5 Dividend Stocks That Want to Pay You More

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Dividend stocks haven't exactly grabbed the spotlight in 2013. With the broad market up around 26% since the calendar flipped over to January, momentum -- not staid dividend payouts -- has been the place to be as an investor this year.

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But while most folks focus on capital gains, they're missing a truly big story in dividend stocks right now. Interest rates continue to be smashed to the ground; Fed taper or not, that's unlikely to change in the near-term. So, as I write, the spread between stock dividend yields and bonds is higher than it's ever been, which means that for income investors, stocks have never been more attractive. And with record cash on corporate balance sheets this year, those payouts just keep getting bigger.

Zoom out, and the numbers are even more impressive.

Over the last three and a half decades, dividend stocks have outperformed the rest of the S&P 500 by 2.5% annually, and they outperformed nonpayers by nearly 8% every year, all while paying out cash to their shareholders, based on data compiled by Ned Davis Research. The numbers are even more compelling when looking at companies that consistently increase their payouts.

To take advantage of that trend today, we're focusing on dividend stocks that look ready to hike their payouts. So instead of chasing yield, we'll try to step in front of the next round of stock payout hikes.

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For our purposes, that "crystal ball" is composed of a few factors: namely a solid balance sheet, a low payout ratio, and a history of dividend hikes. While those items don't guarantee dividend announcements in the next month or three, they do dramatically increase the odds that management will hike their cash payouts.

Without further ado, here's a look at five stocks that could be about to increase their dividend payments in the next quarter.

General Electric

You can't find a more prototypical blue-chip stock than General Electric (GE), so it's not hugely surprising that GE is having a stellar year in 2013. Where the broad market goes, GE goes too, and shares of the $272 billion conglomerate have climbed more than 28% year-to-date. But it's the firm's hefty 2.82% dividend yield that investors should be paying attention to from here. It looks well-positioned for a hike in the near-term.

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General Electric is involved in a broad spectrum of manufacturing segments, from making jet engines to wind turbines and medical equipment. Even if that collection of businesses seems disparate, management has found ways to maximize internal efficiencies. The wind turbine business, for instance, can benefit from the advances that the firm is making in the jet engine business -- and the firm can make money by financing all of those customers through its GE Capital arm. That uncanny ability to let no efforts go unleveraged has kept GE's fortunes on the ups throughout the bumpy economic cycles in recent years.

Financially, GE is in solid shape. While the capital-intense nature of General Electric's business necessitates some leverage on GE's balance sheet, the firm boasts $130 billion in cash and investments, more than enough dry powder for the day-to-day. With solid profitability, investors should be on the lookout for a boost to GE's 19-cent quarterly payout.

Wal-Mart Stores

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) are putting their war paint on. Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, is just a week away, and the biggest shopping day of the year at the biggest retailer in the world is no joke.

Wal-Mart's $470 billion in annual sales are spread across a footprint of around 10,000 stores worldwide. Being the low-cost leader and making money clearly isn't mutually exclusive: consistently solid levels of profitability fuel a 2.38% dividend yield.

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Wal-Mart has built a reputation in the last few years for being a ruthless negotiator – the firm's utterly massive scale means that it has considerable pricing power with suppliers. A contract with Wal-Mart can make or break a business. That cost advantage has trickled down to a price advantage in stores. As the rivals try to sell items for the lowest cost, Wal-Mart is typically unbeatable here at home.

Internationally, WMT has been a slightly different story. The firm's international stores have failed to match the excellent returns on investment that U.S. stores have delivered for the chain, tempering analysts' lofty expectations for shares in the last five years. Still, unmatched scale means that Wal-Mart still cranks out massive profits. Currently, those translate into a 47-cent quarterly dividend, but after four quarters of a fixed payout, WMT looks ready to give investors a raise.

CVC Caremark

2013 has been a blockbuster year for shareholders in CVS Caremark (CVS). Since the first trading session in January, shares of the pharmacy giant have climbed 37%, besting the S&P's already impressive returns by a 10% margin. Maybe, then, the firm can be forgiven for a 1.36% yield that's puny compared with the other names on our list of potential dividend-hikers.

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The CVS name is synonymous with retail pharmacies. The firm boasts more than 7,000 around the country and more recently around 500 in-store MinuteClinic health clinics that provide cheaper alternatives to conventional physician's offices for health screenings and minor medical treatments. But that's only half the story. Since 2007, the firm has become one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country, handling more than 1 billion prescriptions each year.

Even though the PBM business is low-moat and even lower-margin, it fits perfectly with CVS' bread and butter retail pharmacy business, giving the firm a bigger piece of the pharmaceutical pie than either individual side of the house would otherwise bank. A rising demographic tide should lift all ships in the health care sector in the near-term, CVS among them. And with a 22.5-cent dividend payout going four quarters strong now, investors are due for a dividend hike.

Ford Motor

Ford Motor (F) is another name that looks primed for a dividend hike. The $67 billion automaker currently pays out a 10-cent quarterly dividend that adds up to a 2.34% yield at current price levels, but breakneck profit growth and improving economic fundamentals suggest that the firm is due for a dividend hike.

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Ford is the best-in-breed of the Detroit automakers. That's not to say that the bar was that high -- Ford just had to not go bankrupt to claim its status as the investor favorite. But what's key is that Ford has become a consumer favorite too in recent years. A complete revamp across Ford's lineup has left the firm with solid reviews from auto journalists as well as customer rankings that landed the firm in the coveted top tier for initial quality. And now, with interest rates scraping along historic lows, the barriers to getting into a new car have dropped dramatically for many consumers. We're now in an economic environment that feels purpose-built for selling cars.

Good execution has been a hallmark at Ford. The firm's shareholders were the big winners in 2008 by holding onto their equity in the firm while still getting access to cheap capital and leverage over untenable labor costs. Today, Ford's break-even is far lower than it's been in decades, and an investment-grade credit rating has been paired with management dishing out increasing dividends. Look out for another raise in the next quarter.

T. Rowe Price

From one best-in-breed stock to another, T. Rowe Price (TROW) is one of the most attractive publicly traded asset managers on the market today -- and no, not just because I started my career there.

