5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now

With shares of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKA) trading around $166,400, is BRKA an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities. It is one of the few�publicly owned and successful investment managers.�The company is primarily engaged in insurance businesses conducted on both a primary basis and a reinsurance basis. Warren Buffett has led Berkshire Hathaway to great successes as one of the best performing investment managers of our time. The insurance business continues to see significant progress as consumers, investors, and companies look now, more than ever, to mitigate new and existing risks. Following a well performing investment process, look for Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to lead Berkshire Hathaway towards rising profits.

5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now: Aon Corporation(AON)

Aon Corporation provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services primarily in the United States, the Americas, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company?s Risk Solutions segment offers retail brokerage products and services, including affinity products, general underwriting management services, placement services, and captive management services; and advisory services to technology, financial services, agribusiness, aviation, construction, health care, and energy industries, as well as facilitates various risk management solutions for property liability, general liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, workers' compensation, and various healthcare products. This segment also provides risk consulting services comprising captive management; eSolutions products that enable clients to manage risks, policies, claims, and safet y concerns through an integrated technology platform; reinsurance brokerage services, such as actuarial, enterprise risk management, catastrophe management, and rating agency advisory services; property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines, which include professional liability, medical malpractice, accident, life, and health, as well as capital management transaction and advisory services. Its HR Solutions segment offers human capital services in the areas of health and benefits, retirement, compensation, and strategic human capital; and benefits administration and human resource business process outsourcing services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.GURUFOCUS.COM]

  For the YTD, Aon (AON), the world's largest insurance broker and a leading benefits management firm, was among the Fund's largest contributors as the company's lower tax rate and increasing cash flow helped drive a 35% return. Higher interest rates will increase fiduciary income and help close the gap in the underfunded pension. Although nascent, Aon's healthcare exchange for corporate employees is gaining critical mass, most recently adding Walgreen Co in the third quarter. We applaud Greg Case and his team for their customer- focused, shareholder-oriented leadership.

5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Genworth Financial, Inc., a financial security company, provides insurance, wealth management, investment, and financial solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers various insurance and fixed annuity products, including life and long-term care insurance products; payment protection insurance products for consumers primarily to meet specified payment obligations; and wealth management products, such as managed account programs with advisor support and financial planning services. It also provides mortgage insurance products and related services to insure prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans or flow mortgage insurance; and mortgage insurance on a structured or bulk basis, as well as offers services, analytical tools, and technology that enable lenders to operate and manage risk. In addition, the company provides institutional products consisting of funding agreements, funding agreements backing notes, and guaranteed in vestment contracts. Genworth Financial, Inc. distributes its products and services through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors, affinity groups, and sales specialists. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Genworth Financial (GNW) gained 3.9% to $12.73–the second best in the S&P 500–after reports that it would probably go ahead with an IPO of its Australian unit next year and filed for a rate increase on some long-term care insurance policies.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) will release its quarterly report tomorrow, but investors have already gotten a head-start in celebrating. With the recovery in housing greatly bolstering the creditworthiness of mortgage-backed securities compared to their financial-crisis lows, companies that insure those bonds against loss have bounced back sharply, and Genworth earnings look poised to reap the benefits.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  The life and retirement segments at Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) , Hartford Finanical (NYSE: HIG  ) , and ING (NYSE: VOYA  ) were among 11 insurers slapped with a new settlement for unpaid benefits. In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jessica Alling discusses how the insurers misconduct lead to unpaid monies, how much the settlement is, and how investors should be looking at the situation.

• [By Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson]

  On its road to recovery since the financial crisis, shares of Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) have more than doubled in value over the past year, and those gains continued this week. Are the good times set to keep rolling?

Hot Small Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Jordon]

  There's talk that Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK), could possibly be involved in a privatization bid for the company. Consider:

• [By Infinity Group]

  With 515 million shares outstanding, this equates to 33% of all shares being shorted. It should also be noted that Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK) is holding 51.8 million BlackBerry shares. Prem Watsa stated at the annual FairFax shareholders meeting that Fairfax is holding a long position with BlackBerry and anticipates shareholder value increasing over the next 2-3 years. The cost basis for FairFax financial holdings is approximately $17 per BlackBerry share.

5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now: Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC)

Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., a professional services company, provides advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy, and human capital. It operates in two segments, Risk and Insurance Services, and Consulting. The Risk and Insurance Services segment provides risk management and insurance broking, reinsurance broking, and insurance program management services for businesses, public entities, insurance companies, associations, professional services organizations, and private clients. The Consulting segment offers advice and services to the managements of organizations in the area of human resource consulting, comprising retirement and investments, health and benefits, outsourcing and talent; and strategy and risk management consulting, such as management, economic, and brand consulting. The company also provides investment consulting services for endowments and foundations in the United States; health and benefit recordkeeping, and employee enrollment technology; human resource knowledge, data, and solutions for professionals in various industries; and Medicaid policy consulting services. It principally serves customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Asia Pacific, and Continental Europe. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Progressive (PGR) was downgraded from Strong Buy to Market Perform at Raymond James, while Marsh & McLennan (MMC) was cut to Outperform from Strong Buy.

5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now: Old Republic International Corporation(ORI)

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various insurance and mortgage guaranty products in North America. The company operates in three segments: General Insurance, Mortgage Guaranty, and Title Insurance. The General Insurance segment provides liability insurance coverages to businesses, government, and other institutions in commercial construction, forest products, energy, general manufacturing, and financial services industries; and transportation, including trucking and general aviation industries. It provides various insurance products, such as automobile extended warranty, aviation, commercial automobile insurance, general liability, home warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers? compensation, as well as liability coverage for claims arising from the acts of owners or employees, and protection for the physical assets of businesses. This segment also offers financial indemnity products, such as consumer credit indemnity , errors and omissions/directors and officers, guaranteed asset protection, and surety, as well as bonds that cover the exposures for losses of monies, or debt and equity securities due to acts of employee dishonesty. The Mortgage Guaranty segment insures first mortgage loans, primarily on residential properties incorporating one-to-four family dwelling units to mortgage bankers, brokers, commercial banks, and savings institutions. The Title Insurance segment provides lenders' and owners' title insurance policies to real estate purchasers and investors based upon searches of the public records. It also provides escrow closing and construction disbursement services; and real estate information products, national default management services, and services related to real estate transfers and loan transactions. Old Republic International Corporation markets its products directly, as well as through insurance agents and brokers. The company was founded in 1887 and is based in Chi cago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Fredrik Arnold]

  Ten Champion dogs that promised the biggest dividend yields into July included firms representing five of nine market sectors. The top stocks were three of five from the financial sector: Universal Health Realty Trust (UHT); Mercury General Corp. (MCY); Old Republic Int'l (ORI). The other two financial firms, HCP Inc., and United Bankshares Inc. (UBSI), placed sixth and eighth.

