Fewer fresh turkeys this holiday season

It won't be all gravy for turkey lovers – and sellers – this holiday.

A shortage of fresh, large, whole turkeys – 16 lbs. and greater – could impact the holiday season, says the nation's largest turkey producer.

Butterball, which produces more turkeys than anyone, says it will be shipping out about half as many large, fresh never-frozen turkeys to retailers this year. But executives make clear that plenty of Butterball's large, frozen turkeys will be available.

The company statement comes less than two weeks before the Thanksgiving holidays and could impact holiday meal plans coast-to-coast. When Butterball talks, holiday cooks listen. This year, Butterball will produce about 41 million turkeys – weighing a combined 1.2 billion pounds. Figure one in four Thanksgiving turkeys are Butterball.

HOLIDAYS: How much does Thanksgiving dinner cost?

Whole turkeys account for 20% to 25% of Butterball's sales, the company says.

The announcement comes during an already-cramped holiday season, with just 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Butterball declined to specifically spell out the reasons for the shortage of large, fresh turkeys.

"We experienced a decline in weight gains on some of our farms causing a limited availability of large, fresh turkeys," Butterball said in a statement. "While we are continuing to evaluate all potential causes, we are working to remedy the issue. We sincerely regret the inconvenience that some of our customers have experienced as a result of this issue."

Butterball CEO Rod Brenneman was unavailable for comment.

The company says it has shipped 100% of customer orders for frozen turkeys. So, consumers who can't find Butterball fresh, whole turkeys can purchase frozen Butterball turkeys, the company says. Frozen turkeys, however, can require three to five days to thaw.

The company says that it expects to "completely" fulfill all fresh, whole turkey orders for Christmas

As it has done for more than three! decades, Butterball once again will staff its Turkey Talk-Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL. The line, which has been staffed this year since Nov. 1, will continue to take consumer calls most days until Dec. 24. On Thanksgiving day, alone, it expects to take questions from more than 12,000 consumers.

The most common question: How to thaw a turkey?

One in four Thanksgiving turkeys sold are Butterball(Photo: Butterball)

Top 5 Stock Picks of Tiger 21 Investors

Ultra wealthy investors in the Tiger 21 network continue to favor public equities, with private equity trending in their portfolios, according to the group’s Member Favorites Survey.

The annual survey looks at the most valued investments and managers of Tiger 21’s 220 members, who collectively manage more than $20 billion in investable assets.

Forty-one percent of respondents chose equity-themed investments as their favorite this year, a two percentage point increase from 2012 and 10 points above the 2011 level. 

Individual stock purchases were the most common public equity investment at 50%, followed by ETFs/index funds at 21% and equity-themed hedge funds and long-only mutual funds tied at 14% each.

The most popular public equity sectors among respondents were financials (22%), technology (20%), ETFs (19%) and consumer (12%).

(Check out Top 10 Most Liked U.S. Companies: 2013 on ThinkAdvisor)

Seventeen percent of members chose private equity as a favorite investment strategy this year, continuing a multiyear trend of increasing focus on the sector.

“Members are spending more time backing startups, sitting on boards and getting involved with private companies because that is where they created their own wealth and they know it can be an engine of growth in their portfolio,” Tiger 21’s founder and chairman Michael Sonnenfeldt said in a statement.

Hedge funds fell to 17%, a two percentage point drop from last year’s survey when it was alone in the number two spot, and five points below its ranking in the 2011 survey. 

Real estate investments remained the number four member favorite at 15%, up from 11% this category received in the 2012 survey. Fixed income received 7% of responses, remaining in the fifth spot in category rankings.

Check out the members’ 5 favorite stocks followed by their 5 favorite fund managers:

5. SPDR S&P 500

2012 Rank: (not ranked)

4. Qualcomm

2012 Rank: 20th

The San Diego-based company is the biggest maker of chips for mobile phones.

3. iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund

2012 Rank: (not ranked)

 

2. Apple

2012 Rank: 1st

1. Berkshire Hathaway

2012 Rank: 2nd

In a surprisingly downbeat comment about Apple, Tiger 21’s founder and chairman Michael Sonnenfeldt told Bloomberg that “the bloom” was off of the tech behemoth.

“For people who held Berkshire Hathaway, it’s held its appeal,” Sonnenfeldt said, “but for Apple, a lot of people who were on that ride have realized that perhaps the best days are behind it.”

On the next page, find out Tiger 21 members’ five favorite fund managers:

5 Favorite Managers

Tiger 21 respondents’ five favorite managers across all types of investments were in line with their top favorite investments.

Two firms focused on publicly traded MLPs that concentrate on mid-stream energy assets: 1) Chickasaw Capital Management; 2) Neuberger Berman’s The Rachlin Group; two others were hedge funds: 3) Millennium Management, a multistrategy manager; 4) Elliot Management, whose focus is distressed; and 5) Golub Capital, a private equity shop that focuses on mezzanine loans to midmarket lenders.

Check out these related stories on ThinkAdvisor:

Short Interest in Chip Stocks Points Higher

As of January 15, short interest in several semiconductor stocks increased as investors continued to bet against PC processors and memory chips in favor of mobile devices. With only a couple of exceptions, short interest in chip stocks is on the rise again.

For Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), short interest fell 0.7% to 213.43 million shares. About 4.3% of Intel’s float was short. Intel has already reported fourth-quarter results that missed EPS estimates, so the shorts are clearing out, waiting for the next round of buying to bolster the share price and give them more headroom for a profitable short sale.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw short interest rise by 1.6% to 122.94 million shares, or 23% of the company's total float. AMD, like Intel, has already reported fourth-quarter results and the share price has been sinking — not the direction short sellers like to see.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) short interest rose 6.7% to 21.21 million shares, which represents about 1.3% of the company’s float. Qualcomm reports quarterly results Wednesday and is expected to post EPS of $1.18 on revenues of $6.66 billion. Since January 15, shares are down more than $2.00.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) saw an 18.8% drop in short interest to 5.61 million shares, which represents about 1.2% of the total float. There is no date scheduled yet for the company’s earnings announcement, but analysts expect EPS of $0.26 on revenues of $295.94 million. Both numbers are above the company’s year-ago results.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) showed a rise of 2.8% in short interest to 118.31 million shares, or about 12% of its float. Short interest in Micron hit a peak of 133.4 million shares at the end of November, and the company’s shares are up 8.5% since then. Shorts must be thinking that now is a good time to get back into the stock.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) saw short interest rise by 3% to 22.31 million shares, or about 10% of the company’s float. The stock is up more than 10% since mid-October and posted a 52-week high just about a week ago. That is sure to get short sellers interested.

Short interest in Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) rose 17.3% to 12.33 million shares. That is 2.2% of the total float. Broadcom is scheduled to report results on Thursday, and analysts estimate EPS at $0.57 on revenues of $2.02 billion. Both figures are below last year’s totals.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) posted a 22.4% increase in short interest to 9.9 million shares, or about 3.1% of Marvell’s float. Over the past 12 months, the stock is up more than 57%. Shorts expect that something has to give pretty soon, especially given the company’s dependence on the disk drive business.

Nvidia Corp.’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) short interest rose by 11% to 59.52 million shares, or about 11% of the company’s float. Nvidia stock is up nearly 23% in the past 12 months, and it posted its 52-week high earlier this month. This also looks to be an opportunity for short sales.

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) saw short interest fall by 2.1% to 22.85 million shares, or 2.1% of the float. TI reported earnings last week, pulling the shares back from a 52-week high and cooling, for the moment at least, any added interest from short sellers.

3 Stocks Shelling Out Surefire Dividends

For dividend investors, there’s good news … and bad news.

The good news is that, if you’re looking for income, it sure hasn’t been hard to find. As of the second quarter’s end, the percentage of stocks paying dividends in the S&P 500 was sitting at a 15-year high. And zooming in on just the last decade, aggregate dividend payments have doubled overall.

The bad news, though, is that many dividend-paying stocks sport misleading headline yields or unsustainable payouts — hardly the kind of income stock you want to snatch up for the long haul, or as a way to weather the current political menu of a government shutdown for dinner and the debt ceiling crisis for dessert.

With that in mind, we sorted through piles of dividend stocks to find some that do offer sustainable, surefire payouts for loyal shareholders thanks to impressive payout histories and sustainable payout ratios.

Take a look:

Johnson & Johnson

Dividend Yield: 3.02%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) isn’t dependable just because it provides everything from Band-Aids to Tylenol to baby shampoo. It also provides shareholders with steady-eddy dividend. Yes, Johnson & Johnson has been paying a dividend since 1944 — a long enough track record to make it a Dependable Dividend stock.

Plus, JNJ boasts a mind-blowing 51 consecutive years of dividend increases, with the payout more than tripling in the past decade alone.

That trend will more than likely continue considering Johnson & Johnson paid out a reasonable $2.40 per in dividends last year — only 47% of its adjusted earnings. Factoring in a recent dividend increase, JNJ is slated to tally a $2.59-per-share annual payout for 2013 — also 47% of the $5.46 per share Johnson & Johnson is slated to earn.

If you want consistency, you got it.

