The U.S. energy boom is exciting, it's notable, and it could change the world. At the same time, there are still plenty of places around the world that will need to import oil. The major supplier of that demand has been, and will continue to be, the Middle East. The nations that constitute the Middle East produce about 30% of the world's oil, and some countries in the region are looking to step up their game.
The biggest plans to increase production in the Middle East right now focus on Iraq. Ministers in the country hope to triple production by the end of the decade. Thanks to sizable investments from the big integrated oil majors and oil services companies, it's possible that the country might meet that goal.
Demand in some parts of the world may be waning, but growth elsewhere in the world more than makes up for it. The big market for more oil will be in developing nations, most notably Brazil, China, and India. As long as these countries continue to grow at a staggering pace, they will need oil to fuel that engine. Tune into the video below where Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe check in with Fool analyst Joel South to discuss the prospects for Middle Eastern oil production and assess the demand from emerging countries.
Hot Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2015: Xerium Technologies Inc.(XRM)
Xerium Technologies, Inc. manufactures and supplies consumable products used in the production of paper clothing and roll covers primarily in North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates in two segments, Clothing and Roll Covers. The Clothing segment provides various types of industrial textiles used on paper-making machines and other industrial applications. This segment offers forming fabrics, press felts, and dryer fabrics; and fabrics used in other industrial applications, such as pulp, steel, plastics, leather, and textiles manufacturing. The Roll Covers segment manufactures, refurbishes, and replaces roll covers for working rolls, including vacuum rolls and press rolls; calendar rolls; and coater rolls that are used on paper-making machines. This segment also refurbishes previously installed roll covers; provides mechanical maintenance and repair services for the internal mechanisms of rolls used on paper-making machines; and manufactures a nd repairs spreader rolls. The company markets its products through its direct sales force under Huyck Wangner, Weavexx, Stowe Woodward, Mount Hope, Robec, and Xibe brand names. Xerium Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
One cyclical consumer goods player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Xerium Technologies (XRM), a manufacturer and supplier of two types of consumable products, clothing and roll covers, used mainly in the production of paper. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up sharply by 313%.
If you take a look at the chart for Xerium Technologies, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months and change, with shares moving higher from its low of $9.94 to its recent high of $12.97 a share. During that uptrend, shares of XRM have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of XRM within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in XRM if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $12.97 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 100,685 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then XRM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $14.04 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give XRM a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $18 to $20 a share.
Traders can look to buy XRM off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some near-term support at $12.28, or near its 50-day at $11.35 a share. One can also buy XRM off strength once it takes out $12.97 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: UBS AG (UBS)
UBS AG, incorporated on February 28, 1978, is a client-focused financial services company that offers a combination of wealth management, asset management and investment banking services on a global and regional basis. UBS AG is the parent company of the UBS Group (Group).The operational structure of the Company consists of the Corporate Center and four business divisions: Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, Wealth Management Americas, Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated about 877 business and banking locations worldwide, of which about 42% were in Switzerland, 42% in the Americas, 11% in the rest of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and 5% in Asia-Pacific. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it completed acquisitions in Global Asset Management and in the equities business of the Investment Bank. In November 2011, investment management responsibility for a private equity fund of funds was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank. In October 2011, Global Asset Management acquired ING Investment Management Limited business in Australia. In July 2011, the infrastructure and private equity fund of funds businesses were transferred from its alternative and quantitative investment area to its infrastructure investment area. In January 2011, investment management responsibility for a multi-manager alternative fund was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank.