How vital are ratings of a company by agencies?

A: The rating agency will give you rating at that time on the basis of information available to them so, AAA rating means the highest safety. But that is on the basis of that information. Go five years back, most of the infrastructure company had highest rating and today these companies are not doing too well so, a customer who is investing directly in bond or directly in the deposit run that risk.

Suppose, the same money come through mutual fund at least you can exit any time because you can look at the portfolio. Portfolio has 20-30 names, you have a company deposit, you have a company bond, you have a bank CD, G-Sec everything in the portfolio so one invest in a well diversified portfolio.

Third, the reliability of the rating agency in my opinion anywhere in the world is not very high. That is the beginning. That is not the end of investing, that is the beginning of investing. You look at the good rating then you do your investigation. Suppose you can't do your investigation you should not manage your money directly.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now

For investors looking for capital growth rather than regular current income through dividend pay outs, growth funds would be a good choice. These funds reinvest their return and focus on long term capital appreciation. Investors need to have higher tolerance to risk as their capital remains unavailable to them for a longer period of time. These funds mainly select those securities for investment that have higher growth potential and whose values are estimated to rise over the long term.

Below we will share with you the 5 best performing growth mutual funds year to date. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all growth funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.

Mutual Fund

Zacks Rank

Total Return YTD

Hodges

#3 Hold

28.08%

Vanguard Capital Opportunity

#2 Buy

23.11%

Biondo Focus Investor

#3 Hold

22.02%

PRIMECAP Odyssey Growth

#1 Strong Buy

21.08%

Vanguard PRIMECAP

#1 Strong Buy

19.61%

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: Xstrata(XTA.L)

Xstrata plc operates as a diversified metals and mining company in Switzerland and internationally. It primarily explores for copper, thermal or energy coal, metallurgical or coking coal, nickel, zinc, ferrochrome, platinum, and vanadium; palladium and rhodium; and gold, cobalt, iron, lead, and silver deposits. The company?s operations and projects span in various countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo Brazzaville, Germany, Ireland, Mauritania, New Caledonia, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Spain, South Africa, Tanzania, the United Kingdom; and the United States. It also develops, markets, and implements technologies and services used in mining, mineral processing, and metals production. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd(AGI.AX)

Ainsworth Game Technology Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, sale, and servicing of gaming machines and other related equipment, and services. It designs and manufactures the A560, Ambassador, and Celebrity range of gaming products along with entertaining stand alone progressives and linked games. The company offers its products and services in Australia, North America, South America, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. Ainsworth Game Technology Limited was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Newington, Australia.

Best Cheap Companies For 2014: TomTom NV (OEM)

TomTom NV is a Netherlands-based supplier of location and navigation products and services. The Company�� structure consists of four customer facing business units, namely Consumer, Automotive, Business Solutions and Licensing. The first three business units provide targeted solutions for the Company�� customers, including private consumers, car manufacturers and fleet owners. Licensing sells its content and services to multiple customer groups including portable navigation devices (PNDs) and wireless companies, governments and enterprises. The Company�� business units embed 11 product units, such as digital maps, traffic intelligence, navigation software, PNDs, automotive systems, fleet management services (FMS), smart phone applications, sports watches, points of interest, location based services (LBS) and speedcam intelligence. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was active in 35 countries. In July 2013, it acquired Coordina (Gestion Electronica Logistica, S.L.). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By victorselva]

  In a macro view, revenues in the electronic equipment and instrument sub-industry will remain strong due to the rise in equipment and instrument manufacturers. Distributors, electronic manufacturing service (EMS) companies and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are going to increase orders as the economy improves in the future. With this promising outlook, let's take a look at Gabelli麓s last trade and try to explain to investors the reasons of this appealing investment opportunity.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: Comstock Mining Inc (LODE.A)

Comstock Mining Inc. (Comstock), incorporated on October 19, 1999, is a gold and silver mining company with contiguous property in the Comstock and Silver City mining districts (collectively, the Comstock District). The Company owns or controls approximately 6,315 acres in the Comstock District comprising 1,455 acres of patented mining claims and surface parcels, and 4,860 acres of unpatented claims. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had drilled 646 reverse circulation (RC) and core holes, representing over 242,000 feet of drill data in the Lucerne Resource Area. As of December 31, 2011, the Company also had 432 RC and core holes from the Lucerne Resource Area. Its Lucerne Resource Area is located in Storey County, Nevada, approximately three miles south of Virginia City, Nevada. The Dayton Resource Area its commercial mining activities, is located in Lyon County Nevada, approximately six miles south of Virginia City. The Company operates in two segments: mining and hospitality.

The Company's mining segment consists of exploration and developmental drilling, mine planning, permitting, mineral claims, plus all other activities and expenditures associated with bringing the mine into production. Its hospitality segment consists of hotel rooms, cottages, restaurant, bar and other services provided by Gold Hill Hotel Inc. The Company�� property rights to the mineral estate of the Comstock Mine Project consist of five mineral leases, one joint venture (providing exclusive rights to exploration, development, mining and production), fee ownership of real property and mining claims. This project has 92 patented and 325 unpatented mineral lode claims, as well as 25 unpatented placer claims. The Comstock Mine Project holdings consist of approximately 6,315 acres of active mining claims and surface parcels (private lands) in the Comstock District. The acreage is consisted of 1,455 acres of patented mining claims and surface parcels and 4,860 acres of unpatented mining claims. The Company also o! wns a heap leach processing facility. It owns and operates the Gold Hill Hotel, three related cottages. The Hotel is located in Gold Hill, Nevada between Virginia City and the Comstock mine project.

