Chinese Marketplace 58.com's $187 Million IPO Priced Above Target

China’s 58.com Inc., an online marketplace for merchants and consumers in about 380 cities, saw its initial public offering price above expectations.

The company agreed to sell 11 million American depositary shares–which trade on a U.S. exchange like common stock–for $17 each, according to people familiar with the pricing, valuing the deal at $187 million before underwriters potentially buy more shares. The company had expected to sell 11 million ADSs for $15 to $16 apiece, according to a regulatory filing.

The last few years, 58.com has seen a rapid increase in revenue drawn from listing services fees such as prominent placement on its site or collaboration with third-party Internet companies in China. Such services account for the vast share of its top line. 58.com is seeking proceeds mainly for general purposes such as product development, engineering, sales and marketing.

The ADSs are slated to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday under the symbol “WUBA.” Morgan Stanley led the deal with Credit Suisse Group AG and Citigroup Inc.

J.P. Morgan’s Holiday Cheer

J.P. Morgan (JPM) wants you to have a Happy Thanksgiving, and not worry about the stock market.

Forget that the market has not experienced a 10% correction this year, which the nattering nabobs of negativity have wished for since the stock market has advanced so strongly and everyone knows that which goes up must come down even if it is just temporary.

“It turns out,” the bank’s strategist, Thomas Lee told clients earlier today, “that a 26% gain in the S&P 500 is quite ordinary.”

Since 1897, Lee's research found that the stock market rises more than 20% about once every three years. Double-digit gains are even common.

“For instance, there are 57 years when the market was up more than 10% and only 19 years up single digits. Meaning, that when the market is positive for the year, we are three times more likely to see a double-digit gain,” Lee advised clients in a Wednesday note.

Hot Gold Stocks To Own For 2014

So, gentle reader, you may ask yourself what does any of this historical hullabaloo have to do with you? Well, it seems Santa Claus will come to Wall and Broad, and bears will go elsewhere. Lee says history suggests an 80% chance that stocks will advance in December, and that the S&P 500 Index will gain an average of 2.3%, or 42-points.

Tomorrow, when you raise your glass of wine, at the Thanksgiving table, quietly say may the past be prologue and softly knock on wood.

Goldman Ups Danaher To Buy, Cuts Waters Corp. To Neutral

Danaher (DHR) and Waters Corporation (WAT) were mirror images of one another, with the former rising 1.3% at recent check and the latter falling by 1.3%.

The disparate moves come as Goldman Sachs weighed in on both names, upgrading Danaher to Buy and downgrading Waters to Neutral.

Analyst Isaac Ro and his team write that while Danaher has outperformed since the summer, they are confident it can continue to beat the broader market, given accelerating growth the potential for EPS accretion, based on the company's possible capital allocation strategies.

They see three main catalysts that could spur the stock next year:

(1) Tailwinds in Healthcare are underestimated by the Street: We anticipate continued share gains in AB SCIEX and Beckman, buttressed by a new product cycle (DxN) in 2014/2015. In Dental, we are encouraged by 3Q commentary among peers along with improving consumer spending patterns. We look for updates at the Greater NY Dental Meeting (December 1-4).

(2) Positive set-up in Industrial segments: We believe a positive 2014 outlook from Multi-Industry peers combined with easing 2014 comps in IT/T&M/Environmental present a favorable set-up.

(3) Capital deployment likely near term: We believe a sizable transaction is a near-term possibility, as 76% of capital deployed for acquisitions over $500mn since 2000 has taken place when net debt/EBITDA was below 0.75x, and DHR should exit 2013 at 0.2x. Our M&A and share repurchase scenario analyses yield 2014E EPS accretion of 4-12%. We look for an update on capital deployment at the Investor Meeting on December 12.

Ro and his team have an $88 price target on the stock.

By contrast, they downgraded Waters, writing that their previous bullish thesis was based on improved demand for the company's quality assurance and quality control products, recovery of market share through new product cycles and potential for M&A activity. However, while they still think Waters could be benefit from the latter, they are less sanguine about its top-line and organic growth, which continue to disappoint, and note it may lose share in pharmaceutical end markets due to it prolonged management transition.

They have a $107 price target on the stock.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2: Another Big Phone

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Grand 2, coming up with its second-generation, lower-cost, larger screen, Android (GOOG) smartphone between the popular Galaxy S 4 and the Galaxy Note 3 phablet.

Looking at the phone's specifications, it's obvious the new design won't be any kind of threat which might steal sales from any of Samsung's other large phones.

The new Grand 2 has a 5.25-inch display, compared to the S4's 5-inch or the Galaxy Note 3's 5.7-inch display. It sports a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor of unspecified origin, whereas the S4 has a 1.9 GHz Qualcomm  (QCOM) Snapdragon 600, and the Galaxy Note 3 has a 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor. It sports a 8 MP rear camera, while the other two have 13 MP cameras. It has the same sized battery as the S4, while the Galaxy Note 3's is much larger).

Memory is another big difference. The Grand 2 has just 1.5 GB of operational memory, versus 2 GB of RAM in the S4 and 3 GB in the Note 3. As for storage, the Grand has 8 GB built-in while the other two come with either 16 or 32 GB. All have microSD card expansion slots.

The Grand 2 runs on Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) operating system, and does not have a stylus or LTE capabilities. What it does have, however, is dual SIM card slots - a very popular feature with overseas users and avid world travelers.

Samsung hasn't announced exactly where the Grand 2 will be sold, but it's possible it will not be readily available in the United States or Canada, though it might be found in Mexico at some point. The Galaxy S4 and Note 3 are Samsung's top-of-the-line models for those markets.

Depending on the price, the Galaxy Grand 2 could challenge such worldwide favorites as Nokia Lumia phones which run Microsoft's  (MSFT) Windows Phone OS and Apple  (AAPL) iOS models including the iPhone 5c.

Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

To submit a news tip, send an email to tips@thestreet.com.

Is Disney a Buy At Current Prices?

With shares of Disney (NYSE:DIS) trading around $70, is DIS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Disney is a diversified worldwide entertainment company. The company operates in five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products, and interactive. Disney offers entertainment that sends smiles to consumers across a range of countries around the world. Its movies and shows, theme parks, and products have remained a main attraction for many years and will continue well into the future.

Disney is hoping its new animated feature film, Frozen, which debuts on Wednesday, will bring in profits similar to last year's Wreck It Ralph, which grossed $471 million. In recent years, Disney has been challenged to step up its game by competitors Dreamworks, Pixar, Blue Sky, and Illumination. As with most Disney movies, it's expected that the majority of the profit in the wake of the film's debut will stem from the various merchandise sold in years to come. According to a recent Forbes’ review of Frozen, the film is "a declaration of Disney's renewed cultural relevance."

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Strong

Disney stock has been flying higher in recent years. The stock is currently trading near all-time highs and looks ready to continue this path. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Disney is trading above its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bullish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Disney options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Disney Options	20.27%	6%	4%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a minimal amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Flat	Average
January Options	Flat	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and low demand by put buyers or high demand by put sellers, all neutral to bullish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a minimal amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bullish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Disney’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Disney look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	13.24%	0.00%	31.75%	-3.75%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	7.29%	4.42%	9.61%	5.21%
Earnings Reaction	2.12%	-1.70%	-0.12%	0.42%

Disney has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with Disney’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Average Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Disney stock done relative to its peers, Dreamworks (NASDAQ:DWA), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA), and sector?

	Disney	Dreamworks	Time Warner	21st Century Fox	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	41.09%	97.47%	39.85%	50.96%	44.96%

Disney has been an average relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Disney is a global entertainment company that aims to deliver smiles to many consumers worldwide. The company is hoping its new animated feature film, Frozen, will bring in profits similar to last year's Wreck It Ralph. The stock has seen a strong run in recent years and its currently trading near all time highs. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been rising, which has investors pleased with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, Disney has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for Disney to OUTPERFORM.

There’s a long way to go before Fed raises rates

The Federal Reserve may not be happy until it gets unemployment all the way down to 5.5%, if statements from central bank officials and other economists are an indication.

Up until recently, the U.S. central bank appeared steadfast on a benchmark of 6.5% before it began normalizing its target for short-term interest rates from the near-zero current level. The zero-bound has been in place since the darkest days of the financial crisis that exploded in 2008.

That commitment to concrete targets for policy change has changed recently, however.

The unemployment rate has been on a steady downward trajectory, though the October reading showed a slight uptick to 7.3%. But it has been doing so in great part due to the shrinking labor force.

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At the same time, inflation has remained muted despite the Fed pumping $85 billion a month in liquidity under its quantitative easing bond-buying program.

So with actual job creation still fairly muted and inflation—at least as gauged through conventional government measures—well below the Fed's 2.5% warning sign, interest rates probably aren't going anywhere for years.

Bernanke said as much Tuesday in remarks at the National Economists Club annual dinner in Washington.

He warned against using the headline unemployment measure as a gauge because "many other indicators become relevant to a comprehensive judgment of the health of the labor market, including such measures as payroll employment, labor force participation, and the rates of hiring and separation.

Hot Penny Companies To Buy For 2014

"In particular, even after unemployment drops below 6.5%, and so long as inflation remains well behaved," he continued, "the (Fed Open Markets) Committee can be patient in seeking assurance that the labor marke! t is sufficiently strong before considering any increase in its target for the federal funds rate."

Economists at Goldman Sachs have been monitoring the internal Fed analyses over what would constitute a safe unemployment rate, and said in a paper published Tuesday that the threshold is probably 5.5%. That analysis is influenced by two recent papers from Fed economists that concluded waiting for a lower rate would have greater economic benefits.

