The Connected Car Conference -- or C3, if you wish to get your geek on -- was a big hit at CE Week in New York City. Thanks largely to navigation and entertainment apps on Apple�and Google smartphones, it's easy to marvel at how far we've come in bringing our outside world inside our vehicle. But C3 also concentrated on the future, and what automakers and their partners are doing to increase your car's usefulness and safety.
Our roving reporter Rex Moore talked with General Motors' (NYSE: GM ) chief technology officer Tim Nixon at the conference. His Chevrolet MyLink system offers Pandora�and Sirius XM for entertainment, a BringGo navigation system that runs from your smartphone so your maps are never out-of-date, and Apple's Siri Eyes Free, which allows you to interact with Siri without having to view the screen. In fact, the screen won't even light up while your car is in motion.
Still, advances in consumer electronics far outpace the product cycle of a car, which could be obsolete by the time it hits the showroom floor. In the video below, Tim talks about how his company addresses these concerns.
Best Electric Utility Stocks To Own For 2015: Investment Technology Group Inc (ITG)
Investment Technology Group, Inc. (ITG), incorporated on March 10, 1994, is an independent execution and research broker that partners with global portfolio managers and traders to provide data-driven insights throughout the investment process. It operates in three segments: United States Operations, Canadian Operations, European Operations and Asia Pacific Operations. The United States Operations segment provides electronic and trade execution, trade order and execution management, network connectivity, analytical products and investment research services. The Canadian and Asia Pacific Operations segments provide electronic and high-touch trade execution, trade execution management, network connectivity, analytical products and investment research services. The European Operations segment provides electronic and high-touch trade execution, trade order and execution management, network connectivity and analytical products and includes a technology research and development facility in Israel.
ITG offers a range of solutions for asset managers in the areas of electronic brokerage, research sales and trading, trading platforms and analytics. These offerings include trade execution services and solutions for portfolio management, as well as investment research, pre-trade analytics and post-trade analytics and processing. Its principal subsidiaries include: ITG Inc., AlterNet Securities, Inc., ITG Derivatives LLC, Investment Technology Group Limited, ITG Australia Limited, ITG Canada Corp., ITG Hong Kong Limited, ITG Software Solutions, Inc. and ITG Solutions Network, Inc.
Electronic Brokerage
ITG electronic brokerage services include self-directed trading using algorithms, smart routing and matching through POSIT in cash equities (including single stocks and portfolio lists), futures and options. ITG Algorithms and ITG Smart Router offer portfolio managers and traders a way to trade orders quickly, from any ITG Execution Management System (EMS) or ITG Order Managemen! t System (OMS) and third-party trading platforms. ITG Algorithms help users pursue execution through two suites: ITG Single Stock Algorithms and ITG List-Based Algorithms. ITG Smart Router offers an alternative to routing trades that can help capture liquidity with a combination of speed and confidentiality. These routers continuously scan markets for liquidity with an emphasis on trading without displaying the order.
POSIT Alert is a buyside-only block crossing mechanism within POSIT. POSIT Alert scans uncommitted shares from participating clients. When a crossing opportunity is detected, POSIT Alert notifies the relevant users that a matching opportunity exists. POSIT Marketplace provides access to POSIT liquidity, the dark pools of other ATSs, and certain exchange hidden order types. POSIT Marketplace is a dark pool aggregator that provides clients with access to a range of liquidity destinations. POSIT Marketplace uses advanced quantitative techniques in an effort to protect clients from gaming and to interact with quality liquidity. ITG Derivatives provides electronic-listed futures and options trading, including algorithmic trading and direct market access. ITG offers options features for traders employing volatility or delta-neutral strategies and also provides low-latency application programming interfaces.
ITG offers guidance, administration, and consolidation of client commission arrangements across the range of preferred brokerage and research providers of its clients using ITG Commission Manager, a robust, multi-asset Web-based commission management portal. Through stock borrow and stock loan transactions, ITG facilitates shortened or extended settlement periods to help clients meet their internal cash flow needs.
Research Sales & Trading
ITG provides unbiased, data-driven equity research through its ITG Investment Research subsidiary. This offering has expanded ITG's client relationships beyond the trading desk to chief investment officer! s, portfo! lio managers and analysts. ITG Market Research offers market research capabilities to corporate clients within the healthcare and telecom industries. The healthcare market research practice combines survey results with empirical data to deliver syndicated and custom reporting capabilities. ITG provides high-touch sales trading and portfolio trading for institutional clients. ITG's high-touch trading desk is staffed with experienced trading professionals who provide ITG clients with execution expertise and also convey trading ideas based on ITG Investment Research.
