Many Key Changes to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List for 2014

2014 is upon us, and that means that investors have started positioning their portfolios for the year ahead. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many analyst calls each day in order to find the hidden gems of stocks to buy and stocks to sell. If one firm can create interest around a stock, it is Goldman Sachs. Investors have followed its Conviction Buy List for years, but 24/7 Wall St. has tracked many major changes to this prized list in the final weeks of 2013.

Investors need to be aware that many “Conviction Buy” upgrades are simply raised from an official Buy rating at the time. Some stocks are actually raised from Neutral to the Conviction Buy List, and this is when investors usually pay close attention.

One other issue to consider is that Goldman Sachs only targets institutional investors and very high net worth individuals. In short, this is what the wealthy and well-to-do are being told to do with their money.

When investors see Goldman Sachs remove a stock from the Conviction Buy list, they often lighten up on the stock, even if the firm still maintains an official Buy rating.

Investors seem to be universally positive for stocks for 2014. It has already been decided that the QE tapering would begin in January, we are getting a new Fed chairman and GDP estimates are ticking higher. It now even seems likely that Europe will recover along with the rest of the world in 2014.

Goldman Sachs issued an upside call to 1,900 for the S&P 500 in 2014, but they also believe a 10% correction is likely to occur before that comes about. The numerous changes to the Conviction Buy List seem to support this outlook, but we would caution that many investors are hoping for lower prices to get into long-term stocks again.

Some of the top stocks on the Conviction Buy List have been removed and other new names of highly visible companies have been added. We have not shown the companies deleted from the Conviction Buy list in most cases, and most international stocks not listed in the United States were generally left off as well.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was already at Buy but was raised to the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs on December 5. The firm’s price target for this pharma stock is $60, versus about $53 at year-end. The highest price target now is up at $67, but we would point out that Morgan Stanley recently downgraded it to Equal Weight from Overweight. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was removed from the list to make room, but Goldman Sachs kept its Buy rating and $35 price target on Pfizer.

Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW) was added to the Conviction Buy list on December 16, after having been raised from Neutral to Buy back in May. Shares were at $51.11 before the call, rose to $52.11 on the day of the call and have trended up to almost $53 since. Atwood’s consensus price target now is almost $65.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) remains a store that most Goldman Sachs clients would never visit, but the secular growth story remains for investors. Goldman Sachs raised the king of dollar stores to the Conviction Buy List on December 6. Unlike many other stocks where there was already a Buy rating, this upgrade was raised from a Neutral rating. The firm also raised its price target to $71 from $64, and the consensus price target is closer to $66 now. The highest analyst price target is up at $73.

3 Humongous Health-Care Stocks This Week

It was a good week for health care -- so good that around a dozen stocks saw double-digit gains. Here are three of the biggest winners for the week.

Anticipation elevation
MLV and Company initiated coverage on Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN  ) this week. The investment firm's "buy" recommendation helped spark shares to jump a whopping 39%.

The big driver behind interest in Geron appears to be centered on upcoming results from an investigator-sponsored study conducted by the Mayo Clinic. This phase 2 study focuses on use of Geron's imetelstat as a potential treatment for myelofibrosis. Initial results are expected to be announced at the American Society of Hematology, or AHS, meeting scheduled for December.

Assuming those results are positive, Geron appears likely to quickly move forward with its own mid-stage myelofibrosis study. The company hopes to show that imetelstat can achieve disease modification with its approach of inhibiting the telomerase enzyme.

Bracing for success
Preliminary third-quarter results sent shares of orthodontic medical device maker Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN  ) soaring by nearly 34% this week. Align blew past expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

The key to Align's success is its Invisalign clear aligner. A terrific summer season for the teenage market helped drive revenue up 20.5% year-over-year. Earnings jumped to $34.5 million from a loss of $0.3 million in the third quarter of last year.

Align projects strong results for the fourth quarter as well. The company provided guidance of net revenues in the range of $169.1 million to $173.1 million and earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.41 to $0.43. The average analysts' estimate for the next quarter prior to this week's blowout numbers was $0.36 per share.

Miss and score?
Athenahealth  (NASDAQ: ATHN  ) missed analysts' expectations for earnings. Did the stock fall as a result? Nope. Instead, shares flew 20% higher for the week. What's going on?

The cloud-based physician software vendor reported adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share while Wall Street expected closer to $0.31 per share. No worries, though. Athenahealth wowed investors with its impressive 25% growth in the number of physicians in its network. And the company stuck by its prior full-year earnings guidance (albeit at the low end of the range).

Because of number gyrations caused by the company's acquisition of Epocrates, athenahealth now sports a price-to-earnings multiple of more than 21,805. That's not a typo. It's not really that highly priced, of course, but after this week's double-digit gains any bump could bring shares down to less stratospheric levels.

Best of the best
Which of this week's humongous stocks could go even higher? I think any or all of them could. If forced to pick just one, though, I'd go with Align Technology.

Geron could be a huge winner over time if imetelstat lives up to expectations. There's still considerable uncertainty in the days ahead, though. I like athenahealth's position in the physician market. My concern, though, is that the stock is now up in the clouds with the company's software.

Align gets the nod because it's already a proven winner with a great product on the market and still has room to grow. The company knocked the ball out of the park in last quarter. I expect that Align will keep up its winning ways.

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5% of Twitter Users Are Fake

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There has long been speculation about how many users Twitter actually has, because there was no concrete number about how many accounts were inactive or fake.

The New York Times reported this year that 20 million, or about 4%, of Twitter’s users are, in fact, fraudulent. Fake accounts are often made by companies who sell new followers to advertisers that want to build large follower populations quickly. 

Well, the mystery is officially solved. According to Twitter’s S-1 filing this afternoon, we see that the company estimates that less than 5% of its monthly active users are fake. (Twitter currently has 215 monthly active users, so that’s about 10.75 million users that are fake.)

When Facebook (FB) IPO’d, it had about 5-6% fake users, so these numbers are pretty close.

Here’s exactly what Twitter said in its S-1:

“The numbers of our active users and timeline views are calculated using internal company data that has not been independently verified. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable calculations for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage and user engagement across our large user base around the world. For example, there are a number of false or spam accounts in existence on our platform. We currently estimate that false or spam accounts represent less than 5% of our MAUs. However, this estimate is based on an internal review of a sample of accounts and we apply significant judgment in making this determination. As such, our estimation of false or spam accounts may not accurately represent the actual number of such accounts, and the actual number of false or spam accounts could be higher than we have currently estimated. We are continually seeking to improve our ability to estimate the total number of spam accounts and eliminate them from the calculation of our active users, but we otherwise treat multiple accounts held by a single person or organization as multiple users for purposes of calculating our active users because we permit people and organizations to have more than one account. Additionally, some accounts used by organizations are used by many people within the organization. As such, the calculations of our active users may not accurately reflect the actual number of people or organizations using our platform.”

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2014

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Why Would Microsoft Want Nook?

The future of Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS  ) Nook Media subsidiary is up in the air. Not only did the bookseller discontinue tablet hardware, but also the company just announced that its CEO has resigned. The Nook segment's EBITDA losses nearly doubled last fiscal year to $475 million, and B&N appointed CFO Michael Huseby as the new CEO of the Nook Media subsidiary.

The news has sparked a fresh round of speculation that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) may step up as a possible buyer, and acquire the remaining stake in Nook. The software giant currently owns 16.8% of the business, publisher Pearson has 5%, and B&N owns the remaining 78.2%. This isn't the first time that investors have contemplated such a move, as separate reports in May said that Microsoft was considering a $1 billion bid.

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Microsoft originally invested $300 million in Nook in April 2012, which valued the business at $1.7 billion at the time. The segment has lost over a quarter of that in EBITDA over the past year, and revenue has fallen 17% to $776 million. The leaked docs from May suggested that Microsoft was valuing Nook at $1.66 billion. That valuation seems optimistic in light of recent events.

At this point, it's rather unclear what Microsoft would gain from buying the rest of Nook. There are no hardware operations to speak of, and Microsoft is already building its own Surface family of tablets. The Nook brand name isn't particularly powerful, especially compared to its Windows platform. Nook has tried to expand its content into categories like movies and TV shows, but Microsoft already has those on its Xbox platform. As far as mobile apps go, Nook apps are based on Android and B&N just adopted Google Play, neither of which helps Windows Store at all.