The Company focuses on the Lucerne Resource Area (including the East-side target within this Area), the Dayton Resource Area and the Spring Valley exploration target. The Lucerne Resource Area includes the Billie the Kid, Hartford and Lucerne mining claims, and extends northeasterly to the area of the Woodville bonanza, and north to the Justice and Keystone mines, plus the extension of these areas down-dip to the east. The Lucerne Resource Area is approximately 5,000 feet long, with an average width of 600 feet, representing less than 3% of the land holdings controlled by the Company. The Dayton Resource Area lies southwest of Silver City, from the Dayton, Kossuth and Alhambra claims, including the old Dayton mine workings, south to where the Kossuth claim crosses State Route 341. The Spring Valley exploration target lies at the southern end of the Comstock District. The area includes the Kossuth claim south of State Route 341, the Dondero property, the New Daney lode mining claims, and the Company�� placer mining claims in Spring Valley and Gold Canyon. The Northern Extension, Northern Targets and Occidental Areas represent exploration target areas, which contain mining operations, including the Overman, Con Imperial, Caledonia, and Yellow Jacket mines.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: ABAXIS Inc.(ABAX)

Abaxis, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and sells portable blood analysis systems for use in veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide blood constituent measurements for clinicians worldwide. The company offers point-of-care blood chemistry analyzer, which consists of a compact portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs, containing all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 14 tests on human patients and 13 tests on veterinary patients. It markets the blood analysis system under the Piccolo Xpress and Piccolo Classic names in the medical market; and under the VetScan VS2 and VetScan Classic names in the veterinary market. The company also provides VetScan HM5, VetScan HM2, VetScan HMII, and VetScan HMT hematology instruments for veterinary applications. In addition, its products include VetScan VSpro, which assists in the diagnosis and evaluation of suspected bleeding disorders, toxicity/poisoning, evaluatio n of disseminated intravascular coagulation, hepatic disease, monitoring therapy, and the progression of disease states. Further, the company offers VetScan VSpro fibrinogen test to provide in-vitro determination of fibrinogen levels in equine platelet poor plasma from a citrated stabilized whole blood sample; and i-STAT 1 that delivers blood gas, electrolyte, basic blood chemistry, and hematology results. Additionally, its products comprise Canine Heartworm Rapid Test to detect dirofilaria immitis in canine whole blood, serum, or plasma; Canine Parvovirus Rapid Test Kit to detect canine parvovirus antigen in feces; and VetScan Giardia Rapid Test to detect giardiasis, a gastrointestinal infection caused by the protozoan parasite Giardia. Abaxis sells its products through direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Union City, California.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: Compass Group(CPG.L)

Compass Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, provides contract foodservice and support services to its clients. It offers various foodservice solutions ranging from free-flow restaurants to formal dining, grab and go deli and caf�outlets to hospitality services, and vending; and a range of support services, such as cleaning, building operations and maintenance, business and office, logistics and transport, outdoor, project management, and security. The company also operates fine dining facilities. It provides its services under the Eurest, Eurest Services, Restaurant Associates, Bon App�it Management, and FLIK International, as well as Chartwells, Scolarest, MEDIREST, MORRISON, Crothall, All Leisure, and ESS brand names. Compass Group PLC serves business and industry; healthcare and seniors; education; sports and leisure; and defense, offshore, and remote sectors. The company serves approximately 4 billion meals a year in 45,000 client locations. It offers its services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Continental Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, central Asia, and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1941 and is based in Chertsey, the United Kingdom.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: CA Inc.(CA)

CA Technologies, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, delivers, licenses, and supports information technology (IT) management software products that operate on a range of hardware platforms and operating systems. It offers enterprise IT management software for organizations that addresses components of the computing environment, including people, information, processes, systems, networks, applications, and databases. The company provides a portfolio of mainframe and distributed software products with a focus on mainframe, service assurance, security (identity and access management), project and portfolio management, service management, virtualization and service automation, and cloud computing. It serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions worldwide. CA Technologies offers its solutions through its d irect sales force and indirectly through global systems integrators, technology partners, managed service providers, solution providers, distributors and volume partners, and exclusive representatives. The company was formerly known as CA, Inc. and changed its name to CA Technologies in May 2010. CA Technologies was founded in 1974 and is based in Islandia, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Finally, mail logistics software solutions company Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI  ) jumped 3.7% after announcing the appointment of Roger Pilc as executive vice president and chief innovation officer. Pilc will be a welcome face for Pitney Bowes, which has struggled under the weight of lower physical mail volume and increasing competition. Pilc, who comes over from CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA  ) , helped head CA's cloud development segment, which may transform CA back into a high-growth company over the next few years as it invests heavily in R&D. Pitney Bowes certainly needs as many ideas as it can get to stem a precipitous downtrend in sales, so we'll have to see how this move works out for all parties involved.

• [By Dividend]

  CA (CA) has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion. The company employs 13,600 people, generates revenue of $4.643 billion and has a net income of $955.00 million. CA�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $1.924 billion. The EBITDA margin is 41.44 percent (the operating margin is 29.33 percent and the net profit margin 20.57 percent).

• [By Traders Reserve]

  Most impressive about CA Technologies (CA)� is that its net income for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 rose 42% to $335 million. Perhaps Michael Gregoire taking over as CEO and cutting costs had something to do with the growth.

Best Performing Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ellipsiz Ltd (E13.SI)

Ellipsiz Ltd., an investment holding company, provides probe card, distribution, and service solutions to the semiconductor, electronics manufacturing, and telecommunication industries. The company�s Distribution and Services Solutions segment engages in the distribution of equipment and tools for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, integrated circuit (IC) failure analysis, IC reliability testing, and printed circuit board assembly testing and inspection; and provision of equipment maintenance support engineering services, including systems integration. This segment also provides facilities management services comprising turnkey facilities hookup and turnkey wafer fabrication equipment relocation, as well as chemicals, gas, and abatement management services; test characterization services, such as qualification and reliability testing; and refurbishment services for pumps used in wafer fabs, as well as trades in consumable products for hospital, pharmaceutical, e lectronic, and food processing industries. The company�s Probe Card Solutions segment is involved in the design, manufacture, repair, and sale of probe card solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. It operates in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Japan, New Zealand, Europe, and the United States. The company was formerly known as SingaTrust Ltd. and changed its name to Ellipsiz Ltd. in 2001. Ellipsiz Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Why Glencore Xstrata, Quindell Portfolio, and Polar Capital Should Beat the FTSE 100 Today

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE  ) ended yesterday a good bit stronger than earlier falls had suggested, actually finishing five points up for the day. And as of 7:45 a.m. EDT it has added another five points after U.S. and Asian markets closed their days on a high.