Things look just as promising when you consider cash. JNJ’s payout was just over half of its $4.43 in free cash flow per share for 2012. And the diversified consumer goods giant boasted over $17 billion on its balance sheet in the most recent quarter — a pretty hefty cushion in case waters get rough here or there.

Chevron

Dividend Yield: 3.31%

If you’re looking to dig up a solid dividend, look no further than oil and gas giant Chevron (CVX). The Dependable Dividend stock has been paying a dividend for an jaw-dropping 101 years, and has increased that payout by over 185% in the past decade alone.

On top of that, you can count on that dividend for the long haul. In 2012, Chevron paid out $3.51 per share in dividends — less than 28% of its total adjusted earnings for the year.

Plus, CVX upped its quarterly payout this year — something its done every year since the turn of the century — and that $4-per-share annual payout still looks sustainable, as the company is slated to earn $12.16 for the year.

The one thing to note is that Chevron does have a high payout ratio when you compare its dividend to its free cash flow, as a good chunk of the company’s operating cash goes to capital expenditures — which have been on the way up of late. But there’s still some wiggle room; last year’s dividends took up a manageable 86% of free cash flow, and earnings (and thus FCF) are slated for solid growth of 7% per year over the next half-decade.

And for the cherry on top, Chevron has a huge war chest of cash to dip into if things get a little rocky — and that cash cache has been growing in recent years. At the end of the most recent quarter, the oil and gas giant had more than $20.6 billion in cash and equivalents vs. a mere (relatively speaking, of course) $8 billion back in 2009.

Bank of Montreal

Dividend Yield: 4.23%

Head north of the border and you’ll come across Bank of Montreal (BMO), our final safe income pick. If you were impressed by Chevron’s century of dividend payments, consider this: BMO has been rewarding loyal shareholders since 1829. For perspective, remember that the U.S. was just over 50 years old at that time.

Bank of Montreal also hasn’t been shy about ramping up its payments. Over the past decade, BMO’s dividend has soared 120%, including increases in 2012 and 2013.

Last year’s bump put BMO’s annual payout at $2.82 per share — a reasonable 50%, give or take, of the company’s earnings and free cash flow.

And factoring in the most recent increase — which bumped the quarterly payout to 74 cents per share, good for a yield north of 4% — the dividend looks just as sustainable. Based on expected adjusted earnings, Bank of Montreal will be using only 48% of its earnings to reward shareholders this year, and 46% of its earnings next year.

And that’s only if it doesn’t toss shareholders yet another dividend boost. And such a boost seems likely considering BMO is slated for double-digit earnings growth over the next half-decade — higher than the industry average.

As of this writing, Alyssa Oursler did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Boeing Rings Out the Old C-17 and Rings in the New 777-9X

CHICAGO (TheStreet) -- Even as Lufthansa became the launch customer for Boeing's (BA) new 777-9X, the airplane maker also apparently was sealing the fate of the three-decades-old C-17 cargo aircraft.

Lufthansa said Thursday it would be the launch customer for 34 of the Boeing 777-9x, a new 400-seat plane that will be delivered around the end of the decade. Lufthansa's announced 59-jet order also will include 25 Airbus A350-900 jets. On Wednesday, Boeing said it would discontinue C-17 production and close its Long Beach plant in 2015, potentially idling 3,000 workers. [Read: US Airways/American Workers' Merger Blitz Is Unique, Expert Says]

Richard Aboulafia, a aviation consultant with the Teal Group, said that in sum the two announcements indicate that "the defense market is heading down and the civil aviation market is heading up."

He said both announcements indicate that Boeing continues to allow the market to determine what products it will produce, and he questioned whether C-17 production will actually end in 2015. The C-17 announcement, he said, is more an announcement to potential buyers that "this is the last chance" to order. "The Saudis are natural customers -- they haven't ordered any -- and the Indians could order another batch," Aboulafia said. Boeing has delivered 257 C-17s since 1991. The U.S. Air Force has been the primary customer, taking 223 of them; the other 34 have gone to six countries and to NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability initiative. Sterne Agee analyst Peter Arment wrote Thursday that Boeing has 22 C-17s left to build, "but only 13 are officially sold so we do expect new international orders for the final nine aircraft." UBS analyst David Strauss said the C-17 contributes about 30 cents a share in annual earnings. Boeing said it would take a charge of less than $100 million in the third quarter for the production halt. "Our customers around the world face very tough budget environments." said Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, in a prepared statement. "While the desire for the C-17's capabilities is high, budgets cannot support additional purchases in the timing required to keep the production line open. "What's more, here in the United States the sequestration situation has created significant planning difficulties for our customers and the entire aerospace industry," Muilenburg said. "Such uncertainty forces difficult decisions like this C-17 line closure." As for the Lufthansa order, Aboulafia said the 777-9X "has a very promising design and will be a huge seller." Once again, he said, "Boeing had to be dragged kicking and screaming to a launch decision" just as it was when American (AAMRQ) ordered the first 737 MAX in 2011 before final design was completed. He said Boeing "takes the most passive approach" to selling aircraft, letting airlines make key decisions on timing. [Read: 5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar] The philosophy worked, of course, when Boeing listened to its customers and designed the 787, a smaller, long-range aircraft, while Airbus designed the A380, a very large, long-range aircraft that has not sold nearly as well. Boeing said Thursday that the "the launch of the 777X family is targeted for later this year (with) entry into service around the end of the decade." The 777-9X will have around 400 seats. "With its new engines and an all-new composite wing design, the 777X will be the largest and most-efficient twin engine jet in the world with 20% lower fuel consumption and 15% lower operating costs than today's 777," said John Wojick, senior vice president of global sales, in a prepared statement. Boeing shares were up 97 cents to $119.37 in mid-morning trading on Thursday. Shares hit an all-time high of $120.38 earlier in the day. Follow @tedreednc -- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C. >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Ted Reed

Here's the Chart the Fed Doesn't Want You to See

Ever heard of the Taylor Rule?

Not many people have, but the folks at the U.S. Federal Reserve are very familiar with it - and they'd probably prefer that this highly respected guideline for the federal funds rate languish in obscurity.

Basically the Taylor Rule is a mathematical equation based on inflation, output, and other economic measures. It was created in 1993 by John B. Taylor, a renowned economics professor at Stanford University.

Ordinarily, the actual Fed funds rate should track within the range of where the Taylor Rule says it should be.

And for most of the past 30 years, that's pretty much what's happened.

But since 2009, the Fed funds rate has diverged from the Taylor Rule - a divergence that's getting bigger all the time.

It's yet another signal that the Fed's easy money policies - namely keeping interest rates near zero while pouring on quantitative easing (bond-buying) that makes effective interest rates negative - are becoming increasingly dangerous the longer they go on.

If the Federal Reserve were following the Taylor Rule, it would not only need to end all QE immediately, but it would actually have to raise interest rates.

And given the outcome of today's (Wednesday's) FOMC meeting, it doesn't look like the Federal Reserve is going to change course anytime soon.

"The Committee decided to await more evidence that [economic] progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases," the FOMC statement read.

Translation: "We think the economy still needs our help, so we're going to keep the money-printing presses running at full speed."

That means the lines on the chart above are going to continue to head in opposite directions.

"This divergence is like the 'check engine' light in your car," Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald said. "But instead of looking under the hood, the Fed is ignoring the light and praying to God the engine doesn't blow up."

The Federal Reserve policymakers are disregarding the Taylor Rule, Fitz-Gerald said, because they're convinced they need to keep printing money to stimulate the stubbornly weak U.S. economy.

Yet something doesn't seem to add up...

If the Taylor Rule is based on U.S. economic data, and the Federal Reserve uses U.S. economic data to set policy, why aren't they pointing in the same direction?

"The Fed's statistics are more cooked than a Christmas goose," Fitz-Gerald said, referring to the many adjustments to government statistics like inflation that have rendered them almost meaningless. "They've decided to ignore real-world inputs."

So basically the Federal Reserve is basing its policy on bad data, although they're doing it with their eyes wide open.

But by staying on this dangerous course despite warnings like the Taylor Rule, the Fed is taking a tremendous risk.

Why the Federal Reserve Should Heed the Taylor Rule

One problem Fitz-Gerald sees with Fed policy is that it has pushed the stock market to record levels without the underlying economic activity to support it.

"They're setting up an incredible stock bubble," Fitz-Gerald said. "The markets are up 83% since Q2 of 2009, but consumer spending is up only 9%."

That's become a problem in and of itself, he added.

"People are confusing the stock market gains with real growth," Fitz-Gerald said. "What the Fed is doing is not working. We have margin levels at record highs, the middle class getting squeezed with higher inflation, high unemployment."

In addition to stocks, Fitz-Gerald said Federal Reserve policy has also created a "bond market bombshell" and has launched a fresh wave of "currency wars," in which countries try to devalue their currencies to make their exports cheaper.

Sooner or later, the bubbles will burst. But instead of pulling back, the Federal Reserve just keeps creating more money, setting us all up for an even bigger economic disaster.

The trouble is, we've already gone way beyond the point of easy fixes.

