Thursday, July 3, 2014

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Watch In Right Now

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) ��The S&P 500 index ended slightly lower on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a small gain after global powers agreed a deal with Iran to curb the nation�� nuclear program.

The market just showed a little fatigue on Monday afternoon after strong action in recent weeks, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

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��t�� just normal growing pains,��he told MarketWatch, adding that it�� a holiday-shortened week and volume is light so the market�� gyrations can be somewhat exaggerated.

5 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Own For 2015: Biglari Holdings Inc (BH)

Biglari Holdings Inc. is a holding company engaged in a range of diverse business activities. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in investment management and the franchising/operating of restaurants. The Company's wholly owned subsidiaries include Steak n Shake Operations, Inc. (Steak n Shake), Western Sizzlin Corporation (Western) and Biglari Capital Corp. (Biglari Capital). Biglari Holdings, as a capital allocating vehicle, is also in the business of owning other businesses in whole and in part. In February 2014, Biglari Holdings Inc and Alpha Media Group announced that the wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings has acquired MAXIM.

On April 30, 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of Biglari Capital Corp. (Biglari Capital). On March 30, 2010, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Grill Acquisition Corporation, completed the acquisition of Western.

Steak n Shake

The Company is engaged in the ownership, operation, and franchising of Steak n Shake restaurants. Steak n Shake is a American brand serving burgers and milk shakes. Steak n Shake offers its patrons full-service dining with counter and dining room seating, as well as drive-thru and carry-out service. During the fiscal year ended September 29, 2010 (fiscal 2010), counter and dining room sales represented approximately 60% of the sales mix, while sales for off-premises dining represent approximately 40% of the sales mix.

Western Sizzlin

The Company is engaged in the franchising of restaurants. Western Sizzlin offers full service dining of signature steak dishes, as well as other classic American menu items. Western Sizzlin also operates other concepts, Great American Steak & Buffet, and Wood Grill Buffet consisting of hot and cold food buffet style dining.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Wolfe] the past week there have been several insider buys. The insiders making buys thus far are Interim CFO and VP Duane Geiger, Director Philip Cooley, Director Sardar Biglari and Director Kenneth Cooper. These insiders bought a total of 5,318 shares at a price of $265 per share.

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Watch In Right Now: Electronic Arts Inc (EA)

Electronic Arts Inc., incorporated in 1982, develops, markets, publishes and distributes game software content and services that can be played by consumers on a variety of video game machines and electronic devices (platforms). Its offers products, such as video game consoles, such as the Sony PLAYSTATION 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii; personal computers, including the Apple Macintosh (the Company refers to personal computers and the Macintosh together as PCs); mobile devices, such as the Apple iPhone and Google Android compatible phones; tablets and electronic readers, such as the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle, and Internet, including social networking sites, such as Facebook. In August 2011, it acquired PopCap Games Inc. (PopCap), a developer of casual games for mobile devices, tablets, PCs, and social networking sites.

The Company has created, licensed and acquired a portfolio of brands, which span a diverse range of categories, including action-adventure, casual, family, fantasy, first-person shooter, horror, science fiction, role-playing, racing, simulation, social, sports, and strategy. The Company�� portfolio of brands includes wholly owned brands, such as Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed, The Sims, Bejeweled, and Plants v. Zombies. Its portfolio also includes sports-based brands, such as Madden NFL and FIFA, and titles-based on other brands, such as Star Wars: The Old Republic. It provides a variety of online-delivered products and services, including through its Origin platform. Its packaged goods products are also available through direct online download through the Internet. The Company also offers online-delivered content and services that are add-ons or related to its packaged goods products, such as additional game content or enhancements of multiplayer services. It provides other games, content and services that are available only via electronic delivery, such as Internet-only games and game services, and games for mobile devices.

The Comp! any operates development studios (which develop products and perform other related functions) in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It also engages third parties to assist with the development of its games at their own development and production studios. Internationally, the Company conducts business through its international headquarters in Switzerland and has wholly owned subsidiaries worldwide, including offices in Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America. The Company�� studios and development teams are organized around its Label structure. Each Label operates globally with dedicated game development and marketing teams. These Labels are supported by the Company�� Global Publishing Organization that is responsible for the distribution, sales, and marketing of its products, including planning, operations, and manufacturing functions.