There are plenty of individual shares that looking still more optimistic. Here are three names that are on the way up today and look set to beat the market.

Glencore Xstrata (LSE: GLEN  )
Glencore Xstrata shares are up 2.8% on news that the mining giant has arranged new revolving credit facilities to the tune of more than $17 billion. The new facilities replace those of the previously independent Glencore and Xstrata companies. Showing a nice sign of confidence in the merged company, the facilities were initially oversubscribed.

Best Dividend Companies To Buy For 2014

With the whole mining sector being hard hit by slowing Chinese demand, today's rise might be relatively small comfort, but it does offer some optimism for the longer-term prospects for the business.

Quindell Portfolio (LSE: QPP  )
As a step in the preparation to move to a full stock market listing, Quindell Portfolio is arranging a series of teach-ins for analysts and institutional investors to "provide a deeper understanding of the business." As a further part of the process, the insurance services firm is also rearranging its management structure.

The result, as far as the share price goes, has been a 4.4% rise to 8.6 pence. The Quindell share price has been pretty erratic over the past 12 months. It had more than three-bagged by late 2012, but after a hefty slide since then, due in part to accounting concerns from some analysts, the price is still up more than 50%.

Polar Capital (LSE: POLR  )
Shares in Polar Capital Holdings have gained 6.2% this morning after the investment manager released results for the year to March 31. The firm's core operating profit, excluding performance fees, gained 41% to £10 million, with pre-tax profit up 60% to £15.3 million. Basic earnings per share rose by 58%, enabling a 44% rise in the full-year dividend to 13 pence per share. The company currently has assets under management of $8.8 billion.

Is Polar Capital one you haven't taken much notice of, with your attention more focused on the banking and investing giants these days? If so, you've missed out on a doubling of the share price over the past year.

Finally, if you're looking for investments that should take you all the way to a comfortable retirement, I recommend the Fool's special new report detailing five blue-chip shares. They'll be familiar names to many, and they've already provided investors with decades of profits. But the report will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your hands on these great ideas -- they could set you on the road to long-term riches.

Why the Street Should Love Amdocs's Earnings

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

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 Amdocs (NYSE: DOX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, Amdocs generated $424.9 million cash while it booked net income of $400.7 million. That means it turned 12.9% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds pretty impressive.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at Amdocs look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With questionable cash flows amounting to only 9.1% of operating cash flow, Amdocs's cash flows look clean. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 7.8% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from capital expenditures, which consumed 23.5% of cash from operations.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Top 10 Gold Companies For 2014

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We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

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Best Buys During After-Christmas Sales

Several stores are having big sales now in advance of Christmas. But serious markdowns will appear after December 25 because retailers will be eager to unload items that didn't sell before then. We're talking discounts of 75% or more.

SEE ALSO: 12 Things Not to Buy During the Holidays

So if you get cash or gift cards this holiday, you might want to take advantage of after-Christmas sales to get more bang for your buck if any of these items are on your shopping list:

Apparel always is the most-discounted item after Christmas – especially winter gear, says Rob Gough, president of CouponChad.com and DefinitiveDeals.com. He expects Banana Republic, French Connection, Gap, Last Call by Neiman Marcus, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue will be great places to shop for apparel because they had the best after-Christmas sales in 2012. These retailers will likely take an extra 25% to 50% off apparel that will already be marked down 75%, Gough says. He suggests looking for coupons online to save even more.

Chocolate that didn't sell for the holidays is dramatically marked down after Christmas. Gough says to expect great sales from Godiva and See's Candies, which offer such big price reductions at only two other times during the year – after Valentine's Day and Halloween.

Best Growth Companies To Invest In 2014

Furniture. Furniture retailers have clearance sales after Christmas and in January to make room for new models that are released in February. Expect to see discounts of at least 30% and free shipping from online retailers, Gough says.

Holiday decorations are deeply discounted after Christmas, so it's a good time to stock up for next year. For example, Home Depot and Lowe's will likely slash prices on Christmas lights and artificial trees by 75%, Gough says.

Name-brand HDTVs. Expect to save up to 70% on name-brand HDTVs after Christmas because new models are released in January. Also expect to see discounts of up to 80% on 2013 models of other consumer electronics such as cameras, laptops and tablets, according to dealnews.com.

Lennar Corporation Q4 Profits Rise; Beats Estimates (LEN)

Homebuilder Lennar Corporation (LEN) released its fourth quarter financial results on Wednesday, which came in higher than last year’s Q4 and beat estimates.

LEN’s Earnings in Brief
-LEN reported earnings of $164.08 million, or 73 cents per share, up from $124.3 million, or 56 cents per share, last year. Analysts expected to see earnings of 62 cents per share.
-Total revenue jumped to $1.92 billion from $1.35 billion a year ago. Analysts, on average, expected to see revenue of $1.88 billion.
-For FY2013, earnings totalled $479.7 million, or $2.15 per share, down from $679.1 million, or $3.11 per share, in 2012.

CEO Commentary
Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller commented: “While the political and interest rate environment and our previously initiated price increases tempered new sales orders in the fourth quarter, we were still pleased with our overall performance.”

LEN’s Dividend
LEN did not announce its next dividend, but will likely make this announcement in January. The company paid its last 4 cent dividend on November 1.

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Stock Performance
Lennar shares were up 50 cents, or 1.42%, during pre-market trading Wednesday. The stock is down 10% YTD.

Herbalife: This is What Happens When Audit Results Hit Just Before the Close

Herbalife soared in late trading today after it announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers had completed the re-audit of its financials and found no need for major changes.

The Wall Street Journal’s Moneybeat has the details:

Herbalife's reaudited results from 2010 through 2012 don't contain any material changes, the nutritional-supplement maker said Monday afternoon…

The company, which sells weight-loss shakes and fitness supplements, was required to reaudit its financial statements after it selected PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its new independent auditor. Herbalife needed to find a new auditor earlier this year to replace KPMG LLP, which had to resign in the wake of an insider-trading scandal.

Speaking on CNBC, Mr. Icahn, a Herbalife shareholder, said he is "certainly happy" about the completion of Herbalife's reaudited results. He said he continues to believe the company is undervalued and has never doubted Herblife as a viable company.

This is what happens when a stock makes that kind of announcement with less than half an hour to the close:

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Shares of Herbalife finished up 9.4% at $74.83 today.