The only thing that Nook has that Microsoft doesn't is e-books. But if Microsoft really wanted to compete with Amazon.com, Apple, and Google in the e-book market (which is extremely likely), it could just separately ink its own deals with book publishers to expand its ecosystem without having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on acquiring Nook.

Acquiring Nook might be faster, but it's also much riskier and much more expensive. Save your money, Microsoft.

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Ford's Hot F-150 Sales Look Set to Continue

Ford's top-of-the-line F-150 Limited is a very well-equipped truck, and a very profitable product for Ford. Photo credit: Ford Motor Co.

Good news for Ford (NYSE: F  ) , and for General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) and Chrysler as well: Pickup sales have been up sharply in recent months.

Sales of Ford's F-Series line, the F-150 and its Super Duty siblings, were up 31% in May – a huge jump that far outpaced the overall market's gains. What's more, F-Series buyers have been opting for more expensive pickups.

What's driving those trends? And what do they mean for Ford's bottom line?

A perfect economic storm for pickups – in a good way
There are a couple of things driving this big jump in pickup sales. One is what auto executives call "pent-up demand". The average age of a pickup in the US is around 11 years old right now. That's older than the historical norm, and it suggests that a lot of people and businesses have been waiting to buy – likely because the economy has been tight.

Another factor is the economy – specifically, that a couple of parts of the economy that are correlated with pickup sales have been picking up steam. Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle says that increases in new-home construction and oil-field services have both driven demand for Ford's pickups.

Both are likely to continue to drive demand for some time. And that's a very good thing for Ford's profits.

Pickups are the fuel that powers Ford's engine
Ford divides its business into several geographical regions, and the one that has carried the business lately is North America. Sales, margins, and profits in North America have all been great for Ford. And pickups have a lot to do with that: Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said late last year that F-Series sales might account for as much as 90% of Ford's global profits.

There are two reasons why the F-Series is such a big contributor for Ford. First, these pickups sell in really big numbers. Ford sold over 70,000 F-Series pickups in May alone. For comparison, Ford sold 29,553 Fusions in May – and the Fusion is a hot seller. But the F-Series has been America's best-selling vehicle for over 30 years, and a very big part of Ford's business the whole time.

Second, full-sized pickups like the F-Series are very profitable products, with high margins. And those margins may be getting higher. Ford has been working hard to lower its reliance on incentives, which cut into profits.

Ford has also been working to increase average transaction prices by adding features and options packages that make buyers want to spend more. That strategy has been especially apparent on the F-Series, where Ford has introduced more upscale packages in recent years. And it's paying off with much-improved profit margins for Ford in North America.

Trends are moving in Ford's direction
Consider this: Ford's F-150 starts at $23,955 – but in top-of-the-line, limited trim, like the red truck shown above, the price tag is well north of $50,000. A lot of that difference is profit for Ford.

Analysts at Edmunds say that transaction prices for full-sized pickups have risen by 29% since 2005, while overall transaction prices for the industry as a whole have risen about 13%. A lot of that has to do with those extra options packages, a strategy that has been picked up (so to speak) by GM and Chrysler as well.

A Ford official was quoted by Automotive News recently as saying 30% of F-150 retail sales and more than half of Super Duty sales are "high series" versions like the Limited and King Ranch editions. Ford's strategy of encouraging buyers to pay more for more features appears to be working out well.

That success has been a big contributor to Ford's recent profits – and the trends favoring pickup sales should help Ford post more good numbers in coming quarters.

Strong pickup sales are just one of several good reasons to think that Ford still has big growth opportunities ahead. The Fool's premium Ford research service outlines those opportunities. If you're looking for some freshly updated guidance to Ford's prospects in coming years, you've come to the right place – click here to get started now.

Global Cash Access Holdings Misses on the Top and Bottom Lines

Global Cash Access Holdings (NYSE: GCA  ) reported earnings on May 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Global Cash Access Holdings missed slightly on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped. GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
Global Cash Access Holdings notched revenue of $146.8 million. The five analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $149.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.19. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.20 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.19 for Q1 were 9.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.21 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.09 for Q1 were 18% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.11 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 24.3%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 8.8%, 160 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.2%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $148.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.20.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $584.8 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.78.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 145 members out of 169 rating the stock outperform, and 24 members rating it underperform. Among 46 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 34 give Global Cash Access Holdings a green thumbs-up, and 12 give it a red thumbs-down.

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Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Global Cash Access Holdings is buy, with an average price target of $9.50.

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Add Global Cash Access Holdings to My Watchlist.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014

Just over a year ago, we launched a buy-and-hold model portfolio, specifically designed for investors who don't want to spend a lot of time reviewing their positions and are not interesting in active trading.

For this portfolio, we��e focused on individual blue-chip stocks that we felt offered both long-term growth potential and regular dividend payments.

We included both Canadian and US issues and each stock was given a 10% weighting. We also added a 20% weighting in a bond ETF to provide some downside protection in the event of a stock-market plunge.

At the time, we stated that the objective was to generate decent cash flow and slow but steady growth. Given the nature of the portfolio, the intention was to make changes only when absolutely necessary. These are the securities we selected.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Research in Motion Limited(RIMM)

Research In Motion Limited (RIM) designs, manufactures, and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. The company, through the development of integrated hardware, software, and services, provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information, including email, phone, short messaging service, and Internet and Intranet-based applications and browsing. Its products and services principally comprise the BlackBerry wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, software development tools, and other software and hardware. The company?s BlackBerry smartphones use wireless, push-based technology that delivers data to mobile users? business and consumer applications. Its BlackBerry smartphone portfolio includes BlackBerry Bold series, the BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Curve series, the BlackBerry Style, BlackBerry Storm series, the BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Pearl series, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. T he company?s BlackBerry enterprise solutions comprise BlackBerry enterprise server, BlackBerry enterprise server express, BlackBerry mobile voice system, and hosted BlackBerry services. Its technology also enables third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services through software development kits, wireless connectivity to data, and third-party support programs. In addition, the company offers BlackBerry technical support services, non-warranty repairs, and nonrecurring engineering services. Further, it provides BlackBerry App World that offers BlackBerry smartphone users an electronic catalogue that aids in the discovery and download/purchase of applications directly from their BlackBerry smartphone. The company markets and sells its BlackBerry wireless solutions primarily through global wireless communications carriers, and third party distribution channels. Research In Motion Limited was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canad a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus] rch-In-Motion is a high-profile case as renowned investor Prem Watsa bought into the company and sits on the company�� board. The stock was traded at above $140 in 2008. It has since lost more than 95%, traded at single digits and still sinking.

  Again let�� take a look at its gross margin:

  While BlackBerry was a must-have in the corporate world, the profit margin of Research-In-Motion has started to decline. This was well before Apple (AAPL) released its first iPhone. Again as pointed by Adib, value investors did not buy into RIMM while it was traded at $140 because the P/E ratio then was 45. Value investors bought into RIMM while it was traded at $30-40 because the P/E ratio was at 10. This was in 2009 and the decline in profit margin had been happening for three years.

  Why You Should Avoid Margin Decliners?

  The reason is simple. The company is losing its price power or it never had price power. Competition is eating into its market.

  Will the profit margin of these companies ever recover sustainably? That is a ��oo-hard��question. We should avoid situations where we have to answer this question.

  Will these companies ever become good investments? They may. But not until they become net-nets.

  The Power of Margin Expansion

  On the other hand, if a company can expand its profit margin, it has a competitive advantage. A good example here is Apple (AAPL), which is the king of all margin-expanding companies:

  We all know what has happened to the stock of Apple.

  What�� Next?

  GuruFocus will release a feature called ��arning Signs��which will warn you about the problems a company may have, including margin declines.

