3 More FTSE Dividends Lifted This Week

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE  ) regained 0.55% today to reach 6,361, and the U.K.'s top tier index is now 26 points up on the week despite Tuesday's 85-point slump in response to the deadlocked Italian election.

But many investors don't pay much attention to share prices, instead preferring to look for income to beat the average FTSE dividend of about 3%. Here are three companies that raised their annual payouts this week.

Bovis Homes (LSE: BVS  )
Bovis Homes Group kicked off the week with an 80% boost to its full-year dividend to 9 pence per share. With the shares currently trading at 643.5 pence, that's a yield of only 1.4%, but because dividends were scrapped in the crunch year of 2009, they've been gradually coming back as the whole sector recovers.

If current forecasts prove accurate, we should see the Bovis dividend increase by more than 30% for 2013, with the shares on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just less than 17 -- though current 2014 forecasts drop that to 13.

Provident Financial (LSE: PFG  )
On Tuesday, consumer credit firm Provident Financial raised its full-year dividend by 12% to 77.2 pence per share, giving a yield of 5.3% on the current 1,467 pence share price. Perhaps surprisingly, after results that also included an earnings-per-share rise of 13.8% to 102 pence, the shares fell on the day by 56 pence to 1,468 pence.

The 2012 dividend was covered 1.32 times by earnings, and analysts are currently forecasting a further 8% rise in Provident's annual payout for 2013, with a 7.6% rise to follow in 2014.

Weir Group (LSE: WEIR  )
Engineering services firm Weir Group lifted its full-year dividend by 15% to 38 pence per share on Wednesday. That's a modest yield of 1.6% based on today's share price of 2,353 pence, but it does represent the latest in a series of year-on-year dividend increases from the company, and it was covered nearly fourfold by earnings. And there should be more to come after chief executive Keith Cochrane told us that "alongside substantially higher cash generation, the Group plans the eighth consecutive year of double digit dividend growth" in 2013.

Dividend rises like these three are always welcome, and companies that manage steady payouts form the cornerstones of many a portfolio. Whether you're investing for income or growth, good old cash is always welcome. And that's why I recommend the brand-new Fool report "The Motley Fool's Top Income Share For 2013," in which our top analysts identify a share they believe will provide handsome dividend income for years to come. But it will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your copy today.

The Secret to How These Companies Win

The following video is taken from an interview that Motley Fool analyst Brendan Byrnes recently had with Seth Godin, author of The Icarus Deception. Godin is also a talented public speaker, marketing guru, blogger, entrepreneur, and respected thought leader.

Seth's forward-thinking and contrarian views are critical considerations for finding success in life, business, and investing. It's the same approach our own chief investment officer, Andy Cross, took when selecting The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013. Uncover his market-beating thoughts in a new free report. Just click here now for instant access.

Transcript:�

Brendan Byrnes: Let's talk about the impact overall, on companies. Obviously, not everyone can own their own business or be a self-starter in that sense. Some people are going to have to work for corporations.

We've seen the "conscious capitalism" movement, which is purpose over profit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders, employees included -- Whole Foods, Costco, Southwest Airlines, Google, embracing these. Do you think that this helps companies as well, when they embrace these thoughts?

Seth Godin: I want to start by saying, some people have to shovel crap and do horrible jobs, but it doesn't have to be you. Let's start with that. These doors are open.

That doesn't mean you have to be an entrepreneur. There are plenty of people inside organizations who are making this art. What I'm arguing from an economics point of view is this: If your company makes what someone else makes, you are in a race to the bottom.

If you say, "We're just like them, but a little cheaper," you're in a race to the bottom, and when that happens, you're in trouble because you might win, and it's no fun.

The companies that are going to win are the ones that are in a race to the top. The way you race to the top is by creating connections that other people aren't making, by innovating in ways that other people aren't innovating.

When that culture starts to hit the ground running -- Nike launches two or three new shoe models every morning, and two or three more every afternoon -- when you start creating that cycle, then progress gets made.

Why Wall Street Has Tuned Out Washington

The sequester is going to hit tomorrow, and $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts for defense and discretionary programs are expected to be devastating to the economy. Yet Wall Street hasn't blinked, climbing 1.3% yesterday and making small gains today. Why the apathy toward such "devastating" cuts?

For more than five years, Wall Street has dealt with brinksmanship in Washington, and the act is getting old. The bank bailout failed until investors panicked and markets plunged. The economy tanked, and even then a stimulus package was like pulling teeth. There was the debt ceiling debate, then the original sequester, the fiscal cliff, and now the actual sequester.

When Washington has actually gotten something done, it has always been a last-minute patch-up, rather than a structural overhaul. So the market has come to expect little more from Washington. As we head toward the sequester, investors have looked past what is or isn't being negotiated between the White House and the houses of Congress, choosing to focus on more important things.

Fool me once...
The market used to care about these events. In the weeks surrounding the debt ceiling negotiation in 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) lost 15.7% of its value. The day after Standard & Poor's downgraded Treasuries from "AAA" to "AA+," the Dow tanked 5.5%. Investors and the media were abuzz with the goings-on in Washington. CNN's Erin Burnett did a segment every day about the U.S.'s lost credit rating, pounding into our heads how important it was to do something to get it back. Still, little was done in Washington to address revenue or spending until the fiscal cliff was upon us.

By the time we went over the fiscal cliff (which we did briefly) on Jan. 1, 2013 investors had stopped caring about the daily brinksmanship debate. Stocks didn't move wildly higher on hopes of a deal or plummet when negotiations fell apart. Consensus was that the fiscal cliff was bad and that we would avoid some, not all, of it eventually.

So here we stand two months later after another delay in dealing with the same problems that plagued us in the summer of 2011. No grand bargain has been reached since then, and it's unlikely there will be one in the next 24 hours. Even if the sequester isn't modified in the next few weeks, we'll be back here again on May 18 when a temporary suspension of the debt ceiling expires. Will stocks drop going into the debate like they did in 2011, or will markets shrug them off like they did over the past two months? My money's on the latter. Washinton already fooled the markets with that game once, and the second (or is it the third?) time around, investors have moved on to more pressing matters.

The problem isn't as big as it once was
Although Wall Street hasn't reacted to Washington lately, we have to consider that the deficit problem isn't as big as it was just a few years ago. In 2009, the country ran a $1.41 trillion deficit. This year, the Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit will be down to $845 billion, or 5.3% of GDP, and if Congress does nothing (which looks likely) by 2015, the deficit will be $459 billion, or 2.4% of the economy.

These numbers look large, but in the grand scheme of the world's biggest economy they're not anywhere near uncharted territory. Since 1980 the federal government has run a deficit larger than 3% in 18 years -- more than half of the time. A 3% deficit is widely considered to be sustainable, because if the deficit grows as much as or less than the economy does, then the debt-to-GDP ratio will fall. And 3% should be an attainable long-term level of economic growth -- at least, that's the theory at least.

Investors are focused on the size and scope of the problem. A 10% budget deficit is a long way from balanced and could bring on a debt crisis if unchecked. In 2008, the economy was about to collapse if the banking sector wasn't bailed out. In 2011, we still had more than a $1 trillion deficit, and judging by bond investors' reaction to Europe, we couldn't afford to lose the faith of those buying our debt. These were huge problems, and that's why the market swung wildly on every move Washington made.

Today, the economy and the budget are in very different places. A 5.3% budget deficit is within arm's lengths of standard operating procedure for Washington, and with deficit hawks still carrying weight, it's nothing investors need to get worked up about on a day-to-day basis. The deficit will come down if the economy is strong, and that's what's been driving the market lately -- not the negotiations in Washington.

Cuts are expected
Investors also know that cuts are coming and have prepared themselves. Discretionary spending and defense will be first, and if the political will ever materializes, entitlements will be on the table. The market knows this and has been expecting it for some time. Defense stocks, medical stocks, and government contractors have all priced in cuts that are likely coming.

We also know that federal-government spending will be a drag on the economy instead of a boost, as it was during the financial crisis. As consumers and local governments have slashed spending over the past five years, the federal government has picked up the slack with deficit spending. Now it's time to pay the piper, and federal spending is falling while the rest of the economy picks up the slack. That's why investors have been focusing more on private employment, consumer spending, and housing, rather than numbers like GDP growth that are affected by government spending.

Washington doesn't scare Wall Street anymore
Investing is just as much about psychology as it is about the analysis of the economy and stocks. Conventional wisdom was that stocks would drop as we went over the fiscal cliff, just as they had done with the debt ceiling and even the election. But the psychology has changed, and now brinksmanship is how business is done. For now, investors are fine with that.

