Josh Brown: The US has never imported a recession and the consumer is 'on fire'

Recession fears have been reignited amid weakening global conditions, but recessions have never been contagious and the U.S. is doing just fine, according to Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management.

"The consumer is on fire. The small business owner is on fire. Financial conditions have not been easier in 13 years. Money is flowing and businesses are growing," Brown, also a CNBC contributor, told CNBC's "Halftime Report."

"Can you think of a recession from anywhere international that we've imported over here? It's never happened. Even in 1998 when every country in Asia melted down, devaluation of the Ruble, complete banking fiasco all over the place in Latin America, we didn't have a recession as a result to that," he added.

The economic stresses that have been manifesting in Europe, China, and Japan are worrying many of a global slowdown. Adding to the fears is the deteriorating U.S. data including durable goods, Markit PMI and manufacturing survey, but Brown said the data is skewed by the government shutdown and will soon recover.

"The first quarter is always disappointment," Brown said, referring to a phenomenon called residual seasonality. "In some years, we had that because of major northeastern snowstorms. In other years, we had that because of the falling price of the oil. It happens every single year."

"You will see a bounce back in the data when we get deeper into Q2 right on schedule," he said.

The bond market is also flashing a big recession signal as part of the yield curve has stayed inverted since Friday. The yield curve has been a reliable recession indicator in the past. However, Brown called it a technical issue and doesn't expect it to indicate a recession.

"You will also see a growing recognition that a lot of what's going on with the yield curve, specifically at the very front end is a technical issue. It has to do with excess savings in German banks. It's not a U.S. economic issue," Brown said.

Trump's sanctions and OPEC supply cuts are about to push oil prices higher: Morgan Stanley

OPEC's supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela will push the oil market into undersupply and boost the cost of crude in coming months, Morgan Stanley forecasts.

The investment bank previously said oil prices were more likely to fall after Brent crude topped $65 a barrel last month. But Morgan Stanley now sees the international benchmark for oil prices rising to $75 by the third quarter.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley say they changed their minds after last week's CERAWeek by IHS Markit energy conference in Houston. They are now more convinced that OPEC has the determination and capability to drain oversupply from the oil market.

"Conversations with several OPEC officials left us with the impression that Brent in the mid-$60s is not where the cartel would like to see it," Morgan Stanley global oil strategists Martijn Rats and Amy Sergeant said in a research note Tuesday.

"We assume that OPEC will extend – or even deepen – production cuts to support the oil market at the next meeting in June."

OPEC and its partners aim to keep 1.2 million barrels per day off the market. On Monday, the alliance canceled an April meeting intended to review the supply deal, leaving the output cuts in place until the June gathering. Members of the pact believe the market will remain oversupplied through the first half of the year, making the April meeting unnecessary.

show chapters Helima Croft on the oil rally    6:50 AM ET Mon, 18 March 2019 | 03:58

Morgan Stanley also believes output disruptions from Venezuela will accelerate following this month's power outages there and U.S. sanctions on state oil giant PDVSA. The bank cited estimates from oilfield services firm Schlumberger at CERAWeek that Venezuela's production might have plunged to roughly 600,000-700,000 barrels per day this month.

Comments at CERAWeek from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, also indicate that the U.S. will allow fewer Iranian barrels to hit the market, Morgan Stanley says. The Trump administration allowed eight countries to continue importing some Iranian oil when the U.S. restored sanctions on the Islamic Republic in November.

Morgan Stanley expects the administration to roll over waivers for China, India and Turkey in May and tighten exemptions for Japan and South Korea. It forecasts the U.S. will allow 900,000 to 1 million barrels per day of Iranian exports under the waivers, compared with about 1.2 million bpd in November.

On the demand side, Morgan Stanley says fears that oil consumption would slow sharply this year now appear to be overblown. That view also underpins Goldman Sachs' view that Brent will top $70 a barrel.

Those dynamics will soon push the oil market into deficit, Morgan Stanley projects. The bank sees the market undersupplied by 500,000 bpd in the second quarter, with the deficit expanding to 800,000 bpd in the third quarter. That will support Brent crude at $75 a barrel in the third quarter.

Watch: CNBC's exclusive CERAWeek interview with Mike Pompeo and Rick Perry

show chapters Watch CNBC's exclusive interview with Mike Pompeo and Rick Perry    8:40 PM ET Tue, 12 March 2019 | 09:23

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (CYCC) Shares Up 7.5%

Shares of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CYCC) shot up 7.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $0.90 and last traded at $0.86. 1,753,743 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 258% from the average session volume of 489,758 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.80.

Several brokerages recently commented on CYCC. Zacks Investment Research cut Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 7th. ValuEngine cut Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.63.

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Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile (NASDAQ:CYCC)

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines for the treatment of cancer and other proliferative diseases. The company's oncology development programs include sapacitabine, a novel orally-available nucleoside analog that is in Phase III clinical trial for the front-line treatment of acute myeloid leukemia; and Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes.

Featured Story: How a Strangle Strategy is different from a Straddle Strategy

Triangles (TRI) Reaches 24 Hour Volume of $0.00

Triangles (CURRENCY:TRI) traded flat against the US dollar during the 1-day period ending at 20:00 PM Eastern on March 14th. Triangles has a market cap of $68,409.00 and $0.00 worth of Triangles was traded on exchanges in the last day. In the last week, Triangles has traded flat against the US dollar. One Triangles coin can currently be purchased for about $0.53 or 0.00014299 BTC on exchanges.

Here is how other cryptocurrencies have performed in the last day:

Get Triangles alerts: Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) traded 13.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.86 or 0.00021946 BTC. Stratis (STRAT) traded 2.8% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.94 or 0.00023965 BTC. Elite (1337) traded 2,406.8% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0007 or 0.00000017 BTC. NavCoin (NAV) traded 2.8% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.18 or 0.00004703 BTC. DeepOnion (ONION) traded 0.3% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.20 or 0.00005130 BTC. CloakCoin (CLOAK) traded 4.4% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.60 or 0.00015397 BTC. Stealth (XST) traded 0.9% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0995 or 0.00002541 BTC. Kore (KORE) traded up 4.6% against the dollar and now trades at $0.54 or 0.00013866 BTC. Bitcoin Plus (XBC) traded 8.3% higher against the dollar and now trades at $5.04 or 0.00128624 BTC. BlitzPredict (XBP) traded 5.1% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0006 or 0.00000015 BTC.

About Triangles

Triangles is a PoW/PoS coin that uses the X13 hashing algorithm. It was first traded on October 11th, 2014. Triangles’ total supply is 129,579 coins. The official website for Triangles is info.triangles.technology. Triangles’ official Twitter account is @trianglestri.

Buying and Selling Triangles

Triangles can be purchased on these cryptocurrency exchanges: Cryptopia. It is usually not currently possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as Triangles directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to trade Triangles should first buy Ethereum or Bitcoin using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Changelly, Gemini or GDAX. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Ethereum or Bitcoin to buy Triangles using one of the aforementioned exchanges.

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Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now

tags:APA,COP,MMP,ECA,WLL,WPZ,RRC,HAL,RIG,MRO, 1. Jobs report: The first jobs report for 2018 showed the U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in January.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, the lowest in 17 years, following a long string of monthly job gains.

Wages grew 2.9% compared with a year earlier, which was better than expected.

Consumer confidence has been high and, in general, Americans aren't worried about losing their jobs.