  In the meantime, our new ��ll-In-One Screener��allows you to screen for the companies that can expand profit margins or those with declining margins. Those with expanding profit margins (think Apple) at reasonable prices will mostly likely be rewarding. Those

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Mobile TeleSystems (MBT)

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services primarily in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Belarus. The company provides a range of mobile and fixed line voice and data telecommunications services, including transmission, broadband, pay-TV, and various value-added services; and sells equipment and accessories. It also offers network access services, including mobile cellular voice and data communication services; automatic roaming services; GPRS and Internet access services; and 3G technology. In addition, the company�s services include the design, construction, and installation of local voice and data networks capable of interconnecting with fixed line operators; installation and maintenance of cellular payphones; lease of digital communication channels; and provision of access to open computer databases and data networks, including the Internet, as well as video conferencing, and fixed, local, and long-distance telecommunications services. Its value-added services comprise call divert/forwarding, caller ID and anti-caller ID display, conference calling, WiFi, GPRS, intelligent call assistant, APN remote access point, fixed mobile convergence, enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution, call barring, SMS, mobile office, voicemail, mobile banking, wireless application protocol, MTS-Connect, SIM-browser, point-to-point transfer, unstructured supplementary services data, downlink packet access, mobile TV, call waiting, MMS, ring tones, missed call alert, itemization of monthly bills, information and directory, international access, WEB and WAP portal, customer care system, ring back tone, collect call, and location-based services. As of December 31, 2011, the company had a mobile subscriber base of approximately 101.14 million. It has a strategic partnership with Vodafone. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Moscow, the Russian Federation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Radovsky]

  VimpleCom, a joint venture of Norwegian telecom Telnor and the Russian Alfa Group, operates under the BeeLine brand in Russia. BeeLine has joined the two other ex-iPhone carrying Russian heavyweight mobile carriers, Megafon and Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE: MBT  ) , and not renewed its iPhone contract with Apple.

Top Clean Energy Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Piper Jaffray Companies(PJC)

Piper Jaffray Companies provides investment banking, institutional brokerage, asset management, and related financial services to corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States, Asia, and Europe. The company raises capital through equity financings; provides advisory services, primarily relating to mergers and acquisitions for its corporate clients; underwrites debt issuances; and offers financial advisory and interest rate risk management services. Its public finance investment banking capabilities focus on state and local governments, as well as healthcare, higher education, housing, hospitality, transportation, and commercial real estate industries, as well as operates in business and financial services, clean technology and renewables, consumer, and industrial growth, as well as media, telecommunications, and technology industries. The company also offers equity and fixed income advisory and t rade execution services for institutional investors, and government and non-profit entities; and is involved in proprietary trading, as well as has equity sales and trading relationships with institutional investors. In addition, it provides asset management services to separately managed accounts, private funds or partnerships, and open-end and closed-end registered investment companies or funds; and offers an array of investment products comprising small and mid-cap value equity, and master limited partnerships focused on the energy industry, as well as fixed income. Further, the company engages in merchant banking activities, which comprises proprietary debt or equity investments in late stage private companies, and investments in private equity and venture capital funds, as well as other firm investments and forfeiture of stock-based compensation. Piper Jaffray Companies was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By EXPstocktrader]

  3) Piper Jaffray (PJC): Recent weakness is unwarranted as the landscape for Acthar remains favorable: OVERWEIGHT (BUY) rating and $74 PT

  4) CRT Capital: BUY rating and $79 PT.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: BCE Inc. (BCE)

BCE Inc. provides communications solutions to residential, business, and wholesale customers primarily in Canada. The company offers local and long distance telephone services under the Bell Home Phone brand; direct-to-home satellite television (TV) services under the Bell TV name; Internet protocol TV services under the Bell Fibe TV brand; and personal video recorders and online access services. It also provides data services, including Internet access services under the Bell Internet name; Internet protocol based services; and information and communications technology solutions. In addition, the company engages in the rental, sale, and maintenance of business terminal equipment; sale of TV set-top boxes; and provision of network installation and maintenance services for third parties. Further, it offers wireless voice and data communications products and services, such as call display and voicemail, e-mail, Web browsing, social networking, text, picture and video messagi ng, music downloads, ring tunes, ringtones, games and applications, video streaming, live TV, mobile Internet, roaming, and global positioning system navigation services under the Bell and Virgin Mobile brands. Additionally, the company provides media services comprising TV programming services to broadcast distributors. It operates approximately 28 conventional over-the-air stations and 30 English and French-language specialty TV channels; 33 FM and AM radio stations and their related Websites; and Theloop.ca Website. As of December 31, 2012, the company served approximately 2.1 million high-speed Internet access customers through fiber-optic, digital subscriber line, or wireless broadband technology; and 7.7 million wireless customers. BCE Inc. offers its services through call centre representatives, independent dealer stores, and value-added resellers, as well as through its Websites. The company was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Dalio�� next largest purchase was Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), and three new buys: BCE Inc. (BCE), The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU).

• [By Tom Taulli]

  BCE (BCE) is the largest telecom operator in Canada … and sports one whopper of a dividend.

  As should be no surprise, the traditional wired voice services segment continues to be weak for BCE, and that’s something we can expect in perpetuity. However, BCE has diversified into other businesses, such as broadband, IPTV, satellite television, radio and mobile, which is helping to smooth its transition.

• [By Eric Lam]

  BCE Inc. (BCE) dropped 1.3 percent to a February low, after Macquarie Group Ltd. said that phone shares are vulnerable amid increased regulation. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) lost 4.4 percent to extend losses to a fourth day after its largest shareholder said it will sell part of its stake. WestJet Airlines Ltd. slid 2.3 percent after a measure of customers on its flights declined. A gauge of real estate investment trust fell for a seventh day, the longest streak in three years.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  As mobile commerce continues to grow worldwide, Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY  ) this week announced its�customers will be able to securely purchase goods and services with debit or credit using smartphones compatible with Bell Canada's (NYSE: BCE  ) wireless network as part of a new�mobile payment system the two are launching.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Credit Suisse Group(CS)

Credit Suisse Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial services company. The company operates in three segments: Private Banking, Investment Banking, and Asset Management. The Private Banking segment offers advisory services and a range of wealth management solutions, including pension planning, life insurance products, tax planning, and wealth and inheritance advice for the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This segment also supplies banking products and services to affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, and corporates and institutions. The Investment Banking segment provides investment banking and securities products and services to corporations, governments, pension funds, and institutions. Its products and services include debt and equity underwriting, sales and trading, mergers and acquisitions advice, divestitures, corporate sales, restructuring, and investment research. The Asset Management segment offe rs integrated investment solutions and services to institutions, governments, foundations and endowments, corporations, and individuals. It provides access to a range of investment classes across alternative investment, asset allocation, and traditional investment strategies. The company operates in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. Credit Suisse Group AG was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vaughan Scully, ,]

  Three of the fund's top 10 holdings��NG Groep (ING), BNP Paribas (Paris:BNP) (US:BNPQY), and Credit Suisse Group (CS)��re European financials that came into the fund beginning in early 2012, when the team began to sense the pessimism regarding the European banking sector was too extreme.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  The joint book-running managers of the offering are Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) , Barclays' (NYSE: BCS  ) Capital unit, Leucadia's Jefferies, and the Securities arms of Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS  ) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB  ) .

• [By Alanna Petroff]

  Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JP Morgan (JPM, Fortune 500) and Credit Suisse (CS) are reported to be working with King on the listing. All three banks declined to comment.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Tim Hortons Inc.(THI)

Tim Hortons Inc. develops, franchises, and operates quick service restaurants primarily in Canada and the United States. Its restaurants serve coffee and other hot and cold beverages, baked goods, sandwiches, soups, and other food products. As of April 03, 2011, the company and its restaurant owners operated 3,169 restaurants in Canada and 613 restaurants in the United States under the Tim Hortons name; and had 274 primarily self-serve licensed locations in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom Tim Hortons Inc. was founded in 1964 and is based in Oakville, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Canadian restaurant chain�Tim Horton's� (NYSE: THI  ) �declared today�its regular quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, slightly higher than the $0.2534 per share it paid back in February.�

• [By Chad Fraser]

  Tim Hortons (NYSE: THI) is Canada’s leading coffee chain, with 3,468 outlets in the country, as well as 807 in the U.S. and 29 in the Middle East.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Tim Hortons (NYSE: THI  ) will have a new nameplate on the door of its chief executive's office starting this summer. The company announced that it has named Marc Caira as CEO, effective July 2. He succeeds Paul House, who will remain in his post as chairman of the board.

