Top Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now

LONDON -- After offering my�pick of our telecom companies�last week, today I'm turning my attention to the FTSE 100 Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology sector. This time there are three companies that make the top flight --�GlaxoSmithKline� (LSE: GSK  ) (NYSE: GSK  ) ,�AstraZeneca� (LSE: AZN  ) (NYSE: AZN  ) and�Shire� (LSE: SHP  ) .

I'll start with a few fundamentals:

Company GlaxoSmithKline AstraZeneca Shire Market cap 76.9 billion pounds 41.5�billion pounds 10.9�billion pounds Share price 1,576 pence 3,308�pence 1,992�pence Share price growth 13% 19% -1.3% Historic EPS growth -1% -12% -14% Forward EPS growth 2% -18% 68% Historic P/E 11.8 7.0 21.6 Forward P/E 13.5 9.6 13.3 Historic Dividend 5.5% 6.3% 0.6% Historic Cover 1.5x 2.3x 7.7x Forward Dividend 5.1% 5.5% 0.6% Forward Cover 1.5x 1.9x 11.8x

Share price growth is over the past 12 months, historic figures are for December 2012, forward figures are based on December 2013 forecasts.

Top Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Neoprobe Corporation(NEOP)

Neoprobe Corporation, a biomedical company, engages in the development and commercialization of precision diagnostics that enhance patient care and improve patient benefit. The company is developing and commercializing targeted agents aimed at the identification of occult (undetected) disease. Neoprobe?s two lead radiopharmaceutical agent platforms, Lymphoseek and RIGScan are intended to help surgeons better identify and treat certain types of cancer. Lymphoseek is a diagnostic imaging agent intended for radiolabeling and administration in radiodetection and visualization of the lymphatic system draining the region of injection for delineation of the lymphatic tissue; and RIGScan is an intraoperative biologic targeting agent consisting of a radiolabeled murine monoclonal antibody. The company has a biopharmaceutical development and supply agreement with Laureate Biopharmaceutical Services, Inc. to support the initial evaluation of the viability of the CC49 master working c ell bank, as well as the initial steps in re-validating the commercial production process for the biologic agent used in RIGScan CR. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Dublin, Ohio.

Top Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc (Q)

Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. is a provider of biopharmaceutical development services and commercial outsourcing services. The Company operates in two segments: Product Development and Integrated Healthcare Services. The Company�� Product Development segment operates as a contract research organization (CRO) focused primarily on Phase II-IV clinical trials and associated laboratory and analytical activities. The Company�� Integrated Healthcare Services segment is a global commercial pharmaceutical sales and service organizations and Integrated Healthcare Services provides a range of services, including commercial services, such as providing contract pharmaceutical sales forces in geographic markets, as well as healthcare business services for the healthcare sector, such as outcome-based and payer and provider services. In August 2012, it acquired Expression Analysis, Inc.

Product Development

Product Development provides services and that allow biopharmaceutical companies to outsource the clinical development process from first in man trials to post-launch monitoring. The Company�� service offering provides the support and functional necessary at each stage of development, as well as the systems and analytical capabilities. Product Development consists of clinical solutions and services and consulting. Clinical solutions and services provides services necessary to develop biopharmaceutical products, including project management and clinical monitoring functions for conducting multi-site trials (generally Phase II-IV) (core clinical) and clinical trial support services that improve clinical trial decision making and include global laboratories, data management, biostatistical, safety and pharmacovigilance, and early clinical development trials, and strategic planning and design services that improve decisions and performance. Consulting provides strategy and management consulting services based on life science and advanced analytics, as well as regulatory and comp! liance consulting services.

The Company competes with Covance, Inc., Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc., PAREXEL International Corporation, ICON plc, inVentiv Health, Inc. (inVentive), INC Research and PRA International.

Integrated Healthcare Services

Integrated Healthcare Services provides the healthcare industry with both geographic presence and commercial capabilities. The Company�� commercialization services are designed to accelerate the commercial of biopharmaceutical and other health-related products. Service offerings include commercial services (sales representatives, strategy, marketing communications and other areas related to commercialization), outcome research (drug therapy analysis, real-world research and evidence-based medicine, including research studies to prove a drug�� value) and payer and provider services comparative and cost-effectiveness research capabilities, clinical management analytics, decision support services, medication adherence and health outcome optimization services, and Web-based systems for measuring quality improvement.

The Company competes with inVentiv, PDI, Inc., Publicis Selling Solutions, United Drug plc, EPS Corporation and CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2014: Galena Biopharma Inc (GALE)

Galena Biopharma, Inc. (Galena), formerly RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, incorporated on April 3, 2006, is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies addressing unmet medical needs using targeted biotherapeutics. The Company is pursuing the development of cancer therapeutics using peptide-based immunotherapy products, including its main product candidate, NeuVaxTM (E75), for the treatment of breast cancer and other tumors. NeuVax is a peptide-based immunotherapy intended to reduce the recurrence of breast cancer in low-to-intermediate HER2-positive breast cancer patients not eligible for trastuzumab (Herceptin; Genentech/Roche). On January 19, 2012, the Company initiated enrollment in its Phase 3 PRESENT clinical trial for NeuVax (E75 peptide plus GM-CSF) vaccine in low-to-intermediate HER2 1+ and 2+ breast cancer patients in the adjuvant setting to prevent recurrence (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01479244). The Prevention of Recurrence in Early-Stage, Node-Positive Breast Cancer with Low to Intermediate HER2 Expression with NeuVax Treatment study is a randomized, multicenter, multinational clinical trial that will enroll approximately 700 breast cancer patients. The Company�� Phase 2 trial of NeuVax achieved its primary endpoint of disease-free survival (DFS). On April 13, 2011, the Company completed its acquisition of Apthera, Inc.,(Apthera).

The Company focuses to start a Phase 2 trial comparing NeuVax in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) versus trastuzumab, alone, in a 300-patient, randomized study in the adjuvant breast cancer setting. The Company's second product candidate, Folate Binding Protein-E39 (FBP), is a vaccine, consisting of the peptides E39 and J65, aimed at preventing the recurrence of ovarian, endometrial, and breast cancers. On February 14, 2012, the Company announced the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in two gynecological cancers: ovarian and endometrial adenocarcinomas. Folate binding protein has ! very limited tissue distribution and expression in non-malignant tissue and is over-expressed in more than 90% of ovarian and endometrial cancers, as well as in 20% to 50% of breast, lung, colorectal and renal cell carcinomas.

In April 2011, the Company acquired Apthera Inc and its NeuVax product candidate. The Company focuses on developing a pipeline of immunotherapy product candidates for the treatment of various cancers based on the E75 peptide, the advanced of which is NeuVax, which is targeted at preventing the recurrence of breast cancer. NeuVax has had positive Phase 1/2 clinical trial results for the prevention of breast cancer recurrence in patients who have had breast cancer and received the standard of care treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy as indicated). The Company had also initiated its Phase 3 PRESENT clinical trial of NeuVax for the prevention of breast cancer recurrence in early-stage low-to-intermediate HER2 breast cancer patients. NeuVax directs killer T-cells to target and destroy cancer cells that express HER2/neu, a protein associated with epithelial tumors in breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colon, bladder and prostate cancers. NeuVax is comprised of a HER2/neu-derived peptide called E75. E75 is a nine-amino acid sequence that is immunogenic (produces an immune response) and GM-CSF is a commercially available protein that acts to stimulate and activate components of the immune system such as macrophages and dendritic cells.

The Company also develops novel applications for NeuVax based on preclinical studies and phases 2 clinical trials which suggest that combining NeuVax and trastuzumab (Herceptin; Genentech/Roche) can increase antigen presentation by tumor cells by promoting receptor internalization and subsequent proteosomal degradation of the HER2 protein. The Company also is pursuing additional therapeutic indications for NeuVax that are in Phase 1/2 clinical trials. RXI-109, is a dermal anti-scarring therapy that targets! connecti! ve tissue growth factor (CTGF) and that may inhibit connective tissue formation in human fibrotic disease.

