Best Shipping Companies For 2014

In the past two issues of Maple Leaf Memo, we��e highlighted some of the challenges facing Canada�� liquefied natural gas (LNG) growth story, as well as what some producers are doing to overcome them.

This time around, we decided to highlight the relative advantages Canada enjoys in this arena, in addition, of course, to the stability of its economic and political system compared to resource-rich competitors such as Russia.

In the global LNG market, proximity is paramount. It not only means lower shipping costs, it also can give certain exporters an edge over their peers because of the dependability and flexibility afforded by a shorter shipping time.

While much of the news in recent weeks has focused on the 30-year, USD400 billion natural gas deal between Russia and China, that deal represents only a sliver of future Chinese demand and a drop in the bucket of overall demand in the region.

Best Asian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)

Biogen Idec Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, hemophilia, and autoimmune disorders in the United States and internationally. Its marketed products include the AVONEX for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS); RITUXAN for treating relapsed or refractory, CD20-positive, and B-cell Non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma (NHL); TYSABRI to treat relapsing MS; FUMADERM for the treatment of severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients; and FAMPYRA, an oral compound for the improvement of walking in adult patients with MS with walking disability. Biogen Idec Inc.?s products under Phase III consist of PEGylated interferon beta-1a designed to prolong the effects and reduce the dosing frequency of interferon beta-1a; BG-12 for the treatment of MS; Daclizumab, a monoclonal antibody in relapsing MS; Long-lasting factor IX and VIII fusion protein for the treatment of hemophilia B; GA101, a monoclonal antibody for t he treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and NHL; and Dexpramipexole, an orally administered small molecule for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The company?s Phase I clinical trial products include Anti-LINGO for use in multiple sclerosis, Neublastin for use in neuropathic pain, CD40L for use in systemic lupus erythematosus, ANTI-TWAEK humanized monoclonal antibody for TWEAK, and BIIB037 for use in Alzheimer's disease; and Phase II clinical trial product comprises OCRELIZUMAB, a humanized monoclonal antibody for treating CD20. It has collaboration agreements with Genentech, Inc.; Elan Pharma International, Ltd; Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.; Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB; Abbott Biotherapeutics Corp; and Vernalis plc. The company was formerly known as IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Biogen Idec Inc. in November 2003. Biogen Idec Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  And it’s not just Gilead that Meacham is feeling good about. He’s also optimistic about Biogen Idec (BIIB), Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (IRWD) and Alexion Pharmaceiticals (ALXN):

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  With stocks selling off and biotech giants like Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Biogen Idec (BIIB) falling, Regeneron (REGN) picked a heck of a day to deliver good news.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (TDY)

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated provides instrumentation, digital imaging products and software, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems in the United States and internationally. The company?s Instrumentation segment provides monitoring and control instruments for marine, environmental, scientific, industrial, and defense applications, as well as harsh environmental interconnect products. Its Digital Imaging segment includes sponsored and centralized research laboratories benefiting government programs and businesses, as well as development efforts for innovative digital imaging products for government and space applications. It also includes infrared detectors, cameras, and optomechanical assemblies. Teledyne Technologies? Aerospace and Defense Electronics segment provides electronic components and subsystems and communications products, including defense electronics, data acquisition, and communications equipment for air transport and business aircra ft and components and subsystems for wireless and satellite communications, as well as general aviation batteries. The company?s Engineered Systems segment provides systems engineering and integration, advanced technology application, software development, and manufacturing solutions to space, military, environmental, energy, chemical, biological and nuclear systems, and missile defense requirements. This segment also designs and manufactures hydrogen generators, thermoelectric and fuel-cell based power sources, and small turbine engines. Teledyne Technologies? customers include government agencies, aerospace prime contractors, energy exploration and production companies, industrial companies, and airlines. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Teledyne Technologies (TDY), which gets 80 percent of its revenue from the U.S., raised its 2013 per-share earnings projections last week. The Thousand Oaks, California-based aerospace and defense electronics provider, up 39 percent for the year, exceeded analyst projections by 8.1 percent last quarter, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  We should be careful to overstate the tax aspect of buybacks. For example, Q-Logic has a lot of cash overseas (almost all of its $500 million). The company could ��in theory ��make several tender offers for close to 50% of its market cap with that cash. This is the Teledyne (TDY) approach. Q-Logic doesn�� do that for several reasons. One, it likes having some cash on hand at all time. But, more importantly, it doesn�� want to pay the tax.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Teledyne Technologies (NYSE: TDY) announced its plans to acquire Bolt Technology (NASDAQ: BOLT) for $22 per share. Bolt shares climbed 38.84% to $21.71 in the after-hours trading session, while Teledyne shares fell 0.29% to close at $97.40 yesterday.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Liquidity Services Inc.(LQDT)

