The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, perhaps better known as Obamacare, is certainly one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to come out of the Obama administration. Designed to reform our current health-care system by mandating individuals carry health insurance, and capping insurers medical loss ratios at 80% to ensure patients get the quality of care they expect when they need it, Obamacare's favorable ratings fell in a Kaiser Family Foundation poll last month to their second-lowest level since the bill passed in 2010.
The bill is polarizing, without question. But, with its implementation less than seven months away, Obamacare received a big boost earlier this week with the release of a study on hospital costs by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. In this study, the CMS looked at more than 3,000 hospitals nationwide that accept government-sponsored Medicare and examined the cost for the 100 most frequently billed treatments and procedures. The results of the study were downright frightening and would definitely support the need for accountability, transparency, and some form of regulation with regard to hospital costs.
Best High Tech Companies For 2014: Southern Copper Corporation(SCCO)
Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, producing, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, and Chile. It is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce anode copper; and refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes, as well as refined silver. The company operates Toquepala and Cuajone mines in the Andes Mountains located southeast of the city of Lima, Peru, as well as a smelter and refinery in the coastal city of Ilo, Peru. It also operates La Caridad and Buenavista copper mines, and smelting and refining plants in Mexico. In addition, the company operates five underground mines that produce zinc, copper, lead, silver, and gold; a coal mine which produces coal and coke; and a zinc refinery. Further, it has 145,064 hectares of mineral rights in Peru; 176,250 hectares of exploration concessions in Mexico; 1,068 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina; 35,958 hectares exploration concessions in Chile; and 2,544 hectares of exploration concessions in Ecuador. The company was founded in 1952 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. Southern Copper Corporation is a subsidiary of Americas Mining Corporation.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Mixed signals
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX ) is looking to double its copper sales to the country within the next three years to take advantage of China's interest in expanding concentrate imports by 17% this year.�Southern Copper� (NYSE: SCCO ) , on the other hand, with the industry's largest copper reserves, intends on holding production at the same level it realized in 2012. - [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]
We have evidence in the form of second-quarter results from Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU ) , Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX ) and Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO ) , all three of which hinted at where they believe the two industries are headed. Going over the conference calls, Motley Fool analyst Taylor Muckerman gathered a few interesting tidbits and discusses them with fellow analyst Joel South in the following video.�
- [By Russ Kaplan]
Further, just as Freeport McMoran and Barrick Gold are having their own problems, so are Southern Copper (SCCO) and Rio Tinto (RIO), offering a chance to average down or get in at new positions.
Best High Tech Companies For 2014: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc (CPIX.O)
Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cumberland), incorporated on January 6, 1999, is specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of branded prescription products. Cumberland is focused on acquiring rights to, developing and commercializing prescription products for the hospital care and gastroenterology markets. Its product portfolio includes Acetadote (acetylcysteine), Caldolor (ibuprofen), Kristalose (lactulose) and Hepatoren (ifetroban). As of December 31, 2011, Hepatoren was in Phase II clinical development. The Company markets and sells its products through its hospital and gastroenterology sales forces in the United States. Its pre-clinical product candidates are being developed through its 85% owned subsidiary Cumberland Emerging Technologies, Inc. In November 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of the remaining rights associated with the Kristalose brand, including the United Sates Food and Drug Administrat ion (FDA) registration and trademark. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it acquired rights to a late-stage product candidate that it develops under the brand name Hepatoren.
Acetadote
Acetadote is an intravenous formulation of N-acetylcysteine, or NAC, indicated for the treatment of acetaminophen poisoning. Acetadote is used in hospital emergency departments. In January 2011, the Company received the United Sates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and commenced the United Sates launch activities for this Acetadote formulation.
The Company competes with Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc., Roxane Laboratories, Inc. and Hospira Inc.
Caldolor
Caldolor, Cumberland�� intravenous formulation of ibuprofen, is the injectable product approved in the United States for the treatment of both pain and fever. The product is indicated for use in adults for the management of mild to m oderate pain, for the management of moderate to severe pai! n ! as an adjunct to opioid analgesics, and for the reduction of fever. As of December 31, 2011, it was enrolling patients in four clinical studies designed to support marketing of Caldolor. Two of these clinical trials are designed to support pediatric use, including a pediatric fever study to evaluate safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of Caldolor in hospitalized children ,as well as a pediatric pain study. Two registry studies with Caldolor are also underway and are designed to gather additional safety and efficacy data on use of the product in adults. As of December 31, 2011, Caldolor was available in 800 milligram vials.
