Top 5 Forestry Companies To Invest In Right Now

Last week Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that Apple Apple bought back $14 billion worth of stock in the two weeks following its fourth-quarter earnings release. Now the billionaire campaigning for a far bigger distribution of cash from the iPhone maker is laying down his sword.

Carl Icahn issued a letter to Apple shareholders Monday morning that effectively declares detente. The legendary investor, who had been campaigning for a massive buyback from the company, is backing down after shareholder advisory service ISS sided with Apple and recommended shareholders vote against Icahn�� proposal that urged an additional $50 billion share repurchase.

Icahn�� letter (posted to his Shareholders Square Table website), cites ISS��finding that with the recent stock buybacks Apple is well on its way to repurchasing at least $32 billion in stock this year, not far off the billionaire�� demands.

��I]n light of Tim Cook�� confirmed plan to launch new products in new categories this year (in addition to an exciting product roadmap with respect to new products in existing categories), we are extremely excited about Apple�� future,��Icahn writes. ��Additionally, we are pleased that Tim and the board have exhibited the ��pportunistic��and ��ggressive��approach to share repurchases that we hoped to instill with our proposal.��/p>

5 Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2015: MPLX LP (MPLX)

MPLX LP, incorporated on March 27, 2012, is a fee-based limited partnership formed by Marathon Petroleum Corporation to own, operate, develop and acquire crude oil, refined product and other hydrocarbon-based product pipelines and other midstream assets. The Company�� assets consist of a 51% indirect interest in a network of common carrier crude oil and product pipeline systems and associated storage assets in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions of the United States.

The Company generates revenue by charging tariffs for transporting crude oil, refined products and other hydrocarbon-based products through its pipelines and at its barge dock and fees for storing crude oil and products at its storage facilities. The Company is also the operator of additional crude oil and product pipelines owned by Marathon Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries (MPC) and third parties, for which it is paid operating fees.

The Company�� assets consist of a 51% partner interest in Pipe Line Holdings, an entity which owns a 100.0% interest in Marathon Pipe Line LLC (MPL) and Ohio River Pipe Line LLC (ORPL), which in turn own: a network of pipeline systems, which includes approximately 962 miles of common carrier crude oil pipelines and approximately 1,819 miles of common carrier product pipelines extending across nine states. This network includes approximately 153 miles of common carrier crude oil and product pipelines, which it operates under long-term leases with third parties; a barge dock located on the Mississippi River near Wood River, Illinois, and crude oil and product tank farms located in Patoka, Wood River and Martinsville, Illinois and Lebanon, Indiana; and a 100.0% interest in a butane cavern located in Neal, West Virginia, which serves MPC�� Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery.

Crude Oil Pipeline Systems

The Company�� crude oil pipeline systems and related assets are positioned to support crude oil supply options for MPC�� Midwest refineries, whic! h receive imported and domestic crude oil through a range of sources. Imported and domestic crude oil is transported to supply hubs in Wood River and Patoka, Illinois from a range of regions, including Cushing, Oklahoma on the Ozark pipeline system; Western Canada, Wyoming and North Dakota on the Keystone, Platte, Mustang and Enbridge pipeline systems, and the Gulf Coast on the Capline crude oil pipeline system.

The Company�� Patoka to Lima crude system is comprised of approximately 76 miles of 20-inch pipeline extending from Patoka, Illinois to Martinsville, Illinois, and approximately 226 miles of 22-inch pipeline extending from Martinsville to Lima, Ohio. This system also includes associated breakout tankage. Crude oil delivered on this system to MPC�� tank farm in Lima can then be shipped to MPC�� Canton, Ohio refinery through MPC�� Lima to Canton pipeline, to MPC�� Detroit refinery through MPC�� undivided joint interest portion of the Maumee pipeline, and its Samaria to Detroit pipeline, or to other third-party refineries owned by BP, Husky Energy, and PBF Energy in Lima and Toledo, Ohio.

