Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now

Given that you clicked on this article, it seems safe to assume you either own stock in First Niagara Financial (NASDAQ: FNFG  ) or are considering buying shares in the near future. If so, then you've come to the right place. The table below reveals the nine most critical numbers investors need to know about First Niagara Financial stock before deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold it.

But before getting to that, a brief introduction is in order. First Niagara traces its roots back to 1870 with the founding of Farmers and Mechanics' Savings Bank. In the intervening years, it's grown into one of the largest regional banks in the Northeastern United States. While it did so, according to Wikipedia, through "the recruitment of new customers, as opposed to the purchase of other firms' assets," the same can't be said of the bank's growth in the time since the financial crisis. The Buffalo, New York-based bank has completed multiple acquisitions over the last five years, culminating in the recent and anticlimactic departure of its now-former CEO John Koelmel. At present, First Niagara has $37 billion in assets and 360 branches in four Northeastern states.

Best European Companies To Buy For 2015: InterMune Inc.(ITMN)

InterMune, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and commercialization of therapies in pulmonology and fibrotic diseases. In pulmonology, the company focuses on therapies for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive and fatal lung disease. It markets pirfenidone, an orally active drug that inhibits the synthesis of TGF-beta under the Esbriet name in the European Union, as well as in a Phase III clinical trial in the United States. Pirfenidone is also approved for the treatment of IPF in Japan, where it is marketed by Shionogi & Co. Ltd. under the Pirespa trade name. The company?s research programs focus on the discovery of small-molecule therapeutics and biomarkers to treat and monitor serious pulmonary and fibrotic diseases. InterMune, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Brisbane, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    What: Shares of biotechnology company Intermune (NASDAQ: ITMN  ) surged 13% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: SPDR EURO STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ)

SPDR DJ Euro Stoxx 50 ETF (the Fund), formerly DJ Euro Stoxx 50 ETF, seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield of the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index (the Index). The Index seeks to provide a blue-chip representation of the market sector leaders in the Eurozone. The Index represents the performance of the 50 largest companies within the Eurozone portion of the Dow Jones STOXX Total Market Index. The Index is a free-float market capitalization weighted index that captures approximately 60% of the underlying market and covers approximately 95% of the free-float market capitalization of the investable universe in the Eurozone.

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

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chris Ciovacco]

    In Thursday's ETF analysis, evidence is presented that supports increasing demand for assets that get a tailwind from a weak U.S. dollar, including emerging markets (EEM) and foreign stocks (EFA). Casting a wider economic net, our market model told us to start buying stocks last week even with the threat of a U.S. default. Wednesday, we continued with our incremental allocation shifts by adding some exposure to the energy sector. Thursday, we sat tight holding long positions in small caps (IJR), Europe (FEZ), emerging markets and technology (QQQ). The upper bounds of the bullish S&P 500 trend channel shown below may offer some resistance to the market's near vertical ascent.

  • [By Tom Aspray]

    The news out of the Eurozone continues to improve as their Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.7 in August consistent with an expanding economy. The chart shows a nice trend here suggesting that the worst by indeed be over. A deeper pullback in some of the euro ETFs like SPDR Euro STOXX 50 ETF (FEZ) should create a buying opportunity.

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: Tremor Video Inc (TRMR)

Tremor Video, Inc.( Tremor Video), incorporated on November 22, 2005, is a provider of technology-driven video advertising solutions enabling brand advertisers to engage consumers across multiple Internet-connected devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets and connected televisions. The Company�� clients include brand advertisers globally, including automakers and consumer packaged goods companies. The Company�� technology, VideoHub, analyzes in-stream video content, detects viewer and system attributes, and leverages its repository of stored data to optimize video ad campaigns for brand-centric metrics. VideoHub also provides advertisers and agencies with analytics and measurement tools enabling them to understand why, when and where viewers engage with their video ads.

VideoHub

VideoHub powers the Company�� video advertising solutions. Through VideoHub it delivers brand-centric key performance indicators, distinct signals to drive optimization, brand-centric optimization, in-stream video analysis and categorization, ad performance transparency, ad placement transparency, and cross site and channel measurement.

The Company has a range of brand-centric key performance indicators (KPIs), such as engagement (that is, the interaction of a viewer with a video ad), brand lift (that is, a positive shift in preference towards a brand or branded product driven by exposure to a video ad and brand education), and time spent (that is, the amount of time a viewer spends with a video ad), which are tailored to the needs of brand advertisers. Throughout a campaign VideoHub analyzes and stores data for all KPIs in its suite. Using a training algorithm, VideoHub trains a series of statistical predictive models to build a decision tree, which predicts performance of the video ad campaign for the chosen KPI.

VideoHub performs an analysis on every video stream and categorizes it among one of approximately 72 video content categories. It also has the ab! ility to scan and categorize content by analyzing the audio track and certain visual elements. VideoHub offers advertisers transparency into the workings of its decision tree. VideoHub tracks the number of impressions served to a specific publisher site and whether a video ad placement is fully, partially or not visible to a viewer, which it refer to as viewability.

The Company�� metric, eQ score+, allows advertisers to compare video inventory quality across different publisher sites by measuring attributes such as viewability, the size of the video player and ad completion rate. When coupled with pricing information, these insights help advertisers compare the relative value of video inventory across publishers.

