National Bank of Greece (ETE),(NBGA),(NBG) is a Greece global banking and financial service company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. The bank offers financial products, and services, brokerage, insurance, asset management, shipping finance, leasing and factoring markets. It was founded by Swiss banker Jean-Gabriel Eynard and George Starvros in 1841 as a commerical bank. From its inception until the establishment of the Bank of Greece in 1928, it had the right to issue banknotes. The bank listed on the Athens Stock Exchange right after its founding in the 1880s.
Company History & Operations
National Bank of Greece was formed in 1841 in Athens, making it the oldest bank in the country. It wasn't government owned from its inception, but had the right of note issue, which it lost in 1928 when Greece established its own central bank. The bank in 1899 aquired the Privileged Bank of Epirus and Thessaly.
At the beginning of the 20th century the bank began its international expansion. In 1956 the bank aquired the Bank of Athens, which was at the time the second largest bank in Greece. The bank in 1965 aquired the Greek Tapeza Epagelmatikis Pristis (Professional Credit Bank). In 1966 bank governor Georgios Mavros founded the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation. Since the 1999 the bank has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In banking it sold all its operations in Canada to the Bank of Nova Scotia in 2005. The next year the bank sold its U.S. arm, Altantic Bank of New York, to New York Community Bancorp for $400 million (EUR 331 million) in cash. It used the proceeds from these sells to finance aquisitions in Southern Europe.
Top 10 Promising Stocks To Own Right Now: Capitol Federal Financial(CFFN)
Capitol Federal Financial, Inc. is the bank holding company for Capitol Federal Savings Bank through which it provides commercial banking products and services. The company offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement accounts. Its lending products include consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, home improvement loans, auto loans, and loans secured by savings deposits; loans secured by first mortgages on non-owner-occupied one- to four-family residences; multi-family and commercial real estate loans; construction loans secured by residential or commercial properties; and real estate loans secured by multi-family dwellings. The company also provides telephone and Internet banking services. It serves the metropolitan areas of Topeka, Wichita, Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia and Salina, and Kansas, as well as a portion of the metropolitan area of greater Kansas City t hrough a network of 35 traditional and 10 in-store banking offices. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Financial services company�Capitol Federal Financial� (NASDAQ: CFFN ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.075 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2011.
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: Dendreon Corporation(DNDN)
Dendreon Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics to enhance cancer treatment options for patients. The company offers active cellular immunotherapy and small molecule product candidates to treat various cancers. Its product candidates comprise Provenge (sipuleucel-T), an active cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer; DN24-02, an investigational active immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with bladder, breast, ovarian, and other solid tumors expressing HER2/neu; and TRPM8, a small molecule agonist to transient receptor potential ion channel, for multiple cancers. The company also has a range of products in preclinical studies, which include Carcinoembryonic antigen for the treatment of lung, colon, and breast cancer; and Carbonic AnhydraseIX for the treatment of kidney cancer. Dendreon Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in S eattle, Washington.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
It may not have blazed a trail into the young, immunology segment of the biotech industry the way Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN) did back in 2010 with the debut of Provenge. It may not have the same immunology pipeline (and company size) that ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) boasts. One thing is pretty certain about cancer-immunotherapy developer CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSEMKT:CVM) right now, however - its stock may be poised to dole out a much bigger foreseeable-future reward than DNDN or IMGN are.
- [By Sean Williams]
In order to do their best to conserve cash leading up into the full implementation of the bill, I wouldn't be surprised to see insurers denying or declining to pick up the tab on what they deem overpriced procedures. Not to pick on Intuitive Surgical again, but the company did mention, "a trend by payers toward encouraging conservative management and treatment in outpatient settings." Another potential victim here is Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN ) , whose cellular immunotherapy known as Provenge that's used to treat advanced prostate cancer costs $93,000 annually. By comparison, Johnson & Johnson's�Zytiga costs just $5,500 per month ($66,000 annually) and would be the better cost-effective choice for insurers, potentially leaving Provenge out in the cold.
