10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014

Here are 10 things you should know for Tuesday, July 8:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a mixed start for Wall Street as second-quarter earnings season gets underway.

European stocks fell while Asian shares ended the session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4%.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. on Tuesday includes Consumer Credit for May at 3 p.m. EDT.

3. -- U.S. stocks on Monday declined. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.26% lower to 17,024.21, remaining just above the psychologically important 17,000 milestone set on Thursday. The S&P 500 slid 0.39% to 1,977.65 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.77% to 4,451.53.

4. -- Samsung said second-quarter operating profit declined 24% from a year earlier to a two-year low.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Invest In 2015: Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc.(THLD)

Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery and development of drugs targeting the microenvironment of solid tumors for patients living with cancer. The company?s products include TH-302, a novel drug candidate which is in Phase 1, Phase 1/2, and Phase 2 clinical trials for cancer. It has a license agreement with Eleison Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop and commercialize glufosfamide for the treatment of cancer in humans and animals. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Stocks as a whole haven't gotten the new year off on the best foot, but that's not to say every equity out there is in trouble. Indeed, some small cap stocks may actually be doing well - and poised to do well for a while - specifically because larger companies are seeing their stocks struggle. To that end, traders looking for a bullish bright spot to start the new year may want to take a closer look at Amedica Corporation (NASDAQ:AMDA), Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD), and Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCMKTS:AEMD).

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: Fibria Celulose SA (FBR)

Fibria Celulose S.A. (Fibria), formerly Votorantim Celulose e Papel S.A., incorporated on July 25, 1941, is a producer of market pulp. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Fibria produced 5,054 kilotons of eucalyptus pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel). The Company also produces coated and uncoated paper, carbonless paper and thermal paper at its Piracicaba paper mill, located in the State of Sao Paulo with an annual production capacity of 190 kilotons. During 2010, it produced 115 kilotons of paper products and recorded consolidated net revenues. Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp at three pulp mills, the Aracruz pulp mill located in the State of Espirito Santo, which has an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons; the Tres Lagoas pulp mill located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, which has an annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons, and the Jacarei pulp mill located in the State of Sao Paulo, which has an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons. The Company has a 50% interest in Veracel, which owns and operates a pulp mill in the municipality of Eunapolis, State of Bahia, with an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons.

Pulp

Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp from planted eucalyptus trees. Bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp is a range of hardwood pulp. Eucalyptus is a hardwood tree, and its pulp has short fibers and is generally suited to manufacturing tissue, coated and uncoated printing and writing paper and coated packaging boards. Short fibers are optimal for manufacturing wood-free paper with good printability, smoothness, brightness and uniformity. Market pulp is the pulp sold to producers of paper products. Kraft pulp is pulp produced in a chemical process using sulphate. During 2010, it produced 5,054 kilotons of pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel).

Paper

During 2010, Fibria produced 115 kilotons of paper. The Company produced coated printing an! d writing paper, which is a coated woodfree paper used for promotional materials, folders, internal sheets and cover of magazines, books, tabloids, inserts and mailing; uncoated printing and writing paper, which is a uncoated woodfree paper in reels and sheets; carbonless paper, which is used to produce multi-copy forms, POS, invoices and other applications in place of traditional carbon paper, and thermal paper, which is traditionally used in fax machines; POS, bar code labels, toll tickets, water and gas bills and receipts for automated teller machines (ATMs) and credit card machines. It manufactures thermal paper products with technology licensed byOji Paper Co., Ltd (Oji Paper).

The Company competes with APRIL, Arauco, APP, Georgia Pacific, CMPC, Sodra, Stora Enso, Weyerhaeuser and Suzano.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Fibria Celulose (NYSE: FBR  ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Fibria Celulose met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: Fair Isaac Corp (FICO)

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), incorporated on May 15, 1987, provides products and services that enable businesses to automate, improve and connect decisions to enhance business performance. The Company operates in three segments: Applications, which include pre-configured Decision Management applications designed for a specific type of business problem or process; Scores, which includes the Company's business-to-business scoring solutions and services, its myFICO solutions for consumers, and associated professional services, and Tools segment, which include software tools that clients can use to create their own custom Decision Management applications, as well as associated professional services. In May 2012, the Company acquired Entiera Inc. In September 2012, it acquired Adeptra Ltd. On April 1, 2013, FICO acquired Infoglide Software Corp.