T. Rowe Price manages more than $647 billion in assets, with close to two-thirds of those dollars concentrated in retirement accounts. T. Rowe's corporate approach to investing has been its biggest asset in an anxiety-inducing market. The firm generally shies away from risk, even if that means underperforming ripping bull markets. That paid off when markets turned sour in 2008, and constant equity allocations helped the firm's funds bounce back in a big way in the years that followed. With more than 70% of funds beating their long-term Lipper averages at the moment, TROW is doing a very good job of demonstrating to its clients why they pick the Baltimore-based firm.

In a lot of ways, T. Rowe Price is a leveraged bet on an extended stock rally. As stocks continue to climb and more investors participate in the market again, T. Rowe is swelling its AUM (and thus its fees) on two fronts. Bigger profits point to a dividend hike for the firm's 38-cent quarterly payout. Right now, the firm's dividend totals a 1.89% yield. Look out for a hike in the next quarter.

To see these dividend plays in action, check out the at Dividend Stocks for the Week portfolio on Stockpickr. 



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Yellen's Policies Will Boost Overseas Economies

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- An important piece of news seems to have been overlooked, or even ignored, in the past month, thanks to our nation's debt ceiling debacle and Affordable Care Act bickering.

We all know that Janet Yellen has been nominated to succeed Ben Bernanke as the next Federal Reserve chairperson. Yellen is notoriously dovish, meaning she has supported Bernanke's stance on short-term interest rates and is likely to remain highly accommodative into 2014. This isn't news either, but digging a little deeper, we can see that the continuation of Bernanke's policies may have farther-reaching effects than it appears at first glance.

Why is this so important?

We all saw the stock, bond and housing markets' reaction to the perceived threat of rising rates during the month of June. After all, on May 21 Bernanke reminded us to "drink like gentlemen," because the bar will inevitably run dry at some point. We saw the Dow and S&P 500 take a quick 6% dip and the bond market crater as yields climbed from 1.94% to 2.54% on the 10-year Treasury Note over that five-week stretch. Over that period, any asset class characterized as a "dividend" or "yield" instrument was somewhat indiscriminately bludgeoned: Surveying the damage pictured above: (-7.53%) - Utilities, IDU (-7.63%) - Long-term U.S. Treasury Bonds, TLT (-9.25%) - Master Limited Partnerships, AMJ (-15.96%) - REITs, VNQ The FOMC Spin Cycle Investors feared that sharply rising rates would make the investment options above less attractive in comparison to "risk free" assets like U.S. Treasury bonds. After the initial rout, we saw a remarkable snap-back recovery in all four asset classes displayed above (with the exception of Treasury bonds) as Big Ben pacified the markets with rhetoric and rates eased. Then in July, as speculation centered around Larry Summers as most likely to succeed Bernanke, the 10-year spiked to 3.00% and our dividend-payers fell once more. The key ingredient for these asset classes isn't as simple as "low rates good, rising rates bad." Truly, it's the spread between the yields being kicked off by these investments, taken in comparison with those of the risk-free Treasury.

With Yellen's nomination on Oct. 9, these assets saw sweet relief. In the three weeks since, we have seen a remarkable recovery in the assets that were so hated in the three months prior:

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Perhaps the more interesting action has been occurring in the left-for-dead Emerging Markets -- economies that benefit directly from lower interest rates here in the United States. We initially pointed to these opportunities back in July and September, when the argument made a lot less sense (but entry points were quite a bit better). +12.47% -- S&P 500 +16.11% -- Emerging Markets, VWO The higher the interest rates the United States pays on its debt, the higher rates these smaller and more economically sensitive nations must pay to attract investment in their own governments' debt. The logic is the same as when companies or borrowers with lower credit ratings have to pay higher interest rates to secure loans. Higher cost of funds creates additional headwinds for their growth; the converse is also true. What if I'm wrong, though? What if Rand Paul filibusters to block Yellen's nomination, or Yellen has a change of heart after accepting her nomination? If rates spike higher again, aren't we going to see the same pain that we endured for the entire month of June? Maybe. The trouble with that argument is you're not just fighting the Fed, whose primary objective is to see solid improvements in the labor market (specifically, an unemployment rate of 6.5%). You are also fighting retirees, endowments, pension funds, foreign governments and mutual funds who may be infinitely more interested in securing 3% on their fixed income portfolios than they are at 2%. Any increased appetite for our government's debt puts downward pressure on the interest rates we must pay to attract investment. Everything is relative. Yellen at the helm bodes well not just for our markets which may be getting a bit extended, but also for our small, foreign counterparts whose recovery is much less mature. As the world's largest economy, the scope of our policies cannot be measured simply by our unemployment rate and GDP growth. In fact, our unemployment and GDP growth depends more on the health of other economies than it ever has before. At the time of publication the author was long AMJ, VNQ & VWO. -- Written by Adam B. Scott This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Adam B. Scott co-founded Argyle Capital Partners with nearly a decade of experience in wealth management at Morgan Stanley and UBS in Beverly Hills, Calif. He uses his extensive market knowledge, unique perspective and macro-level analysis to implement customized solutions for high net worth private clients. Adam is a graduate of Tufts University where he studied Mechanical Engineering and Finance, captained the Men's Varsity Tennis Team and served on the Senior Leadership Corps. Adam is still an avid tennis player and skier, and volunteers his free time to the Fulfillment Fund, the Tufts Alumni Association and coaching local youth sports.

Japan auto group sees demand down 9.8% this year

TOKYO--Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday that auto demand in Japan is expected to drop 9.8% in 2014 as the sales tax increase in April will dent consumer sentiment.

The decline will be the first and sharpest drop in three years after auto demand remained nearly flat last year with a 0.1% rise.

JAMA expects auto demand to total 4.85 million vehicles this year, down from 5.38 million last year. This will be the lowest volume since 2011 when the industry was hit by an earthquake and tsunami. The association expects the reverse impact from the rush of car-buying ahead of the rise in Japan's sales tax rate to 8% from the current 5% in April to pull demand for the full year.

The expected weaker demand means little chance for car makers to lift domestic production led by domestic demand. The downbeat outlook comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is asking Japanese companies to raise wage and invest more in the home market.

