Sunday, September 28, 2014

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now

Given the stock market’s propensity to humiliate those who dare predict its course, it is especially ironic that 2013’s dazzling returns come in the same year the Nobel Prize was conferred on economists whose work forecasted quite opposite results.

That is the message of Research Affiliates’ chief investment officer, Jason Hsu, in the investment research firm’s December “Fundamentals” newsletter, which notes that 2013’s near 30% stock market returns are at odds with Nobel laureates Eugene Fama’s and Robert Shiller’s award-winning asset-pricing models.

While the two economists’ approaches are very different, even opposite, Hsu argues that both “conclude that market valuation ratios forecast five-year returns with satisfactory accuracy.”

Again, despite their many differences, both would agree that high P/E ratios and low dividend yields reflect high equity demand.

“This willingness to bid up prices must, at some point, result in lower-than-average future return,” writes Hsu, who notes that the Shiller cyclically adjusted P/E (CAPE) ratio “spectacularly forecasted the carnage of the 2000 tech bust and the 2008 global financial crisis.”

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: United Insurance Holdings Corp (UIHC)

United Insurance Holdings Corp. (UIHC), incorporated on May 22, 2007, is a holding company for United Property and Casualty Insurance Company and its affiliated companies. Its business is conducted principally through four wholly-owned subsidiaries, including United Property and Casualty Insurance Company (UPC), which writes insurance policies; United Insurance Management, L.C. (UIM), the managing general agent that manages substantially all aspects of UPC's business, Skyway Claims Services, LLC (SCS), a claims adjusting company that provides services to UPC; and UPC Re. UPC Re provides reinsurance protection to UPC.

The Company offers standardized policies for a range of exposures, and its policies include coverage options for standard single-family homeowners, tenants (renters), and condominium unit owners. It also writes flood policies. The Company has authorization to write a commercial line of business in Florida that includes auto and multi-peril coverage but the Company does not write commercial business. The Company offers standardized policies for a broad range of exposures, and its policies include coverage options for standard single-family homeowners, tenants (renters), and condominium unit owners.

The Company competes with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, State Farm Florida Insurance Company, Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company, St. Johns Insurance Company, Inc., United Services Automobile Association, American Coastal Insurance Company, Florida Peninsula Insurance Company, Security First Insurance Company, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc., United Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Tower Hill Prime Insurance Company, Federal Insurance Company, USAA Casualty Insurance Company, Castle Key Insurance Company, American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida, Tower Hill Signature Insurance Company, ASI Assurance Corp., Tower Hill Preferred Insurance Company, Chartis Property Casualty Company and Universal Insurance C! ompany of North America.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By , Zacks Investment Research]

    United Insurance Holdings Corp (UIHC) is a holding company that focuses primarily on providing homeowners’ insurance in Florida, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and North Carolina. It is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., and has a market cap of $348 million.

  • [By Louis Navellier]

    United Insurance Holdings (UIHC) is a great example of a best of the best stock that should climb the wall of worry this summer. Writing homeowners and flood insurance might not be the most exciting business sin the word but the fundamentals of this company are really exciting.

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: IB Securities Joint Stock Co (VIX)

IB Securities Joint Stock Company, formerly XuanThanh Securities Joint Stock Company is a Vietnam-based company engaged in the provision of investment services. It provides securities brokerage services through multiple forms, such as VOpen, VSHM, VTrade, VPhone, VMobile and VSMS. The Company is also involved in securities trading, as well as the provision of investment advice, custody services and underwriting services. In addition, it provides financial services for corporate events, such as corporate restructurings, equitizations, stock listings, share auctions, mergers and acquisitions, equity offerings and bond offerings. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alexis Xydias]

    Concern that improving economies will give central banks leeway to reduce stimulus increased swings in American equities last week, sending the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility (VIX) Index up 21 percent in May. Japanese shares, which have been the best in the world the last seven months on speculation Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would end two decades of deflation, dropped 17 percent since May 22.

  • [By Howard Gold]

    Bullish sentiment is rampant, the CBOE Volatility index (VIX) is bumping along its recent lows, and price/earnings ratios for stocks are entering high, if not nosebleed, altitudes. That makes things ripe for a decent correction after a surprisingly strong summer rally.

  • [By Alexis Xydias]

    The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), or VIX, dropped 1.4 percent to 15.63. The equity volatility gauge has cut its decline this year to 13 percent after rallying 32 percent since Aug. 5.

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Vanguard Industrials Etf (VIS)

Vanguard Industrials ETF (the Fund), formerly known as Vanguard Industrials VIPERs, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Industrials Index Fund. The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) US Investable Market Industrials Index (the Index). The Index is an index of stocks of large, medium and small United States companies in the industrials sector, as classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). This GICS sector is made up of companies whose businesses are dominated by activities, such as the manufacture and distribution of capital goods (including aerospace and defense, construction, engineering and building products, electrical equipment, and industrial machinery); the provision of commercial services and supplies (including printing, employment, environmental and office services), or the provision of transportation services (including airlines, couriers, marine, road and rail, and transportation infrastructure).

