Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., awoke from a deep sleep to announce that even she had finally had it with the NSA's omniverous appetite for snooping.
Actually, Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been wide awake since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden began disclosing details of the NSA's massive surveillance, including scooping up information about the phone calls and emails of huge numbers of ordinary Americans.
When the story erupted, Feinstein, a staunch ally of the intelligence community, was the poster child for the way the Washington establishment at first treated the Snowden revelations: Ignore what the NSA was doing and beat up the messenger, assailing Snowden as a treasonous slacker.
5 Best Transportation Stocks To Buy For 2015: American Campus Communities Inc (ACC)
American Campus Communities, Inc., incorporated on March 9, 2004, is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company specializes in the acquisition, design, financing, development, construction management, leasing and management of student housing properties. Through the Company�� interest in American Campus Communities Operating Partnership LP (the Operating Partnership), the Company owns, manages and develops student housing properties in the United States. It operates in four segments: Wholly-Owned Properties, On-Campus Participating Properties, Development Services and Property Management Services. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� property portfolio contained 116 properties with approximately 71,800 beds in approximately 22,900 apartment units. Of the 116 properties, 11 were under development as of December 31, 2011. In July 2012, the Company acquired University Commons, a 480-bed off-campus community serving students attending the University of Minnesota. In September 2012, it acquired Campus Acquisitions��15 student housing properties with 6,579 beds. On November 30, 2012, the Company acquired student housing properties with 12,049 beds, including 366 beds at an additional phase from affiliates of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P.
In December 2011, the Company acquired a 79.5% interest in a partnership that owns a 258-unit, 901-bed property (The Varsity) located near the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, and a 367-unit, 1,026-bed wholly owned property (26 West) located near the campus of The University of Texas in Austin. In November 2011, the Company acquired a 370-unit, 684-bed wholly owned property (Studio Green) located near the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. In September 2011, the Company acquired a 216-unit, 792-bed wholly owned property (Eagles Trail) located near the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. In July 2011, the Company acquired a retail shopping! center located near the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. In April and May 2011, the Company sold four owned off-campus properties (Campus Club - Statesboro, River Club Apartments, River Walk Townhomes and Villas on Apache).
Through the Company�� taxable REIT subsidiaries (TRS), it also provides construction management and development services, primarily for student housing properties owned by colleges and universities, charitable foundations, and others. As of December 31, 2011, the Company provided third-party management and leasing services for 31 properties (nine of which the Company served as the third-party developer and construction manager) that represented approximately 24,200 beds in approximately 9,600 units, and one joint venture property in which the Company owns a noncontrolling interest with approximately 600 beds in approximately 200 units. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� total owned, joint venture and third-party managed portfolio included 148 properties with approximately 96,600 beds in approximately 32,700 units.
The Company�� wholly-owned properties segment include American Campus Equity (ACE). Its On-Campus Participating Properties segment includes four on-campus properties owned by one of its TRSs that are operated under long-term ground/facility leases with two university systems. The Company�� third-party services consist of development services and management services and are typically provided to university and college clients. Many of its third-party management services are provided to clients for whom it also provides development services. The Company�� Development Services segment consists of development and construction management services that it provides through one of its TRSs for third-party owners. These services range from short-term consulting projects to long-term development and construction projects.
The Company�� pre-development services typically include feasibility studies for thir! d-party o! wners and design services. Feasibility studies include an initial feasibility analysis, review of conceptual design, and assistance with master planning. Construction management services consist of hiring of project professionals and a general contractor, coordinating and supervising the construction, equipping and furnishing process on behalf of the project owner, including site visits, hiring of a general contractor and project professionals, and coordination and administration of all activities necessary for project completion. The Company�� Property Management Services segment, conducted by its TRSs, includes revenues generated from third-party management contracts in which it is responsible for marketing, leasing administration, facilities maintenance, business administration, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial reporting, capital projects and residence life student development.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
American Campus Communities (ACC) made the grade after three insiders at the student housing REIT bought $186,800. Leading the charge was CFO Jonathan Graf, who bought 3,700 shares for $67,700. InsiderScore categorized this combined purchase as a ��luster Buying Unusual Event��and also notes that the purchases came after ACC released weak earnings and lowered its guidance.