Warning lights like the Taylor Rule keep flashing faster and more brightly, but the people who should be paying attention - the Federal Reserve and their supposed overseers, the U.S. Congress - know any attempt to deal with the problem would also be extremely disruptive.

"They want all gain and no pain, which contradicts the fundamental precept of capitalism - which is that failure and risk/reward go hand-in-hand," Fitz-Gerald said.

So America's decision makers all just close their eyes and cross their fingers.

"We don't know exactly when this engine will blow up," Fitz-Gerald said, "but they're all just hoping it won't happen on their watch."

The financial bubbles the policies of the Federal Reserve are creating present a clear and present danger to your money. But you can do something about it. Keith Fitz-Geraldhas some great advice on what you can do to prepare for the bursting of the bubbles...

Related Articles:

Money Morning:
Fed Strategy from Mohammed Ali Money Morning:
The First Thing Yellen Should Do to Save America

Fannie Mae Self-Serving: Warns of Fed Tapering Risk as GDP Grows

When just about all the new conventional mortgage-backed securities that can be created and sold are being purchased by the Federal Reserve, it should be no surprise at all that the primary securitization outlet has a warning about what would happen if a Fed tapering begins to take place. This is the case in the latest Fannie Mae economic and housing outlook from the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). Fannie Mae said that the economy has gained steam but that the expected Fed tapering is a downside risk to growth.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group is forecasting that the economy and housing market will remain on track, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to come in at approximately 2.0% in 2013. The new outlook puts 2014 GDP growth at 2.6% as the fiscal drag is waning. While companies like Walmart and Target are lowering retail sales expectations, Fannie Mae is maintaining that consumer spending and the employment sector appear to be growing sustainably.

Again, Fannie Mae is adding that the growth measures “may help to offset downside risks from the expected tapering of the Federal Reserve's securities purchases.” As a reminder, Fannie Mae is a government sponsored entity (GSE), so some consider it the government even if that is not entirely true.

Fannie Mae’s August outlook is little changed from July. It says on the tapering effect and the risks:

The biggest risk to this forecast is the expected reduction in the Federal Reserve's asset purchases, which would likely put additional upward pressure on interest rates and lead to some volatility in capital markets. Although the nature and timing of the tapering are still to be determined, we continue to expect the Fed will scale back its asset purchases and end the program by spring. In addition, we may see some fiscal tightening this fall as the debate over federal spending and the debt ceiling takes place.

Fannie Mae projects that the additional growth in the housing market recovery is expected to be modest rather than robust. It points out that the rise in mortgage rates has led to a drop-off in refinance activity but does not appear to have had much impact on home purchase activity so far. On home prices it said:

Home prices are expected to continue to climb, although the pace should slow significantly from the dramatic levels seen during the past 12 months.

Fosun Group, Prudential Financial Expand Alliance

NEW YORK (The Deal) -- China's Fosun Group, the parent company of acquisitive conglomerate Fosun International, announced an agreement Wednesday to forge a China-focused real estate joint venture with Prudential Financial (PRU).

The joint venture plans to invest in mixed-use development projects in growing urban centers in China and also anticipates working on real estate projects outside China. The companies said they would also develop together a range of products, services and educational resources for Chinese individuals and families planning for retirement, though it wasn't clear whether they would do this through the new joint venture.

Fosun and Newark, N.J.-based Prudential, which does business as Pramerica in certain countries outside the United States, have been working together since 2011, when they launched the $600 million Pramerica-Fosun China Opportunity Fund.

They also have a 50/50 life insurance joint venture in Shanghai, and a joint U.S.-based investment fund. "In a very short time, [Prudential] has become an important strategic partner for Fosun, as we expand our global footprint," Fosun Group Chairman Guo Guangchang in a statement. Wednesday's news follows concerns that Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Fosun International, the self-styled Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) of China, may be stretching itself too thin financially with a planned 1 billion ($1.36 billion) Portuguese acquisition. In that transaction, Fosun International will buy 80% of the insurance arm of Caixa Geral de Depositos SA from the Portuguese state. It beat rival bidder Apollo Global Management LLP in a hotly contested auction earlier this month, but has yet to disclose terms and conditions as well as how it plans to fund the purchase. The funding uncertainty over the Portuguese deal prompted Moody's Investors Service to place Fosun International's ratings under review for a possible downgrade. "The consideration for the transaction exceeds Fosun's cash resources and internally generated cash," warned senior Moody's analyst Lina Choi last week. "We therefore expect that the company will need external funding, dispose some of its investments, or both." Fosun International's activities include steel, property, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and mining. The company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2005. It is 58% owned by chairman Guangchang. He and three other co-founders indirectly hold 79.03% of the company. The conglomerate has been investing in Europe for some time, taking a first stake in French holiday resort operator Club Mediterranee SA in 2010 before launching a joint bid with the-then AXA Private Equity, since renamed Ardian, last year for majority control of the company with an offer valuing Club Med at 553 million. Fosun International also owns 13.4% of Greek jewelry and fashion company Folli Follie Group, which is controlled by Swiss airport retailing company Dufry AG. In the U.S. Fosun International paid $725 million for the 2.2 million-square-foot Chase Manhattan tower last October in the largest-ever purchase of a New York building by a Chinese company.

Stock quotes in this article: PRU, BRK.A 

Hot Stocks To Watch For 2014

The right dividend stock can be an investor's best friend. That's because with high-quality dividend stocks you can beat the market and get outstanding returns for years on end. Reliable payouts, strong balance sheets, and superior cash flow generation are just a few of the reasons investors should buy these two dividend stocks this month.

1. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  )
Once a fierce growth stock, Apple is finally showing the world that it can put shareholders first. The tech titan now plans to return as much as $100 billion to shareholders by the end of 2015, thanks to its updated capital return program. In April, Apple increased its quarterly dividend by 15% to $3.05 per share, and made the shareholder-friendly decision to repurchase $60 billion worth of Apple stock. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook:

We believe so strongly that repurchasing our shares represents an attractive use of our capital that we have dedicated the vast majority of the increase in our capital return program to share repurchases.

Hot Stocks To Watch For 2014: ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited (ASA)

ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited is a self management investment trust. The firm invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It primarily invests in stocks of companies engaged in the exploration, mining or processing of gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, or other precious minerals. ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited was founded in 1958 and is based in San Mateo, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joe Eqcome]

  Actionable Items:

  Highest Positive Spread: Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund (JLS)Focus Stock: LMP Real Estate Income Fund (RIT)Last Week's Focus Stock: ASA Gold and Precious Metals (ASA)

  ECB cuts its rates: The European Central Bank (ECB) will cut its benchmark rate a quarter-of-a-point to 0.5%.

Hot Stocks To Watch For 2014: Bca Profilo(PRO.MI)

Banca Profilo S.p.A. provides private banking, investment banking, and capital market services to institutional clients in Italy. Its investment banking activities include company valuation and preparation of business plans; merger and acquisition advice and assistance in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures; finding venture capital through the inclusion of industrial or financial partners; organization and raising capital for LBO/MBO; organizing, structuring, and underwriting of IPOs and capital increases of listed companies; and corporate and financial restructuring. It also provides various private banking services, such as asset management in multi-manager funds, traditional asset management, collection orders on behalf of customers, and proposals for financial products, as well as legal, tax, and real estate services. The company offers asset management services to institutional customers, such as banks, insurance companies, foundations, and social security institutions; and individuals. In addition, it also provides brokerage services. The company is based in Milan, Italy.

Top Growth Stocks To Invest In 2014: Mallett(MAE.L)

Mallett plc operates as an antiques dealer primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States. The company involves in restoration and dealing in antique furniture and works of art; and designing and manufacturing contemporary furniture and works of art. Its products include furniture products, such as cabinet furniture, fire wares, mirrors, seating, and tables and desks; pictures comprising oil and watercolor paints, as well as oriental and photography products; lightings, which consists of candlesticks, chandeliers, lamps, lanterns, and wall lights; modern products, such as coffee tables, lighting, and two tier tables; and textiles comprising needlework, and rugs and carpets. The company also offers various other objects, including ceramic, clocks and scientific, glass, ivory and tortoiseshell, and metalware products. It sells its products to private individuals and museums. The company was founded in 1865 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Hot Stocks To Watch For 2014: Twin Butte Energy Com Npv (TBE.TO)

Twin Butte Energy Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas properties in Western Canada. The company�s principal properties include the Frog Lake property, Silverdale area, Freemont area, and Primate area located in the Lloydminster region of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. It has approximately 220,000 net undeveloped acres of land. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Hot Stocks To Watch For 2014: Enterprise Oilfiel Com Npv (E.TO)

Enterprise Group, Inc., through its subsidiary, Enterprise Energy Services Inc., provides pipeline construction and oilfield maintenance services to oil and gas companies, and directional drilling services to utility providers primarily in central and northern Alberta, Canada. Its energy and construction services include pipeline construction, pipeline repair and maintenance, wellhead tie-ins, water injection lines, facilities construction, oilfield hauling, tunneling, directional drilling, underground utilities installation, and road and lease construction. The company�s utility and directional drilling services comprise directional drilling; and installation of underground power, telecommunications, and natural gas lines. It serves providers of telecommunications, cable television, electricity, and natural gas services. The company was formerly known as Enterprise Oilfield Group, Inc. and changed its name to Enterprise Group, Inc. in July 2012. Enterprise Group, Inc. wa s incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in St. Albert, Canada.

