5 Legal Ways to Cut the Cord on Sports

PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) -- Forget for a moment that most of the country's cable and satellite customers are subsidizing the average sports fan's viewing habits. Shouldn't those fans be able to pay for the channels they want without getting dozens that they don't?

That's been the crux of the cable television debate for nearly two decades as the price of sports channels has risen and sports' overall share of the cable bill has increased. According to media research firm SNL Kagan, sports channels made up $947.6 million -- or roughly 17% -- of the $5.5 billion multichannel television industry in 1995. Just last year, sports channels took in $15.3 billion -- or a whopping 38% -- of the overall $40.3 billion multichannel take. The earning power of the only other category that even came close, general variety channels such as TBS and AMC (AMCX), grew to $5.5 billion from $820 million over the same span, but dropped from nearly equivalent to sports to roughly a third of that genre's value.

Meanwhile, sports now accounts for nearly two out of every five dollars spent on pay television. Its monthly cost has risen as well. In 1995, the average monthly cable bill was $6.83, $1.17 of which went to sports channels. That's still a hefty 16%, but it lagged behind the $2.82 movie channels charged at the time. Now that $1.17 spent on sports wouldn't even cover 20% of the $5.54-a-month cost of ESPN alone.

Of the average $34 spent each month on multichannel television, nearly $13 pays for sports channels. That's 38% of the average cable bill, though sports are on only 14 of the average 94 channels offered by multichannel providers. On top of that, Nielsen (NLSN) estimates that only 20% of all multichannel viewing time is spent watching sports. Nobody is making out in that deal. Sports fans get a bunch of content they'll never watch. Everybody else watches providers including Time Warner, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and others squabble over growing network retransmission fees and subscription fees charged by Viacom, AMC Networks, Turner and others. They don't need this. There are ways to watch most of your favorite sports without subscribing to a satellite or cable service. It isn't always cheap, but it can help overwhelmed multichannel customers cut the dead weight, if not cut the cord completely:

NFL Sunday Ticket Max Price: $60 monthly or $300 five-month subscription Also see: 7 NFL Football Apps You're Going to Need This Season>>

If you're a fan of an out-of-market team, this is an easy decision.

NFL games accounted for 31 out 32 of the most-watched TV broadcasts last fall and more than doubled the prime-time viewership of Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC. Collectively, 21st Century Fox (FOXA), CBS (CBS) and Comcast's NBC (CMCSA) agreed to pay the NFL $28 billion for broadcast rights through 2022. Walt Disney's (DIS) ESPN has a separate $1.9 billion annual deal for Monday Night Football, while DirecTV (DTV) has a $1 billion per season agreement for the NFL Sunday Ticket package that is set to become even more lucrative once the current contract expires in 2015. That last bit works out in an out-of-towner's favor, especially considering you don't need a DirecTV subscription to access the Sunday Ticket package. The scoring-plays-only Red Zone channel, the 30-minute condensed-game Short Cuts channel and every out-of-market game is available through your mobile devices or your laptop. That last option is especially great, considering there are a few ways to use a USB connection to broadcast Sunday Ticket games on your television or to use Google's (GOOG) Chromecast to do the work for you. Considering that DirecTV subscribers would have to pay the same amount for all you're getting plus their monthly subscription fee on top of it, it's a great deal. It's one that became even better if you happened to be one of the lucky souls who bought a $100 copy of Electronic Arts' (ERTS) Madden NFL 25: Anniversary Edition this summer with its free access to the Sunday Ticket Max package.

MLB.TV Premium Price: $130 for a full season, $10 now

There isn't a whole lot of regular season left, but if you're trying to find a way to check in on the wild-card and pennant races without shelling out more to some multichannel provider, this is an easy solution.

Much like Sunday Ticket, MLB.TV Premium tends to work best if you're a fan of an out-of-market team, as the home team's games are blacked out whether they're playing at home or away. Still, this allows even home team fans to watch out-of-town games on their Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Roku, TiVo (TIVO), Boxee, Apple (AAPL) TV or other connected devices that they'd ordinarily miss. Postseason games cost extra, but this comes in handy if you've cut the cord and can't catch a TBS broadcast. Even better, your subscription also buys you you pitch-by-pitch updates, video highlights from games in progress and live radio broadcasts to go with free At Bat Lite content such as scores, news from MLB.com, schedules, rosters and team standings. This year's updates include a free MLB.TV game of the day, closed-captioning and a classic games video library.

MLS Live Price: $24.99 though the playoffs

Same rules apply as in the other leagues: Home team games are blacked out. That's not so great for MLS supporters, who typically have to watch their home teams on a cable sports network or hope for an NBC Sports matchup, but it's -- again -- great for folks whose favorite team is out of town or who likes to keep an eye on rival sides when the playoffs approach.

Meanwhile, subscribers also get 20-minute condensed game replays, DVR function, slow motion, real-time stats, formation and foul updates and more. They can also watch games through their regular television if it's a smarter Panasonic (PC) model or if they own a Roku box. Lastly, one of the best features of this package is that fans get non-MLS games thrown in. If there's a CONCACAF Champions League matchup or a friendly against a foreign squad, you'll have access to it.

NHL GameCenter Price: $150 or eight payments of $19

For NHL fans anywhere east of the Mississippi, watching West Coast games is a rare treat with huge rewards. The problem is that you either have to pay for a package including NBC Sports to see them or tack on a costly full-season out-of-market package. Also see: 5 NFL Teams Most Likely To Be Blacked Out In 2013>>

If you're serious about hockey and don't care much about the team your city bought an arena for, GameCenter's full season of televised games, slow-motion, DVR controls and mobile capability for all of it should make it well worth the price.

Aereo Price: $8 a month

Remember all those blackout restrictions we mentioned in just about every entry above? Well, a simple TV antenna is usually the best way around them, especially for nationally televised network broadcasts.

The only problem is that your antenna doesn't play nicely with the DVR and certainly doesn't deliver a signal to your various mobile devices. Including the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Roku and just about any laptop. But are all those features worth $8 a month? Well, keep in mind that your cable or satellite provider will charge you that much for ESPN and ESPN 2. If you're in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Salt Lake City -- currently the only markets where Aereo is available -- that subscription fee is the price you'll pay for your untethered freedom. It certainly gave folks a means around Time Warner Cable's (TWC) blackout of CBS, and it could come in handy as the fight over retransmission fees heats up. If it just seems like a way of getting you to pay for free content, then all we can tell you is that cable and satellite television subscribers have been paying for that same free content for years. You're just ordering a la carte. -- Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore. >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Jason Notte. >To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/notteham. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com. RELATED STORIES: >>7 NFL Football Apps You're Going to Need This Season >>5 Pro Sports Towns Doing Just Fine Without the NFL >>5 NFL Teams Most Likely To Be Blacked Out In 2013

Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.

Why billionaires make bad presidents

The election of Petro Poroshenko as Ukraine's new president is filled with hope—hope that he will ease the battle with Russia and form a bridge with the West. Hope that he will improve Ukraine's crumbling economy. Hope that he can keep his country from breaking into a civil war.

But the greatest hope is that Poroshenko will become the world's first truly effective, democratic billionaire president. The odds aren't good.

One reason is Ukraine itself. The East European oligarchy doesn't exactly lend itself to enlightened democracy and free markets. Its past presidents, from Viktor Yanukovych to Viktor Yushchenko to Leonid Kuchma, have often shown more interest in building sprawling dachas and silencing their opposition than building sustainable economies and civil society.

Poroshenko, known as the "Chocolate King," owns Kiev's Roshen Sweets, which makes chocolate and other confectionery. Voters are hoping that his newfound power will be used to stitch together peace with Russia and prosperity for Ukraine—not to enrich himself further. And therein lies the problem for most billionaire presidents.

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"The problem for Poroshenko is definitely that he is a strong businessman himself," Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy told the Washington Post. "The problem would be to separate business from politics."

That separation has proven difficult in other countries.

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul who served as prime minister three times between 1994 and 2011, is currently serving a year of community service for tax fraud. He's also fighting charges of having sex with an underage prostitute.

While Berlusconi and his supporters say he's simply a victim of a left-wing attack, the Italian economy and political system both re! main highly dysfunctional after his long reign.

Then there's Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire media mogul who was prime minister of Thailand. Shinawatra now lives in exile to avoid corruption charges in Thailand. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was recently ousted as prime minister. As with Berlusconi, supporters of Thaksin (known as "red shirts") say he's been unfairly demonized by his political opponents.

But a Thai court ruled that $1.4 billion of Thaksin's fortune was gained illegally while he was prime minister. And the fact that Thailand is now being ruled by a military coup, with its economy faltering, suggests that Thaksin did little to improve the foundations of democracy or the economy in the country.