We'll hear more about the sequester in coming weeks, and then we'll turn to the debt ceiling. But instead of panicking when negotiations in Washington come to a standstill, the market is likely to look past it, just like it has done the last two months. Washington has cried "wolf" one too many times, and now no one is listening.

How to play the economic recovery
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Affymax Hit Hard... and Then Rebounds?

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of biotech Affymax (NASDAQ: AFFY  ) dropped by more than 20% this morning after the company announced that Fresenius Medical Care North America -- part of�Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS  ) -- has "paused" its pilot program for the drug Omontys. Shares have rebounded and are currently down only 6%.

So What: Omontys, which treats anemia in chronic kidney disease patients who are on dialysis, is jointly marketed by Affymax and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Fresenius, a major dialysis provider, agreed to use the drug in more than 100 centers last July with the possibility of expanding its use if patients responded well to the treatment. This pilot program runs to April of this year, and Fresenius has decided to launch an interim analysis of the drug's use now.

It's important to note that Fresenius has put the brakes on expanding the use of Omontys in additional dialysis centers while it looks at the data from the pilot -- but it will continue using Omontys in the meantime. In fact, according to an 8-K form filed by Affymax today, Fresenius stated that "The vast majority of patients who are receiving the medication on an ongoing monthly basis are�tolerating it well" and "For patients on Omontys, we recommend continued use of the agent as it has been providing effective anemia management."

Now What: It's actually difficult to find anything negative in the company's announcement today. Fresenius is simply reviewing the data and should provide guidance on whether it will expand the use of Omontys in the coming weeks; today's drop was probably a knee-jerk reaction by investors.

Securing a long-term contract with Fresenius and additional dialysis providers is key to Affymax's business, so the real catalyst should be coming up in a few weeks when Fresenius reveals the results of its analysis. Affymax is also facing stern competition from Amgen's (NASDAQ: AMGN  ) Epogen, the established leader in the CKD anemia market, and needs to nab as many contracts as possible.

While you can certainly make huge gains in biotech and pharmaceuticals, the best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. In our free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," we name stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of.�Click here now�to keep reading.

Nokia: Rising Profit Picture at NSN Doesn’t Change $4 Target, Says Canaccord

Canaccord Genuity’s Mike Walkley today reiterates a Hold rating and a $4 price target after having a chat with executives at the Nokia-Siemens Networks joint venture of Nokia (NOK) and Siemens AG (SI) that sells wireless network equipment to carriers.

Things are going very well at NSN, though not enough to change his target for Nokia shares.

Nokia stock today is down 5 cents, or 1%, at $3.94.

Walkley concludes that “NSN management will continue its strong execution on its cost-cutting initiatives, positioning NSN for sustained annual operating margins in the 5%-10% range,” despite slowing carrier spending in the latter half of this year.

After three quarters of “material” improvement in profit, the NSN unit is helping Nokia’s overall results, and there is also an “increased likelihood NSN can emerge as a more independent entity” and that there are “strategic options for Nokia and Siemens to consider during 2013 and beyond,” writes Walkley.

Walkley is impressed with NSN CEO Rajeev Suri:

Rajeev Suri’s strong leadership and NSN’s increased focus on restructuring the business for sustained profitability have positioned NSN to emerge as a leading long-term mobile broadband infrastructure supplier. Following the appointment of Jesper Ovesen as Executive Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks, Mr. Suri and his team intensified efforts to ensure NSN could stand alone as an independent company in the highly competitive infrastructure market. Through Rajeev Suri’s leadership and Mr. Ovesen’s expertise in company restructurings, NSN’s restructuring was ahead of plan exiting 2012, resulting in 2012 results ahead of plan and leading to the increased annualized cost savings target of now greater than �1B.

He also sees the company making the most of the move to long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless broadband build-outs:

We believe NSN’s strong LTE, packet core, and IMS product offerings position NSN for improving margins longer term, especially given our long-term belief NSN will emerge as one of three leading mobile broadband suppliers along with Ericsson and Huawei. In order to generate sustainably profitable margins, we believe RAN vendors need to achieve at least high-teens market share. Based on our analysis of the 3G and 4G markets, we believe only Ericsson, Huawei, and NSN will achieve these levels. Also, we estimate NSN has roughly 25% GSM market share and based on Q3/12 LTE sales achieved 21% LTE market share. NSN has also 78 LTE contracts, including new business wins in the competitive South Korea market. While NSN had roughly 5% LTE market share in 2011 primarily due to NSN not participating in the large Verizon and AT&T LTE contracts, we estimate NSN had roughly 20% LTE market share in 2H/2012 and its 78 LTE contracts position NSN to achieve the LTE scale necessary to generate sustained profits longer-term. Further, with Alcatel Lucent only focusing on the U.S. market and China for its wireless business unit, we believe this limits Alcatel Lucent to only a handful of customers. Given the risk this may pose to those customers, we believe NSN could gain market share in the U.S. longer-term. In fact, given NSN’s strong relationship with Softbank through supplying its LTE network in Japan, we believe Softbank’s pending acquisition of Sprint could provide NSN with an opportunity to gain share with this potentially large TD-LTE contract. We also view NSN’s strong LTE market share wins in Korea as proof it will emerge as a top 3 LTE supplier despite Samsung’s increasing efforts to gain market share. Without a strong 2G/3G footprint, we doubt Samsung, despite its vast resources, will emerge as a top 3 mobile broadband vendor. Further, with Nokia winning 6 of the 10 TD-LTE contracts announced to date, we believe NSN is well positioned to win a share of the 200,000 TD-LTE base stations tender in 2H/13. While we anticipate Chinese OEM vendors such as Huawei, ZTE, Datang, and others will win 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the TD-LTE contracts in China, we believe NSN and Ericsson are best positioned to win share allocated to Western OEMs. Further, we believe NSN has a strong TD-LTE solution, and this could lead to strong share of TD-LTE contracts outside of China.

Despite all the good things at NSN, Walkley is not changing his sum-of-the-parts $4 value for Nokia shares. He sees NSN itself being worth 0.55 times enterprise value as a multiple of NSN sales this year of �13.8 billion, and assigns Nokia half that value, or �4.45 billion:

Despite management’s impressive execution on cost-reduction efforts, we anticipate modest cash burn in 2013 due to our increased working capital assumptions for Devices & Services combined with some severance payments. Nokia ended the year with �4.4B in net cash, and we estimate roughly �3.6B in net cash exiting 2013. Since �1.3B of Nokia’s current net cash balance is contributed by NSN, we include �2.3B of this cash in our sum- of-the-parts analysis directly and consider the NSN cash balance below.

Note that this morning, NSN said its chief financial officer Marco Schroeter is stepping down, effective immediately, and will be replaced by chief operating officer Samih Elhage.

would step down and that

3 Things to Loathe About Aviva

LONDON --�There are things to love and loathe about most companies. Today, I'm going to tell you about three things to loathe about FTSE 100 insurance group Aviva (LSE: AV  ) (NYSE: AV  ) .

I'll also be asking whether these negative factors make Aviva a poor investment today.

Silly name
I've never liked companies with daft, meaningless names. "Aviva" is one of the worst I can think of. It sounds like something a team on TV's The Apprentice would dream up.

The alpha male: "Hey, guys, we should call ourselves 'Viva' -- it says, like, you know, we're winners, long live us."

The dippy, arty one: "We could put an 'A' at the front and make it into a palindrome."

The alpha male: "Neat. Any other ideas? No? Aviva it is then."

The rebranding of a company formed by mergers of Norwich Union, Commercial Union, and General Accident was launched with a 9 million pound advertising campaign -- probably the most expensive ever in the U.K. insurance industry.

Increasing turnover
No, not a compliment on Aviva's revenue, which has been falling for the past five years, but a rebuke for the rapidly revolving door in the company's boardroom over the same period.

Current chief executive Mark Wilson is the third CEO in five years, his predecessors having stepped down after, in the first case, a failed takeover approach for Prudential, and, in the second, a shareholder revolt over executive pay. There have been innumerable other executive and non-executive departures and arrivals over the period.

Disappearing dividends
Aviva announced this week that it was cutting its final dividend by 44% and anticipates cutting its next interim by the same order. The "rebasing" is to ensure that "the current and future dividend is sustainable."

Aviva also cut its dividend in 2009 by 27% to "a sustainable level from which it can grow" -- and in 2002 by 39% to a level from which it could pursue "a progressive policy of growing dividends."

The implied payout for Aviva shareholders of 14.63 pence in the next 12 months compares with a 38 pence dividend in 2001.

A poor investment?
Do the negative factors I've highlighted make Aviva a poor investment today? In my book: yes.

If you're in the market for income shares but aren't attracted by a risky recovery stock with a now much-reduced yield, you may be interested in the lower-risk income opportunity featured in this exclusive free report.

