Specialty chemicals producer�Westlake Chemical� (NYSE: WLK ) �has acquired�the PVC pipe, fittings, profiles, and foundation business of CertainTeed now that�all the closing conditions, including a regulatory review, have been met.
Earlier this year Westlake agreed to pay $175 million in cash, including $22 million of working capital and closing adjustments, to buy the pipe and foundation group business of�CertainTeed, a subsidiary of French building materials specialist�Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. The purchase was seen as�enhancing Westlake's North American pipe and building products division, which does business as North American Pipe Corp.,�by adding specialty product lines, and supporting technology that it didn't currently possess.
Wetlake Chemical President and CEO�Albert Chao said:
This acquisition enhances our North American Pipe and building products portfolio by adding specialty product lines and supporting technology that we do not currently have. These new products, technologies, and a broader market reach will increase our ability to service our customers' needs and further differentiate the value of our vinyls integration strategy.
Top 5 Quality Stocks To Invest In 2015: LSB Industries Inc (LXU)
LSB Industries, Inc., incorporated on January 21, 1977, is a diversified holding company involved in manufacturing and marketing operations through its subsidiaries. The Company together with its wholly owned subsidiaries owns Chemical Business and Climate Control Business. Chemical Business manufactures and sells nitrogen-based chemical products produced from four facilities located in El Dorado, Arkansas; Cherokee, Alabama; Pryor, Oklahoma, and Baytown, Texas for the agricultural, industrial, and mining markets. Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products in the niche markets the Company serves consisting of geothermal and water source heat pumps, hydronic fan coils, large custom air handlers, modular geothermal and other chillers and other related products used to control the environment in commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems. On October 31, 2012, Zena Energy LLC acquired working interests in certain natural gas properties located in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, within the Marcellus Shale.
Chemical Business
The Company�� products in the Chemical Business include high purity and commercial grade anhydrous ammonia for industrial and agricultural applications, industrial and fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate (AN), urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), sulfuric acids, nitric acids in various concentrations, nitrogen solutions, diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and various other products. The Company�� Chemical Business is a supplier to chemical and industrial companies. Its other products include anhydrous ammonia, ammonium nitrate ammonia solution for agricultural applications, blended and regular nitric acid, mixed nitrating acids, and industrial grade AN and solutions for the mining industry. The Company sells hese agricultural products to farmers, ranchers, fertilizer dealers and distributors primarily in the ran! ch land and grain production markets in the United States. The Company�� Chemical Business establishes long-term relationships with wholesale agricultural distributors and retailers and also sells directly to agricultural end-users through its network of wholesale and retail distribution centers. The Company�� Chemical Business manufactures and sells industrial acids and other chemical products primarily to the polyurethane, paper, fibers, fuel additives, emission control, and electronics industries. Its Chemical Business is also a niche market supplier of industrial and high purity ammonia for many specialty applications, including the reduction of air emissions from power plants.
Climate Control Business
The Company�� Climate Control Business manufactures and sells a range of standard and custom designed geothermal and water source heat pumps and hydronic fan coils, as well as custom air handlers and modular chiller systems, including modular geothermal chillers and simultaneous heating and cooling modules. These products are for use in commercial/institutional and residential HVAC systems. Its products are installed in some of the commercial/institutional developments in the United States, including the Prudential Tower, Rockefeller Plaza, Trump Tower, Time Warner Center and many others. In addition, it has presence in the lodging sector with installations in numerous Hyatt, Marriott, Four Seasons, Starwood, Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotels, among others. Its Climate Control Business manufactures and distributes its products from seven facilities located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Company also provides geothermal heat pumps in residential and commercial/institutional applications. Its products are sold to the commercial/institutional markets, as well as single and multi-family residential new construction, renovation and replacements. The Company is a provider of hydronic fan coils targeting commercial and institutional markets. It manufactures its products in many! sizes an! d configurations, as required by the purchaser, to fit the space and capacity requirements of hotels, motels, schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, office buildings and other commercial/institutional or residential structures. The Climate Control Business sells its products primarily to mechanical contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors. Its Climate Control Business market includes commercial/institutional and residential new building construction, renovation of existing buildings and replacement of existing systems.
The Company competes with Agrium, CF Industries, Coffeyville Resources, Dyno Nobel, Koch, Potash Corporation, Yara International, Carrier, Trane, Nortek, McQuay, and Bosch.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
LSB Industries (LXU) manufactures and sells geothermal and water source heat pumps and air handling products and chemical products. This stock closed up 4.6% at $33.72 in Friday's trading session.
