4 Stocks Under $10 to Trade for Breakouts

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Big Trades to Take in December

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside today.

Orbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) is an online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to search for and book a range of travel products. This stock closed up 2.1% to $7 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $6.80-$7.11

52-Week Range: $2.26-$13.26

Thursday's Volume: 1.35 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.01 million

From a technical perspective, OWW spiked notably higher here with above-average volume. This stock has formed a major bottoming pattern over the last month, with buyers stepping in to support the stock at $6.68, $6.50 and $6.60. Shares of OWW have now started to uptrend off those support levels and flirt with a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if OWW manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7 to $7.10 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in OWW as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $6.50 or at $6.40 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.01 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then OWW will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels a $7.55 to its 200-day at $8.25. Any high-volume move above $8.25 will then give OWW a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from November that started at $9.59.

China BAK Battery

China BAK Battery (CBAK) is a manufacturer of rechargeable lithium-based battery cells. This stock closed up 8.9% to $2.19 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $2.01-$2.19

52-Week Range: $0.59-$3.45

Thursday's Volume: 209,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 154,248

From a technical perspective, CBAK ripped sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $2 with above-average volume. This stock has formed a triple bottom chart pattern over the last month and change, with shares finding buying interest at $1.95, $2 and $2. Shares of CBAK now look ready to trigger a near-term breakout trade as the stock bounces off those support levels. That trade will hit if CBAK manages to take out Thursday's high of $2.19 to its 50-day moving average of $2.24 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CBAK as long as it's trending above $2 or above $1.95 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 154,248 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CBAK will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.50 to $2.80. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give CBAK a chance to tag $3 or even its 52-week high at $3.45.

MEI Pharma

MEI Pharma (MEIP) is a development-stage oncology company engaged in the clinical development of novel small molecules for the treatment of cancer. This stock closed up 3.7% to $8.27 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $8.06-$8.52

52-Week Range: $4.37-$13.20

Thursday's Volume: 119,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 153,008

From a technical perspective, MEIP spiked higher here back above its 200-day moving average of $8.19 with lighter-than-average volume. This move is starting to push shares of MEIP within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if MEIP manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $8.55 to its 50-day moving average of $8.75 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MEIP as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $7.72 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 153,008 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MEIP will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to $10.95. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give MEIP a chance to trend north of $11.

xG Technology

xG Technology (XGTI) develops intellectual property designed to enhance wired and wireless communications. This stock closed up 4.2% to $1.70 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $1.62-$1.72

52-Week Range: $0.20-$9.50

Thursday's Volume: 132,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 81,305

From a technical perspective, XGTI spiked sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $1.57 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of XGTI within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if XGTI manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.72 to $1.73 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in XGTI as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $1.57 or at $1.53 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 81,305 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then XGTI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $2.50 to $2.75.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher today, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>3 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

>>5 Health Care Stocks Ready to Cut You a Dividend Check

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

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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.

Pew: more than one social media site often used…

Facebook and Twitter dominate among social media channels delivering news, but users are increasingly turning to multiple sources to check on the latest headlines, according to a study by the Pew Research Center released Thursday.

In studying news consumption at 11 of the most popular social media platforms, Pew researchers found that more than a quarter of U.S. adults -- 26% -- rely on both Facebook and Twitter to have news headlines delivered to their computer, tablet or phone, says the report, completed in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About 9% use at least three social media channels.

An earlier Pew study found that about half of Facebook and Twitter users read news stories on the popular channels. Even among those who get news on multiple social networking sites, Facebook is the most popular choice, the report said.

"More than half of adults who get news on Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and YouTube also get news on Facebook," it said. "Aside from that, the shared audience between these sites is relatively small."

Among other findings:

* About 16% of U.S. adults use Twitter. And about half of them - 8% of U.S. adults - have used the micro-blogging site for news.

* About 20% YouTube users watch its video for news even though the Google-owned channel is accessed by 51% of U.S. adults. "That amounts to 10% of the adult population, which puts it on par with Twitter," the report said.

* Reddit -- ready by only 3% of the U.S. population -- is a popular news source among its users. Nearly two-thirds of its users, 62%, browse it for news.

Pew conducted the survey from Aug. 21 to Sept. 2, 2013, interviewing nearly 5,200 respondents.

Nasdaq nears 4,000: Are tech stocks overvalued?

Investors are going crazy over tech stocks again, pushing the Nasdaq ever closer to 4000, but some wonder if the mania is showing signs of frothiness.

It's almost like 2000 all over again in some ways. Money-losing Internet companies are launching IPOs — this time it's online messaging company Twitter. Amazon.com's shares are soaring even as it posts a quarterly loss. Investors are clamoring to invest in search engines, driving shares of Google to record highs over $1,000 a share.

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But in perhaps the most dramatic sign of the comeback of technology stocks, the Nasdaq composite index has raced to levels not seen since Sept. 8, 2000, and is approaching 4000. Powered by gains in Microsoft and Amazon shares Friday, the Nasdaq added 14.40 points to 3943.36, and has soared 31% this year.

"The animal spirits are back. The pendulum has swung from fear to greed," says Robert Maltbie of Millennium Asset Management. "If you can grow, and Microsoft, Google and Amazon have shown they can, investors will find you and buy."

The move back toward 4000 has been a major trip down memory lane for investors. The last time the index was above 4000 was Sept. 7, 2000, two months before the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Back then, now fallen companies Enron and Lehman Bros. still existed, and shares of Internet darling Cisco Systems were nearly triple where they are now.

Investors watching tech stocks move up are noticing several key trends, including:

•Search for winners. Investors are trying to trying to locate the winners likely to capitalize on a dramatic shift to mobile devices and cloud computing, where profits could be enormous, says Colin Sebastian, analyst at Robert W. Baird. Microsoft, Amazon and Google are all well positioned to take advantage of this shift that will result in strong growth, he says. "These companies are creating! news businesses and industries," he says.

•Pockets of tech enthusiasm. Few areas of technology are posting the kind of effervescent behavior as social media stocks. The basket of social networking giants Facebook and LinkedIn, online game company Zynga and online review site Angie's List and Yelp have more than doubled, on average, this year. Shares of Yelp are up 257% along this year. "Is tech in a bubble?" Maltbie says. "Some areas are."

•A relative calm when looking at the entire industry. While there are certainly cases of tech stocks that are getting ahead of reality, that's not the case with tech overall, though. It's not like investors universally are bidding up shares of all techs, says Dan Veru of Palisade Capital Management. Qualcomm, a darling for years due to its business of designing chips for mobile devices, is up 10% this year, lagging the Standard & Poor's 500.

And while investors are more interested than they were in tech stocks a year ago, they're not paying "stratospheric valuations," says Doug Sandler of Riverfront Investment Group. Tech stocks are trading for 13.9 times their forecast earnings for the next four quarters, which is tied for the third-lowest valuation of the 10 sectors tracked by S&P Capital IQ. Consumer discretionary stocks are trading for a much richer 18.5 times earnings.

"You might see a bubble in different areas, like social media," Sandler says. "But we're definitely not seeing a tech bubble."