EA Games

EA Games is home to a number of the Company�� studios and development teams, which together create a portfolio of games and related content and services marketed under the EA brand in categories, such as action-adventure, role playing, racing and first-person shooter games. The EA Games portfolio includes a number of franchises, such as Battlefield, Dead Space, Medal of Honor and Need for Speed. EA Games titles are developed primarily at the following EA studios, Criterion, DICE, EA Los Angeles, Visceral, and EA Montreal. EA Games also contracts with external game developers, to provide these developers with a variety of services, including development assistance, publishing, and distribution of their games.

EA SPORTS

EA SPORTS develops a collection of sports-based video games and related content and services marketed under the EA SPORTS brand. EA SPORTS games range from simulated sports titles with realistic graphics based on real-world sports leagues, players, events and venues to more casual games with arcade-style gameplay and graphics. The Company�� EA SPORTS franchises include FIFA, Fig! ht Night,! Madden NFL, NCAA Football, NHL Hockey, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. EA SPORTS games are developed primarily at the Company�� EA Canada studio in Burnaby, British Columbia, and its EA Tiburon studio located in Orlando, Florida.

BioWare

BioWare develops role-playing games, focused on stories, characters and worlds to discover. BioWare�� portfolio includes the MMO role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic and the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises. BioWare operates in Texas, California, Canada and Ireland.

Maxis

Maxis (formerly EA Play) are focused on creating games and related content and services for a mass audience. Maxis products include wholly owned franchises, such as The Sims, SimCity, MySims, and Spore. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company released titles in The Sims 3 franchise, and together with Playfish, The Sims Social game on Facebook. Maxis oversees internal studios and development teams located in California, Utah, Beijing, China and Guildford, England, and works with third-party developers.

PopCap

PopCap develops easy-to-learn games. PopCap games, including Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, Peggle, and Bookworm are gameplays. PopCap games are developed primarily in Seattle, Washington.

Social/Mobile Studios

The Company�� Social/Mobile studios is focused on developing interactive games for play on mobile devices and Internet platforms, including social networking sites, such as Facebook. Through EA Mobile, the Company is a global publisher of games for mobile devices. Its customers purchase and download the Company�� games through a mobile carrier�� e-commerce service and mobile application storefronts accessed directly from their mobile devices. EA Mobile develops games for mobile devices at studios located in the United States, Canada, Romania, Australia, India and Korea. Through Playfish, it offers free-to-play social games, in! cluding T! he Sims Social, Pet Society, EA Sports FIFA Superstars and Madden NFL Superstars that can be played on platforms, such as Facebook, Google, iPhone and Android. Playfish generates revenue through sales of digital content and Internet-based advertising.

The Company, through its Pogo online service, offers games, such as card, puzzle and word games on www.pogo.com, as well as on Facebook and other platforms. In addition to paid subscriptions, Pogo also generates revenue through Internet-based advertising and sales of digital content. In addition, it has a licensing agreement with Hasbro, which provides the Company with the rights to create digital games for all platforms based on most of Hasbro�� toy and game intellectual properties, including MONOPOLY, SCRABBLE (for United States and Canada), YAHTZEE (excluding the Nordic countries), NERF, and LITTLEST PET SHOP. Hasbro games are developed by its EA Mobile, Pogo and Social studios.

The Company competes with Activision Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, THQ, Ubisoft, Disney, Capcom Mobile, DeNA, Gameloft, Glu Mobile, Gree, Rovio, Zynga, Big Fish, Nexon, Tencent and Facebook.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Wallace Witkowski]

    Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) �shares declined 2.3% to $24.31 on heavy volume after the video game publisher cut its revenue outlook.

