Top 5 Cheap Companies For 2016

Top 5 Cheap Companies For 2016: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its na! me on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-478728{display:none}.cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-478728,#postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-478728{width:570px;display:block} At the annual International Consumer Electronics Show, it's traditional to hear announcements of the most amazing things, some of which are so amazing that it's hard to believe they might happen. For example, Windows tablets have yet to put the sales of iPads to shame. Past announcements of smartwatches never saw them become a must for the fashion conscious. This year, perhaps one of the most eyebrow-raising claims belonged to Comcast (CMCSA) (CMCSK). "We expect that customer service will soon be one of our best products," said CEO Neil Smit, according to tech blog BGR. That would be one astonishing turnaround. Although, as BGR put it, "Considering the quality of most of Comcast's products, this wouldn't be very difficult to achieve." In "The Prince," Machiavelli once debated whether it was better for a leader to be feared or loved. (He said both if possible, but if not, then feared.) What he didn't address so clearly was the utility of being hated. That's been Comcast's quandary, as the company has exceeded at being hated. It won -- if that's the right word -- Consumerist's audience poll of the most hated company in the country last year. That was the second time the largest cable television provider in the U.S. grabbed the crown, with 2010 being the first. Comcast beat out the likes of Monsanto (MON), Walmart (WMT) and Bank of America (BAC). It even bested SeaWorld (SEAS) after the scandalous Blackfish documentary. The reason? Bad customer service. No, make that service so terrible that it has gained national attention on more than one occasion in just the last year: A tech journalist recorded his attempt! to cance! l his Comcast service, as Time reported, while a "customer retention" specialist desperately tried to keep him from doing so. Another man had multi

• [By Matt Egan]

  Alcoa (AA), the aluminum maker, is set to unofficially start the earnings period on Monday evening. It'll be quickly followed by big banks like Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-cheap-companies-for-2016.html

Hot High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2016

Hot High Dividend Stocks To Own For 2016: Blue Nile Inc.(NILE)

Blue Nile, Inc. operates as an online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry worldwide. Its fine jewelry selection includes diamond, gemstone, platinum, gold, pearl and sterling silver jewelry, and accessories, as well as wedding bands, earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets, and watches. Blue Nile, Inc. sells its products through the Web sites bluenile.com, bluenile.ca, and bluenile.co.uk. The company was formerly known as Internet Diamonds, Inc. and changed its name to Blue Nile, Inc. in November 1999. Blue Nile, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We think the next chapter of Internet growth will be driven by increasing broadband penetration and mobile 3G rollouts globally. Baron invests in the global Internet in two ways: 1) U.S. based Internet companies that have substantial international businesses, and 2) foreign based Internet companies. Several Baron portfolio holdings such as Google, Inc. and priceline.com, Inc. receive 50% or more of their revenues outside the U.S., and we think the faster growth of Internet access in emerging economies will be a substantial benefit to these companies. Other Baron portfolio companies such as LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) and Blue Nile, Inc. (NILE) are also accelerating their efforts to penetrate international markets in 2012 and beyond.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-high-dividend-stocks-to-own-for-2016.html

Hot Retail Stocks To Own Right Now

Hot Retail Stocks To Own Right Now: Lowe's Companies Inc.(LOW)

Lowe's Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company offers a range of products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, home decorating, and property maintenance. It provides home improvement products in the categories of appliances, lumber, paint, millwork, building materials, lawn and landscape products, flooring, rough plumbing, seasonal living, tools, hardware, fashion plumbing, lighting, nursery, outdoor power equipment, cabinets and countertops, home organization, rough electrical, and home fashion, as well as boards, panel products, irrigation pipes, vinyl sidings, and ladders. The company also offers installation services through independent contractors in various product categories. Lowe's Companies serves homeowners and renters primarily consisting of do-it-yourself customers and do-it-for-me customers; and commercial business customers, who work in the construction, rep air/remodel, commercial and residential property management, or business maintenance professions. As of August 15, 2011, it operated approximately 1,725 home improvement stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company also offers its products through electronic product catalogs and Lowes.com. Lowe's Companies, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Jeff Greenberg/Alamy Now that all of the gifts have been unwrapped, you have three choices: use the present because you really do like it, put it in the back of the closet because you'll never use it but you may regift it next year, or return it. The National Retail Federation says more than $58-billion worth of gifts were returned last year. If you received something that doesn't fit, or just isn't you, the! re's no need to rush back to the store and do battle with all of the people looking for post-Christmas bargains. You have a little bit of time, but you have to know the rules -- and the rules differ from store to store and from one item to the next. If you have a receipt or a gift receipt, the return process is a whole lot easier. A survey by the NRF found 68 percent of the respondents say they included a gift receipt some or most of the time. You may still need to check the fine print on each retailer's website, but we'll lay out the basic policies for many of the largest chains. Most stores give you at least 30 days to make returns, and the clock does not start running until Dec. 26. Some offer 90 days, and some -- mostly high-end department stores -- are even more liberal with their policies. But there are also stricter rules and exceptions, especially when it comes to electronics, computers, digital cameras and other items. The return window for these items is only open for 15 days at some stores, and almost all stores insist that these items not be opened and that you bring it back with all of the original packing. Some stores charge restocking fees on these items. The motive behind these restrictions is to reduce fraud, which cost retailers more than $9 billion last year. How Big Chains Behave Let's start with the biggest retailer, Walmart (WMT). It gives you 90 days on most items, including electronics, but there is a fairly long list of exceptions that could be subject to as little as 15 days. Computer software, books, movies and video games mus