- [By GURUFOCUS]
American Campus Communities, Inc. (ACC), an owner, manager, and developer of student housing, decreased 15.2% in the third quarter as the company's lease rates were weaker than expected. Supply in some of its markets increased, and REITS were hurt in the third quarter from rising yields as the 10-year Treasury yield approached 3% and made dividend yields on many REITs less attractive. However, we continue to believe the company is the best in its industry at developing properties and should improve its yields next year as the market absorbs the excess supply. (David Baron)
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Sony Corp Ord(SNE)
Sony Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for consumer, professional, and industrial markets worldwide. The company offers consumer products and devices, including televisions, video cameras, compact digital cameras and interchangeable single-lens cameras, Blu-ray Disc players/recorders, DVD-video players/recorders, home theaters and audio systems, and portable audio and car audio products. It also provides charged coupled devices, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensors, system LSIs, small- and medium-sized LCD panels, and other semiconductors; and components, such as batteries, optical disk drives, chemical products, audio/video/data recording media, storage media, and optical pickups. In addition, the company develops, produces, markets, and distributes games, such as PlayStation3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 2 hardware and related software; and PCs and flash memory digital audio pl ayers, as well as manufactures broadcast- and professional-use products, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CD discs. Further, it produces and distributes motion pictures and television programs, and home entertainment; creates and distributes digital content; operates television networks and studio facilities; and develops entertainment products, services, and technologies. Additionally, the company engages in the music publishing business, as well as provision of various financial services, including insurance, savings products, loans, and credit financing services; and a network service business and an advertising agency business. It also involves in research, development, design, production, marketing, sales, distribution, and servicing mobile phones, accessories, services, and applications. The company was formerly known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha and changed its name to Sony Corporation in 1958. Sony Corporation was founded in 1946 and is based in Tokyo, Japan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Reuters]
Itsuo Inouye/APA Panasonic 150-inch high-definition plasma TV on display at a 2008 expo in Tokyo. TOKYO -- Panasonic will pull out of the plasma television panel business by the end of the financial year to March 2014, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters, marking a key milestone in the long-term decline of Japan's TV industry. Panasonic had been widely expected to back out of the unprofitable business, but the exit comes sooner than predicted and underlines President Kazuhiro Tsuga's determination to weed out weak operations as he focuses on higher-margin products to end years of losses at the consumer electronics conglomerate. Panasonic's TV division has been a major contributor to the electronics company's combined $15 billion (9 billion pounds) net loss in its two latest financial years. Its TV business posted an operating loss of 88.5 billion yen ($913 million) in the last financial year. With the closure of its sole plasma panel factory in western Japan, Panasonic will book an impairment loss of more than 40 billion yen on the last remaining factory building in operation, the sources added. The company set aside 120 billion yen to cover restructuring costs at the start of the current financial year. The move also signals the demise in Japan of a technology in which TV makers once invested heavily but has now been overtaken by advances in the liquid crystal display business. Plasma display TVs accounted for less than 6 percent of global shipments in 2012, compared with 87 percent for LCD TVs, according to research firm DisplaySearch. Squeezed by the strong yen in recent years, Japan's TV makers have also lost their innovative edge against nimbler rivals such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics, with deep resources to spend on research and development. Sony (SNE), Panasonic and Sharp combined had a less than 20 percent share of the worldwide flat panel TV market by revenue. Samsung had a 27.7 percent share, and LG Electronics had 15 pe
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Echo Therapeutics Inc (ECTE)
Echo Therapeutics, Inc. (Echo), incorporated on September 10, 2007, is a transdermal medical device company. The Company is developing Prelude SkinPrep System (Prelude) as a technology to allow for painless and skin permeation that enable both analyte extraction and needle-free drug delivery. The Company is developing its Symphony CGM System (Symphony) as a non-invasive, wireless continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for use in hospital critical care units and for people with diabetes. The Prelude SkinPrep System (Prelude), a component of its Symphony CGM System, allows for skin permeation that enables extraction of analytes such as glucose. Prelude�� platform skin preparation technology also allows for needle-free, transdermal drug delivery.
