10 Steps To A Career In Hedge Funds

10 Best Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014

Hedge funds are mentioned hundreds of times daily in the media and employ some of the most well-paid business professionals anywhere. It is not a cakewalk to land your first hedge fund job, because building a hedge fund career takes a lot of determination and networking stamina. Many hedge funds get up to 100 inquiries a week from students and experienced professionals searching for employment opportunities.

How do you get noticed, swing an interview and land a hedge fund job? Whether you are looking for an entry-level position or a mid-career shift to work as a hedge fund manager, this 10-step plan will help you get off to a strong start.

Step 1. Be Sure You Really Want to Work for a Hedge Fund
The more sure you are about working for a hedge fund and not being an accountant or working at a mutual fund, ETF or private equity fund, the easier it will be to navigate these 10 steps and land your first hedge fund job.

If you really want to work for a hedge fund, it will show in your self-discipline, networking, knowledge of the industry, passion and, ultimately, your actions. You can change your mind later, but if you want to try to work in this industry go all in and learn as much as you can. Make the decision to change focus, commit to it for three to five years and see what comes of it.

Step 2. Become a Student of the Hedge Fund Industry
If working for a hedge fund is your goal, then create daily habits that work toward that goal. Examples are subscribing to free hedge fund newsletters, reading two to three chapters in a book on hedge funds each day or joining a local hedge fund association or club. To get a feel for where you might fit within the industry you need to learn the basics:
Who are the major players in the industry? What terms/definitions are important to know?
Which strategies hedge fund managers commonly employ? Step 3. Use the Three-Circles Strategy
Jim Collins wrote a best-selling book in 1995 called "Good To Great." In his research, he found that the companies that made the leap from being good companies to becoming truly great companies employed what he called the "three-circles strategy."

When facing a tough decision or turning point in their businesses, leaders of these corporations would draw three circles. One included options they were passionate about, one included options that took advantage of their experience and one included only those ideas which could be highly profitable. They would then consider only options that fell within the intersection of these three circles. In other words, to be successful in the hedge fund industry and make wise decisions along the way, it might help to consider only positions where you would be passionate about your work, draw off of your education and natural strengths and have the potential to be highly profitable.

Step 4. Identify Hedge Fund Career Mentors
Early on in your exploration within the world of hedge funds, you should try to identify a couple of potential mentors with whom you could begin to develop a relationship. It usually takes some time to develop mentoring relationships, but many successful people are happy to help others out if they have the time to do so. To impress a mentor, you will need to show commitment, a pro-active learning attitude, patience, humility and a hunger for learning as much as you.

Step 5. Complete One or More Internships
Once you have become more knowledgeable about hedge funds and identified a potential mentor, you should start looking for internships. Even if you are working full-time in another position, conducting research for a hedge fund for five to 10 hours a week can be enough to expose you to how that hedge fund creates trading ideas or operates as a business. Try to work on-site if possible, but don't pass up a great learning opportunity if the only way to gain a hedge fund internship is by working remotely.

While you want to learn as much as possible during these internships, put yourself in the hedge fund employer's shoes - they are very busy and working hard in a competitive environment. Pay close attention to details and don't ask too many questions early on, or you will end up monopolizing more of their time than you are worth to them. Try to learn through being within the environment and picking things up as you go. Most hedge fund internships will require you to work on a wide variety of tasks, some which may seem mundane but are of great help to others in the firm.

Step 6. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition
Now that you have read articles, books and newsletters on hedge funds, completed a few internships and are developing mentoring relationships, it is time to figure out where you fit into the industry. What type of job would you like? What type of responsibilities are you seeking? This is similar to the three-circles strategy, except now you need to take more definite action toward deciding what role you will fill within the hedge fund industry. For example, if you want to be an emerging markets analyst, write a few white papers on emerging market investment analysis, or specialize your knowledge in one area by really digging in deep, say by interviewing at 10 emerging market funds and reading five well-researched books on the subject.

Don't be generic; be unique and find something you are passionate about. Define a niche and become very knowledgeable in that area compared to the average investment professional. Be careful not to let your knowledge go to your head - coming off as too proud or arrogant can definitely make it hard to get hired or promoted.

Step 7. Hedge Fund Job Tips
Each hedge fund is different, but across the industry there is a set of typical characteristics and skills that many hedge fund employers look for. Here are some of them:
Quantitative experience and abilities - How much money did you personally bring in to the firm or make for the last firm you worked for? Education - Ivy league, MBA, quant-focused Ph.D. Signs of being loyal, passionate and humble Something extra, such as PR expertise, asset gathering ability or an information advantage CFA, CAIA or Chartered Hedge Fund Associate (CHA) designations High-quality names from your last few hedge fund jobs or large wire house experience A stomach for a high commission/bonus compensation structure Step 8. Land the Unadvertised Hedge Fund Job
One way of finding unadvertised job openings is by cold-calling companies and firms from online Chamber of Commerce listings, industry directories or associations. In the hedge fund industry this could be done by networking through the Hedge Fund Group (HFG), Hedge Fund Association (HFA), HedgeWorld Service Provider Directory or your local CFA society.

Informational interviews can be a great way to land positions offering great training, experience and pay, and will be more relevant for you than a generic advertising. If you approach a small or fast-growing firm and show a true passion, commitment and confidence in working for them, a position can often be molded around your skill set. As a result, your job has much more potential to be a great fit with your strengths and desires.

A Specialized Approach
Take this approach to searching for a position in the hedge fund industry: Meet with four prime brokerage firms, two administrators, and 20 hedge fund analysts and portfolio managers. Explain who you are, and ask if you can treat them to coffee to learn more about their business. If you learn enough about their business, they will in turn ask what you are looking for and how they might be able to help you achieve your goals. When the meeting ends, ask for the names of two or three additional individuals who might be able to meet with you and watch your network grow.

Step 9. Consider Hedge Fund Service Provider Jobs
While some service provider jobs may seem less glorious than working directly for a hedge fund, there are great career opportunities for someone who is very experienced with prime brokerage, risk management or hedge fund administration. These types of positions expose you to a large number of individual hedge fund managers who might decide to hire you away at some point for your specialized expertise or relationships. Prime brokerage jobs in particular can be a training ground for fund-of-funds marketing jobs and third-party marketing careers.

Step 10. Apply to Hedge Fund Jobs
If you have worked through the previous nine steps, you now hopefully have a rough idea of what type of hedge fund strategy or service provider group you may want to work for. There are very few recruiters who will work with someone who has less than three years of experience working directly within the hedge fund industry. Many professionals successfully use experience from other industries to segue into the world of hedge funds, but recruiters usually will not work with this type of a placement candidate. Your best bets for getting that elusive placement are:
The informational interview method above Connecting with hedge fund professionals who graduated from your school Joining the Hedge Fund Group (HFG) Earning your CFA, CAIA or CHA designation Attending hedge fund conferences to connect with professionals If you get a chance to apply directly to a hedge fund, make sure you make the short list by following up with a phone call and asking to meet a few days after submitting your resume.

The Bottom Line
Most hedge funds want individuals who are hungry, humble and smart. If you keep this in mind while moving through the 10-step plan above, you should have a great chance of getting your first hedge fund job and beginning a successful hedge fund career.

Nokia: Sell Side Bears Don't Play Fair

Could you envisage writing a bear note on a company but conveniently excluding from your analysis their most profitable division? Could you imagine questioning whether the cash flow and the cash position is potentially an issue for a listed company, but exclude their most cash generative business from your analysis? It sounds ridiculous that such research could be published.

Unbelievably the above just happened with the latest August 27th sell side bear attack on Nokia (NOK) which called into question the company's cash profile and net cash position. Somehow this negative analysis completely excluded NSN. The latest report by a sell side firm is summarized here. How or why NSN would be excluded when it is fully owned by Nokia as from July 16th, 2013 is beyond me. The only reason I can think of is that the analyst has not gotten round to updating the Nokia model for the NSN deal and might even be inclined to await Nokia's presentation of the consolidated results.

This is akin to writing a bear note on Apple (AAPL) but ignoring the iPhone, or Micron (MU) but ignoring Elpida (ELPDF.PK).

Sell side research based on incomplete analysis that calls into question a company's cash flows and cash position does a disservice to investors who might be turned off looking into the investment case of Nokia. To present such obviously incomplete analysis and make conclusions that will influence investors is an analogy for many of the misgivings people have about the way the sell side operates. It also gives credence to other more innovative ways to collect and extract insight on industries and businesses such as Seeking Alpha.

How can the sell side pen a bearish note on Nokia addressing the company's cash flows and cash position but just conveniently exclude NSN? NSN is a division which is 100% owned by Nokia as from July 16th 2013, generated E1.36bn of cash flow in 2012 and had over E1bn of net cash on its' balance sheet. It is a major generator of cash flows going forward and impossi! ble to disentangle from an analysis of the balance sheet or the cash flows of Nokia.

That is perhaps the whole point, the investment case has shifted post the acquisition of NSN and evidently the sell side bears have not caught up. They still focus on the notion of 'core' Nokia when in fact now every division is part of the 'core.' This very cheap acquisition of NSN has shifted the cash profile of Nokia regardless of whether there is a turnaround in the Devices and Services division.