"Life is generally good for the U.S. consumer," said Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management.

2. Unending earnings: Oil giants Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are reporting results ahead of the open, along with Clorox (CLX), Estee Lauder (EL), Merck (MRK) and Sprint (S).

Deutsche Bank (DB) shares tumbled 6% after the company reported a third consecutive annual loss.

The €500 million ($625 million) loss for 2017 was fueled by a €1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) hit from tax changes in the United States. Germany's largest bank also reported falling revenues.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Apache Corporation(APA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) stunned the oil and gas world in late 2016 by announcing the discovery of the Alpine High play in a long-overlooked spot of the Permian Basin. The company believed that it had uncovered more than 3 billion barrels of oil and even more natural gas, which would drive growth for years to come. However, that growth wouldn't materialize overnight because Apache first had to build out the infrastructure needed to develop the field from scratch. 

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Apache (NYSE:APA) was upgraded by analysts at ValuEngine from a sell rating to a hold rating.

  Get Apache Co alerts:

  Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) was upgraded by analysts at ValuEngine from a sell rating to a hold rating.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apache Co. (NYSE:APA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,704 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Kinder Morgan announced that it signed a letter of intent with private equity-backed EagleClaw Midstream Ventures and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) to develop the Permian Highway Pipeline Project. The proposed $2 billion, 430-mile pipeline would move 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Permian to the Gulf Coast. However, the partners are evaluating the feasibility of building a larger pipeline that could move even more gas. Kinder Morgan and EagleClaw would each initially own a 50% stake in the project, though Apache has the option to acquire a 33% interest from those partners. Apache has committed to supply the pipeline with about a quarter of its initial capacity, while EagleClaw has also agreed to be a significant shipper on the proposed line, which could enter service by the end of 2020.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  According to a recent report by Reuters, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has held talks with investment banks about helping the company unload its stake in Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE). That sale could net the oil giant more than $2 billion in cash, which would bolster its already sizable cash war chest and give it more money to allocate in creating value for investors.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  10 15 Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 207,906 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,741 shares during the period. ConocoPhillips makes up 2.9% of 10 15 Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. 10 15 Associates Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $12,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Oscar Wilde famously quipped that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." That sums up what we've witnessed in the oil patch over the past year as a growing number of exploration and production companies (E&Ps) have copied the playbook developed by leading U.S. E&P ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fall of 2016. That strategy, which included increasing its dividend and buying back stock, has been instrumental in creating value for its shareholders, evidenced by the fact its stock is up nearly 70% since that time.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Arrow Financial Corp grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,894 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the quarter. Arrow Financial Corp’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

• [By Alexander Bird]

  From 2016 to 2017, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) saw a 16% boost in profits, while Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw a 30% boost. Texas-based ConocoPhillips Corp. (NYSE: COP) saw a strong 37.5% boost.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Magellan Midstream Partners L.P.(MMP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Oil and gas investors have been through the wringer over the past few years. Even the most stable investments in this industry -- pipelines, processing, and logistics -- haven't been spared. Case in point: Shares of Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) have declined 18% over the past three years despite the company posting consistent revenue and cash flow growth. To top it off, there has been a slew of regulatory and tax changes in recent months that will have a significant impact on this particular industry.

• [By John Bromels]

  While 6,000 miles sounds like alot, it's not that much in the grand scheme of things. Fellow MLP Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP), for example, operates 10,800 miles of pipelines and 80 terminals. Buckeye's pipelines are exclusively located in the Northeast and upper Midwest, primarily between St. Louis and New York City, with a large footprint around Chicago. Its terminals and storage facilities, though, sprawl across the country and the globe, with marine terminals on the Gulf Coast and in Western Europe, the Caribbean, and even Singapore.

• [By ]

  Cramer and the AAP team are looking for opportunities to trim stocks into strength based out of discipline. That means trimming Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) . Find out what they're telling their investment club members and get in on the conversation with a free trial subscription to Action Alerts PLUS.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Meanwhile, Valero Energy is investing in new midstream infrastructure that it could eventually drop down to its MLP, including those under construction in two joint ventures it formed with Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) last year. The first one will invest $380 million in building new refined products pipelines and storage assets in central Texas, which should start service by the middle of next year. Meanwhile, Valero and Magellan Midstream are also building a new marine terminal near Houston. Valero will pour $410 million into the terminal, which should start up in early 2020. Magellan sees the potential to invest another $700 million to double the terminal's size in the future, which is a project that it could partner with Valero.

• [By ]

  That means pipelines are equally busy carrying all that raw crude into these refineries and then carrying out gasoline, diesel and other finished products. So you'd think these would be boon times for Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE: MMP), which owns 10,000 miles of pipeline that connect with 50% of the nation's refinery capacity.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  The company is also looking at a variety of oil pipeline expansion projects in the Permian Basin, including building the Permian Express-4 pipeline, which could move about 100,000 BPD. On top of that, it's working on a potentially larger project with its joint venture partner Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP). Long noted that the company had made "significant progress with our new 30-inch crude oil pipeline joint-venture project with Magellan and other strategic partners" that would "provide unprecedented flexibility from the Permian Basin."

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Encana Corporation(ECA)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Canada's Montney Shale doesn't currently capture investors' attention like the Permian Basin. However, that doesn't mean it's a second-tier play. Quite the contrary since, like the Permian, it's a resource-rich region with as many as six drillable formations that produce highly economic liquids-rich natural gas. Because of those features, it has become an important growth driver for companies like Encana (NYSE:ECA).

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Electra (CURRENCY:ECA) traded down 5.1% against the U.S. dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 15:00 PM E.T. on June 12th. Over the last seven days, Electra has traded down 25.7% against the U.S. dollar. Electra has a market cap of $34.53 million and approximately $134,011.00 worth of Electra was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Electra coin can currently be bought for $0.0013 or 0.00000020 BTC on exchanges including CryptoBridge, Fatbtc, CoinFalcon and Coinhouse.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Shares of Encana Corp (NYSE:ECA) (TSE:ECA) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.95, but opened at $6.10. Encana shares last traded at $6.11, with a volume of 65113676 shares changing hands.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Electra (CURRENCY:ECA) traded 8% higher against the U.S. dollar during the 1-day period ending at 22:00 PM ET on June 20th. In the last week, Electra has traded 12.6% higher against the U.S. dollar. Electra has a market capitalization of $34.87 million and $128,874.00 worth of Electra was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Electra coin can now be purchased for $0.0014 or 0.00000020 BTC on exchanges including Fatbtc, Novaexchange, CoinFalcon and CryptoBridge.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Morgan Stanley set a $19.00 price objective on Encana (NYSE:ECA) (TSE:ECA) in a report published on Friday morning. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Electra (CURRENCY:ECA) traded 3.4% lower against the dollar during the 24-hour period ending at 18:00 PM Eastern on June 4th. Electra has a total market capitalization of $45.83 million and approximately $326,372.00 worth of Electra was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Electra coin can currently be bought for $0.0018 or 0.00000024 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges including Novaexchange, Octaex, Fatbtc and Cryptopia. In the last seven days, Electra has traded 12.8% higher against the dollar.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Whiting Petroleum Corporation(WLL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Here are some of the media stories that may have impacted Accern Sentiment Analysis’s rankings:

  Get Whiting Petroleum alerts: Whiting Petroleum Corp (WLL) Expected to Post Earnings of $0.62 Per Share (americanbankingnews.com) Oil Edges Higher On Iran Fears – OIR 220818 (proshareng.com) Whiting Petroleum (WLL) Presents At EnerCom’s 23rd Annual Oil & Gas Conference – Slideshow (seekingalpha.com) Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL) – Day One Breakout Notes (oilandgas360.com)

  Several analysts have issued reports on WLL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Whiting Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Whiting Petroleum from $50.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 29th. Imperial Capital increased their price objective on shares of Whiting Petroleum from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Whiting Petroleum in a research report on Friday, July 20th. Finally, SunTrust Banks increased their price objective on shares of Whiting Petroleum to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 5th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Whiting Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.54.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Whiting Petroleum (NYSE: WLL):

  2/15/2019 – Whiting Petroleum was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Whiting Petroleum's core operations are focused in North Dakota's Williston Basin, providing this E&P with an enviable acreage of top-tier assets and a multi-year drilling inventory. The company’s continually improving drilling efficiency has driven down cash costs while leading to attractive cash flow generation. However, as a counter to these strengths, Whiting Petroleum still carries considerable debt load, which may spell trouble. Moreover, the company’s price hedges have exposed it to significant risks amid the high volatility in crude prices. As such, the stock is expected to perform in line with the broader market.” 2/12/2019 – Whiting Petroleum is now covered by analysts at KeyCorp. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. 2/9/2019 – Whiting Petroleum was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating. According to Zacks, “Whiting Petroleum's core operations are focused in North Dakota's Williston Basin, providing this E&P with an enviable acreage of top-tier assets and a multi-year drilling inventory. The company’s continually improving drilling efficiency has driven down cash costs while leading to attractive cash flow generation. However, as a counter to these strengths, Whiting Petroleum still carries considerable debt load, which may spell trouble. Moreover, the company’s price hedges have exposed it to significant risks amid the high volatility in crude prices. As such, the stock is expected to perform in line with the broader market.” 2/8/2019 – Whiting Petroleum
• [By Stephan Byrd]

  ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 53,424 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,000.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) from Buy to Hold..

  Williams Partners shares fell 0.63 percent to close at $41.23 on Friday.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Overall, earnings at both Williams and its MLP Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) were down slightly versus the year-ago period due to asset sales, while cash flow modestly increased thanks to lower interest expenses.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Williams Partners (WPZ)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ) and Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe, Jason Hall, and Matthew DiLallo]

  So we asked three of our energy contributors to each highlight a stock they see in the oil and gas industry that would make a great buy today. Here's why they picked Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE:DO), Range Resources (NYSE:RRC), and Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN). 

• [By Shane Hupp]

  RRCoin (CURRENCY:RRC) traded down 5% against the dollar during the twenty-four hour period ending at 14:00 PM ET on September 22nd. One RRCoin token can now be purchased for approximately $0.0093 or 0.00000139 BTC on cryptocurrency exchanges. RRCoin has a total market cap of $0.00 and approximately $463,836.00 worth of RRCoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. In the last seven days, RRCoin has traded 1.4% higher against the dollar.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Shares of Range Resources (NYSE:RRC) rose more than 10% by 2:30 p.m. EST on Monday after the top-10 natural gas producer reported strong reserve numbers for 2018.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) by 25.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,421 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,839 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Range Resources were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Range Resources (RRC)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Halliburton Company(HAL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  IEZ is also a top-heavy fund. Just two stocks — Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB) and Halliburton Inc. (NYSE: HAL) — combine for almost 26 percent of the fund's weight. Underscoring the correlation to oil prices, IEZ has a three-year standard deviation of 30 percent, indicating this ETF is far more volatile than standard diversified energy funds.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  SemGroup (NYSE: SEMG) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Halliburton (NYSE:HAL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $42.90, but opened at $44.92. Halliburton shares last traded at $46.22, with a volume of 15095300 shares traded.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Transocean Inc.(RIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe, Matthew DiLallo, and Reuben Gregg Brewer]

  We asked three Motley Fool contributors to discuss one stock in the oil and gas space they think is a great buy right now. Here's a rundown on their three picks: Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG), ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), and Transocean (NYSE:RIG).

• [By Jason Hall, Tyler Crowe, and Matthew DiLallo]

  At the same time, there has been a tremendous amount of consolidation (like this and this and this), leaving fewer -- stronger -- companies operating just when work is starting to pick up. Here's a look at quarterly revenue for Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Ensco PLC (ADR) (NYSE:ESV), Noble Corp. (NYSE:NE), and Rowan (NYSE:RDC) so far this year. 

• [By Jason Hall]

  So what's an investor to do? Owning the companies best-positioned to profit is a great place to start. Consider two of Big Oil's finest in Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B) and Total SA (ADR) (NYSE:TOT), offshore driller Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG) and natural gas for transportation specialist Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE).

• [By Neha Chamaria, Jason Hall, and Ashraf Eassa]

  When we asked three Motley Fool contributors to identify a stock they believe is absurdly cheap right now given its prospects, they picked Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC). Here's why.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in shares of Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,527,006 shares of the offshore drilling services provider’s stock after selling 44,063 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.76% of Transocean worth $47,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Top 10 Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Back in 2011, Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) elected to spin off Marathon Petroleum. At the time, much of the reasoning for the split was that both entities would garner higher valuations than as an integrated company. Also, by separating them, both could best allocate capital to grow shareholder value. 

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Marathon Oil (MRO)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Marathon Oil Corporation's (NYSE:MRO) transformation into a shale-focused oil growth company is starting to pay dividends. That was evident in the second quarter as the company reported strong production results across all four of its U.S. resource plays. Because of that, the oil producer was able to boost its full-year growth forecast for the second time this year without increasing its capital budget.

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) CEO Lee Tillman feels the same way. He stated on the company's first-quarter call that: "Our financial flexibility is at the top of our peer group and was further strengthened by receipt of proceeds from Libya and our final Canadian oil sands payment. This flexibility allows us to pursue multiple high-return uses of free cash, but we are taking a disciplined approach and we are not considering large-scale M&A."

• [By Matthew DiLallo]

  Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) delivered strong operational and financial results through the third quarter of last year, which had the company on track to end 2018 on a high note. Investors will find out whether that's the case when the company reports its fourth-quarter results. That's one of several things they should keep their eye on when reviewing that report.

Glenmark Pharma rises nearly 2% on USFDA approval

Shares of Glenmark Pharma rose nearly 2 percent intraday Friday after it received final approval from USFDA for Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide Gel.

According to company release on BSE, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA has been granted final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for Clindamycin and Benzoyl Peroxide Gel, 1%|5%, a generic version of BenzaClin Gel, 1%|5%, of Valeant Bermuda.

The BenzaClin Gel, 1% | 5% market achieved annual sales of approximately USD 99.4 million, as per IQVIATM sales data for the 12 month period ending January 2019.

Company's current portfolio consists of 151 products authorized for distribution in the US marketplace and 53 ANDA's pending approval with the USFDA.

In addition to these internal filings, Glenmark continues to identify and explore external development partnerships to supplement and accelerate the growth of its existing pipeline and portfolio, it added.

At 09:40 hrs Glenmark Pharma was quoting at Rs 641.10, up Rs 10.70, or 1.70 percent on the BSE.

For more market news, click here First Published on Mar 15, 2019 09:50 am

BioSig Technologies Inc (BSGM) Given Average Recommendation of “Strong Buy” by Analysts

Shares of BioSig Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BSGM) have earned an average broker rating score of 1.00 (Strong Buy) from the one brokers that provide coverage for the stock, Zacks Investment Research reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a strong buy rating.