Symphony CGM System
The Symphony CGM System incorporates a Prelude skin preparation device, transdermal sensor, wireless transmitter and data display monitor. When the electro-chemical glucose sensor is placed on the prepared site, it uses glucose oxidase to generate a continuous current that is proportional to the concentration of blood glucose in the vessels beneath the epidermis. The signals are then wirelessly transmitted to a remote monitor. The monitor, calibrated periodically with a reference blood glucose measurement, converts the data to a glucose measurement based on the reference value. The monitor displays glucose readings and also contains customizable early-warning alarms for hypo- or hyperglycemia.
Prelude SkinPrep System
The Company is developing Prelude as a transdermal skin preparation device for Symphony to improve the access to the interstitial fluids and the flow of molecules across the protective membrane of the stratum corneum, the outmost protective layer of the skin. Prelude incorporates the Company's skin abrasion control technology into a hand-held device used to prepare a small area of the skin. The non-invasive sensor is applied to this prepared area in order to measure the in! terstitial glucose levels.
Specialty Pharmaceuticals
The Company�� specialty pharmaceuticals pipeline is based on itsAzone transdermal drug reformulation technology. AzoneTS is a nontoxic, nonirritating skin penetration that is intended to enable topical application of food and drug administration (FDA) -approved drugs, including pharmaceutical products that previously could only be administered systemically. Its advanced drug candidate is Durhalieve, an AzoneTS formulation of triamcinolone acetonide, medium potency corticosteroid approved by the FDA for treatment of corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses. AzoneTS increases lipid membrane fluidity in the stratum corneum layer of the skin, thereby decreasing resistance to topically applied therapeutics.
The Company competes with Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Abbott Laboratories , DexCom, Inc., Medtronic, Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Optiscan Biomedical Corp., Medtronic, Glysure, Glumetrics Inc., Maquet and A. Menarini Diagnostics S.r.l.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
Truth be told, Echo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTE) doesn't look like a particularly impressive stock right now. At $2.92 per share, ECTE is just trading right around where it was a few days ago, not to mention a few weeks ago. And, without any real "news" from the company in months, it's tough to think the market's going to be getting excited about the stock anytime soon. When you take a closer look at Echo Therapeutics though, a few subtle-but-compelling clues start to appear.
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Ascent Solar Technologies Inc.(ASTI)
Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., a development stage company, focuses on commercializing flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules using its proprietary technology. The company intends to manufacture roll-format PV modules that use copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) on a plastic substrate. Its proprietary manufacturing process deposits multiple layers of materials, including a thin-film of CIGS semiconductor material on a plastic substrate and laser patterns the layers to create interconnected PV cells or PV modules through monolithic integration process. The company would serve the building applied photovoltaic (BAPV) and building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market, as well as specialty markets, such as defense, portable power, transportation, electronic integrated photovoltaic, and space and near-space. It has a strategic relationship with Norsk Hydro Produksjon AS to access customers in the BIPV/BAPV markets worldwide. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. was founded in 200 5 and is based in Thornton, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Solar stocks have not exactly given buy and hold investors a smooth ride, but small cap�GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: GTAT) could be an interesting materials play on the solar sector���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with potential peers like Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTI) and STR Holdings, Inc (NYSE: STRI) plus solar ETF Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEARCA: TAN). I should mention that just last week, we added GT Advanced Technologies to our�SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio for both�fundamentals and technical reasons and we are already up almost 9%.
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Qiwi PLC (QIWI)
QIWI plc., incorporated on February 26, 2007, is a provider of payment services in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Company has an integrated network that enables payment services across physical, online and mobile channels. In December 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Blestgroup Enterprises Limited.