The Company�� Catlettsburg and Robinson crude system is consisted of the pipelines: Patoka to Robinson and Patoka to Catlettsburg. Its Patoka to Robinson pipeline consists of approximately 78 miles of 20-inch pipeline, which delivers crude oil from Patoka, Illinois to MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery. Its Patoka to Catlettsburg pipeline consists of approximately 140 miles of 20-inch pipeline extending from Patoka, Illinois to Owensboro, Kentucky, and approximately 266 miles of 24-inch pipeline extending from Owensboro to MPC�� Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery. Crude oil can enter this pipeline at Patoka, and into the Owensboro to Catlettsburg portion of the pipelines at Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, from the third-party Mid-Valley system.

The Company�� Detroit crude system is consisted of Samaria to Detroit and Romulus to Detroit. Its Samaria to Detroit pi! peline co! nsists of approximately 44 miles of 16-inch pipeline that delivers crude oil from Samaria, Michigan to MPC�� Detroit, Michigan refinery. This pipeline includes a tank farm and crude oil truck offloading facility located at Samaria.

The Company�� Romulus to Detroit pipeline consists of approximately 17 miles of 16-inch pipeline extending from Romulus, Michigan to MPC�� Detroit, Michigan refinery. Its Wood River to Patoka crude system is consisted of two pipelines: Wood River to Patoka and Roxanna to Patoka. Its Wood River to Patoka pipeline consists of approximately 57 miles of 22-inch pipeline, which delivers crude oil received in Wood River, Illinois from the third-party Platte and Ozark pipeline systems to Patoka, Illinois.

The Company�� Roxanna to Patoka pipeline consists of approximately 58 miles of 12-inch pipeline, which transports crude oil received in Roxanna, Illinois from the Ozark pipeline system to its tank farm in Patoka, Illinois.

Product Pipeline Systems

The Company�� product pipeline systems are positioned to transport products from five of MPC�� refineries to MPC�� marketing operations, as well as those of third parties. These pipeline systems also supply feedstocks to MPC�� Midwest refineries. These product pipeline systems are integrated with MPC�� expansive network of refined product marketing terminals, which support MPC�� integrated midstream business.

The Company�� Gulf Coast product pipeline systems include Garyville products system and Texas City products system. The Company�� Garyville products system is consisted of approximately 70 miles of 20-inch pipeline, which delivers refined products from MPC�� Garyville, Louisiana refinery to either the Plantation Pipeline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana or the MPC Zachary breakout tank farm in Zachary, Louisiana, and approximately two miles of 36-inch pipeline that delivers refined products from the MPC tank farm to Colonial Pipeline in Zachary.

The Company�� Texas City products system is comprised of approximately 39 miles of 16-inch pipeline that delivers refined products from refineries owned by MPC, BP and Valero in Texas City, Texas to MPC�� Pasadena breakout tank farm and third-party terminals in Pasadena, Texas. The system also includes approximately three miles of 30- and 36-inch pipeline that delivers refined products from MPC�� Pasadena breakout tank farm to the third-party TEPPCO and Centennial pipeline systems.

The Company�� Midwest product pipeline systems include Ohio River Pipe Line (ORPL) products system, Robinson products system and Louisville Airport products system. The Company�� ORPL products system is consisted of Kenova to Columbus, Canton to East Sparta, East Sparta to Heath, East Sparta to Midland, Heath to Dayton, and Heath to Findlay.

The Company�� Kenova to Columbus pipeline consists of approximately 150 miles of 14-inch pipeline that delivers refined products from MPC�� Catlettsburg refinery to MPC�� Columbus, Ohio area terminals. Its Canton to East Sparta pipeline consists of two parallel pipelines, which connect MPC�� Canton, Ohio refinery with its East Sparta, Ohio breakout tankage and station. The first pipeline consists of approximately 8.5 miles of six-inch pipeline that delivers products (distillates) from Canton to East Sparta. The second pipeline consists of approximately 8.5 miles of six-inch bi-directional pipeline, which can deliver products (gasoline) from Canton to East Sparta or light petroleum-based feedstocks from East Sparta to Canton.

The Company�� East Sparta to Heath pipeline consists of approximately 81 miles of eight-inch pipeline that delivers products from its East Sparta, Ohio breakout tankage and station to MPC�� terminal in Heath, Ohio. The Company�� East Sparta to Midland pipeline consists of approximately 62 miles of eight-inch bi-directional pipeline, which can deliver products and light petroleum-based feedstocks betwe! en its br! eak-out tankage and station in East Sparta, Ohio and MPC�� terminal in Midland, Pennsylvania. MPC�� Midland terminal has a marketing load rack and is able to connect to other Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area terminals through a pipeline owned by Buckeye Pipe Line Company, L.P. and a river loading/unloading dock for products and petroleum feedstocks. This pipeline can also transport products to MPC�� terminals in Steubenville and Youngstown, Ohio through a connection at West Point, Ohio with a pipeline owned by MPC.