Applications

The Company develops industry-tailored Decision Management applications, categorized as Applications, which apply analytics, data management and Decision Management software to specific business challenges and processes. These include credit offer prescreening, insurance claims management and others. The Company's Applications primarily serve clients in the banking, insurance, healthcare, and retail sectors. The chief offerings for marketing are the Company's FICO Analytic Offer Manager and FICO Customer Dialogue Manager. These solutions offer a suite of products, capabilities and services designed to integrate the technology and analytic services needed to perform context-sensitive customer acquisition, cross-selling and retention programs and deliver mathematically optimized offers.

The Company provides solutions that enable banks, credit unions, finance companies, installment lenders and other companies to automates and improve the processing of requests for credit or service. The Company provides customer management solutions for banking, where it�� account and customer management product is the FICO TRIAD! Customer Manager. The Company markets and sells TRIAD end-user software licenses, maintenance, consulting services, and strategy designs and evaluation. The Company's fraud management products improve the Company's clients' profitability by predicting the likelihood that a given transaction or customer account is experiencing fraud.

The Company's solutions are designed to detect and prevent a range of fraud and risk types across multiple industries, including credit and debit payment card fraud; e-payment fraud; deposit account fraud; technical fraud and bad debt; healthcare fraud; Medicaid and Medicare fraud, and property and casualty insurance claims fraud, including workers' compensation fraud. FICO fraud solutions protect financial institutions, insurance companies and government agencies from losses and damaged customer relationships caused by fraud and related criminal behavior.

FICO Fraud Predictor with Merchant Profiles is used in conjunction with Falcon Fraud Manager on payment card monitoring for credit and debit to improve fraud detection rates through the inclusion of merchant profiles. In addition to the Falcon products, the Company offers FICO Card Alert Service. Card Alert Service is a solution for fighting ATM debit fraud. The Card Alert Service identifies counterfeit payment cards and reports them to issuers. The Company offers FICO Economic Impact Service, which uses time series modeling of the macro economy to allow lenders to forecast future credit risk performance based on their views of the economy. Adeptra's software as a service (SaaS) platform enables financial services institutions and other businesses to take advantage of the explosion in mobile communication in order to manage risk, fight fraud and improve the customer experience, all in real time.

The Company competes with Acxiom, Epsilon, Equifax, Experian, Harte-Hanks, InfoUSA, KnowledgeBase, Merkle, TargetBase, CGI, NICE Systems, BAE, SAS, ACI Worldwide, Emdeon, Ingenix, ViPS, MedSt! at, Veris! k Analytics and IBM.

Scores

The Company develops credit scores based on third-party data. The Company's FICO Scores are used in most United States credit decisions, by the banks and credit card organizations, as well as by mortgage and auto loan originators. These scores provide a consistent and objective measure of an individual's credit risk. Credit grantors use the FICO Scores to prescreen candidates for solicitation, to evaluate applicants for new credit and to review existing accounts. The FICO Scores are calculated based on scoring models and implemented on third-party data. The version of the FICO Score for United States and Canadian lenders is the FICO 8 Score. The Company's other solutions include The FICO Credit Capacity Index and The FICO Economic Impact Index.

The Company competes with Experian and Experian-Scorex (U.S. partner), TransUnion and TransUnion International, Equifax, VantageScore, CRIF, LexisNexis and ChoicePoint.

Tools

The Company provides software products that businesses use to build their own tailored Decision Management applications. In contrast to its packaged Applications developed for specific industry applications, the Company�� Tools support the addition of Decision Management capabilities to virtually any application or operational system. These tools are sold as licensed software, and can be used by themselves or together to advance a client�� Decision Management initiatives. The Company uses these tools as common software components for its own Decision Management applications. The principal products offered are software tools include Rules Management, Predictive Modeling and Optimization.