• [By Charles Carlson]

  If you are new to DRIP investing, treat yourself to a few DRIPs this holiday season. Trust me��t'll change your life.

  American Water Works (AWK)��ielding 2.7% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Cincinnati Financial (CINF)��ielding 3.2% with a DRIP minimum of $25
  
  CVS Caremark (CVS)��ielding 1.4% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Dominion Resources (D)��ielding 3.4% with a DRIP minimum of $40
  
  Domino's Pizza (DPZ)��ielding 1.2% with a DRIP minimum of $65
  
  Eaton (ETN)��ielding 2.3% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Flowserve (FLS)��ielding 0.8% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Kellogg (K)��ielding 3.0% with a DRIP minimum of $50
  
  New Jersey Resources (NJR)��ielding 3.7% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Quest Diagnostics (DGX)��ielding 2.0% with a DRIP minimum of $100
  
  Tim Hortons (THI)��ielding 1.7% with a DRIP minimum of $25
  
  

  Subscribe to Dow Theory Forecasts here��/p>

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Kinross Gold Corporation(KGC)

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing gold ores. It also involves in the exploration and acquisition of gold bearing properties. The company?s gold production and exploration activities are carried out principally in the Americas, Africa, and the Russian Federation. As of December 31, 2010, its proven and probable mineral reserves were 62.4 million ounces of gold, 90.9 million ounces of silver, and 1.4 billion pounds of copper. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) sank 40%, and yields about 3%. It has some worried, with its rising debt,�and recently negative�free cash flow. Its stock has been setting some multi-year lows�and, while its earnings are in the red, its revenue has been growing�steadily over the past few years. Last year, management committed itself to quality over quantity -- and delayed some mining projects.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Potomac Electric Power Company(POM)

Pepco Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the transmission, distribution, and supply of electricity. The company also distributes and supplies natural gas. It distributes electricity to approximately 1.8 million customers in the mid-Atlantic region and delivers natural gas to approximately 123,000 customers in Delaware. In addition, the company involves in the retail supply of electricity and natural gas; provision of energy efficiency services to federal, state, and local government customers; and designs, constructs, and operates combined heat and power and central energy plants, as well as owns and operates two oil-fired generation facilities. Further, it offers high voltage electric construction and maintenance services, low voltage electric construction and maintenance services, and streetlight construction and asset management services to utilities, municipalities, and other customers in the Washington, District of Columbia. Additionally, the company holds investments in eight cross-border energy leases. Pepco Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1896 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  
  Highlight: Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM)

  The POM share price is currently $18.17 or 20.0% off the 52-week high of $22.72. Its yield is 5.90%.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Powering up
  It's pretty rare for stocks in the electric utility sector to see a prolonged dip given that electricity is a necessity product, but that's what we've seen from Mid-Atlantic electric utility provider Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM  ) .

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: EMC Corporation(EMC)

EMC Corporation develops, delivers, and supports the information and virtual infrastructure technologies and solutions. The company offers enterprise storage systems and software, which are deployed in storage area networks (SAN), networked attached storage (NAS), unified storage combining NAS and SAN, object storage, and/or direct attached storage environments, as well as provides backup and recovery, and disaster recovery and archiving solutions. It also offers information security solutions in various areas, such as enterprise governance, risk and compliance, data loss prevention, security information management, continuous network monitoring, fraud protection, identity assurance and access control, and encryption and key management. In addition, the company provides information intelligence software, solutions, and services, including EMC Captiva for intelligent enterprise capture; EMC Document Sciences for customer communications management; EMC Kazeon for e-discovery ; EMC Documentum xCP for building business solutions and an action engine for big data; and the EMC Documentum platform for managing and delivering enterprise information. Further, it offers virtual and cloud infrastructure products, such as virtualization and virtualization-based cloud infrastructure solutions that address a range of IT problems, as well as facilitate access to cloud computing capacity, business continuity, software lifecycle management, and corporate end-user computing device management In addition, the company provides consulting, technology deployment, managed, customer support, and training and certification services. EMC Corporation markets its products through direct sales and through multiple distribution channels in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, South Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Finally, Eminence Capital's biggest closed positions included EMC (NYSE: EMC  ) and NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP  ) . Storage giant EMC has been tapping the bond market, borrowing $5.5 billion to help it repurchase close to 10% of its shares. It has also initiated a dividend, recently yielding 1.6%. Many see it poised to gain from the rapidly growing cloud-computing and "Big Data" arenas, and it holds an 80% ownership stake in virtualization specialist VMware, too. EMC has been posting strong numbers and, in many ways, outpacing its smaller rival NetApp.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a new $28 price target by Barclays.

  Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral, and the price target was lifted to $55 from $32, at Citigroup.

• [By Traders Reserve]

  EMC (EMC) will be in the running. In late 2012, the $50 billion company formed a separate organization called Pivotal Initiative, headed up by VMware�� (VMW) former CEO Paul Maritz. It combines VMware�� data center software and EMC�� big data technology. It is expected to bring in revenue of about $300 million in 2013. Revenue is projected to grow to over $1 billion by 2017. EMC actually owns 33% of VMware.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Shares bounced somewhat last month when VMware said it and parent company EMC (NYSE: EMC  ) would spin off VMware's Cloud Foundry service and EMC's data analytics software business. The spinoff, to be called Pivotal, won't go public anytime soon, but it might help focus VMware on making the most of all of its various opportunities.

10 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company, through its subsidiaries, provides retail, commercial, and corporate banking services primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Community Banking; Wholesale Banking; and Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement. The Community Banking segment offers deposits, including checking, market rate, and individual retirement accounts; savings and time deposits; and debit cards. Its loan products comprise lines of credit, auto floor plans, equity lines and loans, equipment and transportation loans, education loans, residential mortgage loans, health savings accounts, and credit cards. This segment also provides equipment leases, real estate financing, small business administration financing, venture capital financing, cash management, payroll services, retirement plans, loans secured by autos, and merchant payment processing services; purchases sales finance contracts from retail merchants; and a family of funds, and investment managemen t services. The Wholesale Banking segment offers commercial and corporate banking products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, letters of credit, asset-based lending, equipment leasing, international trade facilities, trade financing, collection services, foreign exchange services, treasury and investment management, institutional fixed-income sales, commodity and equity risk management, insurance, corporate trust fiduciary and agency services, and investment banking services. This segment also provides banking products for commercial real estate market, and real estate and mortgage brokerage services. The Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement segment offers financial advisory, brokerage, and institutional retirement and trust services. As of December 31, 2010, the company served its customers through approximately 9,000 banking stores in 39 States and the District of Columbia. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in San Franci sco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Though B of A doesn't have quite the hold on the mortgage market that it would like --�Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) and JPMorgan command the lead in new mortgage origination -- it is taking steps (like cross-selling) to expand its presence. So the continued success in the housing market could help its efforts to gain traction again.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  While Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM  ) , and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) all operate credit card divisions for their customers, the housing news this morning is a much bigger boost than the consumer spending data. All three are vying for new mortgage loan activity as the housing market recovers, and though there has been some slowing of refinancing activity due to higher interest rates, all three stand to eventually benefit from those new, normalized rates.

Millennials Gain the Most Financial Ground in 2013

By Hal M. Bundrick

NEW YORK (MainStreet) It was a good year for American workers and best for the youngest among us. Fully 42% of American employees say their finances improved in 2013, but more than half (58%) of Millennial workers feel they are financially better off now than at the beginning of 2013.

The Principal Financial Well-Being Index surveys employees at small and mid-sized businesses with 10 to 1,000 workers, and while most indicated an improving personal financial situation, respondents are still divided on the future of the U.S. economy.