Ask an Expert: Get your head INTO the clouds

Q: Steve, I don't know if you can answer this one. Our office needs to update our productivity software. But apparently the question now is, not whether to update our software, but whether to migrate to the cloud. It sounds like a lot of work to me. -- Jaime

A: The cloud, the cloud, the cloud, the cloud. It does seem as if sometimes all we hear about with regard to technology these days is the cloud.

But here's the deal: The cloud is being hyped for a reason. For most small businesses, it really is a better system than storing your data, e-mails, and all the rest on your desktop, laptop, tablet or other device. Here's why:

1. Always-on availability from any device: With the cloud, instead of purchasing software, you purchase a license or subscription to use the software from any device. Unless you take your laptop or tablet with you everywhere, it is easy to have some documents on one computer and other documents on a different computer. That is no way to run a business. Storing everything in the cloud means that you and your team will have access to everything, anytime, anywhere.

2. Access to the the latest updates: Dealing with software updates is an issue we all have – when to update it, and how to balance the need for that against the cost. The good news here is that when you migrate to the cloud (which is easy to do), you will always be using the latest software.

3. Affordability: Again, the cloud wins hands down. As explained to me recently by Cindy Bates, Vice President of Microsoft's SMB Group, "It used to be that in order to have the most advanced technology, small businesses would have to invest in the same expensive hardware as large companies. It was cost-prohibitive, but now with cloud technology, small businesses can pay just for what they use."

4. Security: In this regard, security means two things, both of which are good:

• First, your data, documents, e-mails, and all other vital business info that you store in the cloud are very secu! re because they are being hosted on encrypted, world-class servers owned and operated by large corporations with far more resources than you or I have. If, for example, you start to use a service like Microsoft's Office 365 (see below), you can be quite confident that your data will be as secure as possible when housed remotely on their servers.
• Second, because your data will in fact be stored remotely, you do not have to worry about computer crashes, stolen laptops, and the like. Take it from someone who has had chapters of books lost due to hard-drive failures – having your information stored remotely is a smart, secure call.

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So yes, updating in the cloud makes sense.

Let me give you an example: After I spoke with Ms. Bates, I was offered the chance to view a demonstration of Microsoft's cloud service, Office 365. As I have long used many desktop Office applications to run my business, and since many of you do as well, I wanted to see how Office in the cloud would work.

It was quite impressive.

At a Microsoft store, Don Crawford of Kamind (a Microsoft IT partner) let me take it for a spin. Aside from accessing all of the programs you know and use (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, One Note, Access, and Publisher), there were all sorts of other cool things to be found in the cloud version of Office:

• The ability to create documents online using a web browser
• Access via all platforms – desktop, laptop, Mac, PC, mobile phone, as well as the ability to sync with offline devices
• Continuous backups
• The capability to share files easily with remote teammates
• Easily able to host and participate in online meetings

The bottom line is that using a cloud-based service like Office 365 makes a whole lot of sense for any small business. You get world-class, powerful! tools, e! ase of use, and an incredibly affordable price point.

And, as Cindy Bates told me, "The cloud just makes it easier for teams to work together."

Steve Strauss is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship. His column appears Mondays. E-mail Steve at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. An archive of his columns is here. His website is TheSelfEmployed.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014

Here are today's top news headlines from�Fool.com. Check back throughout the day as this list is updated, and follow us on Twitter at�TMFBreaking.

Pfizer to Sell Manufacturing Facility to UPM

Royal Gold Declares Q3 Dividend

SEC Settles With Nasdaq Over Facebook IPO

O'Reilly Automotive Raises Share Buyback Program by $500 Million

Mondelez International Signs "Mobile Only" Deal With Google

Royal Caribbean Orders 3rd Quantum-Class Cruise Ship

Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy to Buy NV Energy

Paccar, Navistar Score Sale Based on Trucker Preferences

$80 Million Nuance Acquisition to Boost Auto Connectivity

MasTec Acquires Canadian Oil and Gas Construction Firm for $103 Million in Cash

Initial Jobless Claims up 2.9%

DISH Network Tops Sprint Bid for Clearwire by $1 per Share

Q1 GDP Growth Estimate Drops to 2.4%

Mortgage Rates Spike Sharply

McDonald's CEO: I Lost Weight by Being More Active

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Consider that municipalities and industrial giants such as�Waste Management� (NYSE: WM  ) �are converting their fleets -- in this case garbage trucks -- to�run on natural gas fuels�(link opens a video). It's a little easier for Waste Management, since it uses biogas generated from its managed landfills to fuel its own vehicles. Clean Energy Fuels also sources biomethane from one of its landfills in Dallas. In fact, the facility can produce up to 36,000 gasoline-equivalent gallons�each day. It's like the old saying goes: One man's trash is another man's fuel.��

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 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 Steve Symington]

  What's more, competitors like Macy's (NYSE: M  ) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN  ) �seemed to be firing on all cylinders last quarter�by�increasing�same-store sales, boosting dividends, and instituting huge share repurchase programs.

• [By Andrew Marder]

  Although a report in yesterday's New York Times highlighted the practice, the truth has been out there for months. Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN  ) had a trial program where it used video surveillance and Wi-Fi signals in smartphones to track customers in the store. It wanted to use the data to help it connect with customers, and then to sell them more things. The company posted announcements about the program in stores, and after complaints, it ended the program in May this year.

5 Best High Tech Stocks To Invest In 2014: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Three months after settling upon a new chief executive officer, it looks like Thorofare, N. J.-based Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP  ) will soon have itself a new CFO as well.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Checkpoint Systems, Inc (NYSE: CKP) fights shoplifting or retail theft and other forms of�"shrink��that costs retailers over $112 billion worldwide last year (according to a study funded by the company), meaning it might be an interesting stock to take a closer look at and to compare its performance with that of SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: XRT) and PowerShares Dynamic Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: PMR). Just how bad can shoplifting or shrink be for a retailer? Troubled retailer J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP) has just reported that shoplifting took a full percentage point off the department store chain's profit margins during the quarter. Moreover and given that tens of millions of Americans are now facing higher health insurance costs thanks to Obamacare (which will likely impact consumer discretionary spending),�retailers�will need to find ways to shore up their margins and bottom lines by preventing�retail theft with solutions from company�� like Checkpoint Systems.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  After the market closed yesterday, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) �-- maker of the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System -- announced preliminary results for the second quarter that caused shares to plunge as much as 17% today.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Down on da Vinci
  Long a health-care technology darling, the market doesn't feel the love so much these days for Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) . Shares fell 15% this week after the company announced disappointing preliminary second quarter numbers.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ast produces, distributes and sells weight and health management products with the brand names Medifast, Take Shape for Life, Hi-Energy Weight Control Centers and Woman�� Wellbeing.