The Goldman analysis, from Sven Jari Stehn, said the Fed faces the challenge of not merely stabilizing the unemployment rate but also addressing the plummeting labor-force participation rate, which is at a 35-year low.

"Although our analysis is subject to significant uncertainty, our results suggest that taking into account adverse supply side effects--by aiming to normalize both the unemployment and participation rates--strengthens the case for lowering the 6.5% unemployment threshold," Stehn said. "Our small model suggests that the most desirable unemployment threshold in this case would be around 5.5%."

But the Fed risks its credibility by adjusting its targets.

Markets have been reacting to virtually every word that comes out of the Open Markets Committee. Investors want to know when the Fed will reduce the pace of its asset purchases, and when it plans on raising rates.

Though Bernanke is trying to dissuade markets from attaching too much importance to the unemployment and inflation thresholds, minutes released Wednesday from the October Fed meeting showed only grudging support for lowering the 6.5% guideline.

That could indicate a fight brewing internally that investors may not like.

Follow Cox on Twitter: @JeffCoxCNBCcom.

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

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., a unit of Ball Corporation (BLL), together with Aerojet Rocketdyne has brought forward an environmental-friendly spacecraft fuel for NASA's Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM).

Ball has successfully demonstrated the end-to-end checkout of the 22 Newton thruster required for GPIM. The role of 22 Newton thrusters is significant to GPIM as it will fire along with four smaller 1N thrusters to initiate orbit inclination changes and altitude changes. It is also vital for GPIM's eventual de-orbit upon mission completion.

An industry and government team is working under Ball�� guidance to bring up a high-performance, non-toxic fuel alternative to the conventional hydrazine. The mission propellant, a Hydroxyl Ammonium Nitrate (HAN) fuel/oxidizer blend, or AF-M315E, provides around 50% improved performance than hydrazine.

GPIM is a Technology Demonstration Mission under the leadership of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. The green propulsion system will fly aboard a Ball Configurable Platform (BCP) 100 spacecraft bus. This is the first time that U.S will use a spacecraft to test green propellant technology.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Veolia Environnement(VE)

Veolia Environnement S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides environmental management services to individuals, public authorities, and industrial and commercial services customers worldwide. It operates in four segments: Water, Environmental Services, Energy Services, and Transportation. The Water segment offers water and wastewater services, including the management and operation of large-scale and customized drinking water plants, wastewater decontamination and recycling plants, drinking water distribution networks, and wastewater collection networks; and provision of call centers and billing services. The Environmental Services segment provides waste management and logistical services, which include waste collection, waste processing, cleaning of public spaces, maintenance of production equipment, treatment of polluted soil, and management of waste discharge at industrial sites. The Energy Services segment offers a range of energy management services comprising o peration of heating and cooling networks, decentralized energy production, thermal and multi-technical services, industrial utilities, installation and maintenance of production equipment, integrated facilities management, and electrical services on public streets and roads; and provides heating systems maintenance services, plumbing and renewable energy services, and meter-reading services. The Transportation segment operates various bus networks, suburban trains, tramways, metros, and ferries, as well as offers customized transportation-on-demand services. This segment also provides intercity and regional passenger transportation, infrastructure management and airport services, and transportation management services. The company was formerly known as Vivendi Environnement and changed its name to Veolia Environnement S.A. in April 2003. Veolia Environnement S.A. was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Another factor that easily puts Waste Management on top in the waste-collection sector is its dividend yield of 3.4%. The only company with a higher yield is global waste solutions company Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE  ) , with a 6.2% yield. However, Veolia also boats a higher debt-to-equity ratio than Waste Management, has unwanted exposure to European markets, and has lower overall margins relative to Waste Management. By comparison, Republic Services, Progressive Waste, and Waste Connections pay out a yield of 2.7%, 2.4% and 1%, respectively. Even better, Waste Management's payout has grown by an average annualized rate of 7.7% since 2004.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Farmers Capital Bank Corporation(FFKT)

Farmers Capital Bank Corporation, a bank holding company, provides financial services to individual, business, agriculture, government, and educational customers. The company?s deposit products include checking, savings, and term certificate accounts. Its lending products comprise residential mortgage, commercial lending and leasing, and installment loans. The company also offers other services, such as cash management, issuing letters of credit, safe deposit box rental, and funds transfer. In addition, it acts as a trustee of personal trusts; an executor of estates; a trustee for employee benefit trusts; and a registrar, a transfer agent, and a paying agent for bond issues. Further, the company serves as an agent in providing credit card loans; offers investments and other services; and performs data processing services for nonaffiliated entities. As of December 31, 2009, it had 36 banking locations in 23 communities in central and northern Kentucky. The company was foun ded in 1850 and is headquartered in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Hot Financial Companies To Watch In Right Now: Aon Corporation(AON)

Aon Corporation provides risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resource consulting and outsourcing services primarily in the United States, the Americas, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company?s Risk Solutions segment offers retail brokerage products and services, including affinity products, general underwriting management services, placement services, and captive management services; and advisory services to technology, financial services, agribusiness, aviation, construction, health care, and energy industries, as well as facilitates various risk management solutions for property liability, general liability, professional liability, directors' and officers' liability, workers' compensation, and various healthcare products. This segment also provides risk consulting services comprising captive management; eSolutions products that enable clients to manage risks, policies, claims, and safet y concerns through an integrated technology platform; reinsurance brokerage services, such as actuarial, enterprise risk management, catastrophe management, and rating agency advisory services; property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines, which include professional liability, medical malpractice, accident, life, and health, as well as capital management transaction and advisory services. Its HR Solutions segment offers human capital services in the areas of health and benefits, retirement, compensation, and strategic human capital; and benefits administration and human resource business process outsourcing services. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  AON Hewitt, the human resources business unit of AON (NYSE: AON  ) , successfully enrolled more than 100,000 employees across the U.S. in health insurance plans last fall through its Corporate Health Exchange product. The company's survey of enrollees found that nearly 80% "felt confident they chose the health plan that offered the best value for them and their family." 93% liked being able to choose from multiple insurance carriers.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Galectin Therapeutics Inc (GALT)

Galectin Therapeutics Inc., formerly Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on January 26, 2001, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in drug development to create therapies for cancer and fibrotic disease. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has two compounds in development, one is to be used in cancer therapy and the other intended to be used in the treatment of liver fibrosis and fatty liver disease. These two compounds are produced from different natural starting materials, both possessing the property, which lends itself to binding to and inhibiting galectin proteins. GM-CT-01, the Company's product candidate for cancer therapy, is a linear polysaccharide polymer consisted of mannose and galactose that has a defined chemical structure and is derived from a plant source. GR-MD-02, the Company's product for treatment of liver fibrosis and fatty liver disease with inflammation and fibrosis, is a polysaccharide polymer possessing both linear and globular structures, which also is derived from a plant source.

GM-CT-01 has in development for the therapy of colorectal cancer and is in a Phase I/II clinical trial as a combination therapy with a tumor vaccine in patients with advanced melanoma. Based on the completed Phase I and partially completed Phase II clinical trials, the Company is exploring two additional potential indicia for the use of GM-CT-01 in combination with cancer chemotherapy. There are two additional pathways for the development of GM-CT-01 for use in treatment of cancer. GM-CT-01 was found to be generally safe when studied in a Phase I clinical trial in end-stage cancer patients with multiple tumor types alone and in combination with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), which is an Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved chemotherapy used for treatment of various types of cancer.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Galectin Therapeutics (GALT) offers drug research and development to create new therapies for fibrotic disease and cancer. This stock closed up 9.6% to $12.06 in Monday's trading session.

   

  Monday's Volume: 674,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 222,171
  
  Volume % Change: 149%

   

  Shares of GALT jumped higher on Monday after Ascendiant initiated coverage on the stock with a buy recommendation.

   

   

  From a technical perspective, GALT spiked sharply higher here with strong upside volume. This stock has been uptrending for the last three months, with shares ripping higher from its low of $3.95 to its recent high of $13.21. During that move, shares of GALT have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of GALT within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if GALT manages to take out Monday's high of $12.44 and then once it clears its 52-week high at $13.21 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GALT as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $11 or at $10 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 222,171 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GALT will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $13.21, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $15 to $16.

   

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: GMX Resources Inc.(GMXR)

GMX Resources Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in the United States. It has interests in two oil shale resources, including the Williston Basin that targets the Bakken/Sanish-Three Forks in North Dakota/Montana; and the DJ Basin, which targets the Niobrara Formation in Wyoming. The company also holds interests in natural gas resources comprising the Haynesville/Bossier Formation and the Cotton Valley Sand Formation in the East Texas Basin. As of December 31, 2010, it had proved reserves of 319.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent; and 264 net producing wells in east Texas. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina Inc.(PEBK)

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank, which provides various banking products and services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in Catawba Valley and surrounding communities in North Carolina. Its deposit products include demand deposits; interest-bearing checking accounts; NOW, MMDA, and savings deposits; regular savings accounts; money market accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit. The company?s lending portfolio comprises commercial loans, real estate mortgage loans, real estate construction loans, and consumer loans, as well as agricultural loans. It also provides real estate appraisal and real estate brokerage services, as well as access to investment counseling and non-deposit investment products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, tax deferred annuities, and related brokerage services. It operates 22 banking offices located in Lincolnton, Newton, Denver, Catawba, Conover, Maiden, Cla remont, Hiddenite, Hickory, Charlotte, Monroe, Cornelius, Mooresville, and Raleigh in North Carolina, as well as a loan production office in Denver, North Carolina. The company was founded in 1912 and is based in Newton, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Stilwell�� funds also bought more shares of Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (PEBK). The bank operates in central North Carolina and has 22 branches with a little over $1 billion in assets. PEBK just reported a solid quarter, increasing earnings by more than 40% year-over-year while working down nonperforming assets by 30%. The bank also grew its deposit base in the quarter — a difficult accomplishment for many small banks this year.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ACHN)

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of treatments for infectious diseases. The company focuses on the development of antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C; and the development of antibacterials for the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. Its drug candidates for the treatment of chronic HCV include ACH-1625, a protease inhibitor, which is in phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV; ACH-2684, a pangenotypic protease inhibitor, which is in phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic HCV infection; and NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, including ACH-2928, which is to enter a phase I clinical trial, as well as various additional NS5A inhibitors in preclinical development. Its pipeline of product candidates also includes ACH-702 and ACH-2881 for drug resistant bacterial infections; elvucitabine for HIV infection; and AC H-1095 for HCV infection. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  Hold horrors
  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) takes the worst spot this week. Shares plunged 62% on bad news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Liver quivers
  Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN  ) ranks as the top drop of the week. Shares plunged 24% on news that the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on experimental hepatitis C drug�sovaprevir.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: North American Oil & Gas Corp (NAMG)

Calendar Dragon Inc., incorporated on April 7, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company was formed to create a new calendaring tool that incorporates a range of features not offered by other providers, all in one lean online package. Its Website www.calendardragon.com was formed to bridge the gap between current social networking, e-mail and calendaring / scheduling activities for the individual, with applications to business, government, law enforcement, and medical.