Trading Platforms
ITG EMSs are designed to meet the needs of disparate trading styles. Triton Derivatives is a broker-neutral direct access EMS that provides traders with access to scalable, low-latency, multi-asset trading opportunities. ITG OMS combines portfolio management, compliance functionality (ITG Compliance Monitoring System), trading and post-trade processing (ITG Trade Operations Outsourcing), and a fully integrated and supported financial services communications network (ITG Net) with a consolidated, outsourced service for global trade matching and settlement (ITG Trade Operations Outsourcing) that provides connectivity to the industry's post-trade utilities, support for multiple, flexible settlement communications methods and a real-time process monitor. ITG Net is a global financial communications network that provides secure, reliable and fully supported connectivity between buy-side and sell-side firms for order routing and indication-of-interest messages from ITG and third-party trading platforms.
ITG's commitment to execution platforms also extends to broker-neutral operational services to help ensure that trades clear and settle efficiently, and to significantly lower the transaction costs associated with trade tickets. The ITG Smart Trading Analytics suite enables portfolio managers and traders to improve execution performance before the trade happens (pre-trade) and during trading ! (real-tim! e) by providing reliable portfolio analytics and risk models that help them perform predictive analyses, manage risk, change strategy and reduce trading costs. ITG Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) offers measurement and reporting capabilities to analyze performance across the trading continuum. ITG Alpha Capture Reporting measures cost at every point of the investment process and provides portfolio managers with quarterly analytical reviews, written interpretations and on-site consultative recommendations to enhance performance.
ITG provides tools to assist asset managers with portfolio decision-making tasks from portfolio construction and optimization to the enterprise challenges of global, real-time portfolio compliance monitoring and the fair valuation of securities. ITG Portfolio Fair Value Service helps mutual fund managers meet their obligations to investors and regulators to fairly price the securities within their funds, and helps minimize the impact of market timing. ITG Portfolio Optimization System allows portfolio managers to develop new portfolio construction strategies and solve complex optimization problems. ITG Portfolio Optimization System allows users to accurately model tax liability, transaction costs and long/short objectives, while adhering to diverse portfolio-specific constraints.
Non-U.S. Operations
ITG has a development center in Tel Aviv. In Asia Pacific, ITG has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore. Local representation in regional markets provides an important advantage for ITG. ITG also provides electronic and high-touch trading for Latin American equities, including algorithms for Brazil and Mexico, from its New York headquarters.
Canadian Operations
ITG Canada provides electronic brokerage services, including ITG Algorithms, ITG Smart Router and the POSIT suite, as well as high-touch agency execution and portfolio trading services. In addition, ITG Canada provides Triton, Triton Derivatives! , connect! ivity services, ITG Single Ticket Clearing, ITG Portfolio Optimization System, ITG Smart Trading Analytics, ITG TCA and investment research services. ITG Canada also engages in principal trading activities. ITG Canada's customers primarily consist of asset and investment managers, broker-dealers and hedge funds.
European Operations
ITG Europe focuses on trading European, Middle Eastern and African equities, as well as providing ITG's technologies to its clients. ITG Europe provides electronic brokerage services, including ITG Algorithms, ITG Smart Router, and the POSIT suite, as well as high-touch agency execution and portfolio trading services. ITG Europe also provides ITG OMS, Triton, connectivity services, ITG Single Ticket Clearing, ITG TCA, ITG Alpha Capture Reporting and ITG Smart Trading Analytics.
Asia Pacific Operations
ITG provides institutional investors with a range of ITG's products and services including trade execution, trade execution management through Triton, connectivity services and pre-and post-trade analysis through ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics. Execution services are provided through electronic brokerage products such as ITG Algorithms and the POSIT suite and through an experienced high-touch agency trading services team. Other trading tools provided by ITG Hong Kong include Triton, connectivity services, ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics. ITG Singapore provides institutional investors in Singapore with a range of ITG's products and services including electronic and high-touch execution services, trade execution management through Triton and trading analysis through ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By victorselva]
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) is a savings and loan holding company. The company is engaged, through its subsidiaries, in securities brokerage, banking, money management, and financial advisory services. Its subsidiaries include Charles Schwab & Co. (a leading discount broker-dealer), Charles Schwab Investment Management (a mutual fund investment advisor) and Charles Schwab Bank.In this article, let's take a look at this brokerage firm and try to explain to investors the reasons this is an apparently appealing investment opportunity.The FocusThe company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments: Investor Services and Institutional Services. The Investor Services segment provides retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors. The Institutional Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors. The Institutional Services segment also provides retirement plan services, specialty brokerage services, and mutual fund clearing services. The company seeks to meet the financial services needs of investors, advisers and employers. It focuses on building client loyalty with the goal of attracting new clients and serving them. Additionally, Schwab麓s strengths through shared core processes and technology advances which help create services that are scalable and consistent with the business.Interest Rates, Capital Structure and Debt-to-Capital RatioThe results are dependent on short-term interest rates, as 37% of its top line came from net interest income in the first quarter of 2014.The broker has been making significant efforts to become less dependent on interest rates, which we expect Federal Reserve will raise them in late 2014 or 2015. Also, the company麓s plan is to reach a low-cost capital structure and targets a long-term debt-to-total financial capital ratio of less than 30%.Lucrative Derivatives Trading In 2011, the company acquired Compl
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Investment Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: ITG) was downgraded to Market Perform from outperform by Keefe�Bruyette & Woods.