The Company competes with Roche Laboratories, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Bayer HealthCare AG, Sanofi-Aventis, US, LLC, Amgen, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Renovo Group plc, CoDa Therapeutics, Inc., Sirnaomics, Inc., FirstString Research, Inc., Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Capstone Therapeutics, Halscion, Inc., Garnet Bio Therapeutics, Inc., AkPharma Inc., Promedior, Inc., Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Eyegene, Derma Sciences, Inc., Healthpoint Biotherapeutics, Pharmaxon, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Marina Biotech, Inc., Tacere Therapeutics, Inc., Benitec Limited, OPKO Health, Inc., Silence Therapeutics plc, Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rosetta Genomics Ltd., Lorus Therapeutics, Inc., Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Arrowhead Research Corporation, Regulus Therapeutics Inc. and Santaris.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  The waiting game
  The tables are clearly stacked against small biotech companies developing cancer drugs. History has shown that few (if any) have successfully had the Food and Drug Administration approve a late-stage cancer drug. While mid-stage trials of Galena Biopharma's (NASDAQ: GALE  ) HER2-targeting breast cancer vaccine have been promising thus far, the chances of an approval seem a long way off.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: Galena Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE) is down 15.4% at $1.93 after pricing a secondary offering of 17.5 million units at $2.00. Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is up 6.1% at $28.21, after an analyst�� upgrade which sent shares to a new 52-week high of $28.88 earlier. Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) is down 18.2% at $4.08.

Top Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cannabis Science Inc (CBIS.PK)

Cannabis Science, Inc., incorporated on May 4, 2007, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in the creation of cannabis-based medicines, both with and without psychoactive properties, to treats disease and the symptoms of disease, as well as for general health maintenance. On February 9, 2012, the Company acquired GGECO University, Inc. (GGECO). On March 21, 2012, the Company acquired Cannabis Consulting Inc. (CCI Group).

The Company is engaged in medical marijuana research and development. The Company works with world authorities on phytocannabinoid science targeting critical illnesses, and adheres to scientific methodologies to develop, produce, and commercialize phytocannabinoid-based pharmaceutical products.

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

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.

Facebook Inc (FB) Q3 Earnings Preview: Another Solid Print In The Wings?

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) would release its third quarter 2013 financial results after market close on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. Facebook will host a conference call to discuss the results at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET the same day.

Wall Street expects Facebook, the social networking giant with more than 1 billion active users, to earn 19 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The consensus estimate implies 58.3 percent growth from 12 cents it earned last year.

California-based Facebook's earnings have topped Street view thrice in the past four quarters. The consensus estimate has increased by a penny in the past 90 days. In the past month, seven analysts have raised their earnings target on Facebook.

Quarterly revenue is expected to increase 51.2 percent to $1.91 billion from $1.26 billion in the same quarter last year.

Investors look for monthly and daily active users as the user engagement drives revenue for Facebook via advertisement. Importantly, they would look for any upside in mobile users.

Advertising revenue accounts for more than 80 percent of total revenue and hence a key metric to watch for, while investors look for how much revenue it got from mobile segment. There could be upside in shares if the company records an increase mobile active users.

Facebook's momentum with advertisers has built through the third quarter in terms of click-thru rates (CTR) and engagement with ad products (both mobile and desktop), which have exceeded advertisers' internal goals.

Many advertisers like Facebook's opportunity to the early days of search, i.e., that a long-tailed opportunity exists for new buyers to initiate spending on the platform.

Despite a lackluster performance following its IPO, Facebook has begun to show signs that it can successfully monetize its platform as usage moves from desktop to mobile. Facebook remains under-monetized relative to peers given the time spent on the platform and that Facebook ads exhibit stron! g pricing power, which can provide a tailwind to revenues going forward

Facebook, with its 1 billion plus user base, has about 4 times headroom before it is monetizing its users at the same rate. According to Triggit (retargeting platform), only 9 percent of the Internet Retailer Top 500 is utilizing FBX, a real time bidding (RTB) platform from Facebook. The early adopter phase is in full swing, and the future looks promising.

According to comScore, worldwide desktop data for the first two months of the third quarter for Facebook (excluding Instagram) showed a 5.3 percent decrease in unique visitors, 0.6 percent growth in total minutes, and a 17.5 percent YoY decline in total page views.

On the other hand, U.S. mobile data for Facebook showed that unique mobile visitors (iPhone + Android) were up 8.6 percent and that total user minutes nearly doubled – up 97.1 percent. This bodes well for Facebook as it could monetize its mobile user base.

Facebook proved that it is monetizing its mobile user base as its mobile revenues of $656 million accounted for 41 percent of ad revenues. North America price per ad jumped 40 percent from last year, indicating that demand, pricing and advertiser returns all seem to be improving at the same time

The next form of monetization could come in the form of video ads in Newsfeed. Newsfeed (both desktop but more importantly mobile) is the biggest driver of future revenue growth, so judging the stage of adoption for newsfeed monetization is critical to the overall investment thesis.

The company plans to introduce ads on Instagram beginning next week. Facebook recently introduced video on Instagram. The introduction of video makes the service more compelling, leading to greater user engagement and also opening the door to lucrative video advertising. The ads on Instagram could be a solid long term contributor to the topline. The company is expected to give more updates on this aspect during the call.

"Our checks indicate that mobile a! pp instal! l ads are among the highest performing ads in Facebook's ad product suite," UBS analyst Eric Sheridan said in a client note.

In a recent blog post, Facebook disclosed that mobile app install ads have driven more than 145 million app installs in 2013 through October 1st – up from 25 million through March 31st. Moreover, Facebook announced that it was expanding the scope of these ads to go beyond installs to include various calls to action (e.g., "Play Game", "Shop Now", "Watch Video", etc.).

"We believe this significantly expands the market opportunity for Facebook's mobile-only ad units and look forward to management's thoughts on how this will impact ad unit volumes and pricing trends going forward," Sheridan said.

Among the additional topics that are expected to be discussed on the call include plans to capture TV advertising dollars, particularly as it relates to second-screen experiences and the potential for video advertising in the News Feed; expanded use for Graph Search and progress towards monetization; integration of Atlas and plans for a display ad network.

For the second quarter, Facebook reported adjusted earnings of 19 cents a share, 5-cents ahead of expectations on revenues of $1.81 billion, which also topped Street view of $1.62 billion.

Since its IPO in 2012, FB has experienced wide volatility following earnings announcements – ranging from an 11.7 percent drop in the second quarter of 2012 to a 29.6 percent rise in the second quarter of 2013. The stock has outperformed the S&P 500 by 68 percent year-to-date.

Pentagon Issues Contracts for Radios, Training, Logistics... and NORAD

Top Growth Stocks To Buy For 2014

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded nine new contracts on Monday worth some $1.121 billion in aggregate. While one single IT contract claimed the bulk of the awards, there were other, smaller winners as well. Here are a few of them:

Harris Corporation's (NYSE: HRS  ) RF Communications division was awarded a $22.1 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract to supply Harris radios and associated components to be used by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High Yield Explosive Response enterprise that "interfaces" with first responders, National Guard teams, military tactical components, law enforcement, and certain Department of Defense entities. This contact will begin with an initial shipment of 30 radios, but will not be completed until July 2015. Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT  ) Information Systems & Global Services unit won a $20.8 million contract modification to support air, missile, and space defense operations for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Cheyenne Mountain Complex/Integrated Tactical Warning/Attack Assessment (NCMC/ITW/AA) through Dec. 31, 2013. URS (NYSE: URS  ) Federal Services was awarded a contract modification worth up to $11.8 million, exercising the first (of four) option year(s) attached to a one-year base contract for unspecified "material distribution services" in Maryland and Utah through July 31, 2017. Science Applications International Corp (NYSE: SAI  ) won a $6.8 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide integrated training support to the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and associated fleet commands during fleet training -- primarily in the U.S., but also in Japan. This contract should run through Sept. 30, 2013.

Starbucks Expands Into French Luxury Department Stores

Who knew? The French like Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) .

On Monday, Starbucks and French luxury department-store company Galeries Lafayette struck a partnership to open two stores by the end of the summer in Paris. Both stores will be located in Paris' 9th District, with the first one to open at Galeries' flagship Haussmann department store. In designing the stores, Starbucks says it will work to meet Galeries Lafayette's high-end atmosphere and architecture.

The Galeries Lafayette partnership reflects Starbucks' strategy for Europe. In the company's press release, Starbucks EMEA Senior Vice President Doug Satzman said, "We are developing partnerships with leading retailers across Europe, of which Galeries Lafayette is a prime example."

So far, Starbucks has 83 stores across France. As the company further expands across France and the rest of Europe, Starbucks will continue to focus on "significant" licensed partnerships.