Analysts have set a 12 month consensus target price of $11.88 for the company, according to Zacks. Zacks has also assigned BioSig Technologies an industry rank of 70 out of 255 based on the ratings given to its competitors.

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Several analysts have issued reports on BSGM shares. Laidlaw set a $11.00 price objective on shares of BioSig Technologies and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 20th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of BioSig Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of BioSig Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 19th.

NASDAQ:BSGM traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $5.55. The stock had a trading volume of 15,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,062. BioSig Technologies has a 1-year low of $3.38 and a 1-year high of $7.88.

In related news, CEO Kenneth L. Londoner bought 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.38 per share, for a total transaction of $37,230.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth L. Londoner bought 18,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.35 per share, for a total transaction of $81,345.00. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 26.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in BioSig Technologies stock. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BioSig Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BSGM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 156,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.94% of BioSig Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About BioSig Technologies

BioSig Technologies, Inc, a development stage medical device company, engages in developing a proprietary biomedical signal processing technology platform to extract information from physiologic signals. Its product is PURE (Precise Uninterrupted Real-time evaluation of Electrograms) EP System, a surface electrocardiogram and intracardiac multichannel recording and analysis system that acquires, processes, and displays electrocardiogram and electrograms required during electrophysiology studies and catheter ablation procedures.

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Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc (MAA) EVP Sells $23,013.60 in Stock

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc (NYSE:MAA) EVP Robert J. Delpriore sold 215 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.04, for a total transaction of $23,013.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,307,857.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MAA traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.39. 546,626 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,596. Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $107.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.50.

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Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55. Mid-America Apartment Communities had a net margin of 14.01% and a return on equity of 3.41%. The company had revenue of $398.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $399.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Mid-America Apartment Communities’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A number of research firms recently commented on MAA. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 21st. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Wednesday, November 28th. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 29th. KeyCorp set a $108.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Wednesday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.56.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,359,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,087,130,000 after purchasing an additional 238,613 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,376,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $238,097,000 after purchasing an additional 358,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,833,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,217,000 after purchasing an additional 142,096 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,644,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $157,411,000 after purchasing an additional 31,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,591,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,452,000 after purchasing an additional 129,006 shares in the last quarter. 92.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on delivering full-cycle and superior investment performance for shareholders through the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of quality apartment communities in the Southeast, Southwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

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Better Buy: Home Depot vs. Target

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Target (NYSE:TGT) are two of the most prominent retail chains across the American landscape. Both companies have defined the "big-box" category of stores that have popped up in strip malls across the country over the last generation, changing the way Americans shop.

The similarities don't end there. Both companies have approximately 2,000 stores in the U.S. and have been more successful than many of their retail rivals in fending off the threat of e-commerce as each company has delivered strong growth in recent quarters. However, the performances of each stock has diverged over the last five years, as the chart below shows.

HD data by YCharts

Though both stocks have essentially traded flat over the last year, Home Depot is the winner over the longer term, as it's benefited from an expanding housing market as well as its standing in a home-improvement retail duopoly that's been well protected from the threat of e-commerce. However, Target has been making a number of smart moves lately and his fresh off a strong holiday quarter. 

Which is the better buy today? Let's take a closer look at what each stock has to offer before we render a verdict.

Image source: Home Depot.

That orange glow

Home Depot has been one of the best-performing retail stocks over the last decade, jumping 900% as it has capitalized on a strong housing recovery. More recently, however, skepticism seems to be building for the company's future growth as the housing market is cooling off.

Nonetheless, the company delivered comparable sales growth of 3.2% in the fourth quarter, and 3.7% in the U.S., which may be slower than investors may be used to but is still a respectable clip for a retailer in today's environment. Unlike other retailers, including rival Lowe's, Home Depot has largely refrained from opening stores over the last decade, instead investing in store improvements, e-commerce, and share buybacks.

As a result, profits have generally grown faster than sales, and earnings-per-share growth was particularly helped by the tax cut this year as EPS jumped 33.5% to $9.73. Shares outstanding also fell 3.5% in the period from a year ago. 

For the year ahead, the company sees comparable sales growth of 5%, but EPS growth of just 3.1% to $10.03, getting a slight headwind from losing a week in the fiscal year. That EPS guidance includes an estimated $5 billion share buybacks. Management also said it expects a flat operating margin for the year and a slightly higher tax rate. 

Though that EPS guidance could be overly conservative, for investors it means that without beating its guidance significantly, the stock is likely to trade flat this year.

Image source: Target.

A resurgent retailer

Target, meanwhile, is coming off its best holiday quarter in years with comparable sales up 5.3% on traffic growth of 4.5%. The company made a number of efforts to improve performance over the holiday season, including providing free two-day shipping with the help of Shipt and remodeling its toy department in hundreds of stores, and those efforts appear to be paying off. Target said online sales rose 31%, comparable store sales increased 2.9%, and the company gained market share in all five of its core merchandise categories. 

The big-box chain has a unique profile in the retail world with its "cheap chic" image and wide range of merchandise, including food and beverage, home and apparel, and the company is leveraging that to its advantage as it invests in e-commerce services by using its store base to support quick delivery and in-store pickup. Management said stores fulfilled nearly 75% of online sales in the fourth quarter. 

Regarding the company's real estate strategy, Target has essentially stopped opening large-format stores and is instead focusing on small-footprint locations, under 50,000 square feet, in places like college towns and underserved neighborhoods in cities. The number of those stores increased from 48 to 71 in the past year, and they should attract customers looking for convenience and impulse buys, as well as support the e-commerce business by providing points for convenient pickup and fast delivery.

Finally, Target signaled that momentum from 2018 would continue into this year, forecasting comparable sales growth in the low-to-mid single digits and adjusted earnings per share of $5.75-$6.05, up from $5.39 last year, representing about 10% growth.

And the winner is...

With both companies coming off solid holiday quarters, Target seems to have the edge in earnings growth for the coming year, while Home Depot projects slightly better comparable sales growth. On dividend yields, it's close to a wash, too, as Home Depot offers investors a 3% yield, fresh off a 32% hike in its dividend payout, while Target pays a 3.3% yield.

However, Target seems to be the clear winner on valuation as the stock trades at a P/E of 14.1, compared to Home Depot's at 18.6. Target is even cheaper on a forward basis given its faster projected earnings growth this year.

In addition, Target doesn't face the risk of a housing slowdown as Home Depot does, which means Target would probably fare better in a recession should one hit as some investors fear. Both stocks are strong enough that they should outperform the broader retail sector, but given its price, faster earnings growth, and better defensive position, Target looks like the better buy today.

SVMK (SVMK) Cut to Sell at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research cut shares of SVMK (NASDAQ:SVMK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

According to Zacks, “SVMK Inc. develops survey software. The Company offers a platform which enables organizations to collect and analyze feedback and insights which solves business problems, enhances customer experience and loyalty, improves employee productivity, retention, optimization and marketing investments. SVMK Inc. is based in San Mateo, United States. “

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Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. ValuEngine cut shares of SVMK from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Co initiated coverage on shares of SVMK in a report on Tuesday, November 13th. They set a market perform rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.86.

NASDAQ SVMK opened at $15.45 on Friday. SVMK has a twelve month low of $10.05 and a twelve month high of $20.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.80.