This blue-chip opportunity offers a 5.6% yield,�might be worth 850 pence versus 735 pence now -- and has just been declared The "Motley Fool's Top Income Stock for 2013."

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Costco Earnings: An Early Look

Earnings season is winding down, with most companies already having reported their quarterly results. But there are still some companies left to report, and Costco (NASDAQ: COST  ) is about to release its quarterly earnings. The key to making smart investment decisions with stocks releasing their quarterly reports is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Costco needs no introduction, with its wholesale warehouse business having revolutionized big-box retail. But how did the company do in the all-important holiday season? Let's take an early look at what's been happening with Costco over the past quarter and what we're likely to see in its quarterly report on Tuesday.

Stats on Costco

Analyst EPS Estimate	$1.06
Change From Year-Ago EPS	18%
Revenue Estimate	$25.13 billion
Change From Year-Ago Revenue	9.4%
Earnings Beats in Past 4 Quarters	4

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Will Costco bring home profits this quarter?
Analysts have been mostly stable in their views on Costco's earnings in the past few months, cutting the just-ended quarter's call by a penny per share but raising full fiscal-year 2013 consensus by the same penny. The stock is up a modest 5% since early December.

Costco is the closest thing to a co-op that you'll probably ever see from a private company. The warehouse retailer sells its goods at razor-thin margins even by retail standards, making the bulk of its money from the annual membership fees that it charges. With the company having maintained an 86% membership renewal rate even after raising its fees by 10%, Costco clearly has strong customer loyalty.

Recently, Costco has been having great success even in a difficult economic environment. Same-store sales in February came in at 6%, outpacing analysts' calls even as gas prices rose, tax refunds were delayed, and the payroll-tax holiday took full effect. By contrast, both Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) and Target (NYSE: TGT  ) have had struggles with sales, with the now-infamous internal emails from Wal-Mart complaining about customers' absence.

Yet Costco hasn't gone without problems. On Valentine's Day, Tiffany (NYSE: TIF  ) accused the wholesaler of selling counterfeit Tiffany diamond rings. Even though Costco had stopped selling the rings already after Tiffany's initial complaint, the jeweler decided to move ahead with the suit, which seeks $2 million plus triple damages for any profit Costco made from selling the rings.

Tiffany aside, Costco merely needs to keep up the string of good news going in its quarterly report to make investors happy. So far, the company has done an excellent job of navigating changing retail trends, and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Costco's stock performance has been nothing short of amazing. But even with things going so well for the company, could the ride be nearly over for Costco investors? To answer that and more, we've compiled a premium research report with in-depth analysis on Costco.�Simply click here now to gain instant access to this valuable investor's resource.

Click here to add Costco to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.

Cisco in 2013: A Deep Value Play

In the following video, senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker looks at�Cisco's (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) valuation. As Eric notes, a key reason investors look at Cisco is that it's cheap, trading at roughly 12 times earnings.�

Yet the entire technology space is rife with companies in deep-value territory.�Dell�was bought out for around 10 times earnings, while�Hewlett-Packard� (NYSE: HPQ  ) has recently traded below four times its trailing free cash flow -- a stunningly cheap multiple.�

Looking out even further, we can see�Intel and�Apple�in the broader�technology�sphere trading at around 10 times earnings. That is to say, when looking at valuation, a company must always be compared against its industry peers, and Cisco's peers are cheap as well.�

Yet IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) has recently fetched a higher multiple than other big tech plays. Eric believes that the breadth of IBM's portfolio gives investors a feeling of more certainty in a tech landscape that looks quite uncertain in the next five years.�

Looking at Cisco, Eric notes that if the company is able to continue growing its services business at rates beyond the company average, it could give Cisco a similar storyline of added safety though multiple revenue streams and finally nudge its multiple forward. To see Eric's full thoughts, watch the video.

Once a high-flying tech darling, Cisco is now on the radar of value-oriented dividend lovers. Get the lowdown on the routing juggernaut in The Motley Fool's�premium report. Our report also has you covered with a full year of free analyst updates to keep you informed as its story changes, so click here now to read more.

Top Stocks For 2/18/2013-2

Majestic Gold Corp. (TSX.V:MJS) (FSE:MJT) is a Vancouver-based; TSX Venture Exchange and Frankfurt Exchange listed gold exploration and development company with a very advanced gold deposit in Shandong province of China. On April 23, 2010, the company released an updated NI 43-101- compliant, indicated and inferred gold resource estimate on its Song Jiagou property.

At present, Majestic Gold Corp. is aggressively pursuing a pre-feasibility study. A recently announced agreement will increase Majestic’s effective ownership from 54 to 94 % and has allowed the property to commence production at an initial rate of 1,400 tpd. With a contract that fixes operating costs and allows use of land and equipment, Majestic anticipates to have a positive cash flow, within a matter of months.

Gold mineralization on Song Jiaguo is hosted by a series of steeply dipping, sub-parallel north-northeast trending fault zones within upper Cretaceous conglomerates overlying Proterozoic granitic rocks. The area of Song Jiaguo is interpreted as being the higher levels of a mesothermal system where gold bearing fluids have mineralized the matrix of the host conglomerates. The gold bearing quartz veins would then likely continue to much lower levels in the system.

Chinese estimates of 1.7 million tonnes at 6.76 grams per tonne are reported from the high grade fault zones to depths of 250 metres. Mineralization remains open to depth and indications in drill holes are that it continues for over 100 metres down dips. Pilot mining by Muping Gold Mines at 120 tonnes per day accesses the ore from four underground levels.

The potential at Song Jiaguo lies at depth and in sub-parallel structures to the known resource which remain to be tested and in the low grade bulk tonnage potential within the matrix of the host conglomerates.

For More Information On Majestic Gold: www.majesticgold.net

PTS, Inc. (OTC.BB:PTSH) announced that through its ThinLine division it has signed a 3 year IT Services deal with United Power.

United Power is acknowledged experts on the resale of products especially suited for medium voltage power distribution, in addition to providing a wide portfolio of products for other aspect of the electrical utility business. United Power has been serving electrical utility Customers within Georgia continuously since 1976. They have developed a reputation for customer sensitivity, fair dealing and exceptional quality during this time.

United Power required an IT solution that would allow them to contact one source for all of their IT needs.

“United Power is a well-established and quality company that has been a leader in their field for decades” stated Raj Kalra CEO of PTS. “They were looking for a one stop shop that would be able to handle their IT, disaster recovery and hardware needs without making more than one phone call. ThinLine’s managed IT solution was designed for this task. We look forward to working with the team at United Power and I am always excited to add a quality client to our growing portfolio of managed It customers,” added Raj Kalra.

ThinLine IT provides CTO services and consulting, remote server and desktop support, disaster recovery, hosted exchange, software development, mobile application development and managed IT services.

Encore Energy Partners LP (NYSE:ENP) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Denbury Resources Inc.�s (�Denbury�) ownership interests in Encore Energy Partners LP (�ENP�) for $380 million. Following the closing of the transaction, Vanguard will own ENP�s general partner and 20,924,055 ENP common units, or approximately 46% of ENP�s outstanding common units. The transaction is expected to close on or about December 31, 2010.

Encore Energy Partners LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploitation, and development of oil and natural gas properties. Its properties and oil and natural gas reserves are located in the Big Horn Basin.

ArvinMeritor Inc. (NYSE:ARM) announced that its joint venture, Xuzhou Meritor Axle Co. Limited (XMAL), plans to invest an additional $17.3 million to expand its manufacturing capability and add a new 26,000 square meter production facility. The new facility will be adjacent to XMAL�s existing 37,000 square meter facility in Xuzhou, China.

ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to original equipment manufacturers and the aftermarket for the transportation and industrial sectors.

Interline Brands Inc. (NYSE:IBI) announced that its previously announced offer to purchase for cash any and all of its outstanding 8 1/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 (the �Notes�) pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement the Company issued a notice of redemption pursuant to the indenture governing the Notes (as amended and supplemented), stating that the Company will redeem all of the outstanding principal amount of the Notes not purchased in the Offer at a redemption price of 104.063% of the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date, which is January 3, 2011.

Interline Brands, Inc. operates as a direct marketer and distributor of maintenance, repair, and operations products in the United States, Canada, and Central America.

Weighty Tokens Adorn Bridges

PARIS�Among the must-dos for visitors to the French capital: ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower, pay homage at the Louvre and seal your love with a Master Lock.

Paris's picturesque bridges over the Seine are heaving with padlocks, bike locks, handcuffs and other talismans of amour. Enamored visitors write their names on a lock, attach it to a bridge and throw the key into the river. Last fall, reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian, her boyfriend and their toddler son�followed by their camera crew�affixed "lovelocks" to the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge with a wooden walkway that spills out of the Louvre.