The sell side bears are behind the curve. Five weeks after the full completion of the NSN deal they are still writing bear notes on Nokia focusing on the so called 'core' group and excluding a wholly owned division that is a significant cash generator.

Investors who look through the fear mongering and negative spin will see the inherent value in the stock. So far this is something only one major institution to its credit really has done; Dodge and Cox has built an 8% stake in Nokia. The market is still positioned negatively in this name after five years of business under performance and is missing the very real signs of a business turnaround. The market will likely wait for the numbers (profits and cash) to confirm the turnaround (something I expect in H1 14) however by then the stock will have already moved significantly higher.

Risk reward is the main point to consider. I don't claim to have a crystal ball that can tell us how the smart phone space will transpire. However I am sure that the risk reward around the Nokia Devices & Services business mustering any counter attack in the smart phone space is highly favorable for an investor.

At the current market cap of only E11bn, the Devices and Services division (including the patents) is ascribed a negative value. Assuming NSN is worth 0.7x Sales equates to a value of E8.5bn. Consider Ericsson's (ERIC) market cap as a sanity check given it is E30bn and only has twice the sales base and reported a similar Q2 operating margin as NSN.

No! kia's HER! E division is worth E1bn assuming a similar market cap as TomTom (TMOAF.PK) but offers significant upside as maps become the next platform for e-commerce. Assuming Nokia's net cash position declines to E2bn at Q3 from E4.1bn in Q2 (given the E1.7bn NSN deal as well as incremental cash burn due to supporting product launches), the combined value of Nokia's Net Cash, HERE division and NSN division is in line with the current market cap of Nokia.

That means investors get the patent portfolio, which generates over E500m of income per annum and the Devices and Services division for zero. Also do note Xiaomi, a 3 year old Android Manufacturer in China just received a $10bn equity value at its latest round of financing. The company is only three years old, is forecast to sell 20m units this year and has nowhere near the brand equity of Nokia.

There are several other bear noises that emanate from the sell side naysayers that are worth addressing as a means to clarify the picture for investors.

Nokia can't compete at the high end is a bear point often heard. Regardless of a subjective view as to whether or not they can compete at the high end, it is the low to mid end range where all the excitement is happening in the smart phone space. Backward looking sell side bears are still fixated on the high end, ignoring the fact that it is the low to mid end smart phone segment that is exploding. This is where Nokia is perfectly positioned. Nokia's smart phone ASP in Q2 was E157 vs. Apple at $581; they are in different market segments. Nokia's lower ASP is positive as it positions the company to capture the growth in the low to mid end segment, yet the company still offers smart phones across the price spectrum.

Unbelievably, I have even heard a bear claim that Symbian falling out of the numbers is a negative. Symbian was explicitly abandoned as a platform in 2012 and that is common knowledge. Equally another bear point articulated is that the margins in NSN have peaked. Given the company explici! tly guide! s to a 7% margin and themselves note the 11.8% margin reported last quarter as unsustainable, this is all known.

In terms of skepticism on Windows Phone traction, as a reminder in Q3 2012 Lumia sold 2.9m units. This means that for Q3 2013 the YoY volume growth will likely be over 200%. Their U.S. volume might even double QoQ. How can a product line growing volumes at 200% YoY not be considered to be getting traction?

Another bear point have heard that does not make sense is the fact that Microsoft (MSFT) payments are a future liability. The fact is those payments are volume dependent, as such the more Lumia phones sold the more Microsoft is paid. The obvious corollary of these higher volumes is that Nokia will be booking higher sales and cash flows.

In terms of the balance sheet, the company will have about E2bn of net cash at Q3 2013 and so far in H1 2013 net cash was reduced by around E300m. Given restructuring charges in NSN as well as Devices and Services are falling off in 2014, the cash burn picture is set to improve. The one risk that I am wary of is the concern around feature phones because consumers are shifting towards smart phones. However with the expected profits and cash from smart phones and NSN in 2014, a further feature phones restructuring can easily be absorbed. Additionally Nokia noted that it has an additional E2.25bn of undrawn credit facilities; giving it current liquidity of over E4bn, against forecast cash burn in 2013 of approximately E600m. 2013 is also a year when the restructuring charges are significant and the Windows Phone platform is being supported through many launches.

As such if Devices and Services does reclaim some lost ground through the Nokia-Windows Phone tie up, there is significant upside in the stock price. The market is ignoring many positives that I will be fleshing out in a future article; however suffice to say that the sell side is playing catch up with where the business is currently. So much so they haven't even factored the new! cash pro! file of Nokia post NSN into their financial models. Come on sell side bears, you can do better than that!

Source: Nokia: Sell Side Bears Don't Play Fair

Disclosure: I am long NOK. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

IRS Agent Faked Pastor's Letter To Claim Charity Deduction

Here's one for the "What was that Internal Revenue Service agent thinking?" book.

At the explicit direction of Congress, since 2007 the rules for deducting cash contributions to charity have been extra strict—you even need a receipt to deduct that $20 bill put in your church's Sunday offering plate.  Giving fake documents and fibbing to the IRS to support a deduction has, of course, been a no-no for a lot longer.  Yet when IRS Revenue Agent Margaret Payne had her own 2008 and 2009 tax returns examined, she faked receipts to back up her claimed cash donations, U.S. Tax Court Chief Special Trial Judge Peter J. Panuthos concluded in a decision he issued this week.

Reached this morning at her desk at the IRS in Manhattan, Payne called the decision "completely unfair and biased,'' but declined further comment. The IRS declined any comment on the case on privacy grounds. The decision can't be appealed under a special Tax Court procedure for small cases in which taxpayers are allowed to represent themselves, as Payne did.

Here, as told in Judge Panuthos' 12-page-decision, is the sorry story: During the audit, Payne, then a 28 year IRS veteran, gave an IRS examiner copies of two year-end letters, purportedly signed by Pastor Lemuel M. Mobley of the Living Stone Baptist Church in Brooklyn, stating she had donated $6,047 to LSBC in 2008 and $14,000 in 2009.  But when the examiner met with Mobley, he said he didn't even know Payne (his congregation had only 50 to 75 members) and that the letters were a "cut and paste job" on church letterhead, with his name forged and even misspelled.

Later, after talking to a long-time congregation member who was an IRS secretary and Payne friend, as well as to Payne herself, Mobley changed part of his story.  In a letter to the IRS, he claimed that he knew Payne by a different name and that she had given the money to the church. Yet in that same letter he repeated his assertion that the letters Payne had originally given the examiner were forged, writing:   "She pieced together a financial statement and stated to me that she had one of her children to sign my name…..She stated that she was sorry for what she had done. She asked for forgiveness and I forgave her for what she had done to me as well as to the church. I did not give her or anyone else permission to sign my name on any document.''

Judge Panuthos wasn't nearly so forgiving of a woman he pointed out had graduated from college with majors in accounting and finance, completed some graduate work in forensic accounting and had been a Revenue Agent (in other words, an IRS examiner or auditor) for 20 years. In a scathing opinion upholding $6,500 in back taxes and $1300 in penalties against Payne, he described the case as full of "inconsistencies, contradicting testimony, fabricated documents, and simple untruths," and observed that the three witnesses (Payne, Mobley and  the IRS secretary) had each "not only contradicted the testimony of the others but also contradicted his or her own testimony and documents. ''

Panuthos concluded Payne had engaged in a "misguided and inept attempt to support claimed charitable contribution deductions through a fictional account of the past," and that the IRS secretary was probably in on the scheme too. He wrote: "It appears highly probable that petitioner (Payne), in concert with her longtime friend and fellow IRS employee, cut and pasted stationery from LSBC and provided the same to the IRS agent examining the returns in an attempt to support the claimed deductions."

The Judge also made fast work of any suggestion Payne had probable cause for avoiding the 20% penalty for negligence or disregard of rules, saying he was satisfied her underpayment resulted from a "very deliberate and knowing attempt to reduce her tax liabilities."

Market Holds Rally, Investors Don’t Show Up

Is it just your clients who missed the huge stock market rally?

Apparently not, judging from a fund research round table that included top Morningstar analysts Scott Burns, Russel Kinnel, Laura Lutton and John Rekenthaler.

In a free-flowing discussion that is a highlight of each year’s Morningstar Investment Conference, the Chicago-based research firm’s top analysts answered questions from PBS business journalist Consuelo Mack.

Self-defeating behavior on the part of investors was a theme that came up early and often on the late Wednesday panel.

Burns (left) called it “confounding” that a huge segment of investors have not participated in the stock market rally, describing the heavy flow into fixed income as a “retroactive fix” of a bad asset allocation that overweighted stocks prior to the financial crisis.

Rekenthaler’s formulation packed more pain:

“You don’t get too many chances to get over 100% gain without inflation after only four years,” he said, adding that huge numbers of investors compounded the woe of missing the rally by heading for the exits after locking in portfolio losses in 2008 and 2009.

Conversely, Lutton worried about latecomers to the rally, saying “investors chasing performance doesn’t end well historically. Those who see bonds as safe investment are going to be unhappy.”