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Balter says the sale of the Cupertino location and the sublease of others should be good news for Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW), while its decision to reduce exposure to big-screen TVs could give a small benefit to Best Buy (BBY).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Goldman Sachs’ Matthew Fassler and team are feeling more bullish on consumer willingness to spend on their homes, leading them ! to raise ! their price target on Neutral-weighted Home Depot (HD) and lift Lowe’s (LOW) to Buy.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-retail-stocks-to-own-right-now-2.html

Top Semiconductor Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top Semiconductor Companies To Invest In Right Now: Peregrine Semiconductor Corp (PSMI)

Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation (Peregrine), incorporated in February 1990, is engaged in the design, manufacturing and marketing radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) for the aerospace and defense, broadband, industrial, mobile wireless device, test and measurement equipment, and wireless infrastructure markets. The Company is provider of RFICs. Its products include RF switches-antenna, RFswitches-broadband and general purpose, digital attenuators, synthesizers, mixers/upconverters, prescalers, variable gain amplifiers, digitally tunable capacitors, DC-DC converters and power amplifiers. Its UltraCMOS technology enables the design, manufacture, and integration of multiple radio frequency (RF), mixed signal, and digital functions on a single chip. Its solutions target a range of applications in the aerospace and defense, broadband, industrial, mobile wireless device, test and measurement equipment, and wireless infrastructure markets.

As of December 25, 2010, The Company offers a portfolio of more than 120 RFICs, including switches, digital attenuators, mixers/upconverters, and prescalers, and it is developing power amplifiers (Pas), digitally tunable capacitors (DTCs), and DC-DC converters. During the fiscal year ended December 25, 2010, its products were sold to more than 1,400 module manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract manufacturers, and other customers, including such companies as Amalfi Semiconductor, Inc., The Boeing Company, EPCOS AG, Ericsson AB, Hitachi Media Electronics Company, Ltd., Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Humax Co., Ltd., Itron, Inc., LG Innotek Co., Ltd., Mini-Circuits, Inc., Motorola, Inc., Murata Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Planet Technology Corp., Rockwell Collins, Inc., Rohde & Schwarz, Inc., SIPAT Co., Ltd., Skyworks Solutions, Inc., So! ny Corporation, Source Photonics, Inc., and Thales Alenia Space.

RF switches-antenna

RF Switches are utilized in the RF section of mobile devices to route RF signals between! the antenna and the handset core, through one or more signal paths. For mobile handsets, its switch products offer up to 10 RF signal paths with integrated digital bus support and onboard voltage regulation.

RFswitches-broadband and general purpose

The Company's broadband and general purpose RF switches deliver combination of broadband linearity, settling time, and isolation while routing RF signals to their respective transmit or receive paths. Its attributes are being used by the OEMs of LED and plasma digital televisions (DTVs), set top box, cable infrastructure, test and measurement devices

Digital Attenuators

The Company provides digital step attenuators that are used to control the amplitude of an RF or analog signal. The products include digital control circuitry integrated with an RF attenuator core and are used in third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) cellular base stations, repeaters, and point-to-p oint nodes.

Synthesizers

The Company's frequency synthesizers provide an electronic system for generating any of a range of frequencies from a single fixed timebase or oscillator. Its synthesizers provide low-power, ultra-low phase noise, programmable frequency synthesis for defense, broadband, industrial, and wireless infrastructure markets.