Christina Passariello/The Wall Street Journal

Lovelocks on the Pont de l'Archev�ch�, near Notre Dame in Paris.

But, many Parisians are asking: What's love got to do with it?

The public displays of affection have unchained loathing among coldhearted locals. Some gripe that the locks are no better than graffiti, defacing the city's landmarks. Rust and pollution are concerns, too. Think of the keys littered on the bottom of the Seine "with cars and cadavers," says Sylvain Louradour, a baby sitter who lives near the Pont des Arts.

Others argue that the symbolism is all wrong. "The lock is a negative symbol of enclosure and imprisonment, the exact opposite of what love should be," says Esther Pawloff, a 48-year-old executive assistant here in Paris.

The locks have been turned into expensive contemporary art and melted down for the value of their brass. When thousands of locks were mysteriously removed one night in 2010, cynics suspected a spurned lover�or a padlock manufacturer looking for new business.

Why Molson Coors Is Poised to Outperform

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, beer maker Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Molson Coors and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Molson Coors facts

�	�
Headquarters (founded)	Denver (1873)
Market Cap	$8.2 billion
Industry	Brewers
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$3.9 billion
Management	CEO Peter Swinburn Chief Planning Officer Michael Gannon
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	7.8%
Cash/Debt	$624.0 million / $4.7 billion
Dividend Yield	2.8%
Competitors	Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD  ) Boston Beer (NYSE: BUD  )

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 96% of the 870 members who have rated Molson Coors believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, All-Star joryko, succinctly summed up the Molson Coors bull case for our community:

Slowly starting to move upwards toward the end of 2012 and early 2013

-still trades at a P/B of 1, below its ten year average of 1.2
-Price/Cash Flow is only 8, versus its ten year average of 11
-unseated Budweiser as the #2 beer in America during 2012
-StarBev acquisition gave the company a dominant presence in Central and Eastern Europe
-20% jump in international sales for 2012

Not a huge growth story, but doesn't need to do much to justify prices at these low of valuations. 5+ years

If you want market-topping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite its five-star rating, Molson Coors may not be your top choice.

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

Will Clean Harbors Beat These Analyst Estimates?

Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH  ) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Feb. 20. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Clean Harbors's revenues will compress -0.7% and EPS will compress -38.9%.

The average estimate for revenue is $542.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.44.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Clean Harbors booked revenue of $533.8 million. GAAP reported sales were 4.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $556.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.54. GAAP EPS of $0.23 for Q3 were 67% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.70 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 30.1%, 40 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.6%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.3%, 440 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $2.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.00.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 308 members out of 329 rating the stock outperform, and 21 members rating it underperform. Among 82 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 75 give Clean Harbors a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Clean Harbors is outperform, with an average price target of $63.65.

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• Add Clean Harbors to My Watchlist.

ViroPharma Goes Negative

ViroPharma (Nasdaq: VPHM  ) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), ViroPharma beat expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped significantly. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly. GAAP earnings per share contracted to a loss.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
ViroPharma reported revenue of $106.5 million. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for net sales of $102.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 27% lower than the prior-year quarter's $145.6 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.10. The seven earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.12 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.10 for Q4 were 81% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.52 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.06 for Q4 against $0.65 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 74.8%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -1.9%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -3.7%, much worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $107.4 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.15.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $466.5 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.72.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,195 members out of 1,236 rating the stock outperform, and 41 members rating it underperform. Among 325 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 317 give ViroPharma a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on ViroPharma is outperform, with an average price target of $32.81.

• Add ViroPharma to My Watchlist.

Top Stocks To Buy For 3/9/2013-4

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NASDAQ:SVNT opened at $11.92 and with a gain of 0.86% closed at $12.03. Company’s fifty days average price is $14.92 whereas it has a market capitalization $845.20 million.
The total of 1.28 million shares was transacted over last trading day.

Human Genome Sciences NASDAQ:HGSI opened at $24.49 and with a gain of 0.97% closed at $24.87. Company’s fifty days average price is $25.89 whereas it has a market capitalization $4.69 billion.
The total of 1.22 million shares was transacted over last trading day.

Warner Chilcott Plc NASDAQ:WCRX opened at $22.29 and with a gain of 0.72% closed at $22.43. Company’s fifty days average price is $21.96 whereas it has a market capitalization $5.66 billion.
The total of 1.16 million shares was transacted over last trading day.

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc. NASDAQ:CYCC opened at $1.51 and with a gain of 0.65% closed at $1.54. Company’s fifty days average price is $1.65 whereas it has a market capitalization $71.70 million.
The total of 1.08 million shares was transacted over last trading day.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NASDAQ:MNTA opened at $15.19 and with a gain of 2.12% closed at $15.45. Company’s fifty days average price is $15.25 whereas it has a market capitalization $702.38 million.
The total of 1.06 million shares was transacted over last trading day.

Is Apple Really Losing Its Tablet Dominance?

From the fourth quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2012, investors saw Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) tablet market share drop from more than 50% down to 43%. But is this really a cut-and-dry case of Apple's market share dominance fading away, or are there other factors at stake here? In this video, Motley Fool senior technology analyst Eric Bleeker takes a look at the new market share divide, and why these losses might not mean as much as they seem to.

There's no doubt that Apple is at the center of technology's largest revolution ever, and that longtime shareholders have been handsomely rewarded with over 1,000% gains. However, after its recent pullback, there is a debate raging as to whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool's senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on both reasons to buy and reasons to sell Apple, and what opportunities are left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

Will AmeriGas Partners Beat These Analyst Estimates?

AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings around Jan. 30. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict AmeriGas Partners's revenues will grow 47.5% and EPS will increase 87.3%.

The average estimate for revenue is $1.01 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.03.

Revenue details
Last quarter, AmeriGas Partners logged revenue of $510.3 million. GAAP reported sales were 11% higher than the prior-year quarter's $460.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at -$0.86. GAAP EPS were -$0.86 for Q4 versus -$0.53 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 46.7%, 1,280 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -12.0%, 1,090 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -14.9%, 510 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $3.66 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.49.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 189 members out of 206 rating the stock outperform, and 17 members rating it underperform. Among 64 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 60 give AmeriGas Partners a green thumbs-up, and four give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on AmeriGas Partners is hold, with an average price target of $42.36.

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• Add AmeriGas Partners to My Watchlist.

SurModics Passes This Key Test

There's no foolproof way to know the future for SurModics (Nasdaq: SRDX  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can, at times, suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like SurModics do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is SurModics sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plotted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. SurModics's latest average DSO stands at 31.5 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 29.3 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does SurModics look like it might miss its numbers in the next quarter or two?

I don't think so. AR and DSO look healthy. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, SurModics's year-over-year revenue grew 16.2%, and its AR dropped 7.4%. That looks OK. End-of-quarter DSO decreased 20.3% from the prior-year quarter. It was down 12.9% versus the prior quarter. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

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• Add SurModics to My Watchlist.

Is Now the Time to Buy Pearson?

LONDON -- I'm always searching for shares that can help ordinary investors like you make money from the stock market.

So, right now, I am trawling through the FTSE 100, and giving my verdict on every member of the blue-chip index. Simply put, I'm hoping to pinpoint the very best buying opportunities in today's uncertain market.

Today, I am looking at�Pearson� (LSE: PSON  ) (NYSE: PSO  ) to determine whether you should consider buying the shares at 1,166p.

I am assessing each company on several ratios:

• Price/Earnings (P/E):�Does the share look good value when compared against its competitors?
• Price Earnings Growth (PEG):�Does the share look good value factoring in predicted growth?
• Yield:�Does the share provide a solid income for investors?
• Dividend Cover:�Is the dividend sustainable?

So let's look at the numbers:

Stock	Price	3-yr EPS growth	Projected P/E	PEG	Yield	3-yr dividend growth	Dividend cover
Pearson	1,166p	9%	14.3	N/A	3.8%	15%	1.9

The consensus analyst estimate for next year's earnings per share is 81.5p (3% fall), and dividend per share is 48p (7% growth).

Trading on a projected P/E of 14.3, Pearson appears significantly cheaper than its peers in the media sector, which are currently trading on an average P/E of around 18.5.

Unfortunately, Pearson's P/E. and falling near-term earnings. give a negative PEG ratio, which cannot help with my analysis.

At 3.8%, Pearson's dividend income is above the media sector average of 2.7%. Furthermore, Pearson has a three-year compounded dividend growth rate of 15%, implying that the yield will continue to stay above that of its peers.