  Its return on assets in the third quarter of 2011 was 19.6%, which has been increasing in the past several years. The average return on assets for the specialty retail industry is 10.48% for the trailing 12 months.

  The company�� total assets amounted to $94 million in 2010, which increased from $62.8 million in 2009. Net income also increased to $19.6 million in 2010 from $12 million in 2009.

  Boston Beer Inc. (SAM)

  Boston Beer Inc. is the largest brewer of handcrafted beers in America. Boston Beer is a growing company that recently saw a large increase in its return on assets. It increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 29.7% in 2011, and was negative as recently as 2008. The average return on assets for the beverages industry in the trailing 12 months is 9.47%.

  In 2011, the company�� total assets increased to $272.5 million from $258.5 million in 2010. Net income increased to $66 million from $50 million.

  Alliances Resources Partners (ARLP)

  Alliance Resources Partners is a coal producer and marketer primarily in the eastern U.S. Its ROA has been increasing since 2008 and increased to 22.5% in 2011 from 21.4% in 2010. The average return on assets for the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry in the trailing 12 months is 24.47%.

  In 2011, its total assets increased to $1.7 billion from $1.1 billion in 2010. Its net income increased to $389 million from $321 million.

  Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS)

  Factset researches global market trends and develops analytical tools for investors. Of all of GuruFocus��5-star predictable companies, it has the highest return on assets at 27%. ROA has been increasing over the past several years. The average return on assets for the software industry for the trailing 12 m

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) saw its stock down 5% in evening trading on Tuesday after the weight loss player had soft sales and guided expectations lower. Shares were still indicated down about 5%, but volume has not yet started.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Nutrisystem have gained 20% to $18.05 at 1:34 p.m., while Weight Watchers (WTW) has risen 3.6% to $39.42. Medifast (MED), however, has dropped 1.9% to $24.94.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of medical device company Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR  ) sank 12% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations. �

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) shares jumped 8.86% to $140.98 in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat third-quarter results.

  Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) shares gained 7.80% to $171.85 in the pre-market session after the company reported higher Q3 profit. Brean Capital upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy.

• [By Andrew Marder]

  I've come to loathe precedents. Nothing is more annoying than someone telling you that their favorite new book is the next Harry Potter�or that the movie they just saw is going to be the next Godfather. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm not overly keen on the selling of Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS  ) as the next Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) or Chipotle (NYSE: CMG  ) or Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) . Instead, maybe we can judge the business on its merits, instead of on the success of restaurants that came before it.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, restaurant operator Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking. �

• [By Steve Symington]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) investors sure hope so, because Monday marked the official debut of the company's new "Game Changer Ale,"�which was created with the help of the folks at Redhook Brewery.

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Sara Lee Corporation(SLE)

Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Its packaged meat products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, beef, turkey, and cooked ham. It also offers frozen baked products, which comprise frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, pastries, and other desserts. In addition, Sara Lee provides roast, ground, and liquid coffee; cappuccinos; lattes; and hot and iced teas, as well as refrigerated dough products. The company sells its products under Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, State Fair, Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Caf

Top 10 Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Crocs Inc.(CROX)

Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  According to Yahoo finance, Crocs, Inc. (CROX) will release its third quarter financial results on Monday, October 21, 2013; however, the company's investor's relations page makes no note of any impending announcements. That being said, CROX normally reports Q3 EPS around October 24th. So, next Thursday-ish instead of Monday is possible.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Visa (NYSE: V  ) and Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) hit new all-time highs. General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) appears to be turning the corner in Europe. And second-quarter profits for Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX  ) fell a whopping 43%. In this installment of Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts David Hanson and Jason Moser discuss four stocks making moves on Thursday.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX  ) fit the bill? Let's look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

Report: Microsoft eyes Android’s free model

SAN FRANCISCO -- After years of drubbings by Google on Android, Microsoft may be finally updating its playbook to borrow a page from the search giant in mobile.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is considering offering free versions of its Windows Phone and Windows RT to device manufacturers, according to a report from The Verge, citing sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

USA Today was unable confirm the report. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google's free Android software has stormed the world, taking a leading position while pushing Google's services and ads to rope in revenue. Microsoft, which charges device makers for its software, has remained a distant No. 3 on smartphones.

"While monetization through alternative means such as ads and app stores is an industry norm today, within Microsoft this thinking (is) outside the box," says IDC analyst Al Hilwa.

A switch by Microsoft to make its operating system sofware free to manufacturers would be a competitive pricing move that could help boost its market position.

Microsoft's operating system has 3.6% of the worldwide market compared with market-leadin Android at 81.9% and Apple's iOS with 12.1%, according to Gartner. Microsoft in July took a $900 million write down against its lackluster Surface tablets.

Microsoft's option to go free is under consideration by operating system chief Terry Myerson and would involve a plan to transition to advertising and app revenue, according to the report.

"A move like this shows that they get the business changes taking place in the industry and the strategic threat they represent," says Hilwa.

Speculation has mounted for weeks that Microsoft is nearing a choice for its successor to CEO Steve Ballmer, who announced his retirement in August.

UAE to Add Nearly 30 Million Air Passengers

In an effort in increase their global aviation presence, UAE has plans to add almost 30 million planes, writes Shereen El Gazzar, of The National.

The Middle East is predicted to lead global aviation industry growth over the next four years, with the UAE alone adding 29.2 million passengers by 2017.

The forecast, from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), sees the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region with the strongest international passenger growth, with a compound average growth rate of 6.3% and 5.7% respectively.

"The fact that the Asia-Pacific region, led by China and the Middle East, will deliver the strongest growth over the forecast period is not surprising. Governments in both areas recognize the value of the connectivity provided by aviation to drive global trade and development," said Tony Tyler, IATA's chief executive.

IATA's forecasts comes weeks after the Dubai's Airshow broke records with a deals' tally topping US$200 billion.

The orders were primarily led by Arabian Gulf carriers such as Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways.