Wealth Management
Wealth Management provides wealthy private clients with financial advice, products and tools to fit their individual needs. As of December 31, 2011, Wealth Management had presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. During 2011, the Company had CHF 750 billion of invested assets. The Company offers products and services to private! clients, focusing in particular on the ultra-high-net-worth (clients with investable assets of more than CHF 50 million) and high-net-worth client segments (clients with investable assets between CHF 2 million and CHF 50 million). In addition, it also provides wealth management solutions, products and services to financial intermediaries. Wealth Management has a presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
The Company�� Global Financial Intermediaries (Global FIM) business serves approximately 1,700 asset managers. It provides its clients with the financial advice, products and tools. The Company�� clients can trade a range of financial instruments from single securities, such as equities and bonds, to various investment funds, structured products and alternative investments. Additionally, it offers structured lending, corporate finance and wealth planning advice on client needs, such as funding for education, inheritance and succession. For its ultra high net worth clients, it offers institutional-like servicing that provides access to its Investment Bank and Global Asset Management offerings. Wealth Management also gives clients access to the knowledge, and product and service offerings from Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank, complemented by an open product platform providing access to an array of products from third-party providers.
The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Julius Bar, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays and Unicredit.
Retail & Corporate
The Company delivers financial products and services to its retail, corporate and institutional clients. The Retail & Corporate unit is a core element of UBS Switzerland�� universal bank delivery model. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a network of around 300 branches, 1,250 automated teller machines! , self-se! rvice terminals and customer service centers, alongside e-banking and mobile banking. The Company�� retail clients have access to offering, including cash accounts, payments, savings and retirement solutions, investment fund products, residential mortgages, as well as life insurance and advisory services. It provides financing solutions to its corporate clients, offering access to capital markets (equity and debt capital), syndicated and structured credit, private placements, leasing and traditional financing. The Company�� transaction banking offers solutions for payments and cash management services, trade and export finance, receivable finance, as well as global custody solutions to institutional clients.
The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen and PostFinance.
Wealth Management Americas
Wealth Management Americas provides advice-based relationships through its financial advisors, who deliver a range of wealth management solutions. On December 31, 2011, the business division had CHF 709 billion in invested assets. Wealth Management Americas consisted of branch networks in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, with 6,967 financial advisors as of 31 December 2011. Most corporate and operational functions of the business division are located in the home office in Weehawken, New Jersey. In the United States and Puerto Rico, Wealth Management Americas operates through direct and indirect subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities and operations activities are conducted primarily through two broker-dealers, UBS Financial Services Inc. and UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico. Its banking services in the United States include those conducted through the UBS AG branches and UBS Bank USA, a federally regulated Utah bank, which provides Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured deposit accounts. It includes the domestic US business, the domestic Canadian business and international business booked in the United States.
Ca! nadian we! alth management and banking operations are conducted through UBS Bank (Canada). The Company�� include wealth accumulation and preservation, income generation and portfolio diversification. The Company�� advisors work closely with internal consultants in areas, such as wealth planning, portfolio strategy, retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income. It also offers lending and cash management services, such as securities-backed lending, the resource management account, FDIC-insured deposits, mortgages and credit cards. For corporate and institutional clients, it offers a range of solutions, including equity compensation, administration, investment consulting, defined benefit and contribution programs and cash management services. It offers a range of equity and fixed income instruments.
The Company competes with Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
Global Asset Management
The Company serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. The Company�� fund services unit, a global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal fund set-up, accounting and reporting. Invested assets totaled CHF 574 billion and assets under administration were CHF 375 billion on December 31, 2011. Global Asset Management serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients, and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. Global Asset Management�� business lines include traditional investments (equities, fixed income and global investment solutions); alternative and quantitative investments; global real estate; infrastructure and private equity, and fund services.
Global ! investment solutions offer asset allocation, currency, multi-manager, structured solutions, risk advisory and strategic investment advisory services. Alternative and quantitative investments has two primary business lines-Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) and O��onnor. AIS offers a range of hedge fund solutions and advisory services, including multi-manager strategies. O��onnor is a provider of single-manager global hedge funds. Global real estate manages real estate investments globally and regionally within Asia, Europe, Switzerland and the United States. Infrastructure and private equity manages direct infrastructure investment and multi-manager infrastructure and private equity strategies for both institutional and high net worth investors. Infrastructure asset management manages direct investments in core infrastructure assets worldwide. Fund services, the global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal set-up, reporting and accounting for retail and institutional investment funds, hedge funds and other alternative products.The Company competes with Fidelity Investments, AllianceBernstein Investments, BlackRock, JP Morgan Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Investment Bank
The Investment Bank provides a range of products and services in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities to corporate and institutional clients, sovereign and government bodies, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers and UBS�� wealth management clients. The Investment Bank has three business areas: equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC), and the investment banking department. The Company operates through branches and subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities activities in the United States are conducted through UBS Securities LLC, a broker-dealer. Securities research provides investment analysis across a range of asset classes of more than 3,400 companies worldwide.
