The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC ) and the narrower, price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) both fell 0.7% today. Consistent with those losses, the VIX Index (VOLATILITYINDICES: ^VIX ) , Wall Street's fear gauge, rose 2.4%, to close at 14.83. (The VIX is calculated from S&P 500 option prices and reflects investor expectations for stock market volatility over the coming 30 days.)
NV Energy: A utility with a low candlepower stock
Earlier this month, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B ) CEO and billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC in a televised interview that "stocks are reasonably priced." Since then, the S&P 500 has gained roughly another 2%, but it appears that Buffett is still finding value in this market.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a Berkshire subsidiary, announced today that it is acquiring Nevada power company NV Energy (NYSE: NVE ) for $23.75 per share, valuing the company at $10 billion (enterprise value.) The price represents a 23% premium to the stock's closing price on Wednesday, and 18 times the next 12 months' earnings estimate. Referring to the acquisition, Buffett said:
Best Construction Material Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Triple-S Management Corporation (GTS)
Triple-S Management Corporation, through its subsidiaries, offers a portfolio of managed care and related products in the commercial and Medicare markets in Puerto Rico. The company operates in three segments: Managed Care, Life Insurance, and Property and Casualty Insurance. It provides managed care products, including health maintenance organization plans; preferred provider organization plans; Medicare Supplement products; Medicare Advantage products; Medicaid plans; and Medicare Part D, a prescription drug plan; and claims processing and other administrative services. The company offers its managed care products to employers, professional and trade associations, individuals, and government entities. It also provides various life, accident, disability, and health and annuity insurance products to individuals; and property and casualty insurance products, which include commercial multi-peril, commercial property mono-line, auto physical damage, auto liability, and dwelli ng policies to commercial customers. The company markets its products through a network of internal sales force, direct mail, independent brokers and agents, telemarketing staff, and the Internet. Triple-S Management Corporation was incorporated in 1997 and is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of Puerto Rican managed-care company Triple-S Management (NYSE: GTS ) popped 11% today after its quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations.
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Pegasystems Inc.(PEGA)
Pegasystems Inc. develops, markets, licenses, and supports software to automate business processes primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, and rest of Europe. The company offers PegaRULES Process Commander, which provides a platform to build, deploy, and change enterprise applications; purpose or industry-specific solution frameworks that enable organizations to implement new customer-facing practices and processes, and provide customized or specialized processing to meet the needs of different customers, departments, geographies, or regulatory requirements; and Pega customer relationship management software to automate customer service inquiries and marketing, and apply analytics to predict and adapt customer service processes. It also offers Pega decision management products, which include Pega Decision Strategy Manager and Next-Best-Action Advisor that support decision-making for offer management, risk, and other marketing and customer management solutions; and Pega Cloud, which enables customers to create and/or run Pega applications using an Internet-based infrastructure. In addition, the company provides implementation, consulting, training, and technical support services to its customers. The company markets its software and services primarily through its direct sales force to financial services organizations, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, communications and media organizations, and government agencies. Pegasystems Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Patricio Kehoe]
The firm is currently Zacks Rank # 3 - Hold, and it also has a longer-term recommendation of ��utperfom�� For investors looking for a Zacks Rank # 1 ��Strong Buy, Dealertrack Technologies Inc (TRAK), Open Text Corporation (OTEX), Pegasystems Inc. (PEGA) Solera Holdings (SLH) or Ultimate Software Group Inc. (ULTI) could be the options.
