Sunday, March 23, 2014

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now

Prices that go straight up tend to come straight back down.   It doesn't matter whether we're talking about stocks, currencies, or commodities. The more "straight up" they go, the harder they fall.   Parabolic moves happen as buyers chase momentum and rush to get in at any price. Fear of missing out on the action pushes more buyers into the asset. Prices increase, pushing even more buyers in... which increases prices even more, and so on, and so on.   Eventually, the market runs out of buyers, the momentum dies, and everyone rushes for the exits at the same time.   We saw it with Internet stocks in 2000. We saw it with silver in 2011. We saw it with gold almost two years ago. And we're seeing it now with utility stocks.   Yes, that's right... utilities – those stodgy, dividend-paying stocks have gone parabolic. And they've just started to break down. Take a look...

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: ANSYS Inc (ANSS)

ANSYS, Inc. (ANSYS) develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and services used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a range of industries and academia, including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, electronics, biomedical, energy and defense. The Company distributes its ANSYS suite of simulation technologies through a global network of independent resellers and distributors (collectively, channel partners) and direct sales offices in global locations. The Company�� product portfolio consists of ANSYS Workbench, multiphysics product, structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, explicit dynamics, electromagnetic, system simulation, simulation process and data management, academic, high-performance computing (HPC), geometry interfaces, meshing and Apache design low-power electronic solutions. On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired Apache Design, Inc.

ANSYS Workbench

ANSYS Workbench is the framework upon which the Company�� suite of advanced engineering simulation technologies is built. The ANSYS Workbench platform delivers productivity, enabling Simulation Driven Product Development.

Multiphysics

The Company�� multiphysics product suite allows engineers and designers to create virtual prototypes of their designs operating under multiphysics conditions. ANSYS multiphysics software enables engineers and scientists to simulate the interactions between structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid flow and electromagnetics all within a single, engineering simulation environment.

Structural Mechanics

The Company�� structural mechanics product suite offers simulation tools for product design. These tools have capabilities that cover a range of analysis types, elements, contacts, materials, equation solvers and coupled physics capabilities all focused towards understanding and solving complex design problems.

Fluid Dynamics

The Company�� fluid dynamics product suit! e offers modeling of fluid flow and other related physical phenomena. Fluid flow analysis capabilities provide all the tools needed to design new fluids equipment and to troubleshoot already existing installations. The fluid dynamics product suite contains general-purpose computational fluid dynamics software and specialized products to address specific industry applications.

Explicit Dynamics

The Company�� explicit dynamics product suite simulates events involving short-duration, large-strain, large-deformation, fracture, complete material failure or structural problems with complex interactions. This product suite is used for simulating physical events that occur in a short period of time and may result in material damage or failure.

Electromagnetics

The Company�� electromagnetics product suite provides field simulation software for designing high-performance electronic and electromechanical products. The software streamlines the design process and predicts performance - all prior to building a prototype - of mobile communication and Internet-access devices, broadband networking components and systems, integrated circuits (IC) and printed circuit boards (PCB), as well as electromechanical systems such as automotive components and power electronics equipment.

System Simulation

The Company delivers the ability to perform complete simulation studies as a system for some of the product designs. This is accomplished through a complete set of physics solutions that are integrated into a multiphysics capabilities set. A collaborative simulation environment provides modeling scalability for evaluating entire systems, including three dimensional (3-D) high-fidelity models, multibody dynamics, circuit reduced-order models, and any combination of these.

Simulation Process and Data Management

ANSYS Engineering Knowledge Manager (ANSYS EKM) is a solution for simulation-based process and data management. ANSY! S EKM pro! vides solutions to all levels of a company, enabling an organization to address the issues associated with simulation data, including backup and archival, traceability and audit trail, process automation and intellectual property protection.

Academic

The Company�� academic product suite provides a portfolio of academic products based on several usage tiers: associate, research and teaching. Each tier includes various noncommercial products that bundle a range of physics and advanced coupled field solver capabilities. The academic product suite provides entry-level tools intended for class demonstrations and hands-on instruction. It provides flexible terms of use and more complex analysis suitable for doctoral and post-doctoral research projects. The Company also provides a product suitable for student use at home.

High-Performance Computing

The Company�� HPC product suite enables insight into product performance. The HPC product suite delivers cross-physics parallel processing capabilities for the full spectrum of the Company�� simulation software by supporting structural, fluids, thermal and electromagnetic simulations in a single HPC solution.