SVMK (NASDAQ:SVMK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $67.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.88 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that SVMK will post -0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, insider Rebecca Cantieri sold 3,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $51,086.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Alexander J. Lurie sold 100,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.84, for a total transaction of $1,287,132.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,443 shares of company stock worth $1,784,641.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SVMK by 240.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 249,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 176,065 shares during the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. NY acquired a new stake in shares of SVMK in the 4th quarter valued at $137,000. MetLife Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SVMK in the 4th quarter valued at $187,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of SVMK by 841.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 18,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of SVMK in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.41% of the company’s stock.

SVMK Company Profile

SVMK Inc provides survey software products that enable organizations to engage with their customers, employees, and the markets they serve in the United States and internationally. Its cloud-based SaaS platform helps individuals and organizations to design and distribute surveys that generate an average of approximately 20 million answered questions daily across approximately 190 countries and territories.

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Food Delivery Businesses: Where's This Service Heading?

Most of us are old enough to remember when pizza and Chinese food were the only cuisines you could easily get delivered, but now, if a restaurant isn't associated with one of the rising delivery platforms, it's behind the curve. From small, single-location shops to giant chains, the food is coming to where you are. But can the service providers -- and investors -- profit?

In this segment from MarketFoolery, host Chris Hill and analyst Abi Malin dig into the food delivery space, considering the majors: GrubHub (NYSE:GRUB), with its $7.2 billion market cap, and the only pure play that's public; DoorDash, valued at $7.1 billion, but still privately held; Postmates, which will IPO soon and is valued at around $1.85 billion; and of course, Uber Eats, part of the ridesharing empire that is also headed for an IPO. Is this a game of winner takes most, or is there room for a lot of winners? And what are the differences between the various players' strategies?

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on March 5, 2019.

Chris Hill: I wanted to talk to you about the food delivery space because you're the first person at this company I ever remember hearing talking in a meaningful way about Grubhub as a stock and saying, "No, really, this is one worth paying attention to." And Grubhub the stock has had kind of a rough 12 months, but in general, this is a well-run business, and if you're a long-term shareholder, you've been rewarded because of that. Where do you think this space is right now? Obviously, with Grubhub competing against the likes of DoorDash, which is private for now, Postmates, which announced they're going public, and any number of regional players --

Abi Malin: Uber.

Hill: Uber, with Uber Eats, that sort of thing. This seems like maybe not a mature market, but a maturing market. What do you see when you look at this landscape?

Malin: I think it's a really interesting space. For a little bit of context, Grubhub is about a $7.2 billion market cap. As you mentioned, in February, Postmates has filed initial paperwork for an IPO. They're valued at about $1.85 billion. Still smaller, but again, still a unicorn, up with those other ones that are waiting for public offerings. Then, you have DoorDash, which announced another round of funding at the end of February. They're put at about a $7.1 billion valuation, almost equivalent with Grubhub. Then you have Uber Eats, which is obviously factored into Uber's overall valuation.

It's definitely a spot where investors are seeing opportunity. I think it's an interesting spot, again, because Grubhub is really the only pure play that is public, where you have the most information. I still would say it's pretty early on in these stages. When Grubhub first came public, I don't think people saw this as an opportunistic space. I think we're now turning the corner on that, and we're not sure who this winner is going to be, or if it's one winner or all of these are winners. But finally feels like people are recognizing this space.

Hill: What caught my attention the other day was a TV commercial for DoorDash. For the longest time, people of my age and older just thought in terms of, "If I'm going to get something delivered to my house, I have to call the restaurant if I'm looking for anything other than pizza." Now, you have Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash, all these others come along, and they say, essentially, "Whatever restaurant you want, we're going to get it for you." The DoorDash commercial, I thought, did a great job of getting that across. It was showing in the commercial a variety of different people in different situations, different life situations. A young couple with a newborn baby, people throwing a party, all this stuff. All these different situations and all these different cuisines, and it was essentially, "Yeah, DoorDash is going to get you there." And for whatever reason, for me, who has not used any of these services, it was a little bit of a light bulb moment. I was just like, "Oh, that's how this works! I just get the DoorDash app on my phone, and presumably, I don't have to worry about what I'm in the mood for."

Towards that end, and you just touched on this, I'm not saying this seems like a zero-sum game, but it really does strike me as an industry right now that's only going to have a couple of winners. It's hard for me to imagine, if they do it, right, that Grubhub or DoorDash -- or Uber Eats for that matter; I'm sorry, Postmates, but the name alone just isn't getting me interested, so I'm just going to push them off. But it's hard for me to imagine that if they execute on the right level, that they don't become one of two or three winners.

Malin: Everyone is trying to carve out their niche. Recently, you've seen Grubhub push out with a lot of chain national brands. Postmates, I know you dismiss them --

Hill: I'm dismissing the name, that's all. DoorDash, I get it, right from the name. Postmates, I immediately go to post-it notes.

Malin: Postmates is a little bit of a different operating strategy. They deliver random items. They have a partnership with Apple and Walgreens as well as restaurant food. They do unlimited delivery subscriptions for deliveries of $15 or more for a flat fee of $9.99 per month. In that sense, I would think Postmates is more of an Amazon competitor, which is not a space I'd be as interested in.

Hill: [laughs] The fact that they're saying, "We're going to start a business, and we think we'd like to replace Amazon in terms of delivery."

Malin: Yeah, that's challenging. I mean, a flat fee for delivery is kind of interesting, but I don't know about the logistics of doing all of the other tech and medicine and things like that. DoorDash, they've also started delivering groceries. They partnered with Walmart last year.

Logistics is a hard business. There's never going to be a huge amount of profit, it's going to constantly be a game of small margins. Originally, when I started looking at this space, I thought, at least on a geographic basis, there's going to be one dominant player, so it's going to be a winner-take-all, at least by geography. Maybe my thinking has shifted a little bit. If you look at other logistics industries -- ridesharing, you have Uber, Lyft, traditional Yellow Cab, and a lot of regional or geographically focused players. Housing, so, you have Airbnb vs. Marriott vs. Hyatt, etc. Package and parcel delivery, you have the U.S. government, in addition to Amazon's own logistics, in addition to UPS and FedEx and all these other players. Maybe there is room for more than one, is my new thinking. But I haven't decided where that caps out. On some level, it can't just be price, right? We have to have some other differentiator that makes one more or less appealing.

Hill: Right. To that point, it all comes down to the execution. You can love Grubhub until they start doing a bad job of delivering, then you have other options. Who do you use?

Malin: I use Grubhub. Grubhub owns Seamless and I first started ordering delivery when I was using Seamless in New York.

Hill: Definitely an interesting space that we're going to keep watching. Curious to see how these IPOs go.

Capital Flowing To Water Technology Startups From Big Corporations

&l;p&g;By Hana Askren and Marlene Givant Star, with analytics by Lana Vilner

Water technology startups are turning away from venture capital and seeking financing, partnerships and other development support directly from large strategics rather than financial investors, according to an analysis by&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket.&l;/em&g;

This is beneficial in many ways. For one thing, strategic investors can become eventual acquirers and may be inclined to take a longer view, seeing the development of new technology as integral to their business -- not simply a financial investment, according to water executives and investors. Strategics also have a marketing and distribution reach that far outpaces what young companies could create on their own, they say.

For example, desalination company Forward Water Technologies&a;rsquo; CEO Howie Honeyman told&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket&l;/em&g;&a;nbsp;it is working on commercializing its technology through a partnership with an oilfield service provider.

