stocks" for this week.

For the uninitiated, "Rocket Stocks" are our list of companies with short-term gain catalysts and longer-term growth potential. To find them, I run a weekly quantitative screen that seeks out stocks with a combination of analyst upgrades and positive earnings surprises to identify rising analyst expectations, a bullish signal for stocks in any market. After all, where analysts' expectations are increasing, institutional cash often follows. In the last 249 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 76.85%.

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Without further ado, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.

Apple

First up is Apple (AAPL), a name that's been serving up some market-beating performance in the last few months. In the trailing six months, shares of the technology giant are up more than 15%. And there's good reason for investors to expect more of the same for the next six months.

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Apple owns some of the most popular consumer electronic devices on the market today. The firm's physical offerings range from its iPhone and iPad to the Macintosh line of computers. But Apple is also one of the largest sellers of digital content through its iTunes store, a venture that makes Apple the biggest music and video store on the planet. Despite hugely competitive markets for smartphones and tablets, AAPL claims the leading market share of the industry's profits, a fact that gives the firm a deep moat.

Those huge profits have added up to an equally deep war chest for Apple over the last several years. Today, the firm boasts approximately $134 billion in net cash and investments, a cushion that covers approximately 25% of the firm's current market capitalization. Ex-cash, Apple's P/E ratio currently stands at just 10.5, a paltry valuation for the most profitable firm in the business.

This Rocket Stock has more room to run in 2014.

Walt Disney

Shareholders of Walt Disney (DIS) have been laughing all the way to the bank for the last year, outperforming the broad market over that stretch by more than double as Mickey Mouse and friends generated gains of more than 20.7% since last summer. Disney's huge collection of valuable assets gives it advantages that can't be replicated by rivals.

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Even though Mickey, Donald and Goofy are the first names that spring to mind when most people say the Disney name, those classic characters represent a small chunk of Disney's overall empire today. Disney earned around half of its profits through television networks such as ABC, A&E and the Disney Channel. ESPN, though, is the star of the show: It is the most valuable network in the world, capturing a bigger piece of your cable bill than any other network out there. Smart acquisitions such as Pixar and Marvel give Disney an even bigger collection of IP -- and more important, talent -- that should help produce blockbusters for years to come.

Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks are starting to enjoy the other side of the cyclical downdraft that hindered them during the Great Recession. Because Disney is highly integrated, it's able to take popular characters from a film and move them into TV, theme parks and merchandise, multiplying the value of its efforts and trimming costs. There's a lot to like about Disney's business in 2014.

Allstate

$25 billion insurance name Allstate (ALL) tips the scales as the second-largest U.S. personal lines and property-casualty insurer. The firm sells automotive, homeowners and life insurance as well as other financial products through a network of approximately 10,000 Allstate agents as well as a network of banks and independent agents. In the insurance business, size comes with some serious advantages, and Allstate is riding those advantages to profit; with a huge customer base, the firm is able to cross-sell multiple policies to its existing customer Rolodex.

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That network effect is effectively the only advantage there is in the insurance business these days. Let's face it: the insurance business has become largely commoditized these days. That's why ALL's ability to spread risk across a larger pool of subscribers is crucial to keeping costs low -- and crucial to winning and keeping customers. Allstate's reputation and customer service give the firm the ability to be a bit more risk-conscious than many of its rivals, but ultimately ALL needs to remain competitive on price first and foremost.

The firm's decision to trim its homeowner's insurance portfolio has been a step in that same direction. It cuts catastrophic risk in favor of more auto insurance, which is much more quantifiable (and less subject to one-time catastrophes). Look out for earnings on July 28 as a potential rally catalyst.

SanDisk

SanDisk (SNDK) has trounced the broad market in 2014 -- there's just no other way to way it. Since the beginning of January, shares of the $20 billion computer storage stock have climbed 29%. And that momentum isn't showing any signs of waning in May.

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SanDisk is one of the tech sector's biggest suppliers of NAND flash memory, a business that gives the firm exposure to a hot market that's been supply-constrained for the last several years. SNDK's memory is used in all sorts of electronic devices today, and quick replacement cycles in mobile devices and rising demand from enterprise users are helping to propel demand (and margins) for the firm. Better still, a robust patent portfolio means that the firm benefits from the overall growth of the NAND flash memory market, regardless of who's manufacturing the memory.

Despite its huge run this year, SNDK isn't looking particularly expensive at current levels. The firm currently sports more than $4.2 billion in net cash and investments on its balance sheet, enough dry powder to pay for more than 20% of the firm's current market capitalization today. That's a lot of risk reduction for a name that's been rallying hard for quite a while now. With rising analyst sentiment in shares this week, we're betting on shares of this Rocket Stock.