And Kinnel noted the danger in the investor quest for yield.

“Whether you’re looking at funds, bonds or stocks…the highest yielding areas…are a little scary right now.”

Missing the rally and coming to it late, with all the dangers that entails, made investment strategy another dominant theme in the discussion.

“This fall it will be five years since [the collapse of] Lehman Brothers,” Burns noted, “but people talk about it as if it were five weeks ago. The scars are still so deep.”

For that reason, he said financial advisors should give serious consideration to strategies that might not be optimal from a return perspective, such as target-date or low-volatility funds.

“If at the end of the day they make the investor behave better, they’re better off [with these strategies]. So many did the wrong thing after 2008-09,” he said.

“The two surest ways to not reach your goals are to not save and leave it all in cash,” he added. For advisors, therefore, the challenge is to “keep in the game but in a way that the client can tolerate.”

For Kinnel’s part, “cost and stewardship are the biggest factors FAs should consider in investing clients’ dollars.”

Stewardship, which looks at things such as the culture of the fund firm and whether managers invest in their own fund, was also emphasized by Lutton.

“Is this fund firm a good caretaker of your capital?" she said. "Studies have shown a relationship between these softer [factors] and performance.”

In that regard, Kinnel noted that “some of the big publicly traded fund firms are less careful” stewards of shareholder capital, but he said boutique firms could be found on either extreme, noting that the boutique firm Strong Funds got caught in scandal whereas Vanguard got to where it is through its fund stewardship.

And Burns steered away from large vs. small, saying [bond giant] “PIMCO, at end of the day, is one big boutique—they’re not all things to all people.”

When asked by Mack to name names, Kinnel cited FPA Capital, Primecap and TFS as excellent fund companies.

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Check out complete coverage of the Morningstar Investment Conference at AdvisorOne.

Checklist for women who take financial decisions

He is against generalising any form of investment for any age or category of people. He prefers it being specific and personalised to each individual, be it men or women.

He advises against putting all your eggs into one basket, irrespective of how good a particular asset class might look. Based on individual profile, investment profile, time horizon and the goals, an investor needs to make an asset allocation plan wherein he or she decides how much funds will go into equities, how much into debt and how much into any other say real estate or precious stones, he says.

According to him, the idea is to make that kind of an asset allocation plan and allocate money based on that plan, and not as per the timing of the market.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Harshvardhan Roongta's interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: Do you think women are perhaps better placed to be making financial decisions and are you seeing a lot more women come to you for queries, I don't want to say anything but perhaps we are just intrinsically better organisers of finances?

A: Women otherwise are known to be better organised then men. I am not getting into comparing the habits of people but generally I would say that since women have multiple roles, they work, manage their house and office as well. So, the idea is in recent times we are seeing women coming forward to take charge of the finances.

Earlier it was all left on their husbands to do it or their parents to take charge of the finances, but recently we have seen that paradigm shift wherein women want to take charge. They are trying to take keen interest in their own finances so that they can be independent and they can take decisions on their own. So, answering your query yes we see that kind of awareness being created these days and hopefully it will only increase as days go by.

Q: Are the rules for women investing different from that of men and secondly just classifying them into three buckets say one single working women, secondly married and working and thirdly married with a family but not working. Most of the women would perhaps fall in one of these three, so what is the advice for each of them?

A: When you talk about personal finance, the requirements and what you do with your money is completely dependent on your current situation. So, if there is a woman who is single there are different goals that she has, there are different requirements that she has so there is a different thing that she does with her money.

So, similarly if there is a woman who is married without children there are different kind of set of investments and if a woman is independent and has a child as well there are different kinds of schemes for them.

So, it will be very difficult to generalise that all women who are not married need to do a particular set of things. All 35 year olds cannot have a simple and a straight forward blanket investment pattern. If a person has some liabilities in the short-term, he needs to make provisions for that vis-à-vis another person who has no liabilities in the short-term makes different set of investments. So, I would say let us not generalise any form of investment for any age or a category of people, let it be very specific and personalised to each individual, be it men or women.

Caller Q: I have some investment in public provident fund (PPF) and my trade period is approaching very soon. I want to invest that money, approximately Rs 7 lakh, in stocks like Reliance Industries ( RIL ), Hindustan Unilever ( HUL ), ITC , Tata Consultancy Services ( TCS ), Infosys , Sun Pharma , Lupin , etc. Is it worth entering maybe via mutual fund or direct equity now to get more returns?

A: The first thing would be that there is a general rule you do not put all your eggs into one basket. So, irrespective of what the market situation or what the conditions currently are you want to take benefits of the market being at lows and there is rupee depreciation. So, if you are considering these things then considering equity because of that reason I would say no, do not do that.

Understand there is a risk in every investment that you make. Like for instance in a bank fixed deposits (FD) there is a risk of inflation, though the capital is safe there is a risk of inflation. In equities there is a risk of capital, but inflation risk is taken care of. So, the idea is irrespective of however good a particular asset class looks at any given point in time you do not put all your eggs into one basket.

Based on each individuals profile, the investment profile, time horizon and the goals you need to make an asset allocation plan wherein you decide how much funds will go into equities, how much into debt, how much into any other say real estate or precious stones.

So, the idea is you need to make that kind of an asset allocation plan for yourself and allocate money based on that plan not as per timing of the market. So, I would suggest if you can take high risk you may chose to allocate more into equity, but not everything into equity. So, answering your query, no I would not suggest that you shift from PPF only because market conditions are favouring equities. You make an asset allocation plan and divide your money and invest accordingly.

Q: Is there a thumb rule on diversification because the caller has her money in fixed deposits, how much of that portfolio should she shift into equity?

A: First parameter of choosing an asset allocation plan, one of the primary factors is age, the other is goals. If a person is young but if she requires the money after two years then she certainly cannot invest into equities irrespective of age being on her side. So, general thumb rule then whatever is her age that much money gets invested into debt. Therefore, whatever her age is, probably that much could be in debt and the rest could be in equities provided she has no short-term requirements with those funds.

Caller Q: Which mutual fund should I invest in?

A: Mutual fund has schemes which suit all types of investors. So, what you have referred to is an asset class which is equity. So, there are different kinds of schemes in equities such as you have funds which invest only into large cap companies, some will invest into mid caps, a combination of them. There are some sector funds which invest only in a particular sector such as banking or pharmaceutical or technology. So, within the equity category there are different kinds of options available within debt - there are investments, there are schemes which allow investors to invest money for couple of days and going up to couple of years.

I do not want to throw up names to you. I want to throw up categories and one of the safest ways to invest into equities is to begin with index funds. So, in case you do not have an index fund in your portfolio, you can choose to invest in an index fund or if you want to start investing into equities again then there is another option available which is a balanced fund, a part of the money that you give, goes into debt and a part into equities. So, to begin with these are the options available.

As you progress into investing and you get comfortable with equity investing, you can choose schemes which are actively managed; you can choose a large cap fund and then going down a midcap and a small cap and then last would be sector fund. So, if you wish to know names in equity schemes then Franklin India Index Fund is one fund you can start with or you can start with an equity aggressive balanced fund, which is in HDFC Prudence Fund and if you want debt aggressive balanced fund then HDFC Monthly Income Plan (MIP) would be a scheme to start with.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now

Recently, John Heinzl of the Globe and Mail was asked a question about trimming a profitable stock in order to free up some opportunities to make some other investments and here's his response, and what it means for you.

I've seen a significant increase in some of my dividend stocks in the last six months—Magna is one example. I am tempted to peel off some profit and invest in other stocks in the portfolio that may have had a dip. Can you comment?

Let me tell you a quick story about a friend who had a stake in Research In Motion (long before it changed its name to BlackBerry). As the shares soared in price, the stock accounted for a sizable chunk of his portfolio—well into the double digits. I urged him to sell a portion of his holdings to lower his risk, but he was so convinced of (RIM's) bright future that he held on.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: CenturyLink Inc.(CTL)

CenturyLink, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated communications company. The company provides a range of communications services, including voice, Internet, data, and video services in the continental United States. Its services include local exchange and long distance voice telephone services, as well as enhanced voice services, such as call forwarding, caller identification, conference calling, voicemail, selective call ringing, and call waiting; wholesale local network access services; and data services, including high-speed Internet access services, data transmission services over special circuits and private lines, and switched digital television services, as well as special access and private line services. The company also offers fiber transport, competitive local exchange carrier, security monitoring, and other communications, as well as professional and business information services. In addition, it provides other related services, such as leasing, selling, installing, and maintaining customer premise telecommunications equipment and wiring; payphone services; and network database services, as well as participates in the publication of local telephone directories. Further, the company offers printing, direct mail services, and cable television services; and wireless broadband Internet access services and satellite television services. As of December 31, 2010, it operated approximately 6.5 million telephone access lines. CenturyLink, Inc was founded in 1968 and is based in Monroe, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul]

  CenturyLink (CTL), provides a range of communications services, including local and long distance voice, wholesale network access, high-speed Internet access, other data services, and video services in the continental United States. The company is a member of the elite dividend aristocrats index, and has raised dividends for 37 consecutive years. In comparison to the previous two telecom players, CenturyLink has been able to cover its distributions from EPS, although its payout ratio is a scary 92.70%. Yield: 7.20%.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Mora]

  Chevron provides essential energy products and services to growing companies and consumers worldwide. The stock has been on a bullish run for many years that has taken it to all-time high prices. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenue figures have been mixed, however, investors in the company have been mostly happy with earnings reports. Relative to its peers and sector, Chevron has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Chevron to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Oil and gas supermajor Chevron (CVX) is another name that's showing investors a bullish technical setup right now. Chevron is forming a textbook ascending triangle pattern, a price setup that we've seen a lot of on the way up in 2013. Here's how to trade it.