The Company�� Heath to Dayton pipeline consists of approximately 108 miles of six-inch pipeline, which delivers products from MPC�� terminals in Heath, Ohio and Columbus, Ohio to terminals owned by CITGO and Sunoco Logistics Partners, L.P. in Dayton, Ohio. This pipeline is bi-directional between Heath and Columbus for product deliveries. Its Heath to Findlay consists of approximately 100 miles of eight- and 10-inch pipeline, which delivers products from MPC�� terminal in Heath, Ohio to MPC�� pipeline break-out tankage and terminal in Findlay, Ohio. Robinson products system is consisted of Robinson to Lima, Robinson to Louisville, Robinson to Mt. Vernon, Wood River to Clermont, Dieterich to Martinsville and Wabash Pipeline System.

The Company�� Robinson to Lima pipeline consists of approximately 250 miles of 10-inch pipeline, which delivers products from MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery to MPC terminals in Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as to MPC terminals in Muncie, Indiana and Lima, Ohio. Its Robinson to Louisville pipeline consists of approximately 129 miles of 16-inch pipeline, which delivers products from MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery to two MPC and multiple third-party terminals in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, these products can supply MPC and Valero terminals in Lexington, Kentucky through the Louisville to Lexington pipeline system owned by MPC and Valero.

The Company�� Robinson to Mt. Vernon pipeline consists of ap! proximate! ly 79 miles of 10-inch pipeline that delivers products from MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery to a MPC terminal located on the Ohio River in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. It leases this pipeline from a third party under a long-term lease. The Company�� Wood River to Clermont pipeline consists of approximately 153 miles of 10-inch pipeline extending from MPC�� terminal in Wood River, Illinois to Martinsville, Illinois, and approximately 156 miles of 10-inch pipeline extending from Martinsville, Illinois to Clermont, Indiana. This pipeline also includes approximately 9.5 miles of pipelines utilized for the local movement of products in and around Wood River, Illinois, and Clermont, Indiana.

The Company�� Dieterich to Martinsville pipeline consists of approximately 40 miles of 10-inch pipeline, which delivers products from the termination point of Centennial Pipeline to Martinsville, Illinois. From Martinsville, these products (including refinery feedstocks) can be distributed to MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery or to other destinations through our other pipeline systems. Its Wabash Pipeline System consists of three interconnected pipeline pipelines: approximately 130 miles of 12-inch pipeline extending from MPC�� terminal in Wood River, Illinois to Champaign, Illinois (the West leg); approximately 86 miles of 12-inch pipeline extending from MPC�� Robinson, Illinois refinery to Champaign (the East leg), and approximately 140 miles of 12- and 16-inch pipeline extending from the junction with the East and West legs in Champaign to MPC�� terminals in Griffith, Indiana and Hammond, Indiana. This pipeline system delivers products to MPC�� tanks at Martinsville, Champaign, Griffith and Hammond. This pipeline system also delivers products to tanks owned by Meier Oil Company at Ashkum, Illinois. The Wabash Pipeline System connects to other pipeline systems in the Chicago area through a portion of the system located beyond MPC�� Griffith terminal. The Company�� Louisville airport product! s system ! consists of approximately 14 miles of eight- and six-inch pipeline, which delivers jet fuel from MPC�� Louisville, Kentucky refined product terminals to customers at the Louisville International Airport.

Other Major Midstream Assets

The Company�� butane cavern is located in Neal, West Virginia, across the Big Sandy River from MPC�� Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery. This storage cavern has approximately 1.0 million barrels of storage capacity and is connected to MPC�� Catlettsburg refinery. Rail access to the storage cavern is also available through connections with the refinery.