Keurig Green Mountain

Vermont-based Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) is another name that's posted huge momentum performance in 2014 -- the coffee company has rallied more than 50% this year alone. And while that momentum put a big target on GMCR's back a couple of months ago, as former momentum winner began to roll over, shares have been recovering hard in May.

GMCR's Keurig brand of coffee brewers and single-serve K-Cup pods have been a phenomenon -- and they're not showing any signs of slowing. With the biggest installed base in the single-serve space, Keurig has some huge advantages over its rivals right now, especially as the firm gets ready to launch its second-generation pod offerings. GMCR operates under the razor/blade model: by giving customers a deal on its brewing machines, Keurig stands to make substantial profits by selling coffee pods on an ongoing basis. Despite the competition in this space, other brands have failed to replicate Keurig's scale...

Make no mistake, Keurig isn't cheap right now. But that hefty price tag comes from a big growth assumption and the potential for transformative new products like the Keurig Cold, which got a big nod from beverage behemoth Coca-Cola (KO) with a huge stake in GMCR earlier this year. The volatility isn't likely over in this name yet, but then again, the gains aren't either.

To see all of this week's Rocket Stocks in action, check out the Rocket Stocks portfolio at Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author was long AAPL.

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

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

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Gas Prices Shouldn't Be High, But Are. Here's Why

Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Rumors about the demise of U.S. gasoline demand have been greatly exaggerated. Until late 2013, most energy observers forecast the world's most reliably gas-guzzling market to consume less fuel this year. What was once thought to be a structural decline in demand, however, has proven more durable than expected. As the summer driving season nears, retail gas remains stubbornly lodged near $4 a gallon. According to the Energy Information Administration, gas prices rose for 12 straight weeks through late April, and were 20 cents a gallon higher than the same point last year. So what gives? "The world's not swimming in crude or gasoline yet," said Francisco Blanch, commodities strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, in an interview. "Despite all the crude and gasoline production in the U.S., international markets are not tagging along." International developments matter, analysts say, because gas prices are linked to internationally priced Brent crude. Turmoil in Ukraine and spotty supply from the perennially unstable Middle East has conspired to keep oil above $100 a barrel. In a research note this week, analysts at Goldman Sachs (GS) called crude oil fundamentals "stable but tight," adding that most developed-economy stockpiles "remain at low levels" amid lower-than-expected output from hotspots like Libya and Iraq. That backdrop explains why prices at the pump have defied the gravitational pull of a litany of mitigating factors such as a more fuel-efficient U.S. car fleet, rising domestic production and a still-fragile recovery that should blunt demand. Bank of America-Merrill (BAC) points out that domestic oil and gas production has driven gasoline imports to near zero, while the U.S. is churning out nearly 10 million barrels a day. Despite all this, there has been little relief at the pump due largely to factors outside America's control. The International Energy Agency said in its most recent report that OPEC will need to increase its own production this year to sate rising demand. Meanwhile, the energy watchdog said non-OPEC production is also falling short of expectations. 'Shale boom may not be helping' "In the U.S. and Canada, yes, there is a big shale revolution going on ... but the rest of the world is not producing enough to feed itself," said Bank of America's Blanch. "That's why oil prices abroad are elevated and why gasoline, which is pegged to oil prices, are so high." The EIA expects crude oil prices to fall this year, which should keep a lid on gas prices. Still, the agency expects average gas prices to rise by 3 cents during the June -- August period compared with the same quarter last year. The latter may come as another blow to consumers, many of whom are hard pressed to see material benefits in the U.S. shale surge when retail energy costs are still so high. "For now, the shale boom may not be helping consumers directly by pushing [gas] prices lower," said Blanch. Still, the oil and gas renaissance can alleviate energy inflation while creating economic benefits, like more jobs, he added.

Stocks: Lively week ending on fearful note

Click chart for in-depth premarket data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A week of records in the markets could end with a whimper, with investor sentiment struggling to recover after taking a big hit Wednesday.

Declining Treasury yields, disappointing quarterly earnings from Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) and a broad sense of fear in the markets has contributed to pushing stocks down.

U.S. stock futures were dipping lower Friday. The major indexes are just below their closing levels from a week ago, a dramatic turnaround from Tuesday when they were hitting new record highs.

Wall Street is now waiting for the U.S. government to publish housing starts and building permit numbers from April at 8:30 a.m. ET. The monthly Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index comes out at 9:55 a.m. ET.

The main premarket mover Friday is J.C. Penney. (JCP, Fortune 500) Shares are soaring by roughly 20% ahead of the opening bell after the company posted quarterly sales that beat expectations and revealed a smaller-than-expected loss.