Geometry Interfaces

The Company offers geometry handling solutions for engineering simulation in an integrated environment with direct interfaces to all CAD systems, support of additional readers and translators. It also offers an integrated geometry modeler focused on analysis.

Meshing

Creating a mesh that transforms a physical model into a mathematical model is a critical and foundational step in almost every engineering simulation study. The Company�� meshing technology provides a means to balance these requirements, obtaining the right mesh for each simulation in the most automated way possible.

Apache Design Low-Power Electronic Solutions

The Company�� suite of Apache software delivers power analysis and optimization pl! atforms a! long with integrated methodologies that provide capabilities for managing the power budget, power delivery integrity, and power-induced noise in an electronic design, from initial prototyping to system sign-off. These solutions deliver correlation to silicon measurement, and the capacity to handle an entire electronic system, including IC, package, and PCB.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Northrop Puckett]

    The company is facing headwinds in the broader economy. This can be seen in declining sales in many areas of their business. Regionally, the U.S was flat; Northern Europe was up; Southern Europe was down; and emerging markets were down. Autodesk also lowered quarterly and yearly revenue expectations. This lowering of guidance by Autodesk also matches the same guidance changes made by competitors Parametric Technology (PMTC) and ANSYS (ANSS), so it is not necessarily losing out to its rivals in this case.

  • [By Jonas Elmerraji]

    We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of simulation software maker ANSYS (ANSS). Like CSC, ANSYS is sandwiched between a horizontal price ceiling above shares around $90 a share and a similar horizontal floor at $83.50 a share. From here, the trading signal comes on a breakout outside of the channel.

    Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Rectangles, triangles, and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

    That $90 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant – the move means buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Don't be early on this trade.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

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

  • [By GURUFOCUS]

    ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS), the market leader in simulation-driven product development software, declined after reporting quarterly results that were negatively impacted by slower end market demand. Despite the near-term headwind, we believe that ANSYS remains the dominant global provider of simulation software and that the company stands to benefit from the ongoing adoption of its simulation tools. We also believe that ANSYS will increasingly use its cash to repurchase its shares, which we believe will generate additional shareholder value.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Briggs & Stratton Corporation (BGG)

Briggs & Stratton Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and services air cooled gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. It operates in two segments, Engines and Products. The Engines segment offers four-cycle aluminum alloy gasoline engines that are used primarily by the lawn and garden equipment industry. Its products are used in various lawn and garden equipment applications, including walk-behind lawn mowers, riding lawn mowers, garden tillers, and snow throwers, as well as on products for industrial, construction, agricultural, and other consumer applications that include portable and standby generators, pumps, and pressure washers. This segment also manufactures and sells replacement engines and service parts to sales and service distributors. The Products segment offers portable and standby generators, pressure washers, snow throwers, and lawn and garden powered equipment. This segment sells its products through various channels of retail distribution, in cluding consumer home centers, warehouse clubs, mass merchants, and independent dealers under its brands, which include Briggs & Stratton, Snapper, Simplicity, Ferris, Snapper Pro, Murray, and Victa, as well as other brands, such as Craftsman, John Deere, GE, and Troy-Bilt. The company serves original equipment manufacturers worldwide. Briggs & Stratton Corporation was founded in 1908 and is based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Small-engine maker�Briggs & Stratton� (NYSE: BGG  ) announced today its third-quarter dividend of $0.12 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past four quarters after raising the payout 9% from $0.11 per share.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Briggs & Stratton (NYSE: BGG) shares tumbled 7.70 percent to $20.98 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results and lowered its FY14 earnings forecast.

Top India Stocks To Buy For 2014: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Bryan Murphy]

    If you were lucky enough to be in an American Community (OTCMKTS:ACYD) position anytime before October 8th, then congratulations - you're up big. Now get out. Instead, use freed-up that capital to take on a position in Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL), which looks like it's at the beginning of a good-sized rally.