The Company competes with IBM, SAS, Pegasystems and Angoss.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  A recent study from Fair Isaac's (NYSE: FICO  ) FICO took a look at the demographics of credit card use lately. What they found is that outstanding credit card debt among 18- to 29-year-olds dropped from just over $3,000 in late 2007 to a bit over $2,000 last October. That move comes as part of a broader reduction in overall indebtedness, with drops in outstanding mortgage, auto, and most other debt more than offsetting a substantial rise in student-loan debt. Even more surprisingly, the proportion of young adults going without credit cards entirely has risen to nearly one in six, almost double the level from late 2005.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  What we do know
  Credit-reporting agencies aren't entirely opaque about what goes into their credit score calculations. For instance, Fair Isaac (NYSE: FICO  ) , the company behind the popular FICO score, offers a detailed explanation of what goes into every person's score. A strong payment history without delinquencies or late payments carries the most weight, making up 35% of the FICO score, while 30% comes from how the amounts you owe compare to the total credit you have available to you. Smaller percentages of the score come from other areas, including the length of your credit history, the amount of new credit you've taken out recently, and how wide a mix of different types of credit you have outstanding.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Incoming college freshmen receive dozens of warnings:

  Mom and dad caution them to not get carried away with extracurricular activities and instead focus on their grades. Older siblings kindly suggest avoiding any beverage with the word "jungle" in the name. Financial experts yell, scream and throw their arms in the air about avoiding credit cards. While jungle juice should be avoided, there is a case for most college students to sign up for a credit card. Students who describe themselves as impulsive, spenders or forgetful may need to wait. Here are three reasons why a credit card will set them up for a healthy financial future. 1. Credit Cards Help Establish Credit History A credit card is a simple tool to both establish credit history and begin working toward a good credit score. Student loans help establish credit and can positively impact a credit score. However, part of Fair Isaac's (FICO) FICO scoring model depends on diversity of credit. And responsible use of a credit card -– making on-time payments, for example -– is a simple way to increase a credit score. Credit cards also let students without loans establish their credit and spend four years proving they are responsible borrowers before graduation. Lest we forget, recent grads who don't want to return to their parents' basement will need a credit score to get their own apartment or house. Parents concerned their child can't handle the credit limit associated with a credit card should consider having their child apply for a secured card to prove their responsibility before upgrading to the real McCoy. 2. Students Don't Always Have Cash Some financial experts advise using cash to avoid debt because mindlessly swiping plastic doesn't register as spending money. Except cash is quickly becoming a relic of the past. Plenty of young men and women are used to debit cards and use apps like PayPal or Venmo to pay back a friend instead of cutting a check or getting cash out at the ATM.
• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Getty Images In just a few months, the American banking sector will begin to experience a massive case of collective amnesia. And it's a predictable amnesia, with predictable consequences. According to FICO (FICO), negative financial information -- late payments, bankruptcies, foreclosures, collection accounts, etc -- will generally disappear from your credit report after seven years. You probably already knew this: Personal finance experts talk about it often when discussing credit scores, bankruptcy, or a host of other money issues. But let's do the math. In 2008, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression hit this country. It led to a record number of foreclosure filings beginning -- nearly 3.1 million filings that year. And the trend continued, with millions of homes foreclosed each subsequent year. Fast forward to 2015, when the first of the great recession foreclosures will start to vanish from credit reports. Credit scores improve as time elapses and your score can experience a big improvement when a major negative item drops off your report. According to Experian (EXPN) data provided to the New York Federal Reserve, the average credit score in the second quarter of 2014 reached 698, the highest level in the last 10 years. We can expect those averages to keep rising as the defaults, delinquencies and foreclosures of the Great Recession begin to be wiped from people's credit records. In addition, housing prices have started improving. The Case-Shiller house price index has experienced double-digit increases over the last few years. And, bank losses have improved. For example, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has reduced its loan loss reserves for mortgages by $1 billion over the last 12 months alone. So, we are experiencing: Rapidly rising credit scores. Increasing property valuations. Improved bank balance sheets. Can you imagine what that means? Fire Up Those Consumer Credit Engines As memories of the Great Recession disappear from credit burea