Marketing is key for a home-based business

In order to avoid putting my father in a nursing home, I took an early retirement and I left my job in banking to take care of him. To tell the truth, his nursing home care would have eaten up a large portion of my income. So it's less expensive to have him here in my home and to take care of him myself. However, I need to feel financially productive and of course I can use the money. I am very good at making decorative baskets and so far my family and friends have raved about them. What are some of the things that I can do to develop a good home-based business? Is a home-based business even a good idea or do I need to think of getting a storefront? Or did I wait too late to get started in a business? — H.B.

Often when I'm asked about the lateness in starting something I think of the artist Anna Mary Robertson Moses. Her more familiar name is "Grandma" Moses. She didn't start to paint seriously until she was in her late 70s. And Colonel Harland Sanders was 65 when he started his chicken franchise business. By the standards of these folks, we are never too late to get started in something.

As for developing a business and its location, keep in mind that what makes a business a real business are customers and clients. It doesn't matter if the business is home-based, bricks and mortar or Internet. The important thing is to get customers and keep them coming.

I often suggest to clients that for every hour of production, spend three hours marketing and promoting your business.

SMART SMALL BUSINESS: How to start a small business with smarts

VIDEO: What goes into picking a small business name?

A few weeks ago I went to a poetry reading at one of the most beautiful event facilities I'd seen in a long time. It was an old mansion that had been restored and turned into both a bed and breakfast and a coffee cafe on the first floor. The owner rents the first floor out to a performing artist.

While speaking with the owner I complimented him on having a beautiful pl! ace. He responded by telling me that he wasn't getting the business that he had hoped to get. As we continued to talk I learned that he was depending on word of mouth to keep his place booked.

I often say that "If I build it, they will come," was only a line in a movie and doesn't work well in real life. If you are going to be successful with your business don't let word of mouth be your only marketing system. Take time to plan out a sensible promotion and marketing plan that will keep clients coming.

Think about the kind of people who will buy your baskets. Then decide where these folks are. For example, maybe a corporation would buy them for employee or customer appreciation gifts. They might also work for baby showers, wedding showers, and birthday and holiday gifts. Use your imagination and come up with a number of possible places to promote your baskets.

Once you complete that list, make a separate list of how to reach each market. Perhaps you might want to develop a website or post flyers on community bulletin boards. Or have your friends host house parties to sell and take orders for baskets, similar to the Mary Kay model. You now have a road map to guide you toward a successful business.

Also, don't downplay your intuition. Listen to, trust and follow your intuition. One of my favorite authors, Florence Scovel Shinn, says, "Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply points the way." Many successful entrepreneurs have paved their path by using their intuition.

If you follow these couple of simple steps and maintain faith in yourself and your business you just might be surprised at how successful you can become no matter what age you are.

Gladys Edmunds, founder of Edmunds Travel Consultants in Pittsburgh, is an author and coach/consultant in business development. E-mail her at gladys@gladysedmunds.com.

This Fuel Cell Stock is Leading the Charge ... and Should Be (BLDP, FCEL, PLUG)

Had shares of its peers and competitors performed as well, it may not even be worth bringing up. But, Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares have done significantly better than FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:BLDP) since the end of March. And, PLUG has performed considerably better than FCEL and BLDP have since mid-August. This is more than "just a little volatility." This is a leader breaking away from the pack after a very long lull. Thing is, there's plenty more room for Plug Power to keep running.

First and foremost, all three of these stocks - along with most of the fuel cell industry's names - have performed much better over the past several months than they had during the prior several years. Plug Power Inc. shares have gained more than 400% since their February plunge, after losing (and this isn't a misprint) nearly 100% of their value following the 2004 peak. Ballard Power Systems Inc. shares have more than doubled since December of last year following an 86% decline from their 2008 high. FuelCell Energy Inc. shares gave up about 90% of their value between the late-2007 high of $13.14 and their late-2011 low of $0.80, but after drawing a line in the sand there (and testing it two more times in the meantime), have hammered out a 53% advance ... and that's factoring in 25% pullback since May's highs. And, BLDP, FCEL, and PLUG all three seem to have shrugged off their old downtrends and formed new bullish channels.

What's the deal? Given the participation rate, it looks as if the fuel cell industry is finally on the rebound, now that demand has actually caught up with investor expectations. It was bound to happen sometime. All that being said, Plug Power appears to be the top pick for newcomers.

Yes, from a technical perspective PLUG looks and feels overbought, and maybe it is... a little. But, it's a buy-on-the-dip scenario here. The stock has not only crossed above all of its key moving average lines, but all the moving averages have made bullish crosses of one another, and all of them are pointed higher too. In other words, the stock's got bullish momentum in multiple timeframes. That many investors (and kinds of investors) can't be wrong

It's the fundamental side of the stock, however, that's not only driving all this interest, but driving the actual buying of the stock.

Although it may not have been reflected in the stock's price, 2011 was actually a decent year for pre-profit Plug Power Inc. Sales cranked up from 2010's $19.5 million to $27.6 million. There was something of a lull in 2012, when the company's top line only reached $26.2 million, and investors began to fear the worst again...

... until something curious started to happen a couple of quarters ago. Since Q3 of 2012, we've seen three straight quarters of consecutive sales growth. And, the pace of revenue puts the company on track to do $31.3 million in sales this year, which would be its best year ever. The pros are looking for an incredible $60 million in revenue for 2014, which would nearly double this year's sales. Lofty? Yes, though not out of the realm of possibility. Even if PLUG "only" improves this year's revenue by 50% in 2014, though, that would still be a huge victory.

Oh, and the lofty growth outlook isn't an outrageous pie-in-the-sky, hope-and-dream-for-the-best kind of outlook either. The company has been piecing together new deals and expanding old relationships to put up some very impressive numbers in the very foreseeable future.

 With all of that being said, there's another less tangible reason newcomers to the fuel cell party may want to choose Plug Power over a name like FuelCell Energy Inc. or Ballard Power Systems Inc. - PLUG has become noticeably more active on the publicity front, which tends to happen when a company know it's got plenty to tout - and will have plenty to tout - in its near future. Case in point? It's hosting an information conference call tomorrow, and it's got nothing to do with earnings (which are due sometime early next month). The company is describing the topic as a general business update, but here in the shadow of last month's public offering that raised $10 million, it's pretty clear the company has something big going on that it needed funds for.

The best part of all? As bullish as PLUG has been of late, the market has yet to even really notice and start creating a buzz around this and other natural gas stocks. Once the same euphoria from about three or four years ago materializes again, that's when the heat could really get turned up on these stocks.

If you'd like to get more trading ideas and insights like this one, sign up for the free SmallCap Network daily e-newsletter. It's full of stock picks, market calls, and more.

5 Years After Financial Crisis, Experts See Dark Times Ahead

Dread and disgust seem to be the dominant emotions marking the fifth anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, as the financial commentariat lament that the U.S. has not altered the conditions that triggered America’s historic financial crisis.

A sampling of expert opinion on where we stand today in relation to the time Lehman filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008, suggests a consensus view that Wall Street got bailed out while ordinary Americans are worse off; that the financial system remains unreformed and dangerous; and that the crisis’ culprits have gone unpunished.