  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    John Furniss, Invision/APAaron Paul (left) and Dominic Cooper at the U.K. Screening of "Need For Speed," which opens at U.S. theaters Friday. You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a maker of decadent doughnuts stepping up with hot financials to the latest video game franchise to get the Hollywood treatment, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Wearing it Well The trading week kicks off with Urban Outfitters (URBN) dressing up for its latest quarterly report. This will be a big report for the retailer of trendy apparel since it covers the seasonally potent holiday period. Analysts see a profit of 55 cents a share out of the chain, roughly in line with what it earned a year earlier. The same pros see revenue climbing 8 percent for the quarter. Tuesday -- Diamond in the Rough Diamond Foods (DMND) is a nutty company, and not just because it's the company behind Emerald snack nuts. The company -- which also puts out Kettle potato chips and Pop Secret microwaveable popcorn -- is just starting to bounce back from an accounting scandal that ended earlier this year with a $5 million settlement to put an end to fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The timing for the irregularities was cruel, forcing Diamond Foods to forgo the planned purchase of the Pringles potato chip line. Now it may have to sell its Kettle line to raise money. There's a "when the chips are down" punchline in there somewhere, but we'll see if Diamond Foods discusses any potential asset sales when it reports financials on Tuesday. Wednesday -- Time to Enjoy the Doughnuts When it comes to doughnuts, it's hard to top the fried delicacies that Krispy Kreme (KKD) creates. You don't even need to have one of its doughnut shops nearby since it has a wide distribution net. Krispy Kreme reports on Wednesday afternoon, and Wall Stree

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Watch In Right Now: Sonoco Products Company(SON)

Sonoco Products Company provides industrial and consumer packaging products, and packaging services worldwide. It offers composite paperboard cans; paperboard packages; fiber cartridges; layered bottles and jars; laminated tubs, cups, and spools; consumer and institutional trays; and aluminum, steel, and peelable membrane easy-open closures, as well as flexible packaging, product design, tool design, fabrication, and manufacturing services. The company also produces paperboard tubes, cores, roll packaging, molded plugs, pallets, pallet components, concrete forms, rotary die boards, recycled paperboard, chipboard, tube board, lightweight corestock, boxboard, linerboard, corrugating medium, specialty grades, and recovered paper products; and steel, nailed wooden, plywood, recycled, and polyfiber reels, as well as recycles old corrugated container, paper, plastic, metal, and glass materials. In addition, it manufactures custom-printed glass covers and coasters; offers custom packing, fulfillment, and primary package filling services, as well as operates scalable service centers; contract packaging, co-packing, and fulfillment services; and temporary, semipermanent, and permanent point-of-purchase displays. Further, the company provides fabricated foam, corrugated paperboard, molded EPS and EPP, antistatic fabricated foam solutions, nesting and stacking trays, molded foam dunnage, totes and tote inserts, energy-absorbing and flotation components, and insulation components, as well as contract package testing service. Additionally, it offers insulated shippers, durable transport chests, gel packs, phase change materials, lab/pharma/diagnostic specimen transport, refrigerant materials, edge and corner protection, and temperature assurance solutions; high-visibility packaging and printed products; and blister packaging machines. The company, formerly known as Southern Novelty Company, was founded in 1899 and is based in Hartsville, South Carolina. Advisors' Opinion:

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON  ) reported earnings on April 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Sonoco Products missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Packaging specialist�Sonoco Products� (NYSE: SON  ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.31 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 3% from $0.30 per share.

  • [By David Fish]

    Once known as the Southern Novelty Company, Sonoco Products (SON) is a leading producer of paper-based tubes and cores, flexible packaging, rigid plastic containers, cylinder paperboard, wire and cable reels, and point-of-purchase displays.

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Watch In Right Now: Statoil ASA (STO)

Statoil ASA (Statoil), incorporated on September 18, 1972, is an integrated energy company primarily engaged in oil and gas exploration and production activities. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had business operations in 41 countries and territories. Effective from January 1, 2011, the Company�� segments were Development and Production Norway; Development and Production International; Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy; Fuel & Retail, Other. As of 31 December 2011, the Company had proved reserves of 2,276 million barrels (mmbbl) and 3,150 billion cubic meters (bcm) (equivalent to 17,681 trillion cubic feet (tcf)) of natural gas, corresponding to aggregate proved reserves of 5,426 mmboe. In December 2011, the Company acquired Brigham Exploration Company. On April 14, 2011, Statoil's formation of a joint venture and sale of 40% of the Peregrino field off the coast of Brazil to the Sinochem Group was closed. With effect from January 2011, Statoil formed a joint venture with PTTEP of Thailand in its oil sands business and, as part of that transaction, sold PTTEP a 40% interest in the leases in Alberta, Canada. Statoil retains 60% ownership and operatorship of the oil sands project. In June 2012, the Company divested its 54% interest in Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA to Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Development and Production Norway