In 2014, sales of mini vehicles with engine capacity of 660ccc will fall 12.4% to 1.85 million vehicles despite increasing demand for those small and inexpensive vehicles and those of bigger vehicles will decline 8% to 3 million, according to JAMA.

Write to Yoshio Takahashi at yoshio.takahashi@wsj.com

Obamacare Is Coming, Ready Or Not

5 Best Value Stocks To Buy Right Now

President Obama's signature legislative achievement will go live starting October 1 when the government-backed health care exchanges are set to be rolled out unless by some miracle the U.S. Congress is able to stop it.

Whether Obamacare will do much to reduce health care costs is tough to say. Recent data released by the Center for Medicare Services' Office of the Actuary paints a depressing picture. Spending is expected to increase 6.1% in 2014 thanks to coverage expansions in the law, known as the Affordable Care Act. Growth is expected to rise to 6.2% per year thereafter. Health spending financed by local, state and federal governments is expected to total $2.4 trillion, about 49% of national health spending.

Both traditional insurers and those specializing in providing services to Medicare and Medicaid have posted impressive gains ahead of the start of Obamacare. Though the good news appears to have been factored into many of these stocks, there are a few standouts that investors might consider.

Aetna ​(NYSE:AET) and Cigna ​(NYSE:CI) both look like good buys. Thanks to its $5.7 billion acquisition last year of Coventry Health, Aetna solidified its foothold in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Cigna is in good shape as well. As J.P. Morgan noted in a recent report, Cigna has a below-average exposure to the uncertainties in Obamacare and has a strong Medicare Advantage and international segment. With a price-to-earnings multiple of 12.82, Aetna is cheaper than Cigna, whose P/E is 15.59.

One of the few things experts agree about Obamacare – and they don't agree on much – is that more customers are coming to health insurers. As Barron's noted recently, a whopping 55 million Americans lack health insurance. Next year, some 11 million uninsured Americans will get some sort of coverage. By 2017, the number of people without cove! rage is expected to fall to 30 million. The road ahead for these companies is not going to be easy.

"Concerns have mounted in recent months as healthcare exchanges have endured glitches and some states have attempted to obstruct their rollout," the publication says. "As a result, big insurers have eschewed the exchanges, worried that too few young and healthy Americans will enroll and offset the cost of insuring more people with chronic or expensive to treat medical problems."

Another way to play Obamacare is with the insurers that exclusively focus on government-sponsored health plans such as Molina Health Care (NYSE:MOH) Centene ​(NYSE:CNC) and WellCare Health Plans (NYSE:WCG). As Barron's noted, these companies would be sitting pretty even if there was no Obamacare since a growing number of states have been turning to private insurers to manage benefits for Medicaid recipients to save money. Molina seems to be the best deal here.

Earnings at the Long Beach, Calif., company have rebounded this year as its operations in Texas, the company's largest market, improved from an earlier loss. The company's costs fell in the Lone Star state while its rates rose. As for Centene and WellCare, whose earnings also have improved, the good news seems to have been factored into their stock prices.

During the most recent quarter, enrollment at Centene surged more than 12% as it expanded its foothold in Mississippi and Texas and won business in Washington, Kansas and Missouri. WellCare recently hiked its guidance for the year to between $4.70 and $4.90 per share, up from $4.60-$4.90. Premium revenue is expected to be $9.15 billion to $9.25 billion, versus earlier expectations of $8.9 billion to $9 billion.

Centene trades at a frothy P/E of 47.4 and is trading ahead of its 52-week target. On the other hand, WellCare offers more value with a multiple nearing 20 and a 6.54% upside surprise. All three companies are acquisition targets in the wake of Wellpoint's $4.9 billion acquisition of Amerigroup, which created the largest private provider of Medicaid.

"You have more and more people entering Medicaid," Frank Ingara of NorthCoast Asset Management LLC, told Bloomberg. "That's creating an opportunity for them to get more dollars."

The Bottom Line

There's going to be plenty of money to be made in Obamacare, but stock investors need to be selective to find the best value.

Follow Jonathan Berr on Twitter@jdberr and at Berr's World.

Disclosure - At the time of writing, the author did not own shares of any company mentioned in this article.

[video] Quick Take: ClubCorp's a Pricey IPO

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- TheStreet's Debra Borchardt spoke to Francis Gaskins, director of research at Equities.com, about yet another company planning an initial public offering, ClubCorp.

ClubCorp plans to trade under the ticker "MYCC" and is looking to raise $306 million, with shares priced between $16 and $18, Gaskins said. ClubCorp does not have adequate cash flow to be considered a REIT, and top-line sales are only increasing because of price hikes.

He added that if a company coming to the market doesn't have growth or profits, then it's not very interesting. ClubCorp plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt. Borchardt noted that it does have a lot of assets.

Although the company may own a lot of golf courses, 80 of the 102 it operates, it can't sell them without sacrificing revenue, Gaskins said. He concluded that the offering is just a way for the private investors to finance the debt. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

Ford Focus EV Under Investigation for Serious Sudden Stalling Claims

A series of consumer complaints against a popular electric vehicle has prompted an investigation by regulators.

Documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that the agency is looking at about 1,000 Ford (F) Focus EVs. The investigation was sparked by a dozen reports from consumers of sudden vehicle stalling, Reuters notes.

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Ford says that it is cooperating with the investigation, which could potentially lead to a recall.

The agency says that the complaints were made within the last five months. The stalling events were not linked to any accidents and no injuries have been reported.

Vehicles from the 2012 and 2013 model years are affected by the preliminary investigation. In about half of the reports, the vehicles stalled while traveling at speeds greater than 30 miles per hour.

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In July, Ford trimmed the base price of the Focus EV by $4,000, echoing similar price cuts by other electric vehicle manufacturers.

The company has recently announced plans to install charging stations at its U.S. offices and factories to encourage electric vehicle use by its workers.

Shares of Ford rose almost 1% in Monday morning trading.