Structured finance expert Janet Tavakoli makes many of these points about the lack of any indictments or meaningful reform on her Tuesday blog post.

Tavakoli characterizes the root of the problem:

“The sheepdogs that are supposed to protect the flock from the wolf pack are really wolves in sheepdog clothing. They exit the regulatory revolving door in expensive bought and paid for wolf-skins.”

She laments the bailouts of the financial sector, which she says “destroyed capitalism,” and dimly foresees “dark times for the future of the republic.”

In a retrospective report, the Wall Street Journal notes that despite slow economic progress there are still 1.9 million fewer jobs, one in six mortgage holders still owe more than their home is worth and that household income is 5% less than in September 2008.

While the government rescued large financial institutions like Bear Stearns, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the U.S. auto industry, the Journal quotes the Troubled Asset Relief Program oversight committee’s report:

The bailouts gave the impression, it said, "that any company in America can receive a government backstop, so long as its collapse would cost enough jobs or deal enough economic damage."

Neel Kashkari, who ran TARP, is quoted as saying: "To save the economy, we had to violate a core American principle: You bear a risk, you suffer the consequences.”

Writing for The Atlantic, banking law expert James Kwak expresses the view that the government has not undertaken meaningful structural reforms needed to avert a future crisis.

Kwak describes the root of the problem as an ideology of unregulated financial markets, which took root in the Clinton era of the 1990s and continued in the Bush years. That period was characterized by “derivatives nonregulation, consumer nonprotection, the end of Glass-Steagall, creative capital accounting, regulatory arbitrage, and, ultimately, tens of thousands of empty houses rotting in the desert,” Kwak writes.

Meanwhile, despite the five years that have passed since the Lehman debacle, bank capital requirements “will at best increase from laughable to amusing,” Kwak writes. And he laments the plodding regulatory response to technology risks that could bring down the financial system (such as the Excel-based faulty risk modeling at the root of the London Whale debacle) while noting that “in China, they ban people for life for this sort of thing.”

Kwak is further appalled that the president’s apparent first choice to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is Larry Summers — “the Clinton administration’s point person for financial deregulation” and the Obama administration official who, with former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, “chose not to press for the structural reforms that could have made a difference.”

A third commonly voiced theme in crisis anniversary coverage is that the culprits got away scot-free. The Center for Public Integrity’s Alison Fitzgerald, writing in the Huffington Post, examines the post-crisis careers of five former top executives and concludes:

“None are in jail, nor are any criminal charges expected to be filed. Certainly none are hurting for money.”

For example, former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal turned his brokerage firm into a major manufacturer of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) backed by subprime mortgages.

“By 2006, it was the biggest underwriter of CDOs on Wall Street, and a year later the company had $55 billion worth of subprime loans on its own books that no one wanted to buy,” Fitzgerald writes.

“O’Neal floated out of Merrill comfortably, however, buoyed by a golden parachute worth $161.5 million. In the eight years leading up to his ouster, O’Neal earned $68.4 million in cash salary and bonuses, and he sold Merrill stock at a profit of at least $18.7 million, according to a Center review of annual reports and SEC filings.”

Fitzgerald goes on to describe O’Neal’s Park Avenue apartment, Martha’s Vineyard vacation home and Alcoa board of directors seat.

Check out this related story in Research magazine about Janet Tavakoli: Finding the Culprits of the Crisis

First Community Financial Partners, Inc. Reported Earnings of $0.03 Per Share and Net Income of $567,000 For Q2 (OTCMKTS:FCMP, OTCMKTS:EQLB)

First Community Financial Partners, Inc. (FCMP)

Today, FCMP remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $3.00 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 9:33AM EDT August 8, 2013).

First Community Financial Partners, Inc. previously reported results for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. For the quarter ended June 30, 2013, First Community's net income applicable to common shareholders was $567,000, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared with net income applicable to common shareholders of $1.1 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

First Community Financial Partners, Inc. (FCMP) 5 day chart:

EQ Labs, Inc. (EQLB)

Today, EQ Labs, Inc. (OTCMKTS:EQLB) (www.drinkeq.com) remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.0065 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed:  3:00PM EDT August 8, 2013).

Now at the current price of $.0065, EQLB would be considered to have experienced a (+983.33%) gain if compared to the 52 week low of $.0006.

EQ Labs, Inc. manufactures and markets energy drink products in the United States and Latin America. The company offers EQ Smart Energy Drink, in an effervescent tablet form that provides an instant energy drink once added to a beverage of choice. EQ Labs, Inc. distributes its products through national and regional distributors.

EQ Labs, Inc. (EQLB) 5d chart:

Soon, Your Cable Company Might Own Hulu

The following video is from Wednesday's installment of The Motley Fool's Weekly Tech Review, in which analysts Eric Bleeker and Jason Moser look at the biggest stories driving the tech sector this week.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX  ) , AT&T (NYSE: T  ) , and DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV  ) are all bidding on Hulu. Sure, the streaming star has a nice content assortment, but what these bidders are really paying for is branding. Hulu's market share of about 10% may not seem that impressive, but it has great recognition and app placement within major platforms such as Roku and the Xbox. In the following video, Eric and Jason break down the streaming star's appeal.

The future of television begins now ... with an all-out $2.2 trillion media war that pits cable companies such as Cox, Comcast, and Time Warner against technology giants like Apple, Google, and Netflix. The Motley Fool's shocking video presentation reveals the secret Steve Jobs took to his grave and explains why the only real winners are these three lesser-known power players that film your favorite shows. Click here to watch today!

The relevant video segment can be found between 0:00 and 3:44.

FTSE Shares That Plunged This Week

LONDON -- What a week the FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE  ) has had! In line with most of the world's stock markets, the index of top U.K. stocks plunged on Thursday on news that the Federal Reserve is likely to start winding down its quantitative-easing policy later this year. The index crashed 189 points on the day of the announcement and slipped a further 43 points on Friday to end the week at 6,116, down 3%.

It was pretty much carnage across the whole of the index over the week. Here are four notable fallers.

Barclays (LSE: BARC  )
Britain's banks were also hit by a report from the Prudential Regulatory Authority, which revealed a shortfall of 27.1 billion pounds in capital funding requirements across the sector. Barclays, short by 3 billion pounds, was hard hit, with its share price losing 13 pence (4.4%) on the day of the announcement, and 16 pence (5.4%) over the week, to end at 282 pence. Barclays says it is confident it can exceed the required 7% Tier 1 ratio by the end of the year.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL  )
The hard-hit mining sector was again punished, as any let-up on economic stimulus is likely to hit demand for commodities. One of the biggest fallers this week was Anglo American, whose price dropped by a further 74 pence (5.2%) to 1,352 pence over the week. After a steady slide since the start of the year, shares in the diversified miner have now slumped by more than 30% over the past 12 months. Still, forecasts put Anglo American at a P/E of just 10, so could there be a recovery bargain there?