Four in ten workers expect the economy to worsen next year, while 32% think the economy will improve. "Following the recent peak in economic optimism at this time last year, workers have returned to a more cautious outlook as they approach 2014," said Luke Vandermillen at The Principal. "As they prepare to ring in the New Year, it's encouraging to see American workers take action by focusing on their own personal finances instead of what they can't control -- the economy." Fully 57% of employees say they usually feel in control of their personal financial situation. Nearly half (49%) say they believe they are making good progress toward achieving their long-term financial goals. But there is always room for improvement: one in five (21%) report not saving enough as their top financial blunder in 2013, followed by accumulating credit card debt (9%) and taking on more debt (8%). The budget busters for 2013 were caused by dining out (22%) and food/groceries (21%). Gas came in close behind at 20%. More than a quarter (28%) of those surveyed do not intend to make any financial New Year's resolutions this year, but of those who do, these are the improvements they'll shoot for: 34% resolve to save a set amount each month 28% plan to pay off credit card debt 23% resolve to reduce monthly spending More than a third (37%) plan on spending less this holiday season by buying gifts for fewer people (38%), spending less per gift (37%) or traveling less (26%) this holiday season. The majority of respondents said they plan to spend $500 or less on the holidays. --Written by Hal M. Bundrick for MainStreet

Can high-flying stocks keep soaring in 2014?

Few, if any, Wall Street gurus predicted that the U.S. stock market would soar 25% in 2013. But it did, despite all sorts of headwinds, including uncertainty as to when and if the Federal Reserve would start to dial back its stimulus, rising interest rates and a 16-day government shutdown. But up stocks went, so far that one has to wonder if some gains meant for 2014 were booked this year. The rising stock market of 2013 has also pushed valuations back up to historic norms, which means stocks aren't a screaming buy. Add to that the fact stocks haven't suffered a 10% correction in two years, coupled with recent talk of a bubble in social-media stocks, and it's no wonder investors are wondering which direction stocks will go in 2014.

USA TODAY: 2013 has been a terrific year for stocks. But the bull market is nearly 5 years old. Is there still a case to be made for stocks in 2014?

Nick Thakore, portfolio manager of Putnam Voyager Fund, Putnam Investments: The outlook is still favorable, but I would describe it as being more balanced than before. The three big things — fundamentals, valuation and sentiment — still tell a pretty good story.

What's important is I feel there's a lot of skepticism about the market. People lost a lot of capital in the downturn. Two percent GDP growth doesn't get anyone excited. There is also a belief that this is just a stimulus-induced Fed rally. But the market deserves to be where it is.

The story of the market is about earnings, which are at an all-time record. The story has legs. A lot of companies have remade themselves. The U.S. auto industry used to have to sell 14 million cars for General Motors to break even; now, GM can do it at 10 million. There's Eaton, an industrial company, that earned $1 per share in the last downturn, that we think will earn $3 in the next downturn. That is the solid foundation that the market is on. The rally is not fake. I am not making a case for great earnings growth, but solid earnings growth looks like it'! s there.

MORE: Will 2014 be another slam dunk for stocks?

Shifting to valuation, that's a tougher call. (The S&P 500 is selling at 16.2 times 2013 earnings), roughly the historic average, which seems reasonable to me.

The third part is investor sentiment. All of the money flowed toward bonds in recent years and in record levels, and I think stocks look more attractive than the alternatives. There are sentiment surveys that show bullishness, but the facts of how investors are actually positioned show people have not fully embraced this rally. I think stocks are the best game in town, and the game doesn't usually end when the stadium is half full.

USA TODAY: Should stock investors expect a repeat of this year's 20%-plus gains in 2014?

Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy, BofA Merrill Lynch: No. The returns in 2014 will be positive but slightly less than what we've seen over the last couple years. We're looking for maybe about half of what we saw this year, or around 11% gains.

USA TODAY: Why the more modest outlook?

Subramanian: The last five years have been a very protracted early-cycle period for equities, where the gains have been driven by hyper-easy monetary policy. Generally, the returns are better in the early stages of the economic cycle, when the Fed is pumping liquidity into the system. When we get the start of all-clear on the economy, the Fed starts to withdraw liquidity, and the market still goes up, but the gains are less robust.

MORE: What are the winning investment themes for 2014?

What we are seeing now is sort of the second leg up in equities, driven by economic growth rather than stimulus. Cash inflows into the stock market had not started until this year. There is more to go in the Great Rotation (from bonds to stocks). Sentiment still remains quite bearish, and allocations to stocks are quite low. Even your average Wall Street strategist is not forecasting significant upside for stocks.

Fr! om a big-! picture perspective, normally when you have low, but rising interest rates, low inflation and what looks like a pickup in economic growth, that is actually a pretty good time to be in equities. The bears argue that the market's upside has been driven by P-E multiple expansion, rather than earnings growth. We have really just seen very significant multiple expansion in bond-like sectors or credit-sensitive sectors, such as consumer discretionary, utilities and telecom. But the more economically sensitive areas of the market have actually seen performance driven entirely by earnings growth.

USA TODAY: Bears argue that all the good news is already priced into the market. Are risks rising?

Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock:

There is risk, but I think there are different risks. Reasonably valued, or fully valued, is a fair way to describe the market. It would be difficult to suggest right now that the broader market, particularly small caps, are cheap. But given the low-inflation, lower-rate environment, which we believe will persist for a period of time, it is not unreasonable that the S&P 500 is trading at 16 to 16.5 times earnings. We are comfortable with the valuation, particularly relative to bonds.

In terms of the risks, for the first time probably in at least five or six years, the greater risk is for an upside breakout in economic growth. We're not necessarily going back to 3%, 3.5% or 4% growth, but certainly moving above the 2% range that we've been in. If it is a modest uptick in growth, say we go from 2% to 2.5%, that is probably positive for stocks, as it helps top-line profits, and it won't scare the Fed, so rates stay low.

But if growth starts to accelerate back around 3%, that may not be so bullish for stocks, at least not in the near term. You will probably see some sort of correction, as markets will have to adjust to a more dramatic increase in rates and less accommodation from the Fed.

USA TODAY: Larry, what's your! take on ! stocks? Can they keep going up next year?

Larry Robbins, CEO and portfolio manager, Glenview Capital Management: Our general stock market outlook is constructive. If you look at the best period for equities ever, it was the five-year period from 1995 to 1999. In that period, you had 4% GDP growth, low inflation, but the real driver was that PE multiples went from 13 times earnings to an irrationally exuberant 26 times earnings. That is the period in which the market was really driven by multiple expansion.

USA TODAY: Do you think we are in a similar period?

Robbins: If we look where we are now, from 2008 to the middle of 2012, the market was paralyzed focusing in on systemic risk, because of the U.S. mortgage crisis in '08 and the follow-on European periphery debt crisis in 2012. As a result, investment firms spent less time figuring out which companies were doing well or poorly, and more time focusing on the fact the financial system crashed, so who wants to own stocks? In the last 12 to 18 months, we have started to see stocks move on their own fundamentals.

We have seen PE multiples start to recover, because now, market participants are saying, 'Well, if the system is not likely to crash, what is out there that we should go shopping for?' I don't like to think of 2013 as the year of multiple expansion. I think of it as multiple restoration. We are in the process of restoring multiples back to their historical norms. On an interest-rate adjusted basis, if we look back to when rates have been from 3% to 6% on the 10-year Treasury note over a long period of time, the market multiple has averaged about 18 times earnings. (The S&P 500 is now trading at 16.2 times 2013 earnings and 14.6 times 2014 earnings.) There is not a real reason it should be different this time.

USA TODAY: Do you expect more PE expansion in 2014?

Robbins: I think you will see a modest continuation of that. The growth that we're seeing in corporate earnings is not necessarily going t! o be fuel! ed by a 3% to 4% economic expansion, which is theoretically possible, but we think is unlikely. The U.S. is resigned to slower growth. But corporations can drive their growth through capital allocation. Through the downturn, many companies simply hoarded capital, which is the same as signing LeBron James to an NBA contract, yet putting him on the bench. They have had this great asset cash sitting on the bench, and it has not been earning points for their team.

What we saw in 2013 was the beginnings of that capital deployment. More companies were purchasing shares, more made strategic investments, whether it be mergers and acquisitions or internal investments. Over the next three to five years, it is that capital-deployment cycle, rather than economic growth, that is likely to drive earnings higher. Investors will reward those good capital deployers with higher multiples.

USA TODAY: Certain parts of the tech space, namely high-flying social-media stocks, are showing signs of irrational exuberance. Is there downside risk?