Finally, Vladimir Putin could also be included on lists of billionaire presidents. Putin, of course, argues that he's not rich—once saying that he's a "galley slave" working for the Russian people for little wage. But media reports put his net worth in the billions. And given Russia's economic troubles, its human rights abuses, lack of real opposition and recent penchant for invading its neighbors, Putin is the poster boy for autocratic billionaire leaders.

So is there a cause-and-effect between billionaire wealth and bad leadership? Not necessarily. The billionaire leaders who have come to power so far are all in countries with non-traditional forms of democracy prone to corruption and backroom dealmaking. They are precisely the kind of countries where wealth can more easily buy office. And they are precisely the kind of countries that can't be fixed by a single leader in one or two terms.

Still, billionaires do tend to have some character traits that don't translate well to being democratic leaders. Their success tends to come from starting companies, breaking rules, ignoring critics and controlling virtually every aspect of their lives and companies. Once they've made their fortune, billionaires are used to getting what they want.

And it's not easy for! billiona! ires — economic animals by nature — to suddenly set aside their personal interests.

Nearly three-fourths of billionaire entrepreneurs surveyed recently by the Centre for Policy Studies cited economic profits and wealth as their motivating factors. Being a political leader, by contrast, is a more messy proposition, involving compromise, cooperation and masses of public interests.

We may yet see a great billionaire president, but it's unlikely that Poroshenko will be the first.

© CNBC is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

3 Cash-Is-King Dividend Stocks

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Apart from bankruptcy, nothing has the ability to hammer dividend stocks like a dividend cut or suspension. Indeed, the entire point of investing in dividend stocks is to find companies that pay reliable and rising dividends over long periods of time.

Revenue can ebb and flow, earnings can come and go, but as long as dividend stocks are buttressed by a gusher of levered free cash flow, there’s little reason to worry that the dividend spigot will be turned off.

Levered free cash flow (LFCF) is too often overlooked as a measure of health in dividend stocks, but it’s arguably the most important factor in determining whether a company will keep up its payouts. After all, levered free cash flow is what’s left after a company pays interest on debts, dividend, capital expenditures, you name it.

LFCF is also a good yardstick for finding cheap stocks. Price-to-earnings (P/E) is more popular, sure, but price-to-levered free cash (P/LFCF) flow can be a better metric. Dividend stocks can dive if a company posts a net loss, screwing up the P/E, but if the company has billions in cash sloshing around, that dividend (now with a higher yield) is abundantly safe.

We decided to scour the market for cheap, high-dividend stocks generating unusually high levered free cash. These dividend stocks had to be in the Russell 1000, have a yield of at least 5% and a P/LFCF multiple of less than 15.

Based on those criteria, here are three great dividend stocks where cash is king, as they have big piles of cash leftover after paying interest and everything else you can think of:

Next Page

Mack-Cali Realty (CLI)

CLI Price/LFCF: 6.5
CLI Dividend Yield: 5.5%

Real estate investment trusts are dividend stocks that tend to have firehoses of levered free cash. That’s because once a month, every month, the rent checks and get paid and those payments pile up.

A number of REITs look like big-cash dividend stocks, but Mack-Cali Realty (CLI) stands out because of its superior dividend yield relative to its cash flow. CLI pays a dividend yielding 5.5% even as its valuation of price-to-levered free cash flow is in the single digits.

The brutal cold winter in the Northeast hurt Mack-Cali’s results, as expenses piled up for maintaining its portfolio of apartments. Shares in CLI are up just 1% so far this year to lag the broader market.

But that dividend probably couldn’t be safer thanks to the levered free cash CLI generates. During the past 12 months, CLI pumped out nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in free cash — after paying interest expense, capex and $135 million in dividends, according to S&P Capital IQ. With more than twice as much free cash as dividend payments, CLI is not only safe, but looks undervalued too.

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AT&T (T)

T Price/LFCF: 12.7
T Dividend Yield: 5.2%

Telecommunications stocks generate tremendous cash flow because (most) people pay their phone bills every month. Indeed, the deal in so much cash that there’s still plenty leftover even after gargantuan expenses to build and maintain networks.

With a yield of 5.2%, AT&T (T) is routinely one of the top 10 dividend stocks is in the S&P 500, but given how much free cash the telco generates, it could probably be No. 1 if it wanted to. T had $22 billion in capex over the last 12 months, it paid more than $9 billion to pay off debt and shelled out nearly $10 billion in dividends. Interesting,

And yet, after all that, T still generated more than $14 billion in levered free cash flow in the past year. Not only can investors can feel comfortable with T’s ability to swallow DirecTV (DTV), but the numbers also suggest that T can easily juice its dividend.

T shares are breakeven so far in 2014, but look like they could rise on multiple expansion given that the P/LFCF and P/E both look cheap at about 12. No, slow growth means AT&T won’t get a really big multiple, but the cash flow suggests solid future earnings growth and higher dividends too, and that should buoy T stock.

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R.R. Donnelley (RRD)

RRD Price/LFCF: 9.4
RRD Dividend Yield: 6.7%

It’s hard to find a more boring company than R.R. Donnelley (RRD). It both prints and creates custom content (e.g., annual reports) for private and public companies.

In other words, RRD could be thought of as a hot tech stock … if we were still in the Middle Ages.

So it’s somewhat of a surprise that RRD also prints cash. Levered free cash flow came to more than a half-billion dollars over the trailing 12 months. Furthermore, because RRD has comparatively few shares outstanding, it only paid $189 million in dividends last year — even with a whopping yield of 6.7%.

R.R. Donnelley also looks extremely cheap. RRD trades at a little more than 9 P/LFCF. The forward P/E is likewise 9. That’s a discount of more than 40% compared to the broader market.  And RRD has a growth trajectory that lags the S&P 500 by only about a percentage point.

Of course part of the reason for the high dividend is a slumping share price. (That’s always something to consider when hunting for dividend stocks.) After a stunning rise in 2013, RRD has lost 23% so far this year, wiping out any gains from the dividend. That’s partly due to weak top-line growth. But the levered free cash flow multiple suggests that shares are beaten down more than enough.

Furthermore, RRD’s strategy hangs on making acquisitions and it certainly generates enough free cash to keep doing deals.

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

What If General Motors Recalls Them All?

Every automaker has recalls. Ford Motor (F) has had them. Toyota Motor (TM) has had them. But has anyone ever had a string of recalls like General Motors (GM), which has recalled nearly 16 million cars? That, of course, begs the question: How many more cars can General Motors recall?

REUTERS

Citigroup’s Itay Michaeli tries to answer that question:

…we began with MY'06 and higher vehicles where we first bucketed "complaint/recall catalysts" and then concatenated the databases to yield a unique identifier based on vehicle MY, make, model & catalyst. For complaints, we looked at each unique identifier to identify unique VIN numbers. We ran a similar analysis for the recall database and then cross-referenced both data sets to see how many recalls had registered complaints to generate a number of complaints-per-concatenated recall. We then went back to look for complaints where the number exceeded the simple average but have yet to be recalled. Our analysis highlighted ~275 unique concatenations across ~50 GM models not yet recalled. When we looked at total production of these models, we calculated a max potential for 10.0-11.5 million vehicles. At ~$78 cost/vehicle (similar to Q2 charge), this would amount to $800-$900mln or $~0.35/share. Note that not all recalls originate from NHTSA complaints.

And what if General Motors recalled everything? Michaeli estimates that General Motors has 68 million cars on the road, which would imply $4.2 billion, or $1.60 a share, of risk, if cars that have already been recalled are exuded.

Clearly, the recalls must be having an impact: General Motors has dropped 0.6% to $34.38 t 12:15 a.m. today, while Toyota Motor has gained 1.3% to $111.34 and Ford Motor has advanced 1.4% to $16.54.

8 Purchases That Can Save You Hundreds of Dollars

AlamyIf you're a coffee lover who buys a $4 latte everyday, an espresso machine or French press could save you more than $1,000 a year. If you're frugal, you might frequently find yourself worrying over purchases, asking yourself, "Is this too expensive?" But that's not the right mindset -- the questions you should be asking yourself are "What value does this have to me once I buy it?" and "Can this save me money?" In fact, there are many purchases -- cheap and expensive alike -- that can save you (or make you) money in the long run. Here are just a few that can save you hundreds or thousands over time. 1. A bike or transit pass. If you live in an area where you can forgo having a vehicle, you can save thousands of dollars a year. Just think, no more car payments or pricey repairs. And that's just the big stuff -- you won't have to pay for car washes or gas either. Don't think you can manage without a car for occasional errands? Many cities now have Zipcar or other car sharing programs, which allow members to rent cars for short time periods and low rates.

Morningstar: State Pensions Complex, Lack Transparency

Who’s watching your client’s pension? At the state level, who knows?

A new report from Morningstar notes the “inherent challenge” in understanding and studying the current state of …well, state pensions, mainly due to their complexity, weak disclosure requirements, and their sheer number. In addition, pension accounting is filled with assumptions, which leads to a lot of uncertainty. Morningstar does add that this might be about to change, however.