The ! Company p! articipates in the primary and secondary markets for cash equity and equity-related products, including listed options, structured products, equity-linked securities, swaps, futures and over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts. Cash equities provide clients with liquidity, investment advisory, trade execution and related consultancy services. It offers trade execution for single stocks and portfolios, including capital commitment, block trading, small-cap execution and commission management services. In addition, it also provides clients with a range of electronic trading algorithms and analytical tools. Derivatives and equity-linked provides a range of flow, structured, synthetic and equity-linked products with worldwide access to primary and secondary markets.
Prime services offer brokerage business, including clearing and custody, capital consultancy, financing, securities lending and equity swaps execution. The FICC business area delivers products and solutions to corporate, institutional and public-sector clients in all markets, as well as to private clients via targeted intermediaries. Macro consists of the foreign exchange, money market and interest rate sales and trading businesses, as well as cash and collateral trading. It provides a range of foreign exchange, precious metals, treasury, and liquidity management solutions to institutional and private clients via targeted intermediaries. Credit sales and trading consists of the origination, underwriting, trading and distribution of cash and synthetic products across the credit spectrum - bonds, derivatives, notes and loans.
The investment banking department provides advice and a range of capital markets execution services to corporate clients, financial institutions, financial sponsors, sovereign clients and hedge funds. The Company also provides liquidity in local markets across foreign exchange, credit, rates and structured products. The advisory group assists in acquisitions and sale processes, and also advises on! reviews ! and corporate restructuring solutions. Global capital markets is a joint venture with the securities business. It offers financing and advisory services that cover all forms of capital raising, as well as risk management solutions. Global leveraged finance provides event-driven (acquisition, leveraged buyout) loans, and bond and mezzanine leveraged finance to corporate clients and financial sponsors.
The Company competes with Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Jeff Chiu/AP So far, 2014 has been a high-scoring year for initial public stock offerings. The first quarter saw more IPO activity than any other initial quarter since 2000, with 64 companies listing on various U.S. exchanges raising a collective $10.6 billion. That's more than double the number of IPOs that took place in the first quarter of 2013. This is directly related to the health of the overall stock market. Generally speaking, the better shares are performing, the higher the chance of an issuer being successful on IPO day. After all, who's eager to buy anything when the market's in the doldrums? Yet even in a good environment for IPOs, companies occasionally get the jitters and withdraw their listings. Sometimes this is due to the overall atmosphere on the market; sometimes it's because of difficulties with the issuing company itself; sometimes it's both. Whatever the reason(s), the notable examples below scampered away before they could become publicly traded entities. Square One of the top anticipated IPOs of 2014 was for this cutting-edge e-commerce company, which pioneered the use of smartphone and tablet payment card readers. Then there's Square's impeccable geek credentials, thanks in no small part to its founder-CEO Jack Dorsey, who was one of the guiding lights behind Twitter (TWTR). That, apparently, wasn't enough to bring it to market. In late February, media reports had it that the company postponed its planned IPO indefinitely. It seems that it's burning through cash very quickly and doesn't have enough revenue to cover this. Instead of listing on an exchange, the firm is reportedly looking for a deep-pocketed suitor and has allegedly held discussions with Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) and eBay (EBAY), and possibly even one of its investors, Visa (V), regarding a potential buyout. Square denies it has been in acquisition talks. Trustwave Holdings Another nonstarter in the tech IPO space was Trustwave, which provides on-demand data secu
- [By CNBC]
Richard Drew/AP Social media site Twitter (TWTR) saw its shares tumble 17 percent in extended-hours trading despite reporting quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street expectations. Analysts gave a mixed assessment of the company's fortunes on Thursday morning, highlighting key areas in which the microblogging company needed to improve in order for its share price to continue its meteoric rise. That rise which has seen it appreciate 47 percent in the 60 trading days since its initial public offering. Swiss bank UBS (UBS) was least impressed. A team led by Eric Sheridan downgraded its view on the stock to "sell" rating from "neutral" due to negative trends in Twitter's user growth and engagement. "Given the likely forward effort to improve user growth and engagement [including product development costs], we see little potential for upside in estimates over coming quarters. Even after last night's stock correction, Twitter remains one of the most expensive stocks in our