How $100 Million Expansion Will Drive Jack Daniel’s Sales Even More

If you are ever playing the word association game and bourbon comes up, chances are high that the first or second brand you would associate it with is Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE: BF-A) (NYSE: BF-B) is going to invest another $100 million into expanding its Jack Daniel’s distillery to make sure that it stays that way, or becomes the case even more. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey is part of the increased demand, and that has only been on the market a couple of years.

Brown Foreman said it is investing more than $100 million to expand the Jack Daniel Distillery due to global demand for its world-famous Tennessee Whiskey. The expansion will include additional stills, barrel warehouses and related infrastructure to support the expanding operations. Construction on the planned expansion will begin this fall and is expected to be completed within two years.

Brown-Forman also will add about 90 more full-time jobs over the next five years. The distillery expansion will be located on distillery property in the Lynchburg area.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey has grown in volume for what is said to be 21 consecutive years, and the Jack Daniel's family of brands grew global net sales by 9% in the last fiscal year.

Rival distillery Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) also experienced growth in its sales, driven in part by sales of Jim Beam, Makers Mark and other premium bourbon brands. Beam’s sales growth ahead is expected to average about 5%.

If you ever get a chance to visit these distilleries you should take advantage of it. They are impressive operations.

5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for a Short Trading Week

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Monday's market closure in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is providing an extended reprieve for traders to catch their breath after what's been a pretty lackluster follow-up performance to a breakneck stock performance in 2013.

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But even though the S&P 500 is in corrective mode right now, it's premature to think that anything's changed in the big picture.

Earnings season continues to be a key driver of stock prices this month, as investors get one of the four fundamental updates of the year on most of their portfolio names. Earnings are likely to continue to be the single most important news item for the next month and change. By and large, earnings haven't been horrible this quarter, and that's saying something if they can support the 29.6% valuation bump that the broad market tacked on in the past year.

Yes, there's still quite a bit of upside potential in this market. To make the most of it, we're turning to a fresh set of Rocket Stocks for this week.

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For the uninitiated, "Rocket Stocks" are our list of companies with short-term gain catalysts and longer-term growth potential. To find them, I run a weekly quantitative screen that seeks out stocks with a combination of analyst upgrades and positive earnings surprises to identify rising analyst expectations, a bullish signal for stocks in any market. After all, where analysts' expectations are increasing, institutional cash often follows. In the last 232 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 86.33%.

Without further ado, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.

Boeing

Aerospace giant Boeing (BA) hasn't just been able to keep up with the market's impressive rally in the past year -- it's stomped it. In those trailing 12 months, BA has given shareholders gains of more than 87% thanks primarily to the conspicuous successes of the firm's commercial airliner businesses. While launch problems were certainly part of the program, it's hard to argue with the fact that the long-awaited 787 platform still looks like a potential game changer.

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Boeing manufactures aircraft and aerospace components for the commercial air travel and defense sectors. The firm's sales are split nearly evenly between the commercial and defense units, with a whopping $415 billion backlog (more than four years' worth) at last count. Boeing has a lot on the line with the 787, but so far, the hiccups have been relatively muted, and Boeing is having little trouble selling its airline customers on the vastly improved fuel efficiency of the model.

Make no mistake: Fuel efficiency sells planes. Cutting the single-biggest cost in the airline business is what gets airlines to replace their fleets with new models. By that same token, less-conspicuous offerings, such as the introduction of a next generation 737 with new, more-efficient engines, should be huge sales drivers in the year ahead as airlines continue to focus on cutting their biggest cost: fuel.

Financially, Boeing is in exemplary shape. The firm has $7.4 billion in net cash and investments on its balance sheet, a number that's not valuation-jarring for BA but is truly meaningful considering the mammoth costs involved in taking a new airframe to market. Earnings on Jan. 29 could provide a big catalyst for BA next week, but we're betting on this Rocket Stock ahead of that date.

Southwest Airlines

From an aircraft manufacturer to an airline. Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been another high flier in the last year, rallying more than 88% since this time last year. Frankly, the age-old advice against investing in airlines is garbage. Like any cyclical industry, every ebb in airline stocks gets followed up by a flow. And that's the part of the cycle we're in now.

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Southwest is the largest air carrier in the U.S. based on passenger count. The firm's 700 (all Boeing) aircraft count includes the hulls acquired when the firm bought AirTran in 2011. Southwest's point-to-point network to nearly 100 destinations eschews the hub and spoke approach seen at legacy carriers. As a result, consumers looking for direct flights at non-hub locations get considerable convenience by booking with LUV. The firm was also the first to roll out a limited models across its entire fleet, dramatically reducing maintenance costs and keeping customer experience uniform.

Historically, Southwest has been one of the most adept airlines when it comes to hedging fuel costs. While most of the firm's most lucrative hedges have expired, Southwest has been able to maintain enviable net margins -- more than 5.7% in the most recent quarter.

So while most investors sidestep Southwest because it's an airline stock, we're betting on shares this week.

Helmerich & Payne

Oil and gas driller Helmerich & Payne (HP) is the firm that gets called in when energy companies want to pull commodities out of the ground. The oilfield service business has been buoyed by historically high oil prices for the last few years, and increased yields from innovative drilling techniques have helped servicers like HP pull deeper margins out of their efforts.

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As a contract driller, one of HP's biggest assets is its FlexRig platform of mobile land rigs – the FlexRigs provide better platforms for unconventional and horizontal drilling, and as a result, the firm is able to command a material premium on its day-rate for drilling jobs. That considerable demand from oil firms is a significant asset for HP, especially as rival drillers dump cash back into their businesses to upgrade drill rigs to compete.

Financially, HP is in strong shape. The firm sports a net cash and investment balance of $569 million, again not a valuation coup, but a big plus given the capital-intense nature of the contract drilling business. With a big replacement cost on Helmerich & Payne's fleet, the firm looks cheap at its current earnings multiple of 12.8.

Herbalife

Herbalife (HLF), on the other hand, isn't exactly cheap. This stock has ballooned in price by more than 61% in the last year, ratcheting its valuation higher in kind (Full disclosure: Separately, I own this name for technical reasons.) But that's not stopping Herbalife from making our Rocket Stocks list today -- even after some big selling to end last week.