- [By Johanna Bennett]
Four years ago, Dendreon (DNDN) was the darling of the biotech sector with a promising cancer vaccine awaiting FDA approval and a stock price sitting above $50 a share.
Today, Dendreon sits just above $2 and CEO John Johnson is out the door after resigning for what the company calls ��ersonal reasons.��Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Maria Goldstein asks if this is �� step down or a step forward��for the financially troubled biotech firm.
She writes:
On the one hand, Johnson’s departure was unexpected. Yet on the other hand, the company is at a critical juncture with modest cash left, a large debt overhang and struggling commercial operations that has yet to fully gain buy-in from the clinical community that it serves. With major layoffs already occurring, and losses of the CFO and the head of commercial operations in the past year, perhaps Johnson’s departure is not so unexpected. Nonetheless, we think the only question really to be answered is whether Mr. Johnson’s exit will force a meaningful change in the sales trend for Provenge.
Since it was approved by the FDA in 2010, Provenge, Dendreon�� cancer vaccine, has failed to live up to once lofty sales expectations.
Johnson arrived in February following the departure of Mitch Gold promising to turn the company around. Provenge sales, however, never accelerated and the company remains crushed under the weight of enormous debt.
Roth Capital Partners analyst Joseph Pantginiss reiterated his Sell rating, arguing that a turnaround is impossible. He writes:
We believe the commercial hurdles, competitive landscape and behemoth debt makes this goal virtually insurmountable. Reiterate Sell and we are lowering our price target to $0.50 from $1��t is unfortunate that Dendreon’s struggles continue and we remain skeptical whether new potential leadership can overcome these hurdles in a timely manner.
- [By Rich Smith]
This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines include a new buy rating for Workday (NYSE: WDAY ) , a higher price target for Raytheon (NYSE: RTN ) , and a lower one for Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN ) . Let's dive right in.
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd(RDY)
Dr. Reddy?s Laboratories Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a pharmaceutical company. It produces finished dosage forms, active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, and biotechnology products. The company also conducts research in the areas of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, inflammation, and bacterial infection. In addition, it involves in the contract manufacture generic prescription and over-the-counter products for branded and generic companies in the United States. The company primarily focuses on therapeutic categories of cardiovascular, diabetes management, gastro-intestinal, and pain management. It markets its products in India, the United States, Europe, and the Russian Federation. The company has a co-development and commercialization agreement with Rheoscience A/S for the development and commercialization of Balaglitazone/DRF 2593, a partial PPAR-gamma agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes; an agreement with ClinTec Internatio nal for the development of an anti-cancer compound, DRF 1042; collaboration with the National Cancer Institute in Maryland; and an agreement with Argenta Discovery Limited for the joint development and commercialization of a novel approach to the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It also has an agreement with 7TM Pharma for drug discovery collaboration on selected drug targets; and an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc to develop and market pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, oncology, gastroenterology, and pain management. Dr. Reddy?s Laboratories Limited was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Hyderabad, India.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Benjamin Shepherd] We’re now into day 15 of the US government shutdown, as House Republicans stubbornly try to defund Obamacare. No matter what sort of deal is eventually struck, health care costs aren’t likely to come down any time soon. And that’s good news for generic drug makers.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) is one of the biggest players in generic drugs, offering more than 200 off-brand medications in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pain management and oncology, among others. In fact, this India-based company has become one of the largest makers of generics in the world, helping to drive more than 20 percent annual compounded earnings growth at the company over the past decade.