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SLXP)

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., incorporated on December 31, 2001, is a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to acquiring, developing and commercializing prescription drugs and medical devices used in the treatment of a variety of gastrointestinal disorders, which are those affecting the digestive tract. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� products included XIFAXAN, MOVIPREP, APRISO, RELISTOR, OSMOPREP, SOLESTA, DEFLUX, FULYZAQ, GIAZO, METOZOLV ODT, AZASAN, ANUSOL-HC, PROCTOCORT, PEPCID, DIURIL and COLAZAL. As of December 31, 2012, its primary product candidates under development included Rifaximin, Methylnaltrexone bromide oral, Budesonide foam and Rifaximin EIR. In January 2014, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. acquired Santarus, Inc.

Xifaxan (rifaximin) tablets

Xifaxan is a gastrointestinal-specific oral antibiotic. The Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) approved Xifaxan 200 milligram for the treatment of patients 12 years of age and older with travelers��diarrhea caused by noninvasive strains of E coli. Xifaxan 550 milligram was approved by the FDA for reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE), recurrence in patients 18 years of age or older.

It launched Xifaxan 200milligram in the United States and Xifaxan 550 milligram using its own direct sales force. The Company is exploring potential additional indications, formulations, clinical trials and co-promotion arrangements to capitalize on the potential for Xifaxan, including its development program in irritable bowel syndrome.

In October 2012, the USPTO declared an interference action to determine the priority of invention between Cipla�� application related to amorphous rifaximin and Solmag SpA�� application directed to amorphous rifaximin. In February 2012, the FDA posted draft bioequivalence guidance for rifaximin 550 milligram tablets. The draft guidance for rifaximin 550 milligram tablets recommends that in addition to conducting the program outlined in the FDA posted ! draft guidance document for rifaximin 200 milligram tablets discussed above, a single-dose, three-way crossover in-vivo study of fasting bioequivalence with pharmacokinetic endpoints in both fasting and fed states be performed in the 550 milligram tablets. Additionally, the guidance stipulated that the formulation of the 550 milligram strength should be proportionally similar to that of the 200 milligram strength in order to file an ANDA for approval of a generic rifaximin 550 milligram tablet for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy.

MoviPrep (PEG 3350, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium ascorbate and ascorbic acid) oral solution

MoviPrep is a patent-protected, liquid polyethylene glycol-salt, or PEG, bowel cleansing product that the FDA approved. MoviPrep is indicated for bowel cleansing prior to colonoscopy, intestinal surgery and barium enema X-ray examinations.

Apriso (mesalamine) extended-release capsules 0.375 gram

Apriso is a locally-acting aminosalicylate and is the only delayed and extended release mesalamine product approved by the FDA for once-a-day dosing for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis. Apriso is designed to provide for the distribution of the active ingredient beginning in the small bowel and continuing throughout the colon. The product�� prolonged release mechanism might allow them to expand the range of treatment options for ulcerative colitis.

Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide)

Relistor Subcutaneous Injection is indicated for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. Relistor is approved for use in over 55 countries worldwide.

OsmoPrep and Visicol (sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, USP, sodium phosphate dibasic anhydrous, USP) tablets

Visicol and OsmoPrep tablets are indicated for clean! sing of t! he colon as a preparation for colonoscopy in adults 18 years of age or older. Visicol and OsmoPrep are the only, tablet bowel cleansing products approved by the FDA and marketed in the United States. OsmoPrep is a patented, second-generation tablet bowel cleansing product that the FDA approved. OsmoPrep offers potential benefits compared to Visico,l such as its lack of microcrystalline cellulose, smaller tablet size and possible lower dose administration.

Solesta

Solesta is a biocompatible tissue bulking agent, consisting of dextranomer microspheres and stabilized sodium hyaluronate. Solesta is indicated for the treatment of fecal incontinence in patients 18 years and older who have failed conservative therapy, such as diet, fiber therapy and/or anti-motility medications. It is the only injectable gel for this indication to be administered in an outpatient setting without the need for surgery or anesthesia.