  Chevron's ascending triangle is formed by horizontal resistance above shares at $127.50 and uptrending support below shares. Basically, as CVX bounces in between those two technical price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above $127.50. When that breakout happens, we've got our buy signal.

  The energy sector spent the last quarter as a bit of a laggard, but it's been heating back up in the last month and change. With a breakout trade getting close to triggering here, Chevron offers one of the best-in-breed ways to play the trend this summer.

• [By Hawkinvest]

  Chevron Corporation (CVX) is a leading integrated energy company with exposure to oil, natural gas, refining, etc. This could be one of the most undervalued stocks in the market. Chevron pays a dividend that beats many other stock and bond yields, plus it has a below market price to earnings ratio of about 8 times earnings. The average stock in the S&P 500 Index currently trades for over 12 times earnings. If oil prices continue to rise, the already healthy profit estimates for Chevron might be too low. With oil prices showing strength this early in the season, Chevron could be poised to beat earnings in the coming months. However, the stock is trading at the upper end of the recent trading range. Recently, it has been possible to buy this stock at about $102 per share, so waiting for dips could pay off.

  Here are some key points for CVX:

  Current share price: $104.25

  The 52 week range is $85.63 to $110.01

  Earnings estimates for 2012: $12.66 per share

  Earnings estimates for 2013: $13.20 per share

  Annual dividend: $3.42 per share which yields 3.1%

Best Heal Care Stocks For 2014: NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE)

NextEra Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2010, NextEra Energy had approximately 43,000 mega watts of generating capacity. The company involves in the generation of renewable energy from wind and solar projects. It also generates electricity through natural gas, nuclear, oil and coal, and hydro power plants. The company serves approximately 8.7 million people through approximately 4.5 million customer accounts in the east and lower west coasts of Florida. In addition, it leases wholesale fiber-optic network capacity and dark fiber to telephone, wireless carriers, Internet, and other telecommunications companies. The company was formerly known as FPL Group, Inc. and changed its name to NextEra Energy, Inc. in May 2010. NextEra Energy, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: (TELNY)

Telenor ASA operates as a telecommunication company worldwide. It provides mobile communication, fixed line communication, and television (TV)-based services. The company?s mobile communication services include voice, data, Internet, content, and electronic commerce services, as well as customer equipment, such as telephone sets, mobile phones, smart phones, computers, and PABX?s. Its fixed line services comprise analogue PSTN, digital ISDN, broadband telephony, xDSL, Internet, and leased lines, as well as communication solutions. The company?s TV-based services consist of pay-TV services via satellite dish, cable TV-networks, satellite master antenna TV-networks systems, broadband access services to cable TV-subscribers, and broadcasting rights, as well as security solutions to pay-TV operators. It also provides consulting and information technology services; maritime and aircraft telecommunications services; Internet protocol services; and mobile marketing agency service s, as well as manages two funds. The company has approximately 120 million mobile subscriptions. Telenor ASA was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Fornebu, Norway.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Band]

  Why would you want to own a telco in Norway? For one thing, as a hedge against the ruinous financial policies of the U.S. government. Thanks to prudent management of the country’s oil revenues, Norway has run a budget surplus every year since 1995. The Norwegian currency (krone), in which Telenor (OTC: TELNY) reports its profits (and pays its dividends), is sounder than both the euro and the U.S. dollar.

  But there’s more to this story. TELNY has expanded far beyond its Norwegian base, with mobile and broadband operations in Sweden, Denmark, central and eastern Europe, plus five Asian countries. As a result, little-known Telenor is one of Europe’s fastest-growing telecom businesses. Sales will likely pass $19 billion in 2011. Current yield: 4.2%. Dividends have nearly quadrupled over the past seven years. This year’s dividend amounts to only about half of TELNY’s estimated 2011 profits, so an increase of 10% or so seems probable when the board declares next year’s payout. Buy TELNY on a pullback below $49.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Star Gas Partners L.P.(SGU)

Star Gas Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, operates as a home heating oil distributor and services provider in the United States. It provides its services to residential and commercial customers to heat their homes and buildings. As of March 31, 2011, the company served approximately 408,000 full-service residential and commercial home heating oil, and propane customers. It also sold home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel to approximately 40,000 customers. In addition, Star Gas Partners installed, maintained, and repaired heating and air conditioning equipment, as well as provided ancillary home services, including home security and plumbing to approximately 11,000 customers. Kestrel Heat, LLC operates as the general partner of the company. Star Gas Partners, L.P. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: 21st Century Holding Company(TCHC)

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

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Pentair Inc.(PNR)

Pentair, Inc. operates as a diversified industrial manufacturing company worldwide. The company?s Water segment offers products and systems for use in the movement, storage, treatment, and enjoyment of water. It offers light duty diaphragm pumps and solid handling pumps for water and wastewater applications and agricultural spraying; and pressure tanks for residential applications. This segment also provides control valves, pressure tanks, membranes, carbon products, point of entry and point of use systems, and other filter cartridges for commercial and residential water filtration applications; and pool equipment and accessories, such as pumps, filters, heaters and heat pumps, lights, automatic controls, automatic pool cleaners, commercial deck equipment, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for commercial and residential pool maintenance, repair and renovation, and service and construction. In addition, it offers filter systems, filter cartridges, pressure vessels , and dispensing pumps for commercial, foodservice, industrial, marine and aviation markets. This segment distributes its products through wholesale distributors, retail distributors, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), home centers, and home and pool builders. The company?s Technical Products segment provides standard, modified, and custom enclosures that house and protect sensitive electronics and electrical components, as well as protect people that use them. Its products comprise metallic and composite enclosures, cabinets, cases, subracks, backplanes, and associated thermal management systems used in industrial machinery, data communications, networking, telecommunications, test and measurement, automotive, medical, security, defense, and general electronics. This segment distributes its products through electrical and data contractors, electrical and electronic components distributors, and OEMs. Pentair, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is based in Golden Valley, Minne sota.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Kimberly-Clark Corporation(KMB)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of various health care products worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, K-C Professional & Other, and Health Care. The Personal Care segment provides disposable diapers, training and youth pants, and swimpants; baby wipes; and feminine and incontinence care products, and related products. It offers its products primarily for household use under various brand names, including Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, Kotex, Lightdays, Depend, and Poise. The Consumer Tissue segment offers facial and bathroom tissue, paper towels, napkins, and related products for household use under the Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, Viva, Andrex, Scottex, Hakle, and Page brands. The K-C Professional & Other segment offers facial and bathroom tissue, paper towels, napkins, wipers, and a range of safety products for the away-from-home marketplace und er Kimberly-Clark, Kleenex, Scott, WypAll, Kimtech, KleenGuard, Kimcare, and Jackson brand names. The Health Care segment offers disposable health care products, such as surgical drapes and gowns, infection control products, face masks, exam gloves, respiratory products, pain management products, and other disposable medical products under the Kimberly-Clark, Ballard, and ON-Q brand names. The company sells its products to supermarkets; mass merchandisers; drugstores; warehouse clubs; variety and department stores; retail outlets; manufacturing, lodging, office building, food service, and health care establishments; and high volume public facilities. It markets its products through wholesalers, distributors, and direct sales. The company was founded in 1872 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James K. Glassman]

  52-Week High: $88.25
  
  52-Week Low: $69.44
  
  Annual Revenue: $20.9 billion
  
  Projected 2013 Earnings Growth: 6.9% 
  
  When it comes to ratings from the Value Line Investment Survey, my financial bible, you can't do better than a stock that's rated "1" for timeliness, "1" for safety and "A++" for financial strength. Kimberly-Clark (symbol: KMB), maker of Kleenex, Huggies and other consumer products, is one of the few stocks that rings every bell. It yields 3.4%, trades at a reasonable 15 times estimated 2013 earnings and is much less volatile than the overall market. Plus, Value Line's analysts expect earnings to rise 16% in 2013. Who says you can't have it all?

• [By James K. Glassman]

   When it comes to ratings from the Value Line Investment Survey, my financial bible, you can't do better than a stock that's rated "1" for timeliness, "1" for safety and "A++" for financial strength. Kimberly-Clark (symbol: KMB), maker of Kleenex, Huggies and other consumer products, is one of the few stocks that rings every bell. It yields 3.4%, trades at a reasonable 15 times estimated 2013 earnings and is much less volatile than the overall market. Plus, Value Line's analysts expect earnings to rise 16% in 2013. Who says you can't have it all?