If all goes well, then Starbucks and Galeries Lafayette have agreed that there will be more stores to come over the next few years.

Galeries Lafayette operates 60 department stores, with international locations in New York City, Dubai, and Jakarta. 

Elon Musk warns about Tesla's stock price

Click the chart to track Tesla's stocks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Tesla investors may be all smiles for now, but CEO Elon Musk is warning them that the stock is overvalued.

"The stock price that we have is more than we have any right to deserve," he said in London Thursday at the opening of a Tesla showroom in London. And he's got a point. Shares are up 400% this year and are trading a nearly 100 times 2014 earnings estimates.

It's not the first time Musk has said that Tesla (TSLA) shares are flying too high, but investors haven't really bothered to pay attention. He used almost the same language about the stock's valuation during an interview with CNBC in August. But the stock has climbed 10% since then.

Musk's latest comments come just a few days after Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hasting's note of caution about his company's stock. In a letter to shareholders that accompanied the company's earnings report, Hastings said some of the "euphoria" for the stock feels like 2003, when shares of Netflix rallied 400%. The stock plunged in 2004 and has been fairly volatile for the past decade.

This year, Netflix's stock is up a considerable 260%, making it the second best-performing stock in the S&P 500. Shares are trading at 85 times 2014 earnings estimates.

"Momentum investors" are "driving the price more than we like normally," Hastings added during a conference call with analysts to discuss its strong third-quarter earnings.

It's fairly rare that CEOs try to talk down their stocks, given that one of their goals is to boost shareholder value. Experts say investors should take heed.

"If the guy who runs the company and has insight is saying something, you need to read those tea leaves," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.

In September 1999, Steve Ballmer, who was then president of Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), warned that the overvaluation of technology stocks at the time was absurd. He included Microsoft in that category. Shares of Microsoft eventually plummeted with the rest of tech after the dotcom bubble burst in 2000. (Ballmer is now Microsoft CEO, but he will be retiring at some point within the next year.)

Investors should also keep an eye on what insiders and other big investors are doing with momentum stocks, Saluzzi said. Earlier this week, billionaire Carl Icahn said he dumped more than half his stake in Ne! tflix and booked a sweet profit.

Still, it's difficult to call a top for momentum stocks.

"The market can be irrational, and who knows how high these stocks can go," Saluzzi said.

  The scoop on Elon Musk's hyperloop

Short-sellers, investors who bet certain stocks will go down, have all but given up on the high flying names. Short interest, which is the number of shares being held by short sellers, in Netflix has declined from almost 15% of outstanding shares in January to less than 2% now. In Tesla, short interest dropped from almost 25% earlier this year to just 10%.

"It's very difficult to short these stocks" Saluzzi said. "Even if investors have good reasons they think the stock should go down, they can get their faces ripped off."

And even though Musk warns Tesla's stock is too high now, he is optimistic that somewhere down the line, Tesla will grow into its current valuation.

"We're going to do our best to fulfill the expectations of investors, and I think in the long term that stock price is going to seem fair," he said.

But would you really expect him to say otherwise?

$13B Plus Criminal Charges? Entrapment Or Does JPMorgan Deserve What's Coming?

Despite shelling out a possible $13 billion things could still get a lot worse for JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase.

The nation's biggest bank is working out details with the US government of what would be the biggest settlement in history. And despite the record settlement the bank wouldn't be off the hook from potential criminal charges.

That's what should have the bank's investors and others in the industry concerned, and they can thank the President's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

"You can look at this as a clear result of the Justice Department delivering on Obama's charge to bring justice for all the recklessness and bad behavior demonstrated during the crisis," says NYU finance professor and former Goldman Sachs partner, Roy Smith.

The banking world is no stranger to intensified legal troubles over the last few years. Bank of America Bank of America, Citigroup Citigroup, JPM, Goldman Sachs and the likes have all faced the troubling fallout of the financial crisis in the form of lawsuits, settlements, investigations, fines, penalties and, of course, public outrage.

Every bank has received its share of the painful aftermath. Over the weekend BofA CEO Brian Moynihan was awarded at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner for being an executive who "has been through the ringer over the last few years…a CEO whose every decision had been scrutinized, every decision questioned by the press, by the politicians." He added that he was selected because JPM CEO Jamie Dimon wasn't available that night.

Indeed Dimon had spent the previous few weeks negotiating with America's most powerful lawyer, US Attorney General Eric Holder, over how many billions his bank would need to pay to move past the Department of Justice's scrutiny of shoddy mortgage securities.

The answer appears: $13 billion and possible criminal charges.

One bank analyst calls the government's move against JPM entrapment.

Why? Part of the possible $13 billion settlement involves mortgage securities sold by Bear Stearns, the failed brokerage firm that JPM bought in 2008 at the urging of the government.

"The government begged this company to acquire Bear Stearns and then apparently is about to fine it for doing so. This is the basis of a lawsuit that could be filed in this matter," analyst Dick Bove says in a note today.

Unfair? Maybe. But NYU's Smith says while the banking world may think it's unfair that's just how the system works. "Finance is politicized in our world and the political system doesn't have to be rational. We're all subject to whatever is the latest consensus and the consensus right now says banks are to blame," Smith says.

When JPMorgan bought Bear Stearns it bought its assets and liabilities meaning it can't be indemnified from the legal pain that's now coming its way, Smith notes.

Unfortunately it's shareholders that are doing much of the suffering. Over one trillion of banking capital has been written off since the 08 crisis, Smith notes, and shareholders bore the brunt of that. "Now they're paying again through litigation," Smith says.

If JPM admits guilt and wrongdoing in this case then it could open up a whole new wave of lawsuits from investors who would now have the benefit of that admission as the basis for their claims.

To make matters worse, Bove thinks JPM's settlement opens up all banks to similar risk calling it "open season" on attacking banks.

"The JPMorgan settlement threatens all banks," he says.

So when does it all end? NYU's Smith says it will probably take a full 10 years to resolve the financial crisis as it relates to the banking world's legal troubles.

"We're only five years in," he says.

 

 

Stock futures mostly flat as oil hovers around …

Investors on Wall Street were looking to start the trading week on a bright note Monday as stock futures were mostly flat.

Oil prices were in focus.

Benchmark crude oil for November delivery declined 83 cents to $99.98 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 14 cents on Friday to close at $100.81. The move below $100 is the first for several months.

Ahead of the market open, Dow Jones industrial average index futures and Standard & Poor's 500 index futures were mostly flat and Nasdaq index futures were up 0.2%.

Stocks climbed on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to close at an all-time high of 1,744.50. The Dow gained 0.2% to 15,399.65 and the Nasdaq surged 1.3% to 3,914.28.

At the tail end of last week investors appeared to put behind them concern over the U.S. budget deal and China released an economic report that showed that growth there accelerated to 7.8%.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now

FRIDAY: S&P 500 closes at new all-time record

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9% and China's benchmark Shanghai composite index added 1.4%.

European shares moved in different directions. Benchmarks in France, Germany and Spain declined, but the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index added nearly 1%.

Contributing: Associated Press

Canada Stocks Rise for 4th Day as Royal Bank Reaches Record High

Canadian stocks rose for a fourth day, extending a two-year high, as Royal Bank (RY) of Canada soared to a record close and energy producers surged on accelerating economic growth in China.

Royal Bank gained 1.2 percent as the market value of the nation's largest lender rose past C$100 billion for the first time. Bankers Petroleum Ltd. and Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd. (AAV) climbed more than 2.7 percent as oil companies advanced. H&R Real Estate Investment Trust and Canadian Apartment Properties REIT added at least 2.5 percent to pace gains among financial stocks. Athabasca Oil Corp. tumbled 9.9 percent after an Alberta court decided to allow an aboriginal group to appeal an approval of the company's Dover oil-sands project.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) rose 99.64 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,136 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark Canadian equity gauge rose each of the four sessions in a holiday-shortened week, gaining 1.9 percent in the period for the best weekly gain since July. The index finished the week at the highest level since July 2011.

"There's a lot of positive news pushing the markets up," said Stephen Gauthier, chief investment officer with Fin-XO Securities Inc. in Montreal. His firm manages about C$550 million ($534.8 million). "Commodities have been holding up. The China numbers are a big plus. It's a good continuation of the rally we had since the U.S. reached an accord on raising the debt limit."