Tremor Video Network

The Tremor Video Network offers advertisers access to video inventory at scale across multiple devices in brand safe environments. Through the Tremor Video Network it delivers scale and reach across multiple devices, premium video content, brand safety, in-stream video focus, advanced ad formats, and pricing models. The Tremor Video Network delivers scale and reach across multiple Internet-connected devices, including computers, smartphones, tablets and connected television, enabling its clients to use its solutions to address their online video advertising needs across these devices.

The Company�� technology scans and categorizes every video within the Tremor Video Network and prevents video ads from being served within content, which is identified as objectionable for the brand advertiser, including content which contains accidents, distasteful or obscene language, substance abuse, violence, gambling, sex or crime. It specializes in delivering in-stream video advertisements, which can be served to viewers prior to or during the publisher's content when they are the most engaged.

The Company�� ad formats include Super Pre-Roll, Pre-Roll Plus and Pre-Roll Extended Play. The Company offers brand perform! ance-base! d pricing models for in-stream video advertisements, which are tied to the effectiveness of the Tremor Video Network, as advertisers using these models pay the Company only if their video ad campaigns perform.

VideoHub for Advertisers (VHA)

The Company is licensing VHA, a software platform, which client access through a Web portal. By licensing VHA, advertisers and their agencies can use VHA across the entirety of their video ad buys, including on publisher sites. In order to analyze video ad campaigns running outside the Tremor Video Network, VideoHub generates a tracking code which is associated with the video ad unit that the advertiser or agency wishes to analyze through VHA. Advertisers and agencies can then access VideoHub's advanced analysis of this data through VHA in order to gain valuable insights into campaign performance, including the performance of the campaign on a particular publisher's site.

The Company competes with Hulu, LLC, Google Inc., BrightRoll, Inc., YuMe, Inc., CBS, CNN, ESPN, Adap.tv, Inc., Videology, Inc., Facebook, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Yahoo! Inc. and Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Yesterday, small cap advertising solutions stock�Rocket Fuel Inc (NASDAQ: FUEL) jumped 13.55% while peer Tremor Video Inc (NYSE: TRMR) rose 8.24%. So what is going on with these two small caps and which one might be the better deal?

  • [By Helix Investment Research]

    We note that Keating Capital's co-investors in many of its portfolio companies are not simply other venture capital or existing investors, but strategic investors as well. Examples include Agilyx, where Waste Management (WM) is a co-investor, BrightSource, where Chevron (CVX) and BP (BP) are co-investors, Kabam, where Google (GOOG) and Intel (INTC) are co-investors, or Tremor Video (TRMR), where Time Warner (TWX) is a co-investor. As of the end of Q2 2013, 9 (excluding Jumptap) of Keating Capital's portfolio companies had unrealized gains, with an average gain of 25.6% (again excluding Jumptap, which had unrealized gains of 8% as of the end of Q2 2013). The remaining 6 companies had an average loss of 44.46%. However, on an overall basis, Keating Capital's portfolio currently has an average unrealized gain of 2.15%. While this is not a large gain, we note that the bulk of Keating Capital's profits are realized upon exiting an investment in conjunction with the portfolio company's IPO or sale. Furthermore, portions of Keating Capital's portfolio are defended by structurally protected appreciation clauses that the company has struck with its portfolio companies, clauses that are not reflected on its balance sheet. These clauses, which are negotiated between Keating Capital and its portfolio companies, allow the company to receive shares in the portfolio company's IPO at a discount, or grant it warrants to purchase additional shares in an IPO for a nominal price. Since inception, Keating Capital has negotiated structurally protected appreciation clauses in 11 of the 20 companies it has invested in. As of the end of Q2 2013, 6 of Keating Capital's 15 portfolio companies were protected by structurally protected appreciation clauses, representing $22 million in total capital (almost 43% of the company's invested capital), thereby entitling Keating Capital to a weighted-average aggregate value of 1.9x its investment at the time of an IPO.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Small cap video technology stocks Envivio Inc (NASDAQ: ENVI), Ku6 Media Co Ltd (NASDAQ: KUTV) and Tremor Video Inc (NYSE: TRMR) made some interesting moves today and in recent days or months���meaning its worth taking a closer look at all three to see if there might be opportunities for traders and investors alike:

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Invest In Right Now: Arkema SA (AKE)

Arkema SA is a France-based company which specializes in the manufacture and marketing of chemical products. The Company operates through its two business segments: Industrial Chemicals and Performance Products. The Industrial Chemicals division offers the production of acrylics, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), hydrogen peroxide, fluorochemicals and thiochemicals, and includes such brands as Forane, Albone, Norsocryl, Altuglas and Sarbio. The Performance Products include the production of technical polymers, specialty chemicals and functional additives. The Company's products are used in the construction, automotive and transportation, health, electrical and electronics, agricultural and packaging industries, among others. In April 2013, it acquired a majority stake in AEC Polymers. In October 2013, it inaugurated the new Sumitomo Seika superabsorbent plant on the Carling site, which makes the overall superabsorbent production capacity of the Carling facility up to 47,000 ton/year. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    Arkema SA (AKE) added 4.7 percent to 83.93 euros. UBS AG raised its rating on the French chemicals maker to a buy from neutral, saying the stock is undervalued. The firm also boosted its price target to 100 euros from 80 euros.

No comments:

Post a Comment