Deflux

Deflux is a medical device indicated for children affected by Grades II-IV vesicoureteral reflux, a malformation of the urinary bladder that can result in severe infections of the kidneys and irreversible kidney damage. Deflux was granted premarket approval application (PMA) approval, and has been on the market in the United States.

Fulyzaq (crofelemer) delayed-release tablets

On December 31, 2012, the FDA granted marketing approval for this product, under the trade name Fulyzaq. Fulyzaq is indicated for the symptomatic relief of non-infectious diarrhea in adult patients with HIV/AIDS on anti-retroviral therapy. Fulyzaq should also be eligible for five years of marketing exclusivity from the date of FDA approval, and the product might be entitled to patent term restoration.

Giazo (balsalazide disodium) tablets

February 3, 2012, the FDA granted marketing approval for this product under the trade name Giazo. Giazo is indicated for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative col! itis in m! ale patients 18 years of age and older. It shipped Giazo to wholesalers in 2012.

Metozolv ODT (metoclopramide hydrochloride) 5 milligrams and 10 milligrams orally disintegrating tablets

METOZOLV ODT is indicated for the relief of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux or short-term (4-12 weeks) therapy for adults with symptomatic, documented gastroesophageal reflux who fail to respond to conventional therapy and diabetic gastroparesis or the relief of symptoms in adults associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis.

Azasan (azathioprine) tablets

Azasan is an FDA-approved drug that suppresses immune system responses and is indicated for preventing rejection of kidney transplants and treatment of severe arthritis. It launched the 75 and 100 milligrams dosage strengths of Azasan in the United States.

Anusol-HC and Proctocort (hydrocortisone) creams and suppositories

The Company acquired the right to sell Anusol-HC 2.5% (hydrocortisone USP) cream, Anusol-HC 25 milligrams (hydrocortisone acetate) rectal suppositories, Proctocort 1% (hydrocortisone USP) cream and Proctocort 30 mg (hydrocortisone acetate) rectal suppositories from King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The two cream products are topical corticosteroids indicated for relief of the inflammatory and pruritic, or itching, manifestations of corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses. The two suppository products are indicated for use in inflamed hemorrhoids and postirradiation proctitis, as well as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory conditions.

Pepcid (famotidine) for Oral Suspension and Diuril (Chlorothiazide)

Pepcid Oral Suspension is a widely known prescription pharmaceutical product indicated for several gastrointestinal indications, including the treatment of duodenal ulcer, benign gastric ulcer and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Pepcid Oral Suspension and Diuril Oral Suspension, both liquid form! ulations ! of their solid dosage form counterparts, compete in a combined annual United States market concentrated in pediatric and hospitalized patient populations.

Colazal (balsalazide disodium) capsules

The Company launched Colazal to physicians in the United States. FDA approved Colazal for use in pediatric patients between 5 to 17 years of age with ulcerative colitis. The pediatric use of Colazal has been granted orphan drug designation. The Office of Generic Drugs, or OGD, approved three generic balsalazide capsule products.

The Company competes with GlaxoSmithKline plc, Giuliani S.p.A., Axcan Pharma, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Warner Chilcott plc, Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc., Alaven Pharmaceutical LLC, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Ferndale Laboratories, GATE Pharmaceuticals , Nycomed , Medtronic, Inc., and Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Williamson]

  In this segment, health-care analyst David Williamson takes a look at the upcoming acquisition by Salix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SLXP  ) of Santarus (NASDAQ: SNTS  ) for about $2.6 billion. Salix is currently a maker of drugs for gastrointestinal diseases, and the immediately accretive deal will give Salix access to treatments for both diabetes and heartburn. Shares of both companies were up significantly on the news. David tells investors why shareholders should be pleased with this deal on both ends and what he thinks of the stock going forward.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: Investment Technology Group Inc (ITG)

Investment Technology Group, Inc. (ITG), incorporated on March 10, 1994, is an independent execution and research broker that partners with global portfolio managers and traders to provide data-driven insights throughout the investment process. It operates in three segments: United States Operations, Canadian Operations, European Operations and Asia Pacific Operations. The United States Operations segment provides electronic and trade execution, trade order and execution management, network connectivity, analytical products and investment research services. The Canadian and Asia Pacific Operations segments provide electronic and high-touch trade execution, trade execution management, network connectivity, analytical products and investment research services. The European Operations segment provides electronic and high-touch trade execution, trade order and execution management, network connectivity and analytical products and includes a technology research and development facility in Israel.

