Best European Companies To Invest In 2015

As foundations increasingly collaborate with their fellow funders to leverage their impact as they address complex public problems, the logistical challenges to working together can be daunting.

Last week, the Monitor Institute and the Foundation Center released a report on their research into how new technologies can facilitate collaborations and reduce inefficiencies.

The research was included an extensive literature review on collaboration in philanthropy, detailed analyses of trends from a Foundation Center survey of the largest U.S. foundations, interviews with 37 leading philanthropy professionals and technology experts and a review of more than 170 online tools, according to a statement.

The report includes an introduction to emerging technologies and the changing context for philanthropic collaboration, an overview of collaborative needs and tools and recommendations for improving the collaborative technology landscape.

An interactive tool finder developed by GrantCraft, a joint service of the Foundation Center and the European Foundation Centre, presents seven distinct collaborative needs (including finding partners, designing strategies and assessing progress) and 17 types of tool functionalities (ranging from data gathering to project management) in an online matrix that facilitates intuitive exploration of available resources.

Best Mid Cap Stocks For 2016: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  Total (NYSE: TOT  ) announced today that its upstream Nigeria-based joint-venture partnership subsidiary has received regulatory approval to being awarding contracts to develop the offshore Egina field.

Best European Companies To Invest In 2015: Aegon NV(AEG)

AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.

  Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)

  It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.

Best European Companies To Invest In 2015: BP p.l.c.(BP)

BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Most Recently, BP (NYSE: BP  ) ��along with ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  ) ��said it plans to invest an additional $1 billion in the North Slope of Alaska over the next five years, spurred by a tax reform signed into law in May that makes drilling in the region more attractive to oil companies. �

• [By Virginia Harrison]

  While it is not yet clear how much money BP (BP) could be refunded as a result of the decision, it's a rare victory for the company in the wake of what was the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Rock-solid earnings
  Its midstream business is focused on two areas: the Panhandle and East Texas. Overall, the company owns over 8,000 miles of pipelines and 20 processing plants, including the recently started Wheeler plant. Eagle Rock has been very active in building out its midstream business, which has included organic growth projects like Wheeler, as well as acquisitions such as last year's deal with�BP� (NYSE: BP  ) .

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  BP provides essential energy products to consumers and a wide array of companies that operate in different industries around the world. The stock has suffered in recent times due to the negative press it has experienced from the oil leak incident. However, it is now trying to establish a value range. The two most recent earnings and revenue figures have pleased investors. Relative to its peers and sector, BP has been an average year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what BP does this coming earnings report.

Best European Companies To Invest In 2015: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners (DVA) soared almost 8.9% to close at $61.55 after the market learned that Medicare funding cuts would come in lower than expected. Rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rose 7.2% on the same news.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid decided today to cut government payment to dialysis clinics. So why did share prices for DaVita HealthCare Partners (DVA) and rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rise so steeply today?

Best European Companies To Invest In 2015: Flamel Technologies S.A.(FLML)

Flamel Technologies S.A., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of controlled-release therapeutic products based on its proprietary polymer based technology in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, France, and Europe. The company develops nanogel Medusa technology, which is intended to provide controlled release following injection of therapeutic proteins, peptides, and other molecules; a microparticle adaptation of the Medusa platform that is intended for use in the delivery of smaller proteins and peptides; and Micropump technology, a microparticle technology for oral administration of small molecule drugs with applications in controlled-release, taste-masking, and bioavailability enhancement; and Trigger-Lock technology, an adaptation based on Micropump technology, which is intended to minimize the misuse and abuse of medications subject to abuse. Its principal product based on Micropump technology is Coreg CR, which is intended for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction following myocardial infarction. The company?s products under development based upon Medusa technology include Interferon-alpha, a naturally occurring protein that the body uses for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus and as a immune response; and FT-105, an injectable insulin formulation for diabetic patients. Its products based on its Micropump technology comprise LiquiTime for the elderly and pediatric patient patients, or others who have difficulty swallowing. The company has strategic alliance with Baxter International, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck Serono; and Pfizer Inc, as well as has a joint development agreement with Digna Biotech, S.L. Flamel Technologies S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Venissieux, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Flamel Technologies SA(FLML) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s new drug application for Vazculep, an alpha-1 adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for the treatment of clinically important hypotension resulting primarily from vasodilation in the setting of anesthesia. American depositary shares rose 5.1% to $14.78 in premarket trading.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Healthcare shares gained 0.81 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG), StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM), and Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML).

Best European Companies To Invest In 2015: British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c.(BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars, cigarettes, smokeless snus, roll-your-own, and pipe tobacco products under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Rothmans, Peter Stuyvesant, Benson & Hedges, and State Express 555 brand names. It has operations in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, eastern and western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. British American Tobacco p.l.c. operates independently of Remgro Ltd. as of November 03, 2008.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Given the size of a potential acquisition of Lorillard would be quite large, we question how a bid from [Reynolds American] would be financed. Therefore, we think a more likely deal could be a merger between [Lorillard] and�[Reynolds American] rather than an acquisition. Also, there has been speculation that British American Tobacco (BTI), which currently owns ~42% of�[Reynolds American's] stock, could take a majority stake in�[Reynolds American] after the standstill ends in July 2014. While we believe the most likely scenario is that [British American Tobacco] and�[Reynolds American] could reach a strategic partnership to market/sell e-cigs globally, we wouldn�� rule out�[British American Tobacco] taking a majority stake in [Reynolds American]. Furthermore, if this occurs,�[British American Tobacco] could help finance a potential acquisition of [Lorillard].

• [By Roland Head]

  LONDON -- Tobacco giants�British American Tobacco� (LSE: BATS  ) (NYSEMKT: BTI  ) and�Imperial Tobacco Group� (LSE: IMT  ) (NASDAQOTH: ITYBY  ) sell more than 1 trillion cigarettes every year.

• [By G. A. Chester]

  British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS  ) (NYSEMKT: BTI  ) , Tesco (LSE: TSCO  ) (NASDAQOTH: TSCDY  ) , and Severn Trent (LSE: SVT  ) fit the bill, and the table below gives the low-down on them.