Nordstrom (JWN, Fortune 500) shares also rose in extended trading after the company posted earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

Shares in Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) are rising by about 2% after Warren Buffett's investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500), revealed it had purchased a stake worth nearly $530 million in the company.

U.S. stocks fell hard Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down nearly 170 points. The S&P 500 fell nearly 1% and the Nasdaq closed down 0.76%.

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Indian markets were shining amid the broader gloom. The benchmark index surged to a record high as early election results suggested a sweeping victory for Narendra Modi and the pro-business Bharatiya Janata Party.

Other Asian markets ended with mixed results, while European markets were relatively flat in morning trading.

Review: Geithner's frank memoir of '08 crisis

The title of former Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner's new book, Stress Test, a fascinating memoir about life in the maelstrom of the financial crisis, has multiple meanings: stress on the U.S. economy, stress on the democratic political process and the excruciating pressure on Geithner and his family.

For nine years, first as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank beginning in late 2003, when he was only 42, and then as Treasury secretary though President Obama's first term, Geithner had a key role in keeping the country's financial system afloat. In fact, Geithner was chosen to head the New York Fed precisely because of his involvement as a more junior Treasury official in dealing with financial crises in Japan, Mexico, Russia and several Asian and South American nations during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations.

Nevertheless, the crisis that began in 2007 was unprecedented in many ways, and Geithner and other policymakers — including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, his predecessor at Treasury, Henry Paulson, and other officials in the Obama administration — were uncertain what was happening and what their responses should be.

Geithner lays out those uncertainties and explains how the decisions were thrashed out. Often, he says, there were no good options, only "least worse" ones. Sometimes others in the administration, including Lawrence Summers, the brilliant economist and a former Treasury secretary himself, would poke holes in a Geithner idea. But if they had no alternative, just skepticism, Obama let Geithner go ahead. There's a chapter titled "Plan Beats No Plan."

Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., with her own legal mandates, often went her own way, to Geithner's distress. He explains those disagreements, however, and is careful to give her credit when he believes it is due.

Geithner writes frankly about his own uncertainties and shortcomings, including his awkwardness as a public speaker, his boyish appearance and! a lack of knowledge of the fine points of economics. He was astounded to be offered the Fed job. When President-elect Barack Obama approached him about running Treasury, Geithner said he wasn't the best person for the job and suggested several others who would be better. From the tone of the book, you know he was not just being modest. But he was the best under the circumstances because he understood what could cause a financial panic, how devastating one could be and what was essential to stop one.

"A financial crisis is a bank run writ large, a run on an entire financial system. People lose confidence that their money is safe — whether they're stockholders or bondholders, institutional investors of elderly widows — so they rush to pull it out of the system, which makes the money remaining in the system even less safe, which makes everyone even less confident," Geithner writes.

No modern economy can grow without a functioning financial system, and in 2008 worldwide financial markets seized up when Lehman Bros., an investment bank, collapsed. Lehman did business with thousands of other institutions and tens of thousands of customers. Once it filed for bankruptcy, no one could be sure how its losses could affect all those other institutions. So investors began pulling out as the panic spread.

Earlier books have described much of what happened that September, but Geithner was present for all the frantic meetings, the thousands of phone calls — and in the case of Lehman, the failure to find a buyer that could keep it alive. New problems cropped up almost weekly, if not daily. He explains each in easy-to-understand language and what the issues were that shaped the responses.

"After Lehman, I lost whatever minimal tolerance I might have had for letting moral hazard or political considerations impede our efforts to attack the crisis," he writes. "We had to do whatever we could to help people feel their money was safe in the system, even if it made us unpopular, even if it helpe! d individ! uals and institutions that didn't deserve help."

It certainly made the Fed and later the Obama administration unpopular for, as many livid critics put it, bailing out Wall Street fat cats while ignoring Main Street and millions of homeowners facing foreclosures. An understandable desire for Old Testament judgment, Geithner calls it.

"I never found an effective way to explain to the public what we were doing and why," he says. "We did save the economy, but we lost the country doing it."

When Geithner was confirmed after a bruising fight over his taxes from several years earlier, he had no other senior officials to help him and had to bring in people from elsewhere. (A personal disclosure: During that period my daughter, a career Treasury employee, regularly traveled with him to foreign meetings.)

To a remarkable degree, Obama supported Geithner despite the public outcries, and often when there were opposing voices among White House advisers, including Summers, the president backed Geithner. When Geithner wanted to resign to return to his family, Obama simply wouldn't let him go.

His wife, Carole, had opposed his becoming secretary, and so had his daughter, who was in high school. His son, a few years younger, clearly was unhappy about it as well. And when he was home or on a vacation with his family somewhere, he always had a cellphone at his ear, Geithner writes.

