If you want a leading indicator of the effects interest rate risk, look no further than PIMCO. The bond fund behemoth has thoroughly enjoyed the past two decades of low rates; enough to amass $1.8 trillion in AUM as of March 31.
But it has been a rough few months for the firm since, and Ben Bernanke's awkward announcement of the end to the Treasury's bond buying program hasn't helped. Founder Bill Gross saw almost $10 billion flee the firm’s largest fund, PIMCO Total Return (PTRAX), in the month of June alone, the most on record.
The New York Times Dealbook blog reports three-quarters of the company’s exchange-traded funds have experienced outflows during June, with two of them losing nearly 40% of their holdings. At the same time, nearly 70% of PIMCO’s mutual funds and ETFs have been underperforming their benchmarks.
Adding insult to injury, Gross’ heavy bet on Treasury inflation-protected securities was negatively affected as inflation fears tempered, something smaller rival Jeff Gundlach was able to avoid.
10 Best Mid Cap Stocks To Watch Right Now: POSCO(PKX)
POSCO engages in the manufacture and sale of steel products in South Korea and internationally. The company offers hot rolled steel for general structures, gas cylinders, hull structures, automobile structural uses, and machine structures; atmospheric corrosion resistant steel; steel for casting and tubing of oilwell pipes; steel for line pipes; and general machine structural steel, alloy steel, and steel for tools and machine parts, as well as steel for ships. It also provides cold rolled, galvanized, electrical, and stainless steel products, as well as titanium products. In addition, it involves in various activities, including engineering and construction, steel work maintenance and machinery installation, computer hardware and software distribution, economic research and consulting, rare and special metals manufacturing, rental houses construction and management, energy and resource development, architecture and consulting, electronic commerce, refractories manufacturi ng and sales, transporting and warehousing, and electricity generation. Further, the company engages in components manufacturing and sales, ferromanganese manufacturing, financial investment, LED lightning, coal trading, mine development, finance, iron ore mining and trading, harbor loading and unloading, spinning and weaving, and paper and cement manufacturing businesses; operates athletic facilities and a distribution center; and invests in venture companies and biotech ventures. POSCO was founded in 1968 and is based in Seoul, South Korea.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake Maxwell Watts]
Markets in Korea were higher for the seventh straight session, after a break for Christmas. The Kospi (KR:SEU) �was up 0.1%, near its highest levels in over three weeks. Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics Co. (KR:005930) � (SSNLF) �lost 0.1%, while steel producer Posco (KR:005490) � (PKX) �and auto manufacturer Kia Motors Co. (KR:000270) � (KIMTF) �gained 1.1% and lost 0.2%, respectively.
- [By Jeff Reeves]
Other options include Korean steel giant Posco (PKX), though admittedly this is much more of a global player and subject to commodity trends instead of South Korean growth.
Top Performing Companies To Watch In Right Now: Inergy L.P. (NRGY)
Inergy, L.P. engages in the storage and transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company is also involved in the fractionation and distribution of NGL; and processing of natural gas and distribution of propane, marketing, and price risk management services to users, retailers, and resellers. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of salt products. The company owns and operates four natural gas storage facilities that include Stagecoach, Thomas Corners, Steuben, and Seneca Lake; natural gas transportation assets in New York and Pennsylvania; NGL storage facility in New York; and solution-mining and salt production company in New York. Its customers primarily include natural gas local distribution companies, electric generation companies, natural gas producers, other natural gas pipelines, and natural gas marketing companies. Inergy, L.P. founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Consolidation has been the name of the game for growth in the propane industry lately, with some deals having made big changes to the industry over the past year. Last spring, Inergy (NYSE: NRGY ) decided to sell off its retail propane business to Suburban Propane (NYSE: SPH ) , vastly increasing Suburban's size while giving Inergy a big stake in its former rival. Meanwhile, Ferrellgas has continued its string of more modest acquisitions, with the company's buyout of privately held Western Petroleum marking the fifth purchase Ferrellgas has made since last August.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Inergy (NYSE: NRGY )
With operations that include a natural gas storage business as well as natural gas liquids assets, Inergy is another MLP to consider if you are on the lookout for a dividend-paying stock. There are a lot of moving parts with this company, which makes it an interesting stock to watch. The company, along with its affiliate Inergy Midstream (NYSE: NRGM ) , is in the process of merging with Crestwood Midstream Partners (NYSE: CMLP ) to create a company boasting increased size, scale, and diversity, as you can see below. Once the transformational transaction is complete, the company can pursue its opportunity-rich organic growth projects which should drive both returns and income growth for investors. - [By Robert Rapier]
Early returns suggest this proposition is generating plenty of enthusiasm. When�NRG Energy�(NYSE: NRGY) became the first company to spin off a YieldCo subsidiary holding solar generating assets last July, the offering price for�NRG Yield�(NYSE: NYLD) provided for a 5.5 percent yield at the promised dividend rate. The IPO was more than 10 times oversubscribed — an indication of pent up investor demand for such offerings. Less than 11 months later, NYLD’s share price has more than doubled, so even though it has already raised its dividend the yield is down to 2.7 percent.