“During the last few years, there has been a lot of negative attention focused on pensions, but new standards approved by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board could spark some significant changes,” Rachel Barkley, municipal credit analyst for Morningstar, said in a statement. “We’ve seen the funded levels of state pension plans continue to decline during the last year, albeit modestly."

She noted the bankruptcy filings of San Bernardino, Calif., and Detroit may have significant effects on the national level.

Morningstar’s municipal credit analysts found that based on two key funding metrics, Wisconsin had the strongest-funded state pension plan system while Illinois had the weakest among all 50 states, for the second year in a row. However, in a break from past reports, the Chicago-based research firm analyzed Puerto Rico as well, and found it ranked as the weakest among all the pension systems evaluated by Morningstar.

The two key metrics were:

“On the upside, recent data indicate that long-term investment returns are generally in line with assumptions used by most pension plans,” Barkley added. “Additionally, in recent years most states have implemented some level of pension reforms.”

Additional key conclusions from Morningstar’s review include:

---

Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:

The Real Scoop on Obama Care

Steve Forbes shares what he thinks is the real impact of Obama Care, as well as its impact going forward.

SPEAKER 1:  Thanks for joining us.  My guest today is Steve Forbes.  Hi Steve, and thanks for being with us.

STEVE:  Thank you.

SPEAKER 1:  Now you’ve written a lot recently about ObamaCare and no one seems to know what’s going on with ObamaCare.  I’ve made a lot of phone calls to different news organizations, health organizations, just trying to get some more information.  All I have heard is that it’s due to start enrollment in October and will actually start in January.  Now, since it’s the government I figure maybe that’s January of 2019.  [LAUGHTER]  What do you think?

STEVE:  I think you’re going to see a new nickname, ObamitableCare, and precisely because nobody knows what’s out there which is why they postponed these things, for a mandate 2015, caps on what you pay out-of-pocket, 2015.  They don’t have the lawful right to do it but, hey, why let the law get in the way?

SPEAKER 1: That’s right.

STEVE:  So you’re going to see more and more of that, so it’s going to get off to a pretty messy start.  We chatted earlier about how this is going to lead to higher premiums for a lot of people.  Some will see lower ones, but most of them will get a little shock, even more in the less freedom that they have.  We’re already seeing the impact on job creation.  Yes, jobs are being created; but most of them are temporary, part-time work because of the uncertainties and the mammoth increases coming from ObamaCare.  This thing is a real dampener on the economy, and I think democrats kind of wish they would have never done that thing.

SPEAKER 1:  Exactly.  Well, is there a latest estimate on how much we think it’s going to cost?

STEVE:  No, pick a number.

SPEAKER 1:  [LAUGHTER] And then increase it, right, by about 25%.

STEVE:  Nobody knows.  The idea you can project these things for six or 10 years down the road, impossible.  What is going to be ominous is not just dollars; it’s going to be the lack of choice in care and the uncertainty about access to care.  That’s one thing they used to say in the old Soviet Union, the food is free but you can’t get any.

SPEAKER 1:  That’s right; and you really wouldn’t want it if you got it, right?  Let’s turn this toward the investment angle.  Since we really don’t know what ObamaCare is really going to end up looking like, do you have any kind of conception of what industries within the healthcare sector might actually benefit from this?  Would that really happen, will anybody benefit?

STEVE:  Well the only ones who are going to get business and it’s going to be a poison chalice are the big hospital chains; but they’re going to find that this thing is very much of a double-edge sword.

SPEAKER 1: Yes.

STEVE:  I think, though, in terms of healthcare itself, the collapse of ObamaCare, they’re going to have to change it more and more.  It is going to set the stage for real free enterprise in ObamaCare, so medical device makers even though they’re getting slammed now are going to have a great future.  That’s going to be hugely important.

SPEAKER 1:  Yes.

STEVE:  You’re going to see real change in how we do things  in this country.  You’re going to see changes, too, in terms of consumer choice and having more choices of clinics and the like.  What looks like a hopeless liability is going to become a huge growth industry because healthcare is personal.

SPEAKER 1: It is personal; but how is that going to translate down to the individual.  I mean once this crisis of ObamaCare is over with.  Are people actually going to be able to afford insurance do you think? 

STEVE:  I think what you’re going to see is, for example, one of the things Republicans will pass when they get control of both houses is nationwide shopping for health insurance so you have hundreds of companies competing for your business.  That’s going to give you more choice, lower cost.  What you’re going to start to see through that and through other changes is that we get the kind of productivity in healthcare that we do in the rest of the economy.  You take a memory device, an iPhone and iPod costs about what, $25, $50; that kind of memory would cost you $10,000 a dozen years ago.  There are huge changes coming.  While we’re going to have a mess now – so try to stay healthy now ---

SPEAKER 1: [LAUGHTER] That’s right.

STEVE:  It’s going to mean more care at more affordable cost.

SPEAKER 1:  Wonderful.  Positive outcome in the long term.  Thanks, Steve. 

STEVE:  Thank you.

SPEAKER 1:  And thank you for joining us at the moneyshow.com video network.

Toll Brothers: About That Beat…

Good news goes a long way when the market isn’t expecting much, and that seems to be the case with Toll Brothers (TOL) today.

Nate Luke for The Wall Street Journal

Toll Brothers reported a profit of 35 cents, beating forecasts for 26 cents, on sales of $860.4 million, topping the Street consensus for $828 million. MKM Partners’ Megan McGrath and Ross Sparenblek note that Toll Brothers also “essentially raised its revenue guidance.” They explain:

Toll essentially raised its revenue guidance for the full year via higher ASP estimates. The company continues to expect closings of 5,100-5,850, but now expects ASPs of $690k-$720k (vs. prior $675k-$720k). Given the company’s long build cycle, we suspect that the higher guidance is likely more of a statement on the anticipated mix of closings rather than a signal that prices are being raised more aggressively.

McGrath and Sparenblek rate give Toll Brothers a Buy rating and a $43 price target.

Sterne Agee’s Jay McCanless and Annie Worthman have their doubts about whether business is really improving:

Housing revenues exceeded our estimates on purchased backlog, but without the benefit of a lower tax rate and other non-operating income benefits, we believe TOL’s F2Q14 EPS would have been below our $0.31 EPS estimate…

We believe EPS benefited from approximately $0.06/share of interest income and joint venture income above our estimate (related to the refinancing of a multi-family mortgage), and also had a $0.04/share benefit from a 30.2% income tax rate versus our 39.0% forecast.

McCanless and Worthman rate Toll Brothers Underperform with a $28 price target.

Shares of Toll Brothers have gained 1.9% to $36.32 at 11:59 a.m., but its strength hasn’t really translated into big days for other home builders. KB Home (KBH) has gained 0.4% to $16.65, DR Horton (DHI) has risen 0.4% to $23.22 and Lennar (LEN) has dipped 0.3% to $40.37.

Dow Jones Industrials Gain 135 Points; S&P 500 Extends Perfect September

Make that seven days.

REUTERS

The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 1,689.13 today, making it a perfect 7 and 0 in September. The Dow Jones Industrials, meanwhile, rose 135. 54 points, or 0.9% to 15,326.60. The Nasdaq Composite, however, edged 0.1% lower today thanks to the 5.4% drop in that behemoth known as Apple (AAPL).

Why the market strength? Well, the U.S. is seeking a diplomatic solution to the Syria problem, at least for the time being, and investors may be coming to believe that tapering, when it happens, is already reflected in the market. With those worries behind them, investors can let their animal spirits soar.

Or maybe not. S&P Capital IQ’s Alec Young, for one, believes Syria could be trouble. He writes:

While the odds of a U.S. military strike on Syria may have edged down contingent on a timely accounting and handover of their chemical weapons stockpiles, we believe it would be naïve to think a strike is now unlikely given the still significant odds of Syrian non-compliance. And given that the S&P 500 is now slightly above where it was when the Syrian situation escalated on August 26, we believe equities remain vulnerable to further knee-jerk selling at the first sign of Al-Assad’s non-cooperation, at which point we’d expect stocks to quickly discount an attack. That said, we believe that were a strike to occur, it would be unlikely to lead to a wider Mideast military conflagration, making any equity weakness it precipitated a potential buying opportunity.

And while everyone seems to feel that tapering is priced in, there’s always room for a surprise. But we’ll enjoy this rally for now.

Kinder Morgan (KMI) fell 2.8% to $36.01 today, one day after Hedgeye released its report on the company.

PVH (PVH) dropped 1.5% to $22.80, a day after falling 5.6% on disappointing earnings, after a Citigroup analyst said its no longer one of her top picks.

Phillip Morris (PM) gained 2.8% to $86.56 after boosting its dividend by 10.6%.