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Arrium Ltd (ARRMF)
Arrium Limited is an international mining and materials company. The Company�� principal activities are mining and supply of iron ore and other steelmaking raw materials to steel mills internationally and in Australia; the manufacture and supply of mining consumables products globally; the manufacture and distribution of steel long products and recycling of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal. Its key businesses include Mining, Mining Consumables, Steel and Recycling. Arrium Mining is an exporter of hematite ore with operations in South Australia. Arrium Mining also supplies pelletised magnetite iron ore and some hematite lump iron ore to the Company�� integrated steelworks. Arrium Mining Consumables supplies resource companies with a range of key mining consumables, including grinding media, wire ropes and rail wheels. Arrium�� integrated Steel and Recycling include OneSteel Manufacturing, long products steel manufacturing business, and OneSteel Distribution. Advisors' Opinion:- [By MARKETWATCH]
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks rose modestly in early Tuesday trade, with the market reacting to a mixed batch of earnings. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) added 0.2% to 5,391.80, with BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) rising 1.7% after its July-December profit almost doubled from a year earlier, beating forecasts. However, smaller rival Arrium Ltd. (AU:ARI) (ARRMF) added 2.5% after reporting a swing back to profit. Other miners got a bump up from rising commodity prices, as Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) gained 2.3% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) added 1.2%, though Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) slipped 0.4%. Shares of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. (AU:CCL) (CCLAF) slumped 5.1% after the drinks firm saw a more than 80% drop in 2013 profit, weighed by a writedown on its fruit-processing business. Packaging firm Amcor Ltd. (AU:AMC) (AMCRF) lost 4.6% after its fiscal-first-half profit fell by about a third.
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income ETF (CVY)
The Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income ETF (the Fund), formerly Claymore/Zacks Multi-Asset Income Index ETF, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance of an equity index called the Zacks Multi-Asset Income Index (the Index). The Index consists of approximately 125 to 150 securities selected, based on investment and other criteria, from a universe of domestic and international companies. The universe of securities within the Index includes United States-listed common stocks, American depositary receipts (ADRs) paying dividends, real estate investment trusts, master limited partnerships, closed-end funds and traditional preferred stocks. The companies in the universe are selected using a methodology developed by the index provider, Zacks Investment Research, Inc. The Fund, using a passive or indexing investment approach, seeks to replicate the performance of the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Claymore Advisors, LLC. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Genia Turanova]
Moreover, investors can do one-stop shopping for most income classes through a single ETF as well. One interesting choice here is Guggenheim Multi-Asset Income (CVY).
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Telecom Italia SpA (TIT)
Telecom Italia SpA is an Italy-based company engaged in the communications sector. It operates in the fixed and mobile national and international telecommunications sector. Its activities are divided into five business units. The Domestic unit provides telephone and data services on fixed line and mobile networks for retail voice customers and wholesale operators, as well as develop fiber optic networks. The Brazil unit offers mobile services using Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies. The Argentina unit operates in fixed telecommunications through Telecom Argentina and in mobile telecommunications through Telecom Personal, and in Paraguay it operates in mobile telecommunications through Nucleo. The Media unit produces of multimedia music platforms, satellite channels and television broadcasting platforms. The Olivetti unit operates in the sector of office products and services for Information Technology. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tom Stoukas]
Telecom Italia SpA (TIT), Italy�� biggest telephone company, added 3.9 percent to 55 euro cents. A gauge of telecommunications operators climbed 2.8 percent. BT Group Plc, the biggest fixed-line phone company in the U.K., increased 4 percent to 338.2 pence.
- [By Tom Stoukas]
Telecom Italia SpA (TIT) rose 5.2 percent to 61 euro cents amid speculation Chief Executive Officer Franco Bernabe will resign. Bernabe plans to tell the board at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 3 that he�� ready to step down after losing the backing of Telco SpA, the Telefonica SA-led holding company that owns 22.4 percent of the carrier, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.
- [By Amy Thomson]
Vodafone�� cash pile alone, including the Verizon Wireless proceeds, would be worth more than the combined market capitalization of France�� Orange, at $27 billion, and Telecom Italia SpA (TIT), at almost $12 billion. Liberty Global, which has cable operations in countries including Germany and the Netherlands, is valued at about $30 billion.