The Fund attempts to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the Index. It also may sample its target Index by holding stocks that, in the aggregate, are intended to approximate the Index in terms of key characteristics, such as price/earnings ratio, earnings growth and dividend yield.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

    Unusual volume (at least 5X ADV): iShares Utilities ETF (NYSE: IDU), First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSE: FXU), iShares MSCI Germany Small Cap ETF (NYSE: EWGS), iShares MSCI USA ETF (NYSE: EUSA), SPDR S&P Emerging Europe ETF (NYSE: GUR), PowerShares Water Resources (NYSE: PHO) and the Vanguard Industrials ETF (NYSE: VIS).

  • [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

    Viscofan SA (VIS) fell 9.6 percent, its largest weekly drop in more than five years, after saying it may miss its targets for 2013 because of weak currencies. The Spanish maker of sausage casings in July predicted annual net income of 107 million euros to 108 million euros and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of as much as 195 million euros.

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A.(ASPS)

Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides services related to real estate and mortgage portfolio management, asset recovery, and customer relationship management primarily in the United States. Its Mortgage Services segment offers mortgage portfolio management services to loan originators and loan servicers. This segment provides asset management services that primarily include property preservation, property inspection, real estate owned (REO) asset management, and REO brokerage; residential property valuation; closing and title services; default management services, such as non-legal back-office support for foreclosure, bankruptcy, and eviction attorneys, as well as foreclosure trustee services. The company?s Financial Services segment offers unsecured asset recovery management services, including post-charge-off consumer debt collection that comprise credit cards, auto loans, and second mortgages; and customer relationship management services, such as customer care and early stage collection. Its Technology Services segment provides integrated technological solutions for loan servicing, vendor management, and invoice presentment and payment; and IT infrastructure services, such as desktop management, application support, network management, telephony, data center management, disaster recovery, helpdesk, and infrastructure security. This segment offers REALSuite of applications consisting of REALServicing, an enterprise residential mortgage loan servicing platform; REALTrans, an electronic business-to-business exchange that automates and simplifies the ordering, tracking, and fulfilling of mortgage and other services; and REALRemit, an electronic invoicing and payment system. The company serves sub-prime servicers, utility companies, commercial banks, servicers, mortgage bankers, and financial service companies, as well as hedge funds. Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. was incorporated in 1999 and is b ased in Luxembourg.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    There's no foolproof way to know the future for Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq: ASPS  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

  • [By Amanda Alix]

    While these companies are still heavily involved, there is also a new presence on the scene: the single-family home REIT. Last December, mortgage REIT Two Harbors (NYSE: TWO  ) spun off Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY  ) after selling its stable of 3,100 homes to Silver Bay prior to its initial public offering. Around the same time, Altisource Residential�was also born, spun off from Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS  ) .

  • [By Amanda Alix]

    For Wall Street types, single-family foreclosures can be bought cheaply and in bulk, then fixed up and rented. Companies like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) and Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY  ) have been very active in this market, with the former purchasing 16,000 homes just last year, and the latter ramping up its own portfolio to approximately 7,000. This new industry has also spawned fresh entrants from the REIT field, Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY  ) and Altisource Residential, (NYSE: RESI  ) two trusts that were spun off earlier this year from parent companies Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO  ) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS  ) , specifically to take advantage of the boom in the foreclosure-to-rental market.

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Ishares Trust Russell (IWD)

iShares Russell 1000 Value Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the large-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market, as represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the Russell 1000 Index. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index and consists of those companies or portion of a company, with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth within the Russell 1000 Index. The Index represents approximately 51% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to Index. iShares Russell 1000 Value Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James Brumley]

    It’s been especially untrue the last few years. Since this point in the year back in 2003, the iShares Russell 1000 Growth Fund (IWF) has advanced 81%, while the iShares Russell 1000 Value Fund (IWD) has only advanced 67%.

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Infinity Group]

    With 515 million shares outstanding, this equates to 33% of all shares being shorted. It should also be noted that Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK) is holding 51.8 million BlackBerry shares. Prem Watsa stated at the annual FairFax shareholders meeting that Fairfax is holding a long position with BlackBerry and anticipates shareholder value increasing over the next 2-3 years. The cost basis for FairFax financial holdings is approximately $17 per BlackBerry share.

  • [By Alex Jordon]

    There's talk that Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK), could possibly be involved in a privatization bid for the company. Consider:

Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio (PBW)

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio (the Fund) is based on the WilderHill Clean Energy Index and seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund�� fees and expenses) of that equity index. The sectors covered by the Fund include Energy-Alternate Sources, Semiconductors, Electrical Components and Equipment, Chemicals, Electric, Electronics, Computers, Auto Parts and Equipment, Biotechnology and Agriculture. PowerShares Capital Management LLC is the Fund's investment adviser.

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio�� top 10 holdings include SunPower Corp., Class A, Echelon Corp., Cypress Semiconductor Corp., Cree, Inc., First Solar, Inc., OM Group, Inc., Universal Display Corp., KYOCERA Corp. ADR (Japan), Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. ADR (Cayman Islands) and Applied Materials, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Wall Street Sector Selector]

    Another ETF which invests in the solar sector is the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). Although its holdings are not limited to the solar sector, its most significant holding is SunPower Corporation at 4.96% of the weight. Its number three holding is MEMC Electronic Materials at 3.42% of the weight. PBW's average trading volume is robust at over 400,000 shares per day. Its market cap is $135 million.

  • [By Aaron Levitt]

    A lack of profits and the reliance on government subsidies have made most stocks in the renewable energy category pretty poor performers over the years. Just check out the performance of the broad PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). It has lost about 7.5% annually since its inception in 2005.

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