No month spells cheap eats like January, when customer-hungry fast-food chains often see their steepest monthly sales declines and will do just about anything to lure budget-conscious consumers back. Many folks are still smarting from spending ��and eating �� too much back in December. So fast-food chains from Burger King to Pizza Hut to Subway are working overtime to coax them in the door.
"The challenge is to convince the consumer that the deal is so good that it simply cannot be passed up," says Derek Farley, president of DFPR, a restaurant specialty public relations firm, who notes that many big restaurant chains typically see sales drop about 3% in January vs. an average month. "Dining is the first and easiest thing to resist when you're being cautious with your wallet and your gut."
Top High Tech Stocks To Watch For 2015: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wallace Witkowski]
In a recent note, Goldman Sachs highlighted 20 companies (excluding financials and utilities) it sees as top contributors to revenue growth for the third quarter. Of those companies, Amazon.com, WellPoint Inc. (WLP) �, McKesson Corp. (MCK) , Boeing, Microsoft, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) �, and United Technologies report in the coming week.
Best Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Whole Foods Market Inc.(WFM)
Whole Foods Market, Inc. engages in the ownership and operation of natural and organic food supermarkets. The company offers produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, coffee and tea, nutritional supplements, and vitamins. It also provides specialty products, such as beer, wine, and cheese; body care and educational products, such as books; and floral, pet, and household products. As of February 9, 2011, the company operated 302 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Alyce Lomax]
Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM ) is a safe place for GMO skeptics to shop, since so many of its products are in fact organic, and many of its suppliers have voluntarily certified and clearly labeled their products as GMO-free. In fact, Whole Foods recently announced that it will require all of its suppliers to label products containing GMOs by 2018.
- [By Tabitha Jean Naylor]
Offering specialty alternatives to the foods carried by the more traditional supermarket chains, the boutique market -- such as Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM) and Harris Teeter, which was acquired by Kroger (NYSE: KR) on January 28, 2014 -- has become an indispensable part of life for millions of Americans who look to live a healthier lifestyle. Let’s take a look at how these two companies fared in 2013 and beyond.
- [By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, natural and organic food retailer Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.
Best Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Oracle Corporation(ORCL)
Oracle Corporation, an enterprise software company, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and services database and middleware software, applications software, and hardware systems worldwide. It licenses of database and middleware software, including database management software, application server software, service-oriented architecture and business process management software, data integration software, business intelligence software, identity and access management software, content management software, portals and user interaction software, development tools, and Java; and applications software comprising enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, enterprise performance management, supply chain management, business intelligence applications, enterprise portfolio project management, Web commerce, and industry-specific applications software. The company also offers customers with rights to unspecified software product upgrades and maintenance releases; Internet access to technical content; and Internet and telephone access to technical support personnel. In addition, its hardware systems products consist of computer server and hardware-related software, including the Oracle Solaris Operating System; and storage products, such as tape, disk and networking solutions for open systems and mainframe server environments. Its hardware systems support solutions include software updates for the software components. Further, the company offers consulting solutions in business and IT strategy alignment, enterprise architecture planning and design, initial product implementation and integration, and ongoing product enhancements and upgrades; cloud services, including Oracle Cloud Services and Advanced Customer Services; and education solutions comprising instructor-led, media-based, and Internet-based training in the use of its software and hardware products. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Redwood Ci ty, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Beth Piskora]
They are listed below:
Altera (ALTR)��ielding 1.7%
Apple (AAPL)��ielding 2.5%
Applied Materials (AMAT)��ielding 2.6%
Cisco (CSCO)��ielding 2.9%
EMC Corp. (EMC)��ielding 1.5%
International Business Machines (IBM)��ielding 2.0%
KLA-Tencor (KLAC)��ielding 3.2%
Microchip Technology (MCHP)��ielding 3.6%
Oracle (ORCL)��ielding 1.5%
Qualcomm (QCOM)��ielding 2.1%
Texas Instruments (TXN)��ielding 2.9%
Xilinx (XLNX)��ielding 2.3%
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Best Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Ford Motor Credit Company(F)
Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets cars, trucks, and parts through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. It also sells cars and trucks to dealers for sale to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. In addition, this sector provides retail customers with a range of after-sale vehicle services and products in the areas, such as maintenance and light repair, heavy repair, collision repair, vehicle accessories, and extended service contracts under the Ford Service, Lincoln Service, Ford Custom Accessories, Ford Extended Service Plan, and Motorcraft brand names. The Financial Services sector offers vari ous automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It offers retail financing, which includes retail installment contracts for new and used vehicles; direct financing leases; wholesale financing products that comprise loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; loans to dealers to finance working capital, purchase real estate dealership, and/or make improvements to dealership facilities; and other financing products, as well as provides insurance services. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
But the big problem for Magna has come from Europe. Rival Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI ) , which gets more of its revenue from Europe than from North America, has seen poor conditions in Europe weigh on its overall results. That's consistent with the big problems that major customers Ford (NYSE: F ) and General Motors (NYSE: GM ) have seen in their own European sales figures, with Ford having lost $1.75 billion last year in Europe and expecting that figure to balloon upward to $2 billion for 2013. Although GM managed to reduce its European losses in the first quarter to just $175 million, both it and Ford have a lot of work to do in order to get their operations on the continent back to profitability.
- [By Daniel Miller]
General Motors (NYSE: GM ) is revamping its entire lineup of vehicles over the next three years. It's doing so at a faster pace than it's ever done throughout company history. Leading the charge is GM's most profitable model, the Silverado, which hits showrooms next month. To make sure the Silverado's launch is perfect and successful, GM needs extra help. To the rescue are about 100 retired GM engineers who are going to monitor every angle of the launch and help the company take advantage of the full-year head start on rival�Ford's (NYSE: F ) next-generation F-150. Here's why it matters and what you need to know.
Best Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)
Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Max Macaluso, Ph.D.]
It can be difficult to assess both the pros and cons of a potential investment, but SWOT analysis is a powerful framework that can be used at the very start of that analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and it's a simple way to broadly understand a new business. In the following video, health care analyst Max Macaluso illustrates SWOT analysis using Dow component Merck� (NYSE: MRK ) as an example.
- [By Lauren Pollock]
Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Merck(MRK) & Co., Biogen Idec Inc.(BIIB) and Roper Industries Inc.(ROP)
Best Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014: Cloud Peak Energy Inc(CLD)
Cloud Peak Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin of the United States. It produces sub-bituminous steam coal with low sulfur content for electric utilities and industrial customers. The company owns and operates Antelope surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; the Cordero Rojo surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; and the Spring Creek surface coal mine located in Montana. It also owns a 50% interest in the Decker surface coal mine located in Montana. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 970 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Gillette, Wyoming.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tyler Crowe]
At the same time, there are a few glimmers of hope for the coal industry. Cloud Peak Energy's (NYSE: CLD ) balance sheet shows some characteristics that could help it survive another rough patch for coal. It may not be a great balance sheet overall, but it's certainly better than many others in the space. Tune into the following video to get Fool.com contributors Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy's take on a couple other coal companies that either look like they are headed for a big fall or have stronger balance sheets to weather the storm.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) have fallen 3.3%, for instance, while Peabody Energy has dropped 12%, Alpha Natural Resources has plunged and Arch Coal (ACI) has plummeted. Consol Energy (CNX), which is as much a gas company as a coal miner, has gained.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) has gained 3.1% to %15.03 after it was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel.
Novatris (NVS) has dropped 1.2% to $74.48 after it was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
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