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: Omnicare Inc (OCR)
Omnicare, Inc. (Omnicare) is a healthcare services company. The Company operates in two primary businesses: Long-Term Care Group (LTC) and Specialty Care Group (SCG). Through LTC, Omnicare provides pharmaceuticals and related pharmacy and ancillary services to long-term care facilities, as well as chronic care facilities and other settings. SCG provides commercialization services for the biopharmaceutical industry in addition to end-of-life pharmaceutical care management for hospice care agencies. At December 31, 2011, LTC provided its pharmacy services in 47 states in the United States, the District of Columbia and in Canada. In September 2012, Five Star Quality Care, Inc. sold its pharmacy business to Omnicare.
Long-Term Care Group
Omnicare operates the institutional pharmacy business in North America. LTC's customers consist of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), assisted living facilities (ALFs), independent living communities, hospitals, correctional facilities, and other healthcare service providers. LTC consisted of approximately 83% of the Company�� total net sales during the year ended December 31, 2011 and dispensed approximately 115.1 million prescriptions. The Company provides pharmacy consulting, including monthly patient drug therapy evaluations, assist in compliance with state and federal regulations and provide clinical and health management programs (utilizing outcomes-based algorithm technology). LTC also provides a range of technology solutions based on its Omniview Web-based platform.
LTC also provides a range of other products and services, including intravenous medications and nutrition products (infusion therapy products and services), respiratory therapy services, medical supplies and equipment (including billing the Medicare Part B program for eligible patients) and clinical care planning. It also provides pharmaceutical case management services for retirees, employees and dependents. The Company purchases, repackages and dispenses presc! ription and non-prescription medication in accordance with physician orders and deliver such prescriptions to long-term care facilities for administration to individual residents (by the facilities��nursing staff for SNFs).
The Company services long-term care facilities typically within a radius of approximately 150 miles of its pharmacy locations and maintain an around-the-clock, seven-day per week, on-call pharmacist service for emergency dispensing and delivery, and for consultation with the facility's staff or attending physician. The Company utilizes a unit-of-use drug distribution system. This means that its prescriptions are packaged for dispensing in individual doses. The Company�� range of technologies allow Web-based access to electronic medical records, automated pharmacy billing, online medication refills and returns processing, census tracking, pre-admission medication assessment and access to the Omnicare Guidelines.
Specialty Care Group
SCG serves the needs of biopharmaceutical manufacturers, physicians, nurses, caregivers and patients. Its services are based on five platforms: brand support services, third party logistics, patient assistance programs, specialty pharmacy and disease management for end-of-life care. In the Company�� specialty pharmacy platform, it provides dispensing of specialized pharmaceuticals. These specialized drugs deal primarily with specific categories of drugs and disease states, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, oncology and growth hormones. In its end-of-life care platform, Omnicare provides hospice care pharmaceutical management. SCG accounted for approximately 17% of the Company�� total net sales during 2011.
Omnicare competes with PharMerica Corporation.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Benjamin Shepherd]
The American long-term care industry has been growing rapidly and will continue doing so for years to come. According to a study from the US Department of Health and Human Services, more than 70 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will need long-term care services at some point in their lives. Anyone over the age of 65 has a 40 percent chance of entering a nursing home and about 20 percent of them will remain there for at least five years.
The size of the 65 and older population jumped by more than 15 percent between 2000 and 2010, compared to just 9.7 percent growth in the population as a whole. That group now makes up about 13 percent of the total population and is forecast to account for more than 16 percent by the end of this decade and 20.2 percent by 2050.
Those trends have spurred huge runs for real estate investment trusts (REIT) that operate assisted-living facilities, rehabilitation centers and nursing homes across the country. While the senior living REITs have been an extremely profitable play on America�� graying population, their tide is ebbing with the prospect of rising interest rates creating fears that their profitability will be dinged. That creates opportunities for value investors focused on long-term returns, but it means short-term volatility.
In this context, one compelling investment now is Omnicare (NYSE: OCR), a company that provides pharmacy services to long-term care and other medical facilities. Omnicare receives prescription orders from physicians at facilities, reviews them for effectiveness and any potential interactions with other drugs the patient is receiving and then prepares the drugs in specialized individual packages for easy administration.
