The stock market edged lower on Thursday, as defensive sectors like telecom and utilities managed to outperform. This is the fourth time in five days that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) has fallen, though the market's off less than 0.5% during that time. Today, it lost just four points, or less than 0.1%, to end at 16,264.
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) couldn't help the Dow much on Thursday, adding just 0.3%. Not much changes from day-to-day with McDonald's, whose golden arches are one of the most recognizable brand symbols in the world. But for blue chip companies like Mickey D's to maintain their dominance, they've got to fend off competition, and embrace innovation and change in the industry. McDonald's isn't doing a great job at either of these.�Yum! Brands'�Taco Bell is now using real people named Ronald McDonald to endorse the taco haven's new breakfast menu. And McDonald's has been slow to embrace smartphone payment technology, as well, even as its rivals rush to develop apps�for their consumers.
Top 5 Computer Hardware Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Lockheed Martin Corporation(LMT)
Lockheed Martin Corporation engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, operation, and sustainment of advanced technology systems and products in the areas of defense, space, intelligence, homeland security, and government information technology in the United States and internationally. It also provides management, engineering, technical, scientific, logistic, and information services. The company operates in four segments: Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, Information Systems & Global Services (IS&GS), and Space Systems. The Aeronautics segment offers military aircraft, including combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies. Its products and programs comprise the F-35 multi-role, stealth fighter; the F-22 air dominance and multi-mission stealth fighter; the F-16 multi-role fighter; the C-130J tactical transport aircraft; and the C-5M strategic airlifter modernization program; and support for the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, and the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The Electronic Systems segment provides air and missile defense; tactical missiles; weapon fire control systems; surface ship and submarine combat systems; anti-submarine and undersea warfare systems; land, sea-based, and airborne radars; surveillance and reconnaissance systems; simulation and training systems; and integrated logistics and sustainment services. The IS&GS segment offers information technology solutions and advanced technology primarily in the areas of software and systems integration for space, air, and ground systems to various defense and civil government agencies. The Space Systems segment provides government and commercial satellites; strategic and defensive missile systems, including missile defense technologies and systems, and fleet ballistic missiles; and space transportation systems. Lockheed Martin Corporation was founded in 1909 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
On Monday, the Department of Defense awarded 19 contracts, which added up to just under $1.5 billion in total value. The largest award actually went to a private company to pay for "full line food distribution" in Okinawa. But the second-largest contract went to Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) .
- [By Rich Smith]
And don't forget about the allies
Honeywell (NYSE: HON ) won one of the week's biggest contracts to support the militaries of U.S. allies Australia, Morocco, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Honeywell will be shipping out to these countries a total of 440 T55-GA-714A engines and 365 T55-GA-714A engine fielding kits. Among other aircraft, the T55-GA-714A engine is used to power CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, an aircraft that is present in (or, in the case of Turkey, on order by) the militaries of all four countries. The total value of this contract modification to Honeywell will be nearly $122 million. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) won a $50 million contract to supply the militaries of South Korea and Finland with M934E6 and M934E7 warhead fuses for use with these countries' arsenals of Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles (often called "MANPADS," short for man-portable air defense systems). Deliveries of the fuses will continue through Aug. 25, 2018. Textron's (NYSE: TXT ) Cessna unit won a $64 million contract to provide "support" and training services to Afghan pilots and mechanics servicing 26 C-208B "Caravan" and six T-182T "Skylane" utility aircraft through based at Kabul International Airport, Kandahar Air Base, and Shindand Air Base in Afghanistan through Jan. 31, 2016.