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: Dynavax Technologies Corporation(DVAX)
Dynavax Technologies Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops novel products to prevent and treat infectious diseases. The company's lead product candidate includes HEPLISAV, a Phase 3 investigational adult hepatitis B vaccine designed to provide protection with fewer doses than current licensed vaccines. It also develops Universal Flu vaccine, a Phase 1b clinical trial vaccine for influenza prevention; SD-101, a Phase Ib clinical trial hepatitis C therapy; DV-601, a Phase Ib clinical trial hepatitis B therapy; AZD1419, a preclinical asthma therapy; and DV1179, a Phase 1 trial autoimmune and inflammatory disease therapy. Dynavax Technologies Corporation has strategic alliance with GlaxoSmithKline plc to discover, develop, and commercialize DV1179 and other endosomal toll-like receptor inhibitors for diseases, such as lupus, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis; and develop a TLR8 inhibitor for the treatment of multiple autoimmune and i nflammatory diseases, as well as has research and license agreement with AstraZeneca to discover and develop TLR9 agonist-based therapies for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Berkeley, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Keith Speights]
Dynavax (NASDAQ: DVAX ) is a good case in point. The company's Heplisav hepatitis B vaccine looked good in clinical trials when compared to the leading vaccine on the market. Dynavax thought that the safety profile for Heplisav also compared favorably. The Food and Drug Administration even told the company that it could expand its Biologic License Application, or BLA, to include a wider age range of adults than originally planned.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Finally, Westfield's biggest closed positions included Ralcorp and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Other closed positions of interest include Dynavax (NASDAQ: DVAX ) and JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU ) . Dynavax shares fell sharply upon an FDA rejection of its hepatitis B vaccine Heplisav. The FDA left open the possibility of a more limited approval, but Dynavax now has more work to do, and it's burning cash while its revenue has been shrinking. Fortunately, it does seem to have have ample cash�to keep it afloat for a few years. Investors are right to worry about share dilution, too. Dynavax has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline�on Heplisav, and its new CEO hails from GlaxoSmithKline as well.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Another under-$10 bio therapeutic player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Dynavax Technologies (DVAX), which discovers and develops novel products to prevent and treat infectious and inflammatory diseases. This stock has been hit hard by the sellers so far in 2013, with shares off sharply by 55%.
If you take a look at the chart for Dynavax Technologies, you'll notice that this stock has been trending inside of a big range for the last three months and change, with shares moving between $1.10 on the downside and $1.46 on the upside. This large consolidation pattern for DVAX could mean that this stock is under accumulation by the bulls, since the bears have been unable to push the stock out of this range and take it to new lows. Shares of DVAX are now starting to spike back above its 50-day moving average of $1.25 a share with decent upside volume. Volume so far on Thursday has already registered 1.6 million shares versus its three-month average action or 1.81 million shares. This move is starting to push DVAX within range of triggering a major breakout trade.
Market players should now look for long-biased trades in DVAX if it manages to break out above some key overhead resistance levels at $1.29 to $1.32 a share, and then once it takes out more resistance at $1.46 to $1.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that registers near or above its three-month average action of 1.81 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then DVAX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at $1.70 a share. Any high-volume move above $1.70 a share will then give DVAX a chance to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone from June that started at $2.60 a share.
Traders can look to buy DVAX off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $1.10 a sha
Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy Right Now: MiMedx Group Inc (MDXG)
MiMedx Group, Inc. (MiMedx), incorporated on February 28, 2008, is an integrated developer, manufacturer and marketer of regenerative biomaterial products processed from human amniotic membrane. The Company�� biomaterial platform technologies include the device technologies HydroFix and CollaFix, and tissue technologies, AmnioFix and EpiFix. Its tissue technologies are processed from human amniotic membrane that is derived from the donated placentas. Through the Company�� donor program, mothers delivering full-term caesarian births can elect in advance of delivery to donate the placenta in lieu of having it discarded as medical waste. MiMedx processes the human amniotic membrane utilizing its Purion Process to produce a manipulated implant for homologous use. MiMedx is the supplier of amniotic tissue, having supplied over 100,000 implants to distributors and other equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for application in the Wound Care, Surgical, Sports Medicine, Ophthalmic and Dental sectors of healthcare.
The Company has three platform technologies. Its largest addressable market is in chronic wound care consisting of diabetic, venous and pressure ulcers. On January 5, 2011, the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity interests in Surgical Biologics, LLC. Located in Kennesaw, Georgia, Surgical Biologics develops allografts and other products processed from human amniotic membrane that can be used for a range of medical applications, including ocular surface repair, gum repair, wound care, nerve and tendon repair, spine repair, burn treatment, and many other types of procedures that require the repair of a patient�� integumental (native) tissue. Surgical Biologics has developed a specialized process for the processing of amniotic membrane to produce a manipulated allograft for homologous use.