Burberry (LSE: BRBY  )
Designer fashion firm Burberry had another poor week, with its price falling 80 pence (5.8%) to close at 1,290 pence. Having soared over the past five years with sales to the Asia Pacific region, particularly China, growing strongly, the stock has faltered of late as economic growth in the People's Republic starts to slow. Overall, the Burberry price has had an erratic year, and it is just in negative territory over the past 12 months while the FTSE 100 has gained 12%.

G4S (LSE: GFS  )
Security company G4S is our fourth loser this week, sliding 9.8 pence (4.1%) to a 52-week closing low of 232 pence. The firm famously ran into problems over its London Olympics security contract, and in more recent drama at the end of May, CEO Nick Buckles stepped down to be replaced by Ashley Almanza. The G4S price is now down 26% from the year-high of 315 pence set on April 23.

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Does McDonald’s Have a Bright Future?

With shares of McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) trading around $95, is MCD an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

McDonald's franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Latin America — so just about every part of the world. Its restaurants offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages, as well as breakfast menus. The products provided by McDonald's fulfill cravings at competitive prices in convenient locations worldwide. The McDonald's craze shows no signs of slowing, so the company has continued its expansion to just about every nation on the globe. As consumers continue to enjoy McDonald's products, look for it to see rising profits.

McDonald's desperately needs some McLovin' in Japan. McDonald's Holdings Co. Japan Ltd. released its full-year profit outlook on Thursday, and according to Bloomberg, said that it is cutting its profit forecast by more than half. Japan is McDonald's second largest market, behind the United States, but the fast food chain now only expects a net income of 5 billion yen ($48 million) in the country, reflecting a 57 percent cut from its previous full-year forecast. Analysts expected McDonald's Japan to report a net income of 9.53 billion yen from the 3,170 stores it operated in the country as of the end of October. According to Bloomberg, McDonald's Japan said, "The number of customers during the first quarter was well below the company's expectations," attributing the poorer-than-expected full-year forecast to everything from investment costs to slow customer traffic to costs on store closures.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Mixed

McDonald's stock has traded sideways in the last couple of years. The stock is currently surging higher and looks set to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, McDonald's is trading below its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of McDonald's options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
McDonald's options	14.08%	76%	73%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
January Options	Steep	Average
February Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on McDonald's’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for McDonald's look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	6.29%	4.55%	2.44%	3.83%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	2.39%	2.43%	0.90%	1.90%
Earnings Reaction	-0.64%	-2.68%	-1.95%	0.57%

McDonald's has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have had conflicting feelings about McDonald's’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has McDonald's stock done relative to its peers, Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), Burger King (NYSE:BKW), Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN), and sector?

	McDonald's	Yum Brands	Burger King	Wendy’s	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	8.11%	9.04%	31.02%	79.36%	17.05%

McDonald's has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

McDonald's is a well-recognized company that fulfills cravings and demand for quick and delicious food choices that many consumers across the globe enjoy. The company’s Holdings Co. Japan Ltd. released its full-year profit outlook on Thursday, and according to Bloomberg, said that it is cutting its profit forecast by more than half. The stock has been trading sideways in the last couple of years, but is currently surging higher. Over the last four-quarters, earnings and revenues have been rising. However, investors have had conflicting feelings about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, McDonald's has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what McDonald's does this quarter.

Great Funds with Relatively Low Risk

When we assign Morningstar Analyst Ratings, we are thinking about a fund's risk-adjusted prospects; in short, "Are you getting paid for the risk you're taking?" questions Russel Kinnel in Morningstar FundInvestor.

Our Risk Relative to Category rating tells you if a fund's volatility is Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, or High for its category.

We have a number behind those words, so I decided to pull some of the lowest of the low and highlight some Morningstar Medalists that have been at the very low end of volatility for their category.

Keep in mind that it's a relative to category measure—even a very low-risk emerging-markets fund is much more volatile than your typical intermediate-term bond fund.

American Century Equity Income (TWEAX:US) has produced nice returns, but it's the risk-adjusted returns that really look attractive. The fund tones down equity risk by holding a sleeve of convertible bonds in the 15% to 25% range. Phil Davidson is a cautious investor who tries to tamp down volatility.

Thus, this fund shines in down years by losing much less than the competition. In years like 2013, however, you expect it to lag on the upside.

Akre Focus (AKREX:US) typically has around 15% or so in cash and sometimes more. That helps to tone down volatility, but so does Akre's emphasis on quality, which gives the fund a mix of value and growth characteristics.

Manager Chuck Akre wants strong business models that can produce outstanding returns on capital, and he wants shareholder-oriented managers to run them.

This leads him to the steadier side of growth, investing with names like MasterCard and Moody's. It's a good thing, too, because Akre bets big on his favorites, with nearly 10% in MasterCard.

Aston Montag & Caldwell Growth (MCGFX:US) is another lower-risk growth fund. Manager Ron Canakaris and team look for stable growers trading at a modest price.

This leads them to large-cap, well-known names like Abbott Laboratories, Coca-Cola, and Google. Canakaris is 69 years old, but we still feel good about the fund's prospects.

I visited the firm in Atlanta and was pleased to see that it is in good shape, with a number of managers and analysts behind Canakaris who can take up the slack if he should retire. I'm also pleased that the firm is now employee-owned and Canakaris will sell back his shares when he retires.

Like American Century Equity Income, First Eagle US Value (FEVAX:US) has been a champ in down markets and a laggard in up markets.

However, its long-term returns are quite good, so it would seem that it's done a fine job rewarding shareholders. The fund plays defense in quite a few ways. It holds a big cash stake, but that's only one part of the story.

True to founder Jean-Marie Eveillard's philosophy, Matt McLennan and Abhay Deshpande are focused on capital preservation.

They look for companies with healthy balance sheets and profit margins, but whose shares are trading at a big discount to their estimates of intrinsic value. They like some gold or potash producers for their defensive characteristics.

The fund lost 1,391 fewer basis points than the S&P 500 Index (SPX) did in 2008, and 358 fewer in 2011, but it is lagging by 1,006 this year.

Generally, the best time to buy a fund like this is after a couple of years near the back of the pack, as that could mean risk is rising. No doubt, this fund's defenses will be valued yet again.

Subscribe to Morningstar FundInvestor here…

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America's Bestselling Retirement "Plan" Is Jeopardizing – of All Things – Your Retirement

I recently received a call from "Russ," a client of mine. He was wondering why the investments he holds at my money management firm have gone up so much more than the money he's entrusted to a major fund broker.

I'd be wondering, too.

That's because, in a year filled with hundreds of 52-week highs and a broad market that climbed roughly 25%, they've managed to "grow" Russ' money all of... 2%?

It didn't take long to find out why.

It's estimated that by 2020, nearly $3.85 trillion will be invested in the same "one-click" mutual fund industry's bestsellers that Russ did: "Target Retirement Funds."

I'm so glad he called.

These "funds of funds" are dangerous. They're far too simplistic, automatically adjusting your investments based largely on one factor: your age. And that just doesn't work anymore.

In fact, these "solutions" are more dangerous than they've ever been...