ITG offers a range of solutions for asset managers in the areas of electronic brokerage, research sales and trading, trading platforms and analytics. These offerings include trade execution services and solutions for portfolio management, as well as investment research, pre-trade analytics and post-trade analytics and processing. Its principal subsidiaries include: ITG Inc., AlterNet Securities, Inc., ITG Derivatives LLC, Investment Technology Group Limited, ITG Australia Limited, ITG Canada Corp., ITG Hong Kong Limited, ITG Software Solutions, Inc. and ITG Solutions Network, Inc.

Electronic Brokerage

ITG electronic brokerage services include self-directed trading using algorithms, smart routing and matching through POSIT in cash equities (including single stocks and portfolio lists), futures and options. ITG Algorithms and ITG Smart Router offer portfolio managers and traders a way to trade orders quickly, from any ITG Execution Management System (EMS) or ITG Order Managemen! t System (OMS) and third-party trading platforms. ITG Algorithms help users pursue execution through two suites: ITG Single Stock Algorithms and ITG List-Based Algorithms. ITG Smart Router offers an alternative to routing trades that can help capture liquidity with a combination of speed and confidentiality. These routers continuously scan markets for liquidity with an emphasis on trading without displaying the order.

POSIT Alert is a buyside-only block crossing mechanism within POSIT. POSIT Alert scans uncommitted shares from participating clients. When a crossing opportunity is detected, POSIT Alert notifies the relevant users that a matching opportunity exists. POSIT Marketplace provides access to POSIT liquidity, the dark pools of other ATSs, and certain exchange hidden order types. POSIT Marketplace is a dark pool aggregator that provides clients with access to a range of liquidity destinations. POSIT Marketplace uses advanced quantitative techniques in an effort to protect clients from gaming and to interact with quality liquidity. ITG Derivatives provides electronic-listed futures and options trading, including algorithmic trading and direct market access. ITG offers options features for traders employing volatility or delta-neutral strategies and also provides low-latency application programming interfaces.

ITG offers guidance, administration, and consolidation of client commission arrangements across the range of preferred brokerage and research providers of its clients using ITG Commission Manager, a robust, multi-asset Web-based commission management portal. Through stock borrow and stock loan transactions, ITG facilitates shortened or extended settlement periods to help clients meet their internal cash flow needs.

Research Sales & Trading

ITG provides unbiased, data-driven equity research through its ITG Investment Research subsidiary. This offering has expanded ITG's client relationships beyond the trading desk to chief investment officer! s, portfo! lio managers and analysts. ITG Market Research offers market research capabilities to corporate clients within the healthcare and telecom industries. The healthcare market research practice combines survey results with empirical data to deliver syndicated and custom reporting capabilities. ITG provides high-touch sales trading and portfolio trading for institutional clients. ITG's high-touch trading desk is staffed with experienced trading professionals who provide ITG clients with execution expertise and also convey trading ideas based on ITG Investment Research.

Trading Platforms

ITG EMSs are designed to meet the needs of disparate trading styles. Triton Derivatives is a broker-neutral direct access EMS that provides traders with access to scalable, low-latency, multi-asset trading opportunities. ITG OMS combines portfolio management, compliance functionality (ITG Compliance Monitoring System), trading and post-trade processing (ITG Trade Operations Outsourcing), and a fully integrated and supported financial services communications network (ITG Net) with a consolidated, outsourced service for global trade matching and settlement (ITG Trade Operations Outsourcing) that provides connectivity to the industry's post-trade utilities, support for multiple, flexible settlement communications methods and a real-time process monitor. ITG Net is a global financial communications network that provides secure, reliable and fully supported connectivity between buy-side and sell-side firms for order routing and indication-of-interest messages from ITG and third-party trading platforms.