Gender Gap in Financial Know-How Leveling Off

Financial Finesse held a webinar on Friday previewing data that it will release later this week in a report on the gender gap in financial literacy.

“Over the last several years, the gap has been steadily increasing” although it’s beginning to level off, Diane Winland, the report’s primary author, said in the webinar.

“Women need to get ahead of men” in order to overcome barriers like longer lifespans and less time in the work force, Winland said. Women can live between five and 10 years longer than men, she said, and tend to make less over time. The National Commission on Pay Equity found women make about $11,000 less than men per year.

The gap is largest in debt and money management, Winland said. That’s surprising because women are frequently the money managers in their families, Winland said, referring to a Boston Consulting Group study that found in 73% of households, spending is controlled by women.

Financial Finesse found the smallest gap in long-term planning, and no gap in participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans. That parity in participation doesn’t translate to actual savings, though. Winland referred to data from the Employee Benefits Research Institute that found men have saved on average $114,000 in workplace retirement plans, compared with $56,000 for women.

“We need to do a better job of putting emphasis on women taking control of their finances,” Winland said in the webinar. Winland stressed that improving women’s financial habits isn’t the only goal; women need to have more confidence in their abilities and actions in order to see improvement.

Linda Robertson, a senior financial planner at Financial Finesse, pointed out that the gender gap narrowed with higher levels of income, especially between men and women in the $150,000-to-$200,000 income range. The reason why is a subject of further study, she said.

Winland referred to a study by Allianz that showed women have a “pervasive fear of being a bag lady. No matter what position we achieve, we still have that underlying fear.”

In some areas, Financial Finesse found, women are improving while men are actually pulling back. Women improved at fee analysis, rebalancing and allocating assets. “Women are better at following a plan,” Winland said, “while men tend to be more aggressive.”

The report found men are more likely to have an emergency cash fund, pay bills on time and manage their cash flow so they’re not spending more than they make. “In order to save for long-term [goals], we need to close the gap in money management,” Robertson said.

Men are also more likely to know whether they are on track for retirement, although less than a quarter of male respondents could answer positively. “The younger men and women are when they run estimates, the smaller steps they need to take to get on track,” Robertson added. Winland said that financial education should focus on empowering people. “The highly technical, narrowly focused lecture format of education may not be the best model,” Robertson agreed. The format suggested by Financial Finesse is life goal-based and holistic, and delivers information in a way that is engaging and encourages participation. The traditional model is “definitely not the best for women and maybe for all employees,” Winland said. “Women prefer a much more kinesthetic style.”

To design effective financial educational programs, Financial Finesse suggested using a holistic approach that ties together all the benefits an employer offers. They should also work to create “ah-ha” moments that women can relate to.

Another best practice is to “fold the financial piece into the wellness program so employees can see the connection between physical health and financial health,” Winland said.

Winland added that women respond well to coaching programs with multiple steps, like an online assessment followed by group workshops and a one-on-one coaching session or call.

“To close the gap, we have to make sure women are taking positive action,” Robertson concluded. She suggested making women active participants in their financial education and giving them concrete steps to take following educational sessions.

---

Check out Women More Likely to Have High Financial Stress on AdvisorOne.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, small-cap biotech Repligen (NASDAQ: RGEN  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Repligen and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Repligen facts

Headquarters (founded)

Waltham, Mass. (1981)

Market Cap

$240.2 million

Industry

Biotechnology

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$65.9 million

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Telik Inc (TELK.PH)

Telik, Inc. (Telik), incorporated in 1988, is a clinical-stage drug development company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs to treat cancer. The Company discovers its product candidates using the Company�� drug discovery technology, Target-Related Affinity Profiling (TRAP). TELINTRA, its principal drug product candidate in clinical development, is a small molecule glutathione analog inhibitor of the enzyme glutathione S-transferase P1-1 (GST P1-1). TELCYTA, its other product candidate, is a small molecule cancer drug product candidate designed to be activated in cancer cells.

Clinical Product Development

TELINTRA is the Company�� lead small molecule product candidate in clinical development for the treatment of blood disorders, including cancer. It has a mechanism of action and acts by inhibiting GST P1-1, an enzyme that is involved in the control of cellular growth and differentiation. Inhibition of GST P1-1 results in the activation of the signaling molecule Jun kinase, a regulator of the function of blood precursor cells. Preclinical tests show that TELINTRA is capable of causing the death or apoptosis of leukemic or malignant blood cells, while stimulating the growth and development of normal blood precursor cells. TELINTRA has been studied in Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) using two formulations. A liposomal formulation was developed for intravenous administration of TELINTRA and was used in Phase I and Phase II studies in MDS patients. The results from the Phase II intravenous liposomal TELINTRA clinical trials demonstrated that TELINTRA treatment was associated with improvement in all three types of blood cell levels in patients with all types of MDS, including those in intermediate and high-risk groups. An oral dosage formulation (tablet) was subsequently developed and results from a Phase I study with TELINTRA tablets showed clinical activity and the formulation to be well tole rated. In June 2011, the Company initiated a Phase II clini! c! al trial to evaluate TELINTRA tablets. In October 2011, the Company initiated an additional Phase IIb clinical trial to evaluate TELINTRA tablets. '

The activity and safety profile of tablet formulation allowed the Company to complete a Phase II trial of TELINTRA tablets in MDS. The primary objective of the Phase II TELINTRA tablet study was to determine the efficacy of TELINTRA. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify MDS disease prognostic factors associated with erythroid improvement response rates, including prior MDS treatment, age, gender, the international prognostic scoring system (IPSS), risk, Eastern Cooperative Group performance status, years from MDS diagnosis, MDS World Health Organization subtypes, anemia only versus anemia plus other cytopenias, dose schedule and starting dose. Results from this study show that TELINTRA is the first GSTP1-1 enzyme inhibitor shown to cause clinically reductions in red blood cell transf usions, including transfusion independence in low to intermediate-1 risk MDS patients, as well as improvement in platelet count and white blood cell levels in certain patients. TELINTRA, administered orally twice daily, appeared to be convenient and flexible for chronic treatment administration.

TELCYTA is a small molecule drug product candidate that the Company is developed for the treatment of cancer. TELCYTA binds to GST. TELCYTA has been evaluated in multiple Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, including trials using TELCYTA as monotherapy and in combination regimens in ovarian, non-small cell lung, breast and colorectal cancer. Results from these clinical trials indicate that TELCYTA monotherapy was generally well-tolerated, with mostly mild to moderate side effects, particularly when compared to the side effects and toxicities of standard chemotherapeutic drugs. When TELCYTA was evaluated in combination with standard chemotherapeutic drugs, the tolera bility of the combinations was similar to that expected! of e! ac! h drug ! alone.

Clinical activity including objective tumor responses and/or disease stabilization was reported in the TELCYTA Phase II trials; however, TELCYTA did not meet its primary endpoints in the Phase III studies. Positive results from a Phase I-IIa multicenter, dose-ranging study of TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, were published in a peer reviewed publication. Clinical data demonstrated positive results of TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in the treatment of first-line lung cancer followed by TELCYTA maintenance therapy. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had an on-going investigator-led study at a single site of TELCYTA in patients with refractory or relapsed mantle cell lymphoma, diffuse B cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.

Preclinical Drug Product Development

The Company has a small molecule compound, TLK60 404, in preclinical development that inhibits both Aurora kinase and VEGFR kinase. Aurora kinase is a signaling enzyme whose function is required for cancer cell division, while VEGF plays a key role in tumor blood vessel formation, ensuring an adequate supply of nutrients to support tumor growth. These lead compounds prevented tumor growth in preclinical models of human colon cancer and human leukemia by inhibiting both Aurora kinase and VEGFR kinase. A development drug product candidate, TLK60404, has been selected.

The Company, using its TRAP technology has discovered TLK60357, a novel, potent small molecule inhibitor of cell division. TLK60357 inhibits the formation of microtubules that are necessary for cancer cell growth leading to persistent G2/M cancer cell cycle block and subsequent cell death. This compound demonstrates potent broad-spectrum anticancer activity against a number of human cancer cells. This compound also displays oral efficacy in multipl e, standard preclinical models of cancer. TLK6059! 6, a pote! nt! VGFR kin! ase inhibitor, blocks the formation of new blood vessels in tumors. Oral administration of TLK60596 to animal models of human colon cancer reduced tumor growth.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Celgene Corp (CELG)

Celgene Corporation is a global biopharmaceutical company primarily engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. The Company is engaged in the research and development, which is designed to bring new therapies to market, and is engaged in research in several scientific areas that may deliver therapies, focusing areas, such as intracellular signaling pathways in cancer and immune cells, immunomodulation in cancer and autoimmune diseases, and therapeutic application of cell therapies. The Company�� primary commercial stage products include REVLIMID, VIDAZA, THALOMID, ABRAXANE and ISTODAX. Additional sources of revenue include a licensing agreement with Novartis, which entitles it to royalties on FOCALIN XR and the entire RITALIN family of drugs, the sale of services through its Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary and other miscellaneous licensing agreements. In March 2012, it acquired Avila Therapeutics.