Indeed, the dividend is nearly twice covered by earnings, giving Pearson plenty of room for further payout growth.

Pearson currently looks cheaper than its peers, but is now the time to buy?
Pearson is the owner of the�Financial Times�newspaper and the�Penguin�publishing brand. In addition, the company is the world leader in educational materials such as textbooks, digital education software, and examination papers.

Indeed, due to Pearson's world-leading position in education, the company was able to raise North American education revenues by 2% during 2012, while aggregate revenues for the North American education market as a whole fell by 10%.

That said, like the rest of the publishing sector, Pearson is at risk from falling sales in the traditional book market.

However, the company is taking steps to reduce its reliance on traditional publishing and, at the end of 2012, 50% of all Pearson's sales were digital-based.

In particular, digital subscriptions for the�Financial Times�grew 18% during 2012, which meant that, for the first time in its history, there were more copies of the newspaper sold online than sold in print. Furthermore, at the end of 2012, 17% of�Penguin�sales were in digital e-book form.

Nonetheless, despite these strong figures, Pearson's management remains cautious about the future, and recently announced a restructuring plan aimed at reducing costs by around �100 million a year from 2014.

So, all in all, taking into account Pearson's market-leading positions, restructuring plan, and current discount to sector peers, I feel now looks to be a good time to buy Pearson at 1,166p.

More FTSE opportunities
As well as Pearson, I am also positive on the FTSE 100 share highlighted within this�exclusive free report.

You see, the blue chip in question offers a 5.7% income, its shares�might be worth 850p�compared to about 700p now -- and it has just been declared "The Motley Fool's Top Income Stock For 2013!"

Just�click here�to read the report -- it's free.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for my next verdict on a FTSE 100 share.

Fear the Leerverkaufer: Germany to Ban Naked Short Selling

Germany just got a jump on everyone trying to find ways to tame equity markets, with the country’s Christian Democratic Union party telling Dow Jones’s Andrea Thomas that the country will ban naked short-selling starting at midnight.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to announce the ban tomorrow morning, Thomas reports.

Naked short-selling is perceived to be at the heart of the troubles around Greece obtaining reasonable rates in the credit markets during its financial crisis.

The implication seems to be that Germany is also seeking to protect against shorting of European government bonds and the Euro zone’s vulnerable banks.

The Financial Times’s Alphaville blog notes that Reuters is reporting the ban will apply to credit default swaps, as well as repos and futures on European bonds.

Alpha also informs us the German for short-seller is “Leerverk�ufer.” Bless you, Alpha.

How you can be a smart market timer

MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE

Mutual fund investors habitually get the worst from their funds, earning returns that are worse than the investment vehicles they are buying. They don�t have to settle for that, writes Chuck Jaffe. See full story.

Wal-Mart executive labels February a disaster

Shares tumble, weighing on the entire DJIA, after a company vice president calls retailer�s monthly performance the worst he�s seen some seven years. See full story.

Consumers sitting on $9 billion in old iPhones

Why is an old iPhone still worth hundreds of dollars? New research suggests a surprising explanation: hoarding. More than half of American consumers say they have two or more unused cell phones in their house. See full story.

How gold will benefit from a currency war

Efforts by countries to devalue their currencies can benefit prices for gold, and have already started to alter the precious metal�s relationship with the foreign-exchange market and expand its role as a haven asset. See full story.

S&P 500 up for 7th week; Dow down for 2nd

U.S. stocks pared losses on a choppy day after a Wal-Mart email bemoaning state of February sales battered an already tenuous market. Investors see the market as overbought against backdrop of encouraging consumer sentiment and New York region manufacturing data. See full story.

MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE

Why is an old iPhone still worth hundreds of dollars? New research suggests a surprising explanation: hoarding. More than half of American consumers say they have two or more unused cell phones in their house. See full story.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Beats on the Top Line

Pacira Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PCRX  ) reported earnings on March 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Pacira Pharmaceuticals beat expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew significantly. GAAP loss per share dropped.

Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
Pacira Pharmaceuticals booked revenue of $10.5 million. The four analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $9.8 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were much higher than the prior-year quarter's $4.2 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at -$0.50. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated -$0.42 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.50 for Q4 versus -$0.72 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 7.4%, much better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -151.5%, much better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -156.4%, much better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $13.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.38.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $78.1 million. The average EPS estimate is -$1.07.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 21 members out of 30 rating the stock outperform, and nine members rating it underperform. Among 10 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), seven give Pacira Pharmaceuticals a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Pacira Pharmaceuticals is buy, with an average price target of $21.20.

• Add Pacira Pharmaceuticals to My Watchlist.

Big Dogs on Wall Street Starting to Get Very Nervous

Why are some of the biggest names in the corporate world unloading stock like there is no tomorrow, and why are some of the most prominent investors on Wall Street loudly warning about the possibility of a market crash?  Should we be alarmed that the big dogs on Wall Street are starting to get very nervous? 

In a previous article, I got very excited about a report that indicated that corporate insiders were selling nine times more of their own shares than they were buying. Well, according to a brand new Bloomberg article, insider sales of stock have outnumbered insider purchases of stock by a ratio of twelve to one over the past three months. That is highly unusual...

And right now some of the most respected investors in the financial world are ringing the alarm bells. Dennis Gartman says that it is time to "rush to the sidelines", Seth Klarman is warning about "the un-abating risks of collapse", and Doug Kass is proclaiming that "we're headed for a sharp fall". 

So does all of this mean that a market crash is definitely on the way? No, but when you combine all of this with the weak economic data constantly coming out of the U.S. and Europe, it certainly does not paint a pretty picture.

According to Bloomberg, it has been two years since we have seen insider sales of stock at this level. And when insider sales of stock are this high, that usually means that the market is about to decline...

Corporate executives are taking advantage of near-record U.S. stock prices by selling shares in their companies at the fastest pace in two years.

There were about 12 stock-sale announcements over the past three months for every purchase by insiders at Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) companies, the highest ratio since January 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Pavilion Global Markets. Whenever the ratio exceeded 11 in the past, the benchmark index declined 5.9 percent on average in the next six months, according to Pavilion, a Montreal-based trading firm.

But it isn't just the number of stock sales that is alarming. Some of these insider transactions are absolutely huge. Just check out these numbers...

Among the biggest transactions last week were a $65.2 million sale by Google Inc.’s 39-year-old Chief Executive Officer Larry Page, a $40.1 million disposal by News Corp.’s 81- year-old Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and a $34.2 million sale from American Express Co. chief Kenneth Chenault, who is 61. Nolan Archibald, the 69-year-old chairman of Stanley Black & Decker Inc. who plans to leave his post next month, unloaded $29.7 million in shares last week and Amphenol Corp. Chairman Martin Hans Loeffler, 68, sold $27.5 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, 57, announced plans to sell as many as 3.2 million shares in the operator of the world’s most-popular search engine. The planned share sales, worth about $2.5 billion, represent about 42 percent of Schmidt’s holdings.

So why are all of these very prominent executives cashing out all of a sudden?

That is a very good question.

Meanwhile, some of the most respected names on Wall Street are warning that it is time to get out of the market.

For example, investor Dennis Gartman recently wrote that the game is "changing" and that it is time to "rush to the sidelines"...

"When tectonic plates in the earth’s crust shift earthquakes happen and when the tectonic plants shift beneath our feet in the capital markets margin calls take place. The tectonic plates have shifted and attention... very careful and very substantive attention... must be paid.

"Simply put, the game has changed and where we were playing a 'game' fueled by the monetary authorities and fueled by the urge on the part of participants to see and believe in rising 'animal spirits' as Lord Keynes referred to them we played bullishly of equities and of the EUR and of 'risk assets'. Now, with the game changing, our tools have to change and so too our perspective.

"Where we were buyers of equities previously we must disdain them henceforth. Where we were sellers of Yen and US dollars we must buy them now. Where we had been long of gold in Yen terms, we must shift that and turn bullish of gold in EUR terms. Where we might have been 'technically' bullish of the EUR we must now be technically and fundamentally bearish of it. The game board has been flipped over; the game has changed... change with it or perish. We cannot be more blunt than that."

That is a very ominous warning, but he is far from alone. Just the other day, I wrote about how legendary investor Seth Klarman is warning that the collapse of the financial markets could happen at literally any time...

"Investing today may well be harder than it has been at any time in our three decades of existence," writes Seth Klarman in his year-end letter. The Fed's "relentless interventions and manipulations" have left few purchase targets for Baupost, he laments. "(The) underpinnings of our economy and financial system are so precarious that the un-abating risks of collapse dwarf all other factors."

Other big hitters on Wall Street are ringing the alarm bells as well. For example, Seabreeze Partners portfolio manager Doug Kass recently told CNBC that what he is seeing right now reminds him of the period just before the crash of 1987...