AmnioFix and EpiFix
MiMedx is the supplier of allografts processed from amniotic tissue, having supplied over 70,000 allografts to date for application in the Ophthalm! ic, Orthopedic, Dental, Spinal and Wound Care segments of healthcare. Its amnion products, AmnioFix and EpiFix, are processed from human tissue. The AmnioFix and EpiFix allografts can be used for a range of procedures, including ocular surface repair, gingival recession repair, wound care, burns, and many other types of procedures for the repair of a patient�� integumental (native) tissue. Its AmnioFix technology also is used as a graft to reduce the amount of scar tissue formation, provide a local anti-inflammatory and help with the soft tissue healing of the area. EpiFix offers a range of wound healing and wound care options. Much of the clinical usage of EpiFix has been for wound care patients suffering from diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers, vein circulation ulcers, or artery circulation ulcers.
CollaFix
The Company�� CollaFix technology combines a means of creating fibers from soluble collagen and a specialized cross-linking process. MiMedx utilizes two separate cross-linking technologies for various applications. Initial laboratory and animal testing shows that the cross-linked collagen fibers produce a biocompatible, and durable construct that can be transformed into surgical meshes intended to treat a number of orthopedic soft-tissue trauma and disease disorders.
HydroFix
The Company licenses rights to a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer, which is a water-based biomaterial that can be manufactured with a range of mechanical properties, including those that appear to mimic closely the mechanical and physical properties of natural, healthy human tissue. This hydrogel has been used in other orthopedic and general surgery device applications, and it has demonstrated biocompatibility and durability inside the human body. It has a similar version of the product for the European market called HydroFix Spine Shield. The device is classified as a post-surgical adhesion inhibiting barrier and is used in specific spine surgeries. In December the original! HydroFix! Spine Shield (for Anterior use Class IIb in Europe) was renamed to be HydroFix Anterior Shield.
The Company competes with W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. and Stryker.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
What: Shares of MiMedx Group (NASDAQ: MDXG ) , a manufacturer of patented regenerative biomaterial products (in essence, products designed to treat inflammation and help wounds heal), were eviscerated, falling as much as 70% at one point before recovering half of its losses after it announced the receipt of an untitled letter from the Food and Drug Administration alleging it does not possess the proper licensing to manufacture certain products.
- [By Rich Smith]
MiMedx Group (NASDAQ: MDXG ) ,�announced�Monday that results from a randomized controlled trial for its EpiFix wound-care allograft have been published in the International Wound Journal.�
The clinical trial included patients with diabetic foot ulcers of at least four weeks' duration without infection, having adequate blood supply. Patients were broken into two groups, one receiving standard care alone, the other standard care plus EpiFix. After four and six weeks of treatment, the overall healing rate of patients treated with EpiFix was 77% and 92%, respectively, whereas standard care healed 0% and 8% of the wounds, respectively. The rate of healing with EpiFix exceeded that of standard treatment as well.
According to the World Health Organization, diabetes will affect 366 million people worldwide -- up from 171 million in 2000.�Approximately 25% of diabetics will develop a chronic non-healing ulcer over their lifetime.�Diabetic foot ulcers�occur in 15% of all patients with diabetes and precede 84% of all lower leg amputations.
EpiFix makes use of dehydrated human amniotic membrane to heal these ulcers. At room�temperature, EpiFix can have a shelf life of five years and retains the properties of the natural membrane.�Although there are similar, competing products on the market, the superior performance of�EpiFix compared with rival products (not yet proven by published studies) could help to make the company a market leader in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. - [By Bryan Murphy]
It may not be as big as NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVA), and it might not be as sexy as MiMedx Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MDXG). But, Bacterin International Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT:BONE) offers something to investors that MDXG and NUVA don't - can't - right now... a distinct opportunity for a lot of upside in a short amount of time.