Top Performing Companies To Watch In Right Now: KAR Auction Services Inc (KAR)
KAR Auction Services, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides vehicle auction services in North America. It operates in three segments: ADESA Auctions, IAA, and AFC. The ADESA Auctions segment offers whole car auctions and related services to the vehicle remarketing industry through online auctions and auction facilities. This segment also provides value-added services, such as auction related, transportation, reconditioning, inspection, title and repossession administration and remarketing, and analytical services. The ADESA Auctions segment sells its products and services through commercial fleet operators, financial institutions, rental car companies, new and used vehicle dealers, and vehicle manufacturers and their captive finance companies to franchise and independent used vehicle dealers. The IAA segment offers salvage vehicle auctions and related services that facilitate the remarketing of damaged or low value vehicles designated as total losses by insurance companies and charity donation vehicles, as well as recovered stolen vehicles. This segment also provides inbound transportation, titling, salvage recovery, and claims settlement administrative services. The AFC segment offers floorplan financing, a short-term inventory-secured financing, to independent used vehicle dealers. As of December 31, 2012, the company had a network of 67 whole car auction and 163 salvage auction locations, as well as serviced auctions through 104 locations. The company was formerly known as KAR Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to KAR Auction Services, Inc. in November 2009. KAR Auction Services, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon] ore explicit in detailing the competitive position of Copart and Insurance Auto Auctions. It even gave market share data.
This is common. Often one company will choose not to give names or put percentages on certain competitive facts. The other company will do so. And even when that is not the case, the two companies will often make statements that ��when taking together ��can give you rough indications of certain realities that neither company entirely intended to provide.
The same is true for certain suppliers and customers. Although this is complicated by size. Very large customers of small companies are not good sources of information. But smaller companies often provide better insights into the larger suppliers, customers, etc., they deal with. That's because ��due to their small size ��more information is material and is explained in detail.
I have found situations where one company simply says who the customer is that they are supplying. While the other company explains what product that supply goes into, the purchase amount, whether it is an exclusive arrangement, etc.
So it is always important to ��at a minimum ��read the 10-Ks, 14As, and (where available) S-1s of every public company in the industry. This will give you a lot of insight into the competitive situation. Sometimes it is helpful to also look at customers and suppliers. However, this is not true of very large customers and suppliers because they will not discuss the specific area you are interested in.
For example, Honeywell is a large customer of George Risk. It would do me no good to study Honeywell to learn about George Risk. Honeywell is a huge company. What they buy from George Risk is irrelevant to their shareholders. So they do not discuss it.
An exception to this is where the product sold is going into a huge "generational" type project. Examples include defense, aerospace, video game consoles, operating systems, etc. This can be very hel
- [By Marc Bastow]
Vehicle auction services company KAR (KAR) raised its quarterly dividend 31% to 25 cents per share, payable on Jan. 3 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 20.
KAR Dividend Yield: 3.53%
Top Performing Companies To Watch In Right Now: LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO)
LaSalle Hotel Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the purchase, ownership, redevelopment, and leasing of primarily upscale and luxury full-service hotels in convention, resort, and urban business markets in the United States. It owns 34 hotels, totaling approximately 9,200 guest rooms in 15 markets in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The company qualifies as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal corporate income tax to the extent that it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marshall Hargrave]
The other key benefit for Strategic is that it enjoys industry-leading earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) per available room. For 2012, Strategic generated $81 per room of EBITDA. Compare this to top comps LaSalle Hotel (NYSE: LHO) at $74 per room and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) at $71. The reason for this is that Strategic is much less reliant than its peers on rooms, with much greater exposure to food and beverages. Strategic earns 53% of its revenue from rooms, while its peers get around 66% of revenues from rooms.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Hotel, convention and resort real estate investment trust LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) raised its quarterly dividend 34% to 37.5 cents per share payable July 15 to shareholders of record June 30.
LHO Dividend Yield: 4.66% - [By John Seward]
Among the changes announced Tuesday, Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE AMG) will replace Forest Laboratories Inc. (NYSE: FRX) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Monday, June 30. LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) will replace Affiliated Managers in the S&P MidCap 400 and Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGNT) will replace LaSalle in the S&P SmallCap 600.
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