• [By Richard Young]

  The leading brands made by Kimberly-Clark are sold in more than 150 countries and purchased by 1.3 billion people each day. Kimberly-Clark has built excellent name brands like Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Depend and Pull-Ups into a group that holds the first or second market share position in 80 countries. KMB yields 3.9% and has broken out to a new all-time high price.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Oneida Financial Corp.(ONFC)

Oneida Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for The Oneida Savings Bank that provides community banking services primarily in Madison and Oneida Counties in New York, and surrounding counties. Its deposit products include savings accounts, interest-bearing demand accounts, non interest-bearing checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. The company?s loan products portfolio comprises one-to-four family residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer loans, and commercial business loans. It also offers trust and investment services, including fiduciary services for trusts and estates, money management, and custodial services. In addition, the company sells insurance; provides employee benefits consulting services; and offers risk management services to help mitigate and prevent work related injuries. It operates through 10 full service branch offices in Madison and Oneida Counties; and 1 full service branch office in Onondaga County in New York. The company was founded in 1866 and is based in Oneida, New York. Oneida Financial Corp. is a subsidiary of Oneida Financial MHC.

10 Best Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: Dreyfus Strategic Municipals Inc. (LEO)

Dreyfus Strategic Municipals, Inc. operates as a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The fund invests primarily in municipal obligations of various states of the United States. The Dreyfus Corporation serves as the investment adviser of the fund. Dreyfus Strategic Municipals was founded in 1987 and is based in New York City.

Thursday’s ETF Chart To Watch: FXE In Focus After ...

Top 5 Dividend Stocks To Invest In 2014

After grinding sideways all week in anticipation of GDP data and FOMC commentary, Wednesday proved to be quite anticlimactic for many as markets responded with a whimper. Stocks were anticipating for the Fed to reveal a more concrete QE tapering timeline; however, policymakers offered no new hints and markets responded with a contained sell off in the last hour .

Our ETF to watch for today is the CurrencyShares Euro Currency Trust , which could experience volatile trading as investors react to the latest ECB rate decision. Analysts are largely expecting for policymakers to leave rates unchanged at 0.50%, although the commentary issued after the rate decision itself may offer further insights.



Chart Analysis

Consider FXE's one-year daily performance chart below. This ETF has been stuck in a range all year; notice how FXE has failed to hold above $132 a share while at the same time bouncing off support at the $127 level (green line) after each failed attempt. It was encouraging to see FXE peer above $131 a share (blue line) in early June of this year; however, selling pressures quickly returned and dragged it back down to virtually the same support level it had previously rebounded off. With FXE trading along resistance again, we feel that investors should hold off from jumping in long given the recent pattern at hand .

Click to EnlargeHistorically, we would expect for FXE to decline in the coming weeks as it battles resistance and profit taking; nonetheless, we would advise conservative investors to avoid taking a short position at these levels because encouraging developments overseas may inspire a breakout that propels FXE past resistance with little warning .

OutlookIf the latest ECB outlook strikes a pessimistic tone among investors, the euro could struggle in the currency market on the day; in terms of downside, FXE h! as support around $129 a share followed by the $127 level. On the other hand, a surprisingly optimistic outlook may inspire a rally for European markets; in terms of upside, FXE has stiff resistance at $133 a share. As always, investors of all experience levels are advised to use stop-loss orders and practice disciplined profit-taking techniques.

Follow me on Twitter @SBojinov



Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

Top Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now

Once a company becomes a member of the elite Dividend Aristocrats list, it takes a lot to dislodge that company from its ranks. After all, having demonstrated a 25-year history of raising dividends even through the ups and downs of the economy, companies don't want to give up the hard-earned distinction without a fight. Unfortunately, though, sometimes losing Dividend Aristocrat status is unavoidable, and SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU  ) marks a good example of what can happen to derail a company's dividend success.

SUPERVALU is the company behind the Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, and Shop 'n Save grocery store chains, as well as its Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain. For years, SUPERVALU was able to raise its dividends consistently even as it faced the pressures of low margins and rising competition that plague the entire grocery industry. Let's take a closer look at SUPERVALU to see what happened to force it to cut its dividends and abandon its status as a Dividend Aristocrat.

Top Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By McWillams]

  Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK : 31.91, 0.05) reported net income of $2.02 billion, or 65 cents per share in its fiscal 2011 second quarter, compared to net income of $752 million or 24 cents a year ago. Analysts had estimated earnings of 95 cents per share for the firm. The company's revenue rose 7 percent to $12.15 billion, better than analysts' forecast of $11.82 billion. Shares closed Thursday's trading at $34.93.

• [By Holly LaFon] Seven gurus own Merck stock. Three added shares in the fourth quarter, and three sold shares.
  
  Merck & Co. Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company with a market cap of $117.53 billion. Its shares are trading at around $38.22 with a P/E ratio of 10.2 and P/S ratio of 2.5.
  
  The dividend yield of Merck stocks is 4.4%. It has paid dividends since 1969. Merck has paid the same dividend of $1.52 from 2005 to 2010. In November 2010 and February 2011, it i
• [By Sally Jones] Kahn�� Current Shares: 1,215,659
  
  Kahn Brothers also increased its position with Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) by 4.38%, buying 50,998 shares at an average price of $46.81, for a 3.4% gain. For the 1,888,219 shares bought since the second quarter of 2005, Kahn�� average price was $41.90 per share with a 15% gain.
  
  Up 9% over 12 months, MRK has a market cap of $146.12 billion, and trades at a P/E of 24.80, a P/B of 2.70 and a P/S of 3.22. The current share price is $48.39.
  
  [ Enlarge Image ]
  
  Merck announced its second quarter 2013 financial results highlighting $11 billion in revenue, a decrease of 11%. The company had non-GAAP EPS of $0.84, and GAAP EPS of $0.30. The company reaffirmed its full-year non-GAAP EPS target of $3.45 to $3.55, excluding certain items and a revised GAAP EPS range of $1.84 to $2.05. Merck has seen growth in key franchises including vaccines, diabetes and immunology, and a continued return of cash to shareholders, including the $5 billion accelerated share repurchase announced in May, according to a company press release.
  
  New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYCB)
  
  Kahn�� Current Shares: 4,006,237
  
  In second quarter 2013, Kahn Brothers also increased its position with another long-time holding, New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYCB) by 3.74%, buying 144,329 shares at an average price of $13.51, for a 13.8% gain. For the 4,006,237 shares bought since the second quarter of 2005, Kahn�� average cost was $13.48 per share with a 14% gain.
  
  NYCB reported second quarter 2013 GAAP earnings of $122.5 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, and $241.2 million, or $0.55 per diluted share for the six months ending June 30, 2013. The company�� balance sheet shows assets of $44.2 billion as of June 30, 2013. The company had a net income of $501.1 million in 2012.
  
  Up 17% over 12 months, NYCB has a market cap of $6.78 billion, and trades with a P/E of 13.30, a P/B of 1.20, and a P/S of 4.62. The current share price is $15.37.
  
  [ Enlar! ge Image ]
  
  New York Community Bancorp Inc. is the 20th largest bank holding company in the nation and a leading producer of multi-family loans in New York City, with an emphasis on apartment buildings that feature below-market rents. NYCB operates two bank subsidiaries��ew York Community Bank, a thrift, with 239 branches in Metro New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida and Arizona--and New York Commercial Bank, with 35 branches in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island, including 18 branches that operate under the name Atlantic Bank.
  
  Nam Tai Electronics (NTE)
  
  Kahn�� Current Shares: 3,736,917
  
  Irving Kahn also increased his position with components manufacturer Nam Tai Electronics (NTE) by 9.24%, buying 315,981 shares at an average price of $8.96, for a 14.5% loss. For the 3,828,873 shares bought since the second quarter of 2008, Kahn�� average price was $9.90 per share with a 23% loss.
  
  Up 15% over 12 months, Nam Tai has a market cap of $343.2 million, and trades with a P/E of 4.70, a P/B of 0.80 and a P/S of 0.27. The current share price is $7.66.
  
  [ Enlarge Image ]
  
  For the second quarter of 2013, Nam Tai Electronics reported sales of $167.9 million, up 64%, with a net income loss of $31.9 million. The company�� gross profit margin was at 9.4%, compared to 15% in the same quarter a year ago. The company�� net income for first quarter 2013 was reported at $4.9 million, compared to a loss of $3.6 million in the same quarter a year ago.
  
  More Second Quarter Action
  
  Guru Irving Kahn also reduced ten of his positions in the second quarter of 2013.
  
  Here are the trade details.
  
  Irving Kahn, along with brothers Alan and Thomas, founded Kahn Brothers & Company Inc., in 1978, which later became Kahn Brothers Group. The company portfolio lists 46 stocks, none of them new, with a total value of $648 million and a 1% quarter over quarter turnover, according to the recent GuruFocus update.
  
  
  
  GuruFocus Real Time P! icks repo! rts the stock purchases and sales that Gurus have made within the prior 2 weeks. The report time lag can be as short as 2 days after the date of the transaction. This feature is for Premium Members only. If you are not a Premium Member, we invite you for a 7-day Free Trial.