"I'm getting the 'summer of 1987 feeling' in the U.S. equity market," Kass told CNBC, "which means we're headed for a sharp fall."

And of course the "perma-bears" continue to warn that the months ahead are going to be very difficult.  For instance, "Dr. Doom" Marc Faber recently said that he "loves the high odds of a ‘big-time’ market crash".

Another "perma-bear", Nomura's Bob Janjuah, is convinced that the stock market will experience one more huge spike before collapsing by up to 50%...

I continue to believe that the S&P500 can trade up towards the 1575/1550 area, where we have, so far, a grand double top. I would not be surprised to see the S&P trade marginally through the 2007 all-time nominal high (the real high was of course seen over a decade ago – so much for equities as a long-term vehicle for wealth creation!). A weekly close at a new all-time high would I think lead to the final parabolic spike up which creates the kind of positioning extreme and leverage extreme needed to create the conditions for a 25% to 50% collapse in equities over the rest of 2013 and 2014, driven by real economy reality hitting home, and by policymaker failure/loss of faith in "their system".

So are they right?

We will see.

At the same time that many of the big dogs are pulling their money out of the market, many smaller investors are rushing to put their money back in to the market. The mainstream media continues to assure them that everything is wonderful and that this rally can last forever.

But it is important to keep in mind that the last time that Wall Street was this "euphoric" was right before the market crash in 2008.

So what should we be watching for?

As I have mentioned before, it is very important to watch the financial markets in Europe right now.

If they crash, the financial markets in the U.S. will probably crash too.

And the financial markets in Europe definitely have had a rough week. Just check out what happened on Thursday. The following is from a report by CNBC's Bob Pisani...

Italy, Germany, France, Spain, U.K., Greece, and Portugal all on track to log worst day since Feb. 4. European PMI numbers were disappointing, with all major countries except Germany reporting numbers below 50, indicating contraction.

What does this mean? It means Europe remains mired in recession: "The euro zone is on course to contract for a fourth consecutive quarter," Markit, who provides the PMI data, said. A new insight is that France is now joining the weakness shown in periphery countries.

You're giving me agita: Italy was the worst market, down 2.5 percent. The CEO of banking company, Intesa Sanpaolo, said Italy's recession has been so bad it could cause a fifth of Italian companies to fail, noting that topline for those bottom fifth have been shrinking 35 to 45 percent. Italian elections are this weekend.

It wasn't any better in Asia. The Shanghai Index had its worst day in over a year, closing down nearly three percent.

And the economic numbers coming out of the U.S. also continue to be quite depressing.

On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that there were 362,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the week ending February 16th. That was a sharp rise from a week earlier.

But I am not really concerned about that number yet.

When it rises above 400,000 and it stays there, then it will be time to officially become alarmed.

So what is the bottom line?

There are trouble signs on the horizon for the financial markets. Nobody should panic right now, but things certainly do not look very promising for the remainder of the year.

*Post courtesy of the Economic Collapse Blog.

 

This Just In: Upgrades and Downgrades

At The Motley Fool, we poke plenty of fun at Wall Street analysts and their endless cycle of upgrades, downgrades, and "initiating coverage at neutral." Today, we'll show you whether those bigwigs actually know what they're talking about. To help, we've enlisted Motley Fool CAPS to track the long-term performance of Wall Street's best and worst.

Zynga could zoom!
In a call that seems destined to be called incredibly brave or incredibly dumb -- and perhaps even both -- Bank of America announced this morning that it's upgrading shares of social/mobile gamer Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA  ) .

And not just any upgrade, either. This is an upgrade coming just hours before Zynga reports its Q4 earnings (today, after market close). It's an upgrade that looks like the polar opposite of the cautious, reasonable downgrade that Northland Securities just assigned to rival gamer Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU  ) last week -- likewise ahead of an earnings report due out this evening. And it's an upgrade representing a 180-degree reversal of what B of A was saying about Zynga as recently as yesterday -- an upgrade all the way from underperform (that's "sell," to you and me) to buy.

So... what is it exactly about Zynga that has Bank of America not just going out on a limb, but scrambling on all fours, fast as it can, to rush right out there on the outermost twig and tell investors to buy Zynga before the news breaks?

Valuation matters
In a word, it's the valuation. Looking at Zynga today, Bank of America sees a stock that costs just $2.70 a share, but boasts $2.20 a share in cash and asset value. It sees a company collecting $200 million annually in revenue from its online poker business, and generating perhaps $200 million more from its mobile business.

Viewed from this perspective, therefore, once you strip out its assets, B of A sees Zynga as a $392 million business that generates easily $400 million or so in annual revenue. And that makes for a pretty enticing one-times-sales valuation on Zynga's business, as compared to the average gaming industry stock�that costs 2.5 times sales. By way of comparison, gaming giant Activision Blizzard costs a whopping 2.9 times sales, while peer gamer Glu fetches 1.8 times sales. That latter number may be significant, given that Glu, like Zynga, is not currently making a profit.

On the other hand, though, giant Electronic Arts�is earning a profit, yet it costs only 1.2 times sales -- a valuation all but indistinguishable from the one-times-sales valuation that Zynga carries (when viewed from the perspective B of A is taking).

Beware the caveats
The question, of course, is whether you really should be looking at this like B of A does? On the one hand, sure, B of A may know something we don't. They may have an inkling of some seriously good news that Zynga will report tonight, and so feel confident in spinning on a dime today and turning their sell rating into a buy. For instance, right in their report on Zynga, B of A notes that "mobile trends" are starting to look "more stable post-Q3 results," and that Zynga may beat Street estimates tonight -- resulting in more "downside risk" for shorts, than Zynga fans incur in hoping it will zoom to the upside.

On the other hand, though, I can't shake the suspicion that B of A is missing something important here.

I mean, yes, Zynga has a lot of cash and assets now. But it's burned through $36 million�in negative free cash flow over the past year. How much cash will it have left after tonight's earnings update? And its assets -- a few servers, some work stations, some desks and chairs? This isn't a heavy equipment manufacturer, folks. These assets are going to depreciate fast.

Meanwhile, the company's relationship with Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) isn't as strong as it once was, endangering a revenue stream that Zynga's depended upon for most of its lifetime. (And speaking of which, if you think that Facebook looks overvalued at 2,868 times earnings, how much more overpriced is Zynga, at... infinity-times-the-profits-it-doesn't-earn)?

Foolish takeaway
When you get right down to it, valuing a profitless company on the revenue it's bringing in -- but not earning profits from -- seems to me a very circa-1999 way of thinking about investments. Sure, it's possible that Bank of America is right about Zynga, and that tonight's earnings report will wow the investing world, and renew investors' faith in a stock that's so far lost 81% of its value over the past year.

But if you ask me, the safer way to play tonight's earnings release is to refuse to play the earnings game at all. Why buy Zynga on a gamble about what it might announce tonight? Why not just wait for the numbers to come out, read them, and then make an informed decision on whether the stock is profitable enough to earn you a profit from buying it... or not?

That's the approach Northland took when hedging its bets on Gluu Mobile ahead of earnings last week. It's the approach I intend to take toward Zynga tonight as well.

Zynga's post-IPO performance has been dreadful, and investors are beginning to wonder if it's "game over" for this newly public company. Being so closely tied to the world's largest social network can be a blessing and a curse. You can learn everything you need to know about Zynga and whether it's a buy or a sell in our new premium research report. Don't even think about picking up shares before you read what our top analysts have to say about Zynga. Click here to access your copy.

Top Stocks For 2/13/2013-16

MusclePharm Corporation (OTCBB:MSLP), one of the fastest growing nutritional supplement companies in the United States with a proprietary formulation used in eight performance products, reports the appointment of Mariel Selbovitz, MPH, as Director of Global Therapeutics Product Procurement Development.

�We are thrilled to have Ms. Selbovitz join the MusclePharm team as we enter the therapeutic, nutritional supplementation market that is focused on products to meet the nutritional requirements of people living with HIV/AIDS,� stated Cory Gregory, MusclePharm�s President. �MusclePharm is working to greatly expand our sales of therapeutic, nutritional supplementation and provide increased help to people in need across the globe.�

Mr. Gregory continued, �We believe Ms. Selbovitz expertise and experience in the field of HIV will assist us secure distribution of MusclePharm products, such as Recon, to people living with the HIV disease in developing nations thru The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and The Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).�

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing institution that invests the world�s money to battle disease. To date, it has committed US$19.3 billion in 144 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs against these three diseases.