Liquidity Services, Inc. operates various online auction marketplaces for surplus and salvage assets in the United States. Its auction marketplaces include liquidation.com, which enables corporations and selected government agencies located in the United States to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and capital assets; govliquidation.com that enables government agencies to sell surplus and scrap assets; govdeals.com, which enables local and state government entities, including city, county, and state agencies, as well as school boards and public utilities located in the United States to sell surplus and salvage assets. The company also operates secondipity.com that provides consumers a source of products and a socially conscious online experience through donating a portion of the proceeds of every sale to charity; and truckcenter.com, a marketplace for the sale of idle, surplus, and used fleet and transportation equipment. Its marketplaces provide professional buyers a ccess to supply of surplus and salvage assets presented with customer focused information, including digital images and other relevant product information along with services to complete the transaction; and enable corporate and government sellers to enhance their financial return on excess assets by providing liquid marketplaces and value-added services that integrate sales and marketing, logistics, and transaction settlement. The company offers approximately 500 products organized into various categories, including consumer electronics, general merchandise, apparel, scientific equipment, aerospace parts and equipment, technology hardware, energy equipment, industrial capital assets, fleet and transportation equipment, and specialty equipment. Liquidity Services, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  My first earnings short-squeeze trade idea is surplus and salvage assets auction marketplace player Liquidity Services (LQDT), which is set to release numbers on Thursday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect Liquidity Services to report revenue of $124.48 million on earnings of 45 cents per share.

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float Liquidity Services is extremely high at 34.7%. That means that out of the 25.21 million shares in the tradable float, 9.12 million shares are sold short by the bears. This is a huge short interest on a stock with a very low tradable float. Any bullish earnings news could easily spark a monster short-squeeze for shares of LQDT post-earnings.

  From a technical perspective, LQDT is currently trending below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bearish. This stock has been uptrending a bit over the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $24.77 to its recent high of $28.25 a share. During that move, shares of LQDT have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of LQDT within range of triggering a breakout trade post-earnings.

  If you're bullish on LQDT, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $28.25 a share, and then once it takes out both its 50-day at $29.59 and its 200-day at $31.96 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 414,200 shares. If that breakout hits, then LQDT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $36 to $38 a share.

  I would simply avoid LQDT or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout, and then drops back below some key near-term support levels at $26 to its 52-week l

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy The market may have rallied remarkably this year, but there are plenty of stocks that never got the memo. Dozens of stocks are hitting fresh 52-week lows these days, and some of them aren't as bad as their low stock prices would seem to suggest. Last week, I took a look at five stocks that didn't deserve to be hitting new 52-week highs. Now it's time to flip things around and look at five stocks that hit new 52-week lows last week that are prime candidates to bounce back. Dice Holdings (DHX) 52-Week Range: $6.83-$10.43 Dice operates several industry-specific career and employment websites, including the namesake Dice.com for tech jobs, ClearanceJobs.com for jobs that require security clearance, and Rigzone.com for jobs in the oil industry. It's a novel approach to helping folks in specific sectors network, and naturally this is magnetic to potential employers. The success of LinkedIn (LNKD) may have taken some of the shine off Dice, but the company's still finding ways to grow. Analysts see revenue climbing at a slightly better than 6 percent clip this year and again in 2014. Kinder Morgan (KMI) 52-Week Range: $32.30-$41.49 Kinder Morgan watches over the country's largest network of natural gas pipelines. Thanks to its reputation as a cleaner energy source than coal or petroleum (and the massive upsurge in U.S. production thanks to the fracking boom), natural gas is a growing source of domestic energy. Even commercial vehicles are starting to be powered by liquefied natural gas. Kinder Morgan is growing, but it has missed Wall Street's profit targets in each of the three past quarters. That's been enough to scare off some investors. However, the falling share price has also made Kinder Morgan's healthy dividend that much more compelling. The stock's yield of 4.6 percent is too rich to ignore here. Liquidity Services (LQDT) 52-Week Range: $20.37-$44.40 Liquidity Services prides itself as a problem solver. It runs a marketplace for items that need to b

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT  ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company said sales posted a big increase last month.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL)

EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The company�s operations primarily focuses on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shelf on state and federal waters offshore Louisiana. As of December 31, 2012, it had estimated proved reserves of 77.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, as well as interests in 37 producing fields located in the Gulf of Mexico shelf region. The company was formerly known as Energy Partners, Ltd. and changed its name to EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. in September 2012. EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE:EPL) will present at the New Frontiers in Energy Conference 2012 hosted by Westlake Securities on September 25, 2012 at 8:45 a.m. Central time in Austin, Texas. Gary C. Hanna, EPL’s President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide a financial and operational overview on the Company during the presentation.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Performant Financial Corp (PFMT)

Performant Financial Corporation (Performant), incorporated on October 8, 2003, provide technology-enabled recovery and related analytics services in the United States. The Company�� services help identify and recover delinquent or defaulted assets and improper payments for both government and private clients in a broad range of markets. The Company provides its services on an outsourced basis, where the Company handles many or all aspects of its clients��recovery processes. The Company derives its revenues from services for clients in a range of different markets. These markets include student lending and healthcare, as well as its other markets, which include delinquent state taxes and federal Treasury and other receivables. The Company�� clients include 12 of the 32 public sector participants in the student loan industry. In February 2012, it purchased a perpetual software license and computer equipment from HOPS, Inc.

Student Lending

The Company derives its revenues from the recovery of student loans. These revenues are contract-based and consist primarily of contingency fees based on a specified percentage of the amount the Company enables its clients to recover. The Company engages subcontractors to assist in the recovery of a portion of the client�� portfolio. It also receives success fees for the recovery of loans under Master Service Agreements (MSAs) and its revenues under MSA arrangements include fees earned by the activities of its subcontractors. The Company uses its technology to identify, track and communicate with defaulted borrowers on behalf of its clients to implement suitable recovery programs for the repayment of outstanding student loan balances.

The Company�� client�� contract with it to provide recovery services for large pools of student loans generally representing a portion of the total outstanding defaulted balances they manage, which they provide to us as placements on a periodic basis. The Company also restructures and r! ecovers student loans issued directly by banks to students outside of federal lending programs.

Healthcare

The Company derives revenues from the healthcare market primarily from its Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC), contract, under, which it is a prime contractor responsible for detecting improperly paid Part A and Part B Medicare claims in 12 states in the Northeastern United States. Revenues earned under the RAC contract are driven by the identification of improperly paid Medicare claims through both automated and manual review of such claims. The Company outsourced certain aspects of its healthcare recovery process to three different subcontractors.

Other

The Company derives revenues from the recovery of delinquent state taxes, and federal Treasury and other receivables, default aversion services for certain clients, including financial institutions and the licensing of hosted technology solutions to certain clients. For its hosted technology services, the Company licenses its system and integrates its technology into its clients��operations, for which it is paid a licensing fee. The Company�� revenues for these services include contingency fees, fees based on dedicated headcount to its clients and hosted technology licensing fees. The federal agency market consists of government debt subrogated to the Department of the Treasury.

For state and municipal tax authorities, the Company analyzes a portfolio of delinquent tax and other receivables placed with the Company, develop a recovery plan and execute a recovery process designed to maximize the recovery of funds. In some instances, it has also run state tax amnesty programs, which provide one-time relief for delinquent tax obligations, and other debtor management services for its clients. For the Department of the Treasury, it recovers government debt subrogated to it by numerous different federal agencies. The placements it has provided represent a mix of commercial and individual oblig! ations.

Data Management Expertise

The Company�� platform manages and stores large amounts of data throughout the workflow process. This includes both data it has compiled, as well as third-party data.

Data Analytics Capabilities

The Company�� data analytics capabilities screen and allocate massive volumes of recovery inventory. Upon receipt of each placement of student loans, the Company utilize its algorithms to assist its in determining the recovery process and the optimal allocation of recovery specialist resources for each loan. In the healthcare market, the Company analyze millions of Medicare claims to find potential correlations between claims data and improper payments.

Workflow Processes

The Company refers to the patented technology that supports its workflows as Smart Bins. The Company�� workflow processes integrate a range of functions that encompass each stage of a recovery process.

The Company competes with Health Management Systems, Inc., Connolly Consulting, Inc. and CGI Group.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Performant Financial (PFMT) provides technology-enabled recovery and related analytics services in the U.S. This stock closed up 6.9% at $11.84 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 310,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 261,916
  
  Volume % Change: 60%

  From a technical perspective, PFMT soared higher here right off both its 200-day moving average of $11.02 and its 50-day moving average at $11.06 with decent upside volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of PFMT within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if PFMT manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $12.47 to $13.26 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PFMT as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $11.02 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 261,916 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then PFMT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its all-time high at $14.09. Any high-volume move above $14.09 will then give PFMT a chance to trend north of $15.