Foreign buyers of U.S. military equipment were behind a number of contracts awarded last week. Among them:Opportunities on the horizon
So much for the contracts everyone knows about. Now, let's end last week's roundup with one contract that you may not yet have heard of. - [By Rich Smith]
The Department of Defense awarded a round dozen defense contracts Friday, worth just under $7.2 billion in aggregate. The bulk of the contracts -- $7 billion worth -- were split among eight small privately held firms scattered around New Jersey, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia contracted to supply software and systems engineering services in support of the Army's Software Engineering Center. But a handful of better-known -- and, more importantly to investors, publicly traded -- companies won contracts as well. Namely:
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Notable earnings released on Tuesday included:
The Travelers Company Inc. (NYSE: TRV) reported third quarter EPS of $2.35 on revenue of $6.45 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $2.22 on revenue of $5.70 billion. Delta Airlines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) reported third quarter EPS of $1.41 on revenue of $10.49 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $0.90 on revenue of 9.92 billion. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) reported third quarter EPS of $1.55 on revenue of $15.46 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $1.37 on revenue of $15.04 billion. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) reported third quarter EPS of $2.57 on revenue of $11.35 billion, compared to last year�� EPS of $2.21 on revenue of $11.87 billion.Pre-Market Movers
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Brown Shoe Company Inc. (BWS)
Brown Shoe Company, Inc., a footwear company, engages in the retail and wholesale of footwear. It operates through Famous Footwear, Wholesale Operations, and Specialty Retail segments. The company provides licensed, branded, and private-label casual, dress, and athletic footwear products to women, men, and children. It operates retail shoe stores under the Famous Footwear name that offer shoes of various brands, including Nike, Skechers, New Balance, Converse, adidas, DC, LifeStride, Reebok, Sperry, Asics, Puma, Dr. Scholl�s Shoes, Vans, BOC by Born, Sof Sole, Fergalicious, and Bearpaw. The company also operates shoe stores under the Naturalizer name, which provide women�s footwear, including casual, dress, sandals, and boots under the Naturalizer brand; operates retail stores under Dr. Scholl�s Shoes and Sam Edelman names; and sells its products through Internet retail that include Shoes.com, Famous.com, Naturalizer.com, Naturalizer.ca, and DrSchollsShoes.com, as well as ViaSpiga.com, LifeStride.com, and Ryka.com. As of February 2, 2013, it operated 1,277 retail shoe stores in the United States, Canada, China, and Guam. In addition, the company designs, sources, and markets footwear to retail stores, such as national chains, department stores, independent retailers, mass merchandisers, online retailers, and catalogs. Brown Shoe Company, Inc. was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Friday
Earnings Expected From: �Buckle, Inc. (NYSE: BKE), Brown Shoe Company (NYSE: BWS) Economic Releases Expected: German CPI, Swiss PPIPosted-In: Crimea Reserve Bank of New ZealandEarnings News Guidance Previews Markets Trading Ideas Best of Benzinga
- [By Paul Ausick]
Big earnings movers: Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues and raised its guidance slightly, but even posting a new 52-week high early could hold the stock from dropping about 1.3% today. Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS) also posted good earnings, but followed with slightly lower EPS guidance and the stock lost about 9%, trading around $21.60 in a 52-week range of $13.68 to $24.78. Another footwear maker, DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) put up good results and raised its guidance as well, sending shares up more than 9% to a new 52-week high of $88.73 in the mid-morning.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Brown Shoe (NYSE: BWS ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Marathon Investments Ltd (MARA)
Marathon Investments Ltd is an Israel-based company that invests in income-producing industrial companies. The Company's portfolio includes companies in the fields of heat treatment, biotechnology, inspection and advanced electronics. Its portfolio comprises of a number of companies: Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. which produces plant protein-based medical treatment; Nanomotion Ltd. which develops, manufactures and markets tiny solid-state ceramic servo motors and positioning systems; Margan Business Development Ltd. which engages in early building and facility damage detection; BioView Ltd. which develops and manufactures medical screening and diagnostics systems; Solcon Industries Ltd. is a high technology electronics manufacturer, whose products are intended for installation in low and medium voltage AC Motor switchgear, and Chromat Ltd., which is a commercial steel heat treatment company, among others. Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, MARA has shed (-3.78%) down -0.23 at $5.85 with�23,913 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:09AM EDT September 11, 2013).
Marathon Patent Group, Inc. previously reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 (“Q2 2013″).
For Q2, 2013, the Company reported gross revenue of $1,524,979, as a result of three patent licensing and settlement agreements. Q2 2013 marks the first quarter the Company has reported significant licensing and settlement revenue. Included in the gross revenue amount is the value of certain patents received in settlement from a defendant.
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (HR)
Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (Healthcare Realty), incorporated in 1993, is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, acquires, manages, finances and develops income-producing real estate properties associated with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company disposed of five real estate properties. In January 2012, the Company purchased a 58,295 square foot medical office building in South Dakota. In February 2012, the Company purchased a 23,312 square foot medical office building in North Carolina. The property is 100% leased by two tenants. In January 2012, the Company disposed of two medical office buildings located in Texas. In January 2012, the Company disposed of a medical office building located in Florida. In January 2012, an inpatient facility under construction in South Dakota that was being funded by the Company through a mortgage note was sold. On March 15, 2011, the Company acquired Lakewood MOB, LLC. On March 31, 2011, it acquired HR Ladco Holdings, LLC. Effective October 22, 2013, Healthcare Realty Trust Inc acquired First Hill Medical Building.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company provided property management services for 150 healthcare-related properties nationwide, totaling approximately 10.3 million square feet. The Company�� portfolio of properties is focused on medical office and outpatient sector of the healthcare industry and is diversified by geographic location, tenant and facility type.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividends4Life]
Memberships and Peers: UHT is, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT) with a 4.4% yield, Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (HR) with a 5.2% yield and LTC Properties Inc. (LTC) with a 5.4% yield.