universe," the bank said in a note on Thursday morning. Twitter posted earnings of 2 cents a share for the fourth quarter, excluding one-time items, on sales of $243 million, on Wednesday after the close. The numbers beat expectations in a Reuters poll but the more detailed metrics had analysts scribbling into the early hours. The company said it averaged 241 million monthly users, up just 3.8 percent from the previous quarter -- the lowest rate since Twitter began disclosing its user figures. And timeline views dropped sharply from 159 billion to 148 billion in the quarter, signaling that users were refreshing their Twitter accounts less often. UBS added that Twitter needed to demonstrate a clearer trajectory of user and advertising growth in order for it to become more constructive on the stock. It still considered it to be a "unique social media platform" with long-term monetization potential. It gave it a 12-month price target of $45, against Wednesday's closing price of $65.97 a
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: Regis Corporation(RGS)
Regis Corporation owns, operates, and franchises hairstyling and hair care salons in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Puerto Rico, and internationally. It offers haircutting and styling, including shampooing and conditioning; hair coloring; and waving to men, women, and children. The company also owns and operates hair restoration centers, which provide hair systems, hair transplants, and hair therapy services, as well as hair care products. Its salons operate primarily under the Regis Salons, MasterCuts, SmartStyle, Supercuts, Cost Cutters, Sassoon, Promenade salons, Hair Masters, First Choice Haircutters, Magicuts, and Hair Club trade names in regional shopping malls, strip centers, lifestyle centers, Wal-Mart supercenters, department stores, mass merchants, and high-street locations. As of June 30, 2011, the company owned, franchised, or held ownership interests in approximately 12,700 locations. Regis Corporation was founded in 1922 and is headquartered i n Edina, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Amal Singh]
Some companies in the beauty and personal care segment have one important characteristic -- a recession-proof nature, which is a result of everyone's desire to look beautiful and young. This brings us to Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ: ULTA ) and Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE: SBH ) . Both have performed quite well over the last few years, as shown in the chart below, even during the recession (the gray area being the recession period). Their performance stands in stark contrast to that of�Regis (NYSE: RGS ) , which has seen its top line drop continuously after peaking in 2008.
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: Wausau Paper Corp. (WPP)
Wausau Paper Corp. manufactures, converts, and sells paper and paper products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Tissue and Paper. The Tissue segment produces and sells paper towel and tissue products for the ?away-from-home? market, including washroom roll and folded towels, windshield folded towels, industrial wipers, dairy towels, household roll towels, and various towel, tissue, and soap dispensers, as well as other premium towel and tissue products to paper and sanitary supply distributors under the DublSoft, EcoSoft, OptiCore, Revolution, Dubl-Nature, and Dubl-Tough names. The Paper segment focuses on four core markets comprising food, industrial and tape, coated and liner, and print and color. This segment manufactures products for food processing, food packaging, and foodservice, such as products used for baking applications, microwave popcorn, and other cheese and meat processing products; products for interleaving, saturating, coating, unsaturated crepe base, and a range of micro markets; specialty liners, and siliconized release papers for use in pressure sensitive tapes, specialty label applications, the production of fiber composite applications, and casting sheets used in the production of solar cells; and uncoated printing, writing, text, cover, and board grades for commercial printers, in-plant print shops, quick printers, copy centers, and office supply and mass merchandisers under the Wausau Paper, EcoSelect, ExperTec, DuraTec, InvenTec, ProGard, ProRedi, ProPly, ProTec, Astrobrights, Royal, Exact, Professional Series, Intrigue, and Creative Collection names. This segment also produces a range of custom color products, which include matte board, end leaf, and luxury packaging applications. Wausau Paper Corp. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Mosinee, Wisconsin.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
In the second half of the year, Crescent established new positions in a few companies that have more such global footprints. We initiated investments in Google (GOOG), as well as the advertising agencies Interpublic (IPG) and WPP (WPP). The fortunes of all three are tied directly to the level of global advertising spend, and they all saw their shares prices decline due to concerns of a recession-related slowdown. At our purchase price, we believe we were buying each at roughly 11-13x our estimated earnings for 2012 should the fears of a macroeconomic slowdown prove correct. This strikes us as a very reasonable multiple to pay for asset-light global businesses that generate strong free cash flow across the business cycle and have the capability to grow earnings greater than GDP in a normal economic environment.