Regional airport hubs are also benefiting from a rise in freight traffic. Middle East carriers reported a 12.3% year-on-year growth in freight traffic in October, IATA said.

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific recently said it would move its freighter operations to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central starting from February 1.

Dubai is Cathay Pacific's transit hub for its European destinations including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Paris, and Milan. Cathay Pacific currently operates seven weekly freighter services and 14 weekly passenger services in Dubai.

Read more from The National here…

On the Job: Prepare for the worst in your workp…

When we hear about incidents of workplace violence, it often seems like something that never could happen in our workplaces.

Until it does.

STORY: How D.C. Navy Yard shooting unfolded
STORY: 3rd victim dies after Fla. mass shooting

Statistics from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration show that homicide is the fourth leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that of 4,547 fatal workplace injuries reported in 2010, 506 were workplace homicides.

Further, homicides are the leading cause of death for women in the workplace.

On Sept. 16, a lone gunman fatally shot 12 people and injured three others at the Washington Navy Yard in our nation's capital, spurring more conversation about workplace safety.

Bad people are out there who want to harm good people, so we must admit that we need to be prepared for violence at work, a former Navy SEAL says. Just as workers may practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation or a fire drill, they also should practice how to evade or stop someone bent on hurting others.

Larry Yatch, chief executive of Minneapolis-based Sealed Mindset, provides programs on personal protection, defensive firearms and self-defense programs.

One mistake that people make is believing that if they're kind, moral and trusting, other people will be the same, he says. Unfortunately, bad people have proven that they have none of those qualities.

President Barack Obama embraces an unidentified woman Sept. 22, 2013, at a memorial service for the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting.(Photo: AP)

Another mistake some people make is thinking that they somehow will attract violence if they think ! about it, he says.

STORY: Managers not prepared for violence

But if companies and their employees don't think about violence and how they will respond to it, they won't be ready to react properly when it happens.

And a lack of training could get them hurt or killed, Yatch says.

A workplace's risk level may rise if it has high turnover, a highly negative culture, disagreements or employees facing domestic violence. If a company were to respond more proactively to such risks — such as posting a security guard near an worker experiencing violence at home — it can reduce risks.

While some may balk at the idea of planning for violence, he points out that fear often paralyzes workers during a shooting or causes them to make bad decisions that can risk their lives.

Once employees are trained on the best ways to react to threats, Yatch says their fear dissipates because they feel more in control.

Employees can learn how to:

• Identify threats. Processes need to be in place that help employees ID potential problems and communicate them to bosses or human resources staffers.

• Fight for their lives. "We tell people to not only lock the door against an intruder but to barricade it with anything they can find, whether it's desks or file cabinets or chairs," he says. Even if an intruder manages to push past such a barrier, the obstacles will make them stumble and provide workers the time to take other action.

• Practice tackling. A couple of people can jump on one intruder and stop him, Yatch says. More effective is a number of people piling on top of an attacker.

"There's always a chance that someone might get hurt, but it's a guarantee if you do nothing," he says.

If your company doesn't provide training, Yatch has one piece of advice that could save your life if violence breaks out in your workplace.

"What will make the biggest difference is the mindset that you bring," he says. "Know that you will survive and that you will no! t be a vi! ctim. You're significantly more likely to survive if you keep fighting and believe that you are not going to die. Never give up."

Best Bank Stocks To Buy For 2014

Anita Bruzzese is author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy ... and How to Avoid Them, www.45things.com. Twitter: @AnitaBruzzese.

Why Is Soros Long Halliburton?

Top Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Among George Soros' new investments I found Halliburton (HAL) and it's not tough to guess why the billionaire investor decided to go long on the company's shares. Halliburton is a serial out-performer and has a history of beating its self-imposed tough targets. Even when the company is up by almost 46% year-to-date, it might still make sense to own the shares if you are a longterm oriented investor. You will not receive a great dividend from this company – its cash dividend yield is just 1.2% – but you should get great growth in the coming few years.

Halliburton's Ambitious 2016 Goals

After beating its 2010 to 2013 goals this year, Halliburton has set for itself another stream of ambitious, although still reachable, goals for 2016. Halliburton aims to meet four key objectives. First, the company wants to grow its deep water business at a faster rate than its competitors without lowering margins. Hence, the company would be gaining market share without affecting its return profile in a high-growth market.

Secondly, Halliburton says that it can grow its works on mature fields by as much as 300% by 2016. The company wants to make its mature fields segment a $9 billion a year business which looks achievable as most companies are suffering from a growing proportion of fields in decline – for example, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) has 72.7% of its fields in decline.

Thirdly, Halliburton wants to keep its leadership in unconventionals through its new geo-science platform, CYPHER. Last but not least, the company wants to increase its returns on capital employed to 20% from the current 11%.

Halliburton is pointing its cannons towards the right places. Mature fields, unconventionals and deep water are poised to keep growing fast within the U.S. and internationally. Moreover, the short term also looks compelling for the company as Hallibur! ton offers great leverage to the improving North American drilling market. With the seasonal recovery in U.S. rig count beginning, margins should improve. On top of this, the steady offshore rig count growth in the Gulf of Mexico should also benefit Halliburton in the coming few quarters.

Valuation Looks Fair

Halliburton now trades at 11.7 times 2014 earnings and 5.9 times EV/EBITDA. One of its closer competitors in the oil and gas services industry, Schlumberger (SLB) sells for 15.1 times 2014 earnings and 8.6 EV/EBITDA. Its true that Halliburton's third quarter did not impress investors at all. As a matter of fact, the stock reacted negatively when results were released despite the small EPS beat the company achieved – $0.83 versus $0.82 analysts were expecting. The stock's reaction was related to lower than expected growth (above all in Latin America) and smaller than expected margins in North America. That said, I believe those issues – slower growth and declining margins – were given by temporary issues such as the flooding in Colorado which is not an operational issue but a weather-related issue. Once again, I agree with Soros. Halliburton should continue outperfoming and beating its self-imposed targets.

Currently 0.00/512345 Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

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6 High-Yield Bank Stocks to Buy Now

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It's earnings week for the six big Canadian bank stocks, making this the perfect time to look at these not-ballyhooed-enough dividend stocks.

Source: Flickr

Bank of Montreal (BMO) and National Bank (NTIOF) have already delivered their numbers, and the rest are expected to come tomorrow and Friday. The major Canadian bank stocks are expected to grow earnings between 5% and 7% over last year's fourth quarter, which is excellent.