ITG's commitment to execution platforms also extends to broker-neutral operational services to help ensure that trades clear and settle efficiently, and to significantly lower the transaction costs associated with trade tickets. The ITG Smart Trading Analytics suite enables portfolio managers and traders to improve execution performance before the trade happens (pre-trade) and during trading ! (real-tim! e) by providing reliable portfolio analytics and risk models that help them perform predictive analyses, manage risk, change strategy and reduce trading costs. ITG Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) offers measurement and reporting capabilities to analyze performance across the trading continuum. ITG Alpha Capture Reporting measures cost at every point of the investment process and provides portfolio managers with quarterly analytical reviews, written interpretations and on-site consultative recommendations to enhance performance.

ITG provides tools to assist asset managers with portfolio decision-making tasks from portfolio construction and optimization to the enterprise challenges of global, real-time portfolio compliance monitoring and the fair valuation of securities. ITG Portfolio Fair Value Service helps mutual fund managers meet their obligations to investors and regulators to fairly price the securities within their funds, and helps minimize the impact of market timing. ITG Portfolio Optimization System allows portfolio managers to develop new portfolio construction strategies and solve complex optimization problems. ITG Portfolio Optimization System allows users to accurately model tax liability, transaction costs and long/short objectives, while adhering to diverse portfolio-specific constraints.

Non-U.S. Operations

ITG has a development center in Tel Aviv. In Asia Pacific, ITG has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Singapore. Local representation in regional markets provides an important advantage for ITG. ITG also provides electronic and high-touch trading for Latin American equities, including algorithms for Brazil and Mexico, from its New York headquarters.

Canadian Operations

ITG Canada provides electronic brokerage services, including ITG Algorithms, ITG Smart Router and the POSIT suite, as well as high-touch agency execution and portfolio trading services. In addition, ITG Canada provides Triton, Triton Derivatives! , connect! ivity services, ITG Single Ticket Clearing, ITG Portfolio Optimization System, ITG Smart Trading Analytics, ITG TCA and investment research services. ITG Canada also engages in principal trading activities. ITG Canada's customers primarily consist of asset and investment managers, broker-dealers and hedge funds.

European Operations

ITG Europe focuses on trading European, Middle Eastern and African equities, as well as providing ITG's technologies to its clients. ITG Europe provides electronic brokerage services, including ITG Algorithms, ITG Smart Router, and the POSIT suite, as well as high-touch agency execution and portfolio trading services. ITG Europe also provides ITG OMS, Triton, connectivity services, ITG Single Ticket Clearing, ITG TCA, ITG Alpha Capture Reporting and ITG Smart Trading Analytics.

Asia Pacific Operations

ITG provides institutional investors with a range of ITG's products and services including trade execution, trade execution management through Triton, connectivity services and pre-and post-trade analysis through ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics. Execution services are provided through electronic brokerage products such as ITG Algorithms and the POSIT suite and through an experienced high-touch agency trading services team. Other trading tools provided by ITG Hong Kong include Triton, connectivity services, ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics. ITG Singapore provides institutional investors in Singapore with a range of ITG's products and services including electronic and high-touch execution services, trade execution management through Triton and trading analysis through ITG TCA and ITG Smart Trading Analytics.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Investment Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: ITG) was downgraded to Market Perform from outperform by Keefe�Bruyette & Woods.

  Liquidity Services Inc. (NASDAQ: LQDT) was raised to Buy from Underperform, and the price target was raised up to $45 from $28.50, at Merrill Lynch.