The Company�� barge dock is located on the Mississippi River in Wood River, Illinois and is used both for crude oil barge loading and products barge unloading. The barge dock is connected to its Wood River tank farm by approximately two miles of 14-inch pipeline, which transfers crude oil from the tank farm to the dock, and two 10-inch pipelines, which are each approximately two miles long and transfer products and feedstocks from the dock to the tank farm. This dock generates revenue through a FERC tariff, which is collected for the transfer and loading/unloading of crude oil and products. It also owns tank farms located in Patoka, Martinsville and Wood River, Illinois and Lebanon, Indiana, which it uses for storing both crude oil and products. These storage assets are integral to the operation of its pipeline systems in those areas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Refiners that have spun off midstream assets have done very well over the past years.�Valero Energy Partners�(NYSE: VLP) is up nearly 60 percent since its December IPO,�Phillips 66 Partners�(NYSE: PSXP) has more than doubled since its July IPO (and is the biggest gainer among MLPs year-to-date), and�MPLX�(NYSE: MPLX) — formed from�Marathon Petroleum�(NYSE: MPC) — is up 110 percent since its November 2012 IPO.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Invest In Right Now: National-Oilwell Inc.(NOV)

National Oilwell Varco, Inc. designs, constructs, manufactures, and sells systems, components, and products used in oil and gas drilling and production; provides oilfield services and supplies; and distributes products, and provides supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. Its Rig Technology segment offers offshore and onshore drilling rigs; derricks; pipe lifting, racking, rotating, and assembly systems; rig instrumentation systems; coiled tubing equipment and pressure pumping units; well workover rigs; wireline winches; wireline trucks; cranes; and turret mooring systems and other products for floating production, storage and offloading vessels, and other offshore vessels and terminals. The company?s Petroleum Services & Supplies segment provides various consumable goods and services to drill, complete, remediate, and workover oil and gas wells and service pipelines, flowlines, and other oilfield tubular goods. It also manufacture s, rents, and sells products and equipment for drilling operations, including drill pipe, wired drill pipe, transfer pumps, solids control systems, drilling motors, drilling fluids, drill bits, reamers and other downhole tools, and mud pump consumables. In addition, this segment provides oilfield tubular services comprising the provision of inspection and internal coating services; equipment for drill pipe, line pipe, tubing, casing, and pipelines; and coiled tubing pipes and composite pipes. Its Distribution Services segment sells maintenance, repair and operating supplies, and spare parts to drill site and production locations. The company primarily serves drilling contractors, shipyards and other rig fabricators, well servicing companies, pressure pumping companies, oil and gas companies, supply stores, and pipe-running service providers. National Oilwell Varco, Inc. was founded in 1862 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Smith]

  I recently described to Fools why I believe National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV  ) , Cameron International (NYSE: CAM  ) , and Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII  ) all stand to benefit from the steady march of the global oil industry into progressively deeper waters.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Invest In Right Now: Transmontaigne Partners L.P. (TLP)

TransMontaigne Partners L.P. operates as a terminaling and transportation company. It provides integrated terminaling, storage, transportation, and related services for customers engaged in the distribution and marketing of light refined petroleum products, heavy refined petroleum products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers, and other liquid products. The company operates along the Gulf Coast, in the Midwest, in Brownsville, Texas, along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and in the southeastern United States. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 7 refined product terminals in Florida with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 7.1 million barrels; a 67-mile interstate refined products pipeline between Missouri and Arkansas and 3 refined product terminals with approximately 0.6 million barrels of aggregate active storage capacity; 2 refined product terminals located in Mt. Vernon, Missouri, as well as Rogers, Arkansas with an aggregate active storage capacity of appr oximately 407,000 barrels; and 1 refined product terminal in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 158,000 barrels. The company also operated 1 refined product terminal in Brownsville, Texas with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 2.2 million barrels; 1 refined product terminal located in Matamoros, Mexico with an aggregate active LPG storage capacity of approximately 7,000 barrels; a pipeline from Brownsville facilities to its terminal in Matamoros, Mexico; 12 refined product terminals along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 2.5 million barrels, as well as a dock facility; and 22 refined product terminals along the Colonial and Plantation pipelines with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 9.3 million barrels. TransMontaigne GP L.L.C. serves as the general partner of the company. TransMontaigne Partners L.P. was founded in 2005 and is bas ed in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Transmontaigne Partners (NYSE: TLP  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings around July 16. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Transmontaigne Partners's revenues will increase 5.5% and EPS will compress -23.9%.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  TransMontaigne Partners (NYSE: TLP  ) is about to ship a bigger load of dividend to its unit holders. The company has declared a new distribution of $0.65 per unit, to be dispensed on Aug. 8 to holders of record as of July 31.That amount is $0.01, or 1.6%, higher than the company's previous payout of $0.64. It had distributed this amount in each of the preceding four quarters.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  TransMontaigne Partners (NYSE: TLP  ) is drilling into the market to raise in the neighborhood of $60 million. The company has floated 1.45 million of its common units in an underwritten public offering priced at $43.32 per unit. The company's underwriters have also been granted a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional 217,500 units.