Omnicare has consultant pharmacists who can regularly review patient charts for potential interactions and duplications or to recommend alternative drugs or formulations that can increase the effectiveness of a patient�� medications, while also potent - [By John Kell]
Omnicare Inc.(OCR) swung to an unexpected fourth-quarter loss on write-downs related to its hospice pharmacy business and certain certain retail operations that have been classified as discontinued operations. Results missed expectations, sending shares down 5.5% to $61 premarket.
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: Cato Corp (CATO)
The Cato Corporation (Cato) is a women�� fashion specialty retailer. As of January 28, 2012, the Company operated 1,288 fashion specialty stores in 31 states, principally in the southeastern United States, under the names Cato, Cato Fashions, Cato Plus, It�� Fashion, It�� Fashion Metro and Versona Accessories. It operates in two segments: stores and Credit. The Company�� stores offer a assortment of on-trend apparel and accessory items in primarily junior/missy, plus sizes, girls sizes 7 to 16, men�� and kids sizes newborn to seven. Its merchandise lines include dressy, career, and casual sportswear, dresses, coats, shoes, lingerie, costume jewelry, handbags, men�� wear and lines for kids and newborns. Its merchandise is sold under its private label and is produced by various vendors in accordance with the Company�� specifications.
The Company offers its own credit card and a layaway plan to make the purchase of its merchandise convenient for its customers. The Company�� stores are located in the southeastern United States in a variety of markets ranging from small towns to metropolitan areas with trade area populations of 20,000 or more. Stores average approximately 4,500 square feet in size. The Company offers its own credit card, which accounted for 4.8% of retail sales during the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012 (fiscal 2012).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Reuters]
Julio Cortez/AP NEW YORK -- Many U.S. retailers had to ramp up promotions last month as shoppers continued to watch their spending during the holiday season, hitting profits at several chains. L Brands (LB) cut its earnings forecast for the holiday quarter Thursday after reporting disappointing December sales at its Victoria Secret and La Senza chains. The company said it had to offer more deals than expected, the second month in a row it has had to do so. Family Dollar Stores (FDO) and teen retailer Zumiez (ZUMZ), which both reported sales declines for December, also slashed their profit forecasts. Even retailers that saw big sales gains, such as Kay Jewelers parent Signet Jewelers (SIG), weren't spared. "Additional discounting was necessary in a highly promotional retail environment," Signet Chief Executive Officer Mike Barnes said in a statement. A group of nine U.S. retailers in the Thomson Reuters same-store sales index are expected Thursday to report a sales rise of 1.9 percent in December at stores open at least a year, well below the 7.2 percent increase of a year earlier. Including drugstore chains Walgreen (WAG) and Rite Aid (RAD), analysts estimate the rise at 2.7 percent. Gap (GPS) will report after the markets close Thursday. Faced with reticent shoppers worried about their job prospects and modest economic growth, retailers offered more discounts during the holiday season than a year earlier. Between Nov. 3 and Jan. 4, eight retailers, including Walmart Stores (WMT), Target (T) and Macy's (M) , increased the number of circulars published by 6 percent and sent 57 percent more promotional emails, according to data prepared for Reuters by MarketTrack. Retailers also had to deal with shoppers who were less willing to go into stores: Data firm ShopperTrak this week said foot traffic had dropped 14.6 percent this holiday season. Walgreen, whose comparable sales of general merchandise rose 2.5 percent in December, said fewer shoppers had com
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: CONSOL Energy Inc (CNX)
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CONSOL Energy), incorporated in 1991, is a producer of coal and natural gas for global energy and raw material markets, which include the electric power generation industry and the steelmaking industry. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 62.6 million tons of high-British thermal unit (Btu) bituminous coal from 12 mining complexes in the United States. In addition, it provides energy services, including river and dock services, terminal services, industrial supply services, coal waste disposal services and land resource management services. The Company operates in two segments: Coal and Gas. In July 2012, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. acquired Youngs Creek Mining Company, LLC (Youngs Creek) joint venture and other related coal and surface assets from Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (Chevron) and the Company.