  • [By Bryan Murphy]

    My enthusiasm regarding Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL) and Westinghouse Solar Inc. (OTCMKTS:WEST) hasn't exactly been a veiled secret. Though I've favored one over the other at various times since the entire solar panel industry went back into high gear in the middle of the second quarter, I've been a fan of both RSOL as well as WEST for a while. The trick has been finding the right entry spot for both of these volatile stocks.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Essex Property Trust Inc. (ESS)

Essex Property Trust, Inc. operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of apartment communities, as well as commercial properties. As of March 31, 2012, the company owned or had interests in 158 apartment communities; and 5 commercial buildings, as well as 5 development projects. Its communities are located in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties in southern California; and the San Francisco Bay area in northern California, as well as in the Seattle metropolitan area. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. Essex Property Trust, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    To get a better idea of how RealPage is doing, it's always best to look at occupancy rates for some of the nation's biggest residential-REITs. In AvalonBay Communities' (NYSE: AVB  ) most recent quarter, the company reported a 5% increase in revenue attributable to a 4.7% boost in prices in established communities, and a 0.3% uptick in occupancy. For Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) it was much of the same, with revenue rising 5.4% in the fourth-quarter as occupancy rates rose 40 basis points to 95.4% from the year-ago period. Finally, Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS  ) delivered some of the strongest occupancy results of all, with 96.9% of its units occupied as of the end of January. The point is that with occupancy rates at their lowest levels in more than a decade, these residential REITs are driving growth by boosting prices because of rent scarcity.

  • [By Jayson Derrick]

    Bloomberg reported�Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) has made an offer to acquire BRE Properties for about $5 billion.

    BRE Properties Chief Executive Office Constance B. Moore had publicly hinted earlier this year that the company would consider ��ny legitimate proposal��after an investment firm Land & Buildings had made a $4.6 billion offer valued at $60 a share.

5 Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch Right Now: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated(VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated engages in discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for the treatment of serious diseases worldwide. Its products include telaprevir, a prescription medicine used for the treatment of patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection; and Ivacaftor, a prescription medicine used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. The company markets its products under the INCIVEK brand name in the United States and Canada; INCIVO brand in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Norway; KALYDECO brand in the United States; and TELAVIC brand in Japan. Its drug candidates comprise VX-222, a Phase II clinical trial drug candidate, and ALS-2200 and ALS-2158, a Phase I clinical trial drug candidates that are designed to inhibit the replication of HCV; VX-809 and VX-661, a Phase II clinical trial drug candidates that improve the function of defective cystic fibro sis; VX-509, a Phase II clinical trial drug candidate for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases; VX-765, a Phase II clinical trial drug for the treatment of epilepsy; and VX-787, an investigational drug candidate for the treatment of influenza A. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Orelli]

    Hepatitis C is a slow-developing disease, so there's no immediate rush to treat newly diagnosed patients as witnessed by the drop off in sales of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: VRTX  ) Incivek. In the first quarter, sales of the drug, which also has to be used in combination with pegylated interferon, fell 42% year over year. It's hard to see how simeprevir�plus pegylated interferon would make inroads with doctors with all-oral hepatitis C combinations in the works.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Last week, it was reported that S&P MidCap 400 constituents Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASD: VRTX) and Ametek Inc (NYSE: AME) would be replacing Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) and SAIC Inc (NYSE: SAI) in the S&P 500, and Advanced Micro Devices and SAIC will replace Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Ametek in the S&P Mid Cap 400. I should mention that both Advanced Micro Devices and SAIC Inc are�in our�SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio and as of today, we are down 1.29% and up 19.77%, respectively, in both stocks. In the case of�Advanced Micro Devices, we feel the company�� transition into mobility and gaming consoles makes it a compelling value while defense contractor SAIC Inc is interesting as its well positioned to address�cyber security issues. Moreover, SAIC Inc is splitting into 2 companies in a transaction that�� expected to be completed before the end of the month.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    A larger concern is this “lost in translation” issue. This REIT is acquiring 2 biomedical office buildings that are 96% occupied, with a 15-year term with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX). Vertex is now worth almost $20 billion and is expected to be profitable in 2015. Senior Housing will almost certainly get an earnings boost from this lease, but there is one small problem here – most investors believe that they are investing in�a company that makes its bread and butter from senior living facilities. Owning biotech leases of healthy large companies is not a bad business; it just changes the focus of the company because this will add about 20% or so in size.

  • [By Keith Speights]

    Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX  ) focuses largely on cystic fibrosis. Shares have skyrocketed more than 130% since the biotech gained approval for Kalydeco from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2012.The good news for investors is that Vertex has two other experimental drugs targeting cystic fibrosis that could eventually drive annual sales to $3 billion or more.

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