Kevin Landis, CEO and portfolio manager, Firsthand Technology Value Fund: I started out early in my investment career really wanting to be a value investor. What I found was in tech, when you can make a really strong value case for a company, you should probably run from it, because there is a good reason. You would end up owning BlackBerry or Blockbuster or something like this, instead of owning the guys on the right side of the trend, like Apple or Netflix.

The lesson is, whatever is scarce becomes expensive. What has been scarce these days, particularly in tech, is growth. If growth is expensive, that means you have outrageous PEs on some of the best stories. I have watched in some bemusement as a lot of the tech names kind of separate themselves into two camps: reasonably priced stocks, where the company is not really getting much growth; and outrageously priced stocks, because it is such a great story. It has been a pretty stark divide.

That is mostl! y because! we have had a huge amount of disruption, and what provided the growth in the '90s and the early 2000s has really kind of stagnated. The new kids on the block are outrageously priced. I guess you have to get used to that.

ROUNDTABLE: Five stock pickers and their top picks for 2014

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Cancels $30B Project in Madrid (LVS)

According to reports released by Reuters, resort company Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) has cancelled its $30 billion mega-casino plan in Madrid.

LVS cancelled project would have included 12 hotels and six casinos. This project was expected to bring 250,000 jobs to the city, which has an unemployment rate of 26%. The company decided to cancel the project after it was declined several requests from Spain including guarantees of compensation if legislation is changed and an exemption on the national smoking ban.

Sheldon G. Adelson, Chairman and CEO of LVS commented: “We have reiterated time and again that our internal development process would dictate the outcome of a proposed development in Spain. That process has been extremely thorough and while the government and many others have worked diligently on this effort, we do not see a path in which the criteria needed to move forward with this large-scale development can be reached. As a result we will no longer be pursuing this opportunity.”

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now

Las Vegas Sands shares were up 74 cents, or 0.97%, during pre-market trading Friday. The stock has increased 65% YTD.

Merrill Fined $131.8M by SEC for Misleading CDO Investors

Merrill Lynch agreed on Thursday to pay a whopping $131.8 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission after the agency charged Merrill with making faulty disclosures about collateral selection for two collateralized debt obligations (CDO) that it structured and marketed to investors, and maintaining inaccurate books and records for a third CDO.

The SEC said Merrill Lynch failed to inform investors that hedge fund firm Magnetar Capital LLC had a third-party role and exercised significant influence over the selection of collateral for the CDOs Octans I CDO Ltd. and Norma CDO I Ltd. Magnetar bought the equity in the CDOs, and its interests were not necessarily aligned with those of other investors because it hedged its equity positions by shorting against the CDOs.

5 Best Low Price Stocks To Watch Right Now

“Merrill Lynch marketed complex CDO investments using misleading materials that portrayed an independent process for collateral selection that was in the best interests of long-term debt investors,” said George Canellos, co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a statement. “Investors did not have the benefit of knowing that a prominent hedge fund firm with its own interests was heavily involved behind the scenes in selecting the underlying portfolios.”

Merrill Lynch consented to the entry of the order and agreed to pay disgorgement of $56.3 million, prejudgment interest of $19.2 million, and a penalty of $56.3 million. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Merrill Lynch agreed to a censure and is required to cease and desist from future violations of these sections of the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act.

"We are pleased to resolve this matter, which predated Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch," the firm said in a statement, noting that the deals took place in 2006 and 2007. It said its reserves from the third quarter would cover the fine.

The SEC released a detailed explanation of the charges, including the inaccurate books and records charges. It has also charged related parties.

---

Check out SEC Issues ‘Bad Actor’ Guidance Under Rule 506 on ThinkAdvisor.

 

Can Wal-Mart Break Higher?

With shares of Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) trading around $80, is WMT 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

Wal-Mart operates retail stores in various formats around the world. The company aims to price items at the lowest price every day. Wal-Mart operates in three business segments: the Walmart U.S. segment, the Walmart international segment, and the Sam's Club segment. It manages retail stores, restaurants, discount stores, supermarkets, super centers, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, apparel stores, Sam's Clubs, neighborhood markets, and other small formats, as well as Walmart.com and SamsClub.com. Through its retail channels, Wal-Mart is able to provide a variety of products and services at affordable prices to consumers and companies worldwide.

Top 5 Casino Companies To Invest In 2014

Wal-Mart executives are feeling the heat from an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Policies Act. Reuters reports that Wal-Mart is paying for lawyers for as many as 30 executives targeted by the DoJ over suspicion of bribery and other misconduct in Mexico, Brazil, China, and India.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Wal-Mart stock has made positive progress in recent quarters. The stock is currently surging higher as it trades near highs for the year. 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, Wal-Mart 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 Wal-Mart options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Wal-Mart options	15.06%	56%	54%

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

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Flat	Average
January 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 minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

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

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

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

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	5.56%	5.93%	4.59%	11.14%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	1.66%	1.68%	1.04%	3.86%
Earnings Reaction	0.22%	-2.60%	-1.70%	1.51%

Wal-Mart has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had conflicting feelings about Wal-Mart's recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Wal-Mart stock done relative to its peers, Target (NYSE:TGT), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), and sector?

	Wal-Mart	Target	Costco	Kohl's	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	17.43%	7.03%	23.09%	27.45%	19.75%

Wal-Mart has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Wal-Mart is a retail company that provides a variety of products and services to consumers and companies worldwide. The company's executives are feeling the heat from an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Policies Act. The stock has made some progress in recent quarters and is currently surging higher. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing. However, investors have had conflicting feelings about Wal-Mart's recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Wal-Mart has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Wal-Mart to continue to OUTPERFORM.

Diversity in a Small Package

Fledgling biotechnology companies are often involved in disparate businesses and develop new treatments and technologies for a variety of ailments—and then wait to see what sticks. Occasionally, though, those companies put together an interesting mix of successful businesses and therapeutic areas through acquisitions and internal development efforts.

With a market capitalization of £1.35 billion, BTG PLC (London: BTG) is a compelling case in point. This innovative mid-cap biotechnology company is involved in several different therapeutic lines, most of which are the result of acquisitions and licensing agreements.

One of BTG’s more esoteric business lines is specialty pharmaceuticals. One of the company’s drugs that falls into that category is Crofab, used to treat snakebites.

About 100,000 people annually die after being bitten by a venomous snake, but the number of laboratories producing anti-venom, which is used to counteract the effects of the venom, has been shrinking. Crofab effectively treats the venom of North American crotalid snakes, more commonly known as pit vipers, including rattlesnakes, copperheads and water moccasins.

The company’s specialty pharmaceuticals line also includes Digifab and Voraxaze.

Digifab is used to treat patients suffering from digoxin toxicity or overdoses. Digoxin is commonly used to treat some cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure. Despite its therapeutic value, the drug is based on a toxic compound found in plants such as foxglove, so overdoses are extremely dangerous. But with nearly 6 million Americans treated for heart failure and more than 650,000 new cases diagnosed each year, digoxin is becoming an increasingly common drug in American households.

Even patients who are taking the medication as prescribed are at risk of developing digoxin toxicity, because the drug is cleared from the body by the kidneys, an org! an that loses function due to age and disease.

Voraxaze is used to treat toxic concentrations of methotrexate in a patient’s blood. Methotrexate is a drug that interferes with normal cell growth and is used to treat cancers of the blood, bone, lungs breasts and other parts of the body. Again, thanks to the aging of the American population and unhealthy lifestyle choices, cancer has become an increasingly common disease in the US. As a result, methotrexate use is on the rise.

All three drugs are used primarily in hospital emergency rooms and are sold directly in the US.

In addition to those three drugs, BTG also licenses Zytiga from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Lemtrada from Sanofi (NYSE: SNY).

Zytiga is approved for use in the US and European Union (EU) for the treatment of both pre- and post-chemo metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Sequential sales of the drug have been growing rapidly over the past two years, largely due to its demonstrably high efficacy. The fact that it was approved to treat mCRPC on a pre-chemo basis a year ago has also helped, making the drug much more cost effective.

Lemtrada is used in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), at which stage patients suffer “attacks” of MS rather than a chronic form of the disease. Lemtrada helps lessen the frequency of those attacks and was approved by the EU this past September. It is under review in the US and the Food and Drug Administration has requested additional safety information on the drug.