China's economic growth accelerated for the first time in three quarters, with gross domestic product gaining 7.8 percent in the third quarter, matching the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The country is Canada's second-largest trading partner.

U.S. Congressional leaders agreed to a deal this week to end a government shutdown and avert the threat of a default following weeks of stalemate.

Royal Bank Record

Royal Bank, the nation's largest company, jumped 1.2 percent to C$69.53, the seventh straight gain that left the stock at a record. The market value for Royal Bank climbed to C$100.1 billion, the first bank in Canada to break that mark.

Bank stocks, which have been undervalued compared with other Canadian companies, are getting a lift from good housing data, according Peter Routledge, a National Bank Financial analyst.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and National Bank of Canada also reached record highs, while the Bank of Montreal soared 1 percent to C$71.76, the highest since April 2007.

Energy Rally

Bankers Petroleum added 3.2 percent to C$4.17 and Advantage Oil & Gas increased 2.7 percent to C$4.19 as oil producers rallied 0.9 percent as a group, for the highest close since March 2012. Crude advanced as much as 1 percent in New York before paring gains.

Nine of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX rose as trading volume was 6.4 percent below the 30-day average.

H&R REIT jumped 2.6 percent to C$21.65 and Canadian Apartment REIT climbed 2.5 percent to C$21.87 as financial stocks increased 0.8 percent.

Investors are buying into higher-yielding stocks such as REITs as bond yields have fallen since the U.S. resolution to its budget impasse, Gauthier said.

"Bonds continue to rally in the post-shutdown environment," said Mark Chandler, head of Canadian fixed income strategy with RBC Dominion Securities Inc., in a report to clients.

Telus Corp. rallied 2.1 percent to C$35.22 and Rogers Communications Inc. added 1.4 percent to C$46.39 as telephone stocks advanced 1.4 percent as a group, the most in the S&P/TSX.

Bombardier Soars

Best Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2014

Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) increased 1.8 percent to C$5.08 after disclosing CDB Leasing Co., a Chinese company, is a customer with a firm order of 15 CSeries jetliners and an option for another 15 of the aircraft. The contract is worth as much as $2.07 billion.

BlackBerry Ltd., the smartphone maker looking to sell itself, rose 2.4 percent to C$8.64 for a second day of gains. Lenovo Group Ltd., the Beijing-based computer manufacturer, has signed a non-disclosure agreement with BlackBerry and is considering a bid for the company, Dow Jones reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Athabasca Oil sank 9.9 percent to C$6.27, the most since May. The Alberta Energy Regulator on Aug. 6 approved the company's Dover proposal, noting in its 40-page decision that the project won't have a direct impact on the Moose Lake area, a traditional territory of the Fort McKay First Nation.

The aboriginal group, which is surrounded by oil sands operations, had requested a 20-kilometer (12-mile) buffer around the project to protect their traditional hunting territory.

5 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume

Best Safest Companies To Watch For 2014

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don't just look at a stock's price moves; they also track big changes in volume activity. Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.

>>5 Stocks With Big Insider Buying

Major moves in volume can signal unusual activity, such as insider buying or selling -- or buying or selling by "superinvestors."

Unusual volume can also be a major signal that hedge funds and momentum traders are piling into a stock ahead of a catalyst. These types of traders like to get in well before a large spike, so it's always a smart move to monitor unusual volume. That said, remember to combine trend and price action with unusual volume. Put them all together to help you decipher the next big trend for any stock.

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

With that in mind, let's take a look at several stocks rising on unusual volume today.

Goodrich Petroleum

Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) explores, exploits, develops and produces oil and natural gas properties in East Texas and Northwest Louisiana. This stock closed up 6.1% at $27.80 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 7.61 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.62 million

Volume % Change: 465%

From a technical perspective, GDP ripped sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $25 with heavy upside volume. This stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $24.22 to $24.51. Following that bottom, shares of GDP have started to rebound sharply and move within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if GDP manages to take out Wednesday's high of $28.18 to its 52-week high at $28.55 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GDP as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $25.95 or above those double bottom levels and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.62 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GDP will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $33 to $35.

American Public Education

American Public Education (APEI) is a provider of online post-secondary education with an emphasis on serving the needs of the military and public service communities. This stock closed up 4.1% at $36.96 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 523,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 115,462

Volume % Change: 314%

From a technical perspective, APEI spiked higher here with heavy upside volume. This move briefly pushed shares of APEI back above its 200-day moving average of $37.33, but the stock closed just below that level at $36.96. This spike on Wednesday pushed shares of APEI out of its recent downtrend, which saw the stock fall from $40.75 to its recent low of $34.40. This move could be signaling that APEI is ready to see its downside volatility end in the short-term.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in APEI as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $35.60 and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $37.63 to its 50-day moving average at $38.44 with volume that's near or above 115,462 shares. If we get that move soon, then APEI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $40.75 to its 52-week high at $42.17.

FleetMatics Group

FleetMatics Group (FLTX) is a global provider of fleet management solutions delivered as software-as-a-service. This stock closed up 5.9% at $36.82 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 1.49 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 724,634

Volume % Change: 91%

From a technical perspective, FLTX trended higher here with solid upside volume flows. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last month and change, with shares plunging lower from its high of $52.28 to its recent low of $29.92. During that downtrend, shares of FLTX have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of FLTX have now started to rebound off that $29.92 low and enter new uptrend. This could be signaling that the downside volatility for FLTX is at last over in the short-term.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FLTX as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $35.25 or above $34 and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $37.25 with volume that's near or above 724,634 shares. If we get that move soon, then FLTX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 50-day of $41.40 to $45.

Xerium Technologies

Xerium Technologies (XRM) is a manufacturer and supplier of two types of consumable products, clothing and roll covers, used mainly in the production of paper. This stock closed up 4.2% at $12.06 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 1.12 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 90,515

Volume % Change: 850%

From a technical perspective, XRM ripped higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $11.09 with monster upside volume. This move pushed shares of XRM into breakout territory, since the stock took out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $11.73 to $11.74. Shares of XRM are now quickly moving within range of triggering another big breakout trade. That trade will hit if XRM can manage to take out some more resistance at $12.50 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in XRM as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $11.09 and then once it sustains a move or close above $12.50 with volume that's near or above 90,515 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then XRM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels $14.04 to $16.

Bon-Ton Stores

Bon-Ton Stores (BONT) is a regional department store operator offering an assortment of brand-name fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children as well as cosmetics, home furnishings and other goods. This stock closed up 2.9% at $10.72 in Wednesday's trading session.

Wednesday's Volume: 533,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 228,850

Volume % Change: 125%

From a technical perspective, BONT trended higher here right above its recent low of $9.85 with above-average volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last three months and change, with shares crashing from its high of $21.34 to that recent low of $9.85. During that downtrend, shares of BONT have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of BONT have now started to rebound higher off that $9.85 low, and the stock looks to have put an end to its downside volatility in the short-term.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BONT as long as it's trending above that low of $9.85 and then once it sustains a move or close above Wednesday's high of $11 with volume that's near or above 228,850 shares. If we get that move soon, then BONT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $11.46 to its 50-day moving average at $11.95. Any high-volume move above $11.95 to $12.33 will then give BONT a chance to tag $13 to $14.

To see more stocks rising on unusual volume, check out the Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for Earnings Season

>>7 Chinese ADRs Are on Fire Right Now

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com. You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) is the best performing stock on the S&P 500 in 2013 -- up more than 135% in four months. It's a different story from a year ago, and the complete opposite of what was happening around summer 2011. Coming up on two years since the complete disaster that was Netflix's policy changes and DVD spinoff, the company has now soared to new heights and is likely to be bound for more. While it was not the actions of any one party, there is an important lesson for businesses and investors to learn. As demonstrated by Reed Hastings, here is how to make a full recovery from a serious case of business idiocy.

Dream come true
For the value-conscious and technological skeptics among us, it was a joyous time when Netflix plunged from its $300-per-share days to near $50.

"We told you! Sky-high valuations have no place in the reality of investing."

