FRANKFURT -- Germany�� Siemens and Japan�� Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi are preparing a joint offer for Alstom�� energy business in a challenge to General Electric (GE), according to a published media report Sunday.
Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy announced their partnership Wednesday, promising to submit a bid to Alstom�� board by Monday, but they offered no details of how the partnership would work or what their offer would look like.
Later in the week, Japan�� Hitachi said it would work with Mitsubishi Heavy on a possible bid.
The three are preparing an offer that will give Siemens Alstom�� gas turbines and allow Mitsubishi and Hitachi to expand their steam turbine and hydro business operations, Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the situation. Siemens would pay cash for the gas turbines, while the two Japanese partners would combine their steam turbines and hydro businesses with Alstom�� and then take a minority stake in the entity, Bloomberg also reported.
The board of Siemens was scheduled to meet Sunday and was expected to approve the offer, Bloomberg said. Also citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Siemens and Mitsubishi were working on a joint offer for Alstom's energy business that they would make Monday and that would also have Siemens transfer its rail business to Alstom. A joint offer would threaten GE�� existing $17 billion offer for Alstom�� energy assets. Alstom said at the end of April that is supports GE's cash offer but would wait to see what Siemens offered. Shares of GE closed Friday up 8 cents at $27.04. Siemens Lands New Partner to Unplug General Electric From Alstom
Best Biotech Companies To Watch For 2015: H&Q Life Sciences Investors (HQL)
H&Q Life Sciences Investors (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is long-term capital appreciation through investment in life science companies (including biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnostics, managed healthcare and medical equipment, hospitals, healthcare information technology and services, devices and supplies) agriculture and environmental management. The Fund invests primarily in securities of public and private companies.
The Fund may invest in venture capital and other restricted securities if these securities would comprise 40% or less of net assets. The Fund may purchase and sell (or write) put or call options on any security in which it is permitted to invest. It may purchase and sell (write) options on stock indices (index options). H&Q Life Sciences Investors��investment advisor is Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]
Harry Domash: Yeah, in fact, H&Q Life Sciences, ticker (HQL), is actually a closed-end fund, but it invests entirely in biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and if you look around the world, the investing stocks right now—besides the social media stocks—that's really the one area that has had a lot of recent growth and we expect that to continue.
I think the closed-end fund, and we'll get into that maybe a little bit later, but closed-end funds are a good way to cover it, when you're talking about a sector like that.
Johnson & Johnson is an interesting case, because, as you know, Johnson & Johnson is a big company that invests, and that owns a lot of different companies itself in the medical field.
You know, it owns hundreds of operating companies and it's primarily in the pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, and in consumer products, but Johnson & Johnson was a mismanaged company for a while and they were really underperforming their peers.
In fact, some of their factories were closed, their pharmaceutical production factories were forcibly closed by the government because they didn't meet standards, but they were taken over by a new CEO a few years ago, two or three years ago, and now things are improving, so Johnson & Johnson is kind of coming from down and out to being a leading company again.
They've got a lot of products, cancer-type products, and things on the pipeline and it just seems like things are going very well so we have hopes that Johnson & Johnson has reported the last two quarters are the first ones that have really been decent, they really showed growth, and then we expect that to accelerate so we're pretty hot on Johnson & Johnson now.
Steve Halpern: One particularly interesting portfolio that you maintain that I haven't seen anywhere else is based on closed-end funds that pay monthly dividends&mdash
- [By Nate Pile]
This recommended fund��ambrecht & Quist Life Sciences Fund (HQL)��as also our top pick last year, and the fund rose 44% in 2013.
In addition to rising in value, the fund has a dividend policy of paying out 2% of its net asset value of each quarter.
Best Promising Stocks To Invest In 2014: Computer Task Group Inc (CTG)
Computer Task Group, Incorporated (CTG), incorporated on March 11, 1966, is an information technology (IT) solutions and staffing company with operations in North America and Europe. CTG provides IT services to its clients, which includes IT Solutions and IT Staffing. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company had six operating subsidiaries: Computer Task Group of Canada, Inc., providing services in Canada; and Computer Task Group Belgium N.V., CTG ITS S.A., Computer Task Group IT Solutions, S.A., Computer Task Group Luxembourg PSF, and Computer Task Group (U.K.) Ltd., each were providing services in Europe. Services provided in North America are performed by CTG. It provides services to all of the markets, which it serves. The services provided encompass the IT business solution life cycle, including phases for planning, developing, implementing, managing, and maintaining the IT solution. In February 2013, it acquired etrinity from i-Cros Nv of Antwerp, Belgium.
The Company promotes its services through four vertical market focus areas: technology service providers; healthcare, which includes services provided to healthcare providers, health insurers (payers), and life sciences companies; energy, and financial services. At December 31, 2011, CTG provided IT services to approximately 300 clients in North America and Europe. In North America, the Company operates in the United States and Canada. In Europe, the Company operates in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom.