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Herbalife sells nutrition and weight management products through a direct sales network of more than 1.9 million individuals. That same sales network has put a lot of scrutiny on shares. Words like "pyramid scheme" have been thrown around publicly, and shares have seen some volatile price action as a result. Indeed, HLF is a multilevel marketing company, warts and all. But Herbalife has also managed to come out clean from every investigation into its practices, and that, coupled with a quarter of the stocks' float currently short, makes HLF upside look interesting now.

Last week's downside was spurred by speculation that a Chinese investigation into another multilevel marketing company could create trouble for Herbalife, but the connection is (for now) a little too tenuous to warrant the drop we got to trendline support.

With rising analyst sentiment, shares are meeting our Rocket Stock criteria for the first time I can remember. For more risk-hungry investors, HLF could have an interesting week.

Lennar

Last, but certainly not least, is Lennar (LEN), a $7.3 billion homebuilder that's rounding out our list of Rocket Stocks this week.

Lennar is a vertically integrated homebuilder, providing everything from construction to mortgage services, title insurance and closing for homebuyers. The firm's subsidiaries also own positions in commercial real estate and multifamily complexes. That collection of businesses effectively makes Lennar a leveraged bet on the real estate market -- not a bad bet to make in recent years. Rewind a few years earlier and that certainly wasn't the case, but the firm took the hit in 2008 and 2009, getting rid of properties on its balance sheet at small profits or at losses just in order to build its cash reserves back up.

Today, Lennar's focus on the lower end of the housing spectrum is starting to look particularly well positioned again. The firm has been buying land aggressively again, and that abundant land ownership on its balance sheet should provide some big opportunities in the years ahead -- especially because much of it is recorded on LEN's balance sheet at less than fair value.

Earnings in March could be a big catalyst to watch in Lennar. Meanwhile, we're betting on shares this week.

To see all of this week's Rocket Stocks in action, check out the Rocket Stocks portfolio at Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

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Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author was long HLF.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Top Stocks To Own For 2014

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of the Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI  ) were looking under the weather today, falling as much as 10% after a disappointing earnings report.

So what: The health-supplement chain actually beat earnings estimates by $0.03 with a per-share profit of $0.72 as revenue grew 12.5% to $279.1 million, slightly below expectations. Comparable sales were up 4.5% in the quarter. The retail chain also added 44 stores in the period, 31 via acquisition, bringing the total count to 621. Investors, however, seemed to be disappointed with the revenue miss and same-store sales expectations of low-to-mid-single digits for the year.

Now what: This was the second quarter in a row in which Vitamin Shoppe shares tumbled on its earnings report as the market seems to be saying that the stock is overvalued. Shares had climbed as high as $65 earlier in the year, but now they seem to be fairly valued at a price almost a third down from its peak. I would have avoided Vitamin Shoppe before but with an aggressive store expansion plan, and a modest same-store sales increase expected, shares look reasonably priced today.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.(WWE)

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., an integrated media and entertainment company, engages in the sports entertainment business. The company develops content centered around its talent, and presents at its live and televised events featuring World Wrestling Entertainment. It operates through four segments: Live and Televised Entertainment, Consumer Products, Digital Media, and WWE Studios. The Live and Televised Entertainment segment conducts live events; produces television shows; sells merchandise at its live events; provides sponsorships, such as various promotional vehicles, including Internet and print advertising, arena signage, on-air announcements, and pay-per-view sponsorships for advertisers; offers television rights; and markets and promotes the storylines associated with pay-per-view events. It also provides WWE Classics On Demand, a subscription video on demand service that offers classic television shows, pay-per-view events, specials, and original programmi ng. This segment distributes its programming in approximately 30 languages and in approximately 145 countries. Its merchandise consists of various WWE-branded products, such as T-shirts, caps, and other novelty items. The Consumer Products segment licenses and sells retail products, including toys, video games, home videos, apparel, and books; and publishes magazines comprising lifestyle publications with native language editions in the UK, Mexico, Greece, and Turkey. The Digital Media segment operates Web sites; provides advertising services; sells merchandise on its Web site at WWEShop Internet storefront; and offers broadband and mobile content. The WWE Studios segment is involved in the distribution of entertainment films. This segment focuses on creating a mix of filmed entertainment. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) announced on Monday that it has updated its FY2013 outlook.

  The company now expects to see OIBDA between $40 million and $50 million. This new estimate is a result of recent developments that caused a 5% decline in second half revenue estimates.

  George Barrios, CFO of WWE commented: “Our revised 2013 Outlook reflects a relatively moderate change in our second half revenue expectations and our continued investment in the WWE brand and our content.”

  “Given the rising value of content in the market place, we believe these investments will maximize WWE�� future earnings as we renegotiate our four largest television distribution agreements and potentially launch a WWE Network,” Barrios added.

  World Wrestling Entertainment shares were down 13 cents, or 1.28%, during pre-market trading Monday. The stock is up 29% YTD.

• [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 WWE (NYSE: WWE  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE  ) has elected to maintain its dividend. The company declared a quarterly distribution of $0.12 per share of both its class A and B common stock, to be paid on Sept. 25 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 13. That amount matches each of the company's previous distributions stretching back to June 2011. Before that, it paid out considerably more at $0.36 per share.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks have battled back to little changed after falling this morning, as stocks like World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Oshkosh (OSK) make big moves.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: PMC Commercial Trust(PCC)

PMC Commercial Trust operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). It primarily originates loans to small businesses, principally in the limited service hospitality industry, collateralized by first liens on the real estate of the related business. The company has elected to be treated as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code and would not be subject to federal income tax, provided it distributes approximately 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. PMC Commercial Trust was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Top 5 Growth Stocks To Invest In 2014: Benetton Group(BNG.MI)