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However, there are some signs the good times are coming to an end. While Canada's bank stocks continue to be a good place to invest because they provide consistently strong returns for shareholders, the days of easy gains are likely behind us.

So, which of these high-yield bank stocks deserves your consideration? All of them, to some extent. Let’s look at each in order from weakest to strongest “buy” recommendation.

Bank of Montreal (BMO)

Dividend Yield: 4.4%

Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) fourth-quarter earnings were definitely hurt by its U.S. operations, which saw adjusted net income decline by 28% year-over-year to C$113 million. As a result, the bank's total adjusted net income was down 2% to C$1.1 billion.

However, BMO does have some areas of strength. Its Canadian personal and commercial banking unit — its biggest — saw adjusted net income grow by 5% year-over-year to C$472 million, or 43% of overall adjusted net income. Wealth management has become almost as important with adjusted net income up 89% in the quarter to C$319 million. Together, the two units represent almost three quarters of its profits.

While analysts weren't overly impressed with Bank of Montreal’s performance in Q4, it did announce a couple of moves that will make shareholders happy. First, it said that starting in February, the bank will buy back up to 15 million shares of its common stock; secondly, BMO announced a 2-cent dividend increase to C$0.76, or C$3.04 annually, providing investors with a 4.4% dividend yield.

BMO Rating: 6.5 (of 10)

National Bank of Canada (NTIOF)

Dividend Yield: 4%

The smallest of the major banks, National Bank of Canada (NTIOF), announced an 8% year-over-year increase in adjusted net income to C$370 million. Its adjusted net income for all of 2013 was a record C$1.5 billion, 7% better than before.

CEO Louis Vachon said this about 2014:

"We remain optimistic for 2014 with Canadian growth expected to accelerate from 1.6% in 2013 to 2.2% next year. Quebec is expected to be a main contributor to this improvement."

If you're looking for a national bank to invest in, this isn't your cup of tea. However, if you're interested in a good bank stock to invest in, this one should be on your radar.

In the fourth quarter, NTIOF’s three operating segments — personal & commercial banking, wealth management and financial markets — all contributed to its success. But probably the best news was National Bank’s 6% increase to its quarterly dividend to C$0.92 per share, producing a current yield of 4%.

In addition, NTIOF announced a 2-for-1 stock split effective Feb. 13, 2014.

NTIOF Rating: 7

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)

Dividend Yield: 4.4%

According to a report by TD Securities, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) generates 80% of its total loans in Canada, higher than any other major Canadian bank.

While the International Monetary Fund believes the Canadian economy will grow by 2.2% in 2014, it's important to remember that rising house prices, along with record levels of debt, makes it harder for every Canadian bank to grow their personal lending businesses.

CM, therefore, potentially has the most to lose from any real estate slowdown.

Nonetheless, analysts expect CM to deliver a 5.4% year-over-year increase in adjusted net income to C$995 million, which isn't half bad, although much less robust than its three bigger competitors. In its second quarter, CM increased its dividend by 2 cents to C$0.96 per share. The bank has averaged one dividend increase per year in recent history, so I'm doubtful that it will do anything when it announces earnings tomorrow.

I would, however, look for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to continue buying back its stock after it initiated an 8 million-share buyback at the end of August.

CM Rating: 7

Royal Bank of Canada (RY)

Dividend Yield: 3.9%

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) is having an excellent 2013. Its adjusted net income for the first nine months of the year through the end of July was up 12.3% to C$6.3 billion, and is expected to grow by 8.7% in Q4 to C$2.2 billion.

Driving the bus — like all Canadian banks — is RY’s personal and commercial banking segment, which generates about 51% of its overall net income. Like BMO, Royal Bank's wealth management business has become a key second driver of profits for the bank thanks to rising global stock markets.

The Royal Bank doesn't really jump out at you for anything in particular except for making money, and that's the name of the game.

RY recently has been increasing its dividend twice annually (did so in Q1 and Q3), so don't expect an increase when the company announces earnings tomorrow. However, its current dividend yield of 3.9% still is higher than many of its major peers in the U.S., such as JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).

What you lose in excitement, you gain in stability.

RY Rating: 7.5

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)

Dividend Yield: 3.7%

Canada's biggest bank when it comes to doing business in the U.S. is Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), which has branches running from Maine all the way down the East Coast to Florida, where thousands of Canadians spend the winter avoiding the cold.

For the most part, its U.S. expansion has been successful, although it did pay a financial price to claim this prize. Nonetheless, its U.S. personal and commercial banking in the first nine months of the year increased 15% year-over-year to C$1.2 billion. The U.S. operations generate profits that are 44% of those in its Canadian personal and commercial banking unit.

TD's Canadian retail unit, which is highly respected amongst Canadian customers, increased adjusted net income in the first nine months of the year by 9%. That's good, but not quite the growth down south.

While investors have reason to worry that the same Q4 problems that beset BMO in the U.S. might also happen to Toronto-Dominion, I see TD side-stepping the issues that knocked BMO off stride. Analysts expect TD to increase Q4 adjusted net income by 8.7% year-over-year to C$1.9 billion.

If there were any doubt the U.S. is a vital part of its business, the news of Ed Clark's successor — TD announced in April that Bharat Masrani, its head of U.S. banking, was taking over as CEO in November 2014 — should eliminate any such talk.

Much like Royal Bank, the fact that TD has already bumped the dividend twice this fiscal year means it's doubtful to happen in Q4. Also, like RY, its 3.7% dividend yield is still better than its large American counterparts.

TD Rating: 7.5

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)

Dividend Yield: 3.9%

The last of the major Canadian banks is Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS). Not known for its Canadian retail banking, its biggest calling cards are its businesses outside of Canada in Latin America and Asia. Analysts expect it to deliver a 9.1% increase in adjusted net income in the fourth quarter to C$1.6 billion, 47% of which will come from outside of Canada.

In terms of diversification, no other Canadian bank comes close.

The bank's three main targets in 2013 were to increase earnings per share by at least 5%, generate a return on equity of at least 15% on those earnings and maintain a productivity ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of total revenue) of less than 56%.

As of the third quarter, BNS’ earnings per share had grown by 12%, its return on equity was 16.6% and its productivity ratio was 53.4% — a winner all around. Its dividend yield is 3.9%, right in line with its other Canadian peers.

BNS Rating: 8

As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.