The thing is, it wasn't a market correction of Netflix's valuation and an understanding that paying 100 times earnings for a company is completely absurd. It was punishment. When Reed Hastings decided to shed the company's DVD delivery business and push up prices on streaming, nearly everybody got ticked off. Eight hundred thousand subscribers fled in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a recent New York Times article. It wasn't a quick lashing, either, as the stock shed value for more than a year and Hastings was lambasted again and again for poor leadership skills. He took the criticism graciously and admitted quickly the errors of his ways. That was step one.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: CMS Bancorp Inc.(CMSB)

CMS Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Community Mutual Savings Bank, which provides various banking services to individuals and small businesses primarily in Westchester County and the neighboring areas in New York State. It offers various deposit products, including savings deposits consisting of passbook and statement savings accounts; interest- and non-interest-bearing demand accounts; money market accounts; and time deposits. The company also provides loan products comprising residential, commercial real estate, and consumer loans, as well as multi-family, non-residential, construction, home equity, and second mortgage loans. In addition, it invests in various assets, including securities of various government-sponsored enterprises and mortgage-backed securities. As of September 30, 2010, CMS Bancorp operated 1 corporate office in White Plains and 5 retail banking offices in Westchester County, New York. The company is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: (GLAXO.NS)

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited, a research-based healthcare and pharmaceutical company, provides prescription medicines and vaccines in India. Its product portfolio comprises prescription medicines that range across various therapeutic areas, such as anti-infectives, dermatology, gynecology, diabetes, oncology, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, gastrointestinal, endocrine, immunosuppressant, nutritional, central nervous system, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; and vaccines for the prevention of various diseases, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, invasive disease caused by H, influenza, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, rotavirus, and cervical cancer. The company was founded in 1924 and is based in Mumbai, India. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited is a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline plc.

Top 5 High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Keynote Systems Inc.(KEYN)

Keynote Systems, Inc. provides Internet and mobile cloud monitoring and testing solutions worldwide. The company?s Internet cloud products and services comprise Transaction Perspective for visibility into the performance and availability of Web transactions; Application Perspective, a Web application monitoring service; Cloud Application Perspective that provides software-based performance monitoring; Private Agents for the performance of mission critical extranet and intranet applications; Streaming Perspective to measure, compare, and assure the performance of audio and video streams; and Performance Scoreboard, a custom dashboard to monitor Web performance. Its Internet cloud products and services also include Enterprise Adapters to integrate performance measurement data into enterprise systems management platforms; Keynote Internet Testing Environment, a desktop tool for real-time testing, diagnosing, and troubleshooting Web performance issues; LoadPro, a Web load tes ting service; Test Perspective, a self-service load testing service; Red Alert to test devices connected to the Internet; and consulting services, such as performance insights, Web site performance assessment, automated reporting, and custom competitive research. In addition, the company?s mobile cloud products and services primarily consist of System Integrated Test Environment System to test and measure the quality and reliability of mobile networks and applications, and content delivery for mobile operators; GlobalRoamer to certify and validate roaming agreements; Mobile Device Perspective to enhance the quality of mobile content, applications, and services; Mobile Web Perspective to monitor and troubleshoot the quality and performance for mobile Web sites; and Mobile Internet Testing Environment, a desktop tool. Further, it offers professional services, mobile competitive monitoring and analysis, and mobile insights. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Xaar(XAR.L)

Xaar plc engages in the development and commercial exploitation of a patented inkjet printing technology in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Its product line comprises inkjet development systems, printheads, printhead matrix, inks, ink supply systems, and drive electronics. The company also provides training and consulting services. Its products are used in graphics, packaging, and industrial print sectors. Xaar plc was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Garmin Ltd.(GRMN)

Garmin Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets global positioning system (GPS) enabled products and other navigation, communication, and information products for the automotive/mobile, outdoor, fitness, marine, and general aviation markets worldwide. The company offers a range of automotive navigation products, and various products and applications designed for the mobile GPS market; GPS enabled handheld products for hunters, hikers, geocachers, outdoors enthusiasts, cyclists, and golfers; dog tracking systems; tracker systems; and training assistants for athletes. It also provides handhelds, network products and multifunction displays, fixed-mount GPS/chartplotter products, instruments, fish finders, radars, autopilots, VHF radios, marine networking products, and sounder products. In addition, the company offers GPS-enabled navigation, VHF communications transmitters/receivers, multi-function displays, electronic flight instrumen tation systems, automatic flight control systems, traffic advisory systems and traffic collision avoidance systems, terrain awareness and warning systems, instrument landing system receivers, surveillance products, audio panels, and cockpit datalink systems. The company?s sells its products through a network of independent dealers and distributors, as well as through original equipment manufacturers. Garmin Ltd. was founded in 1990 and is based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Stateside, Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN  ) is seeing many of the issues I project AutoNavi will soon encounter. With mobile coverage spreading into many rural areas, many smartphones and tablets are now able to deliver the same navigation quality and features that Garmin's and AutoNavi's products bring to the table. Understandably, China's wireless infrastructure isn't as developed as what we have here in the U.S., so the lifespan of AutoNavi's products will be extended compared to Garmin, which has been on a multiyear downswing. Ultimately, though, the same product replacement cycle is going to hit AutoNavi when China's wireless infrastructure improves, and will slowly erode its business.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Northeast Community Bancorp Inc.(NECB)

Northeast Community Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Northeast Community Bank that provides various banking and financial products and services to consumers and businesses. It offers interest bearing demand accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and money market accounts; savings accounts; non-interest bearing demand accounts, including checking accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company?s loan portfolio comprises multi-family and mixed-use real estate loans, non-residential real estate loans, equity lines of credit on real estate loans, commercial loans, construction loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it provides investment advisory and financial planning services. As of July 11, 2011, the company operated four full-service offices in New York; two full-service branches in Danvers and Plymouth, Massachusetts; and a loan production office in Danvers, Massachusetts. It serves customers in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecti cut, and Pennsylvania. The company is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: NMDC Ltd (NMDC.NS)

NMDC Limited (NMDC) is an India-based iron ore producer and exporter. The Company operates in two business segments: iron ore and other minerals and services. The Company is engaged in the exploration of a range of minerals including iron ore, copper, rock phosphate, lime stone, dolomite, gypsum, bentonite, magnesite, diamond, tin, tungsten, graphite, and beach sands. As of March 31, 2012, it produced about 30 million tons of iron ore from three fully mechanized mines, which include Bailadila Deposit-14/11C, Bailadila Deposit-5, 10/11A (Chhattisgarh State) and Donimalai Iron Ore Mines (Karnataka State). As of March 31, 2012, NMDC supplied 269.16 lakh tons of iron ore to domestic industries and had exported 3.85 lakh tons of iron ore. Its sponge Iron production was at 37,260 tons and its diamond production was 18043.44 carats during the year fiscal ended March 31,2012. On December 12, 2011, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary NMDC Power Ltd was incorporated.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Carpathian Gold In Com Npv(CPN.TO)

Carpathian Gold Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties properties. It holds 100% interests in the Rovina Valley, a gold-copper project, which covers an area of approximately 93.5 square kilometers and is located in central Romania; and the Riacho dos Machados gold project that comprises approximately 17 exploration licenses and 1 mining concession with a total area of approximately 28,151 hectares in Brazil. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: Engineer Inform(ENG.MI)

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SpA, together with its subsidiaries, provides various information technology services in Italy and internationally. It offers system integration and consultancy, software solutions, and business process and information technology outsourcing services. The company provides its solutions to the public administration, finance, industry and services, telecommunications, utilities, healthcare, transport, energy, and media sectors. Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SpA was founded in 1980 and is based in Rome, Italy.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Watch For 2014: First Advantage Bancorp(FABK)

First Advantage Bancorp operates as the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and businesses in Tennessee. The company offers various deposit products comprising non-interest-bearing demand deposits, such as checking accounts; interest-bearing demand accounts, including NOW and money market accounts; regular savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio include real estate mortgage loans, including one-to-four family residential loans and nonresidential real estate loans; construction loans for one-to-four family homes, commercial, multi-family, and other nonresidential purposes; land loans for developing vacant land; consumer loans consisting primarily of home equity loans; and commercial business loans secured by equipment, inventory, or accounts receivable to small businesses. As of June 10, 2010, the company operated five full-service offices in Montgomery County. First Advantage Banco rp was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Stocks Slump With No Debt-Limit Deal in Sight

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Major U.S. stock markets slumped Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats failed to show any meaningful progress in negotiations to raise the nation's borrowing limit.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.71% to 1,698.06. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.87% to 15,168.01. The Nasdaq decreased 0.56% to 3,794.01.

Speaker John Boehner said earlier on Tuesday that Republicans and House Democrats continued to engage in dialogue about the debt ceiling and budget but that there was no guarantee for a resolution of the three-week old impasse.