Friday's Volume: 543,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 147,784
Volume % Change: 252%From a technical perspective, LXU ripped higher here right above some near-term support at $31.45 and back above its 50-day moving average of $32.51 with heavy upside volume. This stock also flirted with its 200-day moving average at $35.22, before closing just below that level at $33.72.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in LXU as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $32.51 and then once it sustains a move or close above its 200-day at $35.22 to Friday's high of $36 with volume that's near or above 147,784 shares. If we get that move soon, then LXU will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $40.37 to $42.79.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: Trina Solar Limited(TSL)
Trina Solar Limited, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells photovoltaic (PV) modules worldwide. The company offers monocrystalline PV modules ranging from 165 watts to 185 watts in power output; and multicrystalline PV modules ranging from 215 watts to 240 watts in power output that provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and other applications. It also involves in the design and production of various PV modules, such as colored modules for architectural applications and larger sized modules for utility grid applications based on customers? and end-users? specifications. Trina Solar Limited sells and markets its products primarily to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Changzhou, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) reported second-quarter 2013 results before markets opened on Tuesday. The Chinese solar panel maker reported a diluted earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS) loss of $0.47 on revenue of $440.7 million. In the same period a year ago, Trina Solar reported a per ADS loss of $0.90 on revenue of $346.05 million. Second-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for an EPS loss of $0.57 and $374.89 million in revenue. One ADS is equal to 50 ordinary shares.
- [By Paul Ausick]
But what does this resurrection mean for investors? With a couple of exceptions, solar stocks hit a peak in 2008. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) topped $300 a share briefly, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) topped $125 a share, JA Solar hit $120, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) topped $40 and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) reached its peak of more than $35 in mid-2007. At today’s prices one almost has to wonder if we are talking about the same companies. The only stock trading anywhere near its peak price of six years ago is Canadian Solar. JinkoSolar is near its all-time high again, but it was not publicly traded until mid-2010.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James now that shares have pulled back $20 or so from the 2013 highs. Shares are indicated up over 2% as effectively this removes on of the “sell” biases from the pool of analysts. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) was also given the same upgrade to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: InvenSense Inc (INVN)
InvenSense, Inc. (InvenSense), incorporated in June 2003, is a provider of intelligent motion processing solutions. The Company is engaged in the designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing linear and mixed-signal integrated circuits (IC). It has designed and developed an integrated motion processing solution that enables a motion-based user interface for consumer electronics. Its solutions are comprised of an IC that incorporates motion sensors, such as gyroscopes, with associated software and are differentiated by their small form factor, high level of integration, performance, reliability and cost effectiveness. It targets consumer electronics applications, such as console and portable video gaming devices, handset and tablet devices, digital still and video cameras, digital television and set-top box remote controls, three-dimensional (3D) mice and portable navigation devices. As of March 31, 2010, InvenSense had shipped over 60 million units of its products. In November 2013, Analog Devices, Inc completed the sale of the assets of its microphone product line to InvenSense, Inc.
The Company�� MotionProcessing platform offers its customers an integrated and solution comprised of its micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based motion sensors and their companion mixed-signal integrated circuits, embedded DigitalMotion processors that combine digital outputs from multiple motion sensors to provide more accurate motion tracking functionality, which it refers to as SensorFusion, and its MotionProcessing library that allows its customers to create applications using its MotionProcessing solutions. To promote faster adoption and time to market for its customers, InvenSense provides application programming interfaces and pre-configured application functionalities, such as gesture recognition, which it refers to as MotionApplication software.
The Company�� technology is comprised of four components: Nasiri-Fabrication process, advanced MEMS gyroscope design, mixed-sig! nal circuitry that provides sensor signal processing and enables SensorFusion technology critical to its MotionProcessing platform, and MotionProcessing library and MotionApplication software solutions. InvenSense�� Nasiri-Fabrication process allows it to combine MEMS with standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) at the wafer level. InvenSense utilizes a fabless business model, working with third parties to manufacture, package and assemble its products. It performs its own wafer level sorting, testing and calibration with testing tools at its facilities in Taiwan. It sells its products through direct sales to manufacturers of consumer electronics devices.
The Company competes with Analog Devices, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Epson Toyocom Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Rohm Co., Ltd., Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Sony Corporation, and STMicroelectronics N.V.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Steve Symington]
Shares of motion sensor specialist InvenSense (NYSE: INVN ) rose by as much as 27% Friday after the company reported its fiscal fourth quarter 2013 earnings.
- [By Riddhi Kharkia] ving a volatile run on the Street after the company missed earnings estimates for the fourth quarter as it decided to ramp up research and development initiatives. InvenSense reported earnings of just $0.07 per share, while analysts were expecting $0.10.