Development and Production Norway (DPN) consists of the Company�� field development and operational activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Development and Production Norway is the operator of 44 developed fields on the NCS. Statoil's equity and entitlement production on the NCS was 1.316 mmboe per day in 2011, which was about 71% of Statoil's total production. Acting as operator, DPN is responsible for approximately 72% of all oil and gas production on the NCS. In 2011, its average daily production of oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) on the NCS was 693 mboe, while its average daily gas production on the NCS was 99.1 mmcm (3.5 b! illion cubic feet (bcf)). The Company has an ownership interests in exploration acreage throughout the licensed parts of the NCS, both within and outside its production areas. It participates in 227 licenses on the NCS and is the operator for 171 of them. As of 31 December 2011, Statoil had a total of 1,369 mmbbl of proved oil reserves and 444 bcm (15.7 tcf) of proved natural gas reserves on the NCS. Total entitlement liquids and gas production in 2011 amounted to 1,316 mmboe per day.

Statoil's NCS portfolio consists of licenses in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. It has organized its production operations into four business clusters: Operations South, Operations North Sea West, Operations North Sea East and Operations North. The Operations South and Operations North Sea West and East clusters cover its licenses in the North Sea. Operations North covers the Company�� licenses in the Norwegian Sea and in the Barents Sea, while partner-operated fields cover the entire NCS and are included internally in the Operations South business cluster. During 2011, it two Statoil-operated oil discoveries: the Aldous discovery (PL265) in the North Sea and the Skrugard discovery (PL532) in the Barents Sea. The Aldous Major South discovery in PL265 on the Utsira Height in the Sleipner area is situated 140 kilometers west of Stavanger and 35 kilometers south of the Grane field. The Skrugard discovery is located about 250 kilometers off the coast from the Melkoya LNG plant in Hammerfest.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� fields under development included the Gudrun, Valemon, Visund South, Hyme, Stjerne, Vigdis North-East, Skuld, Vilje South, Skarv, and Marulk. In 2011, the Company�� total entitlement oil and NGL production in Norway was 252 mmbbl, and gas production was 36.2 bcm (1,287 bcf). The main producing fields in the Operations South area are Statfjord, Snorre, Tordis, Vigdis, Sleipner and partner-operated fields. Operations North Sea East is a gas area tha! t also co! ntains quantities of oil. The area includes the Troll, Fram, Vega, Oseberg and Tune fields. The Company�� producing fields in the Operations North area are Asgard, Mikkel, Yttergryta, Heidrun, Kristin, Tyrihans, Norne, Urd, Alve, Njord, Snohvit and Morvin.

Development and Production International

Development and Production International (DPI) is responsible for the development and production of oil and gas outside the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). In 2011, the segment was engaged in production in 12 countries: Canada, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola, Nigeria, Iran, Algeria, Libya, Azerbaijan, Russia and the United Kingdom. In 2011, DPI produced 28.9% of Statoil's total equity production of oil and gas. Statoil has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya and Iran) and Europe and Asia (the Faeroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). The main sanctioned development projects in which DPI is involved are in the United States, Angola and Canada. The Brigham Exploration Company acquisition added production of approximately 21 mboe per day (as of December) to Statoil's production and gave access to 1,500 square kilometers (375,000 acres) in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin.

The Company has exploration licenses in North America (Gulf of Mexico, Canada and Alaska), South America and sub-Saharan Africa (Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania), Middle East and North Africa (Libya and Iran), and Europe and Asia (the Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia). It completed 16 wells in 2011. Five were announced as discoveries: the Mukuvo and Lira discoveries in Angola, the Gavea and Peregrino South discovery in Brazil and the Logan discovery in Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Statoil acquired in! terests i! n six new licenses in Indonesia in 2011. Statoil has activities in the United States, with approximately 300 exploration leases in the GoM and 66 in Alaska. It is also an operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland in Canada. Statoil is operator and partner in exploration licenses off the coast of Newfoundland (11,138 square kilometers). It has exploration licenses in Brazil, Cuba, Suriname, Venezuela, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania. The Company has licenses in Libya, Iran, Faroes, Greenland, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. In 2011, Statoil's petroleum production outside Norway amounted to an average of 334 mboe per day of entitlement production and 534 mboe per day of equity production.