The calendardragon.com Website focuses on having each of the various windows within the interface: Contacts like an email app, traditional left location; Events & to do lists along with ability to hide / show events and to do lists with others; Calendar customizable view; Message text (thread), along with list of participants in a separate pane, and Options. During the fiscal year ended November 30, 2010, the Company did not generate any revenue.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  What�� the Catch With New Western Energy Corp? According to various disclosures, transactions of $3k and $4k have or will occur to mention New Western Energy Corp in various investment newsletters. Last Tuesday, New Western Energy Corp announced it had drilled the Anna #1 well to 1,793 ft. and the presence of coal gas was confirmed. If the quantity of gas is sufficient, the New Western Energy Corp will construct a gas gathering pipeline for no more than $200k to connect the field to the nearest sales point. Investors should be aware that the New Western Energy Corp has reported revenues of $19k (most recent reported quarter), $31k, $24k and $15k for the past four quarters along with net losses of $181k (most recent reported quarter), $1,025k, $106k and $110k.�Nevertheless and at the end of March, New Western Energy Corp had $793k in cash to cover $521k in current liabilities. That could be enough cash to sustain the company until it gets more revenue pumping in.

  North American Oil & Gas Corp (OTCBB: NAMG) Has Announced a Completed Strategic Review

  Small cap North American Oil & Gas Corp is focused on the prolific San Joaquin Basin in onshore California with existing foundation assets targeting exploration and exploitation of high impact oil and gas projects located near infrastructure and existing discoveries. On Friday, North American Oil & Gas Corp fell 1.05% to $0.940 for a market cap of $56.52 million plus NAMG is up 276% since November 2012 according to Google Finance.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Cygam Energy Inc (CYG.V)

CYGAM Energy Inc., an oil and gas company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas permits, primarily in Italy, Tunisia, and the Mediterranean Basin. It holds various interests in 7 exploratory permits in Italy and 3 exploratory permits in Tunisia encompassing approximately 2.7 million gross acres. The company is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: ProPhase Labs Inc.(PRPH)

ProPhase Labs, Inc. engages in the research, development, manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sale of over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedy and consumer products, natural base health products, and other supplements and cosmeceuticals in the United States. Its OTC offerings include Cold-EEZE, a zinc gluconate glycine product to reduce the duration and severity of the common cold symptoms; Kids-EEZE soft chews to treat chest congestion, cough/cold, or allergies; and Organix Complete cough/cold drops for coughs and sore throats due to the common cold. The company sells its consumer health products through national wholesalers and distributors, as well as independent and chain food, drug and mass merchandise stores, and pharmacies. ProPhase Labs, Inc. has a joint venture with Phusion Laboratories, LLC for the development and commercialization of non-prescription remedies using patented TPM technology. It also manufactures private label lozenges for retail customers; and man ufactures, markets, and distributes a range of homeopathic and health products. The company was formerly known as The Quigley Corporation and changed its name to ProPhase Labs, Inc. in May 2010. ProPhase Labs, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Taper Fears Hit A Tired Market

The release of the FOMC minutes raised the possibility that the Fed may start reducing its bond buying in the next few months. The yields on the 10-year T-note rose sharply to levels last seen in September.

The selling in the stock market was not heavy yet but further "taper tantrums", as I mentioned in August, should create another good buying opportunity in the stock market. The small-cap Russell 2000 Index continues to look the most vulnerable, and despite the S&P 500′s longest losing streak in eight weeks, it has not generated any daily sell signals.

The higher rates hit the DJ Utility Average the hardest as it was down 1.4% while the Nasdaq Biotech Index bucked the trend. Gold stocks were hit hard as the bull trap closed over a week ago. Gold is getting oversold and should get an oversold bounce in the next week.

In early trading, the futures are showing nice gains, and without convincing sell signals, there is no reason to turn bearish on the market. Still, this is a market to watch closely as the reversals on Monday and Wednesday are signs of a tired market. A sharply lower weekly close could lead to further profit-taking next week and here are some levels you should be watching.

Top Canadian Companies To Invest In Right Now

Click to Enlarge

Chart Analysis: The daily chart of the Spyder Trust (SPY) shows that is still well above the rising 20-day EMA at $176.97.

Jefferies Has Found Three Stocks That Are Top Leveraged Buyout Candidates

Over the past year and a half, Wall Street has seen increased leveraged buyout (LBO) activity within the specialty retail space. The most recent takeout announcement back in May was for Rue 21. Incidentally, that may not work out so well, as Rue21 has had horrible same-store sales since the deal was announced.

That deal notwithstanding, the Jefferies team believes the group remains on the radar for future LBOs, given the companies’ significant cash balances, little to no debt with the exception of their leases, and business models with consistent cash generation. In a new report they use LBO analysis as an equity valuation tool to analyze the 23 specialty retailers in their coverage universe. They have boiled down the candidates to three that look like they could go the leveraged buyout route. They also highlight three additional stocks that screen extremely high in their analysis.

Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) posts a staggering 31% internal rate of return (IRR). This is one of the top metrics that a leverage buyout firm will look for. This compares with an average IRR for specialty retailers of 16%. The company is a specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories with principal target markets of 14- to 17-year-old women and men. It operates 975 stores in the United States and Canada. The company also has a smaller brand — 145 stores — for younger kids, P.S. from Aeropostale, that serves four to 12 year olds.

Aeropostale posted an operating loss of $43.8 million, compared to a tiny profit in 2012′s second quarter. Cost of sales jumped from 75% to 82%, and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense increased as a percentage of sales from 25.2% to 27.5%. This stock ranks at the top of the Jefferies list. It jumped last week when private equity firm Sycamore Partners disclosed buying an 8% share in the company. Sycamore said it bought 6.25 million shares of Aeropostale at a cost of $54 million because the stock is "an attractive investment." It also said in a regulatory filing that It plans to talk to the company's management, its board and other stockholders and may consider various actions. The Thomson/First Call price target for the stock is posted at $10, with a high target of $19. The stock closed Thursday at $9.59.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) has an eye-popping 25% IRR. The company operates as an apparel and accessories retailer in the United States and Canada. The company’s retail stores offer denims, sweaters, fleece, outerwear, graphic T-shirts, footwear and accessories for 15- to 25-year-old men and women under the American Eagle Outfitters brand name, as well as intimates and personal care products for girls under the Aerie brand name. As of February 2, 2013, the company operated 893 American Eagle Outfitters stores and 151 Aerie stand-alone stores, as well as 49 franchised stores in 13 countries. American Eagle common shares currently trade at a 37% discount to its conservatively estimated private market value, which represents significant upside of 55%. The consensus price target for the stock is $16, and the high target is posted at $20. The stock closed Thursday at $14.24.

Body Central Corp. (NASDAQ: BODY) also comes in with an off-the-charts IRR of 26%. The company reported a dreadful second quarter, which hammered the share price. Body Central operates as a specialty retailer of young women’s apparel and accessories in the South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. It operates stores under the Body Central and Body Shop banners, as well as a direct business comprising its Body Central catalog and e-commerce website at bodycentral.com. The company’s stores sell tops, dresses, bottoms, jewelry, accessories and shoes, primarily under its Body Central and Lipstick labels. The lower the share price goes, the more attractive the stock becomes. The consensus price target is $11, with the high target at $12. The stock closed Thursday at $6.43.

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Jefferies also highlighted three other names in its report that also ranked extremely high when run through its metrics screen. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), Francesca's Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FRAN) and Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA) could all draw the attention of private equity firms looking for a specialty retail play.

Since 2010, 11 retail LBOs have taken place, including such high-profile names as J. Crew, Hot Topic and Cole Hann. It is pretty clear that private equity firms see a ton of unlocked value in the right retail names. The Jefferies top three certainly make sense on the basis of what is attractive from a takeover standpoint. For investors who wish to take a shot, even if a deal does not happen, the stocks are attractively priced and may offer upside either way.

Ask an Expert: ‘Tis the season for sales focus

Q: I was hoping you could give me some advice about how to take advantage of the holiday season. I am new to business and this will be my first Christmas where I will have a store. -- Jill

A: You are smart to be thinking about this because not only are people in a shopping frame of mind this time of year (obviously), they are in a shopping frame of mind this year. First sign: The holiday shopping season is beginning earlier than ever this year with ever more stores having sales on Thanksgiving (Boo! Bad call!). Consider these stats, too:

• Buzzfeed says that more than 33% of us will go shopping on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving, and 42% of those people say it is their favorite day of year to shop

• IBM reported that shopping on Cyber Monday (the following Monday after Thanksgiving) jumped by more than 30% last year.