I saw him at the New York Fed in the midst of Bernanke and Paulson's effort to get Congress to approve $700 billion to fund the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, after Lehman had tanked. Geithner looked absolutely exhausted.

Another form of stress came later, what Geithner calls "the soul-crushing pathologies of Washington." "I witnessed some appalling behavior in the political arena — selfishness and grandstanding, shameless hypocrisy and mindless partisanship. At times, the failures of our political system imposed traffic constraints on our ability to make the crisis less damaging and the reco! very stro! nger. And yet, at the moments of most extreme peril, the system worked. … Our system passed its stress test."

The remaining stress test was literally a stress test. In the spring of 2009 Geithner realized that the most serious reason the financial system was still under so much strain was that no one trusted the banks' statements about their condition, how bad their losses were. So he had the idea that Federal Reserve experts should examine the 19 largest financial institutions and subject them to a stress test: What would happen if the economy really tanked?

It took months to execute, and there was great skepticism that the scenarios would be really tough. They were, though, and in the end the tests showed just how much more capital the institutions needed. Several had to raise more capital, but only one, GMAC, was in deep trouble. The market accepted the results and began to improve.

There were other struggles, including the financial reforms in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul legislation. Again, there are plenty of skeptics, but oversight of the institutions big enough to threaten the financial system is significantly better now and the capital requirements keep going up. There could be another crisis someday, of course, but what Geithner and his colleagues did has made one far less likely.

John M. Berry covered the economy for 40 years, including 25 at the Washington Post. Currently he writes for The International Economy magazine.

Entrepreneurs, tech's a great tool — use it!

Hi, Gladys, Several months ago I was attending a network luncheon for entrepreneurs. The guest speaker was a man who gave a talk on the future of small business. According to him, within the next few years everyone would be shopping online. This would cause many small bricks-and-mortar businesses to shut down. I have owned a card and gift shop for many years, and so far we have been quite successful. How can I keep my small business thriving?

I have no idea what message the speaker was trying to convey but entrepreneurs created the technology world, and it's here to stay. And, the bricks-and-mortar world is not going away. However, you will need to find balance between the two worlds and use technology to your advantage. Computers, e-mail, Internet, websites, apps, tablets and various mobile devices have not only changed the way we do business it has enhanced the way we do business.

For instance, I belong to a gym and I have my days of being a slacker when it comes to exercising. The owners of the gym send a regular e-mail reminding their clients of the health benefits of exercise. They also include a healthy eating tips and sometimes an easy-to-prepare recipe. They understand that in order to keep customers and build new business they need to be in touch with us. And for me it works! All it takes is a computer, e-mail addresses of their current customers and the time to put the information together.

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A successful business depends on the transfer of information and the gathering of knowledge. And it is easier now than ever. Tasks that once took hours or days now take minutes. We can respond to our customers' wants and needs more quickly and completely, and with fewer errors. We have at our fingertips educational resources, from up to date encyclopedias to in office learning programs never before available. Technology even allows us to be away f! rom home and yet control the lights, temperatures, and security in our homes.

We can reach out to the entire world, making it possible to expand our customer base and provide services and information that was never before available. Because of technology I can do workshops and individual consulting worldwide without leaving my office.

And technology is not just an advantage for business owners; everyone benefits. I often have dinner with my friend who lives 500 miles away via our devices. We set up our laptops on the dining room table and enjoy dinner and good conversation with each other over Skype. Without this technology we would just be voices on the phone.

Allow the world of technology to work for you. Take a look at all of the great possibilities that exist for you and your business to grow. Here are a few things to consider.

• Do you have the e-mail address of your customers so that you can alert them to specials and holiday sales?
• Do you have a website that works nicely with mobile devices. So that customers can read your offerings without difficulty?
• Can customers purchase items from your store online? This will allow customers to shop in your store 24/7
• Do you have a social media presence?

Many businesses both large and small have found that technology has been their path to success, enabling them to market their products and services. Give yourself the opportunity to learn as much as you can to help you continue to build your business.

I recently read Word of Mouse: 101 + Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work and Play, by Marc Ostrofsky. Marc says that we don't have to be intimidated by technology, and in some cases we may not completely understand how it works. But we do need to be aware of the many ways to use technology, so that we become and maintain success in business and in living.

In addition to Ostrofsky's book, there are many books, podcasts, websites, videos, etc. avail! able that! can help you learn how to make technology work to your advantage.

Gladys Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is an author and coach/consultant in business development. Her column appears Wednesdays. E-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com. An archive of her columns is here. Her website is gladysedmunds.com.