Top Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Paychex Inc.(PAYX)

Paychex Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small-to medium-sized businesses in the United States and Germany. It offers payroll processing services, including calculation, preparation, and delivery of employee payroll checks; production of internal accounting records and management reports; preparation of federal, state, and local payroll tax returns; and collection and remittance of clients? payroll obligations. The company also provides payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing. Its human resource outsourcing services include payroll, employer compliance, human resource and employee benefits administration, risk management outsourcing, and the on-site availability of a professionally trained human resource representative, as well as provides employee handbooks, management manuals, and r equired regulatory forms. In addition, the company offers retirement services administration; workers? compensation; business-owner policies; commercial auto; and health and benefits coverage, including health, dental, vision, and life. Further, it provides online human resource administration software products for employee benefits management and administration, and time and attendance solutions. As of May 31, 2010, the company served approximately 536,000 clients in the United States; and 1,700 clients in Germany. Paychex, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Invest In 2014: Lorillard Inc(LO)

Lorillard, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. The company offers 43 different product offerings under the Newport, Kent, True, Maverick, and Old Gold brand names. Lorillard, Inc. sells its products primarily to wholesale distributors, who in turn service retail outlets, chain store organizations, and government agencies, including the United States? Armed Forces. The company was founded in 1760 and is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Glenn]

  Lorillard (LO), through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. The company has paid a rising dividend since becoming a separately traded company in 2008. It yields 5.40% and has a high dividend payout ratio as well.

Top Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: PetroChina Company Limited(PTR)

PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and tradi ng businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Smith]  

  With a market capitalization of $260 billion, PetroChina is at the top of our list. The company has a regular dividend policy and last year's dividend yield was 3%. Its global competitors, such Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), British Petrolum (BP), Chevron Corporation (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM), are competing fiercely. Meanwhile, PetroChina has an almost monopolistic position in China. In the last 10 years, the stock price increased 10-fold, from $15 in 2001 to $150 in 2010. That's a 1000% return within the last 10 years excluding dividends.

Top Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: United Parcel Service Inc.(UPS)

United Parcel Service, Inc., a package delivery company, provides transportation, logistics, and financial services in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package, and Supply Chain & Freight. The U.S. Domestic Package segment engages in the time-definite delivery of letters, documents, and packages in the United States. The International Package segment offers air and ground delivery of small packages and letters to approximately 220 countries and territories, including shipments outside the United States, as well as shipments with either origin or distribution outside the United States; export services; and domestic services move shipments within a country?s borders. The Supply Chain & Freight segment provides forwarding and logistics services, such as supply chain design and management, freight distribution, customs brokerage, mail, and consulting services in approximately 195 countries and territorie s; and less-than-truckload and truckload services to customers in North America. In addition, the company offers various technology solutions for automated shipping, visibility, and billing; information technology systems and distribution facilities to various industries comprising healthcare, technology, and consumer/retail; and a portfolio of financial services that provides customers with short-term working capital, government guaranteed lending, global trade financing, credit cards, and export financing. It operates a fleet of approximately 99,800 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; an air fleet of 527 aircraft; and 33,800 containers used to transport cargo in its aircraft. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Buffett]

   As the world's largest package delivery company, United Parcel Service (UPS) is the kind of toll-bridge operator that Buffett likes to invest in. When a business ships something, UPS gets a cut. Plus the sheer size of its global shipping network give UPS the kind of economic moat that Buffett likes to see. So do high customer-satisfaction ratings and conscientious drivers -- even if they do have to wear shorts.

  "This is not a business that you can re-create overnight," says Lowenstein. In fact, competitors have a tough time because UPS is so strong. DHS left the U.S. shipping market in 2009, and the U.S. Postal Service is struggling financially.

  That economic moat and broad reach also give UPS the pricing power, high profit margins and steady earnings growth favored by Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns 1.4 million shares. Here's another quality the Oracle of Omaha likes: UPS is shareholder friendly, returning excess capital through dividend hikes, share buybacks and debt retirement. "They are good capital allocators. They are not destroying value by doing dumb things," says Lowenstien.

  Despite these strengths, UPS looks cheap, because with a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.9, it trades about 30% below its average since 2000. In short, that means today's price is relatively low. "UPS is on sale due to concerns about the economy," says Lowenstein. And like Buffett, Lowenstein is a patient value investor who believes that sooner or later those concerns will blow over. When that happens, UPS stock will deliver for investors who buy now.

• [By Mark]

  UPS is a package delivery company. Cramer holds 600 shares of UPS stocks. UPS has a dividend yield of 3.20% and returned -6.68% since the beginning of this year. It has a market cap of $63.89B and a P/E ratio of 16.08. Jason Capello invested $253 million in UPS.

Value Is Not Enough

10 Best Gold Stocks To Invest In 2014

Bruce Berkowitz, the manager of the Fairholme Fund, recently posted an investor presentation discussing short term volatility and its impact on long term performance (if anybody knows about volatility, its Fairholme Fund investors who have stuck with Berkowitz over the past 18 months). In that slide deck, Mr. Berkowitz quotes something Seth Klarman said in April of 2011:

"Value… is not enough. Buying low is a start… but you need the patience, discipline and grit to buy lower, and still lower, if the opportunity presents itself, shutting out the extraneous noise coming from within the market and over the airwaves."

I think this quote relates to what I was talking about in my recent article discussing investing versus speculation:

"An investment, by Warren's definition, is the act of looking at an asset and determining to lay out some money now to get some more money back later on. Logically, this requires a couple of things on our end: we must know the current amount to be laid out (easy enough to find), but we must also be able to estimate the amount of money to be recovered in the future (a bit more difficult). This requires in-depth analysis that focuses on sustainable competitive advantages and conservatively estimates the future cash flow generation of the business, while avoiding outsized attention on short term fluctuations that are beyond the company's control and unrelated to the fundamentals in question (for example, commodity cost volatility); collectively, this information can provide the basis upon which one can confidently invest in securities backed by a sizeable margin of safety."

Klarman lists three attributes that are required beyond the simple act of equity valuation; these are the characteristics that the successful investor must possess to capitalize on the market's inefficiencies. The first on the list is pa! tience; the problem, as many investors know, is that the market doesn't particularly care about your thoughts on a company's valuation, and won't jump towards your estimate of intrinsic value simply because you decided to invest (unless your name is David Einhorn). Warren Buffett discussed this idea in a 2008 speech at the University of Florida:

"I have no idea where the market is going to go; I prefer it going down. But my preferences have nothing to do with it. The market knows nothing about my feelings. That is one of the first things you have to learn about a stock. You buy 100 shares of General Motors (GM); now all of a sudden you have this feeling about GM. If it goes down, you may be mad at it. You may say, 'Well, if it just goes up to what I paid for it, my life will be wonderful again'. Or if it goes up, you may say how smart you were and how you and GM have this love affair. You have got all these feelings; the stock doesn't know you own it."

This is a fundamental part of value investing: irrationally, we expect that the market inefficiencies that allow us to find attractive investments will immediately revert to sanity once we put our chips on the table; this is pure fallacy.

This is critically important, and something that gives me trouble to this day: my issue isn't committing to additional investments as prices decline; it's moving too quickly in an attempt to snag the absolute low tick on the security. From my personal experience, I would simply suggest that investors spread out their purchases, such that they have the cash on hand to capitalize upon mispriced securities that become even more attractive after your initial purchase.

The next attribute Klarman discusses is discipline; by my interpretation, this refers to the changing dynamics surrounding an investment as time passes and an investor's subsequent reaction to new information. Behaviorally, it's difficult to remain unbiased after you commit capital, which likely causes you t! o view th! e company with rose tinted glasses: anything negative will be put into the "noise" category, and the positives will be the new talking points upon which you justify your investment. Like many people, I've had problems with this bias; to date, the best method I've found for limiting its influence is an investment journal/fact sheet, which lists the justification and price target for an investment, in addition to potential risks or catalysts that would require a reassessment of the position.

The final attribute Mr. Klarman discussed is grit; as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, grit is "firmness of mind or spirit; unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger". Grit, in other words, is conviction in your analysis, which may come in spite of a declining stock price and the subsequent bashing of the company by the talking heads; in this sense, grit has been best described by the father of value investing, Ben Graham:

"You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right." This unyielding courage is not based on faith; it comes from sound data and reasoning that is the basis for an investment, regardless of short term volatility.

Summing this all up, we can draw some logical conclusions:

1) Volatility and inefficiency is the friend of the value investor, and is that which creates opportunity in the first place; as such, the continuation of this volatility and inefficiency after our investment has been made is a simple fact of life.

2) For the value investor, a conservative estimate of intrinsic value is an absolute must; the only way we can be assured to stick by the conviction of our analysis and to capitalize upon an increasingly attractive stock price is with this information in hand.

3) In the context of capital allocation, the firmness of our conviction must be mixed with patience; the value investor must have the endurance to sit calmly and build a position ov! er time, ! rather than overextending themselves in a short period of time simply because the price is 1% below where it was yesterday (I should be forced to repeat this daily to make up for my past inability to follow this rule). You don't need to hit the bottom tick to attain attractive results; but you need to have the resources "to buy lower, and still lower, if the opportunity presents itself."