Mixers/Upconverters

The Company's mixers/upconverters are used to translate encoded voice/data signals from one frequency to another to enable radio transmission. Its mixers / upconverters are incorporated into mixer modules and provide industry linearity, which is a metric to maximizing wireless data transmission rates. These attributes are critical in 3G and 4G cellular base station designs.

Prescalers

The Co! mpany's! prescalers operate in the C, X, and Ku bands to divide the frequency of a wireless signal in order to extend the operating range of a sy nthesizer beyond its base capability. Its prescalers complem! ent its f! requency synthesizer line, providing its customers with design.

Variable Gain Amplifiers

The Company's Variable Gain Amplifiers (VGAs) are used in both the receiving and transmitting path of a radio system to maintain a signal's strength at a level necessary for other circuits to operate optimally. Its DVGA is the monolithic integrated circuit (IC) to integrate three functional blocks, including digital attenuators, RF/IF amplifiers and a common serial interface onto a single IC.

DC-DC Converters

The Company's frequency-configurable DC-DC converters efficiently perform voltage conversion using a high frequency switching technique that minimizes system noise. Its DC-DC converters are designed to enable a distributed power management architecture designed for satellite applications, replacing inefficient drop out regulators and central converters.

Power Amplifiers

The Company's PAs amplify RF sign als in order to generate the necessary power required to establish a radio link between a base station and a mobile device. With its UltraCMOS technology the Company has the ability to integrate its PAs on a single chip with other RF, mixed signal, and digital components.

The Company competes with Hittite, M/A-COM, NEC, Renesas, RFMD, Skyworks, Sony, Toshiba and TriQuint Semiconductor.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: PSMI) is a lesser known name that is a top stock to buy at Deutsche Bank. The company recently released a new radio frequency (RF) switch specifically designed for broadband cable systems. With HD content exploding, this could be a huge home run for the company. Deutsche Bank has a $14 price target for the stock, the same a! s the con! sensus target.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-semiconductor-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Top 5 Supermarket Companies To Buy Right Now

Top 5 Supermarket Companies To Buy Right Now: Duke Realty Corporation (DRE)

Duke Realty Corporation operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. It offers leasing, property and asset management, development, construction, build-to-suit, and other tenant-related services. As of December 31, 2006, Duke Realty owned approximately 721 industrial, office, and retail properties comprising 113.8 million rentable square feet, as well as owned 6,400 acres of unencumbered land for development. The company has elected to be taxed as REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income tax purposes, provided that it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana with regional offices in Alexandria, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nashville, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Raleigh, North Carolina; St. Louis, Missouri; and Tampa and Weston, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brad Thomas]

  Other REITs mentioned: (O), (NNN), (STAG), (DCT), (EGP), (PDM), (DRE), (LRY)

  Source: Chambers Street: More Liquidity Magic On The Way In REIT-Dom

  Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-supermarket-companies-to-b! uy-right-now-4.html

Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Wednesday, Sept. 18:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were rising following modest gains across the globe as investors await an announcement from the Federal Reserve on its plans to taper economic stimulus.

European stocks were higher. Asian shares finished the session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.4%.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes housing starts and building permits for August at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and the rates decision from the Federal Open Market Committee in the afternoon. 3. -- U.S. stocks on Tuesday rose as investors await guidance from the Fed about the future of its sweeping economic stimulus program. The S&P 500 rose 0.42% to close at 1,704.76 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.29% to finish at 15,539.63. The Nasdaq gained 0.75% to 3,745.70. 4. -- Walgreen (WAG) is set to become one of the largest employers to make sweeping changes to company-backed health programs. The drugstore giant is expected to disclose on Wednesday a plan to provide payments to eligible employees for the subsidized purchase of insurance starting in 2014, according to The Wall Street Journal. The plan would affect roughly 160,000 employees, and will require them to shop for coverage on a private health-insurance marketplace. Walgreen joins a list of companies making changes to their benefits. IBM and Time Warner said recently they will move thousands of retirees from their own company-administered plans to private exchanges. 5. -- Starbucks (SBUX) said guns are no longer welcome in its cafes, though the coffee chain stopped short of an outright ban on firearms. The request is being made in part because more people have been bringing guns into Starbucks over the last six months, prompting confusion and dismay among some patrons and employees, CEO Howard Schultz told Reuters in an interview. In an open letter to customers issued late Tuesday, Schultz said: "Our stores exist to give every customer a safe and comfortable respite from the concerns of daily life." Starbucks' long-standing policy had been to default to local gun laws, including "open carry" regulations that allow people to bring guns into stores, Reuters noted. Schultz said he hopes people will honor the request not to bring in guns but said the company will nevertheless serve those who do. "We will not ask you to leave," he said. Starbucks has almost 7,000 company-operated U.S. stores. 6. -- Adobe Systems (ADBE), the maker of creative-suite products like Photoshop and InDesign, said fiscal third-quarter earnings on an adjusted basis fell to 32 cents a share from 58 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue fell 8% in the quarter to $995.1 million. Wall Street expected Adobe to report earnings of 34 cents a share on revenue of $1.01 billion. Adobe has been shifting its business to a subscription-based model. The company said subscription revenue rose 73% to $299.4 million. The company said its Creative Cloud service gained 331,000 paying subscribers during the quarter, surpassing 1 million. 7. -- FedEx (FDX) is expected by Wall Street on Wednesday to report fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.50 a share on revenue of $10.97 billion.