With the economy continuing to chug along just fine (thank you, very much) it would behoove any small business to get ready now for customers who are looking and ready to spend. Here's how:

Have a sale: This is key. If the good news is that people are looking to spend, the bad news is that there is a ton of competition out there hunting for their dollar. So you simply have to play the sale game if you want to be in the hunt.

But let me add this caveat/idea: Don't have a Black Friday sale; concede that day to the big boys. Instead, plan a sale for later in the week, or December. Have a "Super Tuesday" sale or something, but whatever it is, plan it ahead of time and time it for when there is less competition.

Also, be sure to put on sale things people want. The loss leader strategy works because it does in fact lead to more sales if done right. The discount on the cool item they love gets them in the door, and it is your job then to entice them to stick around and buy other items.

Once your sale is planned, get the word out. Have signs in your store announcing it, blast it out via your social media and e-newsletter! , post it on your site and blog, advertise it, etc. Consider too offering a "free gift" in your promotions – people love free.

Finally, order enough inventory to handle the expected rush, and be sure to make returns stress-free: "We have a no hassle return policy!"

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Make it easy: If you walk into any market these days, it is no secret that gift cards are all the rage. That is a bandwagon to jump onto, too. Offering gift cards or gift certificates for your store makes for an easy sale.

Be 'brandtastic': People love brands, they feel confident buying name brands, and they are willing to spend more to get a brand. Moral of the story? You know.

Get your site ready: People are, in increasing numbers, shopping online. That is true for the big box customers and it is true for your customers as well – whether you realize it or not or take advantage of it or not.

So let's take advantage of it. Upload new pictures and content to your site. Put brands on the homepage. Post some testimonials.

Also, if you don't have a mobile version of your site, you should, because the mobile phone is how we all get our info these days, and is also what people use to compare and shop. Creating a mobile website is not difficult either. Do a search and you will find many providers with affordable, elegant solutions.

Say thanks: Finally, the other important way to ring in the holidays is to be sure to thank the people who make your business possible (using gifts, words, or deeds) – customers, clients, employees, partners, vendors, friends, associates, mates, and so on.

And so to you, loyal and new readers alike who make this column possible, my sincere thanks.

Happy holidays to all!

Today's tip: When teenagers at McDonald's ask if you would like fries with that order, are they being polite? No, they are upselling, as they have ! been taug! ht to do. Upselling is a fine way for you to increase your sales this holiday season. Undoubtedly you have plenty of items for sale that dovetail nicely with other items. Kindly ask your customers if they know about the second item – it's good customer service and good business.

Steve Strauss is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship. His column appears Mondays. E-mail Steve at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. An archive of his columns is here. His website is TheSelfEmployed.

Will BlackBerry Find a Bid?

With shares of BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) trading around $8, is BBRY an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework.

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

BlackBerry is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software, and services, it provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to information such as email, voice, instant messaging, SMS, Internet, intranet-based applications, and browsing. Its products and services feature the BlackBerry wireless solution, the Research In Motion Wireless Handheld product line, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, software development tools, and other software and hardware.

BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis was co-CEO of BlackBerry until last year, still owns a considerable stake in the company, and has been approaching private equity firms Blackstone (NYSE:BX) and Carlyle (NYSE:CG) about a bid for the company, according to sources who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. Lazaridis's 6 percent stake in BlackBerry and deep knowledge of the company would be useful to the various private equity firms interested in BlackBerry, although Friday's earnings report, which revealed the company made half what analysts had been expecting in revenue for the second fiscal quarter, could complicate the quick sale BlackBerry had been hoping for.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Mixed

BlackBerry stock has not performed well in the last several months. The stock is currently trading at lows for the year, so it may still need time before it finds value. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, BlackBerry is trading slight below its key averages, which signals neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

Source: Thinkorswim

Taking a look at the implied volatility and implied volatility skew levels of BlackBerry options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
BlackBerry Options	94.59%	93%	90%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
October Options	Steep	Average
November Options	Steep	Average

As of Monday, there is average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

E = Earnings Are Decreasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on BlackBerry’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for BlackBerry look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	86.87%	-78.23%	-96.08%	-171.43%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	9.13%	-41.26%	-47.21%	-31.07%
Earnings Reaction	-25.20%	-0.89%	-22.73%	5.04%

BlackBerry has seen decreasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have not been happy with BlackBerry’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has BlackBerry stock done relative to its peers, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Nokia (NYSE:NOK), and sector?

	BlackBerry	Apple	Google	Nokia	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-30.80%	-8.28%	25.45%	63.54%	18.64%

BlackBerry has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

BlackBerry provides innovative wireless communication products to consumers and companies worldwide. It is being reported that BlackBerry’s co-founder has been approaching private equity firms about a bid for the company. The stock hasn’t done well in recent times and is now trading at lows for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues are decreasing, which has led to disappointed investors in the company. Relative to its peers and sector, BlackBerry has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what BlackBerry does this coming quarter.

Opening Print and S&P Levels to Watch

We used to have an old saying that you can always come in late the day of a Fed announcement, but that may not be the case today. As unpredictable as the stock markets are, the Fed can be even more unpredictable. The Asian markets closed mixed and Europe is trading higher after a quiet night in the global markets. This morning's economic calendar starts with the mortgage applications, housing starts and the API.

What we know for sure is that the E-mini S&P futures (CME ticker ESZ) has been on a tear. As of yesterday's close the S&P futures have closed higher 9 out of the first 11 trading days in September and up 7 out of the last 8. Instead of increased volatility and trade leading up to the two-day Fed meeting, we are actually seeing a lull.

Yesterday's 1.4 million ESZs traded sounds low, but when you take out the 400,000 ESZ traded in Globex pre-open and the 550k ESU/Z spreads (S&P e-mini spread), the total day session volume drops down to an astonishingly low 450,000 contracts traded.

S&P 1700, Dow 16,000 and NASDAQ 3800 are all considered big figures. Currently the ESZ has rallied back to its all-time contract highs but has failed to hold above the big figure. What we do know is that all the major indices are trading at or near their respective highs.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed below 14 yesterday. The majority of the floor traders we spoke to said they felt the Fed would announce a $10bil taper and that the public has already accepted the idea.

Our view:

Let's face it, the markets are not going to like it when the headlines hit the tape that the Fed is pulling back from QE3. That said, the locals are right, the public and trading community have accepted the idea of the Fed pulling back, but this leaves the question, with the S&P up so much in the last two weeks, do they sell the news anyway?

Then the S&P, like all the other markets around the world, will be waiting on the Fed's next move. If the Fed decides to do nothing the S&P will rally to 1725. If the Fed announces a larger pullback from the program the bottom will fall out.

Our call is to sit on our hands. We want to see how things play out. Remember that not trading is a position. The third possibility is what we call the Fed head fake, meaning that the initial headlines tend to push the S&P initially in one direction. You're supposed to fade the move. To do that, proper timing and a good feel for the market are essential.

As always, use stops and keep an eye on the 10-handle rule. Don't forget to catch MrTopStep on The Closing Print video. We report directly from the SPX pits, wrapping up the day and positioning for trade tomorrow.

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Hammer of the Gods: Yellen Speaks, Stocks Hit Record Highs

Last week, Thor: The Dark World dominated at the box office, earnings $85.7 million in its opening weekend. And with no blockbusters scheduled to hit the theaters this week, it looks like Thor could top the box office for a second weekend in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has a bit of a hot streak going as well. It gained 1.3% this week to 15,961.70, the second consecutive week that closed at a record high. The S&P 500 rose 1.6% to 1,798.18, also a record high. The S&P 500 has closed at a record high 36 times this year, the Dow 38 times.

S&P Capital IQ’s Howard Silverblatt puts those numbers in context:

There have been 1,022 new closing highs since 1928, and I've been at S&P for 548 of them, 53.6%. From 1930 through 1953 there were no new closing highs.

Breadth is near a modern day record; YTD 449 are up and 50 are down, the record since 1980 is 458 up, set in 2003.

Given the broad gains, and the very public new highs (S&P 500 and DJIA), sideline investors are most likely feeling the pressure to get in.  Chasing returns is not a good reason to invest, but when enough do it, the short-term impact is more buying and higher prices. If the market stays anywhere near its current level, we may see higher inflow and a corresponding short-term uptick in prices.

Stocks got there boost this week from Fed Chair-to-be Janet Yellen, who explained why she thought tapering had been beneficial. RBS’s Alberto Gallo considers the downsides of quantitative easing:

Janet Yellen’s testimony yesterday was predictably dovish, causing risk assets to rally globally and pushing the S&P 500 to an all-time high. The hearing reaffirmed her commitment to further easing, to avoiding tapering QE too soon, and also to strong forward guidance to keep front-end rates anchored low. Yellen noted that the benefits of QE still exceeded the costs, but we are increasingly concerned about markets addicted to liquidity from unconventional central bank policy. In the US, QE worked to avoid deflation and capital flight, and has kept consumption stable. However relying on QE has reduced the pressure on the government to implement critical reforms to stimulate growth, such as changes to entitlements, health care reform and state spending. There are other side-effects of QE: it has exacerbated increasing income inequality. The top 1% of Americans now earn 20% of US income compared to 10% in 1860 and 8% in 1774. QE can also generate asset bubbles. For example the US HY market shows signs of overvaluation according to our Junk Bubble Indicator, as average credit quality declines, issuance of cov-lite loans increases and M&A and LBO activity rise, similar to 2007.