- [By Mariko Yasu]
Dentsu paid 3.16 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) for Aegis as Japan�� biggest agency competes with global firms including WPP Plc (WPP) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) With Japan�� benchmark Topix index on pace for its best result since 2005, the 112-year-old company is tapping an equities boom to fund the deal that added the largest independent buyer of advertising space and reduced its reliance on the domestic market.
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: Eagle Materials Inc (EXP)
Eagle Materials Inc., incorporated on January 27, 1994, manufactures and distributes gypsum wallboard and also manufactures and sells cement. Gypsum wallboard is distributed throughout the United States with particular emphasis in the geographic markets nearest to its production facilities. The Company sells cement in six regional markets, including northern Nevada and California, the greater Chicago area, the Rocky Mountain region, the Central Plains region and Texas. Its gypsum wallboard business is supported by its recycled paperboard business, while its cement business is supported by its concrete and aggregates business. The Company operates in Cement and Concrete and Aggregates, and Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments. As of March 31, 2013, the Company operated six cement plants (one of which belongs to its joint venture company), five gypsum wallboard plants, one recycled paperboard plant, seventeen concrete batching plants and four aggregates facilities. The Company�� products are used in the construction and renovation of houses, roads, bridges, commercial and industrial buildings and other, newer generation structures like wind farms.
Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Operations
The Company�� cement production facilities are located in or near Buda, Texas; LaSalle, Illinois; Laramie, Wyoming; Sugar Creek, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fernley, Nevada. The Company�� cement subsidiaries are wholly-owned except the Buda, Texas plant, which is owned by Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP, a limited partnership joint venture owned 50% by the Company and 50% by Lehigh Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG. Its LaSalle, Illinois plant operates under the name of Illinois Cement Company; the Laramie, Wyoming plant operates under the name of Mountain Cement Company; the Fernley, Nevada plant operates under the name of Nevada Cement Company and its Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants operate under the name Central Plains Cement Com! pany. The Company produces and distributes ready-mix concrete from Company-owned sites north of Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas and the greater Kansas City area. The Company�� activities in its frac sand business are in the Utica, Illinois area and in south Texas. The Company sells aggregates to building contractors and other customers engaged in a variety of construction activities.
Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard Operations
The Company owns five gypsum wallboard manufacturing facilities. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� gypsum wallboard production totaled 1,950 million square feet. Total gypsum wallboard sales were 1,909 million square feet during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013). The Company also manufactures alternative products, including containerboard grades (such as linerboard and medium) and lightweight packaging grades (such as bag liner). In addition, recycled industrial paperboard grades (tube/core stock and protective angle board stock) are produced to maximize manufacturing efficiencies. The Company�� manufactured recycled paperboard products are sold to gypsum wallboard manufacturers and other industrial users.
The Company competes with USG Corporation, National Gypsum Company and Koch Industries.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Tomorrow, Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Cement and building materials maker�Eagle Materials� (NYSE: EXP ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2008.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top decliners in the sector included Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), off 6.3 percent, and Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), down 4.3 percent.
Top Headline
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced its plans to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX) for up to $1.46 billion. Forest will pay around $95 per share, or around $1.1 billion in cash. Forest Labs will also pay up to $30 per share, or around $360 million in a contingent value right. The deal is projected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014. - [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Top decliners in the sector included Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), off 6.3 percent, and Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), down 4.3 percent.