Coal Operations
The principal activities of the Coal unit are mining, preparation and marketing of thermal coal, sold primarily to power generators, and metallurgical coal, sold to metal and coke producers. The Coal division consists of four reportable segments, which includes Thermal, Low Volatile Metallurgical, High Volatile Metallurgical and Other Coal. Each of these reportable segments includes a number of operating segments (mines or type of coal sold). During 2011, the Thermal aggregated segment included the Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, McElroy, Miller Creek Complex, Robinson Run and Shoemaker mines. During 2011, the Low Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included the Buchanan mine. During 2011, the High Volatile Metallurgical coal aggregated segment included Bailey, Blacksville #2, Enlow Fork, Fola Complex, Loveridge, Miller Creek Complex and Robinson Run coal sales.
The Other Coal segment includes its purchased coal activities, idled mine activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the coal division but not allocated to each individual mine. During 2011, the Company! �� reserves were located in northern Appalachia (62%), the mid-western United States (17%), central Appalachia (15%), the western United States (4%), and in western Canada (2%). As of December 31, 2011, the Company had an estimated 4.5 billion tons of proven and probable reserves. During 2011, 94% of its production came from underground mines, 6% from surface mines, and 91% of its production came from mines equipped with longwall mining systems. As of December 31, 2011, CONSOL Energy operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and a fleet of 625 barges that serve customers along the Ohio, Allegheny, Kanawha and Monongahela Rivers. During 2011, over 84% of all the coal it produced was sold under contracts with terms of one year or more.
Gas Operations
The principal activity of the Gas division is to produce pipeline methane gas for sale primarily to gas wholesalers. The Gas Division consists of four reportable segments, which include Coalbed Methane (CBM), Marcellus, Shallow Oil and Gas and Other Gas. The Other Gas segment includes its purchased gas activities, as well as various other activities assigned to the gas division but not allocated to each individual well type. Its gas division focuses on developing the Marcellus acreage position in southwest Pennsylvania, central Pennsylvania and northwest West Virginia. CONSOL Energy�� all Other segment includes terminal services, river and dock services, industrial supply services and other business activities. Its gas operations primarily produce CBM, which is a gas that resides in coal seams. The Company�� Coalbed Methane operations are located in central Appalachia in Southwest Virginia. Its CBM production also comes from northern Appalachia in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania where it drills vertical-to-horizontal CBM wells.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had rights to extract CBM in Virginia from approximately 359,000 net CBM acres, which cover a portion of its coal reserves in Cen! tral Appa! lachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pocahontas #3 seam, which is the coal seam mined by its Buchanan Mine. The Company also has right to extract CBM in northwestern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania from approximately 859,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves in Northern Appalachia. CONSOL Energy produces gas primarily from the Pittsburgh #8 coal seam.
In central Pennsylvania, the Company has the right to extract CBM from approximately 263,000 net CBM acres, which contains its recoverable coal reserves, as well as leases from other coal owners. In addition, CONSOL Energy controls 810,000 net CBM acres in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. It also has the right to extract CBM on 139,000 net acres in the San Juan Basin, 20,000 net acres in the Powder River Basin and 92,000 net acres in eastern Ohio and central West Virginia. Its Marcellus wells are primarily horizontal wells with 2,500 to 5,000 feet of lateral length. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had the right to extract natural gas in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York from approximately 361,000 net acres.
CONSOL Energy controls approximately 346,000 net acres of rights to gas in the New Albany shale in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. The New Albany shale is a formation containing gaseous hydrocarbons, and its acreage position has thickness of 50-300 feet at an average depth of 2,500-4,000 feet. CONSOL Energy has 249,000 net acres of Chattanooga Shale. It has 457,000 net acres of Huron shale in Kentucky and Virginia. During 2011, the Company drilled 254.9 net development wells and 47 net developmental wells.