Combine Yellen’s dovishness–if it really is dovishness–with idiosyncratic company news, and some stocks were guaranteed to take off. Iron Mountain (IRM), for instance, gained 12% this week after the IRS said it had ended a working group considering REIT conversions and would now turn to its application. Pitney Bowes (PBI), meanwhile, rose 11% this week after activist investor Jana Partners revealed it had accumulated a large stake in the stock. Macy’s (M) advanced 11% after reporting much better earnings than forecast by analysts. Marathon Petroleum (MPC) finished the week up 10% as the difference between the price of oil here in the U.S. and the price abroad widened. Rounding out the top-five: J.C. Penney (JCP). The beaten-down retailer rose 9.7% this week, getting a boost from positive analyst comments and hedge-fund purchases.

When even J.C. Penney is rallying, you have to wonder when the hammer will finally come down.

Big milestone: U.S. producing more oil than it …

The United States tiptoed closer to energy independence last month when — for the first time in nearly two decades — it produced more crude oil than it imported, federal officials said Wednesday.

The nation has been moving toward this milestone, because two trends are converging. Domestic oil production is at a 24-year high while foreign oil imports are at a 17-year low. The result: production exceeded net imports for the first time since February 1995, although the nation still imports 35% of the petroleum it uses.

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Production has been booming partly because of hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which extracts oil by blasting water mixed with sand and chemicals underground to break apart shale rock. Meanwhile, consumption has been falling as high gasoline prices have reduced how much people drive and more efficient cars and buildings have also lowered energy use.

The White House sought to take partial credit for this "transformation," noting President Obama's near-doubling of fuel-efficiency standards for new cars and light trucks by model year 2025. Spokesman Jay Carney said this fuel-efficiency standard has lowered both energy use and carbon pollution.

"We do not need to choose between growing the economy and cutting pollution," Carney said, noting that economic output is up while U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are down. Carney said Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy is promoting electric vehicles and biofuels as well as increased oil production, adding the administration is making more federal lands available for development.

The oil industry said Obama hardly deserves credit. "Domestic oil and natural gas production is only on the rise, thanks to development on state and private lands," the American Petroleum Institute's Kyle Isakower said in a statement. "In areas controlled by the federal government, production has actually ! fallen on President Obama's watch."

The non-partisan Congressional Research Service reported in March that on federal lands, oil production fell 6% and natural gas production fell 21% from the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2012.

Energy experts welcomed the production-exceeds-consumption milestone. "It's a big deal," said Jim Burkhard, head of oil market research for Denver-based consulting firm IHS, noting U.S. oil production had been falling for nearly 40 years until 2008, when it started climbing. He said high global prices created demand for oil that fracking has been able to fill while Obama's higher fuel-efficiency standards — along with steep gas prices — lowered use.

Some warn the oil boom might not last. "It's essential we continue to cut our oil use via modern, more efficient vehicles," said Daniel Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress, a progressive-oriented research group. "We must also grow investments in cleaner, non-oil-based transportation, including electric vehicles and public transit."

The Energy Information Administration, which revealed the milestone in its "Short-Term energy Outlook," also reported that gas prices are falling. It said the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $3.27 per gallon Monday — from $3.68 July 22. It expects pump prices will average $3.24 per gallon for this year's fourth quarter.

Contributing: David M. Jackson

The Meltdown of Small Cap Pain Stock Zalicus Inc (ZLCS): Now What? IBB & XBI

Yesterday, shares of small cap pain stock Zalicus Inc (NASDAQ: ZLCS) caused recent investors some extreme plain when shares plunged 72.28% (but are still up 100% since the start of the year) after drug candidate Z160 failed two mid-stage clinical trials – meaning its probably time to take an objective look at what to do with this stock (as it intends to focus on its pain treatment Z944) plus take a look at the performance of biotech industry benchmarks like the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI).

What is Zalicus Inc?

Small cap Zalicus Zalicus Inc discovers and develops treatments for pain. Its internal pipeline includes or had included Z160, an N-type calcium channel blocker for chronic neuropathic pain and Z944, a T-type calcium channel blocker for acute and inflammatory pain. Zalicus Inc also has a pre-clinical Ion channel program, which is advancing lead candidates for potential clinical development in pain; along with partnered programs in other therapeutic areas as it receives royalty and milestone revenue from both Covidien/Mallinckrodt Inc. for Exalgo (hydromorphone HCl) extended-release tablets for the management of moderate to severe pain in opioid tolerant patients, and from Sanofi/Fovea Pharmaceuticals for candidate Prednisporin™/FOV1101, a topical ocular drug candidate to treat inflammatory ocular diseases such as persistent allergic conjunctivitis.

For reference or benchmarking purposes, the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF tracks the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index through 119 holdings while the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF tracks the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index through 58 holdings.

What You Need to Know or be Warned About With Zalicus Inc

On Monday, Zalicus Inc announced that while Z160 was shown to be generally safe and well-tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events, it failed to meet the primary endpoint in either of the Phase 2 clinical studies in patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy (LSR), a condition that causes pain in the lower back, and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) or nerve pain that follows shingles. Based on those results (actually, there was no real detailed explanation as to why what looked like a promising drug had failed), Zalicus Inc will be discontinuing the Z160 program to focus efforts on Z944 as it reported positive results for a Phase 1b clinical study at the beginning of the month.

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It should be mentioned that Z944 is an oral non-opioid painkiller and that Research into non-opioid medicines has become more important as they offer an alternative to potentially-addictive drugs such as morphine and oxycodone. However, Z944 won't be into the Phase II stage until next year.

A look at Zalicus Inc's financials reveals revenues of $3.40M (quarter ending Sept 30, 2013), $3.89M, $3.67M, $3.79M and $3.52M for the past five quarters plus net losses of $10.53M (quarter ending Sept 30, 2013), $10.56M, $8.05M, $8.29M and $12.17M. At the end of the last quarter, Zalicus Inc had $18.12 million in cash and short term investments to cover $16.25 million in current liabilities and $20.96 million in total liabilities. To make matters worst, what revenues Zalicus Inc does have coming in could be impacted because third party manufacturers will have the right to sell generic version Exalgo at the end of this week.

So while Zalicus Inc will have lower expenses with the discontinuation of Z160, the company might be needing to raise some cash as early as early next year, but it does have a financing agreement already in place with Lincoln Park Capital where management has the right to sell up to $25 million worth of common stock at prevailing market prices.

Share Performance: Zalicus Inc vs. IBB & XBI

On Monday, small cap Zalicus Inc sank 72.28% to $1.30 (ZLCS has a 52 week trading range of $1.15 to $8.28 a share) for a market cap of $29.22 million plus the stock is still up 100% over the past year, up 170.8% over the past year and up 128.1% over the past five years. Here is a look at the performance of Zalicus Inc verses that of biotech benchmarks the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF:

As you can see from the above chart, Zalicus Inc was handily beating benchmarks the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF up until 2012.

Finally, here is a look at the technical charts for all three: 

The Bottom Line. If small cap pain stock Zalicus Inc was a risky speculative bet with two drugs in trials, its an even riskier and more speculative bet with just one drug to fall back on. In other words, recent investors might want to take the tax deduction for any painful losses while longer term investors should kick themselves for not getting out earlier this fall. 

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 has risen by 25% over the last year, and many top shares are beginning to look quite expensive.

I'm on the hunt for companies that still look cheap, based on their long-term earnings potential. To help me hunt down these bargains, I'm using a special version of the price to earnings ratio called the PE10, which is one of my favorite tools for value investing.

The PE10 compares the current share price with average earnings per share for the last 10 years. This smoothes out any short-term volatility and lets you see whether a company looks cheap compared to its long-term earnings.

Today, I'm going to take a look at the PE10 for the oil and gas supermajor�Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB  ) (NYSE: RDS-B  )

Is Shell a buy?
Over the last year, Shell's share price has risen by just 8.8%, leaving it well behind the FTSE 100, which has gained nearly 25%. However, as the largest company in the FTSE 100 -- with a market capitalization of 拢279 billion -- Shell's main purpose is to generate a reliable dividend income for its shareholders, not capital growth.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: ONEOK Partners L.P.(OKS)

ONEOK Partners, L.P. engages in the gathering, processing, storage, and transportation of natural gas in the United States. The company?s Natural Gas Gathering and Processing segment gathers and processes natural gas produced from crude oil and natural gas wells located in the Mid-Continent region; and gathers natural gas in the Williston Basin, which spans portions of Montana and North Dakota, and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Its Natural Gas Pipelines segment primarily owns and operates regulated natural gas transmission pipelines, natural gas storage facilities, and natural gas gathering systems for non-processed gas. It also provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services. This segment?s interstate natural gas pipeline assets transport natural gas through FERC-regulated interstate natural gas pipelines in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. In addition, it transports intra state natural gas through its assets in Oklahoma; and owns underground natural gas storage facilities in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. Its Natural Gas Liquids segment gathers, fractionates, and treats natural gas liquids (NGLs), as well as stores NGL products primarily in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. This segment owns FERC-regulated natural gas liquids gathering and distribution pipelines in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado; terminal and storage facilities in Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois; and FERC-regulated natural gas liquids distribution and refined petroleum products pipelines in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana that connect its Mid-Continent assets with Midwest markets, including Chicago, Illinois. ONEOK Partners GP serves as the general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as Northern Border Partners, L.P. and changed its name to ONEOK Partners, L.P. in May 2006. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  In honor of Father's Day, Ron and James share the best advice their fathers ever gave them and discuss why they're looking at shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) and ONEOK Partners (NYSE: OKS  ) .