The Market Doesn't Know - or Care About - Your Birthday

"Target" funds allocate client money to other funds within their respective investment "families," and they do so almost exclusively based on the client's age.

Basically, the older the client, the greater the percentage of the target funds allocated to bond funds rather than equity funds.

That sure sounds good. I mean, who doesn't want an easy retirement solution?

But if successful investing were as simple as knowing your age, then everyone would get it right.

Yet all of the big brokers push these "Target Retirement Funds" now.

Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Schwab...

And they push them to everyone.

Income investors, retirees, would-be retirees... They even now sell funds that you can tailor to the age when your children will head to college... as if the market cared about our children's ages, too, let alone ours.

Russ found this out just in time...

So Much for "Safety"

My client is 86 years old, and when he told me about his target fund and its underperformance versus my income allocations, I immediately suspected that most of his money was allocated to long-term Treasury and corporate bonds.

Indeed.

Stocks, private-equity funds, business development corporations (BDCs), and other nontraditional income-generating assets have done very well this year.

But bonds, and particularly long-term Treasury bonds, have had a very rough go of it.

For example, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of an index of public obligations of the United States Treasury with a remaining maturity of 20 or more years, is down nearly 17% over the past 12 months.

So much for those "safe" long-term Treasury bonds...

The chart here of TLT shows the bearish trend in this once-hot market segment.

Here's the Problem One reason why Russ' target fund has disappointed this year is because these funds follow an easy-to-understand formula called the "rule of 100."

This rule states that if you want to find out how much of your investment capital you should put into equities, and how much you should put into bonds, then subtract your age from 100, and the resulting sum is how much of your portfolio you should have allocated to equities. The rest is what you should have in bonds. So, if you are 86 years old, then just 14% of your money should be in equities, and the rest in bonds.

Yet given how poorly many bond segments have performed in 2013, this rule has been a miserable failure for income investors.

And this "rule" will continue holding you back from achieving your goals.

You can thank a long-term trend of rising interest rates for that...

The Inevitable Shift Has Begun

The inevitable shift toward rising interest rates, i.e., falling bond prices, means many older investors will be grossly over-allocated to one of the worst-performing market segments at the time when they need income most. With bank savings, CDs, and other "safe" investments yielding next to nothing, income investors simply cannot afford to uncritically follow the formulaic underpinnings at the crux of these target funds.

Today, investors need to be more involved, more aggressive, and just plain smarter when it comes to making investment allocations in their income portfolios.

The plain truth is that the new bond landscape demands that your strategy change along with it. In the current environment, you simply cannot buy and hold long-term bond funds, or formulaic target funds, and hope to achieve the kind of yield and share price appreciation required to generate the total return results that many income investors enjoyed during the bond bull prior to 2013.

It's just not enough today to wait around passively for your income holdings to eke out a 2% gain, the way Russ' did. That barely keeps up with inflation, and it definitely doesn't give you the kind of income most of us need to live the way we want to live.

How I Fixed the Problem

In the end, I advised Russ to exit his Total Retirement Fund, and stop relying on outdated allocation strategies, like the "Rule of 100."

He's much better off in "total return" holdings, like Apollo Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: AINV) which we covered right here, and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP), another long-term winner.

After just a few weeks, the move has already paid off for Russ...

More from Robert Hsu:
My Favorite Kind of Money

Here's a TIP...

If this market's recent plummet is any indication, there may be another worry, other than inflation, that financial markets will have to face in the coming year, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks, who thinks that might mean different trends and a few surprises.

After rallying in September and October, in anticipation of rising inflation in 2014, TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) have dropped like a stone in the last month. They're now down 8.8% in 2013, the biggest drop, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, since they were introduced in 1997.

According to the TIPS market, forget about inflation in 2014. It's a slowdown in price increases—which isn't the same thing as deflation by a long shot—that faces the financial markets and the economy next year.

The gap in yields between fixed-rate Treasuries—where the payout doesn't change with inflation—and TIPS—where the bond pays out more as inflation rises—shows the market predicting that inflation, by official measures, will average 1.75% over the next five years. That's a huge decline from the year's high in March, when the TIPS market was pricing in a 2.42% inflation rate. (Economists surveyed in Bloomberg are expecting consumer price inflation of 1.5% this year. That would be the lowest rate since 2009 and the second-lowest annual rate since 1963.)

This view on inflation is a huge turnaround from the earlier consensus that the massive expansion of the Federal Reserve balance sheet would result in an increase of inflation, as the increase in the money supply fed into the economy. The Fed's balance sheet has climbed to almost $4 trillion from $900 billion in 2008, as the US central bank bought financial assets to lower interest rates and stimulate the economy. (Similar increases in balance sheets and money supply, by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, would result in global inflation, the consensus held.)

By now, it looks like a decline in wages and employment, and the associated weakness in demand, will trump central bank printing presses. At least, for a while.

Now, the TIPS market doesn't have to be right. The current read on sub-2% inflation until the cows come home could be wrong—and this drop in TIPS could be a great buying opportunity, ahead of a pick up in inflation in 2014 or 2015.

But, if the TIPS market is right, the financial markets are looking at low interest rates, not until mid-2015, as the futures market is currently projecting, for even longer. That would come with very slow growth in top line sales for most companies and real pressure on earnings. It would mean that companies would continue to borrow at low rates, in order to fund buybacks that compensate for slower than expected organic earnings growth. It would mean cheap capital for companies that can identify actual investment opportunities with positive demand profiles—even as the number of those investment opportunities is likely to be relatively small. It would mean that, while short-term bonds, where yields are already near 0%, wouldn't deliver much in capital gains, longer maturity bonds might well outperform current expectations if low inflation leads to declining five- to ten-year yields. (That would mean that the US government debt would be less of a burden for the next few years than many of us have feared.)

If the TIPS market is right, in other words, some major current trends will run longer than is currently expected, and some current expectations are due for a major upset.

Full disclosure: I don't own shares of any of the companies mentioned in this post in my personal portfolio. When in 2010 I started the mutual fund I manage, Jubak Global Equity Fund, I liquidated all my individual stock holdings and put the money into the fund. The fund may or may not now own positions in any stock mentioned in this post. The fund did not own shares of any stock mentioned in this post as of the end of June. For a full list of the stocks in the fund as of the end of June see the fund's portfolio here.

Gold sputters after back-to-back gains

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Gold futures resumed their downtrend on Tuesday, giving back a small chunk of their two-day gains ahead of a monetary-policy decision due from the Federal Reserve a day later.

In electronic trading, gold for February delivery (GCG4)  dropped $3.30, or 0.3%, to $1,241.10 an ounce, while March silver (SIH4)  was hit even harder, down 20 cents, or 1%, to $19.91 an ounce.

AFP/Getty Images

The decline follows two consecutive days of gains, with short-sellers covering their positions being cited as a driving factor. All of the action is in anticipation of what the central bank will decide to do with its bond-buying program.

"Tapering or no tapering, and if so by how much?" asked Emirates NBD's head of commodities Gerhard Schubert, saying that it might be best to stay on the sidelines until the New Year.