Liquidity Services Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) was raised to Buy from Underperform, and the price target was raised up to $45 from $28.50, at Merrill Lynch.
Hot Net Payout Yield Stocks To Buy For 2014: SP Bancorp Inc.(SPBC)
SP Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for SharePlus Federal Bank that provides community banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes residential mortgage loans secured by residential real estate; commercial real estate and home equity loans, including lines of credit and home improvement loans; consumer loans consisting primarily of automobile loans; and commercial business loans. The company also provides brokerage services for the purchase and sale of non-deposit investment and insurance products through a third-party brokerage arrangement. It provides its services through seven branches, four of which are located near the Bank's headquarters in Plano, Texas; two branches are located in Louisville, Kentuc ky; and one branch is located in Irvine, California. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
SP Bancorp (NASDAQ: SPBC) shares touched a new 52-week high of $28.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by Green Bancorp for $46.2 million in cash.
Hot Net Payout Yield Stocks To Buy For 2014: Spirit Airlines Inc.(SAVE)
Spirit Airlines, Inc. provides passenger airline services. It provides travel opportunities principally to and from south Florida, the northeast United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The company also offers optional travel-related products or services. As of December 31, 2011, it had a fleet of 37 Airbus single-aisle aircrafts. The company was formerly known as Charter One and changed its name to Spirit Airlines, Inc. in 1992. Spirit Airlines, Inc. was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
For example, Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE ) has been growing even faster than Chipotle in recent years and has equally good long-term growth prospects. Yet it is trading for less than 20 times 2013 earnings! Some of that difference is warranted by the riskiness of the airline industry, but the risk/reward trade-off for Spirit still seems much more enticing.
- [By Adam Levine-Weinberg]
Rise of the carry-on-bag fee
In April 2010, ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE ) became the first airline in the U.S. (and possibly the world) to introduce a fee for carry-on baggage. Spirit's management decided that adding a carry-on baggage fee would allow them to reduce base airfares, stimulating demand, while improving efficiency by discouraging travelers from bringing large carry-on bags. Two years later, Spirit finally got some company as fellow ULCC Allegiant Travel (NASDAQ: ALGT ) instituted its own carry-on-bag charge.
Hot Net Payout Yield Stocks To Buy For 2014: GSE Holding Inc (GSEH)
GSE Holding, Inc. (GSE) is a provider of engineered geosynthetic containment solutions. GSE�� products are used in a range of infrastructure end markets, such as mining, waste management, liquid containment (including water infrastructure, agriculture and aquaculture), coal ash containment and shale oil and gas. The Company operates in two segments: North America, which represents the United States, Canada and Mexico, and International, which represents the rest of its global operations. The Company is a provider of products required to deliver customized solutions for projects on a global basis, including geomembranes, drainage products, geosynthetic clay liners, or GCLs, nonwoven geotextiles, and specialty products. In April 2010, the Company sold its 75.5% interest in GSE Bentoliner (Canada). In June 2010, it divested the United States Installation. In July 2010, GSE closed GSE UK, its manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom. In March 2012, the Company announced the purchase, by one of its subsidiaries, of certain manufacturing equipment from Poly-America, L.P. and Poly-Flex, Inc. In February 2013, the Company acquired SynTec, LLC.
GSE has seven manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Germany, Chile, Egypt and Thailand, 18 regional sales offices located in 12 countries. The Company serves mining, waste management and power companies; independent installers and dealers; general contractors and government agencies.
Geomembranes
Geomembranes are synthetic polymeric lining materials used as barriers in geotechnical engineering applications in mining, solid waste containment and liquid containment markets. Geomembranes are manufactured from polyethylene and polypropylene resins with additives designed to resist weathering, ultraviolet degradation and chemical exposure for extended time periods. Its geomembranes include GSE high-density polyethylene (HDPE), GSE LLDPE, GSE Textured, GSE White and GSE Conductive. GSE HDPE liners are used material! for lining applications in the geosynthetic products industry.
