Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.28% from 4.23% last week. The average on the 15-year fixed loan edged up to 3.33% from 3.31%.
Mortgage rates began falling last month after the Federal Reserve held off slowing its $85-billion-a-month in bond purchases. The bond buys are intended to keep longer-term interest rates low, including mortgage rates. And rates stayed relatively low during the 16-day partial government shutdown.
Rates are likely to fall even lower now that Congress reached a deal to reopen the government and allow the Treasury to borrow normally until early February.
5 Best Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2015: Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.(TR)
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company sells its products under the TOOTSIE ROLL, TOOTSIE ROLL POPS, CHILD?S PLAY, CARAMEL APPLE POPS, CHARMS, BLOW-POP, BLUE RAZZ, ZIP-A-DEE POPS, CELLA?S, MASON DOTS, MASON CROWS, JUNIOR MINT, CHARLESTON CHEW, SUGAR DADDY, SUGAR BABIES, ANDES, FLUFFY STUFF, DUBBLE BUBBLE, RAZZLES, CRY BABY, and NIK-L-NIP. It distributes its products through candy and grocery brokers to the wholesale distributors of candy and groceries, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, and the U. S. military and fund-raising charitable organizations. The company was founded in 1896 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Leave the wrapper on
The returns on confectioner Tootsie Roll Industries (NYSE: TR ) have certainly been sweet for investors over the past year. You have to go back to the summer of 2010 to find sugar prices that were as low as they are now,�which has played a good part in helping Tootsie Roll keep that aspect of its costs down. But taking a bigger view of what's going on with Tootsie Roll and comparing that to its current valuation creates a sour taste in my mouth. - [By Rich Smith]
At the same time, tiny Tootsie Roll (NYSE: TR ) may see its sales grow as little as 13% through 2016. Could it be that in the candy industry, bigger is better? Does Hershey lack the scale to compete effectively against mammoth Mondelez?
Top Net Payout Yield Companies For 2014: Service Corporation International(SCI)
Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Its funeral service and cemetery operations consist of funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and related businesses. The company provides various professional services relating to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral facilities and motor vehicles, and preparation and embalming services. It also sells funeral related merchandise, including caskets, burial vaults, cremation receptacles, cremation memorial products, flowers, and other ancillary products and services at funeral service locations. The company?s cemeteries provide cemetery property interment rights, including mausoleum spaces, lots, and lawn crypts; and sell cemetery related merchandise and services comprising stone and bronze memorials, markers, merchandise installations, and burial openings and closings. It also sells preneed funeral and cemetery products and services whereby a customer contractually agrees to the terms of certain products and services to be delivered and performed in the future. As of December 31, 2009, Service Corporation operated 1,254 funeral service locations and 372 cemeteries, including 208 combination locations, covering 43 states in the United States, 8 Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as 12 funeral homes in Germany. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chris Katje]
Service Corporation (SCI), the largest funeral home operator in the United States, made news last week with its large acquisition of Stewart Enterprises (STEI). The acquisition was well received by investors, as shares rose 8% on the day of the announcement. Together, the two companies will see huge cost savings advantages and a backlog that is currently undervalued.
Top Net Payout Yield Companies For 2014: Oasis Petroleum Inc.(OAS)
Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, engages in the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas resources in the Montana and North Dakota regions of the Williston Basin. The company?s primary project areas include West Williston, East Nesson, and Sanish. As of December 31, 2011, it had approximately 78.7 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
While Continental Resources (CLR) continues to be the big boy on the Bakken block, midcap Oasis Petroleum (OAS) is quietly making a name for itself in the region.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Not all stocks are created equal, however, and the analysts expect some stocks to handily outperform others, and their top picks “are poised to deliver long-term, capital-efficient growth…while trading at attractive valuations that currently provide 20%+ upside to our price targets.” Their winners?�Oasis Petroleum (OAS),�Approach Resources (AREX),�Bonanza Creek Energy�(BCEI) and Gulfport Energy�(GPOR), all of which are rated Buy with Oasis also added to Goldman’s conviction list. Investors, however, should avoid �WPX Energy�(WPX), which the analysts rate a Sell. They explain why:
- [By Value Digger]
C) Oasis Petroleum (OAS) is another one-basin energy play that is solely dependent on the Williston basin. Although the company's D/CF ratio (annualized) is 2.73x, Oasis trades at $152,400/boepd and $29.31/boe of proved reserves, based on its current EV of $4.2 billion and production of 27,556 boepd (89% oil).