• [By Magic Diligence]

  Much of United Online's appeal was due to its over 4% dividend yield, but the company announced in late January that it would be discontinuing its dividend to focus on growth initiatives. This follows itsNovember spin-off of FTD, which leaves United with 3 cash producing but declining businesses: Classmates.com, NetZero, and Juno. NetZero Mobile Broadband is an interesting product but one with a lot of competition from the carriers. Frankly, the dividend has been the main attraction for some time, and without it this is a declining company with a fair bit of debt. That does not make for the most attractive option. PASS.

  Performant Financial (PFMT) - down 28.1%

  Performant earns fees for collecting delinquent student loans (about 60% of the business) and providing recovery services for improper Medicare payments (close to 30%). The recent sell-off in the stock seems due to comments from Sallie Mae regarding lower rehabilitation fees paid to Guarantee Agencies, which investors expect to "trickle down" to service providers like PFMT. The stock has been sold off dramatically on these assumptions. We should know more when the company reports earnings in the coming weeks, but this is one worth looking at more closely - the firm has been growing revenue at 30%+ rates. WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund Inc (ETF)

Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund Inc (the Fund), formerly Aberdeen Emerging Markets Telecommunications and Infrastructure Fund, Inc., non-diversified management investment company. The Fund�� principal investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, at least 80% of the Fund�� net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, are invested in equity and debt securities of emerging markets telecommunications companies and of infrastructure companies. In addition, under normal market conditions, at least 20% (but not more than 24.9% at the time of purchase) of the Fund�� net assets will be invested in equity and debt securities of companies in the infrastructure industry. Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited (AAML) serves as the Fund�� investment adviser with respect to all investments. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  [Related -SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (GLD): What Will Move Gold As Ukraine Crisis Eases?]

  Back to atomic Number 79; iStock thought a 3-T review of gold might be timely as many investors might be wondering if the recent vertical drop is a buying opportunity or if it is best to stand on the sidelines.

• [By inthemoneystocks]

  Millions of soccer fans around the world await the most important global sporting event, the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Many media outlets have already started to hype different stocks, as well as statistics about the event. This brings about a question for us traders: Who is going to win and how can we profit? As technical traders, who study and trade from the charts, we are one step ahead of the news, and possibly even the game! With that in mind, let's look to the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (ETF) (NYSEARCA:EWZ) to help us pick the winning nation by analyzing the chart.

• [By Victor Selva]

  Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

  An ETF is a special type of fund that invests in a portfolio of stocks or bonds. The aim is to mimic the performance of a specified index. As well as the shares, they are traded in the secondary market at any time (market hours) and investors can sell short.

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (GLD)

  Paulson�� largest position is in the SPDR Gold Trust where he maintains 31,500,000 shares. The guru�� holdings make up for 8.5% of his total portfolio as well as for 2.29% of SPDR Gold Trust�� shares outstanding.

Best Shipping Companies For 2014: Armco Metals Holdings Inc (AMCO)

Armco Metals Holdings, Inc., formerly China Armco Metals, Inc., incorporated on April 25, 2007, is engaged in metal ore trading and distribution and scrap metal recycling. The Company�� s operations are conducted primarily in the People's Republic of China (PRC). In the Company's metal ore trading and distribution business, the Company imports, sells and distributes to the metal refinery industry in the PRC a range of metal ore which includes iron, chrome, nickel, copper and manganese ore, as well as non-ferrous metals, and coal. The Company obtains these raw materials from global suppliers primarily in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ukraine and the United States and distributes them in the PRC. In addition, it provides sourcing and pricing services for various metals to its network of customers.

The Company�� scrap metal recycling business, it recycles scrap metal at its recycling facility and sell the recycled product to steel mills in China for use in the production of recycled steel. The Company sells processed and non-ferrous ore to end-users, such as specialty steelmakers, foundries, aluminum sheets and ingot manufacturers, copper refineries and smelters, brass and bronze ingot manufacturers, wire and cable producers, utilities and telephone networks. The Company recycles scrap metals at the Facility using both heavy equipment and manual labors. Recycling scrap metal consists of a variety of steps, including collecting, inspecting, sorting, stripping, shearing, cutting, shredding and bailing.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's still too soon to put it in your portfolio, but Armco Metals Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AMCO) most definitely deserves a place on your watchlist. This Chinese metal stock is poised for a breakout move. It just needs the right nudge, and a little help on a certain front to let AMCO take flight.