IT Solutions
CTG�� services in IT solution area include helping clients assess their business needs and identifying the IT solutions. The services delivered by the Company include the selection and implementation of packaged software and the design, development, testing, and integration of new systems, and the development and implementation of customized software and solutions designed to fit the needs of a specific client or vertical market. Also included in IT Solutions is Trans! itional Application Management (TAM).
In 2011, the healthcare market accounted for most of CTG�� TAM business. In 2011, CTG continued to invest in new IT solutions development, primarily targeted to the healthcare market, which support cost reductions and productivity improvements. In 2011, several healthcare solutions under development moved from the pilot stage of testing using live data into the sales process as completed tools. These solutions include medical fraud, waste, and abuse detection and reduction, medical care and disease management, and group insurance underwriting risk assessment. The Company has developed software to support these offerings. These solutions support both the healthcare provider and payer markets.
IT Staffing
The Company recruits, retains, and manages IT talent for its clients, which are technology service providers and companies with multiple locations and need for external IT resources. The Company also supports companies and organizations that need to augment their own IT staff on a flexible basis. It provides IT talent services on a temporary or long-term basis. CTG�� recruiting organization works with customers to define their staffing requirements. The primary focus of the Company�� staffing business is a managed services model that provides clients with support through supply models customized to client needs, resource management support, vendor management programs, and a automated recruiting process and system. During 2011, its IT staffing service generated 63% of its total revenue.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anna Prior]
Information technology staffing and solutions company Computer Task Group Inc.(CTG) cut its outlook for its second-quarter and full-year results, primarily due to higher medical costs.
Best Promising Stocks To Invest In 2014: BV Financial Inc (BVFL)
BV Financial, Inc. (BV Financial), is a federally-chartered savings and loan holding company and the holding company for Bay-Vanguard Federal, a federally-chartered savings bank. BV Financial�� business activity is the ownership of the Bay-Vanguard Federal. The Company operates as a community-oriented financial institution offering traditional financial services to consumers and businesses in its market area. It attracts deposits from the general public and uses those funds to originate one- to four-family real estate, mobile home, construction, multi-family, commercial real estate, and consumer loans, which it hold for investment. The Company operates two branch offices in Baltimore City and two branch offices in Anne Arundel County. In June 2013, BV Financial Inc's Bay-Vanguard Federal Savings Bank acquired Vigilant Federal Savings Bank.
Lending Activities
The Company�� loan portfolio consists primarily of one- to four-family residential real estate loans. Its loan portfolio includes mobile home loans, construction loans, multi-family, commercial real estate loans, and consumer loans. As of June 30, 2009, Bay-Vanguard Federal had no loans that were held for sale. Its primary lending activity is the origination of mortgage loans to enable borrowers to purchase or refinance existing homes in its market area. It only offer fixed and adjustable rate mortgage loans and primarily with terms of 15, 20 or 30 years. The Company also offers adjustable-rate mortgage loans with interest rates and payments that adjust annually or every three years.
The Company originates mobile home loans directly and purchase mobile home loans from Forward National and Mainland Financial, which specialize in mobile home lending. As of June 30, 2009, 13.6% of its mobile home portfolio was originated by directly and 70.4% and 16% was purchased from Forward National and Mainland Financial, respectively. As of June 30, 2009, it had 340 mobile home loans, the average size of which was appr! oximately $34,000. Its mobile home loans, which are made primarily to borrowers in Maryland and Pennsylvania, have terms of up to 25 years and fixed interest rates. It originates loans to individuals and, to a lesser extent, builders to finance the construction of residential dwellings. It also make construction loans for commercial development projects, including condominiums, apartment buildings, mixed-use properties with residential units, as well as retail space and owner-occupied properties used for business.
The Company offers fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans secured by multi-family and commercial real estate. Its multi-family and commercial real estate loans are secured by condominiums, apartment buildings and mixed-use properties with residential units, as well as retail space. It originates multi-family and commercial real estate loans for terms up to 25 years. The Company�� other consumer loans are primarily loans secured by passbook or certificate accounts, automobile and boat loans and secured personal loans.
Investment Activities
The Company has legal authority to invest in various types of liquid assets, including the United States Treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies and municipal governments, deposits at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and certificates of deposit of federally insured institutions. As of June 30, 2009, its investment portfolio totaled $13.8 million and consisted primarily of the United States Treasury obligations and federal agency securities, mortgage-backed securities issued primarily by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, and a mutual fund that invests in adjustable-rate mortgages.