• [By Jim Jubak, Senior Markets Editor, MoneyShow.com]

  If my suspicion is correct, right now is a good time to pick up shares of dividend-paying companies and units of MLPs and REITs. After the drubbing dealt out to income assets in the last month, it's relatively easy to find dividend stocks that pay 5.24%, as Teco Energy (TE) did at the August 23 close or MLPs paying 5.72%, as ONEOK Partners (OKS) did on that date.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: Magnum Hunter Resources Corp (MHR)

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (Magnum Hunter), incorporated in June 1997, is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration for and the exploitation, acquisition, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, primarily in the states of West Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Kentucky and North Dakota and in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Company is also engaged in midstream operations, including the gathering of natural gas through its ownership and operation of a gas gathering system in West Virginia and Ohio, named as its Eureka Hunter Pipeline System. The Company�� portfolio includes Marcellus/Utica Shales in West Virginia and Ohio, the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas, and the Williston Basin/Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Saskatchewan, Canada. As of December 31, 2011, its proved reserves were 44.9 million barrels of oil equivalent and were approximately 48% oil. In August 2012, the Company closed on the acquisition of 1,885 net mineral acres located in Atascosa County, Texas. With this acquisition, the Company has approximately 7,278 gross acres and 5,212 net acres located in Atascosa County, Texas.

On May 3, 2011, it acquired NuLoch Resources Inc. In April 2011, Triad Hunter, its wholly owned subsidiary, acquired certain Marcellus Shale oil and gas properties located in Wetzel County, West Virginia. On April 13, 2011, it acquired NGAS Resources, Inc. In February 2012, Triad Hunter acquired leasehold mineral interests located primarily in Noble County, Ohio.

Eagle Ford Shale Properties

Eagle Ford Shale is located in Gonzales, Lavaca, Atascosa and Fayette Counties, Texas. The Eagle Ford Shale properties are held primarily by its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Ford Hunter, Inc. As of February 27, 2012, the Company�� Eagle Ford Shale properties included approximately 54,000 gross (24,000 net) acres primarily targeting the Eagle Ford Shale oil window, principally in Gonzales and Lavaca Counties, Texas. As of December 31! , 2011, proved reserves attributable to the Eagle Ford Shale properties were 5.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 94% were oil and 24% were classified as proved developed producing, and 5.4 million barrels of oil equivalent. As of February 27, 2012, its Eagle Ford Shale properties included 18 gross (10 net) productive wells, of which it operated 14.

Williston Basin Properties

The Williston Basin is spread across North Dakota, Montana and parts of southern Canada. The basin produces oil and natural gas from a range of producing horizons, including the Madison, Bakken, Three Forks/Sanish and Red River formations. As of February 27, 2012, the Company�� Williston Basin properties included approximately 413,003 gross (122,561 net) acres. As of December 31, 2011, proved reserves attributable to the Williston Basin properties were 8.9 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 94% were oil and 42% were classified as proved developed producing, and 8.8 million barrels of oil equivalent. As of February 27, 2012, the Williston Basin properties included approximately 288 gross (98.9 net) productive wells.

The Williston Hunter United States property acreage is located in Divide and Burke Counties, North Dakota, with its primary production from the Bakken Shale and Three Forks/Sanish formations. As of February 27, 2012, its Williston Hunter United States properties included approximately 36,355 net acres in the Williston Basin in North Dakota. As of February 27, 2012, the Williston Hunter United States properties included approximately 105 gross (9.5 net) productive wells. The Company�� Williston Hunter Canada property is located primarily in Enchant, near Vauxhall, Alberta, Canada, at Balsam near Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada and at Tableland, near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada. As of February 27 2012, the Williston Hunter Canada properties included approximately 107,270 gross acres (79,693 net acres). At December 31, 2011, the Williston Hunter Canada prope! rties inc! luded approximately 65 gross productive wells. As of December 31, 2011, Williston Hunter Canada had 41,797 gross (32,944 net) acres of land that is prospective for Bakken and Three Forks/Sanish oil in the Tableland field. The Enchant property consists of 10,720 acres. As of December 31, 2011, 48 wells (44.1 net) were producing on this acreage. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned approximately 43% average interest in 15 fields located in the Williston Basin in North Dakota consisting of 151 wells, and approximately 15,000 gross (6,450 net) acres.

Appalachian Basin Properties

The properties acquired in the NGAS acquisition are held by its wholly owned subsidiary, Magnum Hunter Production, Inc. As of February 27, 2012, its Appalachian Basin properties included a total of approximately 484,412 gross (412,323 net) acres, located primarily in the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale and southern Appalachian Basin. At December 31, 2011, proved reserves attributable to its Appalachian Basin properties were 29.9 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 27% were oil and 59% were classified as proved developed producing, and 30.2 million barrels of oil equivalent. As of February 27, 2012, the Appalachian Basin properties included approximately 3,112 gross (2,257 net) productive wells, of which we operated approximately 88%.

As of February 27, 2012, it had approximately 58,426 net acres in the Marcellus Shale area of West Virginia and Ohio. The Company�� Marcellus Shale property is located principally in Tyler, Pleasants, Doddridge, Wetzel and Lewis Counties, West Virginia and in Washington, Monroe and Noble Counties, Ohio. As of February 27, 2012, the Company operated 33 vertical Marcellus Shale wells and 16 horizontal Marcellus Shale wells. As of February 27, 2012, approximately 63% of its leases in the Marcellus Shale area were held by production.

Other Properties

The Company�� East Chalkley field is located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.! The fiel! d consists of approximately 714 gross acres (443 net acres). This developmental project is an exploitation of bypassed oil reserves remaining in a natural gas field located at depths between 9,300 and 9,400 feet. As of February 27, 2012, the Company operated the East Chalkley field and owned an approximately 62% working interest and an approximately 42.7% net revenue interest in the field. Other properties of the Company are located in Nacogdoches, Colorado, Lavaca, Bee, Fayette and Wharton Counties, Texas and Desoto Parish, Louisiana. As of February 27, 2012, these properties consisted of an aggregate of approximately 7,050 gross (1,188 net) acres.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  I recently took a deeper look at three important numbers from Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR  ) long-delayed annual report. Today, I want to drill down even deeper into the report (which can be accessed�here���link opens a PDF), and look at some areas that investors often overlook when considering an energy stock. In this case, I want to look at the company's "hidden" assets.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  It's been a tough year for investors of Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR  ) . As I write this, shares are down about 18% on the year, though shares had been down by more than 37% after the company�announced that it was ditching its auditor. While the stock has slowly recovered, the company has three major action items to accomplish if it wants to win back investors.

Top Safest Stocks For 2014: Total Nigeria PLC (TOTAL)

Total Nigeria PLC is a Nigeria-based company engaged in the marketing of petroleum and liquefied petroleum gas. The Company operates in three business lines, namely White Products (Retail and General Trade), Lubricants & Special Products, and Aviation fuels. The Company�� products portfolio includes fuels, lubricants, gas, insecticides, car-care products and bitumen. (Nigeria) PLC operates through a network of 500 retail outlets, five LPG bottling plants and three lubricant blending plants. Total (Nigeria) PLC�� major shareholder is Total SA.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: HollyFrontier Corp (HFC)

HollyFrontier Corporation (HollyFrontier), formerly Holly Corporation, incorporated in 1947, is a petroleum refiner, which produces light products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, specialty lubricant products, and specialty and modified asphalt. HollyFrontier operates in two segments: Refining and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (HEP). The Refining segment includes the operations of its El Dorado, Tulsa, Navajo, Cheyenne and Woods Cross Refineries and NK Asphalt. The HEP segment involves all of the operations of HEP. The Company merged with Frontier Oil Corporation (Frontier), on July 1, 2011. On November 9, 2011, HEP acquired from the Company certain tankage, loading rack and crude receiving assets located at its El Dorado and Cheyenne Refineries.

Refinery Operations

The Company�� refinery operations serve the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. HollyFrontier owned and operated five refineries having an aggregate crude capacity of 443,000 barrels per day, as of December 31, 2011. During the year ended December 31, 2011, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and specialty lubricants represented 48%, 32%, 5% and 3%, respectively of its total refinery sales volumes. Its refineries are located in El Dorado, Kansas, (the El Dorado Refinery), Tulsa, Oklahoma (the Tulsa Refineries), which consists two production facilities, the Tulsa West and East facilities, a petroleum refinery in Artesia, New Mexico, which operates in conjunction with crude, vacuum distillation and other facilities situated 65 miles away in Lovington, New Mexico (the Navajo Refinery), Cheyenne, Wyoming (the Cheyenne Refinery) and Woods Cross, Utah (the Woods Cross Refinery). Light products are shipped by product pipelines or are made available at various points by exchanges with other parties and are made available to customers through truck loading facilities at the refinery and at terminals.

The Company�� principal customers for gasoline include other refin! ers, convenience store chains, independent marketers, and retailers. Diesel fuel is sold to other refiners, truck stop chains, wholesalers, and railroads. Jet fuel is sold for military and commercial airline use. Specialty lubricant products are sold in both commercial and specialty markets. LPG�� are sold to LPG wholesalers and LPG retailers. HollyFrontier produces and purchases asphalt products that are sold to governmental entities, paving contractors or manufacturers. Asphalt is also blended into fuel oil and is either sold locally or is shipped to the Gulf Coast. Tulsa West facility is 85,000 barrels per stream day refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It owns Tulsa East facility is 75,000 barrels per stream day refinery that is also located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In September 2011, HEP completed the Tulsa interconnecting pipeline project which facilitated a combined crude processing rate of 125,000 barrels per stream day. The El Dorado Refinery is a coking refinery.