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: 7 Days Group Holdings Limited(SVN)
7 Days Group Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates a chain of limited service economy hotels under the brand name of 7 Days Inn in China. The company provides accommodations and services primarily to business and leisure travelers. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 568 hotels in operation, including 247 managed hotels, with 56,410 hotel rooms in 89 cities, as well as 197 hotels with 19,345 hotel rooms under conversion. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Guangzhou, China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Chinese economy hotel chain 7 Days Group (NYSE: SVN ) announced today that the company's shareholders had approved the going-private proposal that was offered up on Feb. 28.�Approximately 88.3% of the hotel chain's shares voted on the proposal, and approximately 86% voted in favor of it.�
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Global X China Consumer ETF (CHIQ)
Global X China Consumer ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive China Consumer Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index is a free float adjusted, liquidity tested and market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure performance of the investable universe of companies in the Consumer sector of the Chinese economy, as defined by Structured Solutions AG. Global X Management Company, LLC serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:- [By pamatlarge]
Investors looking to short a particular sector can choose from several Global X long ETFs. The Global X China Consumer ETF (CHIQ) concentrates its investments in consumer cyclical goods and consumer defense goods. The Global X China Energy ETF (CHIE) primarily holds stocks in coal, oil and utility companies. The Global X China Financials ETF (CHIX) only invests in financial services companies and real estate companies. The Global X China Industrials ETF (CHII) holds stocks in industrial companies and basic materials companies. The Global X China Materials ETF (CHIM) invests in basic materials stocks. The Global X China Technology ETF (CHIB) holds technology stocks as the core of its investments. All of these ETFs are particularly sensitive to sector downturns and general economic contractions.
Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Skyline Corporation(SKY)
Skyline Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in designing, producing, and marketing manufactured houses, modular homes, and towable recreational vehicles to independent dealers and manufactured housing communities in the United States and Canada. The company?s manufactured homes include two to four bedrooms, kitchen, dining area, living room, one or two bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and central heating and cooling, as well as exterior dormers and windows, interior or exterior accent columns, fireplaces, and whirlpool tubs. Its towable recreational vehicles comprise travel trailers and fifth wheels offered under the Aljo, Bobcat, Koala, Layton, Mountain View, Nomad, Texan, Wagoneer, Walkabout, and Weekender brands; and park models under the Cedar Cove, Cutlass, Cutlass Elite, Deerfield, Forest Brook, Shore Park Homes, and Vacation Villa brands, which consists of sleeping, kitchen, dining, and bath areas. The company markets its manufactured and modular housing to subur ban and rural areas of the continental United States and Canada. Skyline Corporation markets its recreational vehicles to vacationing families, traveling retired couples, and sports enthusiasts pursuing four-season hobbies. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon] rch 12, Third Avenue Management sold 55.7% of its stake in Skyline Corp. for a total value of $3,394,689. It now has 361,805 shares, or 4.31% of the company.
Third Avenue incurred a loss on Skyline. The firm has had the stock since before the second quarter of 2009 after it had been sliding for several years. That quarter, Third Avenue bought it for roughly $20 per share. Since 2009 its stock price has declined 60% and the firm has been mostly selling its shares since then. The stock closed at $7.98 per share on Friday.
Third Avenue Management was founded by legendary value investor Martin Whitman and manages mutual funds, separate accounts and hedge funds. Third Avenue managers believe that the current balance sheet rather than projected future figures are the best measure of a company�� value. Companies they invest in are also usually cheap and safe.
Skyline makes manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. Its revenue per share has been declining at a rate of 13.2% over the last 10 years, and 23.2% in the last 5 years. The company has been operating at a loss since 2008, and EBITDA and free cash flow has been negative since 2007.
NWQ Managers and PrivateBancorp (PVTB) Bob Evans Farms (BOBE)
On February 29, NWQ reduced its stake in PrivateBancorp (PVTB) by 28.48%. At $14.50 per share, the total value of the sale was $18.8 million. It now owns 3,253,454 shares or 4.49% of the company. NWQ initiated its holding in PrivateBancorp in the fourth quarter of 2009 with 4,334,692 shares at an average price of $12.15. It sold shares as the price rose during 2010, and added 2,008,454 shares in the third quarter of 2011 when its price dropped to an average of $10 per share. On Friday, the stock is trading near $15 per share.
PrivateBancorp is a small, regional bank based in Chicago. After its stock fell to a 52-week low of $6.44 in late 2011, its 2011 fourth-quarter and full-year results helped push it up 38% to $15 in 2012. Afte
- [By John Udovich]
The CEO of recreation vehicle (RV) stock Winnebago Industries, Inc (NYSE: WGO) recently appeared on CNBC to say that the economy is improving for RV makers, meaning its time to take a closer look at the stock plus take a look at the performance of other small cap RV stocks like Drew Industries, Inc (NYSE: DW), Skyline Corporation (NYSEMKT: SKY) and Thor Industries, Inc (NYSE: THO).
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