LONDON --�Question 1: What was the third region, along with the U.K. and U.S., which�Barclays'� (LSE: BARC ) (NYSE: BCS ) CEO Antony Jenkins identified as the focus for investment in his recent strategic review?
Question 2: In what region is�Standard Chartered� (LSE: STAN ) planning to double its revenues in the next five years?
There are no prizes for guessing that the answer is Africa, but the questions highlight how significant the region could become. Natural resources, a burgeoning and increasingly wealthy population, and massive Chinese investment are great attractions, but in a difficult and notoriously corrupt continent, it's safer to invest through companies doing business there. Banking is especially well-placed to benefit from economic development.
Barclays
Last year, Barclays folded its directly owned African operations into its Johannesburg stock exchange-listed subsidiary Absa bank, now renamed Barclays Africa. As a result, Barclays' interest rose to 62%. A unified ownership and operational structure will help expansion in the continent.
Top Low Price Companies To Invest In Right Now: US Tungsten Corp (USTU)
US Tungsten Corp., formerly Stealth Resources Inc., incorporated on January 10, 2007, is an exploration-stage company. As of October 5, 2012, the Company had begun investigating tungsten opportunities. In September 2013, US Tungsten Corporation completed the registration and acquisition of 64 mineral claims located in Beaverhead, Montana.
On August 21, 2012, the Company acquired an option to acquire a 100% interest in three mineral claims known as the Calvert Property, located in Calvert, Montana (the Property). As of October 5, 2012, the Company had no operating revenues.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap mining stocks US Tungsten Corp (OTCMKTS: USTU) and LKA Gold Inc (OTCMKTS: LKAI) along with biotech Entest BioMedical Inc (OTCMKTS: ENTB) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters with at least one of these stocks being the subject of paid promotions while another could soon be the subject of an investor relations campaign. But will any of these small cap stocks be winners for investors or traders? Here is a quick reality check:
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP)
CenterPoint Energy, Inc., incorporated on February 2, 2001, is a domestic energy delivery company. The Company�� business segments include Electric Transmission and Distribution, Natural Gas Distribution, Competitive Natural Gas Sales and Services, Interstate Pipelines, Field Services and Other Operations. The Company serves metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. The company also owns a 58.3% interest in a midstream partnership it jointly controls with OGE Energy Corp. with operations in natural gas and liquids-rich producing areas of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The Company is a public utility holding company. The Company�� indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries include CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC (CenterPoint Houston), which engages in the electric transmission and distribution business in a 5,000-square mile area of the Texas Gulf Coast that includes the city of Houston and CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. (CERC Corp. and, together with its subsidiaries, CERC), which owns and operates natural gas distribution systems in six states. Subsidiaries of CERC Corp. own interstate natural gas pipelines and gas gathering systems and provide various ancillary services. A wholly owned subsidiary of CERC Corp. offers variable and fixed-price physical natural gas supplies primarily to commercial and industrial customers and electric and gas utilities.
Electric Transmission & Distribution
CenterPoint Houston is a transmission and distribution electric utility that operates wholly within the state of Texas. CenterPoint Houston delivers electricity from power plants to substations, from one substation to another and to retail electric customers taking power at or above 69 kilovolts in locations throughout CenterPoint Houston's certificated service territory. CenterPoint Houston constructs and maintains transmission facilities and provides transmission services under tariffs approved by the Pu! blic Utility Commission of Texas (Texas Utility Commission).
In the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT), end users purchase their electricity directly from certificated REPs. CenterPoint Houston delivers electricity for REPs in its certificated service area by carrying lower-voltage power from the substation to the retail electric customer. CenterPoint Houston's distribution network receives electricity from the transmission grid through power distribution substations and delivers electricity to end users through distribution feeders. CenterPoint Houston's operations include construction and maintenance of distribution facilities, metering services, outage response services and call center operations. CenterPoint Houston provides distribution services under tariffs approved by the Texas Utility Commission. Texas Utility Commission rules and market protocols govern the commercial operations of distribution companies and other market participants.