PEPFAR was launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush, and is the largest effort by any nation to combat a single disease with $18 billion dollars dedicated to fight HIV/AIDS in developing nations over the five year period of 2003-2008. In the first five years of the program, PEPFAR focused on establishing and scaling up prevention, care and treatment programs. It achieved success in expanding access to HIV prevention, care and treatment in low-resource settings.

By securing procurement of the Global Fund and PEPFAR, MusclePharm will be able to distribute Recon and other supplements to millions of people with HIV/AIDS worldwide thru government funds. In July 2010, MusclePharm presented at the 18th International AIDS Conference on the benefits of Recon in people with HIV/AIDS, sponsored by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and the AIDS Institute, both leading HIV legislative and advocacy organizations.

Selbovitz is a member of the Cornell AIDS Clinical Trials Group Community Advisory Board and AIDS Treatment Advocacy Coalition. She presented at the 5th European Conference on Clinical and Social Research on AIDS and Drugs, International Conference on Antiviral Research, 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention and XVIII International AIDS Conference.

Merck & Company (NYSE:MRK) reports that the Merck Company Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are committing an additional $60 million to support Botswana�s African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP). Merck is known as MSD outside the US and Canada. A unique program developed with and led by the Government of Botswana, ACHAP is one of sub-Saharan Africa�s oldest, most successful public-private partnerships. With today�s pledge, the Merck Foundation and the Gates Foundation�s total cash contributions now amount to $166.5 million. Merck will also continue the donation of its HIV medicines.

Building on the successes created by its initial investment of $56.5 million nine years ago, Merck will contribute an additional $30 million over the next five years. The new funding will continue the program’s original efforts in treatment and care but also will support the second phase initiatives to meet the current treatment needs of the 137,000 Batswana (people from Botswana) living with HIV and new patients enrolled in the second phase. The second phase initiatives include: the prevention of HIV, the critical need to treat people living with HIV for tuberculosis (TB) and the sustainability of the program to allow Botswana to successfully address HIV/AIDS within its own borders.

“For nearly 10 years, Merck has been a partner in helping the Government of Botswana save the lives of thousands of people living with HIV and AIDS and we are confident our new funding will continue to contribute to the well-being of the country,” said Richard T. Clark, chairman and CEO of Merck. “This collaboration is a great success story on many levels, and has become a model for many countries both on and off the African continent.�

ACHAP has helped demonstrate how public-private partnerships might work to save the lives of the world�s poorest people infected with HIV. Between 2001 and 2007, the partnership has supported Botswana in preventing the estimated deaths of more than 53,000 Batswana living with HIV. Today about 90 percent of Batswana living with HIV receive treatment, compared to less than 5 percent when the program began in 2001.

�Our partners� contributions, through funding, antiretroviral (ARV) medicine donations and medical expertise, have been absolutely essential to our ability to address the needs of Batswana living with HIV and AIDS,� said Themba Moeti, M.D., managing director of ACHAP. �We look forward to strengthening our partnership as we enter our second phase and enhancing the successes of our first decade while responding to the challenges that remain and retaining the flexibility to address emerging issues.�

Tesla Just Raised the Bar

Offering earnings guidance above expectations, whether from Wall Street analysts or internal estimates, is obviously a bullish sign, as over time�earnings growth�follows sales growth. And when a company predicts greater sales or profits, we expect its�stock�price to soon follow.

Electric luxury car maker Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA  ) surprised Wall Street with a steeper-than-expected loss of almost $400 million in 2012 but also said it expected to be "slightly profitable" come the first quarter of the new fiscal year, which is several quarters ahead of expectations. And even in the face of a damaging and very public tiff with The New York Times, a row that it said probably cost it about $100 million in sales and resulted in hundreds of canceled orders, at least one analyst still believes the carmaker is ready to put the pedal to the metal.

Now don't go blindly buying -- or selling -- on this bullish sentiment because you still need to do some research. Even if it looks like the situation is improving, we can only use the announcement as a jumping-off point for additional research.

Driving ahead
It's not just Tesla's Model S that's lost its charge since the Times brouhaha began. The carmaker's stock is also down more than 12% from the high of $40 per share it hit at the beginning of the month. CEO Elon Musk may have violated one of those cardinal rules of politics that says, "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel."

It's understandable Musk would want to defend his car from what was seen as an unfair critique, but launching a Twitter war that called the road test a "fake" and using a high-profile blog post to attack the credibility of the Times correspondent only allowed the writer to write yet another article going into greater depth about what went wrong and that caused all the media to focus their attention on the issue. The Times then had its public editor dissect the matter yet again, and all that it's done is have investors shy away from the stock.

A thin skin is causing Musk's company to bleed while risking making Tesla out to be a riskier investment than previously believed.

Unplugged
As readers may know, I'm not a big fan of electric cars, though I find Tesla's Model S and the similarly luxurious Fisker Karma to be gorgeous works of art in addition to being modes of transportation. But my concern is the EV hasn't yet arrived for the mass market because they haven't become practical yet. Without subsidies, they're generally overpriced for the range they deliver, and until there are as many charging stations as there are Starbucks coffee shops, they'll remain a niche toy of the well off.

Plug-in car sales in the U.S. tumbled 23% in January from the month before, with General Motors' (NYSE: GM  ) Volt plunging 57%, followed closely by plummeting sales of the Nissan Leaf, which had a drop-off of 56%. Toyota's Prius Plug-in declined 36%. At the same time, gas-powered vehicles were up in North America in January.

Elon Musk predicts he'll be able to sell all 20,000 cars Tesla will produce this year and says production of the Model S should hit 500 a week by the middle of the year. But part of the problem with Tesla's profitability in 2012 was higher-than-expected start-up costs, which rose 29% in the fourth quarter as it experienced sourcing issues. Apparently, parts makers read the industry blogs and based their production on what analysts said Tesla would produce rather than what Musk was actually ordering. That forced the carmaker to go overseas to grab parts to keep on schedule, costing it money in the process.

Off the grid
The CEO also says he expects his car company to be profitable throughout the year, though he's not willing to commit to a guarantee that it will actually achieve that goal. Yet with sales to Europe and Asia expected to begin this year, there at least appears to be the prospect it will achieve its sales forecast. Whether those losses can be turned into profits by doing so remains to be seen.

Last year, Reuters charged that GM was losing $49,000 on every Volt it sold, and while the carmaker refuted those numbers, saying the author included sunk costs in his figures, they do admit that the car is a money-loser. The Volt, they say, is no different from any other consumer car, "even if it takes longer to become profitable."

My Foolish colleague Alex Scherer recently acquired a Model S, as did a relative of mine, and both of them seem to be quite happy with their purchases. But a happy customer doesn't necessarily translate into a joyous investor. As a result, I won't be buying its stock anytime soon, until it's able to demonstrate it can go the extra mile by adding more Supercharger stations and technology that is more in tune with real consumer driving habits.

Raise your sights
Near-faultless execution has led Tesla Motors to the brink of success, but the road ahead remains a hard one. Despite progress, a looming question remains: Will Tesla be able to fend off its big-name competitors? The Motley Fool answers this question and more in our most in-depth Tesla research available for smart investors like you. Thousands have already claimed their own premium ticker coverage, and you can gain instant access to your own by clicking here now.

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Top Stocks For 3/8/2013-5

Kore Nutrition Incorporated (OTCBB:KORE.ob) and the Company�s wholly owned subsidiary, Go All In, Inc. (�ALL IN�), are pleased to announce the appointment of a unique and experienced Advisory Board to facilitate rapid expansion of the ALL IN Energy brand of products. The Advisory Board will be chaired by Phil Atwell, owner of Geronimo Film Productions Inc., which has been responsible for the development of music videos for 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Marilyn Manson, as well as commercial campaigns for Coors Light.

ALL IN President and CEO, David Powley, stated that, �We are overwhelmed with the caliber and talent of all of our dedicated and professional Advisors and, as All In Energy products cater initially to the Professional Poker Society, we are very fortunate that Phil Atwell has agreed to Chair this Advisory Board with his substantial experience in the entertainment world.�

Powley continued, �This is the platform that will help Go All In Inc. express to, and impress upon, the vast consumer audience that our products are not just another brand of energy mixers for the juvenile jet set; we offer healthy energy (thus the term �healthergy�) based products which will help all demographics everyday.�

The ALL IN Advisory Board will play an integral, daily role in the growth of the Company. Bringing with them an extensive level of experience across a diverse range of fields, the Advisory Board will be called upon for their objective, professional advice as it pertains to the development, distribution, and management of the Company�s flourishing line of energy drinks, purified water, and new products under development.

Why Harmonic Shares Hit the Wrong Note

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT  ) are down 8% today after dropping as much as 10% in early trading. The market reacted poorly to a mixed earnings report Harmonic issued last night, which offered underwhelming performance as well as little to get excited about for the current quarter.