Buongiorno SpA engages in the design and delivery of mobile content for mobile devices, operating systems, development languages, and platforms. The company offers value-added services for mobile users; services for telephone carriers; relationship marketing services for businesses; and services, such as HelloTxt and connected devices. It also offers mobile advertising services; mobile Internet application under the Mysms name; music application under the Play.me name; Cashlog M-Payments, a mobile payment solution for merchants and customers; and Winga, an e-gaming service comprising poker tournament, bingo, casino games, and Winga TV. In addition, the company provides a real-time, hyper-local social magazine that includes social feeds, tips, and discounts linked to booking facilities under the name of Proximitips. It has operations in Europe, the United States, Australia, Central and South America, and Africa. The company, formerly known as Buongiorno Vitaminic S.p.A., wa s founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Parma, Italy.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: Universal Travel Group(UTA)

Universal Travel Group, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider offering air ticketing and hotel booking services, as well as domestic and international packaged tourism services via the Internet, customer representatives, and kiosks in the People?s Republic of China. It also provides technological solutions to travel reservations, and tour planning and tour guide services. In addition, the company operates TRIPEASY Kiosks, which are placed in hotels, office buildings, banks, shopping malls, and MTR stations for travel booking with credit cards or bank debit cards. Universal Travel Group is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People?s Republic of China.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: North Valley Bancorp(NOVB)

North Valley Bancorp operates as a bank holding company North Valley Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services to businesses and middle income individuals in California. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, regular savings, money market deposit accounts, non-interest bearing deposits, and time deposits. It also provides various loan products comprising commercial loans; real estate commercial, construction, and mortgage loans; installment loans; consumer loans; and home equity loans. In addition, the company issues cashier?s checks and money orders; and sells travelers checks, as well as offers safe deposit boxes and other customary banking services. It operates 25 commercial banking offices in Shasta, Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte, Yolo, Sonoma, Placer, and Mendocino counties. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Redding, California.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: Insignia Systems Inc.(ISIG)

Insignia Systems, Inc. markets in-store advertising products, programs, and services to consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers in the United States and internationally. The company focuses on providing in-store services through the Insignia Point-Of-Purchase Services (POPS) in-store advertising program. Its Insignia POPSign program is a national account-specific in-store shelf-edge advertising program, which allows manufacturers to deliver vital product information to consumers at the point-of-purchase together with each retailer?s store-specific prices. The company also offers Stylus software, which allows retailers to create signs, labels, and posters by manually entering the information or by importing information from a database; and laser printable cardstock and vinyl labels, including adhesive and non-adhesive supplies in various colors, sizes, and weights to retailers for their in-store signage and shelf-edge product information needs. The company dire ctly markets its Insignia POPSign program to food and drug manufacturers and retailers; and markets its Stylus software through resellers. Insignia Systems, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  MINNEAPOLIS- October 26, 2013 -(CRWE Press Release) -Insignia Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIG) announced that it intends to hold a conference call on Wednesday, October 30 at 4:00 PM Central Time to discuss the Company’s financial performance for the third quarter of 2013, which will be released Wednesday, October 30 at 3:05 PM Central Time.

  Participants may access the live call by dialing the toll-free number 877-268-1608 and provide Conference ID 98094181. Please be sure to call in about 5-10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. Audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the call until November 6, 2013 by dialing 855-859-2056 and referencing Conference ID 98094181. The audio recording will also be archived on the Company�� website approximately two days after the call until November 30, 2013. Financial information to be provided in the conference call, as well as information pertaining to the Company�� past financial performance, may be accessed on the Investor Relations page of the Company�� website at www.insigniasystems.com.

  Insignia Systems, Inc. is a developer and marketer of in-store media solutions, programs and services to retailers and consumer goods manufacturers. Through its Point-Of-Purchase Services (POPS) business, Insignia inspires shoppers and delivers value by providing at-shelf advertising solutions in over 13,000 chain retail supermarkets, over 1,700 mass merchants and 7,000 dollar stores. Through the nationwide POPS network, over 200 major consumer goods manufacturers, including Armour-Eckrich, General Mills, Hormel, Kellogg Company and Nestl茅, have taken their brand messages to the point-of-purchase. For additional information, contact (888) 474-7677, or visit the Insignia website at www.insigniasystems.com.

  Contact

The economy? Who cares? Stocks are way up

Continuing the roaring bull market of the past five years depends on companies prioritizing shareholders over the broader economy, a trend likely to continue.

Preserving capital and rewarding shareholders through buybacks and dividends has been a hallmark of corporate behavior since the market hit its low point in March 2009.

So while economic growth since then has been halting, profits have escalated through cost-cutting, balance sheets have swelled and stocks have surged more than 160%.

From the corporate perspective, it's been a winning strategy.

"None of us can remember a time when what was good for companies was so bad for the economy, and vice versa," Adam Parker, chief market strategist at Morgan Stanley, wrote in an analysis in which he attempted to discern what previous market year most closely resembled current behavior.

His conclusion: There really is no clear correlation from the past, be it the extreme-interest-rate low price-to-earnings of the 1970s, the tech bubble years of the late 1990s or the pre-crisis climate of 2004-6.

"This year is different from any other that any of us have seen in our investment lifetimes," Parker said. "Most people moving markets formulated their successful playbooks and investment mantras over the last 40 years, and 2013 just seems to be like too many different years in the past to make any sense. People can't find a year or time period they remember that's like today and it's creating confusion."

For investors and companies alike, that confusion has caused behavior that errs on the side of risk.

On the investor side, money has been piling into stock mutual- and exchange-traded funds. October has seen another $43.5 billion of inflows, making it the sixth-highest month on record, according to data firm TrimTabs.

From the corporate side, companies have been slashing share count and buying up their own stock. Companies have purchased more than $131 million worth of shares just since August, TrimTabs said.

Meanwhile, capital expenditures have been below historical norms and hiring remains mired within a modest range, exemplified by the October jobs report that showed just 148,000 net new jobs created.

It's a formula that has pushed up the Standard & Poor's 500 stock market index by 21% in 2013, even though economic growth remains lackluster as hiring has been tame and some of the housing numbers begin to weaken.

For the time ahead, Parker believes 2014 earning estimates are too high, which currently see growth at 10.75% for S&P 500 companies, according to Capital IQ.

But in a comment telling of the current climate, he said, "We also continue to think it doesn't matter."

"What's good for corporate profitability is incongruous with what's good for the economy," Parker said. "Companies don't spend, so their margins stay high. The economic growth is muted so the policy makers remain accommodative."