Other Operations
CONSOL Energy provides other services to its own operations and others. These include land services, industrial supply services, terminal services, including break bulk, general cargo and warehouse services, and river and dock services water services. Fairmont Supply Company, which is CONSOL Energy�� subs! idiary, i! s a general-line distributor of mining, drilling, and industrial supplies in the United States. During 2011, approximately 12.6 million tons of coal was shipped through CNX Marine Terminal Inc.�� exporting terminal in the Port of Baltimore. CONSOL Energy�� river operations, located in Monessen, Pennsylvania, transport coal from its mines, coal from other mines and non-coal commodities from river loadout facilities located primarily along the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
As of December 31, 2011, it operated 22 towboats, five harbor boats and 625 barges. In 2011, its river vessels transported a total of 19.1 million tons of coal and other commodities, including 6.2 million tons of coal produced by CONSOL Energy mines. CONSOL Energy provides dock services for its mines, as well as for third parties at its Alicia Dock, located on the Monongahela River in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Its subsidiary CNX Water Assets LLC acquires and develops existing sources of water used to support its coal and gas operations.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Heading into the 2Q14 earnings season, we think the coal sector continues to be unloved with met coal prices close to bottom while steam coal prices are slightly cooling off after a strong rally during 1Q14. Similar to 1Q14, the two major challenges for coal producers remain weak met coal pricing and rail service limiting steam coal volume uptick. On the positive side, since 1Q14, we have gotten about 16 MTPA of global met coal production cuts, which are slowly flowing through the system but could take another three months to drive prices higher. On the other hand, rail service (BNSF and CSX) challenges continue, and we do not expect to see any major improvement through 2H14, which is later than expected during 1Q14, when some producers indicated 3Q14 normalization. We expect a majority of earnings calls to be focused on those two themes over and above company-specific issues (asset sales/divestitures, cost control, and balance sheet management). While still in the early days, we will look for any color on the coal industry’s preparedness for eventual implementation of GHG regulation announced by the EPA in early June. Within our coal coverage, we are lowering our 2014 EBITDA estimates by an average of 12% for the group, while our 2015��016 estimates are largely unchanged. In addition, we are adjusting our price targets for Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) to $25 from $26 and Walter Energy (WLT) to $7.50 from $8.50 as we update our coal price deck for 2Q14 actuals and the 3Q14 met coal benchmark settlement, as well as adjust for rail service issues in the Powder River Basin. In terms of our overall coal coverage, we continue to prefer steam coal names and/or low-cost met coal assets with solid balance sheets. Our Outperform rated names include Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, Cloud Peak Energy, and Consol Energy (CNX).
- [By Ben Levisohn]
When Goldman Sachs talks, people listen. So it’s odd to see Goldman upgrade Consol Energy (CNX) and for the coal miner to fall today. Even odder: Three coal stocks that were on the receiving end of price target cuts–Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Arch Coal (ACI) and Walter Energy (WLT)–have gained. At least Peabody Energy (BTU), which Goldman cut, is falling.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The last six months have been good to coal miners like Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Walter Energy (WLT), Consol Energy (CNX) and Peabody Energy (BTU), which all gained more than 10%. The last month, not so much, as many have experienced double-digit losses.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The price of natural gas, however, has dropped 0.4% today, and wouldn’t you know it, coal stocks are weak. Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) has dropped 4.2% to $16.15, while Peabody Energy (BTU) has fallen 2.9% to $17.27. Arch Coal (ACI) is off 1.3% at $4.45, Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) has declined 1.4% to $5.76 and Consol Energy (CNX) has dipped 0.7% to $31.35.