• [By Anna Prior]

  NGL Energy Partners LP(NGL), which bought oil-storage company TransMontaigne Inc. from Morgan Stanley (MS) (MS) last week, said it is offering to buy the outstanding units of TransMontaigne Partners LP(TLP) (TLP) in a one-for-one exchange of common units.

Top 5 Forestry Companies To Invest In Right Now: Harman International Industries Incorporated (HAR)

Harman International Industries, Incorporated designs, develops, manufactures, and markets audio products, lighting solutions, and electronic systems, as well as digitally integrated audio and infotainment systems for the automotive industry worldwide. Its Infotainment segment offers infotainment systems for vehicle applications to be installed primarily as original equipment by automotive manufacturers. The company�s Lifestyle segment provides automotive audio systems for vehicle applications; and a range of mid-to high-end loudspeaker and electronics for home, multimedia, and mobile applications. It also offers home audio and theater systems, and distributed systems for home applications; a range of accessories, such as earbuds and noise cancelling headphones for multimedia applications; transducers and built-in speakers for notebook computers; audio systems for personal computers; and aftermarket mobile products, including speakers, amplifiers, and digital signal proce ssors that deliver in-car audio. This segment markets its products under the JBL, AKG, Harman/Kardon, Infinity, Mark Levinson, Revel, Logic 7, Lexicon, and Selenium brand names. Its Professional segment provides a range of loudspeakers, power amplifiers, digital signal processors, microphones, headphones, mixing consoles, and IDX information delivery systems for concert halls, stadiums, airports, houses of worship, and other public spaces; products to the sound reinforcement, music instrument support, and broadcast and recording segments of the professional audio market; systems solutions for professional installations and users; and lighting solutions to the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors. This segment markets its products under the JBL Professional, AKG, Crown, Soundcraft, Lexicon, DigiTech, dbx, BSS, Studer, Martin, and Selenium brand names. Harman International Industries, Incorporated was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticu t.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Today's top performer within the S&P 500 was audio products maker Harman International (NYSE: HAR  ) , which rose 8.2% after easily trumping Wall Street's expectations with its third-quarter results. Although Harman's quarterly revenue declined 3%, to $1.06 billion, because of weakness in its Western Europe operations, its adjusted EPS of $0.79 handily crushed the $0.61 EPS projection of analysts. The company also boosted its EPS outlook for the year to $3.00 from a previous range of $2.70-$2.90, and sees revenue at the high end of its previous outlook of $4.18 billion to $4.25 billion. While this is definitely great news for shareholders, with little revenue growth expected this year and a P/E of nearly 16 based on its own forecast, I'd pass at these levels.

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday after the market closed, small cap audio stock Skullcandy Inc (NASDAQ: SKUL) reported earnings and began rising in after hours trading, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other audio stocks like mid cap Harman International Industries Inc (NYSE: HAR) and small caps Koss Corporation (NASDAQ: KOSS) and Parametric Sound Corp (NASDAQ: PAMT). I should mention that in�late 2012, Skullcandy had the dubious distinction of being the market�� most shorted stock (see: Long Live the Shorts or the Short Squeeze? SKUL, AM & UBNT) with short�interest of 86.47% and there would still be a lot of shorts out there who might start feeling the squeeze (Note: SKUL is at least no longer on the HighShortInterest.com list)

• [By Double Dividend Stocks]

  Options Opportunities: 2 stocks jumped out in the above group as still being undervalued on a PEG basis - STX and Harman Industries, (HAR).

  (click to enlarge)

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  More to the point, Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR) has moved beyond its audio roots and now ranks as a bona fide tech powerhouse.