The Company has deployed over 11 million virtual wallets, over 169,000 kiosks and terminals, and enabled over 40,000 merchants to accept cash and electronic payments monthly from over 65 million consumers using the Company 's network at least once a month. The Company�� consumers can use cash, stored value and other electronic payment methods to order and pay for goods and services across physical or online environments interchangeably.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Steve Symington]
What:�Shares of QIWI PLC (NASDAQ: QIWI ) fell more than 16% Monday amid broader market unrest as Russia invaded Ukraine.�
So what:�The Moscow Exchange's Micex index fell nearly 11% on the day, so its unsurprising U.S.-listed Russian stocks like QIWI suffered the fallout. Shares of the Russia-based payment services provider are also still up more than 12% after a rapid rise over the past month, which at least partially explains the severity of today's drop.
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: PGT Inc.(PGTI)
PGT, Inc. engages in the manufacture and supply of residential impact-resistant windows and doors. The company offers impact-resistant products, including heavy-duty aluminum or vinyl frames with laminated glass to provide protection from hurricane-force winds and wind-borne debris. It also provides a range of non-impact-resistant aluminum and vinyl frame windows and doors; Architectural Systems line of products, which offer protection from hurricane-force winds and wind-borne debris for mid-and high-rise buildings; and non-glass vertical and horizontal sliding panels for porch enclosures, such as vinyl-glazed and aluminum-framed products used for enclosing screened-in porches that provide protection from inclement weather. The company markets its products under the WinGuard, PremierVue, PGT Architectural Systems, Eze-Breeze, and SpectraGuard brand names. PGT, Inc. offers its products to residential new construction, and home repair and remodeling end markets through windo w distributors, building supply distributors, window replacement dealers, and enclosure contractors. It operates in the southeastern United States, the Gulf Coast, Coastal mid-Atlantic, the Caribbean, Central America, and Canada. The company was formerly known as JLL Window Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to PGT, Inc. in January 2004. PGT, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is based in North Venice, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for PGT (Nasdaq: PGTI ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.
- [By Eric Volkman]
A larger-than-previously announced block of PGT's (NASDAQ: PGTI ) shares is up for grabs. Major stockholder JLL Partners Fund has increased the size of its sale; it is now offering an even 10 million shares in an underwritten secondary public offering priced at $7.75 per share. Also, the issue's underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.65 million shares from the seller.
Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Saia Inc.(SAIA)
Saia, Inc., an asset-based trucking company, provides transportation and supply chain solutions primarily to the retail, chemical, and manufacturing industries in the United States. The company, through it subsidiary, Saia Motor Freight Line, LLC, offers regional and interregional less than truckload (LTL) services, selected national LTL, and time-definite services. It was formerly known as SCS Transportation, Inc. Saia, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Johns Creek, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Despite what can best be described as a�soft economy, small cap trucking stocks YRC Worldwide, Inc (NASDAQ: YRCW), Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ: ABFS), Frozen Food Express Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: FFEX), Saia Inc (NASDAQ: SAIA) and USA Truck, Inc (NASDAQ: USAK) have been trucking some pretty impressive returns since the start of the year. In fact, these small cap trucking stocks are up anywhere from 72% to 150% or so since the start of the year despite the slow economy. Certainly trucking stocks provide a good indicator of how the economy is doing, but might investors be�jumping the gun by pushing up these trucking stocks?
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Wunderlich’s Nicholas Bender thinks FedEx’s results bode well for Old Dominion (ODFL), Con-way (CNW) and Saia (SAIA):
We expect all less-than-truckload carriers to benefit in 2Q14 from the same trends that carried FedEx Freight to a banner 4Q14. This includes Hold-rated Old Dominion, which will continue to grow at well above market rates, and Buy-rated Con-way, which we believe can leverage a strong 2Q14 to prime the pump on margin enhancement efforts. Our favorite name in the space remains Saia (SAIA-$42.92, Buy), which will once again see accelerating tonnage growth in 2Q14. Though tonnage growth will moderate in� 2H14 due to steeper comps, there remains considerable potential for the company to boost yield and continue winning incremental business with new accounts.
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