CenterPoint Houston is a member of ERCOT. Within ERCOT, prices for wholesale generation and retail electric sales are unregulated, but services provided by transmission and distribution companies, such as CenterPoint Houston, are regulated by the Texas Utility Commission. ERCOT serves as the regional reliability coordinating council for member electric power systems in of Texas. ERCOT membership is open to consumer groups, investor and municipally-owned electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives, independent generators, power marketers, river authorities and REPs. The ERCOT market includes of the State of Texas, other than a portion of the panhandle, portions of the eastern part of the state bordering Arkansas and Louisiana and the area in and around El Paso.
ERCOT market operates under the reliability standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). These reliability standards are administered by the Texas Regi! onal Enti! ty (TRE), a functionally independent division of ERCOT. The Texas Utility Commission has primary jurisdiction over the ERCOT market to ensure the adequacy and reliability of electricity supply across the state's main interconnected power transmission grid. The ERCOT independent system operator (ERCOT ISO) is responsible for operating the bulk electric power supply system in the ERCOT market. The ERCOT ISO also serves as agent for procuring ancillary services for those members who elect not to provide their own ancillary services.
CenterPoint Houston's electric transmission business, along with those of other owners of transmission facilities in Texas, supports the operation of the ERCOT ISO. The transmission business has planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance responsibility for the portion of the transmission grid and for the load-serving substations it owns, primarily within its certificated area. CenterPoint Houston participates with the ERCOT ISO and other ERCOT utilities to plan, design, obtain regulatory approval for and construct new transmission lines necessary to increase bulk power transfer capability and to remove existing constraints on the ERCOT transmission grid.
CenterPoint Houston's integrated utility business was restructured in accordance with the Texas electric restructuring law and its generating stations were sold to third parties. CenterPoint Houston serves nearly all of the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. At December 31, 2012, CenterPoint Houston's customers consisted of approximately 75 REPs, which sell electricity to over two million metered customers in CenterPoint Houston's certificated service area, and municipalities, electric cooperatives and other distribution companies located outside CenterPoint Houston's certificated service area. All of CenterPoint Houston's properties are located in Texas. Its properties consist primarily of high-voltage electric transmission lines and poles, distribution lines, substations, service ce! nters, se! rvice wires and meters.
As of December 31, 2012, CenterPoint Houston owned 28,011 pole miles of overhead distribution lines and 3,713 circuit miles of overhead transmission lines, including 373 circuit miles operated at 69,000 volts, 2,124 circuit miles operated at 138,000 volts and 1,216 circuit miles operated at 345,000 volts. As of December 31, 2012, CenterPoint Houston owned 21,151 circuit miles of underground distribution lines and 26 circuit miles of underground transmission lines, including two circuit miles operated at 69,000 volts and 24 circuit miles operated at 138,000 volts. As of December 31, 2012, CenterPoint Houston owned 233 substation sites having a total installed rated transformer capacity of 54,325 megavolt amperes. CenterPoint Houston operates 14 regional service centers located on a total of 291 acres of land. These service centers consist of office buildings, warehouses and repair facilities that are used in the business of transmitting and distributing electricity.
Natural Gas Distribution
CERC Corp.'s natural gas distribution business (Gas Operations) engages in regulated intrastate natural gas sales to, and natural gas transportation for, approximately 3.3 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. The largest metropolitan areas served in each state by Gas Operations are Houston, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Little Rock, Arkansas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Lawton, Oklahoma. Gas Operations also provides unregulated services in Minnesota consisting of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment and appliance repair, and sales of HVAC, hearth and water heating equipment. Gas Operations actively engages in commodity price stabilization pursuant to annual gas supply plans presented to and/or filed with each of its state regulatory authorities. Gas Operations uses various third-party storage services or owned natural ga! s storage! facilities to meet peak-day requirements and to manage the daily changes in demand due to changes in weather and may also supplement contracted supplies and storage from time to time with stored liquefied natural gas and propane-air plant production.