- [By Matt DiLallo]
That's exactly what Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS ) decided to do when it formed Oasis Well Services. The company made an initial investment of $24 million in equipment, which has been money well spent. The business is exceeding expectations both in terms of performance and savings since completing its first frac job last March. In the past year the business saved the company $17.5 million in capital, and it expects to save about $500,000 per gross well going forward. It also expects to generate about $200,000 per gross well of incremental cash flow from its non-operated partners going forward. This has enabled the company to already recoup its initial investment in the business.
Top Net Payout Yield Companies For 2014: Pruksa Real Estate PCL (PS)
Pruksa Real Estate PCL is a Thailand-based company engaged in the development of commercial buildings and residential housing. It serves both local and overseas markets. The Company offers single-detached houses, townhouses and condominiums under the names of Baan Pruksa, Pruksa Ville, The Connect, The Plant Citi, Passorn, Pruksa Village, The Seed, IVY, The Plant City, Urbano, Tree condo, ChapterOne and Be You, among others. The Company develops residential housing projects mainly in Bangkok and the surrounding areas. It also has projects in Nakhorn Pathom, Chonburi and Phuket, as well as overseas projects in India, Vietnam, and Maldives. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 141 projects and had five direct subsidiaries, including Kaysorn Construction Company Limited, Putthachart Estate Company Limited, Phanalee Estate Company Limited, Pruksa Overseas Company Limited and Pruksa International Company Limited. Advisors' Opinion:- [By amigobulls@twitter]
Twitter currently trades at a Last Twelve Months (LTM) Price to Sales (PS) ratio of 27, which translates to astronomical valuations. Consider a comparison with Facebook which generates about 10 times the revenue and still grows at a healthy 60 odd percent. Facebook trades at an LTM PS multiple of 19. Here one should note that Facebook also delivered a net profit margin of 27% in Q2 vs Twitter's loss margin of 46% and has nearly 5 times Twitter's active users.
Top Net Payout Yield Companies For 2014: First Trust Portfolios LP (QQEW)
First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index (the Index). The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its assets in common stocks that comprise the Index. The Index is the equal-weighted version of the NASDAQ-100 Index, which includes 100 of the largest non-financial securities listed on NASDAQ based on market capitalization. The Index contains the same securities as the NASDAQ-100 Index but each of the securities is initially set at a weight of 1% of the Index and is rebalanced quarterly. The Fund�� investment advisor is First Trust Advisors L.P. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Perhaps the best reason to pass up this otherwise solid ETF is its market-cap-based weighting, which gives much more influence to some companies than others. If you're not a strong believer in Apple's future, for example, you may not want more than 13% of your money in this ETF tied up in it. If you agree that equal weighting makes more sense in indexes, consider the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted ETF (NASDAQ: QQEW ) , an ETF with the same stock focus as the PowerShares ETF that's also compelling in terms of fees and performance. It charges a bit more in fees, but it will give all its holdings an equal shot at boosting the value of the index.
Top Net Payout Yield Companies For 2014: Stream Group Ltd (SGO)
Stream Group Limited, formerly LongReach Group Limited, is an Australia-based company operating in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The Company is engaged in the design, integration, installation and maintenance of integrated information and communications technology based products and services to the defense, public safety and security sectors, as well as for government, telecommunications and corporate customers, both locally and internationally. The Company together with its subsidiaries is also engaged in the provision of consulting services to certain key defense organizations. In January 2013, the Company sold its C4i business. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
Saint-Gobain (SGO) dropped 3.7 percent to 36.87 euros. Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock to underweight, similar to a sell recommendation, from equal weight, saying it doesn�� see a recovery yet in the European building industry and the contribution from emerging markets will slow.
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