Top Headline
Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) announced its plans to buy Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX) for up to $1.46 billion. Forest will pay around $95 per share, or around $1.1 billion in cash. Forest Labs will also pay up to $30 per share, or around $360 million in a contingent value right. The deal is projected to close in the second or third quarter of 2014.
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: Cyberonics Inc (CYBX)
Cyberonics, Inc. (Cyberonics), incorporated in 1987, is a medical device company. The Company is engaged in the design, development, sales and marketing of implantable medical devices that provide a neuromodulation therapy, vagus nerve stimulation therapy (VNS Therapy), for the treatment of refractory epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and other device solutions for the management of epilepsy.VNS Therapy System includes an implantable pulse generator to provide stimulation to the vagus nerve; a lead that connects the generator to the vagus nerve; equipment to assist with implantation surgery; equipment to assist with setting the stimulation parameters for each patient; instruction manuals, and magnets to suspend or induce stimulation manually. The VNS Therapy pulse generator and lead are surgically implanted into patients generally during an outpatient procedure. The VNS Therapy System consists of a pulse generator, a bipolar lead, a programming wand and software and a tunneling tool.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Company's VNS Therapy System in July 1997 for use as an adjunctive therapy in epilepsy patients over 12 years of age for reducing the frequency of partial onset seizures that are refractory or resistant to antiepileptic drugs. Regulatory bodies in Canada, the European Economic Area, certain countries in Eastern Europe, Russia, South America, Africa, Australia and certain countries in Asia, including Japan, China and Taiwan, have approved the VNS Therapy System for the treatment of epilepsy, many without age restrictions or seizure-type limitations. In July 2005, the FDA approved the Company's VNS Therapy System for the adjunctive long-term treatment of chronic or recurrent depression for patients 18 years of age or older who are experiencing a depressive episode and have not had an adequate response to four or more adequate anti-depressant treatments. Regulatory bodies in the European Economic Area, Canada and Israel have approv! ed the Company's VNS Therapy System for the treatment of chronic or recurrent depression in patients who are in a treatment-resistant or treatment-intolerant depressive episode without age restrictions.
In February 2011, the Company announced FDA approval of its fifth generation generator, the AspireHC generator. In August 2011, the Company announced that the Company discovered a hardware-related design issue with the AspireHC Model 105 and AspireSR (Seizure Response) Model 106 generators. In December 2011, the FDA approved the Company's re-designed AspireHC generator, and the Company resumed its limited commercial release of the generator in the United States.
Pulse Generator
The pulse generator is an implantable, programmable signal generator designed to be coupled with the bipolar lead to deliver mild electrical pulses to the vagus nerve. The pulse generator is a battery-powered device. Before or upon depletion of the battery, the pulse generator may be removed and a new generator implanted in a short, outpatient procedure. The Model 102 (Pulse), Model 102R (Pulse Duo ), Model 103 (Demipulse), Model 104 (Demipulse Duo) and Model 105 (AspireHC), are the VNS Therapy pulse generators the Company offers and are similar in design and manufactures to a cardiac pacemaker.
Bipolar Lead
The bipolar lead conducts the electrical signal from the pulse generator to the vagus nerve. The lead incorporates electrodes, which are self-sizing, minimizing mechanical trauma to the nerve. The lead's two electrodes and anchor tether wrap around the vagus nerve, and the connector end is tunneled subcutaneously to the upper chest area, where it attaches to the pulse generator. The Company offers three lead models in the United States. The leads are available in two inner spiral diameter sizes to ensure optimal electrode placement on different-sized nerves.
Programming Wand and Software
The Company's programming wand and software are us! ed to int! errogate the implanted pulse generator and to transmit programming information from a handheld computer to the pulse generator via an inductive coupling. Programming capabilities include modification of the pulse generator's programmable parameters (pulse width, amplitude and frequency and stimulation ON and OFF intervals) and storage and retrieval of telemetry data.