Gas Operations owns and operates an underground natural gas storage facility with a capacity of seven billion cubic feet It has a working capacity of two billion cubic feet available for use during a normal heating season and a maximum daily withdrawal rate of 50 million cubic feet . It also owns nine propane-air plants with a total production rate of 200,000 Dekatherms per day and on-site storage facilities for 12 million gallons of propane (one billion cubic feet natural gas equivalent). It owns a liquefied natural gas plant facility with a 12 million-gallon liquefied natural gas storage tank (one billion cubic feet natural gas equivalent) and a production rate of 72,000 Dekatherms per day. Gas Operations has entered into various asset management agreements associated with its utility distribution service in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. As of December 31, 2012, Gas Operations owned approximately 72,000 linear miles of natural gas distribution mains, varying in size from one-half inch to 24 inches in diameter. Generally, in each of the cities, towns and rural areas served by Gas Operations, it owns the underground gas mains and service lines, metering and regulating equipment located on customers' premises and the district regulating equipment necessary for pressure maintenance.
Interstate Pipelines
CERC's pipelines business operates interstate natural gas pipelines with gas transmission lines primarily located in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. CERC's interstate pipeline operations are primarily conducted by two wholly owned subsidiaries that provide gas transportation and storage services primarily to industrial customers and local distribution companies, includ! ing Cente! rPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company, LLC (CEGT) is an interstate pipeline that provides natural gas transportation, natural gas storage and pipeline services to customers principally in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas and includes the 1.9 billion cubic feet per day pipeline from Carthage, Texas to Perryville, Louisiana, which CEGT operates as a separate line with a fixed fuel rate, and CenterPoint Energy-Mississippi River Transmission, LLC (MRT) is an interstate pipeline that provides natural gas transportation, natural gas storage and pipeline services to customers principally in Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri. CenterPoint Southeastern Pipelines Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of CERC, owns a 50% interest in Southeast Supply Header, LLC (SESH). SESH owns a one billion cubic feet per day, 274-mile interstate pipeline that runs from the Perryville Hub in Louisiana to Coden, Alabama.
Field Services
CERC's field services business operates gas gathering, treating and processing facilities and also provides operating and technical services and remote data monitoring and communication services. CERC's field services operations are conducted by a wholly owned subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Field Services, LLC (CEFS), and subsidiaries of CEFS. CERC's field services business provides natural gas gathering and processing services for certain natural gas fields in the Mid-continent region of the United States that interconnect with CEGT's and MRT's pipelines, as well as other interstate and intrastate pipelines. As of December 31,2012, CERC's field services business gathered an average of approximately 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. In addition, CERC's field services business has the capacity available to treat up to 2.5 billion cubic feet per day and process 625 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. CEFS, through its ServiceStar operating division, provides remote data monitoring and communications services to affiliates and third parties. CERC's ! field ser! vices business owns and operates approximately 4,600 miles of gathering lines and processing plants that collect, treat and process natural gas primarily from three regions located in producing fields in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
Other Operations
The Company�� other operations business segment includes office buildings and other real estate. It is used in its business operations and other corporate operations that support all of its business operations.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Domestic energy delivery company CenterPoint Energy (CNP) raised its quarterly dividend 14.5% to 23.75 cents per share, payable on Mar. 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 14.
CNP Dividend Yield: 4.05% - [By Garrett Cook]
Utilities shares gained around 0.83 percent in today’s trading. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Consolidated Water Co (NASDAQ: CWCO), up 4.5 percent, CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP), up 2.4 percent.
- [By Sara Murphy]
Mircroturbines are an important distributed generation technology. CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP ) installed its first one in 2000, and now includes microturbines among its offerings to commercial customers. Indeed, CenterPoint is heavily invested in natural gas in general�and would be among the likely beneficiaries of broader natural gas adoption.