The Company has activities in the United States Gulf of Mexico, the Appalachian region, south-west Texas, the Williston Basin, off the East Coast of Canada and in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada. It also has a representative office in Mexico City. Offshore, the Company has production interests in Hibernia and Terra Nova, and interests in two development projects. Its development and production activities in South America and sub-Saharan Africa comprise the Peregrino operatorship in Brazil, the Petrocedeno project in Venezuela, the Agbami offshore field in Nigeria and four Angolan offshore blocks. Statoil's development and production in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, primarily encompassed Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Iran and Iraq. The Company�� Development and Production in Europe and Asia primarily comprises Azerbaijan, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy

Marketing, Processing and Renewable Energy (MPR) is responsible for the transportation, processing, manufacturing, marketing and trading of crude oil, natural gas, liquids and refined products, and for developing business opportunities in renewables. It runs two refineries, two gas processing plants, one methanol plant and three crude! oil term! inals. MPR is also responsible for marketing gas supplies originating from the Norwegian state's direct financial interest (SDFI). In total, it is responsible for marketing approximately 80% of all Norwegian gas exports. In 2011, Statoil sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. The Natural Gas business cluster is responsible for Statoil's marketing and trading of natural gas worldwide, for power and emissions trading and for overall gas supply planning. In 2011, the Company sold 36.1 bcm (1.3 tcf) of natural gas from the NCS on its own behalf, in addition to approximately 33.5 bcm (1.2 tcf) of NCS gas on behalf of the Norwegian state. Statoil's total European gas sales, including third-party gas, amounted to 79.8 bcm (2.9 tcf) in 2011, of which 39.5 bcm (1.4 tcf) was gas sold on behalf of the Norwegian state. In addition, it sold 5.5 bcm (0.2 tcf) of gas originating from its international positions, mainly in Azerbaijan and the United States, of which 2.7 bcm (0.1 tcf) was entitlement gas. As technical service provider (TSP), Statoil is responsible for the operation, maintenance and further development of the Karsto gas processing plant on behalf of the operator Gassco.

Statoil is the seller of crude oil, operating from sales offices in Stavanger, Oslo, London, Singapore, Stamford and Calgary and selling and trading crude oil, condensate, NGL and refined products. Statoil holds the lease for the South Riding Point crude oil terminal in the Bahamas, which includes, oil storage as well as loading and unloading facilities. It also operates the Mongstad terminal and has shared ownership with Petoro. The Company is a majority owner (79%) and operator of the Mongstad ref! inery in ! Norway, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. It is the sole owner and operator of the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark, which has a crude oil and condensate distillation capacity of 118,000 barrels per day. In addition, it has rights to 10% of production capacity at the Shell-operated refinery in Pernis in the Netherlands, which has a crude oil distillation capacity of 400,000 barrels per day. The Company�� methanol operations consist of an 81.7% interest in the gas-based methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden, Norway, which has a design capacity of 0.95 million tons per year. It also operates the Oseberg Transportation System (36.2% interest), including the Sture crude oil terminal.

Technology, Projects and Drilling

Technology, Projects and Drilling (TPD) is responsible, as a global service provider to Statoil, for delivering projects and wells and for providing support through global expertise, standards and procurement. TPD is also responsible developing and implementing new technological solutions. Statoil's research and development portfolio is organized in seven programs covering the upstream building blocks. The research and development organization operates and develops laboratories and test facilities and has an academia program that addresses cooperation with universities and research institutes.

Global Strategy and Business Development

Global Strategy and Business Development (GSB) was established in 2011, with its main office in London. GSB sets the direction for Statoil and identifies, develops and delivers opportunities for global growth.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Arjun Sreekumar]

    In the wake of these incidents and elevated regulatory scrutiny, other companies looking to drill in the region are also rethinking their operations. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP  ) , for instance, has cancelled its plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea due to federal regulatory uncertainty, while Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) , which also holds leases in Chukchi, said last year that it would delay drilling in the American Arctic until 2015. �

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Now more than ever, a comfortable retirement depends on secure, stable investments. Unfortunately, the right stocks for retirement won't just fall into your lap. As part of an ongoing series, I'm looking today at 10 measures to show whether Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) makes a great retirement-oriented stock.

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