Water is integral to industrial processes, the oil and gas and power sectors, as well as municipalities, which means most technologies have huge potential markets, according to one early-stage investor. There is a &a;ldquo;broad array of applications&a;rdquo; from clean parts for automotive, aerospace and other industrial production, to aquaculture to food and produce production and wastewater, says Paul Weisbrich of investment bank DA Davidson.

But early-stage companies are not well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities on their own, even with VC funding. Equity investments, joint ventures, channel and sales partnerships, and other deal structures can all allow startups to target a specific market initially. Once a technology is proven for a specific application, a company may be better able to self-finance commercialization for other applications.

Weisbrich says the industry is on the cusp of shedding old technology and strategics are eager to capitalize on &a;ldquo;what technology is around the bend.&a;rdquo;

Realtech Water CEO Jodi Glover notes that large corporations have approached the company for investment because it can be difficult for them &a;ldquo;to continue to have that focus on R&a;amp;D and innovation.&a;rdquo;&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.wateronline.com/doc/aquatecture-announces-investment-in-real-tech-inc-0001&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Real Tech&a;rsquo;s sensor technology&l;/a&g;&a;nbsp;combines with artificial intelligence to monitor water for contaminants.

The water segment is becoming a &a;ldquo;barbell industry,&a;rdquo; with either very small companies or very large strategic players because &a;ldquo;the small companies get snatched up right away,&a;rdquo; Weisbrich says.

&a;ldquo;The water business is not as dynamic and sexy as the web or Internet or technology deals but the value proposition is pretty outstanding,&a;rdquo; says Rick Malone, managing director of&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://astfilters.com/aquatic-systems/about-ast/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;privately held AST Filters&l;/a&g;. Malone says the reason strategics are attracted to startups in the space is that they understand it&a;rsquo;s a tough long-term market to penetrate. For instance, AST is working on filtration for the water used in industrial processes such as plating and for processing dairy products, where manure in effluents is a big problem.

&a;ldquo;Venture capital can help you grow but it (requires) a long-term investment and testing period. You can have a great return in 10 years,&a;rdquo; Malone adds.

The largest water deal in the last few years was the late 2017 $3.4 billion acquisition of GE Water and Process Technologies by Suez, along with Canadian pension fund Caisse de d&a;eacute;p&a;ocirc;t et placement du Qu&a;eacute;bec. Japanese treatment company Kurita Water Industries announced last month its $270 million acquisition of US Water Services. EBITDA multiples have ranged from 9x to as much as 23x for deals with stated valuations, according to the&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket&a;nbsp;&l;/em&g;database.

Desalination company&a;nbsp;&l;a href=&q;https://www.saltworkstech.com/about/&q; target=&q;_blank&q;&g;Saltworks Technologies&l;/a&g;&a;nbsp;has only corporate investors, giving it flexibility that it might not have had with VCs, says CEO Ben Sparrow. Now that the company is further along in its development, it is looking to raise $15 million and would consider strategic or financial investors, according to a December 2018&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket&a;nbsp;&l;/em&g;report.

Another desalination company, Atlantis Technologies, has a distribution partnership that includes an equity component with Evapco, and is discussing partnerships with others, according to a November 2018 report by&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket&l;/em&g;. Water treatment company Neopure Technologies pivoted from seeking venture capital to looking at corporate investors, according to a late 2017 report.

The list of strategics investing in water technology is long. Global giants Veolia and GDF Suez are among them. GE, Nalco, Aquatech, IDE and oil and gas supermajors have also been mentioned as investors in reports by&a;nbsp;&l;em&g;Mergermarket.&l;/em&g;

Strategics such as Pentair are able to see this upside and know that the margins can be high, Malone adds. In January, Pentair acquired two companies: Aquion, which manufactures water treatment equipment and water quality-solutions, and Pelican Water Systems, which provides residential whole home water treatment systems.

&a;nbsp;

Strategic Deals in Water Tech

Here&a;rsquo;s a listing of water tech deals since 2016 with disclosed multiples:

&l;/p&g;&l;div class=&q;table-wrapper&q;&g;&l;table&g;&l;tbody&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;strong&g;Company&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Bidder&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Year&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;strong&g;Revenue multiple&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;strong&g;EBITDA multiple&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;strong&g;EV ($m)&l;/strong&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;U.S.&a;nbsp;Water&a;nbsp;Services&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Kurita&a;nbsp;Water&a;nbsp;Industries&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2019&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1.6x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;--&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;270&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Calgon Carbon&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Kuraray&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2017&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.5x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;20.9x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1308&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Horizon&a;nbsp;Technology&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Biotage&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2017&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.0x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;23.4x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;16&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Rockwater&a;nbsp;Energy Solutions&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Select Energy Services&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2017&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1.6x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;--&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;508&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Suez&a;nbsp;Water&a;nbsp;Technologies &a;amp; Solutions (formerly known as GE&a;nbsp;Water&a;nbsp;&a;amp; Process Technologies)&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec; and Suez&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2017&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1.6x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.9x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3379&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;JWC Environmental&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Sulzer Management&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2017&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;--&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;12.6x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;215&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Sensus USA&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Xylem&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2016&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.0x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;10.7x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1700&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Aerex Industries Inc&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;183&q;&g;Consolidated&a;nbsp;Water&a;nbsp;U.S. Holdings&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;33&q;&g;2016&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;0.8x&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;--&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;15&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;/tbody&g;&l;/table&g;&l;/div&g;

&a;nbsp;

&l;em&g;Hana Askren is senior reporter-natural resources,&a;nbsp;and Marlene Givant Star is New York editor for Mergermarket and Dealreporter. Lana Vilner is Head of Research-Americas for Mergermarket.&l;/em&g;

Why the Future of Work Is Remote

A narrative has taken hold over the past few years that asserts that the future of work will be dominated by robots, AI programs, and other technological marvels that strip humans entirely away from the workplace. Despite all the hubbub being raised over certain new technologies, however, the future of work is increasingly going to be dominated by remote working, which is quickly taking hold around the globe thanks to the productive results it delivers to business owners.

Here's why the future of work is remote, and why so many companies around the world are rushing to let their employees work from wherever works best for them.

Image source: Getty Images.

Remote employees are simply more productive

The biggest driver of the pivot to a remote workforce that's currently under way is that remote employees simply produce better results than their traditional counterparts. While many critics of remote working used to assert that letting employees work from home would drain them of their productive spirit, the past few years have produced conclusive evidence that employees who spend a bulk of their working hours outside of the office are vastly happier and more productive.

Recent research from Gallup, for instance, notes that those workers who spend about three to four days of the week working offsite are substantially more engaged in their jobs than traditional counterparts who are stuck behind desks all day. The logic behind this productivity boost is actually quite easy to understand; by giving workers more control over their personal lives and permitting them to schedule their work-life balance accordingly, companies are making them happier and more fulfilled as they enable Average Joes to become workplace superstars.

The IoT is merging workspaces and living spaces

As Jacob Morgan recently posited in his book The Future Of Work, the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving companies everywhere to produce products and services that cater directly to consumers while they're enjoying the comforts of the home. Smart thermostats, AI home assistants, and interconnected electric systems have made the modern household a "smart home," which is why it's so easy for most workers to plug directly into their workspace while they're sitting in their kitchens.