- [By Eric Volkman]
CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP ) is keeping true to its steady nature and maintaining its quarterly dividend policy. The company announced that it will distribute $0.2075 per share of its common stock on June 10 to shareholders of record as of May 16. This amount matches CenterPoint's previous payout, which was dispensed in February. Before that, the company distributed $0.2025 per share.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce(CM)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce provides various financial products, services, and advice to individual, small business, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. The company offers retail markets services comprising personal banking, business banking, and wealth management services, as well as investment management services to retail and institutional clients. It also provides wholesale banking services, including credit, capital markets, investment banking, merchant banking, and research products and services to government, institutional, corporate, and retail clients. The company provides its services through its branch network, automated bank machines, mobile banking, and online banking site. As of June 3, 2011, it operated approximately 1,100 branches and 4,000 automated bank machines in Canada. The company was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
NTIOF Rating: 7
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM)Dividend Yield: 4.4%
According to a report by TD Securities,�Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) generates 80% of its total loans in Canada, higher than any other major Canadian bank.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
It's easy for U.S. investors to paint Canadian banks with a single brush-stroke, as the differences in the banking system helped keep Bank of Montreal and its peers safer during the financial crisis five years ago. As Canada's housing market has kept rising even after the housing bust south of its border, however, investors have gotten increasingly concerned about the potential health of its banks, especially the largest ones. With downgrades for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM ) , Toronto-Dominion (NYSE: TD ) , and Bank of Montreal among a total of six banks in January, Moody's identified higher debt levels among Canadian consumers as driving potential risk for the economy.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: AAON Inc.(AAON)
AAON, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of air conditioning and heating equipment primarily in the United States and Canada. The company offers rooftop units, chillers, air-handling units, make-up air units, heat recovery units, condensing units, commercial self contained units, and coils. It serves the commercial and industrial new construction and replacement markets. AAON, Inc. sells its products through manufacturers representatives and internal sales force. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonas Elmerraji]
We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of small-cap HVAC firm Aaon (AAON). The biggest difference is that in AAON's case, the ascending triangle pattern is coming in at the top of this stock's recent price action, not at the bottom. That makes this a more textbook trade for September.
Another important difference is the fact that AAON hasn't triggered yet. Shares have been coiling below $26 resistance since the middle of the summer; a breakout above that $26 level is the indicator that it's time to buy. Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.
That resistance line at $26 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant -- a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.
Wait for that to happen before you put your money on this trade.
Top Dow Dividend Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Harsco Corp (HSC)
Harsco Corporation, incorporated on February 28, 1956, is a diversified, multinational provider of industrial services and engineered products serving global industries. The Company operates in four segments: Harsco Metals & Minerals, Harsco Infrastructure, Harsco Rail and Harsco Industrial. The Company's principal lines of business include outsourced, on-site services to steel mills and other metals producers; resource recovery technologies for the re-use of industrial waste stream by-products; industrial abrasives and roofing granules; engineered scaffolding, concrete forming and shoring, and other access-related services, rentals and sales; railway track maintenance services and equipment; industrial grating products; air-cooled heat exchangers, and heat transfer products. In January 2014, the Company acquired Hammco Corp.
Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment
The Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment is a provider of on-site, outsourced services to the global metals industries. The Metals business provides its services and solutions on a long-term contract basis, supporting each stage of the metal-making process from initial raw material handling to post-production slag processing and metal recovery. The Minerals business extracts metallic content from stainless steel by-products and also specializes in the development of minerals technologies for commercial applications, including agriculture fertilizers. The Minerals business also produces industrial abrasives and roofing granules from power-plant utility coal slag at a number of locations throughout the United States. Harsco Minerals' BLACK BEAUTY abrasives are used for industrial surface preparation, such as rust removal and cleaning of bridges, ship hulls and various structures. Roofing granules are sold to residential roofing shingle manufacturers, primarily for the replacement roofing market. As of December 31, 2012, the Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment operated in approximately 35 countries. During the year ended December 3! 1, 2012, the Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment generated 46% of the Company�� total revenue.