The El Dorado Refinery is located on 1,100 acres south of El Dorado, Kansas and is a refinery. The principal process units at the El Dorado Refinery consists of crude and vacuum distillation; hydrodesulfurization of naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and gas oil streams; isomerization; catalytic reforming; aromatics recovery; catalytic cracking; alkylation; delayed coking; hydrogen production, and sulfur recovery. Supporting infrastructure includes maintenance shops, warehouses, office buildings, a laboratory, utility facilities, and a wastewater plant (Supporting Infrastructure) and logistics assets owned by HEP, which includes approximately 3.7 million barrels of tankage, a truck sales terminal, and a propane terminal. The facility processes approximately 135,000 barrels per stream day of crude oil with the capability. The Tulsa West facility is located on a 750-acre site in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa West facility consists of crude distillation (with light ends recovery), n! aphtha hy! drodesulfurization, catalytic reforming, propane de-asphalting, lubes extraction, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) dewaxing, delayed coker and butane splitter units.

Tulsa West facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains), and an additional 1.2 million barrels of tank capacity was out of service, as of December 31, 2011. The Tulsa East facility is located on a 466-acre site also in Tulsa, Oklahoma situated along the Arkansas River. The principal process units at the Tulsa East facility consists of crude distillation, naphtha hydrodesulfurization, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), isomerization, catalytic reforming, alkylation, scanfiner, diesel hydrodesulfurization and sulfur units. The Tulsa East facility�� Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 3.75 million barrels of tankage capacity on the refinery�� premises, of which approximately 3.4 million barrels of tankage is owned by HEP. The primary markets for the El Dorado Refinery�� refined products are Colorado and the Plains States, which include the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The gasoline, diesel and jet fuel produced by the El Dorado Refinery are primarily shipped via pipeline to terminals for distribution by truck or rail. The Company ships product via the NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. Pipeline to the northern Plains States, via the Magellan Pipeline Company, L.P. (Magellan) mountain pipeline to Denver, Colorado, and on the Magellan mid-continent pipeline to the Plains States. The Tulsa Refineries��principal customers for conventional gasoline include Sinclair Oil Company (Sinclair), other refiners, convenience store chains, independent marketers and retailers. Sinclair and railroads are the primary diesel customers. Jet fuel is sold primarily for commercial use. The refinery�� asphalt and roofing flux products are sold via truck or! railcar ! directly from the refineries or to customers throughout the Mid-Continent region primarily to paving contractors and manufacturers of roofing products. HollyFrontier�� Tulsa West facility also produces specialty lubricant products sold in both commercial and specialty markets throughout the United States and to customers with operations in Central America and South America.

The El Dorado Refinery is located about 125 miles, and the Tulsa Refineries are located approximately 50 miles from Cushing, Oklahoma, a crude oil pipeline trading and storage hub. Both its Mid-Continent Refineries are connected via pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma. In addition, the Company has a transportation services agreement to transport up to 38,000 barrels per calendar day of crude oil on the Spearhead Pipeline from Flanagan, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma, enabling it to transport Canadian crude oil to Cushing for subsequent shipment to either of the Company�� Mid-Continent Refineries or to its Navajo Refinery. The Navajo Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 100,000 barrels per stream day.The Navajo Refinery�� Artesia, New Mexico facility is located on a 561-acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, FCC, residuum oil supercritical extraction, (ROSE) (solvent deasphalter), hydrofluoric (HF) alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, mild hydrocracking, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 2 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.

The Artesia facility is operated in conjunction with a refining facility located in Lovington, New Mexico, approximately 65 miles east of Artesia. The principal equipment at the Lovington facility consists of a crude distillation unit and associated vacuum distillation units. Supporting Infrastructure includes 1.1 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of! tankage ! are owned by HEP. The Lovington facility processes crude oil into intermediate products that are transported to Artesia by means of three intermediate pipelines owned by HEP. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Navajo Refinery primarily serves the southwestern United States market. The Company�� products are shipped through HEP�� pipelines from Artesia, New Mexico to El Paso, Texas and from El Paso to Albuquerque and to Mexico via products pipeline systems owned by Plains and from El Paso to Tucson and Phoenix via a products pipeline system owned by Kinder Morgan�� subsidiary, SFPP, L.P. (SFPP). In addition, the Navajo Refinery transports petroleum products to markets in northwest New Mexico and to Moriarty, New Mexico, near Albuquerque, via HEP�� pipelines running from Artesia to San Juan County, New Mexico.

HollyFrontier has refined product storage through its pipelines and terminals agreement with HEP at terminals in El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Artesia, Moriarty and Bloomfield, New Mexico. The Company uses a common carrier pipeline out of El Paso to serve the Albuquerque market. In addition, HEP leases from Mid-America Pipeline Company, L.L.C., a pipeline between White Lakes, New Mexico and the Albuquerque vicinity and Bloomfield, New Mexico. HEP owns and operates a 12-inch pipeline from the Navajo Refinery to the leased pipeline, as well as terminalling facilities in Bloomfield, New Mexico, which is located in the northwest corner of New Mexico, and in Moriarty, which is 40 miles east of Albuquerque. The Navajo Refinery is situated near the Permian Basin. The Company purchases crude oil from independent producers in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, as well as from oil companies.

HollyFrontier also purchases volumes of isobutane, natural gasoline and other feedstocks to supply the Navajo Refinery from sources in Texas and the Mid-Continent area that are delivered to its region on a common carrier pipeline ! owned by ! Enterprise Products, L.P. The Cheyenne Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 52,000 barrels per stream day and the Woods Cross Refinery has a crude oil capacity of 31,000 barrels per stream day. The Cheyenne Refinery processes Canadian crudes, as well as local sweet crudes, such as that produced from the Bakken shale and similar resources. The Woods Cross Refinery processes regional sweet and black wax crude, as well as Canadian sour crude oils into light products. The Cheyenne Refinery facility is located on a 255- acre site and is a refinery with crude distillation, vacuum distillation, coking, FCCU, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization of naphtha and distillates, butane isomerization, hydrogen production, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.6 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 1.5 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP.

The Woods Cross Refinery facility is located on a 200-acre site and is a fully integrated refinery with crude distillation, solvent deasphalter, FCC, HF alkylation, catalytic reforming, hydrodesulfurization, isomerization, sulfur recovery and product blending units. Supporting Infrastructure includes approximately 1.5 million barrels of feedstock and product tankage, of which 0.2 million barrels of tankage are owned by HEP. The facility processes or blends an additional 2,000 barrels per stream day of natural gasoline, butane and gas oil over its 31,000 barrels per stream day capacity. The Company owns and operates four miles of hydrogen pipeline that connects the Woods Cross Refinery to a hydrogen plant located at Chevron�� Salt Lake City Refinery. The Cheyenne Refinery primarily markets its products in eastern Colorado, including metropolitan Denver, eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Crude oil is transported to the Cheyenne Refinery from suppliers in Canada, Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana via common carrier pipelines owned by Kinder Morgan, Plains All Am! erican Pi! peline and Suncor Energy, as well as by truck.

The Woods Cross Refinery obtains its supply of crude oil from suppliers in Canada, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado as delivered via common carrier pipelines that originate in Canada, Wyoming and Colorado. HollyFrontier manufactures and markets commodity and modified asphalt products in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and northern Mexico. The Company has three manufacturing facilities located in Glendale, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Artesia, New Mexico. The Company's Albuquerque and Artesia facilities manufacture modified hot asphalt products and commodity emulsions from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. The Company�� Glendale facility manufactures modified hot asphalt products from base asphalt materials provided by its refineries and third-party suppliers. HollyFrontier�� products are shipped via third-party trucking companies to commercial customers that provide asphalt based materials for commercial and government projects.

The Company owns Ethanol Management Company, is 25,000 barrels per calendar day products terminal and blending facility located near Denver, Colorado. It also owns a 50% joint venture interest in Sabine Biofuels II, LLC, a 30 million gallon per year biodiesel production facility located near Port Arthur, Texas. The Company owns a 75% joint venture interest in the UNEV Pipeline, a 400 mile 12-inch refined products pipeline from Salt Lake City, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada, together with terminal and ethanol blending facilities in the Cedar City, Utah and North Las Vegas areas and storage facilities at the Cedar City terminal with Sinclair, its joint venture partner, owning the remaining 25% interest. The pipeline has a capacity of 62,000 barrels per calendar day (based on gasoline equivalents). The pipeline was mechanically completed in November 2011.

Holly Energy Partners, L.P.

As of December 31, 2011, the Compa! ny owned ! a 42% interest in HEP, including the 2% general partner interest. HEP owns and operates logistic assets consisting of petroleum product and crude oil pipelines and terminal, tankage and loading rack facilities in the Mid-Continent, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Revenues are generated by charging tariffs for transporting petroleum products and crude oil through its pipelines and by charging fees for terminalling petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, and storing and providing other services at its storage tanks and terminals. In additioin, HEP owns a 25% interest in the SLC Pipeline LLC (SLC Pipeline) that serves refineries in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. Revenues from the HEP segment are earned through transactions with unaffiliated parties for pipeline transportation, rental and terminalling operations, as well as revenues relating to pipeline transportation services provided for its refining operations. HEP has a 15-year pipelines and terminals agreement with Alon USA, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dennis Slothower]

  Several of the stocks in our portfolio have become even more attractive while the stock market discounts their future growth:

  Delek Holdings (DK), a petroleum refiner, has a P/E ratio of 4, pays a 2% dividend, and has a 30%+ return on equity.
  
  HollyFrontier (HFC), also a petroleum refiner, has a P/E ratio of 5.5, pays a 3% dividend, and is growing revenue by more than 40%.
  
  CF Holdings (CF), one of the largest fertilizer companies in the world, has a P/E ratio of 8 and a rock-solid balance sheet.
  