Indeed, it is a market that these days seems completely preoccupied with monetary policy.

More than the $85 billion in bond purchases — quantitative easing—the zero interest-rate policy has helped companies rack up $13.1 trillion of low-cost debt while keeping their collective balance sheet bloated at $1.8 trillion.

While that that historic level of Fed accommodation has coincided with huge levels of wealth disparity and 10 million more Americans on food stamps over the past four years — a 26% increase — the demands of shareholders likely will outweigh any collateral economic damage.

In other words, don't expect the Fed to begin raising rates anytime soon.

"Frankly, we think they will tighten sometime between 2016 and never," Parker said. "So, we are currently still dreaming that the Fed's accommodation can be supportive of further multiple expansion because it's tightening, not tapering, that matters, and this won't happen for a long time."

CNBC is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced! independ! ently of USA TODAY.

VIDEOS: Quantitative easing explained

LESSON FROM 1999: Fed feeding another bubble?

WEALTHY INVESTORS: Spooked by debt dangers

3 Biotech Stocks Under $10 to Watch

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>3 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Stomp the S&P in 2014

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

TG Therapeutics

TG Therapeutics (TGTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the acquisition, development and commercialization of innovative and medically important pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cancer and other underserved therapeutic needs. This stock closed up 9.9% to $4.77 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $4.39-$4.85

52-Week Range: $2.97-$7.75

Tuesday's Volume: 410,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 214,390

>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love

From a technical perspective, TGTX jumped sharply higher here and flirted with a big breakout above some key overhead resistance levels at $4.75 to $4.82 with above-average volume. Shares of TGTX hit an intraday high on Tuesday of $4.85 before finishing the trading session at $4.77. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if shares of TGTX can manage to take out Tuesday's high of $4.85 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TGTX as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of $4.39 or above $4.25 and then once it sustains a move or close above $4.85 with volume that hits near or above 214,390 shares. If we get that move soon, then TGTX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 200-day moving average of $5.33 to $6.

Cardium Therapeutics

Cardium Therapeutics (CXM), a medical technology company, engages in the development and commercialization of products and devices for cardiovascular and ischemic diseases, wound healing and tissue repair. This stock closed up 10.1% to 76 cents per share in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $0.69-$0.77

52-Week Range: $0.58-$4.00

Tuesday's Volume: 234,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 102,398

>>5 Stocks Poised for Breakouts

From a technical perspective, CXM ripped sharply higher here right above some near-term support at 65 cents with above-average volume. This move briefly pushed shares of CXM back above its 50-day moving average of 76 cents, after it tagged an intraday high of 77 cents. Shares of CXM closed right on its 50-day at 76 cents. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if CXM can manage to take out Tuesday's high of 77 cents with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CXM as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of 69 cents or above 65 cents and then once it sustains a move or close above 77 cents with volume that hits near or above 102,398 shares. If we get that move soon, then CXM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at 89 to 95 cents per share.

Oncothyreon

Oncothyreon (ONTY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. This stock closed up 8.9% to $2.06 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $1.91-$2.07

52-Week Range: $1.55-$2.81

Tuesday's Volume: 1.81 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 581,494

>>Invest Like a Venture Capitalist With These 5 Stocks

From a technical perspective, ONTY ripped higher here right off its 200-day moving average of $1.92 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong over the last few weeks, with shares moving higher from its low of $1.68 to its intraday high of $2.07. During that move, shares of ONTY have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of ONTY within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if ONTY manages to take out some key overhead resistance levels at $2.08 to $2.15 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ONTY as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $1.92 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 581,494 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ONTY will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.43 to its 52-week high at $2.81.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>4 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

>>The Case for a Correction in Stocks

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com.

You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Is IBM a Buy Near All-Time Highs?

With shares of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) trading around $206, is IBM an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

IBM is an information technology company. The company operates in five segments: Global Technology Services, Global Business Services, Software, Systems and Technology, and Global Financing. Technology products and services are in high demand worldwide as consumers want to be up-to-speed, and companies always need the latest and greatest to stay ahead of the competition. Cloud computing has been hot in recent times, which has not been too good for IBM. Should the company want to hold on to its market share, it needs to make moves quickly, and provide the technology products and services that worldwide consumers and companies demand.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

IBM stock has been on a monster surge higher over the last few years. The stock has been in a consolidation for about a year now and may be setting up to move higher. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, IBM is trading slightly above its rising key averages which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of IBM options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
IBM Options	20.77%	93%	90%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
July Options	Steep	Average
August Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on IBM’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for IBM look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	3.45%	11.15%	4.39%	11.33%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-5.11%	-0.64%	-5.39%	-3.34%
Earnings Reaction	-8.27%	4.4%	-4.91%	3.76%

IBM has seen increasing earnings and and decreasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these figures, the markets have been mixed about IBM’s recent earnings announcements.

NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!

P = Poor Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has IBM stock done relative to its peers, Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and sector?

	IBM	Accenture	Hewlett-Packard	Microsoft	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	7.54%	21.97%	72.70%	30.93%	22.89%

IBM has been a relative poor performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

IBM is a technology company that provides valuable and essential products and services to consumers and companies around the world. The stock has been on a strong run extending back several years but has been in consolidation as of late. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been increasing while revenue figures have been decreasing, overall producing mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, IBM has been a poor year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does in coming quarters.

Top Growth Stocks To Own Right Now

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

Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now

U.K. stocks climbed for a fourth day, extending a five-month high, as BP (BP/) Plc posted earnings that exceeded analysts��estimates, while Federal Reserve policy makers began a two-day meeting.

BP rallied the most since January 2011 after Europe�� third-largest oil company also increased its dividend. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), the region�� biggest crude producer, rose 1.5 percent. Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) lost 2 percent after reporting that its loss widened in the third quarter.

The FTSE 100 Index (UKX) added 48.91 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,774.73 at the close in London, its highest level since May 22. The equity benchmark has rallied 4.8 percent in October as U.S. lawmakers reached a last-minute deal to increase their government�� borrowing authority. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also advanced 0.7 percent today, while Ireland�� ISEQ Index decreased less than 0.1 percent.