Company Background
Let me take a minute here to tell you more about InvenSense. The company is a producer of MotionTracking (company trademarked) products that are used in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, gaming devices etc. The motion sensors are becoming a sensation among users of these devices as it provides an intuitive way to users for communicating seamlessly with the device. The primary function of these sensors is to translate the motions of the users in free space to executable input commands. Samsung (SSNLF) represents one of InvenSense�� biggest clients with its technology being used in Samsung�� flagship products like Galaxy S5, Gear 2 and Gear Fit.
After the results
InvenSense is going all out to tap opportunities across several end-markets such as mobile and wearable devices. As such, the company increased R&D spending to bolster product development. However, analysts were not impressed, as they saw short-term gains instead of long-term prospects. Since InvenSense could be a key beneficiary of Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Project Ara, and it could land a spot in Apple�� (AAPL) smart devices, the recent drop has opened a window of opportunity for investors to buy more shares.
Android markets under its command
InvenSense is known for its motion-tracking sensors and has managed to create a solid position for itself in the Android universe. Samsung�� Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5, Google's Nexus 5, and Amazon's Kindle Fire all contain InvenSense chips.
Analysts at Baird are of the opinion that InvenSense is selling a larger number of gyroscopes to Samsung for the latest flagship than originally expected. Coupled with
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Another technology player that's starting to move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is InvenSense (INVN), which designs, develops, markets, and sells micro-electro-mechanical system gyroscopes for motion tracking devices in consumer electronics. This stock has been red hot in 2013, with shares up huge by 63%.
If you look at the chart for InvenSense, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last two months, with shares moving between $15.20 on the downside and $18.31 on the upside. Shares of INVN have now started to spike higher back above its 50-day moving average of $17.41 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of INVN within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in INVN if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $18.31 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 2.32 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then INVN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $21.82 to its all-time high at $22.35 a share. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give INVN a chance to tag $25 to $30 a share.
Traders can look to buy INVN off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right around some key near-term support levels at $16.42 a share to its 200-day moving average of $15.25 a share. One can also buy INVN off strength once it starts to take $18.31 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: Carter's Inc.(CRI)
Carter's, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded children?s wear. The company provides products under the Carter?s, Child of Mine, Just One You, Precious Firsts, OshKosh, and related brand names. Its Carter?s brand baby products include bodysuits, pants, undershirts, towels, washcloths, receiving blankets, layette gowns, bibs, caps, and booties; playclothes products consist of knit and woven cotton apparel; sleepwear products comprise pajamas and blanket sleepers; and other products consist of bedding, outerwear, swimwear, shoes, socks, diaper bags, gift sets, toys, and hair accessories. The company also provides playclothes products, including denim apparel products, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and playclothes products for sizes newborn to 12 under the OshKosh brand. In addition, it offers baby, sleepwear, outerwear, shoes, hosiery, and accessories under the OshKosh brand. The company sells its products in department stores, national chains, and specialty retailers, as well as through its Carter?s and OshKosh retail stores; and online at carters.com and oshkoshbgosh.com. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 359 Carter?s and 170 OshKosh outlet and brand retail stores in the United States; and 65 retail stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Carter's (NYSE: CRI ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: Canadian/Yen (HY)
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, engineering, manufacture, sale, and service of a line of lift trucks and aftermarket parts worldwide. It offers components, such as frames, masts, and transmissions; and assembles lift trucks. The company markets its products primarily under the Hyster and Yale brand names to independent Hyster and Yale retail dealerships. It also sells aftermarket parts under the UNISOURCE, MULTIQUIP, and PREMIER brands to Hyster and Yale dealers for the service of competitor lift trucks. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
The Financial sector was the best performer in the Barclays Aggregate Index during 3Q13, generating nominal and excess returns of 1.54% and 1.40%, respectively. Spreads in High Yield (HY) issues tightened substantially, propelling Ba/B credits to a 2.07% nominal and 1.74% excess return. Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) also reacted positively to the Fed decision, as Agency MBS outperformed comparable duration Treasuries with a 1.03% nominal and 0.95% excess return. Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) were resilient as well, finishing 1.02% higher in nominal terms and 0.66% excess in 3Q13. Non-Corporate Credit issues fared positively in 3Q13, but with a relatively weaker 0.37% nominal and 0.41% excess return.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Heavy-equipment maker�Hyster-Yale Materials Handling� (NYSE: HY ) announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.25 per share for both its Class A and Class B stock.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: Coty Inc (COTY)
Coty Inc., incorporated on January 20, 1995, is engaged in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of women�� and men�� fragrances, color cosmetics and skin and body care related products globally. The Company operates in three segments: Fragrances, Color Cosmetics and Skin & Body Care. The Company�� power brands consist of adidas, Calvin Klein, Chloe, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs, OPI, philosophy, Playboy, Rimmel and Sally Hansen. The Company sells products in each of its segments through retailers, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, independent and chain drug stores and pharmacies, upscale perfumeries, upscale and mid-tier department stores, nail salons, specialty retailers, duty-free shops and traditional food, drug and mass retailers.