The Company invests in research and development, and the drug candidates in its pipeline at various stages of preclinical and clinical development. These candidates include pomalidomide and apremilast, its oral anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory agents, PDA-001, its cellular therapy, oral azacitidine, CC-223 and CC-115 for hematological and solid tumor malignancies, CC-122, its anti-cancer pleiotropic pathway modifier, and ACE-011 and ACE-536 biological products for anemia in several clinical settings of unmet need. Celgene product candidates include Pomalidomide (CC-4047), Oral Anti-Inflammatory: Apremilast (CC-10004), CC-11050, Kinase Inhibitors:Tanzisertib (CC-930), Cellular Therapies: PDA-001, Activin Biology: Sotatercept (ACE-011) ACE-536, and Anti-tumor Agents: CC-22, CC-115, CC-122 and Oral Azacitidine. It owns and operates a manufacturing facility in Zofingen, Switzerland. The Company also owns and operates a drug product manufacturing facility in Boudry, Switzerland.

Commercial! Stage Products

REVLIMID (lenalidomide) is an oral immunomodulatory drug marketed in the United States and many international markets, in combination with dexamethasone, for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. It is also marketed in the United States and certain international markets for the treatment of transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. REVLIMID is distributed in the United States through contracted pharmacies under the RevAssist program, which is a risk-management distribution program. Internationally, REVLIMID is distributed under mandatory risk-management distribution programs.

REVLIMID continues to be evaluated in numerous clinical trials worldwide either alone or in combination with one or more other therapies in the treatment of a range of hematological malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MDS) various lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) other cancers and other diseases. VIDAZA (azacitidine for injection) is a pyrimidine nucleoside. VIDAZA is a Category 1 recommended treatment for patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk MDS and is marketed in the United States for the treatment of all subtypes of MDS. In Europe, VIDAZA is marketed for the treatment of intermediate-2 and high-risk MDS, as well as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with 30% blasts and has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of MDS and AML.

THALOMID (thalidomide) is marketed for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and for the acute treatment of the cutaneous manifestations of moderate to severe erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) an inflammatory complication of leprosy and as maintenance therapy for prevention and suppression of the cutaneous manifestation of ENL recurrence. THALOMID is distributed in the United States under its System f! or Thalid! omide Education and Prescribing Safety (S.T.E.P.S.) program. Internationally, THALOMID is also distributed under mandatory risk-management distribution programs. ABRAXANE (paclitaxel albumin-bound particles for injectable suspension) is a solvent-free chemotherapy treatment option for metastatic breast cancer, which was developed using its nab technology platform. This protein-bound chemotherapy agent combines paclitaxel with albumin. As of December 31, 2011, ABRAXANE was in various stages of investigation for the treatment of expanded applications for metastatic breast; non-small cell lung; malignant melanoma; pancreatic; bladder and ovarian.

ISTODAX (romidepsin) has received orphan drug designation for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's T-cell lymphomas, which includes CTCL and PTCL. The Company has licensed the worldwide rights (excluding Canada) regarding certain chirally pure forms of methylphenidate for FOCALIN and FOCALIN XR to Novartis. It also licensed to Novartis the rights related to long-acting formulations of methylphenidate and dex-methylphenidate products which are used in FOCALIN XR and RITALIN LA.

Preclinical and Clinical-Stage Pipeline

The product candidates in the Company�� pipeline are at various stages of preclinical and clinical development. Pomalidomide is a small molecule that is orally available and modulates the immune system and other biologically important targets. Pomalidomide is being evaluated in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of myelofibrosis and a phase III clinical trial evaluating pomalidomide as a treatment for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma is accruing patients.

The Company is developing a product, ORAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENTS, which is orally available small molecules that target PDE4, an intracellular enzyme that modulates the production of multiple pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-10, IL-12, IL-23, INF-gamma, TNF-a, leukotrienes,! and nitr! ic oxide synthase. Its investigational drug, apremilast (CC-10004), is used for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis and is being evaluated in a phase II trial for rheumatoid arthritis and six phase III multi-center international clinical trials. In addition, it is investigating its oral PDE4 inhibitor, CC-11050, which is an anti-inflammatory compound that treat a variety of chronic inflammatory conditions, such as Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE).

The Company�� oral kinase inhibitor platform includes inhibitors of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) mTOR kinase, spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) c-fms tyrosine kinase (c-FMS) and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNAPK). Its oral Syk, c-FMS and DNAPK kinase inhibitors are being investigated in pre-clinical studies. The Company�� new second generation JNK inhibitor, tanzisertib (CC-930), is being evaluated in a phase II trial for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a phase II trial for the treatment of discoid lupus is accruing patients. Amrubicin is a third-generation fully synthetic anthracycline molecule with potent topoisomerase II inhibition.

At Celgene Cellular Therapeutics (CCT), it is researching stem cells derived from the human placenta, as well as from the umbilical cord. CCT is the Company�� research and development division. Stem cell based therapies provide disease-modifying outcomes for serious diseases, which lack adequate therapy. It has developed technology for collecting, processing and storing placental stem cells with broad therapeutic applications in cancer, auto-immune diseases, including Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, neurological disorders, including stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), graft-versus-host disease, and other immunological / anti-inflammatory, rheumatologic and bone disorders.

The Company has collaborated with Acceleron Pharma, Inc. (Acceleron) to develop sotatercept. Two phase I clinical studies have been co! mpleted. ! An additional phase II clinical study has been initiated and is ongoing related to treatments for end-stage renal anemia and to evaluate effects on red blood cell mass and plasma volume.

The Company competes with Abbott Laboratories, Amgen Inc. (Amgen), AstraZeneca PLC., Biogen Idec Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eisai Co., Ltd., F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., Johnson and Johnson, Merck and Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Takeda).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG  ) was one of several companies presenting at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, annual meeting in Chicago this week. Here's what the big biotech had to say.

Top 5 Value Companies For 2014: Organovo Holdings Inc (ONVO.PK)

Organovo Holdings, Inc. (Organovo), formerly Real Estate Restoration & Rental, Inc., incorporated in 2007, is a development-stage company. The Company has developed and is commercializing a platform technology for the generation of three-dimensional (3D) human tissues that can be employed in drug discovery and development, biological research, and as therapeutic implants for the treatment of damaged or degenerating tissues and organs. On December 28, 2011, Real Estate Restoration and Rental, Inc.�� (RERR) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, pursuant to which RERR merged with its, wholly owned subsidiary, Organovo (Merger Sub). On February 8, 2012, the Company merged with and into Organovo Acquisition Corp. (Acquisition Corp.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Organovo, with the Company surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Organovo Holdings (the Merger). As a result of the Merger, Organovo acquired the business of Organovo, Inc.

The C ompany has collaborative research agreements with Pfizer, Inc. (Pfizer) and United Therapeutic Corporation (Unither). As of March 31, 2012, it has five federal grants, including Small Business Innovation Research grants and developed the NovoGen MMX Bioprinter (its first-generation 3D bioprinter). The Company is engaged in the development of specific 3D human tissues to aid Pfizer in discovery of therapies in two areas of interest. In addition, in October 2011, it entered into a research agreement with Unither to establish and conduct a research program to discover treatments for pulmonary hypertension using its NovoGen MMX Bioprinter technology. Additionally, under the research agreement with Unither, the Company granted Unither an option to acquire from the Company a worldwide, royalty-bearing license in certain intellectual property created under the research agreement solely for use in the treatment or prevention of pulmonary hypertension and all other lung diseases.

The Company�� NovoGen MMX Bioprinter is an aut! om! ated device that enables the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) living tissues comprised of mammalian cells. A custom graphic user interface (GUI) facilitates the 3D design and execution of scripts that direct precision movement of the dispensing heads to deposit cellular building blocks (bio-ink) or supporting hydrogel. The Company is using a third party manufacturer, Invetech Pty., of Melbourne, Australia, to manufacture its NovoGen MMX Bioprinter. Its bioprinting technology and surrounding intellectual property and commercial rights serve as a platform for product generation across multiple markets that employ cell- and tissue-based products and services.

The Company competes with Organogenesis, Advanced BioHealing, Tengion, Genzyme, HumaCyte and Cytograft Tissue Engineering.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Prima BioMed Ltd (PBMD)

Prima BioMed Ltd is a biotechnology company is engaged in the development and commercialization of medical therapies with a focus on oncology. Its product candidates in development include Cvac, an autologous dendritic cell vaccine for ovarian cancer, monoclonal antibodies for multiple tumour types, and an oral formulation for the human papilloma virus (HPV), vaccine. Its product candidate Cvac is a dendritic cell therapy, for which it is conducting a Phase IIb trial for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Cvac is designed to target the tumour antigen mucin-1, which is expressed at high levels on different tumour types. It also has two preclinical product development programs. In May 2011, Prima BioMed GmbH, a 100 % owned subsidiary of Prima BioMed Ltd, was incorporated in Germany. In May 2011, Prima BioMed Middle East FZLLC, a 100 % owned subsidiary of Prima BioMed Ltd, was incorporated in the United Arab Emirates. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Prima Biomed (NASDAQ: PBMD) shares dipped 38.59% to touch a new 52-week low of $1.44 after the company reported top-line analysis of CVac Phase 2 trial.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Prima Biomed (NASDAQ: PBMD) dropped 38.17% to $1.45 after the company reported top-line analysis of CVac Phase 2 trial.