Tunneling Tool
The tunneling tool is a single use, sterile, disposable surgical tool designed to be used during surgical placement of the bipolar lead. The tool is used for subcutaneous tunneling of the lead between the nerve site in the neck and the pulse generator site in the upper chest area.
Accessory Pack
The accessory pack includes two resistor assemblies used to test the function of the device prior to implantation, the bipolar lead tie-downs and one hex screwdriver. The patient kit includes two magnets, one watch-style and one pager-style.
The Company competes with Medtronic, Inc., NeuroSigma Inc. and CerboMed GmbH.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
Investors who were hoping things would work out for epilepsy treatment company Cyberonics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYBX) can cross CYBX off their list of epilepsy-oriented stocks to buy, as they did with Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ACOR) about a month ago. ACOR saw its epilepsy drug Plumiaz rejected by the FDA in early May, while CYBX announced this morning that the coming fiscal year's (beginning in April) revenue would be weaker than first expected as sales of its epileptic control implant device didn't look quite as promising as hoped.
Top Oil Service Companies To Invest In Right Now: SunCoke Energy Inc (SXC)
SunCoke Energy, Inc. (SunCoke), incorporated on December 8, 2010, is an independent producer of coke, a principal raw material in the integrated steelmaking process. The Company has United States cokemaking operations in Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Outside the United States, SunCoke has cokemaking operations in Vitoria, Brazil and Odisha, India. The Company�� coal mining operations, which have more than 110 million tons of proven and probable reserves, are located in Virginia and West Virginia. In January 2012, SunCoke Energy, Inc. was spun off from Sunoco, Inc.
The Company has designed, developed and built, and owned and operated five cokemaking facilities in the United States (U.S.) and designed and operate one cokemaking facility in Brazil under licensing and operating agreements on behalf of its customer. The cokemaking facility operated in Brazil has cokemaking capacity of approximately 1.7 million tons of coke per year. As of December 31, 2012, its mining area consisted of 13 active underground mines and two active surface and highwall mine in Russell and Buchanan Counties in Virginia and McDowell County, West Virginia. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� coal mining production was 1.5 million ton.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 66 acres in Vansant (Buchanan County), Virginia, on which the Jewell coke making facility is located, along with an additional 2,550 acres. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 250 acres in Russell County, Virginia owned by the HKCC Companies. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 400 acres in Franklin Furnace (Scioto County), Ohio. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 41 acres in Granite City (Madison County), Illinois, adjacent to the U.S. Steel Granite City Works facility. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned approximately 250 acres in Middletown (Butler County), Ohio near AK Steel�� Middletown Works facility. The Company leas! ed approximately 88 acres of land located in East Chicago (Lake County), Indiana. As of December 31, 2012, the Company leased approximately 22 acres of land located in Buchanan County, Virginia The Company owns and operates coal mining operations in Virginia and West Virginia that sold approximately 1.3 million tons of metallurgical coal (including internal sales to its cokemaking operations) and 0.2 million tons of thermal coal in 2012. During the year ended December 31, 2012, 69% of the coal the Company sold was used at its Jewell cokemaking facility and 8% was used at its other domestic cokemaking facilities. In addition, through its Jewell coal affiliates and the HKCC Companies, the Company lease small parcels of land, mineral rights and coal mining rights for approximately 127 thousand acres of land in Buchanan and Russell Counties, Virginia and McDowell County, West Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) was started with a Buy rating and given a $22 price target (versus a $16.77 close). SunCoke mines and produces coke and offers metallurgical and thermal coal for steel making.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Mehta and Joshi also maintained their Sell rating on Arch Coal (ACI) and see the most upside in Buy-rates SunCoke Energy (SXC), which they see hitting $26, and Peabody Energy (BTU), which could hit $21.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Each month, Credit Suisse’s small-cap strategists ask the firm’s analyst to name their favorite small- and mid-cap stocks. This month, six new stocks made the list: RPM International (RPM), SunCoke Energy (SXC), Zions Bancorp (ZION), Signature Bank (SBNY), Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and�Rexnord (RXN).
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