Hot Shipping Stocks To Watch For 2014: Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund (VTA)
Van Kampen Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund focuses to invest primarily in loan and debt instruments (and loan-related or debt-related instruments) (collectively, credit securities) of issuers that operate in a variety of industries and geographic regions located throughout the world. The Fund's investment adviser is Van Kampen Asset Management (the Adviser). The Fund's investment subadviser is Avenue Europe International Management, L.P. (the Subadviser).
The Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (including borrowings for investment purposes) in any combination of credit securities, including senior secured floating rate and fixed-rate loans (Senior Loans); second lien or other subordinated or unsecured floating rate and fixed-rate loans or debt, and other debt obligations, including high-yield, high-risk obligations (such as securities that are rated below investment grade by a nationally recognized credit rating organization or unrated securities that are deemed to be of comparable quality). The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in structured products, including collateralized debt and loan obligations (collectively, structured products). The Fund may also invest in swaps, including credit default, total return, index and interest rate swaps. To the extent that the Fund invests in structured products or swaps that adjust exposure to credit securities, such investments will be counted for purposes of the Fund's 80% policy.
The Fund may invest in credit securities of any credit quality, and may invest without limitation in obligations below investment grade. Any of the Fund's investments may be issued by non-stressed, stressed and distressed issuers, including issuers in bankruptcy, provided that with respect to the portion of the Fund's assets to be managed by the Subadviser, the Subadviser will generally not invest in securities that at the time of investment have a total! yield above the applicable Avenue-Credit Thresholds. The Fund may invest in credit securities of any maturity or duration, and although the Fund will not be managed for maturity or duration, given the nature of the Fund's portfolio, the Fund's portfolio will likely have a low average duration (generally, four years or less). In addition, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in equity securities obtained through debt restructurings or bankruptcy proceedings. The Fund may utilize credit securities derivative instruments.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Harry Domash, Publisher, DividendDetective and Winning Investing]
If you're worried about rising interest rates then Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities, ticker (VTA), invests in below investment-grade floating rate bank loans. In other words, these are called senior loans.
They're bank loans that adjust their payouts based on prevailing interest rates, so if interest rates go up, these loans will pay higher dividends, so this is a good hedge if you are concerned about rising interest rates.
Another one that's really performed, and it's paying a 6.9% yield right now, Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities, ticker (GOF), that's actually Claymore Guggenheim, holds corporate and government backed, that it's mostly investment-grade and it's paying a 10.1% yield right now, which is pretty high. Those are three that I could recommend right now.
Steven Halpern: Well, we really appreciate you joining us today and sharing your expertise. Thank you.
Harry Domash: You're welcome.
Subscribe to the Dividend Detective here...
- [By John Dowdee]
The following 10 funds satisfied all of these conditions:
BlackRock Float Rate Strategies (FRA). This CEF sells at a discount of 3%, which is low compared to an average premium of 2% over the past year. The distribution has been managed at 6.1% and a small amount (less than 10%) has been return of capital (ROC). However, this has not negatively affected net asset value (NAV) so has not been destructive. The fund holds 447 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. FRA utilizes 27% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.7%, including interest payments. Eaton Vance Floating Rate (EFR). This CEF sells at a 1% premium, which is low compared to an average premium of 5% over the past year. The distribution is 6.2%, none of which was ROC. The fund holds 800 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. About 85% of the securities are from U.S. companies. EFR utilizes 35% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.8% including interest payments. ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR). This CEF sells for a premium of 2%, which is below the average premium of 5%. It has a distribution of 6.8%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 350 holdings, virtually all in senior loans and from US companies. PPR utilizes 29% leverage and has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Dynamic Credit Opportunities (VTA). This CEF sells for a discount of 5%, which is below the average discount of 1%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 495 holdings, with 76% in floating rate loans. About 25% of the loans are from non-US companies. VTA utilizes a relatively low 20% leverage but still has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Senior Income (VVR). This CEF sells for a discount of 1%, which is below the average premium of 3%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has over 500 holdings, with 89% in floating rate loans. Almost all (95%) securities are from US companies. VVR ut
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