��nvestor sentiment is geared towards central-bank action and where we��e seeing tapering going,��Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London, said by telephone. ��e��e had a positive combination of earnings generally exceeding expectations while any central-bank action has been deferred. That�� providing a positive backdrop for equities.��

Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: Torch Energy Royalty Trust(TRU)

Torch Energy Royalty Trust, a grantor trust, holds net profits interests, to receive payments from the working interest owners. Its working interest owners include Torch Royalty Company, Torch E&P Company, Samson Lone Star Limited Partnership, and Constellation Energy Partners LLC. The trust is entitled to receive 95% of the net proceeds attributable to oil and natural gas produced and sold from wells on the underlying properties, including Chalkley Field in Louisiana; the Robinson?s Bend Field in the Black Warrior Basin in Alabama; Cotton Valley Fields in Texas; and Austin Chalk Fields in central Texas. Torch Energy Royalty Trust was founded in 1993 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: Kraft Foods Inc.(KFT)

Kraft Foods Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets packaged food products worldwide. The company offers biscuits, including cookies, crackers, and salted snacks; confectionery products, such as chocolate, gum, and candy; beverages comprising coffee, packaged juice drinks, and powdered beverages; cheese products, including natural, processed, and cream cheeses; grocery items consisting of spoonable and pourable dressings, condiments, and desserts; and convenient meals, which comprise processed meats, packaged dinners, and lunch combinations. Its primary brand portfolio includes Oreo, Nabisco, and LU branded biscuits; Milka and Cadbury branded chocolates; Trident branded gum; Jacobs and Maxwell House branded coffees; Philadelphia branded cream cheeses; Kraft branded cheeses, dinners, and dressings; and Oscar Mayer branded meats. The company sells it products to supermarket chains, wholesalers, supercenters, club stores, mass merchandisers, distributor s, convenience stores, gasoline stations, drug stores, value stores, and retail food stores. Kraft Foods Inc. was founded in 2000 and is based in Northfield, Illinois.

Top 5 Undervalued Stocks To Watch Right Now: United Bancorp Inc.(UBCP)

United Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Citizens Savings Bank that provides various commercial and retail banking products and services in the northeastern, eastern, southeastern, and south central Ohio. Its deposit products include interest-bearing deposits, certificates of deposit, demand deposits, savings accounts, NOW accounts, and money market deposits. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial, real estate, installment, and consumer loans, as well as letters of credit and lines of credit. It also offers brokerage, night deposit, safe deposit box, and automatic teller machine services. United Bancorp provides banking services through its main office and stand alone operations center in Martins Ferry, Ohio; and 19 branches in Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Athens, Hocking, and Fairfield counties, as well as in the surrounding localities. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Martins Ferry, Ohio.

Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: Reynolds American Inc(RAI)

Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cigarette and other tobacco products in the United States. It offers cigarettes under the brand names of CAMEL, PALL MALL, WINSTON, KOOL, DORAL, SALEM, MISTY, and CAPRI; and cigarettes and other tobacco products under the NATURAL AMERICAN SPIRIT brand name, as well as manages various licensed brands, including DUNHILL and STATE EXPRESS 555. The company also provides smokeless tobacco products, including moist snuff under GRIZZLY and KODIAK brand names; pasteurized tobacco under CAMEL Snus brand name; milled tobacco under the brand name of CAMEL Dissolvables; other tobacco products, such as little cigars under WINCHESTER and CAPTAIN BLACK brand names; and roll-your-own tobacco under the brand name of BUGLER. RAI sells its products primarily through distributors, wholesalers, and other direct customers, including retail chains, as well as distributes its cigarettes to public warehouses. The compan y was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Lorillard's success has come from a combination of strategies aimed at diversifying its overall product portfolio. On one hand, the company has vigorously defended its core cigarette market, joining with peer Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI  ) to defeat an FDA proposal last year that would have greatly expanded requirements for graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging. Even with an onslaught of ad campaigns and more local smoking restrictions, Lorillard has been able to keep growing, with sales up 3.3% in the first quarter compared to the year-ago quarter and climbing market share for its overall cigarette portfolio and for Newport in particular. Lorillard also got FDA approval for new non-menthol cigarettes last month under the Newport brand, with plans to start marketing Non-Menthol Gold Box and Gold Box 100 products in the near future.

• [By Jacob Roche]

  Because cigarette manufacturers in the U.S. are allowed to have more ornate packaging that is harder to duplicate, counterfeits are less of a problem here. However, Altria (NYSE: MO  ) has noted that counterfeits do account for part of the trade and are a problem for American manufacturers like itself, Lorillard (NYSE: LO  ) , and Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI  ) .

Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: People's United Financial Inc.(PBCT)

People?s United Financial, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for People?s United Bank that provides commercial banking, retail and business banking, and wealth management services to individual, corporate, and municipal customers. Its Commercial Banking segment provides commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate lending, and commercial deposit gathering services, as well as equipment financing, cash management, correspondent banking, and municipal banking services. The company?s Retail and Business Banking segment offers consumer and business deposit gathering services; consumer lending products, including residential mortgage, home equity, and indirect auto lending; business lending; and merchant services. Its Wealth Management segment provides trust services, corporate trust, brokerage, financial advisory services, investment management services, and life insurance and other insurance services, as well as private banking services. The company also offers online and telephone banking, and investment trading services, and automated teller machine (ATM) services. As of March 31, 2011, it operated a network of approximately 341 branches, including full-service supermarket branches, investment and brokerage offices, and commercial banking offices, as well as approximately 518 automated teller machines in Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1842 and is headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

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Top Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: 21st Century Holding Company(TCHC)

21st Century Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in insurance underwriting, distribution, and claims processing primarily in the United States. The company underwrites homeowners? multi-peril, personal umbrella, commercial general liability, commercial excess liability, personal and commercial automobile, fire, allied lines, workers? compensation, business personal property, and commercial inland marine insurance. It also provides premium financing to its insured?s, as well as third party insured?s. The company markets and distributes its own and third-party insurer?s products and other services through contractual relationships with independent agents, and general agents. 21st Century Holding Company was founded in 1991 and is based in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.