  Tower Group International (NASDAQ: TWGP) plummeted 24.31% to $10.49. Tower Group announced its plans to release its Q2 results during the week of October 7, 2013. FBR Capital downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Dyadic International Inc (DYAI)

Dyadic International, Inc. (Dyadic), incorporated in September 2002, is a holding company. The Company is a global biotechnology company. The Company has operations at the United States and the Netherlands. Dyadic uses its technologies to conduct research and development (R&D) and commercial activities for the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzymes and proteins for the bioenergy, industrial enzyme, and biopharmaceutical industries. The Company derives all of its revenues from the licensing of its technologies, the sale of its enzymes and conducting research and development (R&D) activities for third parties. The Company operates in two segments: the United States operations and The Netherlands operations. The United States segment includes a subsidiary in Poland.

The United States operating segment is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of enzyme products, proteins, peptides and other bio-molecules derived from genes and a collaborative licensor of enabling technologies for the development and manufacturing of biological products and use in R&D. The Netherlands operating segment is also a researcher and developer of enzyme products, proteins, peptides and other bio-molecules derived from genes and, to date, has mainly invested in R&D activities.

Dyadic�� R&D activities focus on its fungal strains and associated technologies. Dyadic uses its Trichoderma and C1 fungal strains in the production of its industrial enzymes. Dyadic manufactures and sells liquid and dry enzyme products to global customers for use within the animal feed, pulp and paper, starch and alcohol, food and brewing, textiles, and biofuels industries.

Dyadic also utilizes a technology platform based on its patented and C1 fungus (the C1 Platform Technology), which enables the development and manufacture of proteins and enzymes for diverse market opportunities. The C1 Platform Technology can also be used to screen for the discovery of novel genes and proteins. The C1 Platf! orm Technology also has the potential of developing and producing other biological products such as antibodies, vaccines, proteins and polypeptides for the biopharmaceutical industry.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Autoimmune Inc (AIMM)

AutoImmune Inc., incorporated in September 1988, is a healthcare company. The Company�� products are based on the principles of mucosal tolerance. The Company�� product is sold by Colloral LLC, the Company�� joint venture with Deseret, under the brand name Colloral, The Collagen Solution and Vital 3, and by Futurebiotics LLC under the brand name Vital 3. The other products which are in the development stage include MBP8298 (dirucotide), Oral Copaxone and AI 401.

The Company completed ten human clinical trials involving over 1,900 patients to investigate the use of Colloral as a pharmaceutical for treating symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. The Company holds a joint venture with Deseret by forming Colloral LLC to manufacture market and sell Colloral as a dietary supplement. Colloral LLC holds a distributing agreement with Futurebiotics LLC for Colloral. Futurebiotics LLC markets the product under the brand name Vital 3. Colloral LLC also markets the product under the Vital 3 brand through The Shopping Channel of Canada via on air segments and their Website.

The Company�� other products in the development stage include MBP8298 (dirucotide) for multiple sclerosis, which is in Phase III trials for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis; Oral Copaxone is in the research stage for multiple sclerosis, and AI 401 is in Phase III trials for Type 1 diabetes. The development of MBP8298 (dirucotide) is conducted by BioMS Medical Corporation (BioMS). In August 2000, BioMS tested patients in a Phase II/III (MAESTRO-01) clinical trial of its MBP8298 treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. It was conducted at 47 sites across Canada and Europe. In November 2006, BioMS enrolled in a Phase II clinical trial (MINDSET-01) of MBP8298 for treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. It enrolled 218 patients at 24 sites in six countries for a 15 month trial.

The Company collaborated with Eli Lilly, which supports clinical testing of orally administered a! utoimmune-mediated (Type 1) diabetes product, AI 401. Eli Lilly completed three different Phase II clinical trials to demonstrate human proof of principle for AI 401. The United States study was a one-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with more than 200 patients, designed to measure immunological changes, preservation of pancreatic function and time to insulin dependence. Its second Phase II trial, involving approximately 150 patients, was conducted in France. The third trial was conducted in Italy with approximately 80 patients. In addition, Eli Lilly provided AI 401 for the Diabetes Prevention Trial (DPT-1) conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During the year ended December 31, 2008, the clinical trial of intranasal insulin to delay or prevent the clinical onset of Type I diabetes, called the Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Project was conducted in Finland. As of January 1, 2009, 115 had been enrolled in this trial.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cell Therapeutics Inc (CTIC)

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI), incorporated in 1991, develops, acquires and commercializes treatments for cancer. The Company�� research, development, acquisition and in-licensing activities concentrate on identifying and developing new ways to treat cancer. As of December 31, 2011, CTI focused its efforts on Pixuvri (pixantrone dimaleate) (Pixuvri), OPAXIO (paclitaxel poliglumex) (OPAXIO), tosedostat, brostallicin and bisplatinates. As of December 31, 2011, it developed Pixuvri, an anthracycline derivative for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Another late-stage drug candidate of the Company, OPAXIO, is being studied as a potential maintenance therapy for women with advanced stage ovarian cancer, who achieve a complete remission following first-line therapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin. As of December 31, 2011, it also developed tosedostat in collaboration with Chroma Therapeutics, Ltd. (Chroma). On May 31, 2012, CTI completed its acquisition gaining worldwide rights to S*BIO Pte Ltd.'s (S*BIO) pacritinib.

Pixuvri

As of December 31, 2011, the Company developed Pixuvri, an aza-anthracenedione derivative, for the treatment of non-Hodgkin�� lymphoma (NHL), and various other hematologic malignancies, and solid tumors. Pixuvri was studied in the Company�� EXTEND, or PIX301, clinical trial, which was a phase III single-agent trial of Pixuvri for patients with relapsed, refractory aggressive NHL who received two or more prior therapies and who were sensitive to treatment with anthracyclines. On September 28, 2011, CTI announced that a second independent radiology assessment of response and progression endpoint data from its PIX301 clinical trial of Pixuvri was achieved with statistical significance. The results of the EXTEND trial met its primary endpoint and showed that patients randomized to treatment with Pixuvri achieved a significantly higher rate of confirmed and unconfirmed complete response compared to patients treated with standard chem! otherapy had a significantly increased overall response rate and experienced a statistically significant improvement in median progression free survival. Pixuvri had predictable and manageable toxicities when administered at the proposed dose and schedule in the EXTEND clinical trial in heavily pre-treated patients. In March 2011, the Company initiated the PIX-R trial to study Pixuvri in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Pixuvri has also been studied in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have tumor progression after at least two, but not more than three, prior chemotherapy regimens. In the second quarter of 2010, the NCCTG opened this phase II study for enrollment. The study is closed to accrual and results are expected to be reported by the NCCTG later in 2012.

OPAXIO

OPAXIO is the Company�� biologically-enhanced chemotherapeutic agent that links paclitaxel to a biodegradable polyglutamate polymer, resulting in a new chemical entity. As of December 31, 2011, the Company focused its development of OPAXIO on ovarian, brain, esophageal, head and neck cancer. OPAXIO was designed to improve the delivery of paclitaxel to tumor tissue while protecting normal tissue from toxic side effects. In November 2010, results were presented by the Brown University Oncology Group from a phase II trial of OPAXIO combined with temozolomide (TMZ), and radiotherapy in patients with newly-diagnosed, high-grade gliomas, a type of brain cancer. The trial demonstrated a high rate of complete and partial responses and a high rate of six month progression free survival (PFS). Based on these results, the Brown University Oncology Group has initiated a randomized, multicenter, phase II study of OPAXIO and standard radiotherapy versus TMZ and radiotherapy for newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma with an active gene termed MGMT that reduces responsiveness to TMZ. A phase I/II study of OPAXIO combined with radi! otherapy ! and cisplatin was initiated by SUNY Upstate Medical University, in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

Tosedostat

In March 2011, the Company entered into a co-development and license agreement with Chroma Therapeutics, Ltd. (Chroma), providing the Company with marketing and co-development rights to Chroma�� drug candidate, tosedostat, in North, Central and South America. Tosedostat is an oral, aminopeptidase inhibitor that has demonstrated anti-tumor responses in blood related cancers and solid tumors in phase I-II clinical trials. Interim results from the phase II OPAL study of tosedostat in elderly patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed that once-daily, oral doses of tosedostat had predictable and manageable toxicities and results demonstrated response rates, including a high-response rate among patients who received prior hypomethylating agents, which are used to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a precursor of AML.