Restoration Hardware (RH) dropped 12% to $68.04 despite what many considered to be a solid earnings report. Not Barron’s.

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now

Popular Posts: 5 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now5 Tech Services Stocks to Buy Now5 Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Now Recent Posts: 5 Metals and Mining Stocks to Sell Now 5 Stocks With Awful Sales Growth ��HTS MITT MNKD UEC IDIX 5 Stocks With Great Sales Growth ��PCYC HTH INSY CREG GV View All Posts

This week, these five stocks have the worst ratings in Sales Growth, one of the eight Fundamental Categories on Portfolio Grader.

Hatteras Financial () is a mortgage real estate investment trust. HTS gets F’s in Earnings Growth, Earnings Momentum, Analyst Earnings Revisions, Cash Flow and Operating Margin Growth as well. .

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now: Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.(TC)

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, milling, processing, and marketing molybdenum products in the United States and Canada. The company?s principal properties include the Thompson Creek Mine and mill in Idaho; a metallurgical roasting facility in Langeloth, Pennsylvania; and a joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, mill, and roasting facility in British Columbia. It also holds interests in development projects comprising the Davidson molybdenum property and the Berg copper-molybdenum-silver property located in northern British Columbia; the Howard?s Pass property, a lead and zinc project situated in the Yukon territory-northwest territories border; and the Maze Lake property, a gold project located in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut. The company produces molybdenum products, primarily molybdic oxide and ferromolybdenum, as well as soluble technical oxide, pure molybdenum tri-oxide, and high purity molybdenum disulfide. As o f December 31, 2010, its consolidated recoverable proven and probable ore reserves totaled 462.2 million pounds of contained molybdenum in the Thompson Creek Mine and the Endako Mine. The company was formerly known as Blue Pearl Mining Ltd. and changed its name to Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. in May 2007. Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF), down 4 percent, and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC), off 3 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Basic Materials shares gained around 0.24 percent in trading on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Harmony Gold Mining Company (NYSE: HMY), up 4.1 percent, and Thompson Creek Metals Company (NYSE: TC), up 3.8 percent. In trading on Wednesday, cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.36 percent.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. (NYSE: TC) was at 54% discount to its book value of $8.30 per share at the time, and the stock price of $3.90 is up from $3.03 Deutsche Bank’s team nailed upside of more than 28% here. Its price target was $4 at the time versus a consensus target of $4.50 at the time. The 52-week range here is $2.42 to $4.55, but we would point out that the consensus price target is $3.93.

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NAT)

Nordic American Tankers Limited is an international tanker company. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 20 Suezmax tankers. The Company�� vessels include Nordic Harrier, Nordic Hawk, Nordic Hunter, Nordic Voyager, Nordic Freedom, Nordic Fighter, Nordic Discovery, Nordic Saturn, Nordic Jupiter, Nordic Apollo and Nordic Moon. Its vessels also include Nordic Cosmos, Nordic Sprite, Nordic Grace, Nordic Mistral, Nordic Passat, Nordic Vega, Nordic Breeze, Nordic Aurora and Nordic Zenith. In September 2011, the Company acquired the vessel, Nordic Aurora. It chartered all of its vessels in the spot market pursuant to a cooperative arrangement with Gemini Tankers LLC until November 24, 2011. In November 2011, the Orion Tankers pool was established with Orion Tankers Ltd. as pool manager and its vessels were transferred from the Gemini Tankers LLC arrangement to the Orion Tankers pool. On December 17, 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest in Scandic American Shipping Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT  ) is presenting a calm sea to its stockholders by keeping its upcoming dividend level with the previous payout. The company has declared a distribution of $0.16 per share of its common stock for its Q1, which its expects to hand out "on or about" May 14. It expects that the record date will be April 30.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Nordic American Tankers (NASDAQ: NAT) was also up, gaining 10.05 percent to $8.87 after the Dow Jones Global Shipping Index showed strength throughout the session on Wednesday.

• [By Taylor Muckerman]

  As for the competition, not many companies have fared much better. For example, another Bermuda-based oil carrier, Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT  ) , has seen its cash from operations fall below sea level the past two years. In Nordic's case, its fleet size of 20 double-hull Suezmax tankers isn't nearly as diverse as Teekay's, but Suezmax tankers are capable of toting up to 1 million barrels of oil per voyage.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Nordic American Tanker (NYSE: NAT) is a Bermuda-based tanker company that acquires and charters double-hull tankers. Its fleet consists of 20 double-hull Suezmax tankers. Besides the factor you mention about more ships coming onto the market, NAT has underperformed — period. Shares have lost two-thirds of their value over the past five years, and the dividend has been cut multiple times.

Hot Gas Stocks To Own For 2015: Barnes Group Inc (B)

Barnes Group Inc. is an international aerospace and industrial components manufacturer and logistics services company serving a range of end markets and customers. The products and services provided by Barnes Group are critical components for applications, which provide transportation, communication, manufacturing and technology. The Company operates under two global business segments: Logistics and Manufacturing Services, and Precision Components. On December 30, 2011, the Company sold its Barnes Distribution Europe (BDE) business to Berner SE. In August 2012, the Company acquired Synventive Molding Solutions.

Logistics and Manufacturing Services

Logistics and Manufacturing Services provides logistics support and repair services. Value-added logistics support services include inventory management, technical sales, and supply chain solutions for maintenance, repair, operating, and production supplies and services. Repair services provided include the manufacturing of spare parts for the refurbishment and repair of engineered components and assemblies for commercial and military aviation. Logistics and Manufacturing Services has sales, distribution, and manufacturing operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Mexico, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom. Products and services are available in more than 30 countries.

The global operations are engaged in supplying, servicing and manufacturing of maintenance, repair and operating components. Activities include logistics support through vendor-managed inventory and technical sales for stocked replacement parts and other products, catalog offerings and custom solutions, and the manufacture and delivery of aerospace aftermarket spare parts, including the revenue sharing programs (RSPs) under, which the Company receives right to supply designated aftermarket parts over the life of the related aircraft engine program, and component repairs. In addition, the manufacturing and supplying of aerospace! aftermarket spare parts, including the RSPs, are dependent upon the reliable and timely delivery of components.

Precision Components

Precision Components is a global supplier of engineered components for critical applications focused on providing solutions for a industrial, transportation and aerospace customer base. It is equipped to produce every type of precision spring, from fine hairsprings for electronics and instruments to heavy-duty springs for machinery, as well as precision-machined and fabricated components and assemblies for OEM turbine engine, airframe and industrial gas turbine builders globally, and the military. It is also a manufacturer and supplier of precision mechanical products, including precision mechanical springs, compressor reed valves and nitrogen gas products. Precision Components also manufactures punched and fine-blanked components used in transportation and industrial applications, nitrogen gas springs and manifold systems used to control stamping presses, and retention rings, which position parts on a shaft or other axis.

Precision Components has a customer base with products purchased by durable goods manufacturers located in industries, including transportation, consumer products, farm equipment, telecommunications, medical devices, home appliances and electronics, and airframe and gas turbine engine manufacturers for commercial and military jets, business jets, and land-based industrial gas turbines. Long-standing customer relationships enable Precision Components to participate in the design phase of components and assemblies, through which customers receive the benefits of manufacturing research, testing and evaluation. Products are sold through Precision Components��direct sales force and a distribution channel. Precision Components has manufacturing, sales, assembly and distribution operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdo! m.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By LarryZ6]

  Until recently, the company was considered as concentrating in pure mobile business solutions; in fact, Vodafone is the world麓s second largest mobile carrier behind China Mobiles (CHL). However, it seems that Vodafone decided to pursue a strategy that focus on (a) adding services to its existing portfolio in Europe and (b) expanding activities in emerging markets.

• [By Dave and Donald Moenning]

  For those investors that like the comfort generally provided by a diversified portfolio, here's an idea that will allow you to (a) maintain a diversified allocation in your portfolio and (b) stay out of trouble when the big, bad bears come to call on an asset class or two.

• [By Vanina Egea]

  For fiscal year 2013, Enbridge Energy reported a decline in net income. The report manifesting the figure eliminates the impact of: (a) additional environmental costs, net of insurance recoveries, associated with the Line 6B incident; (b) non-cash, mark-to-market net gains and losses; and (c) other adjustments.