In addition to its specialty pharmaceuticals and licensing businesses, BTG also has an interest in the interventional medicine business, which consists primarily of treatments for cancer and varicose veins.

The company’s EkoSonic Endovascular System uses ultrasound to essentially loosen clots, allowing for lower doses of clot-dissolving drugs. BTG’s drug Varithena was also approved for the treatment of varicose veins in ! the US in! November; BTG expects it to produce sales of about $500 million by the end of next year or early 2015.

The company’s interventional oncology product is a bead that can elute drugs or deliver radiation to very specific areas of the body to target cancers. The procedure to implant the bead is generally considered non-surgical and is performed by an interventional radiologist.

During the first half of this year, the company reported higher profits and revenues, up 18 percent and 7 percent year-over-year, respectively. Revenue reached £153 million while pretax profit hit £32.7 million. Earnings per share were up 21 percent to 6.8 pence from 5.6 pence in the same period last year.

On track to achieve revenues of £275 million and £285 million this year, it seems quite likely that BTG could achieve its goal of more than £600 million in revenues by the end of the decade, particularly when you consider it had revenues of just £75 million 2008.

All of BTG’s product lines face significant future growth, particularly the company’s TheraSphere beads which are still largely underutilized despite their superior targeting abilities. The company’s EkoSonic system is also a major potential growth driver, with less than 15 percent of US cases being treated with interventional procedures each year, even though they speed recovery times.

The best way to purchase BTG shares is directly on the London Stock Exchange through any number of brokers, which now offer direct access to international markets. That said, there are BTG shares which trade in the over-the-counter (OTC) market under the ticker BTGGF. Those OTC shares aren’t particularly liquid though, with only about 2,500 shares trading on an average day.

BTG PLC is a good buy on the London Stock Exchange up to 700 pence, or over-the-counter in the US up to 10.50.

Jobs Report Signals 'Paradigm Shift' in Equity Investing

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Party like it's 2007 because Friday's November jobs report reintroduced the once-proud concept that market action doesn't have to depend on the Federal Reserve. It can actually turn on the companies' fundamentals, their profits and losses, rates of growth.

The United States added 203,000 jobs in November as the unemployment rate dipped to a 5-year low of 7%. Adding elation to the better-than-expected data was an uptick in labor force participation and hourly wages. Analysts said the report marked a critical economic shift five years out from the 2008 financial crisis.

"The exciting part about this is that the market has shifted from strict taper talk to fundamentals," Mike Serio, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Banks, said in a phone interview. "That is big; it's almost a paradigm shift."

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September and October combined payroll revisions showed a gain of 8,000. On Thursday, revised third-quarter gross domestic product jumped to 3.6% and jobless claims came in much lower than expected. Private payrolls, reported by ADP on Wednesday, surged more than 30,000 above economists' forecast. On Monday, the November Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index hit a two-and-a-half-year high.

A lot of positives. The raft of strong economic data has more optimistic analysts forecasting that the Fed will scale back its economic stimulus program during its upcoming policy-making meeting while more skeptical analysts caution that the central bank is poised to announce that it will begin a so-called tapering in the first quarter of 2014. "I expect that they'll signal that they're going to be taking this punch bowl away," Mike McGlone, research director at ETF Securities U.S., said in a phone interview from New York. McGlone said if central bankers don't even show that initiative "the market will take that as an irresponsible Fed." A recent phenomenon in the equity market has been a good-news-is-bad-news scenario whereby key economic indicators print better-than-forecast data but sink stocks. This irony, of course, is due to the Fed's quantitative easing program. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke took unprecedented steps during the financial crisis to provide support to an economy that was on the brink of collapse. He lowered the federal funds rate to near 0%, but couple it with massive monetary stimulus. The effects, while hotly debated, have fueled the S&P 500 to all-time highs this year off its lows of March 2009. Essentially, investors viewed Bernanke's pledge to remain "highly accommodative" as a guarantee to support the recovering economy. However, the most recent stimulus program has been open-ended, meaning that the Fed will implement monetary stimulus on a month-to-month basis with no specific conclusion in mind until it deems the economy strong enough to cut back on the $85 billion in asset purchases and eventually end the program. In the early 2013 months, when economic data was showing mixed results, markets would drop if, for example, the monthly jobs report beat expectations. The reasoning being that it suggested the Fed may slow its stimulus program before the market was certain that the economy was strengthening without central bank intervention. Which returns us to why analysts were cheering Friday's November jobs report. Heading into Friday, the S&P had dropped every day this past week as data continued to indicate an economy on the rebound. But the 203,000 jobs added last month notched a fourth-straight positive labor report, and suggested that combined with strong data from other sectors of the economy, the country may actually be on the path to growth without the need for central banking help. Imagine that. "It is indicating that the economy is improving, it does look as if it's likely to stand on its own two feet, but at the same time it's not getting up too fast and therefore likely to faint later on," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. The 7% unemployment rate remains uncharacteristically high for such a long period of time, and the Fed doesn't yet appear sufficiently confident to let it run without continued stimulus. But after a week of encouraging data that may foretell a positive shift in the macro economy, we may be on the cusp of a fundamentals-driven stock market and a labor market that brings long-term unemployed back to offices across the continent. -- Written by Joe Deaux in New York. >Contact by Email. Follow @JoeDeaux

Will This Low-Cost Airline's Latest Move Shake Up the Industry?

Ever since the merger between Canadian Airlines and Air Canada (TSX: AC.B  ) more than a decade ago, Canadians have been limited in their choice of carriers for travel beyond North America. In fact, at one time, the consolidation of Canadian Airlines and Air Canada threatened to control even the domestic market so much that the carrier was developing the title Air Monopoly.

But WestJet Airlines (TSX: WJA  ) has become a formidable competitor to Air Canada on many domestic routes and even some Canada-U.S. routes. As WestJet launches its first-ever scheduled trans-Atlantic flight, I'll look at what this could mean for WestJet, Air Canada, and the traveling public.

To Ireland
The news that WestJet will begin offering flights from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Dublin, Ireland, has attracted the attention of much of the aviation and Canadian mainstream press. Obviously, the aviation reporters see this as another development in the expansion of WestJet, an airline that has seen massive growth over the past decade.

Major news outlets, meanwhile, see this as a story that affects ordinary people, many of whom travel internationally, and WestJet's trans-Atlantic developments could be big news.

Smart move
Why would WestJet choose to fly from St. John's to Dublin, of all routes? Well, this really carries a few advantages. One major advantage is that the length of the flight isn't really much longer than some existing flights the airline takes within North America. After all, St. John's is near the eastern edge of Canada, and Dublin is near the western edge of Europe.

With this shorter distance comes a significant fleet organization bonus. Like the American low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV  ) , WestJet loves the Boeing 737. Although the WestJet fleet includes a number of Bombardier Q400 Turboprops as well, the Boeing 737 is WestJet's only jet aircraft.

In keeping with the Southwest-way of fleet management, WestJet wants to continue operating its heavy 737 fleet while going trans-Atlantic. Fortunately, the flight from St. John's to Dublin allows WestJet to operate it with a Boeing 737-700. By using the 737 on the route, it negates the need for the airline to acquire large, more expensive widebody aircraft to service the route.

But the reasons for operating a routine flight to Dublin go beyond just keeping the jet fleet as all 737s. WestJet also formed a maintenance agreement with Eirtech Aviation, which is based in Dublin. The maintenance covers the advanced warning cabin pressurization system on WestJet's 737 aircraft. So to get the aircraft worked on by Eirtech, WestJet would have to fly 737s to Dublin anyway. Might as well put some people on them and collect some extra revenue.

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Should Air Canada be scared?
WestJet has long been a thorn in Air Canada's side, but Air Canada has long held the advantage in trans-Atlantic travel since WestJet, well, didn't fly trans-Atlantic. So this latest move should panic Air Canada and its shareholders, right?

Well, we have to consider the facts here. WestJet's trans-Atlantic expansion looks to be more of a long-term planned-out operation rather than a full attack of the market. In addition, WestJet still seems to be considering its options. As of now, WestJet's aircraft delivery schedule through 2027 has no widebody aircraft, but back in August, WestJet's vice president of sales acknowledged that the airline will probably consider such aircraft in the near future, citing the size of the domestic Canadian market as being around a tenth of the domestic U.S. market.