Senate talks had paused by Tuesday afternoon as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell waited to see if House Republicans would pass their own version of a deal, according to Politico, citing aides and senators close to the talks. At the closing bell of the markets, the House was still fleshing out a proposal.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was down 8/32, lifting the yield to 2.723%.

-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Andrea Tse.> 

Craft beer hops along its creative course

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — The pungent grassy smell of bright green hop flowers fills the air at the Mad Fox Brewing Co.

Freshly harvested and overnighted from the Yakima Valley in Washington state to the brewpub, located just west of Washington, D.C., these Citra hops are being stuffed into porous bags that will be added to an already fermented ale, made with Australian Galaxy hops.

Like giant tea bags, the steeping second hop treatment will impart an added freshness and fruity punch of flavor to the brewery's Two Hemispheres India Pale Ale. This "wet hopping" process creates a relatively new style of ale that arose from beer drinkers' affinity for ever-increasing bitterness. "It's just a different way for people to get their hop fix," says Mad Fox head brewer Charlie Buettner.

Timing is critical in creating such a beer because the hops must be harvested, shipped and added to beer before going stale within a few days. The process costs more than that for a typical ale, but many brewers embrace the chance to stretch their creative muscles. "We like looking for what new twists can be taken" with traditional beer styles, Buettner says.

There's no bigger display of the ever-expanding varieties of beer than the 32nd annual Great American Beer Festival, conducted in Denver this week, by The Brewers Association. Judging includes more than 3,100 beers from 624 U.S. brewers.

Mega-brewers such as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors participate, too, but "it's the craft brewers' showcase," says Buettner. Mad Fox, which opened in 2010, has won medals each year and submitted the maximum of 10 beers for this year's competition.

Craft brewers — defined as small and independent breweries with an output of fewer than 6 million barrels annually — have become the driving force of the beer industry, and of local communities. Big brands still make and sell most of the beer consumed in the U.S., but total sales have been flat. Meanwhile, craft beer sales rose 15% in dollars and 13% in volume in ! the first six months of 2013, the association says.

Craft beer continues to track upward. "You've got this localization of beer movement and a cultural shift in taste change," says Julia Herz, director of the association's craft beer program. "But you have also got a small business success story that has happened."

With more than 2,500 breweries currently operating in the U.S. — the most since the pre-Prohibition era — and another 1,600 or so in the works, a golden age of beer is underway. And ever more complex and unique quaffs are arising from craft breweries' sometimes strange experiments.

Mad Fox teamed up with other local female brewers on a "Pretty in Pink" pomegranate Saison beer for Breast Cancer Awareness month, with 20% of sales going to charity. And250 pounds of heirloom pumpkins from Homestead Farms in Maryland went into its just-released Punkinator.

Customers "are looking for variety. They are looking for unique products," says Bill Madden, Mad Fox co-founder and executive brewer. After demonstrating a knack for brewing beer at home, Madden entered the master brewers program at the University of California-Davis. Upon graduation, he landed at the Capital City Brewing Co. in Washington.

The brewpub, which produced about 1,400 barrels last year, is upping its output as Nationals Park and D.C. eateries have begun serving its beers on tap. "I'm doing things here that I have never done before, which is exciting. We are always coming up with new stuff."

Similar strategies are flowing across the country. Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, Mo., donates 10% of revenue from its KC Pils to local charities. In Athens, Ga., Terrapin Beer Co. supports the Dogwood Alliance with its Tree Hugger Ale and a Reunion Ale brewed in collaboration with Shmaltz Brewing Co. of Clifton, N.Y. — its ingredients include chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla — benefits bone cancer research.

Limited releases, highly sought after by the growing beer cognoscenti, can arise fro! m all typ! es of creative tie-ins. Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y., which is owned by Belgian brewer Duvel, has released its second Game of Thrones-themed beer, Take the Black Stout. And Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Rehoboth Beach, Del., let Grateful Dead fans help choose the ingredients for American Beauty pale ale, just out.

A pioneer in so-called "extreme" brews, Dogfish Head also recently produced a small batch beer that included the dust of crushed lunar meteorites — acquired from spacesuit maker ILC Dover, as an ingredient. The apply-named Bitter Rivalry beer, brewed by Terrapin and Gainesville, Fla.'s Swamp Head Brewery, will be tapped in Jacksonville next month during the Florida-Georgia football game.

Mad Fox is tapping into a more down-to-earth style that's gaining traction by making more beers that are aged in bourbon, brandy and wine barrels. An as-yet-unnamed sour beer is conditioning for two years in rye whiskey barrels from Catoctin Creek Distillery in nearby Purcellville, Va.

Terrapin is now experimenting with beers aged in barrels that previously contained tequila. Special releases "are kind of our TV commercial to get people excited about our brand," says Terrapin's vice president of sales and marketing Dustin Watts. "We've had to push the envelope further and further and further to make sure that we are staying relevant."

Terrapin submitted its first beer to the festival in 2002 and won a gold medal for its Rye Pale Ale. That helped co-founders John Cochran and Brian Buckowski gain investors for its brewing facility, which opened in 2007 and is about undergo a second major expansion. "It was a jump-starter for our company," Watts says.

Fresh hops from Yakima, Wash., are used in Mad Fox Brewing Co.'s Two ! Hemispher! e IPA.(Photo: H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

Another recent trend involves hoppy but lower-alcohol "session" beers such as Mad Fox's Ambassador IPA, a joint effort with beer-centric Washington restaurant Smoke and Barrel, which boasts a relatively low 4.3% alcohol content, and Terrapin's Recreation Ale, which is available in cans (4.7%).

Mega-brewers are bringing to market their own craft-style beers, but it will be tough for them to be as nimble as their craft counterparts. "Many will argue that the small craft brewers are artists," Herz says. "They can experiment, and at the same time the American adult palate has advanced enough to want to experiment with them."

That creativity is what has attracted many to craft brewing. A tech entrepreneur, Mad Fox co-founder Rick Garvin says his daily work, which these days involves a digital copyright database for the music industry, requires a creative outlet. "Some people garden; some people woodwork. I made beer," says Garvin, who was a home brewer before teaming up with Madden to open Mad Fox. "If you are only dealing with intangibles all day long, you end up in a parody of Office Space."

Market Wrap For Friday, October 11: Markets Rebound Near Pre-Shutdown Levels

The market continued upward to end the week on increased likelihood for a debt deal. Major indexes (except the Dow) are approaching pre-debt ceiling sell off levels.

The other big news of the day is JPMorgan's quarterly loss as it faces legal battles. The comparative EPS is $1.42, 16 percent higher than analysts expectations.

Major Averages

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 111.04 points, or 0.73 percent, to 15,237.11.

The S&P 500 added 10.64 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,703.2.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 31.12 points, or 0.83 percent, to 3,791.87.

The Russell 2000 jumped 13.45 points or 1.26 percent to 1,082.95.

Consumer Confidence

University of Michigan Consumer Confidence for October was slightly below analyst estimates at 75.2. The government shut down, which leaves 800,000 people without pay has pushed this number down from 77.5 for the previous month.

Stock Movers

Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) shot up 9.81 percent to $21.61 after the company announced the termination of its public offerings of common shares and convertible notes.

Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ: SAVE) gained 14.83 percent to $39.11 after the company reported higher traffic for the month of September.

The Gap (NYSE: GPS) were down 6.71 percent to $36.83 after the company reported a three drop in its same-store sales in September.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) shares tumbled 8.63 percent to $16.84 after the company reported a weaker-than-expected FQ4 net profit.

Commodities

Crude oil fell Friday, taking WTI near the $100 level. Near the end of equities trading, WTI was down 1.1 percent to $101.88 with Brent down 0.47 percent to $111.27. Natural gas moved up $0.06 on the day to $3.78..

Precious metals also slid during the session. At last check, COMEX gold futures were down 2.27 percent to $1,267.50, below the $1,300 level. Silver was down 2.84 percent to $21.28.

Global Markets

Both Asian and European markets were higher for the day. China's Shanghai index rose 1.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.16 percent. Japan also moved up 1.48 percent. These moves can be correlated with a fall in likelihood for United States government default.

The index that tracks eurozone blue chips rose 0.16 percent, London's FTSE added 0.88 percent, and France's CAC moved up just 0.04 percent.