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now: Gilead Sciences Inc.(GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of life threatening diseases worldwide. Its products include Atripla, Truvada, Viread, Emtriva for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection in adults; Hepsera, an oral formulation for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B; AmBisome, a amphotericin B liposome injection to treat invasive fungal infections; Letairis, an endothelin receptor antagonist for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension; Ranexa for the treatment of chronic angina; Vistide, an antiviral medication for the treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS; and Cayston, an inhaled antibiotic used as a treatment to enhance respiratory systems. The company?s products also comprise Tamiflu, an oral antiviral for the treatment and prevention of influenza A and B; Macugen, an intravitreal injection for the treatment of neovascular a ge-related macular degeneration; and Lexiscan/Rapiscan, an injection used as a pharmacologic stress agent in radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging. Its products under the Phase III clinical trials consist of Cobicistat, a pharmacoenhancer that is under evaluation as a boosting agent for HIV medicines; Elvitegravir, an oral integrase inhibitor being evaluated as part of combination therapy for HIV; Integrase Single-Tablet, a ?Quad? regimen of elvitegravir, cobicistat, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, and emtricitabine for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in treatment-naive patients; and Aztreonam for inhalation solution for the treatment of cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The company?s Phase II clinical trials products comprise Cicletanine, Ranolazine, and Aztreonam, as well as GS 9190, GS 9256, and GS 9451. Its Phase I clinical trial products include GS 7340, GS 5885, GS 6620, GS 9620, and GS 6624. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Fost er City, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Another head-scratcher is the company's preclinical hepatitis-C treatment known as miR-122. It's an intravenous treatment, partnered with GlaxoSmithKline, that's only now in preclinical trials. Perhaps someone should alert Regulus that it shouldn't waste its time as Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ: GILD  ) oral Sofosbuvir cleaned up in all four of its late-stage hep-C trials with a favorable safety profile, and is currently under review by the FDA. With oral medications under development for years, what incentive do patients have to go back to an intravenous treatment?

• [By Keith Speights]

  Another issue is fear over potential rivals. Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD  ) , for example, reported in May that its�idelalisib produced significant tumor shrinkage in half of the patients involved in an early-stage trial. Dr.�Sandra Swain, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, called the results "pretty incredible." Gilead is also testing�idelalisib in the treatment of�non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

• [By Jay Silverman]

  Over the past year, including the end of this year, we've had new blockbuster drugs for hepatitis C, which is Gilead's (GILD) drug, and also for B-cell lymphomas, which is Pharmacyclics' (PCYC) drug. Those are looking to be two of the biggest drugs ever.

• [By Brian Orelli]

  The most advanced second-generation hepatitis C drugs, Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ  ) simeprevir and Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ: GILD  ) sofosbuvir, are already being reviewed for approval by the FDA. They both should be approved by the end of the year.

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ulta Salon Cosmetics and Fragrance Inc (ULTA)

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (Ulta), incorporated on January 9, 1990, is a beauty retailer, which provides one-stop shopping for prestige, mass and salon products and salon services in the United States. During the year ended January 28, 2012 (fiscal 2011), the Company opened 61 new stores. It operates full-service salons in all of its stores. Its Ulta store format includes an open and modern salon area with approximately eight to 10 stations. The entire salon area is approximately 950 square feet with a concierge desk, skin treatment room, semi-private shampoo and hair color processing areas. Each salon is a full-service salon offering hair cuts, hair coloring and permanent texture, with salons also providing facials and waxing.

The Company offers products in the categories, such as cosmetics, which includes products for the face, eyes, cheeks, lips and nails; haircare, which includes shampoos, conditioners, styling products, and hair accessories; salon styling tools, which includes hair dryers, curling irons and flat irons; skincare and bath and body, which includes products for the face, hands and body; fragrance for both men and women; private label, consisting of Ulta branded cosmetics, skincare, bath and body products and haircare, and other, including candles, home fragrance products and other miscellaneous health and beauty products. The Company has combined its three operating segments: retail stores, salon services and e-commerce, into one reportable segment.

The Company competes with Macy��, Nordstrom, Sephora, Bath & Body Works, CVS/pharmacy, Walgreens, Target, Wal-Mart, Regis Corp., Sally Beauty and JCPenney salons.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Ulta (Nasdaq: ULTA  ) reported earnings on June 11. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended May 4 (Q1), Ulta beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Boeing's (NYSE: BA  ) 787 Dreamliner was back in the news (and not for good reasons), which is one reason we prefer Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP  ) . Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA  ) names a new CEO. Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC  ) makes a big buy. And Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) is reportedly working on a news service for mobile devices. In this installment of Investor Beat, Andy and Jason discuss four stocks making big moves.

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc.(ULTA) said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 9.5% on the beauty-products retailer’s better-than-expected sales growth. Shares climbed 7.6% to $96.35 premarket.

The Ugly Truth About Payday, Pawn Shop and Car Title Loans

Paul Beaty/AP

People in financial trouble may take on payday, pawn shop and car title loans loans to tide them over until they're financially stable. But these seemingly innocent loans often cause them to end up in worse shape than when they started. On the outside, they just look like convenient ways for people with subprime credit to borrow money. However, there's no such thing as easy money. Read on to learn the truth about these three risky loans, and find some alternatives you should consider instead.

Payday Loans How they work: The payday loan process usually begins with you writing a post-dated check for the loan amount plus interest and fees. When the loan is due, the lender collects the balance unless you choose to roll the loan over (in exchange for more fees, of course). Why they're dangerous: These loans boast notoriously high interest rates that make it almost impossible for borrowers to pay off their balance on time. Even if they pay a small amount each payday, this often just covers the interest and fees, leaving the balance intact. Richard Cordray, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, said in a statement last year that payday loans are long-term, expensive debt burdens: "For too many consumers, payday and deposit advance loans are debt traps that cause them to be living their lives off money borrowed at huge interest rates." It should come as no surprise that payday loan borrowers often find themselves needing to roll over or take on new loans, trapped in a vicious cycle of debt. Pawn Shop Loans How they work: Pawn shop loans typically involve you giving the pawn shop an item that you own (like a television, piece of jewelry or computer) as collateral, and the pawn shop lends you a percentage of the item's value. Why they're dangerous: These loans are short-term and typically have very high interest rates and a variety of fees. If at the end of the loan period you can't afford to pay the balance plus interest and fees, the pawn shop may keep your item and sell it. Car Title Loans How they work: Like pawn shop loans, car title loans use one of your possessions (in this case, your automobile) as collateral to secure a short-term loan for a fraction of what your car is worth –- provided that you own the car free and clear. Just sign over the title of your car, and hand over a set of keys. Why they're dangerous: As with payday and pawn shop loans, these secured loans typically come with very high (often triple-digit) interest rates and loads of hidden costs, from storage fees to repossession fees. This brings up another huge red flag – if you miss just one payment, fail to pay the fees or aren't able to pay the interest accrued on the loan by the end of the term, your car could be sold or repossessed. Also, since title loans are often only 30 days long, borrowers only have a short amount of time to pay the principal, interest and fees. Since they usually aren't able to pay everything back when it's due, they often renew the loan and the nightmare begins all over again. How Do These Loans Affect My Finances? The most redeeming qualities about secured loans are that lenders typically won't check your credit, and the loans aren't reported to the credit bureaus. But while you're frantically trying to gather enough money to pay off those loans, you may neglect paying off things that do affect your credit. So while they may not directly affect your score, know that secured loans can still cause trouble for your credit health. Alternatives

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015

Turmoil in emerging markets is the culprit of choice for the U.S. stock market�� sputtering start in 2014. Traders worry about slowing growth, fragile currencies and political unrest in Turkey, Ukraine and elsewhere. Never mind that U.S. economic indicators are green and that Europe again has a pulse. It doesn�� take much in this inter颅related world to end what one commentator recently called ��liss��in financial markets.

See Also: The World�� Most Vulnerable Emerging Markets

I worry that emerging-markets stocks, which got off to a terrible start this year, will continue to sag. However, if you hop to the developing world�� bond markets, the vibes change. With bonds, the swings and the emotions aren�� as wild. You should do okay this year, certainly better than in 2013, when the average emerging-markets bond mutual fund lost 7.3%, mostly because of appreciation in the dollar. The typical emerging-markets bond fund yields 5% to 6%, and the income is generally secure. Few countries are close to reneging on their obligations. And keep in mind that emerging-markets debt isn�� synonymous with government bonds. Scores of vibrant, investment-grade, multinational firms that focus on oil, mining, agribusiness, brewing and construction are based in the developing world. These companies pay about two percentage points more to borrow than similarly rated U.S. and European firms.

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Harris & Harris Group Inc.(TINY)

Harris & Harris Group, Inc. is a venture capital and venture debt firm specializing in seed, start up, early stage, and mid venture investments. It primarily invests in tiny-technology-enabled companies with a focus on nanotechnology, microsystems, and microelectromechanical systems technology. Harris & Harris Group, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is based in New York, New York with additional offices in Palo Alto, California and Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  Highlight: Harris & Harris Group Inc. (TINY)

  The TINY share price is currently $3.07 or 22.1% off the 52-week high of $3.94. The company does not pay a dividend.