So what: Harmonic's fourth-quarter revenue of $133.4 million was weaker than the $137.5 million expected, and the Street seems to have fixated on this underperformance rather than the $0.09 in adjusted EPS, which was a penny better than the consensus. For the current quarter, Harmonic expects revenue in the range of $115 million to $125 million, which comes in below the $133.3 million consensus estimate.

Now what: In last night's conference call, CFO Carolyn Aver pointed out that the first quarter's lowball estimate is the result of factors that aren't expected to carry through the full year. However, that doesn't excuse the company from having now issued five consecutive quarters of guidance anticipating year-over-year declines, in the words of Jefferies analyst James Kisner. Since this isn't an aberration, it may make more sense to watch this company instead of jumping in today. Nothing currently indicates that Harmonic is on the verge of a turnaround.

Want more news and updates? Add Harmonic to your Watchlist now.

2013 and beyond
The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in our brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." I invite you to take a copy, free for a limited time. Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

Experts Predict Better UK CRE Returns

Legal & General Property predicts commercial real estate (CRE) returns will improve in the United Kingdom (UK) through 2013 despite the anticipation of slow economic growth in the country. The firm bases its prediction on the easing of CRE real estate markets, the willingness of banks to help encourage growth and the prospect of lucrative returns. Analysts further expect riskier investments to be given more attention by investors who are usually more risk-averse, but it will depend on the tenants and their businesses, and margins that will allow them to turn a profit against their rents. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.

Whilst 2013 economic growth is likely to remain sluggish in the UK there are signs that property returns are set to improve with a continued polarisation between the best and worst performing assets, it is claimed.

An easing in commercial real estate credit markets and the persuasive valuation case for UK commercial property should mean that prices for the market as a whole will be broadly stable in the next 12 months, in contrast to a fall of approximately 3% over 2012, according to a briefing from Legal & General Property.

Total returns are therefore likely to be dominated by income return, currently at 6%. Given the attractive level of yield, whilst sentiment is likely to remain relatively volatile, LGP sees upside risk to medium term total returns from a positive repricing of property as an asset class.

‘Three key drivers underpin our more positive outlook for 2013. First, central banks look determined to boost growth and this has fed through to our economic growth forecasts, which have been marked higher. This gradual improvement should translate into greater occupier confidence in bearing the cost of moving into modern, well located buildings. But given relatively weak growth in absolute terms, the majority of new lettings are likely to be moves from substandard, poorly-located buildings rather than outright expansion,’ said Rob Martin, director of research at LGP.

‘Second, there is evidence of an easing in commercial real estate credit markets. US and emerging market banks, insurance companies and debt funds are increasingly originating new debt capital to the sector and there has been a greater willingness amongst the UK banks to lend to commercial property in recent months. However, these positive signs must not be over played. Appetite from new lenders remains very selective and is generally focused on originating low risk loans secured against high quality assets,’ he explained.

‘Our third driver for optimism on future returns is the valuation case. The risk premium offered by investment in commercial real estate is comparatively attractive against historic averages,’ he added.

 

Despite these more positive signs, LGP holds a strong view that conditions will remain highly challenging for certain property sectors and asset types in the medium term. Conversely, certain parts of the market offer better than average performance potential. Delivering outperformance for investors will be a blend of good strategic positioning and diligent stock selection and asset management.

‘A number of subsectors which have been shunned by the risk adverse environment are now priced to deliver above average returns. We favour the higher yielding sections of the office and industrial markets, primarily outside of London. To ensure that assets can deliver, the focus is on those which by virtue of their specification, their local market and microlocation can find tenants through the cycle and do not depend on a robust economic recovery. Within London, opportunities to drive strong returns are set to be linked to a far greater degree to transport infrastructure improvements and particular occupier hotspots than has been the case in recent years,’ Martin pointed out.

‘By contrast, we view the prospects for many retail property sub sectors as below average, due to the challenges of e-retailing, the growing role of supermarkets in selling non food items and the relative weakness of consumer spending. One of the key barometers of success will be ensuring that rents are priced at levels that allow retailers to trade profitably. We do, however, believe that the strength of the retail market in London, benefiting as it does from the growth in international tourism, is a sustainable long term trend,’ he said.

‘We also see significant opportunities to invest in a wider spectrum of real estate assets, including student accommodation and health care. Among the advantages to these sectors is the availability of long, index-linked contracts which provide a good match for many investors’ liabilities,’ he concluded.

Activist Investors Gear Up for 2013 Proxy Season

The 2013 proxy-voting season is about to begin, and activist investors are increasingly using the process to advance corporate environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, improvements. The movement to use shareholder resolutions to promote more sustainable business practices is small but growing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for corporate boards to ignore.

Proxy what?
If you are a shareholder, you have the right to vote on certain corporate matters. Since most people cannot attend companies' annual meetings, corporations offer shareholders the option to cast a proxy vote by mail.

Most proxy votes originate with company management and a few dozen large financial institutions, which typically vote automatically with management and hold the majority of a company's shares. It is thus difficult and extremely rare to see a majority vote on a shareholder-initiated proposal. Still, even relatively modest shareholder votes can drive significant corporate policy changes.

A new report called the "Proxy Preview," published today by As You Sow, the Sustainable Investments Institute, and Proxy Impact, lays out all the sustainability-related shareholder resolutions for the 2013 season and frames the broader context of the issues at play.

The report explains that "in most cases, an investor with 3% ownership in a company would be one of the top shareholders, and thus even single digit votes may gain considerable attention from company management. Votes above 10% are virtually impossible to ignore and often�but not always�result in some action by the company to address the shareholder's concerns."

Sustainability-minded investors now file about 50% more shareholder proposals than they did 10 years ago, with nearly 400 submitted each year. In that time, the average level of support from all voting parties for such proposals has grown from 11.9% in 2003 to 18.5% in 2012.

2013's shareholder resolutions
As of Feb. 15, investors had filed 365 social or environmental resolutions, and a few more are likely to emerge as the season progresses. Following are a few examples.

Mercy Investment Services has filed a resolution with Molycorp (NYSE: MCP  ) that pushes for the company to produce a detailed and transparent sustainability report "describing the company's ESG performance including a review of efforts to mitigate water risks in the company's operations." Mercy notes that "investors have faced significant financial risks from Molycorp's environmental impact and resource usage, including a $410,000 settlement in 1998 for discharging thousands of gallons of contaminated wastewater from a pipeline running through the Mojave National Preserve. In addition, in 2010 the EPA released its cleanup plan for Molycorp's Superfund site, the cost of which could reach $800 million and take 20-30 years to complete."�

A 2012 resolution the Communication Workers of America, or CWA, filed with communications technology company Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN  ) sought more transparency on the company's political spending. That resolution received unusually high support, garnering 43.3% of votes. CWA has resubmitted the resolution for the 2013 season.

The most successful of 2012's board-related proposals were those that the New York State Common Retirement Fund, or NYSCRF, initiated requesting that companies add an environmental expert to the board. The highest vote � 31% � was for the resolution filed at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) , the giant mining company with operations in Indonesia and war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2011, workers demanding higher pay at an Indonesian mine launched protracted strikes that hurt the company's business. The mine in question had long faced a volatile mix of environmental and human rights challenges in a sensitive and remote province of Indonesia. The NYSCRF has refilled its resolution for 2013.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) is no stranger to sustainability-related shareholder resolutions. The NYSCRF withdrew one resolution this year after Apple agreed to pursue sustainability reporting from its suppliers. Trillium Asset Management withdrew another resolution asking Apple to report on how its board oversees privacy and data security risks after the company agreed to amend its charter to add responsibilities for the legal, regulatory, and reputational risk issues that the resolution raised. A third resolution from Harrington Investments, urging Apple to establish a board committee on human rights, went to vote on Feb. 27, garnering 5.6% of votes.

The NYSCRF filed a resolution with TECO Energy (NYSE: TE  ) asking that TECO report on "(1) the conditions resulting from the company's mountaintop removal operations that could lead to environmental and public health harms and (2) feasible, effective measures to mitigate the harms associated with mountaintop removal mining." TECO challenged the proposal at the SEC, arguing that it had already been substantially implemented. The SEC agreed and allowed the company to omit the proposal, saying that "it appears that TECO Energy's public disclosures compare favorably with the guidelines of the proposal and that TECO Energy has, therefore, substantially implemented the proposal."

Shareholder activism is here to stay
Shareholder activism on ESG issues keeps growing, and it will be harder and harder for companies to ignore. Managers that successfully prevent such resolutions with strong ESG practices will be able to spend time running their businesses instead of fending off shareholders. That sounds like a good long-term strategy to me.

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