Brostallicin

As of December 31, 2011, the Company developed brostallicin through its wholly owned subsidiary, Systems Medicine LLC, which holds rights to use, develop, import and export brostallicin. Brostallicin is a synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) minor groove binding agent that has demonstrated anti-tumor activity and a favorable safety profile in clinical trials, in which more than 230 patients have been treated as of December 31, 2011. The Company uses a genomic-based platform to guide the development of brostallicin. A phase II study of brostallicin in relapsed, refractory soft tissue sarcoma met its predefined activity and safety hurdles and resulted in a first-line phase II clinical trial study that was conducted by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

The Company competes with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Roche Group, Genentech, Inc., Astellas Pharma, Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, Telik, I! nc., TEVA! Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. and PharmaMar.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  If you have not been watching the biotech sector lately, you should start paying attention as the sector along with small cap biotech stocks like Cell Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CTIC), BIND Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: BIND) and TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) continue to produce a steady stream of good news for investors thanks to positive industry trends. Moreover, Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ: OPHT), Foundation Medicine Inc (NASDAQ: FMI), Evoke Pharma and Fate Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: FATE) are this week's biotech IPOs that will no doubt be watched closely by Wall Street and industry observers in general. With that in mind, consider the following biotech news or recent articles about the industry and the small cap players in it:

• [By Nathalie Tadena]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Friday’s session are Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.(VNDA), Kimberly-Clark(KMB) and Cell Therapeutics(CTIC).

• [By Sean Williams]

  Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CTIC  )
  Certainly no discussion of companies with large accumulated deficits would be complete without discussing a biotechnology company. It's perfectly understandable to see a biotech, especially a clinical-stage one, run with an accumulated deficit, as it takes time and money to build up a drug pipeline. However, after multiple complete response letters (the equivalent of a rejection) by the Food and Drug Administration and years without an approved drug, Cell Therapeutics racked up an astounding $1.83 billion in accumulated deficits through the end of fiscal 2012. By comparison, that's nearly 56 times larger than its shareholder equity.�

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If you're reading this, then odds are you already know that the last two weeks (not even a full two weeks) have been more fruitful for Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CTIC) shareholders than the prior two years have been - the stock's up 28% since last Thursday. And, odds are you already know why. The question most of you are asking now is, can CTIC actually keep climbing at this pace, or even keep climbing at any pace? The answer is "yes", though floating that answer almost inherently requires a deeper explanation.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp (RXII.PK)

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (RXi), incorporated on September 8, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies addressing medical needs using RNA interference (RNAi)-targeted technologies. As of July 12, 2012, RXi was focusing on its internal therapeutic development efforts in fibrosis. RXI-109 is its RNAi product candidate, which is a dermal anti-scarring therapy that targets connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). The Company�� therapeutic platform consists of two main components: RNAi Compounds (rxRNA) and Advanced Delivery Technologies. RNAi compounds include rxRNAori, rxRNAsolo and sd-rxRNA, or self-delivering RNA. On April 26, 2012, it completed the spin-off transaction from Galena Biopharma, Inc. (Galena).

In January 2011, the Company announced research results in collaboration with Generex Biotechnology Corporation, and RXi�� wholly owned subsidia ry Antigen Express, Inc., in developing vaccine formulations for immunotherapy. In January 2011, it announced initial results as part of its collaboration with miRagen Therapeutics, Inc. in creating microRNA mimics, or artificial copies of microRNAs, using the Company�� sd-rxRNA technology. In February 2011, it announced the initiation of RXi�� development program for RXI-109.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NAVB)

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Navidea), formerly Neoprobe Corporation, incorporated in 1983, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precision diagnostic agents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� radiopharmaceutical development programs included Lymphoseek (Lymphoseek, Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection), a radiopharmaceutical agent for lymph node mapping; AZD4694, an imaging agent, and RIGScan, a tumor antigen-specific targeting agent. In January 2012, the Company executed an option agreement with Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Alseres) to license [123I]-E-IACFT Injection, also called Altropane, an Iodine-123 radiolabeled imaging agent, being developed as an aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson�� disease, movement disorders and dementia. In August 2011, the Company sold its gamma detection device line of business (the GDS Business) to Devicor Medical Products, Inc.

Lymphoseek

Navidea�� pipeline includes clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical agents used to identify the presence and status of disease. Lymphoseek (Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection) is a lymph node targeting agent intended for use in intraoperative lymphatic mapping (ILM) procedures and lymphoscintigraphy employed in the overall diagnostic assessment of certain solid tumor cancers. The lymph system is a component of the body�� immune system. The key components of the lymph system are lymph nodes-small anatomic structures that contain disease-fighting lymphocytes, filter lymph of bacteria and cancer cells, and signal infection in response to heightened levels of pathogens. In Navidea�� Phase III clinical studies of Lymphoseek, it detected over 99% of positive nodes identified by vital blue dye (VBD). As of December 31, 2011, Navidea, in co-operation with UC, San Diego affiliate (UCSD), completed or initiated five Phase I clinical trials, one multi-center Phase II trial and three multi-center Phase II trials inv! olving Lymphoseek. Two Phase III studies were completed in subjects with breast cancer and melanoma. During the year ended December 31, 2011, data from NEO3-09 were released, which indicated that all primary and secondary endpoints for the study were met. As of December 31, 2011, third Phase III clinical trial for Lymphoseek in subjects with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (NEO3-06) was in progress.

AZD4694

AZD4694 is a Fluorine-18 labeled precision radiopharmaceutical candidate for use in the imaging and evaluation of patients with signs or symptoms of cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). It binds to beta-amyloid deposits in the brain that can then be imaged in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Amyloid plaque pathology is a required feature of AD and the presence of amyloid pathology is a supportive feature for diagnosis of probable AD. Patients who are negative for amyloid pathology do not have AD. AZD4694 has been studied in several clinical trials. Clinical studies through Phase IIa have included more than 80 patients to date, both suspected AD patients and healthy volunteers. No significant adverse events have been observed. Results suggest that AZD4694 has the ability to image patients quickly and safely with high sensitivity.

RadioImmunoGuided Surgery

As of December 31, 2011, RIGScan had been studied in a number of clinical trials, including Phase III studies. Navidea has conducted two Phase III studies, NEO2-13 and NEO2-14, of RIGScan in patients with primary and metastatic colorectal cancer, respectively. Both studies were multi-institutional involving cancer treatment institutions in the United States, Israel, and the European Union.

The Company competes with Pharmalucence, Eli Lilly, Bayer Schering, General Electric and GE Healthcare.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Another prime example here would be Navidea Biopharmaceuticals' (NYSEMKT: NAVB  ) Lymphoseek which is an injectable agent used in external lymph-node imaging and intra-operative lymphatic mapping. In English this means it will dramatically improve the staging and treatment options for patients with breast cancer. Being that breast cancer was also listed as a commonly misdiagnosed cancer, this is a big step in the right direction for patient care.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Diagnostics can also play an important role in early and late-stage breast cancer diagnoses. Navidea Biopharmaceuticals (NYSEMKT: NAVB  ) had Lymphoseek, its external lymph-node imaging and intra-operative lymphatic mapping diagnostic device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year to help doctors stage cancer. Discovering whether breast cancer has invaded adjacent lymph nodes has never been easier or safer thanks to Lymphoseek, and it can dramatically aid physicians in determining the best course of action for breast cancer patients.

Top 10 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cellular Dynamics International Inc (ICEL)

Cellular Dynamics International, Inc., incorporated on November 16, 2007, develops and manufactures fully functioning human cells in industrial quantities to precise specifications. The Company�� iCell Operating System (iCell O/S) includes true human cells in multiple cell types (iCell products), human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and custom iPSCs and iCell products (MyCell products). Customers use its iCell O/S products, among other purposes, for drug discovery and screening; to test the safety and efficacy of their small molecule and biologic drug candidates; for stem cell banking; and in researching cellular therapeutics. The Company�� iCell product line includes four different cell types: cardiomyocytes, neurons, hepatocytes and endothelial cells. The Company is actively developing an additional seven different cell types. iCell products are a consumable designed to be used once and then reordered.

The Company manufactures its iCell products from its iPSCs. An iPSC is a cell that has the ability both to replicate indefinitely and to be transformed into any cell type in the human body. The Company�� iCell O/S consists of six products, which include iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons, iCell Endothelial Cells, iCell Hepatocytes and MyCell.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Stem cells may not be in the news much�as the sector has moved beyond the use of embryotic�ones, but small cap stem cell stocks Cellular Dynamics International Inc (NASDAQ: ICEL), International Stem Cell Corp (OTCMKTS: ISCO) and BioRestorative Therapies (OTCBB: BRTX) have been fairly active over the past several trading days as ICEL went public, ISCO raised additional funding and BRTX grabbed more attention:

Thursday’s ETF Chart To Watch: XLI Hits Resistance Ahead ...

Selling pressures swept over Wall Street on Wednesday as mixed earnings on the day and upcoming economic data releases prompted many to lock-in profits. Investors rejoiced as Apple beat analysts' estimates and rallied +5% on the day, although a worse-than-expected forecast from Caterpillar sent a wave of worry across the market as investors interpreted the words of cautions from the machinery giant as a sign that global growth is still sluggish at best .