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.(SBGI)

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., a television broadcasting company, owns or provides certain programming, operating, or sales services to television stations in the United States. The company broadcasts free over-the-air programming, such as network provided programs, news produced locally, local sporting events, programming from program service arrangements, and syndicated entertainment programs. It owns or provides programming and operating services pursuant to local marketing agreements, or provides sales services pursuant to outsourcing agreements to 58 television stations in 35 markets. The company was founded in 1952 and is based in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Radovsky]

  Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI  ) says it is on its way to becoming the nation's largest television broadcasting company if a� definitive agreement it signed with the Allbritton family comes to fruition, according to an announcement today by Sinclair.

Top 10 Semiconductor Companies To Buy Right Now: Carnival Corporation(CCL)

Carnival Corporation operates as a cruise and vacation company. It provides cruises to various vacation destinations with a portfolio of cruise brands comprising Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn in North America; and AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, and P&O Cruises in Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company also involves in operation of hotels, as well as offers tour and transportation services. It operates approximately 98 ships, as well as owns and operates 15 hotels or lodges that include 3,420 guest rooms; 395 motorcoaches; and 20 domed rail cars. The company sells its cruises through travel agents, including wholesalers and tour operators. Carnival Corporation was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Eisen and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Carnival Corp. (CCL) �closed up 2.1% to $38.85, one day after it reported fourth-quarter fiscal earnings. Analysts at Stifel applauded the cruise company�� earnings beat, and they also liked that Carnival provided more upbeat guidance.

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Symmetricom Inc.(SYMM)

Symmetricom, Inc. provides timekeeping technologies, instruments, and solutions worldwide. Its Communications business unit provides timing technologies and services for communications infrastructure. The Communications business unit products comprise primary reference sources; edge clocks and distribution products for synchronization outside the network core; building integrated timing supply and sync supply unit for the central office; the PackeTime product suite; data over cable service interface specifications timing interface systems; network management and monitoring software; and embedded hardware and software solutions for integration with various elements of the communications ecosystem, such as silicon, routers, switches, microwave backhaul, and base stations. The company?s Government business unit offers time technology products for aerospace/defense, IT infrastructure, power infrastructure, and science and metrology applications. The Government business unit p roduct portfolio comprises timescale clock sources; network time servers; network time displays; time code generators; bus level timing cards; primary reference standards, such as rubidium and cesium oscillator standards; high stability masers; chip-scale atomic clocks; ruggedized crystal oscillators; and custom time and frequency systems. It offers timekeeping in GPS satellites, national time references, and national power grids, as well as in critical military and civilian networks, which enable data, voice, mobile, and video networks and services. The company sells its products through distributors, systems integrators, and manufacturer sales representatives. It serves various markets, including communications service providers; network equipment manufacturers; silicon suppliers; aerospace/defense; power utility infrastructure; IT infrastructure; underwater exploration and navigation; and science and metrology. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San J ose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  San Jose, Calif.-based Symmetricom (NASDAQ: SYMM  ) has a new chief executive officer.

  On Tuesday, the "precise time" computer announced a series of changes in upper management. Current CEO David G. Cote is leaving the company "to pursue other interests" and has been replaced by new CEO Elizabeth A. Fetter, a current board member. Details on Fetter's compensation have yet to be filed with the SEC.

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Steamships Trading Company Ltd(PNG)

Steamships Trading Company Limited operates as a diverse trading conglomerate in Papua New Guinea. It involves in shipping, road transport, product manufacture, property, hotels, and information technology businesses. The company?s shipping business includes operation of a fleet of coastal vessels, and providing estuarine and river trades in the Gulf and Western Provinces; short and long term vessel charters, and cargo liner services using vessels ranging from 500DWT to 6000DWT; and stevedoring and shipping agency services. Its road transport business comprises general transport, fuel distribution, and long haul transport services; and customs clearance, handling equipment hire, integrated logistics, and specialist transportation services. Steamships Trading Company?s product manufacture business includes the production and distribution of food stuff comprising ice cream, vegetable oils, condiments, and seasonings; health and beauty goods; and spirits and premixed drinks , as well as involves in distributing imported wines and spirits. Its property business comprises residential, commercial, and industrial property development and leasing activities. The company?s hotel business engages in operating hotels. Its information technology business provides business-critical ICT consulting, solutions and services, IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, Internet services, electronics and computer retail, and training and wide-ranging technical support. The company was founded in 1924 and is based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Steamships Trading Company Limited is a subsidiary of John Swire & Sons (PNG) Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) was maintained as Outperform with a $64 price target (versus $51.44 current) after its announced acquisition of affiliated PAA Natural Gas Storage L.P. (NYSE: PNG) in an all-stock buyout.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  And more could be in store. PAA has just agreed to swallow its former natural gas storage spinoff PAA Natural Gas Storage (PNG) in a $1.41 billion deal that will instantly be accretive to PAA shareholders. Meanwhile, Plains continues to build new capacity and crude-by-rail services in key refining markets like California.

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Black Hills Corporation (BKH)

Black Hills Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified energy company in the United States. The company’s Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 202,000 electric customers in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana; and distributes natural gas to approximately 35,000 gas utility customers in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It owns 859 Megawatts of generation capacity and 8,530 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. The company’s Gas Utilities segment distributes natural gas to approximately 532,000 natural gas utility customers in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. It owns 624 miles of intrastate gas transmission pipelines and 19,979 miles of gas distribution mains and service lines. The company’s Oil and Gas segment is involved in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas primarily in the Rocky Mountain region. This s egment’s principal assets include the operating interests in the properties in the San Juan basin, the Powder River basin, and the Piceance basin; and non-operated interests in wells located in the Williston, Wind River, Bear Paw Uplift, Arkoma, Anadarko, and Sacramento basins. As of December 31, 2012, it had total reserves of approximately 81 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas and crude oil. The company’s Power Generation segment produces electric power and sells the electric capacity and energy primarily to other utilities under long-term contracts. Its Coal Mining segment produces coal at its coal mine located near Gillette, Wyoming. The company also provides appliance repair services to approximately 62,000 residential customers; and constructs gas infrastructure facilities for gas transportation customers. Black Hills Corporation was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Diversified energy company Black Hills (BKH) raised its quarterly dividend 2.6% to 39 cents per share, payable on Mar. 1 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 14. This is the 44th consecutive annual dividend increase, proving why utilities make such consistent dividend stocks.
  BKH Dividend Yield: 2.84%

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Mercury General Corporation (MCY)

Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing personal automobile insurance products. The company also writes homeowners, commercial automobile and property, mechanical breakdown, fire, and umbrella insurance products. Its insurance products cover collision, property damage liability, bodily injury liability, comprehensive, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and other hazards for automobile policy holders. The company sells its policies through a network of independent agents in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan. Mercury General Corporation was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Fredrik Arnold]

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

• [By John Udovich]

  Auto sales are booming and that�� good news for large cap auto insurer�the Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) along with small cap auto insurers Safety Insurance Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SAFT) and�Mercury General Corporation (NYSE: MCY) as they offer income to yield hungry investors as well as income in the form of dividends. Specifically, a Yahoo! Autos blog recently noted that last month, automakers sold 1.5 million new vehicles for the highest rate in years with�most industry forecasters expecting sales to�return to the level they hit before the 2008 recession of 16 million vehicles a year. The blog post then went on to note the three forces driving auto sales:

• [By Chuck Carnevale] their website:

  ��ercury General (NYSE-MCY) is the leading independent broker and agency writer of automobile insurance in California and has been one of the fastest growing automobile insurers in the nation. It is ranked as the third largest private passenger automobile insurer in California, with total assets over $4 billion. Mercury also writes automobile insurance in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. In addition to automobile insurance, Mercury writes other lines of insurance in various states, including mechanical breakdown and homeowners insurance.��/p>

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  Performance and Dividends Impacted by Operating Stress

  It should be clear from the above graphs that the earnings records of these three Dividend Champions have been far from steady, consistent or reliable. Therefore, I cannot get comfortable either recommending them or investing in them because I cannot get comfortable predicting what their future operating results may be. Furthermore, by examining the performance results associated with the above earnings and price-correlated graphs illustrates a lot of uncertainty. A focus on the earnings growth rate column illustrates a lot of stress on each company�� ability to keep their dividend streaks alive (Blue Circles).

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  The Overvaluation Rejection

  Other reasons besides irregular earnings growth that caused a Dividend Champion to be rejected include one of my all-time favorites, valuation. Or to be more precise ��overvaluation. The following example, McCormick & Co. (MKC), represents one of my favorite Dividend Champions based on a very consistent above-average record of earnings growth that produced its impressive dividend streak. The only reason that this Dividend Champion was rejected was because of current overvaluation.

