U.S. stocks rallied, giving the Standard & Poor�� 500 Index its biggest gain since January, on better-than-forecast economic data and speculation the Federal Reserve will signal plans to maintain record low interest rates.
Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today, jumped 34 percent after agreeing to buy Belo Corp. for about $1.5 billion. Belo surged 28 percent. Safeway Inc. (SWY) soared 7.4 percent as the second-largest U.S. grocery chain agreed to sell its Canadian stores. DuPont Co. slid 0.7 percent after cutting its forecast.
The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 1.5 percent to 1,636.36 at 4 p.m. in New York. The index had tumbled 1.9 percent over the previous three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 180.85 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,176.08. About 6.3 billion shares traded hands today, in line with the three-month average.
Best Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: 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 Louis Navellier]
Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) is known for providing advisory services, solutions and products to companies, institutional clients and private clients globally. CS stock’s yearly performance has been a sore spot for investors, having dropped more than 40%.
Best Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: NRG Energy Inc.(NRG)
NRG Energy, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a wholesale power generation company. The company engages in the ownership, development, construction, and operation of power generation facilities. It also involves in the transacting in and trading of fuel and transportation services; the trading of energy, capacity, and related products in the United States and internationally; and the supply of electricity, energy services, and cleaner energy and carbon offset products to retail electricity customers in deregulated markets. The company operates natural gas- fired, coal- fired, oil-fired, nuclear, solar, and wind power plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had power generation portfolio of 193 operating fossil fuel and nuclear generation units with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 24,570 megawatt (MW), as well as ownership interests in renewable facilities with an aggregate generation capacity of 470 MW. The company portfolio also includes appr oximately 24,035 MW generation capacity in the United States, and 1,005 MW generation capacity in Australia and Germany. In addition, it has a district energy business with steam and chilled water capacity of approximately 1,140 megawatts thermal equivalent. NRG Energy, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.
Top Energy Companies To Buy For 2014: Enerplus Corporation (ERF)
Enerplus Corporation, together with subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas in United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2011, it had 322 MMBOE of proved plus probable reserves. The company also held a portfolio of approximately 380,000 net acres of land comprised of 75,000 net acres at Fort Berthold targeting the Bakken and Three Forks; 65,000 net acres in the Duvernay; 33,000 net acres in the Montney; 67,000 net acres in the Stacked Mannville; 30,000 net acres in the Cardium and other emerging oil plays in Canada; and 110,000 net acres in the Marcellus. In addition, it had 120 gross producing wells. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Springer]
Enerplus Corp. (NYSE: ERF) is one of Canada's largest oil and gas drillers. The company owns properties in many major resource plays, including the Marcellus Shale. Enerplus has produced solid income growth in the past three years, but results have suffered recently due to weak natural gas prices. As a result, the company was forced to cut its dividend in half last year. Even at the reduced dividend rate, Enerplus offers an attractive 8% dividend yield.
Best Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: 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 Buffett]
Buffett loves a fat pitch -- a stock priced so low that buying it almost guarantees a home run. So when worries that a recession would hit Wells Fargo (WFC) and its heavy exposure to real-estate loans hammered the bank's stock in the 1990, Buffett bought.
There's a similar scenario at play today. So the bank's stock once again looks cheap. Morningstar, a fairly strict value-stock shop, has its highest (five-star) rating on the stock, with a buy limit of $31.50. That means the stock looks like a great buy now, trading at around $28.90.
Banking is a commodity business -- meaning that it's hard for bankers to distinguish their offerings enough to stand out. Buffett hates these kinds of businesses. So what does he still own Wells Fargo? Several reasons, say Buffett experts. First, Wells Fargo management gets top grades, says Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager of the HighMark Value Momentum Fund (HMVMX). Buffett typically gravitates toward companies with outstanding management teams.
Evidence of the management strength at Wells Fargo, says Lowenstein, can be seen in its consistently above-average return on assets, a measure of how well a company produces profits. The bank also has lower loan delinquency and foreclosure rates than competitors, another sign of prudence. And Wells Fargo management is frugal, a quality Buffett famously loves. The bank is currently working on reducing expenses by $1.5 billion a quarter. Management showed that it allocates capital wisely, a quality Buffett likes, when it bought Wachovia bank on the cheap during the credit crisis and turned itself into a national bank. Buffett owns 342.6 million shares, making it one of his largest holdings, according to Tickerspy. (All ownership stats in this piece come from Tickerspy.)
Best Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now: Abbott Laboratories(ABT)
Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of health care products worldwide. The company offers adult and pediatric pharmaceuticals for rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, and Crohn's disease; dyslipidemia; HIV infection; prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty, and anemia caused by uterine fibroids; respiratory syncytial virus; adult males who have low or no testosterone; secondary hyperparathyroidism; hypothyroidism; and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, as well as anesthesia products. It also provides diagnostic products, such as immunoassay systems; chemistry systems; assays used for screening and/or diagnosis for drugs of abuse, cancer, therapeutic drug monitoring, fertility, physiological, and infectious diseases; instruments that automate the extraction, purification, and preparation of DNA and RNA from patient samples, and detect and measure infections agents; genomic-b ased tests; hematology systems and reagents; and point-of-care diagnostic systems and tests for blood analysis. In addition, the company offers a line of pediatric and adult nutritional products. Further, it provides coronary, endovascular, vessel closure, and structural heart devices, such as drug-eluting stent systems, coronary metallic stents, balloon dilatation products, coronary guidewires, vessel closure devices, carotid stent systems, percutaneous valve repair systems, and drug eluting bioresorbable vascular products. Additionally, the company provides blood glucose monitoring meters, test strips, data management software, and accessories for people with diabetes; and medical devices for the eye, including cataract surgery, lasik surgery, contact lens, and dry eye products, as well as branded generic pharmaceutical products. Abbott primarily serves retailers, wholesalers, hospitals, and health care facilities. Abbott was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Brush]
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has a dividend yield of 3.6%
Among the company's best-selling drugs are Humira, used to treat autoimmune diseases, and Kaletra, a treatment for HIV and AIDS. The company also sells medical devices, including stents, blood diagnostic kits and nutritional products.
Abbott has a few potential blockbusters in its pipeline, including a treatment for kidney disease. "It's just a good defensive, cash-generating vehicle," says Wright.
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