Just because animals are purposely raised for slaughter doesn't mean they should be kept in conditions that are brutish and miserable. While some animal rights groups have effectively pressured companies to change their practices, lately it's marketplace forces that are creating the necessary environment that makes it unprofitable for meat processors to maintain the status quo.
Gestation crates. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
When Smithfield Foods was sold to a Chinese meat processor last year, it banned the use of the weight-gain drug ractopamine because�it is banned in many European countries, as well as China and Russia. Merck�ended up suspending production of the similarly situated drug Zilmax following Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN ) halting its use after meat packers stopped accepting Zilmax-fed cattle. The drug, which had been used for years and was declared safe for both cattle and human consumption by the Agriculture Department, caused�cows to gain as much as 35 pounds before they were led to slaughter.�
Top 10 Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015: Telefonica SA(TEF)
Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Yesterday, Silver Spring Networks apparently plunged after the�UK government announced that Capita, CGI, Arqiva and Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF) are the "preferred bidders" for contracts to support the UK's smart meter roll-out���no small project as the entire scheme is expected to worth or cost around�拢11.5 billion.�Silver Spring Networks had partnered with Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ: VOD) on a bid to both create and run the telecom infrastructure behind the smart meters, but they will now go away empty handed. ��
- [By Amy Thomson]
AT&T has examined takeover candidates including Vodafone�� assets, U.K. mobile carrier EE -- a venture of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) and Orange SA (ORA) -- and parts of Spain�� Telefonica SA (TEF), people familiar with the company�� plans said in June. AT&T is attracted to Europe because of its relatively recent introduction of faster, fourth-generation networks, which have been available for years in the U.S.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Other companies didn't do quite as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Spanish telecom concern Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) gained 5%. The company is saddled with a lot of debt, and some see it as a possible acquisition target. Meanwhile, Telefonica is pushing Windows phones in Europe, and it has sold its Irish subsidiary.
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)
AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shahida Humayun]
Air Lease's fleet has a weighted average age of 3.5 years, compared to 10.7 years for Aircastle (NYSE: AYR ) and 5.1 years for AerCap Holdings (NYSE: AER ) . As a result of this advantage, Air Lease is currently trading at a price-to-book value (P/BV) of 1.17, compared to 0.8 and 0.95 for Aircastle and AerCap Holdings, respectively.
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Eisen]
DaVita (DVA) �gained 8.9% and Fresenius (FMS) �rose 7.2%.
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap dialysis stock Rockwell Medical Inc (NASDAQ: RMTI) looks set to decline when the market opens after Brean Capital initiated coverage with a sell rating and a price target of $4.00, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at what is going on with the stock along with�the performance of large cap dialysis stocks DaVita Healthcare Partners (NYSE: DVA)�and Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS) along with small cap dialysis stocks NxStage Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: NXTM).�
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aegon NV(AEG)
AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.
Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: BP p.l.c.(BP)
BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Anders Bylund]
The black gold still deserves its rich name. Chevron powers its generous dividends with outsize cash flows. The company's dividend boosts have left fellow Dow component and cash machine ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) in the dust, even though Exxon's cash flows are an order of magnitude richer. Chevron hasn't suffered any massively damaging setbacks like BP 's (NYSE: BP ) Deepwater Horizon disaster, which put a damper on that company's market-crushing dividend increases. Royal Dutch Shell's (NYSE: RDS-A ) total payouts plunged when the merger of Royal Dutch and Shell was completed in 2005 -- and have stayed modest ever since.
- [By Aimee Duffy]
BP (NYSE: BP ) recently announced it was bailing on its wind power initiatives. The company will sell its U.S. assets, which are spread across nine states and can generate about 2,600 megawatts of power. Estimates place the value of the assets at around $1.5 billion. After getting rid of its solar business, BP is sending a clear message about its commitment to renewables, which may lead investors to consider clean energy investments off-limits for big oil. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy reviews the BP move, and highlights the long-term potential of one oil major who is getting this bet right.
- [By Arjun Sreekumar]
Since 2008, BP (NYSE: BP ) has been working on a multi-billion-dollar modernization project at its Whiting refinery in Indiana, the company's largest U.S. refinery. As the British oil giant moves closer to completing the last remaining upgrades at Whiting, let's take a closer look at what effect its start-up may have on North American benchmark crude oil prices.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
In Halliburton's earnings report, watch for management to comment on the status of the now-ended initial phase of the Gulf oil spill trial. The amount of potential liability for BP (NYSE: BP ) , Transocean, and Halliburton still hangs over the companies, and while a full resolution will likely take years, any positive signs toward a final settlement for Halliburton could set the stage for a new wave of optimism.
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)
TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jayson Derrick]
Total (NYSE: TOT) announced that its European refining margin fell to $6.60 per metric ton in the first quarter from $26.90 per metric ton in the same quarter last year. Shares gained 0.09 percent, closing at $67.79.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Much of the reason for Statoil's weakness over the past year comes from a simple fact of geography. Investors have been extremely nervous about instability in the eurozone, and even though oil giants including France's Total (NYSE: TOT ) , Italy's Eni (NYSE: E ) , and Norway's Statoil all own energy properties located around the world, their shares have nevertheless traded as though they were overly exposed to their home markets. Moreover, Norway is among the most stable of Europe's national economies, making the cheap valuations even more ridiculous.
Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c.(BTI)
British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars, cigarettes, smokeless snus, roll-your-own, and pipe tobacco products under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Rothmans, Peter Stuyvesant, Benson & Hedges, and State Express 555 brand names. It has operations in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, eastern and western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. British American Tobacco p.l.c. operates independently of Remgro Ltd. as of November 03, 2008.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tony Reading]
In this series I'm subjecting companies to scrutiny under five headings: prospects, performance, management, safety, and valuation. How does�British American Tobacco� (LSE: BATS ) (NYSEMKT: BTI ) measure up?
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