The Company�� Fragrance products include a range of men�� and women�� products, with brands associated with fashion designers, celebrities and lifestyle brands. Color Cosmetics products include nail, lip, eye and other facial color products. Skin & Body Care products include shower gels, deodorants, skin care and sun treatment products.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Coty (NASDAQ: COTY) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $1.05 billion.
Sutor Technology Group (NASDAQ: SUTR) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.10 per share on revenue of $152.96 million.
- [By Michael Lewis]
As happens all too often in the markets, an IPO has come out with lots of hype and, ultimately, little in the way of delivered expectations. Women's fragrance giant Coty (NYSE: COTY ) raised one of the largest IPOs in consumer product history last week, earning more than $1 billion. In the days prior, Wall Street played up the IPO in classic fashion -- citing large brand product awareness and celebrity endorsements as cause for investment. While Fools already know this is not a real reason to buy, apparently the market was either inundated with quick-flipping traders, or just unimpressed by the scent of Coty.
- [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]
Coty Inc.(COTY) swung to a loss for the first three months of the year after the beauty-products maker posted a large write-down in its skin and body care segment. However, results beat expectations. Shares rose 1% to $15.60 premarket.
- [By Teresa Rivas]
We think KMB will be perceived as the safest of the multinationals. Its sales outside the US are about 55% of total; this compares to 65%-70% for Procter & Gamble (PG) and Coty (COTY) and 80%-90% for Colgate (CL), Avon and Tupperware (TUP). In general, its risk to the most volatile currencies is below average (its exposure to Eastern Europe is less than 2% of sales), though it is still translating results in Venezuela (about 3% of sales and profit) at the official rate of 6.3 VEF/$ (the parallel rate just hit 175 VEF/$) and Argentina (also 3% of sales) may devalue again. The cost of important raw materials has started to weaken; as they follow oil�� decline they could boost gross margins in 2H15. Of note, polypropylene and natural gas are off 17% 4Q-to-date; pulp prices, while not declining much, seem manageable.
Top 10 Building Product Stocks For 2014: Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD)
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. supplies networking equipment comprising end-to-end Internet protocol based Ethernet and storage area networking solutions. Its Data Storage segment provides infrastructure products and solutions, including directors, switches, routers, fabric-based software applications, distance/extension products, management applications, and utilities to centralize data management; and host bus adapters, converged network adapters, mezzanine cards, and switch modules for bladed servers. The company?s Ethernet Products segment offers Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI) Layer 2-3 switches and routers, which enable the use of bandwidth-intensive network business applications and digital entertainment on local area networks and wide area networks; and OSI Layer 4?7 switches that allow enterprises and service providers to build network infrastructures to direct the flow of traffic, and file area network products and associated management s olutions. The company?s Global Services segment provides break/fix maintenance, extended warranty, installation, consulting, network management, and related software maintenance and support services; consulting and support services that assist customers in designing, implementing, deploying, and managing networking solutions; and post-contract customer support and extended warranties. It serves various businesses and organizations, which include global enterprises and service providers, such as telecommunication firms, cable operators, and mobile carriers. The company has a strategic partnership with LG-Ericsson. It offers its products and services to end-user customers directly, and through various distribution partners comprising original equipment manufacturers, distributors, systems integrators, and value-added resellers in the United States, western Europe, Japan, and the greater Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, Cali fornia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Mid cap networking solutions company Brocade Communications Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: BRCD) has pretty much been a sleeper for investors since the dot.com bust, but that has changed over the past year���meaning its worth revisiting the stock along with potential performance benchmarks�like QLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QLGC), Emulex Corporation (NYSE: ELX) and iShares North American Tech-Multimedia Networking ETF (NYSEARCA: IGN). I should mention that we have recently Brocade Communications Systems to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because the company has successfully transitioned from being a hardware company to supporting virtual networks via software and it continues to offer best-of-breed technology.
- [By Lauren Pollock]
Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD) raised its stock buyback program to $1 billion from $308 million, as the company cited confidence in generating greater cash flow as well as its long-term business prospects. Shares rose 3.8% premarket to $8.49.
- [By Anders Bylund]
Networked storage specialist Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ: BRCD ) kicked out its poison pill plan in 2007, following an annual policy review that found it unnecessary. The company has often been the subject of buyout speculation in a rapidly consolidating storage market, but is still standing alone. Brocade shares have only gained 3% since the plan change, trailing the S&P 500's 29% returns.
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