Harsco Infrastructure Segment
The Harsco Infrastructure Segment is global organization for the rental and sale of engineered scaffolding, shoring, concrete forming and other access-related solutions for construction projects as well as industrial plant maintenance programs. The Segment operates from a network of branches throughout the world, including North America, Latin America, Europe, the Gulf Region of the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The services include the provision of concrete shoring and forming systems; scaffolding for non-residential and infrastructure construction projects and industrial maintenance requirements, and a variety of other infrastructure services including project engineering and design, equipment erection and dismantling services, industrial insulation and painting services and equipment sales. During 2012, the Harsco Infrastructure Segment generated 31% of the Company�� total revenue.
Harsco Rail Segment
The Harsco Rail Segment is a global provider of equipment and services for the maintenance, repair and construction of railway track. The Segment's equipment and services support private and government-owned railroads and urban transit systems worldwide. The Segment's rail products are produced in three countries and products and services are provided worldwide. During 2012, the Harsco Rail Segment generated 11% of the Company�� total revenue.
Harsco Industrial Segment
Harsco Industrial Segment includes the Harsco Industrial IKG, Harsco Industrial Air-X-Changers and Harsco Industrial Patterson-Kelley businesses. Approximately 90% of this Segment's revenues originate in North America. Harsco Industrial IKG manufactures a line of industrial grating products at several plants in the United States and international plants located in Mexico and China. These products include a range of bar grating c! onfigurat! ions, which are used mainly in industrial flooring, as well as safety and security applications in the energy, paper, chemical, refining and processing industries.
Harsco Industrial Air-X-Changers is a supplier of custom-designed and manufactured air-cooled heat exchangers for the natural gas industry from plants in the United States and Australia. Harsco Industrial Air-X-Changers' heat exchangers are the primary apparatus used to condition natural gas during recovery, compression and transportation from underground reserves through the pipeline distribution channels. Harsco Industrial Patterson-Kelley is a manufacturer of heat transfer products, such as boilers and water heaters for commercial and institutional applications. During 2012, the Harsco Rail Segment generated 12% of the Company�� total revenue.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Harsco (HSC) have gained today after BB&T Capital Markets upgraded its shares to Buy from Hold.
Analysts Robert Norfleet III and Basil Jones III explain the decision to raise their rating:
�We believe that the strategic transformation of HSC’s portfolio, as evidenced by the recently announced sale of its Infrastructure segment, as well as additional best practices and productivity enhancements (LEAN, etc.) should result in improved financial metrics, valuation, and, ultimately, a less complex business structure. While our non-consensus call is not primarily based on an expedited improvement in financial performance, it is a reflection of our confidence in the new management team and its ability to deliver value to shareholders through asset repositioning, improved ROICs and free cash flow generation. HSC remains a “turnaround story,” but we believe the market is underestimating out-year earnings growth, which will be driven by the Brand Energy JV, lower corporate expenses, improved margins in Metals & Minerals and the likelihood of an accretive acquisition.
Shares of Harsco have gained 4.7% to $26.43 today at 1:16 p.m., outpacing other construction & engineering companies. Dycom (DY) has advanced 0.5% to $30, KBR Inc. (KBR) has ticked up 0.1% to $33.03, Worthington Industries�(WOR) has risen 2.8% to $38.85�and Tutor Perini (TPC) has rallied 3.6% to $22.46.
- [By Rich Smith]
Barry Malamud's long tour of duty as interim chief financial officer at Harsco (NYSE: HSC ) has come to an end.
On Monday, the Camp Hill, Pa.-based metals company announced that it is hiring F. Nicholas Grasberger as its new CFO, effective April 22. On that date, Malamud will resume his prior position as vice president and corporate controller for the company.
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