8. -- Software maker Oracle (ORCL) is expected by analysts to post fiscal first-quarter earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $8.48 billion.

9. -- A report by the 9to5Mac blog said Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 5s could be in short supply. Customers in China and Hong Kong could reserve the iPhone 5s starting Tuesday. But just minutes after the phone became available, most models and colors sold out across the country, the blog reported. The rate at which the 5s sold out in China doesn't bode well for the rest of the world, as it suggests that overall supply in general of the 5s is low, according to 9to5Mac. Apple begins selling the iPhone 5s in retail stores on Friday. 10. -- Employees from US Airways (LCC) and American Airlines (AAMRQ) are in Washington, lobbying members of Congress to support a planned merger of the two carriers, despite opposition from the Justice Department. The employees, including leaders of unions at the two carriers, will hold individual meetings with members of Congress on Wednesday, and they will gather for a noon rally near the Capitol building, The Dallas Morning News reported. -- Written by Joseph Woelfel >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.

Copyright 2013 TheStreet.com Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Ted S. Warren/APAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the Amazon Fire Phone last June. The world's leading online retailer is feeling pretty mortal these days. Amazon.com (AMZN) saw its shares slump 22 percent last year. History is on the side of those long Amazon. The stock hasn't suffered back-to-back years of declines in its nearly two dozen years as a public company. However, let's go over a few of the things that Amazon can do to make its own luck as it tries to bounce back into market fancy in 2015. 1. Profitability Must Return Amazon's net sales rose 18 percent through the first nine months of 2014, and that's impressive for ! a retailer that will top $100 billion in sales this new year -- but sales growth is decelerating. The rub for Amazon has been its shrinking profitability as it spends a lot of money on products and service initiatives that won't pay off right away. Amazon can point to the $5.7 billion in operating cash flow that it has generated over its past four quarters -- or even the $1.1 billion in free cash flow that it has cranked out in that time -- but it needs to prove itself worthy of its market cap on the bottom line. CEO Jeff Bezos may brag about having the flexibility to take big bets, but investors are no longer as patient or risk-tolerant as they used to be. 2. Fire Phone Needs a Strong Sophomore Season Amazon's ambitious push into the smartphone market has been a dud. The Fire phone is certainly rich with unique features, but it's been held back by the limitations of not being a true Android device. Yes, the Fire Phone's operating system is built on top of Android's open source platform, but it's a unique system that does not play nice with the growing universe of applications available on Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google Play app store. In short, it's at the mercy of Amazon or app developers porting over their programs to Fire Phone. That's been a deal breaker for many potential owners, and it's the most common complaint in the nega

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

  Audio-equipment maker Monster LLC and its chief executive sued Apple Inc.'s(AAPL) Beats Electronics LLC, its co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, and Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp.(2498.TW) for allegedly conspiring to dupe Monster out of a deal with Beats before the company was sold to Apple for $3.2 billion last year.

• [By Ashraf Eassa]

  Ever since Lenovo (NASDAQOTH: LNVGY  ) launched its Yoga 3 Pro convertible laptop, I have been skeptical about whether Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) would use Int! el's (NA! SDAQ: INTC  ) Core M processor in a next-generation MacBook Air -- an idea I was initially quite fond of.

• [By Sam Mattera]

  Next year will be vital for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) , and not just because of the Apple Watch.

  The success (or failure) of Apple's first wearable is likely to be important, but the Cupertino tech giant's performance in 2015 will depend primarily on the device that generates the vast majority of its revenue and profit: the iPhone.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-blue-chip-stocks-to-buy-right-now-4.html