Deposit Activities and Other Sources of Funds
Deposits and loan repayments are the major sources of its funds for lending and other investment purposes. The Company�� deposits are attracted from within its market area through the offering of selection of deposit instruments,! includin! g checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) and money market accounts, passbook and savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. As of June 30, 2009, its core deposits, which consist of savings, NOW and money market accounts, consists 49% of its deposits.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, BVFL remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $6.52 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 3:05PM EDT September 4, 2013).
BV Financial, Inc. previously reported net income of $488,000, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the year ended June 30, 2013 compared to $1,073,000, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the year ended June 30, 2012. Results for 2013 were impacted by the acquisition of Vigilant Federal Savings Bank on May 31, 2013. As a result of the acquisition, BV Financial acquired $47.5 million in assets, $44.4 million in liabilities and created $119,000 in goodwill.
Best Promising Stocks To Invest In 2014: Pebblebrook Hotel Trust(PEB)
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, through Pebblebrook Hotel, L.P., operates as a real estate investment trust. The company acquires and invests primarily in hotel properties located in the United States. It holds interests in the Doubletree Bethesda Hotel and Executive Meeting Center located in Bethesda, Maryland; Sir Francis Drake Hotel located in San Francisco, California; and InterContinental Buckhead Hotel located in Atlanta, Georgia. As a REIT, the company is not subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
In a perfect world, an investor could simply look at a company's history and its plausible earnings forecasts, and jump in (or out) knowing the stock's current price basically made sense with respect to past and future performance. We don't live or trade in a perfect world though. In the world we're actually in right now, most stocks, sectors, and industries have run up far beyond a justifiable value... perhaps except for hotel and lodging REIT stocks Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE:HST), Strategic Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE:BEE), and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB).
- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
Small-cap hotel investment REIT Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB) is setting up a similar pattern to the one in EXR -- with a few exceptions.
PEB isn't forming an ascending triangle; support isn't in the same sort of uptrend in this stock. Instead, PEB is forming a rounding pattern with resistance at $28. Rounding patterns look just like they sound -- they indicate a shift in control from sellers to buyers. While this setup is most common as a "bottoming" pattern, PEB's price action doesn't change the implications if shares can break out above $28. That's our buy signal.
Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles, rectangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.
That resistance line at $28 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant -- a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Wait for that signal to happen before you jump into this stock.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Hotel operator�Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB ) announced today its second-quarter dividend of $0.16 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 33% from $0.12 per share.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Hotel properties real estate investment trust Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB) raised its quarterly dividend 44% to 23 cents per share, payable April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 31.
PEB Dividend Yield: 2.58%
Best Promising Stocks To Invest In 2014: H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ)
H. J. Heinz Company manufactures and markets food products for consumers, and foodservice and institutional customers in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company primarily offers ketchup, condiments and sauces, frozen food, soups, beans and pasta meals, infant nutrition, and other food products. It sells its products through its sales organizations, independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, cooperative, and independent grocery accounts; convenience stores; bakeries; pharmacies; mass merchants; club stores; foodservice distributors; and institutions, including hotels, restaurants, hospitals, health-care facilities, and government agencies. The company was founded in 1869 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
It's official: Warren Buffett is the new Master of Ketchup. In a special meeting convened for the purpose, H.J. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ ) stockholders today voted overwhelmingly in favor of being acquired by a consortium led by the veteran investor�Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) . Roughly 95% of the votes, representing around 60% of Heinz's outstanding stock, were in support of the buyout.
Best Promising Stocks To Invest In 2014: Aviva plc (AV)
Aviva plc provides insurance, savings, and fund management products and services worldwide. It offers life insurance and savings products, which comprise pensions products, such as personal and group pensions, stakeholder pensions, and income drawdown; annuities; protection products, including term assurance, mortgage life insurance, flexible whole life, and critical illness cover; bonds and savings comprising single premium investment bonds, regular premium savings plans, mortgage endowment products, and funding agreements; and investment products consisting of unit trusts, individual savings accounts, and open ended investment companies, as well as equity release and structured settlements. The company also provides general and health insurance products that include personal lines of insurance products, such as motor, household, travel, and creditor insurance; commercial lines of insurance products consisting of fleet, liability, and commercial property insurance; health insurance products comprising private health, income protection, personal accident, and corporate healthcare insurance products; and insurance for corporate and specialty risks. In addition, it offers fund management products and services for institutional, pension fund, and retail clients. Aviva plc sells its products through various distribution channels, including direct sales forces, intermediaries, corporate partnerships, bancassurance, and joint ventures, as well as through the telephone and Internet. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Alan Oscroft]
Aviva
Thursday will bring us a first-quarter statement from�Aviva� (LSE: AV ) (NYSE: AV ) , a constituent of the Fool's�Beginners' Portfolio. The insurance firm's dividend was famously slashed for the year to December 2012, from unsustainable yields of more than 8%, and that led to a big dip in the share price.
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