Morgan accurately noted that companies everywhere simply have an easier time finding talent that's willing to work from home right now than ever before; the big data revolution and the rise of the ubiquitous IoT effectively created the gig economy we're all so familiar with these days. Now, if a small business or a major corporation needs to rely on a select expert, they turn to the web and start searching for an independent freelancer who can get them the information they need at an affordable price. 

The era of convenience has arrived

Thanks to the fact that more and more people are working remotely, consumers everywhere can say hello to a new era of convenience. With freelance workers and remote employees able to more precisely adjust their scheduling, customers will be able to find an expert on demand at any time of the day. While most businesses close their doors at 5 p.m. or shortly thereafter, the remote workforce is effectively always available. There will be some challenges to this, naturally; work-related stress may increase, for instance, and employees who are working from home will need strict discipline to master work-life balance as the lines between the home and office get blurry. 

Nonetheless, the benefits of the remote workforce mean that in the near future, we'll likely see more leaders in a wide variety of industries embracing the concept, especially as automating technologies and cheaper software makes it easier for employees to accomplish great things from far away. Before remote working is universally accepted, however, business owners and everyday workers will need to come together to forge a new work style that accommodates the needs of a distributed workforce.

Implementing a remote work policy

Organizations looking to implement a remote work policy for their company should start with a few basic steps. First and foremost, make sure your workers are equipped with the three things they need to succeed: adequate technology, disciplinary excellence, and clear instructions.

Make sure your workers have a laptop, tablet, or desktop that can help them tackle their tasks, and consider investing in a companywide software sponsorship program that lets them install important software directly to their personal devices so that they can use them for business, too.

Next, it's imperative that you stress disciplinary excellence; workers at home don't have a manager peering over their shoulder, so they have to act as their own boss and maintain a strict schedule to get things done. Don't try to dictate every aspect of their lives -- remote work is effective because it offers workers flexibility, after all. Nonetheless, be sure that you're requesting regular status updates, and that you have a system in place to measure productivity.

Finally, never let your workers wander alone -- make sure they have clear instructions and achievable milestones that guide them as they work from the comfort of their home. This is perhaps the most important step for you, as it's where you'll be demonstrating your leadership by giving concise yet clear instructions that can be carried out even if you're not present to immediately answer questions.

Do this while placing faith in your remote workers, and your business will soon be a thriving, cutting-edge organization.

This article originally appeared on Glassdoor.com.

The $12 Trillion Tech Profits Flood Starts with These 127% Gains

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Michael A. Robinson

In my 2019 tech investing forecast, I let my Nova-X Report subscribers in on the profit potential "Fort Silicon Valley" is set to unleash not only on the stock market, but the broader United States economy.

It's going to be more than enough to keep a downturn at bay this year.

What I found most exciting (and most profitable) was 5G wireless broadband – a force I predicted will be one of the most, if not the most, important driver in tech's 2019 comeback.

And what a comeback it's been: After sliding more than 4% in 2018, the tech-centric Nasdaq Composite is up a hefty 13.1% so far in 2019, beating the broader S&P 500 by 22%.

And to be clear, 5G hasn't even been rolled out yet. But my subscribers have had a shot at 127% in overall gains on my 5G "pre-plays" – firms that will be instrumental in getting 5G to the streets and critical to its smooth, continued operation once it's ready.

So in a very real sense, those triple-digit gains are just a taste of what's coming up…

The truth is that windfall represents the tiniest fraction of the estimated $12 trillion in new wealth 5G broadband will release all over the world…

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Michael A. Robinson

About the Author

Browse Michael's articles | View Michael's research services

Michael A. Robinson is one of the top financial analysts working today. His book "Overdrawn: The Bailout of American Savings" was a prescient look at the anatomy of the nation's S&L crisis, long before the word "bailout" became part of our daily lexicon. He's a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and reporter, lauded by the Columbia Journalism Review for his aggressive style. His 30-year track record as a leading tech analyst has garnered him rave reviews, too. Today he is the editor of the monthly tech investing newsletter Nova-X Report as well as Radical Technology Profits, where he covers truly radical technologies – ones that have the power to sweep across the globe and change the very fabric of our lives – and profit opportunities they give rise to. He also explores "what's next" in the tech investing world at Strategic Tech Investor.

… Read full bio

How Do You Make Money in the Stock Market?

The stock market has proven to be one of the best ways for the average person to build wealth over time. 

Unfortunately, investing itself is notoriously inaccessible. In this video from our YouTube channel, we break down the two most common approaches people take when looking at stocks -- growth and value investing -- and the key attributes all investors need to have, regardless of their investing style.  

A full transcript follows the video.

Nick Sciple: Hey I'm Fool.com editor Nick Sciple, and on this episode of FAQ we're answering the question you've all been asking: How DO you make money in the stock market?

People invest to make money: plain and simple. Except in special circumstances, like shorting a stock, investors buy a stock with the hopes that it will increase in value, allowing him or her to sell the shares later at a higher price and pocket the difference as profit.

But how can we know that a stock is going to go up -- before we buy it? In the short term, stocks go up or down for an endless number of reasons, from military conflict and news releases all the way down to individual Tweets. However, there's only one reason a stock prices increase or decrease over the long term: to match the value of a company's assets and cash flows. As Ben Graham famously said, "In the short run, the market is a voting machine, vacillating based on the news of the day, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine, measuring the actual value of a business."

Now that we know why a stock's value increases over the long term, we can answer how to make money in the stock market. There are 2 ways make money in the stock market: buy a company for less than it's worth OR buy a company at a fair value and hold it as it grows over time. Let's look at each of these in turn:

Buying a Company for Less Than It's Worth 

Imagine I offered to trade you a $1000 car for $500. Would you take it? Most of you probably said yes -- Free 500 bucks, right? You know you can take that car, and with patience and effort, find a buyer for the car's full value. Maybe the seller didn't want to put in that effort, didn't know what the car was really worth, or for whatever reason, needed the car gone quick. and that's why she sold it to you. This same thing often happens in the stock market: a stock falls out of favor, whether due to bad news around the company, market volatility, or innumerable other reasons, and its price falls below what the company would be worth to a reasonable purchaser based on its earnings and assets. Intelligent investors can then purchase shares of the company for less than the company itself is worth, and just like with the car, sell the shares for a tidy profit once the market realizes its mistake. Also like the car, it may take a long time to find a buyer, markets can remain irrational for a long period of time.

However, this strategy has been among the most successful in the history of investing. This approach, buying shares of companies for less than the resale value of the company as a whole, is known as value investing, and has been used for decades by famous investors as Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham to build incredible wealth.

Buy a Company at Fair Value and Hold it As it Grows

Now, imagine I offered to sell you a grocery store in a small town of 100 people for fair value. This grocery store is the only one in town, everyone in town shops there for all their food, and it's profitable. You know that in 5 years a new factory will be built in the town bringing 500 new people to the area and the total population up to 600 people. Would you take my offer?

Of course you would! You know that in 5 years the grocery store will have 6 times as many customers as it has today. With a larger customer base, it should pull in even more money, making the store look extremely undervalued in 5 years!

This same phenomenon often occurs in the stock market. For example, when Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) went public in 1997, it enjoyed a market value of around $450 million. Over the ensuing 20 years, as consumer preferences have shifted toward e-commerce and the company has wrangled emerging trends like cloud computing, streaming games, and advertising, Amazon's earnings have skyrocketed by 34,000% as it has enjoyed growth in those markets and the company now holds a market value of ¾ of a trillion dollars. For investors who were patient -- and confident -- enough to hold the company for the long term, through 50%+ sell-offs, competitive risks, and probably some boredom, Amazon has provided life-changing returns.