"The latest weekly jobless number is pouring some icy cold water onto tapering expectations but that is a single number, which stands in strong contrast to the developments in the U.S. job market of the last four months," he told clients in a note.

In other metals trading, January platinum (PLF4)  lost 70 cents to $1,359.40 an ounce, while March palladium (PAH4)  added $1.95, or 0.3%, to $718.30 an ounce. High-grade copper (HGH4)  shed a penny to $3.32 a pound.

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The 8 styles of CEO apologies

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3 Reasons the Tax Man Still Hasn't Set You Free

April 15 has come and gone, and most Americans have fulfilled their duty to the IRS for the year. But even with that task behind them, American taxpayers still haven't managed to earn enough money this year to pay off all the taxes they'll owe in 2013.

The nonprofit Tax Foundation came up with the concept of Tax Freedom Day to make it clear just how long Americans have to work just to pay their overall tax burden to federal, state, and local governments. The concept is simple: When you take the total amount of all the taxes that people have to pay and then divide it by their income, you can figure out what percentage of the year you spend working to earn enough to pay your share of those taxes.

This year, Tax Freedom Day for America as a whole won't come until tomorrow, April 18. That's five days later than it was last year. Let's look at three of the reasons why you still haven't managed to get free of the tax man this year, and why things could get even worse in the future.

1. Higher payroll taxes on Social Security.
At the beginning of 2013, the temporary tax holiday on Social Security taxes expired. As a result, payroll taxes rose from 4.2% to 6.2%.

Because Social Security taxes apply only to a maximum of $113,700 in earnings for 2013, not everyone saw their overall taxes go up by 2 percentage points. But for those who fall under that threshold level, paying 2% more of your income toward payroll taxes effectively means that you're working more than an extra week this year to get them paid.

2. Higher marginal rates on high-income taxpayers.
Even though high-income taxpayers don't bear the full brunt of higher payroll taxes, they don't get off scot-free. Increases in the highest marginal rates for single taxpayers making $400,000 or more and joint filers with more than $450,000 in income amount to 4.6 percentage points for ordinary income and 5 percentage points for dividends and capital gains.

Those higher rates only apply to the amount of income above those threshold levels, so taxpayers won't have to work 4.6% to 5% of the year paying their extra share. But taxpayers with incomes substantially above the thresholds can expect to work several extra days to pay it off, with some extreme cases involving two weeks or more of extra work.

3. New tax surcharges on high-income earners.
Moreover, high-income earners face some brand-new taxes this year. For single filers earning more than $200,000 and joint filers above $250,000, two new tax surcharges could increase your tax bill. For wages and other employment income, a 0.9% tax applies to amounts above those thresholds. Moreover, if you have investment income that when added to your other income puts you above those levels, you'll have to pay an investment-income tax of 3.8%.

Again, how much those taxes will add to individuals' tax burden depends on their exact income breakdown. But for many high-income earners, the taxes could add days or even a week or more to the length of time they work for Uncle Sam.

What's coming
Moreover, more tax increases look likely to hit ordinary Americans in the near future. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) has been making agreements with an increasing number of states to collect sales tax on online purchases, and a federal law could subject Amazon, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY  ) , and other online sellers with the obligation to collect taxes. That has helped Best Buy (NYSE: BBY  ) and other competing brick-and-mortar retailers, but it means consumers pay more in overall tax. Technically, most taxpayers already owe uncollected sales taxes to their respective states, but few states enforce those provisions vigorously. With state and local sales taxes representing 12 days' worth of the average American's tax burden, increases would have a small but significant impact on many people.

So when tomorrow comes, be sure to celebrate your freedom from taxes for another year. But as you start to earn money for yourself, keep in mind that you could be working even longer for the tax man in 2014.

Will sales-tax collection hurt Amazon? Read The Motley Fool's premium report to learn what's driving the company's growth and get filled in on reasons to buy and reasons to sell Amazon. The report also has you covered with a full year of free analyst updates to keep you informed as the company's story changes, so click here now to read more.

Tune in every Monday and Wednesday for Dan's columns on retirement, investing, and personal finance. You can follow him on Twitter @DanCaplinger.

Advisors’ Biggest Retirement Blind Spot May Be Their Own

First, the bad news. Fifty percent of financial advisors do not have a written business plan, 46% do not have their own retirement plan for themselves (despite 40% saying they plan to retire within the next 14 years), only 25% have a succession plan in place, and only 25% have a formal definition of their ideal client. When asked “What do you plan to do with your business/clients when you retire?” 17% answered “I don’t know.”

Now, the good news. Of those advisors under 40, 61% say they have a written business plan. The larger the firm, the more likely it is to have one. There is also a clear “professionalization” trend within the advisor industry, with more non-advisor managers in place to run the business, and advisors are doing a good job of meeting their clients’ needs.

The news arises from the Financial Planning Association’s inaugural study, “The Future of Practice Management,” sponsored by the FPA’s new Research and Practice Institute, and executed by Advisor Impact, the research firm run by Julie Littlechild, who provided some of the color in the comments above.

Advisor Impact is partnering with the FPA Institute on this study and a series of additional reports throughout 2014.

The Future study was based on an October online survey of 2,376 respondents who spent an average of 27 minutes to complete the survey. Of those respondents, 1,954 were advisors, drawn, Littlechild said, from all advisor channels — RIAs (23% of all respondents), wirehouse brokers (15%), independent and regional broker-dealers (29%), 13% insurance BD reps and 10% dually registered advisors. By design, 422 of the total respondents included junior advisors (those under 40), support staff and non-advisor management. Only about 30% of the respondents were FPA members, but 39% were CFPs. 

Valerie Porter, the FPA’s Director of Practitioner Services and herself a CFP with her own practice near Indianapolis, said the inaugural study was meant to “identify some of the key areas where advisors need guidance,” and explained that the quarterly studies that will be issued throughout 2014 “will focus on some of those issues, and then tailor resources at FPA to meet those needs.”

In addition to helping FPA’s members — for example, “if we find that many advisors don’t have a business plan, FPA can make templates available” to members and hold sessions on how to write a business plan — it will also benefit consumers.

One of the major issues identified in the study was advisors’ struggle with time management, which Porter said she understood well. “There are lots of demand on our time,” she said, and the work that advisors do on behalf of clients “can be very taxing” since “money is a very emotional subject.”

In fact, the next topic in the Institute’s series of reports, Porter said, will revolve around productivity: “It’s all about efficiency, about time management, about knowing who your ideal client is and what your goals are.”

The study is designed to give advisors the tools to build and improve their businesses and to develop a robust practice management model. That process starts with setting personal goals, which drive business and succession goals.

“You have to start with your goals,” Littlechild says, but the study showed “that there’s clearly some weakness” among advisors who have failed to write business and succession plans.

Porter voiced surprise at “the number of advisors who don’t have their own retirement plan,” and called the lack of business planning “disappointing.” As for the study’s findings that many advisors haven’t clearly identified their ideal clients, Porter said it was an important topic since figuring out “who you want to work with, and who you can serve well” leads you to become “an expert in working with that kind of client.”