Value, as Mr. Klarman says, is not enough. A keen focus on logical capital allocation in the face of volatility and noise is a necessity in the value investor's toolbox; success, in terms of portfolio construction, is dependent upon a finely-tuned trio of patience, discipline, and grit.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014

It's no surprise that over the past 24 months, the U.S. energy sector underperformed the broader equity markets by quite a margin.

The past two years saw the supermajor oil companies struggle with declining production volumes. Additionally, higher crude oil prices in 2011 meant refiners were acquiring feedstock at a higher cost, which eroded their margins. Finally, a slump in domestic natural gas prices last year cut into producers' profits badly.

Not very impressive
To get an industry perspective, the exchange-traded fund Energy Select Sector SPDR, which tracks the U.S. oil, gas and consumable fuels, and energy equipment and services industries, underperformed the S&P 500 by more than 17 percentage points since June 2011. A combination of volatile crude oil prices, as well as a demand-supply mismatch for natural gas, contributed to this lackluster performance.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Vecta Energy Corp (VER)

Vecta Energy Corporation is engaged in the exploration for, and the acquisition, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Company has non-operated interests in three areas: the foothills of Alberta, northeast BC and the Brewster area in central Alberta. The Company has interest in the Brewster area of west central Alberta (in townships 42, 43 and 44; range 12-13, W5). These lands are prospective in the Belly River formation at depths of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, as well as deeper zones including Nordegg, Rock Creek, Ellerslie, Ostracod, Falher and Notikewin. A total of six wells have been drilled on Company acreage. The 102/01-26-043-13 W5 well is producing 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids. The 15-11-043-13 W5 well is producing of 350 to 400 thousand cubic feet of natural gas with liquids.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Fleetcor Technologies Inc (FLT)

FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (FleetCor) is an independent global provider of specialized payment products and services to businesses, commercial fleets, oil companies, petroleum marketers and government entities in countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company processed more than 215 million transactions on its networks and third-party networks. The Company operates in two segments: North American and International segments. The Company provides its payment products and services in a variety of combinations to create payment solutions for its customers and partners. In August 2011, the Company acquired Mexican prepaid fuel card and food voucher business based in Mexico City, Mexico. On December 13, 2011, the Company acquired Allstar Business Solutions Limited, a fleet card company based in the United Kingdom. In July 2012, the Company acquired a Russian fuel card company. In July 2012, the Company acquired CTF Technologies, Inc.

The Company uses third-party networks to deliver its payment programs and services. In order to deliver its payment programs and services and process transactions, it owns and operates closed-loop networks through which it electronically connects to merchants and captures, analyzes and reports information. The Company also provides a range of services, such as issuing and processing. The Company markets its payment products directly to a range of commercial fleet customers, including vehicle fleets of all sizes and government fleets. Among these customers, it provides its products and services to small and medium commercial fleets. The Company also manages commercial fleet card programs for oil companies, such as British Petroleum (BP) (including its subsidiary Arco), Chevron and Citgo, and over 800 petroleum marketers.

The Company sells a range of fleet and lodging payment programs directly and indirectly through partners, such as oil companies and petroleum marketers. It provides it! s customers with various card products that function like a charge card to purchase fuel, lodging and related products and services at participating locations. The Company supports these cards with issuing, processing and information services that enable it to manage card accounts, facilitate the routing, authorization, clearing and settlement of transactions. The Company provides these services in a variety of outsourced solutions ranging from an end-to-end solution (consisting issuing, processing and network services) to limited back office processing services.

In addition, the Company offers a telematics solution in Europe that combines global positioning, satellite tracking and other wireless technology to allow fleet operators to monitor the capacity utilization and movement of their vehicles and drivers. The Company offers prepaid fuel and food vouchers and cards in Mexico that may be used as a form of payment in restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations. Approximately 10.4% of its revenue during the year ended December 31, 2011 came from its lodging and telematics products.

During 2011, the Company owns and operates eight closed-loop networks in North America and internationally. Fuelman network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United States. Corporate Lodging Consultants network (CLC) is the Company�� lodging network in the United States and Canada. The CLC Lodging network covers more than 17,700 hotels across the United States and Canada. Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) is the Company�� members only unattended fueling location network in the United States and Canada. Keyfuels network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United Kingdom.

CCS network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Petrol Plus Region (PPR) network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Mexican network is the Company�� fuel! and food! card and voucher network in Mexico. Allstar network is the Company�� fleet card network in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the Company issues corporate cards that utilize the MasterCard payment network, which includes 176,000 fuel sites and 398,000 maintenance locations across the country. The networks of locations owned by the Company�� oil and petroleum marketer partners in both North America and internationally are utilized to support the card programs of these partners.

UNION TANK Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG (UTA) operates a network of over 46,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 38 countries throughout Europe, including more than 31,000 fueling sites. DKV operates a network of over 45,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 36 countries throughout Europe, including more than 30,500 fueling sites. In Mexico, the Company issues fuel cards and food cards that utilize the Carnet payment network, which includes approximately 8,700 fueling sites and 78,890 food locations across the country.

The Company competes with Wright Express Corporation, Comdata Corporation, U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems Inc., Edenred and Sodexo, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ed Carson]

  FleetCor isn't a one-stop financial behemoth. It's more of a truck-stop financial, providing fuel cards and budget management tools for trucking firms and other commercial and government fleets. In its most recent quarter, earnings per share rose 48%, the best gain in seven quarters. Revenue growth accelerated to 39%, the best in 10 quarters.

  Shares have been rising strongly for the past six months. The stock is up nearly 3% so far in 2013, hitting a fresh high intraday on Friday.

Top 10 Undervalued Stocks To Watch Right Now: Magellan Midstream Partners L.P.(MMP)

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation, storage, and distribution of refined petroleum products and crude oil in the United States. Its pipeline system transports petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gases from the Gulf Coast refining region of Texas through the Midwest to Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The company owns and operates marine terminals, which store and distribute refined petroleum products, blendstocks, crude oils, heavy oils, and feedstocks, as well as inland terminals that consist of storage tanks connected to third-party interstate pipeline systems to deliver refined petroleum products. Its ammonia pipeline system transports ammonia from production facilities in Texas and Oklahoma to terminals in the Midwest. The company also stores, blends, and distributes biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. As of March 31, 2011, it operated approximately 9, 600 miles of petr oleum products pipeline system and 51 terminals; 6 marine petroleum terminals located along the United States Gulf and East Coasts; a crude oil storage in Cushing, Oklahoma; 27 petroleum products inland terminals located principally in the southeastern United States; and a 1,100-mile ammonia pipeline system and 6 associated terminals. The company also provides ancillary services, such as heating, blending, and mixing of stored petroleum products and additive injection services. Its customers comprise independent and integrated oil companies, wholesalers, retailers, railroads, airlines, and regional farm co-operatives. The company serves various markets, including retail gasoline stations, truck stops, farm co-operatives, railroad fueling depots, and military and commercial jet fuel users. Magellan GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) is involved with the transportation, storage and distribution of refined petroleum products. MMP is another oil stock that has gained nearly 20% since January.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: ATP Oil And Gas Corp (AOB)

ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, incorporated in 1991, is engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had estimated net proved reserves of 118.9 Million barrels of crude oil equivalent (MMBoe), of which approximately 75.9 MMboe (64%) were in the Gulf of Mexico and 42.9 MMBoe (36%) were in the North Sea. The reserves consisted of 78.6 Million barrels (MMBbls) of oil (66%) and 241.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas (34%). Its proved reserves in the deepwater area of the Gulf of Mexico account for 62% of the Company�� total proved reserves and its proved reserves on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf account for 2% of its total proved reserves. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired three licenses in the Mediterranean Sea covering potential natural gas resources in the deepwater off the coast of Israel (East Mediterranean). On August 17, 2012, ATP Oil And Gas Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Company�� natural gas reserves are split between the Gulf of Mexico (57%) and the North Sea (43%). Of its total proved reserves, 8.3 MMBoe (7%) were producing, 19.0 MMBoe (16%) were developed and not producing and 91.6 MMBoe (77%) were undeveloped. The Company�� average working interest in its properties at December 31, 2011, was approximately 81%. The Company operates 92% of its platforms. At December 31, 2011, in the Gulf of Mexico, it owned leasehold and other interests in 38 offshore blocks and 49 wells, including 23 subsea wells. The Company operates 43 (88%) of these wells, including 100% of the subsea wells. In the North Sea, it also had interests in 13 blocks and two Company-operated subsea wells. As of March 15, 2011, the Company owned an interest in 13 platforms, including two floating production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, the ATP Titan at its Telemark Hub and the ATP Innovator at its Gomez Hub. It operates the ATP Innovator and the ATP Titan.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Chesapeake Energy Corporation(CHK)

Chesapeake Energy Corporation engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and production of natural gas and oil properties in the United States. It also provides marketing and other midstream services. The company?s properties are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. As of December 31, 2010, it had interests in approximately 45,800 gross productive wells. The company?s proved reserves include 17.096 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent. Chesapeake Energy Corporation was founded in 1989 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sam Collins]

  Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) is one of the largest independent exploration and production companies in the United States. It focuses on U.S. onshore natural gas production east of the Rocky Mountains.?