Even then, actual deliveries and trans-Atlantic flights on a major scale are probably at least a few years off for WestJet. With that time, Air Canada should be able to solidify its trans-Atlantic operations while cleaning up its balance sheet. Will Air Canada face larger trans-Atlantic competition from WestJet in the future? Very likely. But should Air Canada freak out because of the St. John's-to-Dublin flight? Absolutely not.

Expansion
As WestJet's vice president of sales mentioned in August, the Canadian market is only so large, and WestJet will probably look to expand beyond it. This first move of operating a flight from St. John's to Dublin is a wise move, as 737 aircraft would have to be flown to Dublin for maintenance anyway, and the distance of the flight allows WestJet to continue using its favorite jet aircraft, the Boeing 737.

WestJet has taken much of its strategy from Southwest Airlines' playbook and is now seeking to expand beyond its home. Air Canada may feel threatened initially, but there is plenty of time for the Canadian flag carrier to prepare and become a solid competitor to WestJet on trans-Atlantic routes.

This move primarily affects Canadian and European travelers, as this is where WestJet's trans-Atlantic flights would fly. Travelers in these markets can look forward to greater choice in trans-Atlantic travel in the future but shouldn't expect expansion from WestJet to take place overnight.

More growth
Overall, WestJet has made a smart move with its St. John's-to-Dublin flight and significant opportunities for growth lie ahead for the airline. But The Motley Fool has a list of six stocks that could outgrow even WestJet in a special 100% free report called "6 Picks for Ultimate Growth." So stop settling for index-hugging gains, and click here for instant access to a whole new game plan of stock picks to help power your portfolio.

5 Stocks With Bad Cash Flow — KWK STP ATPG EDN AONE

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This week, these five stocks have the worst ratings in Cash Flow, one of the eight Fundamental Categories on Portfolio Grader.

Quicksilver Resources () is involved in the acquisition, development, exploration, production, and sale of natural gas and crude oil. KWK also gets F’s in Earnings Growth, Earnings Momentum, Operating Margin Growth and Sales Growth. Shares of the stock have declined 14.7% since January 1. This is worse than the S&P 500, which has seen a 12.1% increase over the same period. .

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Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. Sponsored ADR () is a solar energy company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets PV cells and molecules. STP gets F’s in Earnings Growth, Equity, Operating Margin Growth and Sales Growth as well. .

ATP Oil & Gas () is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico and the U.K. ATPG gets F’s in Analyst Earnings Revisions and Sales Growth as well. .

Edenor SA Sponsored ADR Class B () distributes and sells electricity in the north-eastern region of greater Buenos Aires. EDN gets F’s in Earnings Momentum, Equity and Sales Growth as well. .

A123 Systems () designs, develops, manufactures, and sells rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems worldwide. AONE also gets F’s in Analyst Earnings Revisions, Equity and Sales Growth. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Next Week's Game Plan

Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Federal Reserve is not going to get in the way of a good holiday season, Jim Cramer told his "Mad Money" viewers Friday.

That's why Cramer said he'd use any weakness in the market next Wednesday to buy up some of the great stocks that will be put on sale.

Cramer expects the market to weaken on Wednesday ahead of of Thankgiving as it digests the latest unemployment data, durable goods and consumer sentiment numbers. That would be a great time to buy some of the stocks that will be reporting earlier next week, such as Workday (WDAY) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW), both of which report on Monday. Cramer said the highly valued Workday could get crushed on anything less that a "beat and raise" quarter, but this cloud-based human resource management company is a buy on any weakness. Palo Alto, he said, is also highly valued, but also worth the expense. Tuesday brings earnings from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), a stock Cramer said he's liking more now that Dell has none private. He also expects solid results from Tiffany (TIF), Cracker Barrel (CBRL) and DSW (DSW), three stocks that are up 41%, 41% and 81% respectively for the year. Also on Tuesday, TiVo (TIVO), a stock that's also become a great value. Cramer said he'd use weakness on Wednesday to picking any of these names. Riding High Again The four horsemen of biotech ride again, Cramer told viewers. The stocks of Gilead Sciences (GILD), Celgene (CELG), Biogen Idec (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) will be the anointed four going into the close of the year. Cramer said love for the biotechs comes and goes, fizzling late this summer after a rash of red-hot IPOs. But over the past few weeks, the biotechs have once again come into fashion and been red-hot commodities for investors. Cramer said there's three reasons for the move. First is the continued economic growth, followed by growth overseas and, finally, a host of new drug approvals. All three of these factors will continue these stocks on their current trajectory. Both Gilead and Celgene have seen approvals in the European Union strengthen their stocks while Biogen saw its shares jump $20 just today on a new approval.

Cramer said he'd be a buyer of all four of these names on any weakness for the rest of 2013. Focus on Retail

Retail earnings have been bizarre this quarter, Cramer told viewers, but he's done the homework, listened to the conference calls and read the reports and can now opine on what's working and what's clearly not.

Cramer said it became clear that any store offering unique value was doing well. This includes Costco (COST) and TJX Stores (TJX), stocks he owns for his charitable trust, Action Alerts PLUS. The strength of TJ Maxx didn't spill over to rival Ross Stores (ROST), however, as that chain didn't have the right merchandise.

In the home goods group, Home Depot (HD), which had been lagging, shot the lights out, while rival Lowe's (LOW), another Action Alerts PLUS name, didn't. Anything related to sports apparel remains on fire, said Cramer, including Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), Foot Locker (FL), which is at a 52-week high, along with Nike (NKE) and Under Armour (UA). Among the losers were the discounters, including Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT) and J.C. Penney (JCP), all of which are starting to feel stale, Cramer said. The only thing worse than the discounts? Everything teen apparel, said Cramer -- a first-class disaster that includes Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and all the others. Finally, Cramer endorsed the home-related stocks including Williams-Sonoma (WSM) and Macy's (M), another Action Alerts Plus holding, along with game stocks such as GameStop (GME) and Best Buy (BBY). Lightning Round In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Enbridge (ENB), Kirby (KEX), LAM Research (LRCX), Wendy's (WEN), Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) and Tyco (TYC). Cramer was bearish on Photronics (PLAB). Off the Tape In his "Off the Tape" segment, Cramer sat down with Sandra Kurtzig, chairman and CEO of the privately held Kenandy, another cloud computing stock reinventing the economy of tomorrow. Kenandy competes in the enterprise resource planning, or ERP, space, a segment currently dominated by the likes of Oracle (ORCL) and SAP (SAP). Kurtzig said there's been a paradigm shift in the ERP space, and companies are no longer satisfied with software that was written back when electric typewriters were all the rage. With Kenandy's cloud-based ERP solutions, companies can remain agile, something that's desperately needed when every quarter counts. Kenandy can have a client up and running in as little as 90 days, as compared to nine months for the legacy providers. Kenandy's one cloud-connected database is worlds ahead of the competition's modular system, Kurtzig noted. Cramer said Kenandy, along with Kurtzig, are bankable winners and he can't wait until the company is publicly traded -- something that Kurtzig said she's love to do, but is not ready for just yet. Cramer's Homework In his "Homework" segment, Cramer followed up on a few stocks that stumped him during earlier shows. He said Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) is too hot to handle and he'd look elsewhere. Cramer was also not impressed with Mazor Robotics (MZOR), which currently trades at 15 times sales. When asked about Tyler Technologies (TYL), Cramer said he'd rather stick with any of the cloud-computing stocks he's featured this week. Going four-for-four, Cramer was also not impressed with Durata Therapeutics (DRTX), a stock he said needs more cash on its balance sheet before he would recommend it. Cramer also responded to questions sent via Twitter to @JimCramer. He told one tweeter that he'd stay long on Johnson Controls (JCI), an Action Alerts PLUS holding. To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC. To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here. -- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C. To email Scott about this article, click here: Scott Rutt Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottRutt or get updates on Facebook, ScottRuttDC

At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had a position in COST, JCI, LOW, M and TJX. Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC Universal or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money." None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.