Top 5 Heal Care Stocks To Invest In Right Now

 

Check out this week’s Danger Zone Interview with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life and MarketWatch.com.

Regulators are cracking down on the financial sector. As they dole out punishments that fit the crimes, regulators are finally closing many of the illegal trading loopholes that have driven so much of Wall Street profits over the past decade. A side-effect of these changes is that investors are beginning to abandon the crowded momentum trading strategies to which they’ve grown so accustomed and return to good old-fashioned value investing.

Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement

Last week, the Department of Justice reached a landmark settlement with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) that results in the bank paying $13 billion for wrongdoing and misrepresentation before and during the financial crisis. More importantly, JPM admitted guilt, which may open it up to more class action lawsuits and fines.

Both the scale of the fine and the admission of wrongdoing would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. In 2010, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) received a penalty of only $550 million for similar charges, and it escaped without admitting or denying the allegations. In 2011, Citigroup (NYSE: C) was set to settle with the SEC for only $285 million and no admission of wrongdoing until a federal judge rejected the deal.

Top Companies To Buy Right Now: Sector Spdr Trust Sbi (XLI)

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Industrial Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes companies from industries, such as aerospace and defense, building products, construction and engineering, electrical equipment, conglomerates, machinery, commercial services and supplies.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  GE has gained 9.5% this year after falling 0.7% to $22.98 today, well behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s (SPY) 15% gain and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR’s (XLI) 17% rise. United Technologies (UTX) has risen 25% this year, while 3M (MMM) has advanced 22%.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The selling today has being driven by the industrial sector–the Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) has dropped 1.5% to $45.79–and defense stocks are getting hammered. Textron (TXT) has fallen 3% to $26.82, while Northrop Grumman (NOC) has declined 2.5% to $92.82. Not a surprise as reports of government contracts being held up and orders delayed make the rounds.

• [By L.A. Little]

  That leaves just the S&P 500 as the lone survivor of the slow meltdown, yet if one looks to the sectors that comprise the S&P 500, you would be hard pressed to find anything that looks able to push it higher. Of the three major sectors, the Industrial sector (XLI) �has come off the highs with volume expansion; has failed to regenerate higher; and has its own set of twin swing-point lows clustered just below current price.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks To Invest In Right Now: iShares Cohen & Steers REIT ETF (ICF)

iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index (the Index). The Index consists of selected real estate investment trusts (REITs). The objective of the Index is to represent relatively large and liquid REITs that may benefit from future consolidation and securitization of the United States real estate industry. The Index is modified capitalization-weighted with constituent companies having a maximum index weight of 8%.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. Barclays Global Fund Advisors is the investment advisor of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew McCall]

  The SPDR Utilities ETF (NYSE: XLU) is up 1.5 percent today and is breaking to a one-month high. The iShares Cohen & Steers Realty ETF (NYSE: ICF), which owns a basket of REITs, is up 1.1 percent, also looking for a one-month high.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rakuten Inc (RKUNF)

Rakuten Inc. is mainly engaged in the electronic commerce (EC) business and Internet-related businesses. The Internet Service segment operates Internet shopping mall Rakuten Ichiba, EC sites, travel reservation sites, portal sites, digital books, as well as sells advertisements and contents on these sites. The Internet Finance segment provides banking and securities services, credit cards related services, life insurance and electronic money services through Internets. The Others segment provides communication services and operates baseball teams. On March 27, 2013, the Company announced the completion of the acquisition of AIRIO, a life insurance company. On March 28, 2013, the Company acquired additional 61.29% stake of Stylife Corp. On October 15, 2013, the Company announced that it had acquired Spotlight Inc. On January 1, 2014, it transferred its online mall business Rakuten 24 to Kenko.com Inc. On February 3, 2014, it acquired the entire share capital of VI-VI-VI.COM Co., Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks rose in early Monday trading, with weaker-than-expected trade data pushing the yen lower, which in turn helped some export stocks. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) added 1% to 14,704.36, with the broader Topix up 0.8%, also enjoying support from gains Friday in the U.S. After data showing exports grew less than analysts had projected, the dollar (USDJPY) moved back above the 98-yen level, sending some exporters climbing, with a 2.2% rise for Fujitsu Ltd. (JP:6702) (FJTSY) , a 1.2% improvement for Alps Electric Co. (JP:6770) , and a 1% bump for Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) . Shares of Suzuki Motor Corp. (JP:7269) (SZKMF) added 2.9% after a Nikkei report saying the company would record its highest-ever operating profit for the April-September half. Retailers were also a strong spot Monday, with J. Front Retailing Co. (JP:3086) up 2%, online marketplace Rakuten Inc. (JP:4755) (RKUNF) adding 2.4%, and 7-Eleven operator Seven & I Holdings Co. (JP:3382) (SVNDF) ahead by 1.4%.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks slipped early Monday, with the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) down 0.1% at 14,298.17, and the Topix dropping 0.4%. Singapore-traded lead futures for the Nikkei Average had suggested a 0.8% gain for the index, but the indicator fell after the Cabinet Office reported fourth-quarter economic growth of 0.3%, flat from the previous quarter and below expectations in separate Reuters and Wall Street Journal/Nikkei surveys. The disappointing economic data also pushed the yen higher, weighing on some exporters, with Panasonic Corp. (JP:6752) (PCRFF) down 1.8%, NEC Corp. (JP:6701) (NIPNF) off 1.3%, and Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) down 0.7% after S&P downgraded the firm's credit rating to BBB- from BBB with a negative outlook. Shares of Internet retailer Rakuten Inc. (JP:4755) (RKUNF) dropped 12% after announcing plans to buy online messaging and telecom firm Viber Media Inc. for $900 million as well as posting below-consensus full-year profit. Banks were broadly lower, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (JP:8411) (MFG) off 1% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (JP:8316) (SMFG) off 1.1%, though Daiwa Securities Group Inc. (JP:8601)

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Rudolph Technologies Inc.(RTEC)

Rudolph Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells process control defect inspection, metrology, and process control software systems to microelectronics device manufacturers. The company provides yield management solutions for use in wafer processing and final manufacturing through a range of standalone systems for macro-defect inspection, test systems, and transparent and opaque thin film measurements. It also offers a range of process control software solutions for semiconductor, solar, and LED manufacturing. It provides products for various applications in the areas of macro-defect detection and classification, diffusion, etch, lithography, CVD, PVD, and CMP. The company sells its products and solutions to logic, memory, data storage, and application-specific integrated circuit device manufacturers. It sells its products in the United States, Taiwan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. The company was founded in 1940 and is based in Fla nders, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Orbotech (ORBK) and Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) Sizable Net-Nets in the AOI Sector

  As noted previously, I rode the elevator up and then back down on Camtek (CAMT), a tiny Israeli automated optical inspection (AOI) company. By late 2008 the company had fallen to below $1 per share. Both of Camtek�� larger rivals, RTEC and ORBK, had dropped to absurdly low levels by November 2008. I used the opportunity to switch out of CAMT and some of my other losing propositions in favor of these superior companies. In the process, I created a large amount of tax loss carry-forwards which would allow me to minimize my future taxation when I decided to sell these cyclical entities.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Rudolph Technologies (Nasdaq: RTEC  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Rudolph Technologies doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue increased 17.6%, and inventory increased 32.2%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks potentially problematic. Revenue dropped 8.9%, and inventory grew 32.2%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks worrisome. Revenue dropped 23.3%, and inventory grew 10.8%.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Rudolph Technologies (Nasdaq: RTEC  ) .