  [ Enlarge Imag

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: PDL BioPharma Inc.(PDLI)

PDL BioPharma, Inc. engages in intellectual property asset management and royalty bearing assets investment activities. The company is involved in the humanization of monoclonal antibodies and the discovery of a new generation of targeted treatments for cancer and immunologic diseases. It offers Queen et al. patents that cover humanized antibodies, methods for humanizing antibodies, polynucleotide encoding in humanized antibodies, and methods of producing humanized antibodies. The company was formerly known as Protein Design Labs, Inc. and changed its name to PDL BioPharma, Inc. in 2006. PDL BioPharma, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI  ) is expecting a healthy bump in its royalty revenue for the current quarter, which ends on June 30. The company has issued guidance for the period, estimating that it will take in royalty revenue of around $143 million. That would represent a 13% increase over the Q2 2012 figure of $126 million.

• [By Matthew Indyke and Brian Zen]

  Four of Klarman�� stocks include PDLBioPharma (PDLI), Ituran Location and Control (ITRN), BP (BP), and Microsoft (MSFT). What these companies have in common are annually increasing total revenues, annually increasing cash flows, and gradually decreasing operating expenses and debt. Additionally, they show a clear value focus with P/E ratios no greater than 15. And even when stocks like these go through a troubling period brought on by a sagging economy or major scandal, they have an ability to bounce back.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap patent stocks Spherix Inc (NASDAQ: SPEX), PDL BioPharma Inc (NASDAQ: PDLI) and Endeavor IP Inc (OTCBB: ENIP) are among the�growing number of publicly traded�US entities focused on collecting and making money from various types of patents. After all, monetizing patents can lead to incredible returns. For example: Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund wrote in a research note back in November that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is generating $2 billion per year in revenue from Android patent royalties and he�estimates that this revenue has a 95% margin. However, there are risks associated with investing in stocks that invest in patents because a bi-partisan bill called the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) is�working its way through Congress to try and reign in the activities of so-called�"patent trolls" or rather companies that buy or license patents from others.

• [By John Reese]

  Indeed, in 2013, the Greenblatt-based portfolio has bounced back strong, returning more than 50%. Below is a look at its current holdings.

  EBIX, Inc. (EBIX)
  
  Western Refining (WNR)
  
  DirecTV (DTV)
  
  ITT Educational Services (ESI)
  
  Science Applications International (SAIC)
  
  Weight Watchers International (WTW)
  
  ConocoPhillips (COP)
  
  AmSurg Corp. (AMSG)
  
  PDL BioPharma (PDLI)
  
  AFC Enterprises (AFCE)
  
  

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Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR)

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBG, Inc.) is a holding company. The Company is an automated global electronic broker and market maker specializing in routing orders and executing and processing trades in securities, futures, foreign exchange instruments, bonds and mutual funds on more than 100 electronic exchanges and trading venues worldwide. In the United States, it conducts its business in Greenwich, Connecticut, Chicago, Illinois and Jersey City, New Jersey. Abroad, the Company conducts business through offices located in Canada, England, Switzerland, Hong Kong, India, Australia and Japan. It operates in two segments: electronic brokerage and market making. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 11.5% in IBG LLC, the holding company for its businesses. The Company is the sole managing member of IBG LLC.

As a direct market access broker, the Company serves the customers of both traditional brokers and prime brokers. It provides its customers with order management, trade execution and portfolio management platform. Its customers can simultaneously access different financial markets worldwide and trade across multiple asset classes (stocks, options, futures, foreign exchange (forex), bonds and mutual funds) denominated in 17 different currencies, on one screen, from a single account based in any currency. Its bank and broker-dealer customers may white label its trading interface (make its trading interface available to their customers without referencing its name), or can select from among its modular functionalities, such as order routing, trade reporting or clearing on specific products or exchanges. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company introduced the Interactive Brokers Information System (IBIS). IBIS is a market information workspace, which provides subscribers with real-time market data, research, analytics, stock scanners, charts and alerts. As a market maker, the Company provides continuous bid and offer quotations on over 867,000 securities and futures produ! cts listed on electronic exchanges worldwide.

Electronic Brokerage-Interactive Brokers

During 2011, Electronic brokerage represented 50% of net revenues from electronic brokerage and market making combined. It conducts its electronic brokerage business through its Interactive Brokers (IB) subsidiaries. As an electronic broker, it executes, clears and settles trades worldwide for both institutional and individual customers.

The Company competes with TD Ameritrade, The Charles Schwab Corporation, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Market Making-Timber Hill

During 2011, Market making represented 50% of net revenues from electronic brokerage and market making combined. The Company conducts its market making business through its Timber Hill (TH) subsidiaries. It provides liquidity by offering bid/offer spreads over a base of over 867,000 tradable, exchange-listed products, including equity derivative products, equity index derivative products, equity securities and futures. Together with its electronic brokerage customers, in 2011 it accounted for approximately 9.9% of exchange-listed equity options traded worldwide and approximately 10.1% of exchange-listed equity options volume traded on those markets in which it actively trades. The Company�� United States market making activities are conducted through Timber Hill LLC (TH LLC), a securities broker-dealer that conducts market making in equity derivative products, equity index derivative products and equity securities.

TH LLC is a member of the Boston Options Exchange, BATS exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, International Securities Exchange, NYSE AMEX Options Exchange, NYSE Arca, OneChicago, NASDAQ OMX PHLX and the New York Mercantile Exchange. TH LLC also conducts market making activities in Mexico at the MEXDER and the Mexican Stock Exchange and in Brazil! at the S! ao Paulo Stock Exchange and the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange. The Company conducts market making activities in Canada through its Canadian subsidiary, Timber Hill Canada Company (THC) at the Toronto Stock Exchange and Montreal Exchange. In addition, it participates in stock trading at the Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) in both the United States and Canada.

The Company�� European, Asian, and Australian market making subsidiaries, primarily Timber Hill Europe AG (THE), conducts operations in 20 countries, comprising the securities markets in these regions. Its other European operations are conducted on the London Stock Exchange; the Weiner Borse AG; the Copenhagen Stock Exchange; the Helsinki Stock Exchange; the NYSE Euronext exchanges in Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and London; NASDAQ OMX Nordic in Sweden, Finland and Denmark; the Swedish Stock Exchange; the MEFF and Bolsa de Valores Madrid in Spain; the IDEM and Borsa Valori de Milano in Milan, and the OTOB in Vienna.

The Company competes with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citadel, Susquehanna, Wolverine Trading, Group One Trading, Peak6 and Getco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Interactive Brokers (NASDAQ: IBKR  ) results for the company's Q1 have been unveiled, revealing fairly steep drops in its top and bottom lines. For the quarter, revenue was $216 million, or nearly 30% below the $304 million the firm posted in the same period the previous year. Net income also went down by 41% on a year-over-year basis to hit $6.6 million ($0.14 per diluted share). The same line item for Q1 2012 was $11.1 million ($0.27).

Top 10 Income Stocks To Watch For 2015: FARO Technologies Inc.(FARO)

FARO Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supports software-based three-dimensional measurement and imaging systems for manufacturing, industrial, building construction, and forensic applications. The company?s articulated electromechanical measuring devices include FaroArm, a combination of six or seven-axis, instrumented articulated measurement arm, a computer, and CAM2 software programs; FARO Laser ScanArm, a FaroArm equipped with a combination of a hard probe and non-contact line laser probe to measure products without touching them and offers a seven-axis contact/non-contact measurement device with an integrated laser scanner; and FARO Gage, an accuracy version of the FaroArm product. Its laser-based measuring devices comprise FARO Laser Tracker ION that combines a laser measurement tool, a computer, and CAM2 software programs; FARO Focus3D to measure and collect data points; and FARO 3D Imager AMP, a non-c ontact 3D Imager capable of collecting millions of points to generate infinitely-focused fringe patterns. The company also provides CAM2 Software, a proprietary CAD-based measurement and statistical process control software comprising CAM2 Q, CAM2 Measure X, Soft Check Tool, FARO Gage Software, and FARO Focus3D Software. In addition, it offers extended warranties, as well as support, training, and technology consulting services. The company sells its products through direct sales and distributors. It serves the automobile, aerospace, and heavy equipment markets, as well as law enforcement agencies in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. FARO Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  What: Shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ: FARO  ) are down over 11% today after the company reported underwhelming earnings for the fiscal first quarter.

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, shares of small cap 3D stock FARO Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: FARO) fell 4.77% to $40.54 after Needham & Company downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and said that a recovery appears priced into the stock already���meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock and whether it still offers something to existing or new investors.

LoJack names its 10 most stolen cars

Honda Accord ranks as the most stolen and most recovered car for the fifth year among vehicles equipped with a LoJack tracking-device, the maker says.

LoJack says that after Accord comes:

2. Honda Civic

3. Toyota Camry

4. Toyota Corolla

5. Chevrolet Silverado.

6. Acura Integra

7. Cadillac Escalade

8. Ford F-350

9. Nissan Altima

10. Chevrolet Tahoe

Most of the cars on the list are among the best-selling cars on the road, but a few are surprises. Acura Integra remains on the list of most stolen and recovered cars even though it was last available in the U.S. as a sedan or coupe for the 2001 model year.