When you do become an expert, she says, those clients “refer you to other people like themselves,” so that “the whole issue of referrals becomes a nonissue.” For the advisor personally, she says that “when you get someone you genuinely like to work with, your satisfaction levels rise, and people want to work with you” as well.

As for the good news on the profession, Littlechild said that based on “other research we’ve done, advisors by and large are doing really good work for clients,” and that there is a “professionalizing of the industry” occurring, marked by “more non-advisor management coming into firms, which will influence training.”

With the inaugural study and the follow-ups, “we’re talking about making the business side better.”

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now

Consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers has just released a survey of the online shopping habits of more than 11,000 online shoppers in 11 countries. And according to PwC, the No. 1 country for e-commerce today is... China!

Take a look at some of these numbers:

$211 billion in annual online sales. 58% of shoppers, shopping online in the past week. 64% growth in e-commerce revenues over just the past year.

Clearly, China is turning into a big market for online marketing -- but who's best positioned to profit from it? In the video below, Fool contributor Rich Smith lays out the field of possibilities for you.

The titans of tech
It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Fried, Editor, The Buyback Letter]

  Insurance holding company CNO Financial Group (CNO) and its insurance subsidiaries��rincipally Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Washington National, and Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company��erve pre-retiree and retired Americans.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Crocs Inc.(CROX)

Crocs, Inc. and its subsidiaries engage in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of footwear, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company primarily offers casual and athletic shoes, and shoe charms. It also designs and sells a range of footwear and accessories that utilize its proprietary closed cell-resin, called Croslite. The company?s footwear products include boots, sandals, sneakers, mules, and flats. In addition, it provides footwear products for the hospital, restaurant, hotel, and hospitality markets, as well as general foot care and diabetic-needs markets. Further, the company offers leather and ethylene vinyl acetate based footwear, sandals, and printed apparels principally for the beach, adventure, and action sports markets; and accessories comprising snap-on charms. The company sells its products through the United States and international retailers and distributors, as well as directly to end-user consumers th rough its company-operated retail stores, outlets, kiosks, and Web stores primarily under the Crocs Work, Crocs Rx, Jibbitz, Ocean Minded, and YOU by Crocs brand names. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 164 retail kiosks located in malls and other high foot traffic areas; 138 retail stores; 76 outlet stores; and 46 Web stores. Crocs, Inc. operates in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was formerly known as Western Brands, LLC and changed its name to Crocs, Inc. in January 2005. Crocs, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Niwot, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Eisen and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Crocs Inc. (CROX) �rose 2.2%. The shoe company was said to be in discussions with buyout firms, including Blackstone Group LP, according to Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources. The talks appeared to be focused on the firm taking a minority stake in Crocs via which Blackstone could help map out a turnaround strategy.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of plastic shoe specialist Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX  ) plummeted 21% today after its quarterly results and outlook easily missed Wall Street expectations.

Best Insurance Companies To Watch For 2014: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of medical device company Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR  ) sank 12% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations. �

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] ast produces, distributes and sells weight and health management products with the brand names Medifast, Take Shape for Life, Hi-Energy Weight Control Centers and Woman�� Wellbeing.

  Its return on assets in the third quarter of 2011 was 19.6%, which has been increasing in the past several years. The average return on assets for the specialty retail industry is 10.48% for the trailing 12 months.

  The company�� total assets amounted to $94 million in 2010, which increased from $62.8 million in 2009. Net income also increased to $19.6 million in 2010 from $12 million in 2009.

  Boston Beer Inc. (SAM)

  Boston Beer Inc. is the largest brewer of handcrafted beers in America. Boston Beer is a growing company that recently saw a large increase in its return on assets. It increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 29.7% in 2011, and was negative as recently as 2008. The average return on assets for the beverages industry in the trailing 12 months is 9.47%.

  In 2011, the company�� total assets increased to $272.5 million from $258.5 million in 2010. Net income increased to $66 million from $50 million.

  Alliances Resources Partners (ARLP)

  Alliance Resources Partners is a coal producer and marketer primarily in the eastern U.S. Its ROA has been increasing since 2008 and increased to 22.5% in 2011 from 21.4% in 2010. The average return on assets for the oil, gas & consumable fuels industry in the trailing 12 months is 24.47%.

  In 2011, its total assets increased to $1.7 billion from $1.1 billion in 2010. Its net income increased to $389 million from $321 million.

  Factset Research Systems Inc. (FDS)

  Factset researches global market trends and develops analytical tools for investors. Of all of GuruFocus��5-star predictable companies, it has the highest return on assets at 27%. ROA has been increasing over the past several years. The average return on assets for the software industry for the trailing 12 m

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Sara Lee Corporation(SLE)

Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Its packaged meat products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, beef, turkey, and cooked ham. It also offers frozen baked products, which comprise frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, pastries, and other desserts. In addition, Sara Lee provides roast, ground, and liquid coffee; cappuccinos; lattes; and hot and iced teas, as well as refrigerated dough products. The company sells its products under Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee, State Fair, Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Caf

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Andrew Marder]

  I've come to loathe precedents. Nothing is more annoying than someone telling you that their favorite new book is the next Harry Potter�or that the movie they just saw is going to be the next Godfather. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm not overly keen on the selling of Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS  ) as the next Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) or Chipotle (NYSE: CMG  ) or Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) . Instead, maybe we can judge the business on its merits, instead of on the success of restaurants that came before it.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  ) may have come up short on the bottom line for the fourth quarter in a row, but comps are picking up nicely at the chain of family-friendly sports bars.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD  )
  Just because consumers refuse to give up their ability to take a vacation doesn't mean they aren't looking for other creative ways to save a dollar. Unless you're staying with family, you don't have much choice when it comes to food -- you have to eat out. I'm going out on a limb and projecting that Buffalo Wild Wings will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of consumers who dine out this summer. If you've kept up with the company's rapid expansion, you'd notice that it's moving into warmer, hot-spot vacation destinations within the United States. In addition, it's been adding new menu items that are reasonably priced and won't break a family of four's bank. With BWW's big sports-bar appeal and NCAA sponsorship, getting traffic into its restaurants this summer shouldn't be difficult. As long as chicken prices cooperate, I expect a sizable upside surprise from BWW in the coming quarters.

• [By Michael Ugulini]

  Craft Brew Alliance and Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) are working together on a new beer brew called Game Changer. The company's Redhook has partnered with BWLD.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Three months after settling upon a new chief executive officer, it looks like Thorofare, N. J.-based Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP  ) will soon have itself a new CFO as well.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  For example, a company involved in a mundane business like running hair salons ��like Regis (RGS), dentist offices ��like Birner Dental (BDMS), grocery stores ��like Village Supermarket (VLGEA), or garbage dumps ��like Waste Management (WM), may be easy to estimate as essentially a no-growth business.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  He is avoiding Apple (AAPL) and IPOs, as they remind him of 1983, the year he learned the beauty of boring when blue chips such as Waste Management (WM) and Pepsico (PEP) were stumbling and selling cheap, while 30 glitzy PC stocks went public and soared. Since then, the blue chips have overcome their problems and rose in value again, and most of the PC companies are gone.

