NEW YORK (ETF Expert) -- I have met David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, at several conferences in which we have both been speakers. He is intelligent, amiable and approachable.
Recently, I read an article by Kotok on whether or not Federal Reserve tapering constituted tightening. He suggested that it may not be. He also maintained that Cumberland would remain fully invested because it will take the world's economies many years before reaching a stage in which they will need to deal with maturing assets on the balance sheets of their central banks.
Mr. Kotok wrote in his conclusion:
"When interest rates are maintained at a very low level, the discounting mechanism to value assets works to raise the prices of those assets. That trend will continue worldwide in the major economies for several more years as all of them go through this process of central bank stimulus, plateauing, subsequent tapering, reaching a neutrality level, and then confronting in the out years how to permit the assets of the central bank to roll off and mature over time without shocking those economies." For the most part, I agree with the assessment that rates will remain low in the major economies for many years to come. I also agree that monetary stimulus will be a saving grace for investors during the next few years, though I'm less convinced that tapering will be followed by forward progress toward reaching "neutrality." Instead, I anticipate more "twists" or "QEs," as any sign of economic weakness will foster central bank unwillingness to let an economy stand on its own legs. Perhaps ironically, Kotok's primary explanation for remaining fully invested for several years is the multi-step process central banks will undergo before they shore up their balance sheets. Nowhere did I read that traditional measures of stock valuation matter; nowhere did extremely expensive price-to-revenue ratios factor into the fully invested decision. Come to think of it, the list of non-essentials is so vast, the "all-in" proclamation does not merely ignore fundamental factors like record high price-to-sales ratios (i.e., S&P 500 companies are barely selling "stuff"), it also ignores sub-standard economic growth, lower-than-normal asset volatility and higher-than-typical bullishness. Indeed, everything is boiled down to the singular notion that the world's central banks ensure success for the fully invested participant.
Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Steve Symington]
Still, customers who owned MAKO's RIO robots in 2012 only performed an average of just 6.7 monthly procedures per system last year, and monthly utilization per site fell to 6.6 procedures last quarter. By contrast, consider MAKO's soft-tissue counterpart in�Intuitive Surgical� (NASDAQ: ISRG ) ,�whose customers performed around 13 procedures per month last year with each of Intuitive's da Vinci robots.�
- [By Sean Williams]
Ascending to the top of the pack was robotic surgical device maker Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) , which gained 4.8% after winning a lawsuit involving its da Vinci surgical system. The plaintiff in the case was a family that sued for $4.9 million following complications from a 14-hour prostate cancer surgery. The jury's verdict isn't too important from a monetary perspective for Intuitive so much as it reinforces the safety of its surgical devices, which are currently under investigation by the federal regulators. I certainly feel there could be further upside in Intuitive shares from here.
- [By Brian Stoffel]
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG )
Most of the time, when a company handily beats expectations for revenue and earnings, its stock gets a pretty nice bump. Such was not the case, however, for Intuitive Surgical, maker of the daVinci Surgical Robotic system. - [By Sean Williams]
I've stood by Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG ) and supported the robotic surgical device maker through thick and thin all while short-sellers and skeptics have torn it apart. Last night, the ball was knocked decisively back to the pessimist's side of the court.
Top Canadian Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Sean Williams]
Keep in mind that some companies�deserve�their current valuations. Take Waste Management (NYSE: WM ) , for instance, which has rallied ever since reporting its first-quarter results last week. The company's internal revenue growth from yield for its collection and disposal operations came in at a two-year high, 1.4%, and the company modestly improved its adjusted year-over-year EPS. Trash disposal and recycling are necessity businesses and make Waste Management a solid long-term buy.
- [By Chris Hill]
Waste Management (NYSE: WM ) reported a slight decline in first-quarter profits but revenues increased. Shares of the trash giant hit their highest point since 1999. In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts talk about the future of Waste Management.
Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Adam Levine-Weinberg]
While the e-commerce revolution is disrupting many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, there are still some "physical" retailers that continue to show solid growth. Two particularly promising investment opportunities in this vein are Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN ) and TJX (NYSE: TJX ) . Both companies are well positioned within their sectors, and see the rise of e-commerce as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Rich Smith]
This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines focus on the restaurant sector, where one analyst has just downgraded shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD ) , while a second analyst has initiated coverage on... just about everybody else. Let's dig right into the details, beginning with the new coverage.
Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)
TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Yates]
For those looking to invest in real estate stocks, highly recommended is the Dr. Housing Bubble blog. In a recent posting, the "Dr." pointed out that there was a "Lost Generation" when it came to household income. That has not happened for those investing in staffing industry stocks such as Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE: TBI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).
- [By Jonathan Yates]
Even though the stock market rallied on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and Standard & Poor's 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) surging, the long term winners will be stocks in the staffing industry such as Paychex(NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Robert Half (NYSE: RHI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).
- [By idahansen]
The entire demand labor industry should do well as the US Department of Labor just reported that 169,000 more jobs were added to the American economy. The more work there is, the more demand there is for the services of staffing solutions firms such as Labor SMART, Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), and Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI).
- [By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of staffing agency TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI ) jumped 10% today after the company reported earnings.
So what: Revenue jumped 19%, to $422.3 million, and beat estimates of $420.2 million from Wall Street. Adjusted earnings per share were also up 19%, to $0.31, outpacing estimates by $0.05.�
Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Growth Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Robert Hanley]
Consumer-goods marketer Blyth (NYSE: BTH ) , owner of weight-loss upstart ViSalus, has been in the doghouse lately, sitting near a 52-week low due to poor results in its weight-loss unit.� Despite a large potential customer base of overweight people worldwide, the industry has had difficulty generating growth lately, with data provider Marketdata Enterprises estimating that industry sales rose only 1.7% in 2012.� However, Blyth caught a bid in late October from a proposed combination with marketing-services provider CVSL, indicating that some people see incremental value in Blyth's businesses.�So, should small investors bet on this small cap or should they focus their attention on Weight watchers International (NYSE: WTW ) and Medifast (NYSE: MED ) instead?
- [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 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
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