Also, F-150 is the nation's best-selling pickup truck, but it's the heavy-duty F-350 that makes the most-stolen list.

The oldest Lojack-equipped car recovered last year was a 1963 Cadillac convertible. The priciest was a 2011 Porsche Panamera valued at $103,400. The most common color of stolen cars was black, which is one of the most common car colors, while the least common color was turquoise.

This Chart Proves the Bitcoin Market Is Maturing

One of the biggest knocks on the Bitcoin market has been the volatility of the price of Bitcoin, and looking at the price charts over the past six months, it's easy to see why.

But as crazy as the Bitcoin market has been - just take a look at the timeline - the lack of any major news over the past few weeks has had a distinct calming effect on the digital currency.

Click for full version

After the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price index sunk just below $450 on April 25, it traded in a narrow range between $460 and $420 for the next couple of weeks. And the week leading up to yesterday (Tuesday), the Bitcoin price was very quiet, trading in the mid $440s.

The drop in Bitcoin price volatility - and the decrease in sensitivity to news and rumors - is a step toward the maturation of the Bitcoin market.

That's not to say a major announcement won't affect the Bitcoin market. All markets are affected by major news. But from here we should see less severe reactions to big news in the Bitcoin market and much more muted reactions to minor news and rumors than we saw last year.

Part of the reason is that the big price drops, combined with such disasters as the Mt. Gox bankruptcy, have flushed out many of the speculators that were driving the volatility.

Replacing them are more buy-and-hold investors looking at Bitcoin as just another asset class, and, most importantly, people who are buying Bitcoin to spend as more merchants agree to accept the digital currency.

Note: The tech sector has been hit hard this year, but it's still by far the best place to invest your money for maximum growth. Here are the top two tech sectors for 2014...

More stability going forward should prove another crucial factor in the broader adoption of Bitcoin. One of the issues that has held Bitcoin back is that it's too risky to bother with. As that changes, more and more people will feel comfortable using it.

There's another effect of increased stability:

a slow, gradual increase in Bitcoin prices. That will be much different than the insane parabolic rise we saw last fall that inevitably led to a crash.

The price of Bitcoin is destined to rise not just because people are using it and investing in it, but because its digital nature gives it value beyond serving as yet another form of payment. For example, the blockchain that verifies each Bitcoin transaction can also verify other digital properties.

The 9% rise in the price of Bitcoin on Tuesday - for no apparent reason - could be the first stage in a gradual appreciation that will get Bitcoin back to its all-time high and beyond. That would be good news for Bitcoin enthusiasts as well as Bitcoin investors.

"While I'd like to see a huge rally in prices, the first step before that happens is to see steady trade," said Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson. "That way when the big move comes, existing investors will have established a long-term solid foundation."

How do you feel about the Bitcoin market? Are you ready to take the plunge, or are you still in wait-and-see mode? Tell us what you think on Twitter @moneymorning or Facebook.

Editor's Note: Thanks to innovative moves from CEO Elon Musk, Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) stock has gained a whopping 238% in the past year - and the company is not slowing down.

Now Tesla is engaged in a highly sensitive venture called BlueStar that could disrupt $737 billion of the U.S. economy and impact 98% of the population.

Few details concerning BlueStar have made their way into the press. However, a recent investigation uncovered some shocking revelations.

Click here to continue reading this must-see story...

Analysts: Boeing Investor Day ‘Bullish,’ ‘Frustrating’

Boeing’s (BA) shares rose yesterday following its investor day, in which it said it would seek to become more like Apple (AAPL). Today, the gains are continuing as investors digest the meat of the presentation.

Reuters

Morgan Stanley’s John Godyn and team called Boeing’s presentation “bullish on balance.” They explain why:

Consistent with our expectations heading into the event, BA’s investor day was characterized with upbeat commentary, albeit few hard numbers, on key bull-case themes including capital returns, OE cycle fundamentals, and Partnering for Success. More directly related to the stock’s performance through year-end, we left with more confidence in: (1) an uptick in 777 orders, (2) margin beats and (3) continued, elevated buybacks if the stock languishes. 787 deferred production tracking above $25B is a risk this year – but one which appears increasingly well-vetted by an investor base looking to buy dips. As such, we reiterate our Overweight on shares…

JPMorgan’s Joseph Nadol and team call the lack of details on the 787 ‘frustrating.’ They explain:

 Management focused on productivity and cost control at this year's investor meeting, and given the success of Partnering for Success thus far, we see potential for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) margins to continue to surprise to the upside in the coming quarters and years. However, most of the commentary was qualitative, so it is difficult to pinpoint the earnings opportunity. The path to a 787 deferred production peak of $25 bn by year end was another topic of interest coming in, but Boeing offered little additional data beyond remaining committed to the target. The next meaningful data points should be Q2 and Q3 earnings reports in July and Oct, and we continue to assume Boeing will roughly achieve its guidance on this front, though the investor meeting did nothing to increase (or decrease) our confidence level.

And no mention of Apple in either one.

Shares of Boeing have gained 0.9% to $132.19 at 10:24 a.m., while fellow jet makers Embraer (ERJ) and Airbus (EADSY) have risen 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Shares of Apple have dropped 0.2% to $605.25.

Boeing Wants to Be Like Apple

Boeing (BA) is meeting with investors today–and investors appear to like what they hear.

AP

Shares of Boeing have gained 0.9% to $130.73 after CEO Jim McNerney said the company would look to be more like Apple (AAPL), with new product developments added over time–like Apple does with the iPad–rather than in one big, high-risk “moonshot.” Boeing also said that it would cut costs by another $2.1 billion from its defense business.

RBC Capital Markets’ Robert Stallard doesn’t think the cost-cutting will come solely at the expense of Boeing’s suppliers. He explains:

[The] emphasis put on supplier costs is not really ‘new’ – it’s an ongoing process. We are actually happy to hear multiple examples of where Boeing has been working with suppliers to take out cost as well, so this is not just a price cut. Ultimately, this should help many suppliers to preserve margins, even with further OE price pressure.

While share of Boeing have jumped, Apple has ticked up just 0.1% to $605.20.

5 of the most inexpensive colleges in the U.S.

Around four out of every 10 working American adults are college-degree holders. These degrees come with a price tag of around $23,000 per year for a moderately priced in-state college and around $45,000 for a private college, according to College Board statistics published on College Data.

With degrees having such a hefty price tag, if you earn the median household income, you'd be spending 45% of your income on in-state tuition and an astonishing 88% of your income on a private college. Even if you work in one of the highest-paying jobs, paying for a college degree out of pocket will cost a substantial portion of your income. An oral surgeon who earns the median pay for his occupation would have to put out 30% of his annual income to pay for tuition, room, board, and books at a private college.

When preparing for college, students often choose a school based on its reputation. It is a common thought that schools with big names, like the Big 10 schools or an Ivy League school, will definitely lead a degree holder's resume straight to the top of a pile.

But is there any truth to this? Some recruiters and other experts say "no." According to a publication by the College Solution, employers seek out candidates from a variety of schools – large, small, known and unknown. The publication adds that what you do during your time in school matters. Your achievements, credentials, and activities will set you apart from competition in the job market.

Considering school choice will not make or break your career opportunities and the cost of tuition is so incredibly high, why not go to an affordable college? Here is a list of some of the most inexpensive colleges and Universities in the United States, based on publications by Online U and The Best Colleges.

1. Liberty University Online

This is a non-profit school with accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. For the 2013 through 2014 school year, students can attend undergraduate! classes part-time for $385 per credit and full-time students pay $340 per credit hour. A student taking a full 12-hour course load pays around $4,300 per term in tuition and fees. Liberty also offers a discount for military members and for emergency response personnel.

2. Western Governor's University

Also a non-profit school, basic tuition at WGU is $2,890 per six month term. WGU advertises that was founded by 19 governors and is "designed for working adults." It offers online degree programs in many areas, such as information technology, teaching licensing programs, business degree programs and health and nursing.

3. Columbia Southern University

Undergraduate tuition at Columbia Southern is $200 credit per hour for the 2013 through 2014 school year. Offering bachelor's degree programs in basic areas like business, finance, criminal justice and information technology, CSU is accredited by the Distance Education Training Council and is a member of the American Council on Education.

4. Eastern New Mexico University

For the 2014 through 2015 academic year, tuition and fees for full-time, in-state students is $2,428 per semester ($4,856 per year) and out-of-state students pay a higher rate of $5,316 ($10,632 annually.) If you decide to live on campus as an in-state resident, you can get the whole package (ID card, room and board, as well as books included) for around $6,375. As an out-of-state student, you pay around $9,262 per semester.

5. Fort Hays State University

To attend FHSU, students pay only $182 per credit hour for undergraduate programs. This school has an 18-to-1 student to faculty ratio and it offers bachelor's degree programs in many areas, including business education, teaching, information technology, management and marketing and healthcare.

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