10 Best Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  JC Penney’s gain is all the more surprising consider what’s happened to other retailers today. Macy’s (M) has dropped 0.8% to $43.83, Kohl’s (KSS) has dipped 0.4% to $50.16 , Dillard’s (DDS) has fallen 2% to $76.19 and Nordstrom (JWN) has declined o.6% to $56.98.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Other department stores, such as Nordstrom (JWN) and Kohl’s (KSS) are also dedicating more space to active wear, the analysts say.

  As a result, Boss and McCormick upgraded Under Armour to Neutral from Underweight. They write:

• [By Alex Planes]

  This graph represents the "purchase consideration" of Men's Wearhouse against some of its largest suit-selling competitors, listed as Jos. A. Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB  ) , Macy's (NYSE: M  ) , and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN  ) , among others. The industry average has been pretty steady, but Men's Wearhouse appears to be wearing thin among millennials (and among male consumers on the bubble between the millennial generation and Generation X). If that's so, then why did Men's Wearhouse report a nice spike in profits in its latest report? Well, older consumers still like the way they look in a Zimmer-promoted suit:

Hong Kong stocks edge lower; Cinda soars on debut

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks started modestly lower Thursday, tracking broad weakness in Asia, with mainland Chinese banks mixed after the release of November lending data. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) lost 0.2% to 23,288.02, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.4%. However, the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) added 0.1% to 2,205.39 in choppy trade that saw it swing between positive and negative territory. Mainland Chinese banks saw mixed reaction after data showed new yuan-denominated loans rose to 624.6 billion yuan ($102 billion) in November, more than 100 billion yuan above the year-earlier figure and beating market forecasts of between 560 billion yuan and 580 billion yuan, according to the XInhua news agency. Among the top banks, Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988) (BACHY) was up 0.3%, Bank of Communications Co. (HK:3328) (BKFCF) rose 0.2%, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1288) (ACGBF) traded flat, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1398) (IDCBF) fell 0.6%. Shares of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (HK:2600) (ACH) lost 0.7% after saying it could see a drop of up to 37% in output from a key Peruvian copper mine. Angang Steel Co. (HK:347) (ANGGF) , however, rose 1.1% after Citi raised its rating to buy from sell, while China Southern Airlines Co. (HK:1055) (ZNH) added 0.7%, with Kim Eng Securities citing news the carrier would add 6,700 flights to handle the Chinese New Year travel rush. China Cinda Asset Management Co. (HK:1359) , founded as a so-called "bad bank" to buy up trouble assets, jumped almost 21% in its first day of trade on the Hong Kong stocks exchange.

Read the full story:
Asia stocks mostly lower with Fed in focus

FedEx: Down Today, $170 Tomorrow

FedEx (FDX) has had a great run since its last earnings report nearly three months ago. It’s getting no love today, however.

Getty Images

The express-delivery company has gained 28% during the past three months, trumping the 18% return from United Parcel Service (UPS), the 4.6% gain in J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) and the 0.2% rise in Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD).

And there’s no reason FedEX can’t keep on keeping on, says Citigroup’s Christian Wetherbee and Seth Lowry. They write:

[We] believe further upside remains, as the current investor base appears to be playing for a meaningful improvement in profitability, led by cost efforts underway at the company's Express segment. Sentiment is firming around FedEx's ability to produce profit improvement and coupled with accretion from the buyback and help from improving volumes, $10 of earnings power should enter the discussion for F15. Using its historical multiple of ~17x, we believe the upside case for FedEx shares is $170. As such, we are increasing our target to $170 and reiterate our Buy.

FedEx’s shares have dropped 1% to $138.26 today at 2:35 p.m., which means that the stock could have another 23% to go.

A Modest Blow Against Patent Trolls (ACTG, VRNG, IDCC)

Well, it would be inaccurate to see patent-defense companies like Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNG), InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), and Acacia Research Corp. (NASDAQ:ACTG) have been forced into going out of business. But, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say some of these so-called patent trolls are now potentially facing a much bigger legal headwind. Investors of companies like IDCC, ACTG, and VRNG may want to reassess the upside of their holdings, now that new laws regarding patent litigation have all but been put into place.

It's called the Innovation Act, and it's designed to eliminate what's become known as "smash and grab" patent trolling. Smash-and-grab is the practice of extorting cash from a small business for a relatively small amount of money.... usually less than it would cost to go to court to mount a legal defense. It's a very scalable model though - attorneys can send out these threatening "patent infringement" letters to thousands of people and small businesses at a time. Even if most are ignored - as they should be - a handful of recipients will be compelled to pay up.

But what does that mean for Acacia Research, Vringo, InterDigital, and most of the country's other major IP companies? Truth be told, not a lot. These companies tend to focus their litigation on the proverbial big Kahuna... companies with a big wallet that are worth pursuing in court, citing patents they own that at least hold a little more validity than the average smash-and-grabber.

In that light, HR 3309 doesn't have a lot of the teeth many consumers were hoping a patent reform bill would have. More directly, even if the Innovation Act (as it reads today) would have been in place two years ago, it likely wouldn't have stopped the well-publicized legal battles between Google and Vringo, or the war being waged between Samsung and Apple.

Still, it's a start towards restoring some sanity to the patent enforcement process, even for the major patent owners and defenders, as the bill makes two universal provisions that apply to anyone bringing forth a patent infringement case.

One of those provisions is the elimination of the discovery requirement until after a judge examines the patent claims being made, to determine whether or not a trial is even merited. Discovery is an expensive and time-consuming discovery process that's most disruptive to a business simply, well, trying to do business, sometimes requiring the retrieval of millions of documents. Many would-be plaintiffs simply acquiesce and write a check rather than go through that debilitating torture (only to then go through the expensive torture of a trial). By only requiring a minimum plaintiff-requested "core discovery" documents be produced, an alleged infringer isn't unduly punished just to prove his or her innocence.

That same stipulation - perhaps inadvertently - could quell litigation before it ever even comes into the courtroom.

This is where the relatively anemic bill could not only impact IP enforcers like Vringo, Inc., InterDigital, Inc., and Acacia Research Corp., but frequent lawsuit targets like Google and Apple (though AAPL and GOOG are also just as apt to become a patent plaintiff). With only a minimal amount of discovery-required documentation in hand, it's conceivable that a judge could nix a case before it went to trial, if the claim construction (the explanation of what patent was being illegally used, and a clear example of how it was being illegally used) appeared to be weak, the case may never actually get to trial. This is huge for patent case defendants, as it could put their destinies in the hands of a hopefully-unbiased judge instead of putting their destinies of a biased jury that knows less about the law and more about the quality and "feel" of the grand-standing occurring in U.S. courtrooms. It's still something of a long shot for most defendants, but it will at least have some impact.

For the time being, Acacia Research, Vringo, and InterDigital don't have a lot to worry about. Neither do Google or Apple, especially considering the Senate has yet to sign ff on the House's bill (though the Senate is widely expected to do so). And, even once the bill becomes a law, it will be an untested one in courtrooms for a while. But, the patent troll business landscape has at least been somewhat altered for the saner, and some big name patent litigation names are a tad weaker for it.

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