Currencies
The U.S. dollar fell Friday, despite market optimism. The PowerShares ETF (NYSE: UUP) that tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies was down 0.21 percent to 21.66.

The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last up 0.21 percent to $1.3549. The other big mover for the day was the USD/JPY couple, up 0.38 percent after falling in the morning.

Volatility and Volume

Volatility continued falling Friday, with the CBOE's VIX down 2.85 percent to 16.01.

Volume was slightly down to end the week. Only 99 million shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: SPY) traded hands, compared to the ten day average of 140 million.

Posted-In: Earnings News Emerging Markets Eurozone Futures Commodities Forex Global Economics After-Hours Center Markets Best of Benzinga

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Around the Web, We're Loving... Learn to Use Trading Platforms Like Hedge Fund Traders do Rumsfeld: Denial of Benefits to Fallen Soldiers' Families 'Inexcusable' Come See How the Pro's Trade in this Exclusive Webinar Facebook, Baidu Lead Big Caps Beating Shutdown What Should You Know About AMZN? Most Popular Short Sellers Pile On Facebook and Google (FB, GOOG, ZNGA) CORRECTION: Micron Falls After Confusion on Better-Than-Expected Q4 Results (MU) Jim Chanos Talks Long, Short And Ugly Trades Jefferies Reiterates Buy on Amarin Corporation on Continued Positive Outlook iPhone 5C Might Be 50% Less Popular Than Apple Anticipated A Sell Signal Worth Paying Attention To Related Articles (GPS + MU) Market Wrap For Friday, October 11: Markets Rebound Near Pre-Shutdown Levels Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Green as Spirit Airlines Soars Mid-Day Market Update: Micron Shares Tumble On Downbeat Profit; SolarCity Spikes Higher UPDATE: Wells Fargo Downgrades Micron Technology on Valuation Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Rise; JPMorgan Posts Upbeat Core Earnings PreMarket Info Recap for October 11, 2013: No Pullback Evident View the discussion thread. Partner Network #marketfy-ae-block { display: none; border: 2px solid #0a3f75; overflow: hidden; width: 300px; height: 125px; text-align: center; background-color: #45719E; position: relative; z-index: 1; } #marketfy-ae-block a { display: block; width: 300px; height: 125px; position: relative; z-index: 2; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text { color: #f9fc99; padding: 0px 0 0 0; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text-start { font-size: 12px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown { padding: 5px 0 5px 0; font-size: 26px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup { padding: 5px 47px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup:hover { background-color: #457a1a; } #marketfy-ae-block #marketfy-ae-block-logo { display: block; padding: 3px 0 0 0; margin: 0; } #marketfy-ae-block-logo { text-indent: -9999px; } #marketfy-ae-block-free { display: block; position: absolute; top: 7px; right: -23px; width: 80px; height: 16px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; opacity: 1; -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg); -moz-transform: rotate(45deg); -ms-transform: rotate(45deg); transform: rotate(45deg); font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #333333; background-color: yellow; z-index: 500; text-shadow: 1px 1px #999999; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow { position: relative; width: 60px; height: 60px; z-index: 10; margin: -80px 0 13px -21px; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow img { height: 60px; width: auto; } Marketfy's International
Traders & Investors Summit Register for this FREE Event! Hosted by Marketfy

Apple Stock Declares Its Independence

Just in case you didn't have enough reasons to consider Apple (AAPL) for your portfolio, here's another fascinating tidbit to mull over: Apple stock has declared its independence from the market.

That's right.

AAPL and the S&P 500 Index have experienced a falling out of sorts. Whereas the two chums used to pal around together, traveling northbound and southbound with synchronicity, they now frequently move in completely opposite directions. This curious change in behavior really started in late-2012 when Apple stock began its distressing descent from $705.

Perhaps the easiest way to assess the changing relationship between AAPL and the S&P is using a correlation study. For those otherwise unfamiliar with this powerful indicator, a brief review is in order:

Why Correlations Matter

Measuring relationships plays a key role any time investors want to better understand how different asset classes are linked. It also aids in structuring a diversified portfolio because you need to know which securities move together and which move in opposite directions.

The correlation study measures the degree to which two assets are linked by oscillating in a range between +1 and -1. A score of +1 suggests both assets are perfectly positively correlated, which means they always move in the same direction. In contrast, a score of -1 suggests both assets have a perfect negative correlation, which means when one rises, the other falls, and vice versa.

Finally, a rating of zero suggests both assets have no correlation, meaning the behavior of one has no bearing whatsoever on the other.

Apple Stock and the S&P 500

Click to Enlarge As shown in the accompanying five-year daily chart, AAPL’s correlation began a metamorphosis in late 2012. During the "old normal," Apple stock boasted a strong positive correlation with the S&P 500, rarely venturing into negative territory.

Now, however, it has entered an entirely different phase — the "new normal" — where AAPL’s correlation is all over the map, hovering near zero and below more than above.

Far from being a good proxy for the market, AAPL has become a rebel stock hell-bent on marching to the beat of a different drummer.

Bottom Line

How long it lasts is anyone's guess, but while it persists in its independent way, investors in search of true diversification ought to consider adding Apple stock to their portfolios.

As of this writing, Tyler Craig was long AAPL.

All Novice Investors Should Consider This

Sometimes, don't you just wish governments would quit meddling with everything? Alan Oscroft of The Motley Fool UK sure does, especially in regards to a stock he feels is perfect for investors just starting out.

If you're starting out, you should consider SSE PLC.

It seems like fate.

My recent enthusiasm for Centrica as a good investment for novices had barely been published, before Labor leader Ed Miliband started rattling his sabre at the nasty greedy energy companies.

It's the companies that are responsible for energy being expensive these days, you see, and it's nothing to do with actual out-of-the-ground prices soaring or demand being high. Dear Ed, bless his socialist heart, is planning to do what no leader has successfully done to date—he wants to buck the market.

Now, my bull case for electricity supplier SSE (LSS:SSE) is, not surprisingly, very similar to that for Centrica. But please don't walk away at that, because I first want to address one specific thought...

Ed Miliband doesn't matter

Politicians always like to rouse a good rabble, especially as elections become closer—and especially when, as is the case now, the unpopularity of the incumbent is practically handing it to the opposition on a plate. Whether the promises of politicians actually bear fruit is another matter, and I'm not going to even address the question of whether it's all just hot air.

You see, the plan is only to freeze prices for 20 months, if Labor should come to power in 2015—he couldn't even stretch it to two whole years!

Sure, that won't be good for the energy companies or for those invested in them, and we've already been warned that capping prices will lead to less cash available for the infrastructure investment that is still much needed.

A price freeze won't matter

But the question is whether any government has the nerve to wage all-out war on the energy companies. And they don't, not a single one of them, because in the end they'd lose—energy is expensive, demand is high, and shortages would cripple the country. That's just the way the market works, and I really don't see any UK government these days actually being stupid enough to think they can buck it by dictating prices and still getting all the energy supplies they need.

So no, even if Ed does cap prices, it'll be a man of the people SOP and won't be for long enough to do any real damage. And I know that, because...

Governments don't matter

What's your investment horizon? If you're invested in shares at all, I'd say it needs to be at least a decade, better two. And if you're just starting out and have your entire investment career ahead of you, you could easily be looking at 40 years or more. In that timescale, this government won't matter, the next one won't matter, and the one after that...you get the picture.

A price freeze for a couple of years at most? Well, if Ed really wants his little crowd-pleaser, let him have it and look beyond it.

What about the company?

I almost forgot about SSE itself there!

It's got a captive market, regulated and predictable revenues, predictable costs, no need for massive dividend cover...and with the share price down a little to 1,472p at the moment, SSE forecast dividend would yield 6%! Ideal stuff for a novice investor I feel.

So don't panic, just keep on investing in those safe long-term shares, and take no notice of politicians and their short-term meddling.

Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

Read more from The Motley Fool UK here...

IPO demand jumps as three more hit the market

The Empire State Building may not be the world's tallest anymore, but it still helped set a new record Wednesday.

Following the initial public offerings of three companies, including the operator of the Empire State Building, the IPO market has officially shaken off the malaise of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.

Shares of retailer Burlington Stores, real estate firm ReMax and Empire State Realty Trust saw their initial public offerings start trading Wednesday, and they gained 47%, 23% and 1%, respectively, on their first days.