  On Jan. 30, the company said that Cnooc Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) would pay $1.3 billion for access to acreage held by Chesapeake Energy. CHK has also developed a dominant natural gas shale position, and S&P “expects its expertise in unconventional drilling to carry over to liquids development.”?

  Technically, the close above $28 represents a major breakout from a three-year consolidation. The target for CHK is $39.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Nearest Resistance: $25
  
  Nearest Support: $23.50
  
  Catalyst: Earnings

  The same exact thing is happening over at Chesapeake Energy (CHK) following the firm's second-quarter earnings numbers. Chesapeake earned 66 cents per share for the quarter, besting Wall Street's meager 41-cent expectations by a big margin. Shares are up more that 6% in today's session as a result.

  CHK looks strong from a technical standpoint too. While $25 looks like intraday resistance for CHK right now, it's not a particularly strong price ceiling. For investors who aren't risk-averse, I'd suggest putting on a position in today's session -- just keep a tight stop in place.

• [By Zachary Silver]

  As the second-leading domestic natural gas producer, Chesapeake Energy is certainly a company to consider if you are bullish on the energy renaissance in the United States. Chesapeake Energy has the greatest exposure to unconventional oil plays, and has a history of selecting profitable projects, such as its holdings in the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, and in the Utica Shale in Ohio.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Caiterra International Energy Corp (CTI)

CaiTerra International Energy Corporation (Caiterra), formerly Cyterra Capital Corp., is a Canada-based company is engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas properties. The Company�� project includes Faust, Amadou and Lac La Biche. On March 9, 2012, the Company completed its qualifying transaction with West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP), pursuant to which the Company acquired all of WPP�� working interests in certain petroleum and natural gas leases and an oil sand lease in the Lac La Biche and Amadou Projects located in Alberta, Canada and certain other assets (the QT Oil and Gas Properties) from West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP). On December 17, 2012 the Company acquired the Faust Property located just north of the Swan Hills oil field and south of the Town of Slave Lake.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)

Devon Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the United States and Canada. It also involves in transporting oil, gas, and natural gas liquids (NGL); and processing natural gas. The company owns oil and gas properties in the mid-continent area of the central and southern United States; the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Rocky Mountains area of the United States; and the onshore areas of the Gulf Coast, principally in south Texas and south Louisiana. It also owns oil and gas properties in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition, the company offers marketing and midstream services, including marketing of gas, crude oil, and NGL, as well as constructing and operating pipelines, storage and treating facilities, and natural gas processing plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had 2,042 million barrel of oil equivalent of proved developed reserves. The company sells its gas production to various customers, such as pipelines, utilities, gas marketing firms, industrial users, and local distribution companies; crude oil production to refiners, remarketers, and other companies; and NGL production to customers in petrochemical, refining, and heavy oil blending activities. Devon Energy Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By McWillams]

  Oklahoma-based Devon Energy(DVN) is an analyst favorite, receiving 21 "buy" ratings and nine "hold" calls, but no "sell" rankings.

  Devon explores for and produces natural gas and oil. Its stock has run up 33% in the past three months, fulfilling Jefferies' thesis. Now, it has just 3% of upside before passing the bank's price target. It might be best to wait for a pullback before buying Devon. But, most-bullish Macquarie, an Australian investment bank with a focus on energy companies, expects Devon's stock to advance another 14% to $98 in 12 months.

  Devon's business is largely focused on natural gas, with two-thirds of sales from that commodity and the other third coming from oil and natural gas liquids. It also owns gas pipelines and treatment facilities.

  Natural gas is domestically abundant. In fact, some geologists estimate that North America houses the richest natural gas deposits. For this reason, businessmen, such as T. Boone Pickens, think using this resource is critical to energy independence.

  The downside is that recent shale discoveries have expanded supply and dampened the commodity's pricing. Devon has been repositioning itself as an onshore North America gas company. Consequently, it has been divesting international assets and using the proceeds to lessen its float. In the third quarter, shares outstanding dropped 3% to 432 million.

• [By CRWE]

  Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) reported that its management will present at the UBS Global Oil & Gas Conference in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, at 11:20 a.m. Central Time (12:20 p.m. Eastern Time).

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Enbridge Inc(ENB)

Enbridge Inc. engages in the transportation and distribution of crude oil and natural gas primarily in Canada and the United States. Its Liquids Pipelines segment operates common carrier and contract crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and refined products pipelines and terminals. The company?s Gas Distribution segment distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers primarily in central and eastern Ontario, northern New York State, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Enbridge?s Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services segment invests in natural gas pipelines, processing and green energy projects, and commodity marketing businesses, as well as performs commodity storage, transport, and supply management services. Its Sponsored Investments segment transports crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons through common carrier and feeder pipelines, as well as transports, gathers, processes, and markets natural gas and NGLs; operates a crude oil and liqui ds pipeline and gathering system; and owns a 50% interest in the Canadian portion of Alliance Pipeline and partial interests in various green energy investments. The company was formerly known as IPL Energy Inc. and changed its name to Enbridge Inc. in October 1998. Enbridge Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) is an energy transportation and distribution company separated into six segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Distribution, Gas Pipelines, Processing and Energy Services, Sponsored Investments and Corporate. Enbridge stock has gained 13% in 2011.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Stone Energy Corporation(SGY)

Stone Energy Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico and the Appalachia region. As of December 31, 2010, it had estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves of approximately 473.9 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana with additional offices in New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; and Morgantown, West Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthews]

  Stone Energy (SGY) is trading at $19.88. Stone is an oil and gas drilling company with projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Appalachia, and Texas. These shares have traded in a range between $14.21 to $35.94 in t he last 52 weeks. The 50-day moving average is $24.54 and the 200-day moving average is $27.49. SGY is estimated to earn $3.58 per share in 2011 and $3.64 in 2012. In terms of PE ratios, this appears to be one of the cheapest oil stocks in the market. In July, Dahlman Rose set a $38 price target for SGY shares and Ladenburg Thalmann has a $30 target.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Own For 2014: Midstates Petroleum Company Inc (MPO)

Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc. is an independent exploration and production company. The Company�� areas of operation include Pine Prairie, South Bearhead Creek/Oretta, West Gordon and North Cowards Gully. Its Upper Gulf Coast Tertiary trend extends from south Texas to Mississippi across its operating areas in central Louisiana. As of December 31, 2011, it had accumulated approximately 77,100 net acres in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, its development operations are focused in the Wilcox interval of the trend. The Company�� business is conducted through Midstates Petroleum Company LLC, as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary. In September 2012, the Company and its subsidiary acquired all of Eagle Energy Production, LLC�� producing properties as well as their developed and undeveloped acreage primarily in the Mississippian Lime oil play in Oklahoma and Kansas.

As of December 31, 2011, it drilled 57 gross wells in the trend, approximately 93% of. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its average daily production were 7,499 barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it had a total of 974 gross vertical drilling locations, including 115 related to acreage under option, in the trend. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� properties included approximately 92 gross active producing wells, 95% of, which it operate, and in which it held an average working interest of approximately 99% across its 77,100 net acre leasehold. During March 31, 2012, the Company continued its drilling program, spudding 14 wells, of which nine are producing, three are being drilled and two are waiting to be completed. As of December 331, 2011, it averaged daily production is approximately 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Pine Prairie

The Company�� properties in the Pine Prairie area represented 46% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 3,793 net barrels of oil equ! ivalent per day, consisting of 2,143 barrels of oil, 565 barrels of natural gas liquidations (NGLs) and 6,508 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 92.2% and 68.9%, respectively, on its acreage in Pine Prairie area. The Company has an additional 194 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 10-acre spacing.

South Bearhead Creek/Oretta

The Company�� properties in the South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area represented 20.3% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 4,367 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 2,196 barrels of oil, 438 barrels of NGLs and 10,396 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. During 2011, these wells produced at an average daily rate of 2,413 net barrels of oil equivalent per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 100% and 78.5%, respectively, on its acreage in South Bearhead Creek/Oretta area. The Company has an additional 43 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.

West Gordon

The Company�� properties in the West Gordon area represented 21% of its total proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 1,002 net barrels of oil equivalent per day, consisting of 617 barrels of oil, 68 barrels of NGLs and 1,901 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 95.9% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in West Gordon area. The Company has an additional 74 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.

North Cowards Gully

The Company�� properties in the North Cowards Gully area represented 11.5% of ! its total! proved reserves as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, the Company�� average production from these properties was 149 net barrels of oil equivalent per day consisting of 103 barrels of oil, 11 barrels of NGLs, and 211 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. As of December 31, 2011, it held an average working interest and average net revenue interest of 94.3% and 71.2%, respectively, on its acreage in North Cowards Gully area. The Company has an additional 95 identified drilling locations in this area based primarily on 40-acre spacing.