Drainage Products
The Company�� primary drainage products are GSE HyperNet and GSE FabriNet. GSE HyperNet. GSE�� geonet product consists of two sets of HDPE strands intertwined to form a channel along which fluid is conveyed for drainage. GSE HyperNet liners are used as part of a landfill liner system. Its geocomposite product is produced by heat bonding nonwoven geotextiles to one or both surfaces of the GSE HyperNet. This permeable textile serves as a separator and a filter, keeping soils out of the GSE HyperNet drainage layer, which allows the product to perform its function of transmitting liquids and gases. GSE FabriNet liners are used as part of a landfill liner system.
Geosynthetic Clay Liners
GSE offers two varieties of GCLs: GSE GundSeal and GSE Bentoliner. GCL, which includes GSE GundSeal, combines HDPE liners with sodium bentonite clay. The sodium bentonite clay is adhered directly to the liner and serves as a support layer to the liner, sealing any small punctures in the overlaying liner by expanding or swelling upon contact with liquids. Applications of GSE GundSeal include landfill liners and water containment pond liners. GSE Bentoliner combines durable geotextile outer layers with an inner layer of low permeability sodium bentonite clay. GSE Bentoliner includes patent-pending coal ash-resistant GCL. GSE Bentoliner offers an array of application usages for low to high loads and flat to steep slopes in landfill liners, mining heap lead pads and water containment pond liners.
Nonwoven Geotextiles
Nonwoven geotextiles are synthetic, staple fiber, nonwoven needle-punched fabrics used in environmental and other industrial applications that include filtration, soil stabilization, separation, drainage and gas transmission, cushion and liner protection applications. The Company�� nonwoven geotextile products are available in many weights and thickness! es. They ! are used primarily internally to manufacture its geocomposite and Bentoliner products. During the year ended December 31, 2010, sales of nonwoven geotextiles represented 3% of its total product sales.
Specialty Products
The Company offers other specialty polysynthetic products. GSE CurtainWall and GSE GundWall specialty products are vertical barrier systems that block the lateral migration of subsurface fluids. GSE CurtainWall is suited for trench-style installations, while GSE GundWall is installed with trenchless, vibratory and installation techniques. GSE StudLiner is a studded geomembrane that protects against corrosion and deterioration of concrete structures, including tanks, pipes, drainage channels and tunnels. Common applications for GSE StudLiner include industrial, municipal and civil applications, such as concrete storage tank protection. Pre-Fabricated Products include pipe boots, corners, sumps or other ancillary parts.
The Company competes with Agru Kunststofftechnik GmbH (Agru) and Agru America.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James Miller Phd]
As we can see, the firm has a higher ROE than it peers: Sharps Compliance, Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (CWST), Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI) and GSE Holding Inc. (GSEH).
Hot Net Payout Yield Stocks To Buy For 2014: Pinecrest Energy Inc (PNCGF.PK)
Pinecrest Energy Inc. (Pinecrest), formerly Antler Creek Energy Corp., is a Canada-based junior oil and gas exploration company. Pinecrest is engaged in the acquisition, exploitation and development of petroleum and natural gas-related assets primarily in Western Sedimentary Basin. During the fiscal year ended July 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), Pinecrest was engaged in two (0.4 net) wells that were drilled in the southeast Saskatchewan Bakken. On July 14, 2010, the Company acquired the Loon Properties. On July 14, 2010, Pinecrest acquired the Red Earth #1 Properties. On July 15, 2010, the Company acquired the Red Earth #2 Properties. Advisors' Opinion:- [By MLP Trader]
Here are the current top five companies in the list:
CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5XOf the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.
Hot Net Payout Yield Stocks To Buy For 2014: Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage Inc (NGVC)
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc., incorporated on April 9, 2012, is a specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries and dietary supplements. The Company operates within the natural products retail industry. The Company offers products and brands, including a selection of natural and organic food, dietary supplements, body care products, pet care products and books.
The Company offers its customers an average of approximately 18,000 store-keeping units (SKUs) of natural and organic products per store, including an average of approximately 7,000 SKU of dietary supplements. As of June 30, 2012, the Company operated 55 stores in 11 states, including Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as a bulk food repackaging facility and distribution center in Colorado. The size of its stores varies from 5,000 selling square feet to 14,500 selling square feet, and a new store averages 9,500 selling square feet.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NYSE: NGVC) and mid cap Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ: SFM) are taking aim at natural and organic foods supermarket giant Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM), but do either of these stocks have what it takes to take on the the king of organic retailing? Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin way back in 1978 by a�twenty-five year old college dropout and a twenty-one year old�at a time when there were only a handful of natural or organic�supermarkets in the country. Today, Whole Foods Market�has 364 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom���which are sometimes referred to as ��hole Wallet��r ��hole Paycheck��given how much it costs to shop there.
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