But more important, with the IPOs of these three companies, there have been 155 companies selling shares to the public for the first time this year. That's a noteworthy accomplishment in that it's the first sign of the moribund IPO market coming back to life since the financial crisis all but killed interest in deals.

And that's not even including the much-anticipated IPO of online message service Twitter, expected to file its prospectus with the public in weeks, if not days.

TWITTER IPO: Social media giant poised to make IPO filing public

At 155, the number of IPOs this year is up 52% from the same point last year, says Renaissance Capital.

There haven't been this many companies going public in a year since 2007, when there were 213, just before the financial crisis decimated the plans of companies to sell stock to the public.

The amount of money raised by companies this year so far, $33.3 billion, is down 6.2% from this point last year, Renaissance says. But that's actually a healthy sign, as the IPO market is reopening to smaller companies looking to grow and expand, the lifeblood of a vibrant IPO market. For years, investors shied away from smaller companies to focus on large, old and more established companies.

Clients ready to listen to advisers on alternative investments

Advisers who may still fear a client's look of horror for recommending alternative investments should take note of these survey results — investors are ready to listen.

About 72% of investors would consider alternative investments if their adviser recommended them — up from 35% a year ago and a giant leap from 19% in 2011, a Natixis Global Asset Management SA survey found. About 43% said they already are willing to invest in alternatives.

Education will be key, as 85% of investors said they would invest in alternatives if they understood them better, according to the survey, which sampled investors with at least $200,000 in assets. The survey, released Tuesday, included 750 U.S. investors as part of a global survey of 5,650 investors from 14 countries.

“Advisers sometimes think they can't bring alternatives to the discussion,” said Matthew Coldren, executive vice president of Natixis. “But there's increasingly an openness from investors to learning more about alternative strategies.”

Most investors, about 61%, said they don't believe that traditional stock-and-bond portfolios are the best way to manage investments and go after returns, according to the survey.

In fact, about 28% of investors said they plan to increase their investments in real estate over the next 12 months, 28% in gold and other precious metals, 22% in alternative mutual funds and 20% in private equity, the survey found. About 25% plan to increase their U.S. stock allocation.

The largest planned shift in allocations, however, was from about 36% of investors who plan to increase the amount of their portfolios that are in cash over the next year.

Almost all investors, 86%, pay attention to the overall risk in their portfolios, and 82% try to measure their investments' risk, the survey found.

“It's encouraging to see a strong focus on risk,” said John Hailer, chief executive of Natixis in the Americas and Asia. “We know from recent history that when investors are focused on growing assets without understanding the risks involved, it's a recipe for disaster.”

The survey also found that about half of these investors don't have a financial plan to help them achieve their goals — a figure that has been steady during the past four years of the Natixis survey, Mr. Coldren said. And about 45% of investors said they don't have clear financial goals.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) at the Citi Global Technology Conference: Key Takeaways

On Wednesday morning, Lisa Su, the Senior Vice President and Head of the Global Business Unit for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NYSE: AMD), presented at the Citi Global Technology Conference (you can listen to the audio by clicking here or read transcript on Seeking Alpha here). I should mention that Advanced Micro Devices is in our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio and we are down around 14% – namely because the company had the misfortune of reporting earnings the same day some major tech names were disappointing investors. Nevertheless, here is a quick summary of the key takeaways for investors (rather than for any techies) from the Citi Global Technology Conference:

Current Visibility Versus a Quarter Ago Versus a Year Ago. When asked about visibility, Lisa commented that in 2012, 95% of Advanced Micro Devices' exposure was to the PC market; but by the end of this year, the company intends to have at least 20% of the business outside of the traditional PC market. Moving forward for the next three years, the company has a target of 40% to 50% of its business coming from outside the traditional PC space. Lisa also added that in the newer business, particularly the semi-custom and game console business, the company has fairly good visibility. Productivity Gains Versus a Quarter Ago Versus a Year Ago. Lisa noted how Advanced Micro Devices has transitioned from being a pure X86 Company to be really more of a design company. More importantly and in the areas of core technology IT strengths where AMD spends a lot of engineering and R&D dollars, the company is able to reuse those components into a bunch of markets to get a bunch of products out. About the "Ambidextrous" Strategy. Lisa pointed out that the idea of one size fits all in terms of a product is changing along with the greater need to customize for various vertical markets. So the company's ambidextrous strategy is: "…the idea of really using both ARM and X86 architectures as well as combining graphics, third party IP together so that we can optimize for each market segment." The PC Market. According to Lisa, Advanced Micro Devices views that it has share opportunity growth in the PC market given the size of its share plus there are opportunities in commercial. She did add that the market today has a lot more focus on the entry price points. Margins on the Console Business. When asked about margins for the console business, Lisa noted that it's fair to say that the semi-custom business model is different from our traditional PC model with the gross margins being below corporate average, but the operating margins are fairly good. She then added: "…it's really a very, very nice model because we designed these with our customers, our customers fund a large portion of the engineering expense and so the gross margin fall through to operating margins as a percentage is quite high." Operating Expenses. Lisa noted that Advanced Micro Devices' model and restructuring has really seen operating expenses go down over the last three or four quarters. With most of the restructuring now behind the company and revenue accelerating, operating expenses will stay constant and roughly flat. However, Lisa did mention that Advanced Micro Devices is doing a shift in sales and marketing as some of the new channels require a more dedicated sales force e.g. embedded or professional graphics.

Best High Tech Stocks To Own For 2014

In other words, Advanced Micro Devices is continuing to make progress in its transition away from or rather dependence on the PC market.

SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) has an open position in AMD. To find out what other open positions SCN EO currently has, and to learn why so many traders and investors are relying on this premium subscription service, click here to find out more.

How to Get a Saver to Spend

We all have our money personalities. For example, from the time my sister and I were first able to babysit, she would take her pay and go shopping, and I would put mine in the bank. It's not that I was making some great sacrifice. It's just that I couldn't think of anything I wanted more than the sense of security that came with knowing I had cash saved for dealing with any possible situation. As I got older, my idea of luxury was having the wherewithal to make work optional. My Practical Investing portfolio is the result of that thrift.

See Also: 30 Smart Ways to Spend $1,000

Savers and spenders face different financial-planning challenges. Spenders have to rein in the urge to splurge in order to save for future goals. We savers, by contrast, have to be persuaded that it's okay to spend at some point. One planner laughingly told me that he had to nag a retired client who was worth millions to buy a new car and take vacations because the man didn't want to spend more than he collected from his pension and Social Security. "Can you believe it?" the planner asked. Actually, I could.

Spending more than I earn pushes me out of my comfort zone. Yet possessing money means not only figuring out how to invest it but also considering how to use it to improve our lives and those of the people around us.

What about leaving your children an inheritance? I want to help my kids long before I die. I think it would be a horribly wasted opportunity if I didn't help them buy a house or take wonderful vacations (with me, I hope) when they're young and struggling, only to leave them a wad of cash when they're older and well established.

But how do you get a saver to spend? For me, it's a two-step process. First, I make sure that I have enough to handle every contingency I can imagine, from the short-term demands of paying for a wedding or a new car to the possibility of a serious illness. And because those contingencies include retirement, I usually start by using a Web-based retirement calculator.

This calculator will tell you how much you need to save each month to meet your retirement goal. Is it less than you're currently saving? If so, the difference between what you're saving and what you need to save is the amount you can safely spend each month from now until retirement without jeopardizing your future.

Of course, the further you are from retirement, the more speculative the calculation, so be conservative. And, naturally, do annual check-ups to make sure you're not going overboard on your spending. But let's say you could spend $1,000 or $20,000 a year more than you are now. What could you do with that money?

Spread the Wealth

10 Best Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Everyone will answer that question differently. A few years ago, my parents took our whole family—11 of us, in all—to Europe for their 50th anniversary. It's a trip we'll never forget. A friend's mom started sending her grandchildren, who are in college and living on tight budgets, a few hundred dollars now and then. She was rewarded with long, cheerful phone calls, during which the grandkids gushed about what they did with the unexpected cash.

Those who have bigger stockpiles might decide to help their kids, grandkids, nieces or nephews buy homes, or help them pay college bills or student loans. Or perhaps you'll want to increase your contributions to charity. How you use your extra money will likely be a function of how much you've got and the rich and complex dynamics of your life.

The important thing to remember is that money is a tool. Don't forget to use it.

Kathy Kristof is the author of the book Investing 101.