Our ETF to watch for the day is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR , which will look to summit resistance after investors digest the latest round of manufacturing data. Analysts are expecting for June durable goods orders to have grown by 2.3%, which is a slight deterioration from last month's reading of 3.7%.

Chart AnalysisConsider XLI's one-year daily performance chart below. This ETF has been trading higher within a fairly well-defined channel (red lines) since it rebounded off its 200-day moving average (yellow line) in mid-November of 2012. Furthermore, XLI has a tendency to sharply correct down to its lower-support line after grinding along, or breaking above, its upper-resistance boundary, as seen in the first half April this year and most recently in the second half of June. With XLI currently trading right along resistance, we feels that traders can favorably position themselves in anticipation of a pullback by utilizing a tight stop-loss near the recent highs in case the bulls return with little warning .

Click to EnlargeDespite the attractive downside potential, we advise investors to hold off from taking on a short position here, seeing as how the longer-term trend is still undeniably very bullish . 

OutlookIf the latest durable goods report comes in well above expectations, XLI should have the winds at its back for the day; in terms of upside, this ETF has no clear resistance level in sight after its all-time high at $45.64. On the other hand, disappointing data can easily bring out the bears and encou! rage profit taking; in terms of downside, this ETF has support at $44 a share followed by the $42 level. As always, investors of all experience levels are advised to use stop-loss orders and practice disciplined profit-taking techniques.

Follow me on Twitter @SBojinov

Disclosure: No positions at time of writing.

YouTube Tops All Video Sites In Visitors

YouTube, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) huge video site, known at the place you can “broadcast yourself”, held its spot as the largest video website in the U.S. in December, and did so by a staggering margin. While its competitors would like to match it in popularity, it is highly unlikely that will happen anytime soon.  However, some have models which may make them money despite trailing the Google property by a mile

According to research firm Comscore:

Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in December with 159.1 million unique viewers. Facebook ranked #2 with 79.1 million viewers, followed by AOL, Inc. with 76.2 million, Yahoo sites with 53.5 million and NDN with 49.4 million. Nearly 52.4 billion video content views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 13.4 billion, followed by Facebook with 3.7 billion and AOL, Inc. with 1.4 billion. Google Sites had the highest average engagement among the top ten properties.

Google’ sites had an average “minutes per viewer” of 1,154 in December. As a contrast, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) sites had a comparable number of 36.9.

The hope that YouTube competitors have is that, even at smaller numbers, they can make money—if they sell enough advertising or subscriptions, depending on which of the two models they favor. Advertising CPMs for video are much higher than for banners. This may make the amount of video viewed at Aol (NASDAQ: AOL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) adequate to drive profits.

Subscription based sites have the opportunity to charge sufficiently for premium video content to  make viable businesses. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) with its “prime” video service. And, Amazon ranked sixth among all sites in terms of December unique visits. Hulu, which has gambled people will pay for access to its “Hulu Plus” product, does not make the top 10 list at all.

And, YouTube poses a problem beyond its size. It also has launched paid premium video services, and sells video advertising. YouTube may be large enough to pull so much share out of the market to overwhelm its smaller rivals.

Cybersecurity threats to financial firms on the upswing in 2014

The risk of cyberattacks in the financial services industry is on the rise in 2014, and wealth management companies, broker-dealers and registered investment advisers are not exempt.

The threat is moving from large banks to midtier institutions and smaller firms as increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals and “hacktivists” pinpoint individual targets and seek easy entry points to do their damage, according to online-security experts.

“Firms need to believe, first of all, that they are a probable target,” said William Stewart, a commercial cyberbusiness senior vice president at management and technology consultant Booz Allen Hamilton. “For firms that say, 'We're too small, they won't bother with us,' it's not true. These sophisticated adversaries have multipronged attacks. They don't just launch malware against one target.”

For example, a cybercriminal might buy identity information on the dark web (websites and other networks intentionally hidden from search engine crawlers) or break into a firm “so they can find out that this financial wealth management institution has some prominent people they're working with,” including bank executives and government officials, Mr. Stewart said.

Then the criminal will send a plausible-looking e-mail to the targeted individual's business network to capture even more information when the recipient clicks on an infected document and allows the malware to get inside their network.

“That's why these midtier folks are a target,” Mr. Stewart said, pointing to wealth management firms, regional banks and hedge funds. “They have valuable information because they're managing assets.”

And when grouped together, these organizations are like a row of dominos that, when attacked, can create a cascade of systemic risks that could affect financial institutions of any size, he warned.

Threats in the past have come from distributed denial of service, or DDoS (making a website temporarily or indefinitely unavailable), and data-destroying attacks from groups such as the Mideastern Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters hacking collective.

Now mobile platforms also are at risk, Mr. Stewart said.

In short, the level of threat is monumental. But cybersecurity experts say financial institutions' resistance to revealing the extent of the problem makes it difficult to quantify the rise of cyberattacks.

A security bulletin published in December by IT security vendor Kaspersky Lab reports that the number of attacks launched from web resources globally in all sectors increased to 1.7 billion in 2013, from 1.6 billion in 2012. Fully 45% of web attacks in 2013 were launched from malicious web resources in the U.S. and Russia.

While large institutions are spending tens of millions of dollars on security measures, midtier firms typically can't afford that degree of p! rotection, which puts them at risk, Mr. Stewart said. He estimated that only 5% to 10% of an average firm's IT budget goes to cybersecurity.

Roel Schouwenberg, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said that in addition to cybercriminals' greater focus on midsize firms, another disturbing trend comes from politically motivated hacktivists whose activity is less obvious. Rather than steal from a company, for example, their aim may be to destroy someone's reputation.

Hacktivists in 2013 were more involved than ever in the shutdown of stock exchanges, Mr. Schouwenberg said.

“From my personal point of view, one of the most interesting developments this year will be more closures at stock exchanges attributed to cyberattacks, because 2013 showed the system isn't as robust as people thought it was,” he said.

“We'll see more movement in 2014 and 2015 toward getting more money to hacktivists in foreign nation-states to disrupt the economy,” Mr. Schouwenberg predicted. “Cyberactivists go after targets with the best return on investment because they just want to make money, but hacktivists want to wreak havoc and they're unpredictable. They may go after a target whether it makes business sense or not.”

Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. have identified cybersecurity as a heightened risk in the examination priority letters they released this month.

While the SEC gives the issue a brief mention in its Jan. 9 letter, saying staff will focus on “information leakage and cybersecurity,” Finra, in its Jan. 2 letter goes further in addressing the problem.

Finra wrote that cybersecurity will remain a priority this year because of the persistent issues reported across the financial services industry in this area. “The frequency and sophistication of these attacks appears to be increasing. In light of this ongoing threat, Finra continues to be concerned about the integrity of firms' inf! rastructu! re and the safety and security of sensitive customer data,” the Finra letter noted.

The Finra letter said evaluation of such controls may take the form of examinations and targeted investigations.

In addition, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is on high alert about cybersecurity. SIFMA in October released findings from a July 18 cybersecurity exercise called Quantum Dawn 2, which simulated a systemic cyberattack on the U.S. financial system.

In the exercise, 500 participants from 50 different financial groups ran through their response to dealing with a crisis, including how they would share information within the sector and within government agencies.

Karl Schimmeck, SIFMA's managing director of financial services operations, said that what makes cybersecurity so difficult is that the need differs from one firm to the next.

“Your threat profile is typically unique to your firm,” Mr. Schimmeck said. “Financial services is a network of small, medium and large firms, and we need protection at all levels. Each one can be a gateway into the system.”

He highlighted one glimmer of hope: financial firms' willingness to share with one another because cybersecurity is viewed as a noncompetitive topic.

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a nonprofit group founded in 1999, now serves as the primary group for information sharing between the federal government and the financial sector. FS-ISAC, which has about 4,000 members, shares data about physical and cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities to help protect critical U.S. infrastructure.

Similarly, the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security works to minimize operational risks in financial services.

Mark Clancy, manag

American Realty to Close on CapLease Acquisition Early

Net-lease property REIT American Realty Capital Properties  (NASDAQ: ARCP  ) says that with Capital Lease Funding (NYSE: LSE  ) announcing the expiration of its 40-day "go shop" period and no other buyers being found, it plans to buy its rival sooner than originally intended.

American Realty announced in May its intention to buy the rival REIT for $2.2 billion, including $580 million in assumed debt that it will repay, which it said would make it the third-largest net-lease property REIT in the U.S. based on market capitalization.

CapLease had a 40-day window of opportunity to find another buyer, called the "go-shop" period, and it said it approached 44 potential bidders, and no bids were submitted. As a result, CapLease will submit the acquisition by American Realty to its shareholders and has filed with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement to that effect.

Stating that 2013 has been a "transformative" year for the REIT and that it intends to close on the purchase of CapLease as soon as possible in the third quarter, American Realty Capital Partners Chairman and CEO Nicholas S. Schorsch said in a statement, "With the recent success demonstrated by our $774 million acquisition of a high-quality portfolio from GE Capital, we have closed over $1.14 billion of portfolio acquisitions year to date."

Once the deal is consummated, American Capital expects to have an enterprise value in excess of $10 billion by the end of 2013.

link