The Company competes with EKR Therapeutics, Inc.
Kristalose
Kristalose is a prescription laxative administered orally for the treatment of constipation. Kristalose is a dry powder crystalline formulation of lactulose. Kristalose is manufactured under a contract with Inalco S.p.A. and Inalco Biochemicals, Inc. (colle ctively Inalco). Constipation treatments are sold in both the over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription segments.
The Company competes with Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Braintree Laboratories, Inc.
Top 5 Medical Companies To Own For 2014: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)
Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Other department stores, such as Nordstrom (JWN) and Kohl’s (KSS) are also dedicating more space to active wear, the analysts say.
As a result, Boss and McCormick upgraded Under Armour to Neutral from Underweight. They write:
Best High Tech Companies For 2014: Ace Achieve Infocom Limited (A75.SI)
Ace Achieve Infocom Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the design and development of telecommunication solutions and products for telecommunication networks primarily in the People's Republic of China. It provides telecom application solutions, wireless coverage solutions, operation support and business support systems, and broadband data products. The company also offers proprietary information security platform and end-user mobile platform for small-and-medium enterprises. Ace Achieve Infocom Limited provides its solutions and products to telecommunication networks, including fixed line, GSM, TD-SCDMA, CDMA, CDMA2000, and PHS. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Beijing, the People�s Republic of China. Ace Achieve Infocom Limited is a subsidiary of CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
Best High Tech Companies For 2014: Targa Resources Inc.(TRGP)
Targa Resources Corp., through its general and limited partner interests in Targa Resources Partners LP, provides midstream natural gas and natural gas liquid (NGL) services in the United States. It engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and selling natural gas, as well as storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling NGLs and NGL products. The company owns interests in or operates approximately 11,372 miles of natural gas pipelines and approximately 800 miles of NGL pipelines, with natural gas gathering systems covering approximately 13,500 square miles and 22 natural gas processing plants with access to natural gas supplies in the Permian Basin, the Fort Worth Basin, the onshore region of the Louisiana Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. It owns and operates 39 storage wells with a net storage capacity of approximately 65 million barrels; and 16 storage, marine, and transport terminals with above ground storage capacity of approximately 1.4 million barrels. Targa Resources Corp. sells its services to refineries, petrochemical manufacturers, propane distributors, multi-state retailers, independent retailers, and other industrial end-users. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below. - [By WWW.STANSBERRYRESEARCH.COM]
There are few things in life I know with certainty... But I know this: Barring the end of the world, the price of oil is going to fall and the price of natural gas is going to rise. In my mind, you ought to buy all the natural gas you can afford because these energy resources will not be cheap forever.
There were other signs that natural gas was at a very significant low. First and foremost, Wall Street had gone from being massively long natural gas in 2005 and 2006 to being almost uniformly short. Trading volume on natural gas futures had soared – up 31% in a year, with almost all the financial firms being short. But the most important factor in my analysis was that from a physical, arbitrage perspective, natural gas couldn't get any cheaper. Natural gas is just one form of energy. In theory, as an energy source, it's totally interchangeable with other fossil fuels. Think of it this way: A barrel of oil has 5.825 million British thermal units (Btu) of energy. One thousand cubic feet of gas contains just a little more than 1 million Btu of energy. Thus, on an energy-equivalent basis, you might expect natural gas to trade for one-sixth the price of oil. That doesn't actually happen very often, though... In the real world, oil has vastly more utility. It's far more widely used in transportation, and it's much easier to transport. (It doesn't have to be frozen first, like natural gas does.) So in the real world, historically, oil has carried a 10x premium in price to natural gas on an energy equivalent basis. But last April... the price of oil was trading at over a 50x multiple to the price of natural gas. This enormous premium simply couldn't last – it was impossible. That's why I was telling you to be a pig in natural gas. First, I had studied the investment carefully for a long period of time. Second, I knew that Wall Str - [By Eric Volkman]
The closely related energy firms Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP ) and Targa Resources Partners (NYSE: NGLS ) are teaming up to return more money to shareholders. Both companies have raised the stockholder payouts for their respective Q1s. For the quarter, Resources will dispense a dividend of $0.4950 per share of its common stock on May 16 to shareholders of record as of April 29. Partners will pay $0.6975 per common unit, to be distributed May 15 to unitholders as of April 29.
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