This investing style, buying companies with promise for future growth and holding for the long term to realize benefits from growth, is known as growth investing and has been used by investors like Phillip Fisher and The Motley Fool's Gardner Brothers to great success.

Whether you invest for value or growth -- or you shoot for some of both -- successful investing requires knowledge and patience:

Knowledge of what a business is worth and where a company has opportunities for growth Patience to wade through many investment opportunities until you find one where the what you know about a company's worth and what the market thinks are out of sync, and The patience to wait for the market to recognize that worth.

However, if you can master the patience and discipline it takes to stick to these investing approaches, you'll be able to drive life-changing returns for yourself and your family over the long term.

Stewart Information Services Corp (STC) Plans $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Stewart Information Services Corp (NYSE:STC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, March 29th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th.

Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Stewart Information Services has a dividend payout ratio of 48.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Get Stewart Information Services alerts:

Shares of STC stock traded down $0.16 on Monday, hitting $42.80. The stock had a trading volume of 56,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,957. Stewart Information Services has a twelve month low of $39.13 and a twelve month high of $45.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.65, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 14th. The insurance provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.12). Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The firm had revenue of $469.93 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 17th. ValuEngine cut shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 17th. Finally, Cormark reaffirmed an “average” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Friday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.50.

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: “Stewart Information Services Corp (STC) Plans $0.30 Quarterly Dividend” was published by Ticker Report and is owned by of Ticker Report. If you are accessing this piece on another domain, it was stolen and republished in violation of US & international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this piece can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4196940/stewart-information-services-corp-stc-plans-0-30-quarterly-dividend.html.

About Stewart Information Services

Stewart Information Services Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance and real estate transaction services. The company operates in two segments, Title Insurance and Related Services, and Ancillary Services and Corporate. The Title Insurance and Related Services segment is involved in searching, examining, closing, and insuring the condition of the title to real property.

See Also: Why are percentage decliners important?

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019

tags:BWLD,TBI,ISRG,MED,JWN, There's no word on whether James Bond is set to invest, but you don't need to be a secret agent to put money into Aston Martin.

The ultra-luxury British automaker, whose cars are featured in Bond movies, is set to go public in October as it pursues growth.

Aston Martin announced plans for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange in a range of 17.50 to 22.50 pounds per share, which translates into about $23.24 to $29.88.

At that level, the company would be worth about $5.3 billion to $6.7 billion when it goes public around Oct. 8.

Aston Martin has captured new buyers with new offers such as the DB11 and Vantage, fueling growth ambitions.

CEO Andy Palmer said in a statement that his strategy has already yielded thousands of new jobs and "will provide investors with a fitting opportunity to participate in our future success." 

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  A long term performance chart shows Dave & Busters Entertainment tripling in value before falling back while small cap upscale gentlemen's clubs and restaurant owner RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: RICK) began taking off in 2016 and small cap Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) is being acquired by Arby's Restaurant Group:

• [By Steve Symington]

  That's not to say it was a quiet day for every stock on the market. With earnings season ramping up, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) served as an exercise in contrast as investors reacted to their respective quarterly reports.

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Trueblue were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) by 21.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 137,178 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,951 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Trueblue were worth $3,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 95,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,680 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Trueblue worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Right now, it's time for that yearly review of the ones he picked to honor the month, and also the briefly famous pregnant giraffe: five companies, and the first letters of their tickers spelled out A-P-R-I-L. They were Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AAXN), Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacific (NYSE:PAC), ResMed (NYSE:RMD), Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), and Live Nation (NYSE:LYV).

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  In this segment from MarketFoolery, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool Asset Management's Bill Barker consider the case for healthcare innovator Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), which has been on a tear for the past few years. Its pricey robots are growing ever more common and popular with hospitals and doctors, and based on the reaction of the market, investors must expect its current sales growth pace to continue.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Earnings season is now in full swing, with today's key reports from International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), and Intuitive Surgical Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG). Thanks to tax cuts, expectations are high. Analysts expect profit growth to top 18%, which would be the biggest jump in seven years. But there are a few bearish trends that are still lurking in the market. And if you're serious about making money, you need to know how to harness them and target individual stocks for life-changing gains. Money Morning Quantitative Specialist Chris Johnson explains.

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Stock No. 3: Let's go back to the well. So, April last year what was the "I?" Quick quiz at home? That's right. It was Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG). I own the company, and in front of my gathered fellow Heels last week, I put Intuitive Surgical on this list, as well, so I present it for you again today. It reminds us to continue to add to our winners. It was a winner a year ago. It had a three for one stock split, something that I don't personally care about. I don't think we should spend a lot of time talking about stock splits. I realize some people think they're exciting or are confused by them.

• [By Jason Hall, Sean Williams, and Jordan Wathen]

  We asked three investors who regularly contribute to The Motley Fool to help us identify some of the "wonderful" companies, and they made strong cases for Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA), Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG), and Pattern Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGI). These are three very different companies, but they share some important traits that make them worth your consideration as "ultra-long-term" investments: Big long-term trends driving their business prospects for many years of growth, and excellent management with strong track records of success.

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Motley Fool Transcribers]

  Medifast Inc  (NYSE:MED)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 26, 2019, 4:30 p.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED) shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $124.60 after the company reported strong Q1 results and raised its FY18 guidance.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Medifast, Inc. (NYSE: MED) shares were also up, gaining 22 percent to $121.06 after the company reported strong Q1 results and raised its FY18 guidance.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  MediBloc [QRC20] (MED) is a proof-of-work (PoW) token that uses the HybridScryptHash256 hashing algorithm. It was first traded on January 3rd, 2014. MediBloc [QRC20]’s total supply is 4,097,545,844 tokens and its circulating supply is 2,966,384,100 tokens. MediBloc [QRC20]’s official website is medibloc.org/en. MediBloc [QRC20]’s official Twitter account is @MEDDevTeam. The official message board for MediBloc [QRC20] is medium.com/@MediBloc. The Reddit community for MediBloc [QRC20] is /r/MediBloc and the currency’s Github account can be viewed here.

Best Growth Stocks To Invest In 2019: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Breaking news

  Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter, but issued weak sales outlook for the third quarter. Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) reported upbeat results for its first quarter. Comparable-store sales rose 0.6 percent. Boot Barn Holdings Inc (NYSE: BOOT) disclosed a 7.2 million common stock offering.

• [By JJ Kinahan]

  Retail earnings take center stage the remainder of the week, but aside from that it’s a little hard right now to determine what sort of catalyst is out there that could give the market back some of the “giddy-up” it had last week. Unless the retail earnings really surpass expectations in a big way, it might be difficult to figure out what the next instigator to the upside might be. Thursday looks like a big day, with Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and J C Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) scheduled to report before the open and Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) after the close. One question moving into these reports is whether the recent strong retail sales data might have helped the retail sector beyond M.

• [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]

  While the Hudson's Bay balance sheet is in better shape now, its underlying operations are far from healthy. First, Lord & Taylor's struggles go far beyond the flagship store that closed last month. The chain has experienced steady erosion of its customer base over the past few decades and has been unable to keep up with trendier rivals like Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN).

• [By Daniel B. Kline]

  Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) had a good quarter and raised its forecast for the full year. That's a combination that investors generally like, and shares in the company rose significantly after the company reported.