  

  We are in a point in the economic cycle where it is crucial to own stocks currently trading below the underlying worth of the business.

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: Halcon Resources Corp (HK)

Halcon Resources Corporation (Halcon Resources), incorporated on February 5, 2004, is an independent energy company focused on the acquisition, production, exploration and development of onshore liquids-rich oil and natural gas assets in the United States. The Company has oil and natural gas reserves located primarily in Texas, North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Montana. On August 1, 2012, the Company acquired GeoResources by merger. On December 6, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of entities owning approximately 81,000 net acres prospective for the Bakken / Three Forks formations primarily located in Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie and Dunn Counties, North Dakota (the Williston Basin Assets), from Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. and Pillar Energy, LLC (the Petro-Hunt parties). As of December 31, 2012, the Company has working interests in approximately 128,000 net acres prospective for the Bakken / Three Forks formations in North Dakota and Montana.

The Company�� Woodbine / Eagle Ford acreage is prospective for the Woodbine, Eagle Ford and other formations, with targeted depths ranging anywhere from 7,000 feet to 10,400 feet. As of December 31, 2012, The Company has approximately 198,000 net acres leased or under contract primarily in Leon, Madison, Grimes, Brazos, and Polk Counties, Texas. The Company is the operator and has a 100% working interest in more than 12,000 net acres in Wichita and Wilbarger Counties, Texas that it is actively water flooding in shallow Cisco aged Pennsylvania sandstone and limestone reservoirs. As of December 31, 2012, the Company produced 484 million barrels of oil equivalent from approximately 700 active producing wells and approximately 230 active water injection wells.

The Company�� position in the La Copita Field covers 3,720 gross acres and 2,829 net acres in Starr County, Texas. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� average net daily production was 623 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Company operates 100% of this production a! nd its working interest ranges from 75% to 100%. The Company has various other oil and natural gas properties with varying working interests located across the United States, including the Austin Chalk Trend and Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, the Fitts-Allen Fields in Central Oklahoma, and various other areas across South Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, and West Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joel South and Taylor Muckerman]

  In this video, Motley Fool energy analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman look at Halcon (NYSE: HK  ) , one E&P company that was hit hard yesterday, as GDP news out of China meant commodities were dealt a painful blow across the board. Joel tells us about some of this company's upcoming expansion efforts and why he loves them overall, and why the sell-off this week could be a great time to buy.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  The other risk that can't be overlooked is the threat from ceramic proppants, like those made by�CARBO Ceramics� (NYSE: CRR  ) , which could take a greater market share than is currently projected. Referring to the demand chart, frac sand is projected to remain 75% of the proppant market as that market grows. However, some shale plays like the Bakken are forcing producers to turn to higher-cost ceramic proppants because the returns are better.�Halcon Resources� (NYSE: HK  ) , for example, pointed out that its strategy to use ceramic proppants was one of the�driving forces�behind its improved returns in the Bakken. The company saw much higher initial production rates, while expecting better estimated ultimate recovery rates from its investment in ceramic proppants. If ceramics do end up taking market share, it could crush my investment in Hi-Crush.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One energy player that insiders are active in here is Halcon Resources (HK), which is engaged in the acquisition, development, exploitation, exploration and production of oil and natural gas properties. Insiders are buying this stock into notable weakness, since shares are off by 22% so far in 2013.

  Halcon Resources has a market cap of $1.99 billion and an enterprise value of $4.71 billion. This stock trades at a premium valuation, with a trailing price-to-earnings of 112.50 and a forward price-to-earnings of 12.56. Its estimated growth rate for this year is 900%, and for next year it's pegged at 79.2%. This is not a cash-rich company, since the total cash position on its balance sheet is $3.06 million and its total debt is $2.71 billion.

  A director just bought 200,000 shares, or about $1.02 million worth of stock, at $5.10 per share. A beneficial owner also just bought 5.2 million shares, or about $26.44 million worth of stock, at $5.10 per share.

  From a technical perspective, HK is currently trending below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bearish. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last six months, with shares moving lower from its high of $8.12 to its recent low of $4.92 a share. During that downtrend, shares of HK have been making mostly lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, this stock has started to find some buying interest off some previous support areas at $4.92 to $5.10 a share.

  If you're bullish on HK, then look for long-biased trades as long as this stock is trending above some key near-term support levels at $5.10 to $4.92 and then once it breaks out back above its 50-day at $5.67 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 5.14 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then HK will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major ov

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (TGS)

Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) is engaged in the transportation of natural gas and production and commercialization of natural gas liquids (NGL). TGS�� pipeline system connects major gas fields in southern and western Argentina with gas distributors and industries in those areas and in the greater Buenos Aires area. The Company also renders midstream services, which consist of gas treatment, removal of impurities from the natural gas stream, gas compression, wellhead gas gathering and pipeline construction, operation, and maintenance services. The Company operates in three segments: natural gas transportation services through its pipeline system; NGL production and commercialization, and other services, which include midstream and telecommunication services.

During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company�� gas transportation represented approximately 42% of total net revenues. During 2009, its NGL production and commercialization segment accounted for 50% of the total revenues of the Company. During 2009, its other services segment accounted for 8% of total revenues of the Company. Its other services segment consists of midstream and telecommunications services. Through midstream services, TGS provides integral solutions related to natural gas from wellhead up to the transportation systems. The services consists of gas gathering, compression and treatment, as well as construction, operation and maintenance of pipelines, which are generally rendered to natural gas and oil producers at wellhead. The customers��portfolio also includes distribution companies, industrial users, power plants and refineries.

During 2009, the Company provided a range of technical services to different customers. The services consisted of connections to the transportation system, engineering inspections, project management and professional technical counseling. Telecommunication services are provided through Telcosur S.A. (Telcosur), who renders services both as an independent c! arrier of carriers and to corporate clients within its area. Telcosur has a digital land radio connection system.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividend]

  Transportadora de Gas Del Sur S.A. (TGS) has a market capitalization of $308.26 million. The company employs 829 people, generates revenue of $466.44 million and has a net income of $43.33 million. Transportadora de Gas Del Sur�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $170.33 million. The EBITDA margin is 36.52 percent (the operating margin is 27.41 percent and the net profit margin 9.29 percent).

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: Range Resources Corporation(RRC)

Range Resources Corporation, an independent natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of natural gas properties primarily in the Appalachian and southwestern regions of the United States. The company?s Appalachian region drilling and producing activities include tight-gas, shale, coal bed methane, and conventional natural gas and oil production in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, and West Virginia. It owns 4,969 net producing wells, approximately 2,750 miles of gas gathering lines, and approximately 1.8 million gross acres under lease. The company?s Southwestern drilling and producing activities cover the Barnett Shale of North Texas, the Permian Basin of West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the East Texas Basin, the Texas Panhandle, and the Anadarko Basin of Western Oklahoma. It owns 1,954 net producing wells, as well as approximately 886,000 gross acres under lease. As of December 31, 2010, Range Resources Corporation had had 4.4 Tcfe of pr oved reserves. It sells gas to utilities, marketing companies, and industrial users. The company was formerly known as Lomak Petroleum, Inc. and changed its name to Range Resources Corporation in 1998. Range Resources Corporation was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Thanks to the Marcellus Shale, the Atlantic portion of the country has the highest ceiling, at an estimated 741.3 Tcf of recoverable natural gas. That means decades of production coming from the likes of�Range Resources (NYSE: RRC  ) and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK  ) , which have large acreage positions in the Marcellus and in the region as a whole.�

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  This is why several of the play's producers, including Range Resources (NYSE: RRC  ) and EQT Corp (NYSE: EQT  ) , are coming together on a joint industry project to gain better insight into the play. The project, which is expected to last at least a year, will help the companies gain a better fundamental understanding of what rock properties are the most important for good wells. The hope is that the project will enable producers to better target the play in order to earn a return.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  We saw a prime example when Vanguard recently picked up $275 million in Permian Basin assets from Range Resources (NYSE: RRC  ) . For Vanguard, these were perfect MLP assets, with proven reserves of 137 billion cubic feet equivalent and a reserve-to-production ratio of about 20 years. Even better for the gassy Vanguard is that current production is liquids-focused, with natural gas just 41% of production from these Permian assets. The assets simply didn't fit within Range's current plans to grow its production and reserves per share by double digits, so by selling the Permian assets, Range was able to unlock some capital to help fund its higher growth Marcellus and Mississippian acreage.�

Top Oil Stocks To Invest In 2014: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is one of the top names to buy with operations based in North America. The company holds interests in various properties located in Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, Permian Basin and Gulf Coast regions of the United States. It also owns oil and gas properties in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan provinces of Canada. The UBS price target for the stock is $60, and the consensus is at $71.50. Investors receive a 1.5% dividend.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Devon Energy� (NYSE: DVN  )
  In addition to all the great U.S. oil plays, we simply can't forget about the massive oil finds by our neighbors to the North. Among the many examples, the Canadian oil sands helped Devon deliver 14% oil production growth last quarter. Looking ahead, the company sees its oil production from the oil sands growing by up to 19% annually through 2020. When combined with its strong position in the Permian, as well as an emerging position in the Mississippian, Devon has strong, highly visible future oil production growth potential.�

• [By Alex Planes]

  The rebound may have already happened. In fact, Pengrowth's shares are up 23% since my fellow Fool singled out the company as a potential low-priced value play back in January. Sean liked Pengrowth's laser focus on the Lindbergh bitumen project, and its efforts to divest non-core assets, which could turn around flagging metrics and make Pengrowth a smaller, but more profitable, Canadian oil play. Pengrowth made earlier efforts to play with oil's big boys in the Alberta shale -- Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) already have major holdings in the region, and Pengrowth picked up a smaller driller a year ago to compete.