• [By victorselva]

  The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) is a savings and loan holding company. The company is engaged, through its subsidiaries, in securities brokerage, banking, money management, and financial advisory services. Its subsidiaries include Charles Schwab & Co. (a leading discount broker-dealer), Charles Schwab Investment Management (a mutual fund investment advisor) and Charles Schwab Bank.In this article, let's take a look at this brokerage firm and try to explain to investors the reasons this is an apparently appealing investment opportunity.The FocusThe company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments: Investor Services and Institutional Services. The Investor Services segment provides retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors. The Institutional Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors. The Institutional Services segment also provides retirement plan services, specialty brokerage services, and mutual fund clearing services. The company seeks to meet the financial services needs of investors, advisers and employers. It focuses on building client loyalty with the goal of attracting new clients and serving them. Additionally, Schwab麓s strengths through shared core processes and technology advances which help create services that are scalable and consistent with the business.Interest Rates, Capital Structure and Debt-to-Capital RatioThe results are dependent on short-term interest rates, as 37% of its top line came from net interest income in the first quarter of 2014.The broker has been making significant efforts to become less dependent on interest rates, which we expect Federal Reserve will raise them in late 2014 or 2015. Also, the company麓s plan is to reach a low-cost capital structure and targets a long-term debt-to-total financial capital ratio of less than 30%.Lucrative Derivatives Trading In 2011, the company acquired Compl

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: Pentair Inc.(PNR)

Pentair, Inc. operates as a diversified industrial manufacturing company worldwide. The company?s Water segment offers products and systems for use in the movement, storage, treatment, and enjoyment of water. It offers light duty diaphragm pumps and solid handling pumps for water and wastewater applications and agricultural spraying; and pressure tanks for residential applications. This segment also provides control valves, pressure tanks, membranes, carbon products, point of entry and point of use systems, and other filter cartridges for commercial and residential water filtration applications; and pool equipment and accessories, such as pumps, filters, heaters and heat pumps, lights, automatic controls, automatic pool cleaners, commercial deck equipment, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for commercial and residential pool maintenance, repair and renovation, and service and construction. In addition, it offers filter systems, filter cartridges, pressure vessels , and dispensing pumps for commercial, foodservice, industrial, marine and aviation markets. This segment distributes its products through wholesale distributors, retail distributors, original equipment manufacturers (OEM), home centers, and home and pool builders. The company?s Technical Products segment provides standard, modified, and custom enclosures that house and protect sensitive electronics and electrical components, as well as protect people that use them. Its products comprise metallic and composite enclosures, cabinets, cases, subracks, backplanes, and associated thermal management systems used in industrial machinery, data communications, networking, telecommunications, test and measurement, automotive, medical, security, defense, and general electronics. This segment distributes its products through electrical and data contractors, electrical and electronic components distributors, and OEMs. Pentair, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is based in Golden Valley, Minne sota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:

  Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)

  Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Pentair (NYSE: PNR  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  What do BG Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGMD) and Pentair, Ltd. (NYSE:PNR) have in common? Most investors would say absolutely nothing. BGMD is a small cap medical diagnostics company, while PNR is a large cap industrial equipment manufacturer. Those are worlds that simply never collide. The directions each stock has been traveling in over the past few months have even been polar opposites.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Own For 2014: (BANC)

First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Pacific Trust Bank and Beach Business Bank that provides retail banking services to individuals and small to mid-sized businesses. The company offers various deposit accounts, such as checking and savings accounts, money market deposits, certificate accounts, retirement accounts, interest bearing demand accounts, and certificates of deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans, multi-family mortgage loans, small business administration guaranteed business loans, construction loans, lease financing, single family 1-4 unit residential mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, home equity loans, and other consumer loans. In addition, the company offers leasing and financing services, cash and treasury management services, card payment services, remote deposit services, ACH origination, and employer/employee retirement planning products. Furth er, it provides mobile, online, and telephone banking services; automated bill payment services; electronic statements; safe deposit boxes; and direct deposit and wire transfers. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 19 banking offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties in California; and 24 single family mortgage loan production offices in California, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  He opened a position in shares of Banc of California (BANC) in the quarter. The company is the holding company for Pacific Trust Bank and Beach Business Bank in the San Diego area. The bank has 60 locations and more than $3.5 billion in assets, and it just completed the acquisition of three institutions — The Private Bank of California, The Palisades Group and CS Financial –� which increased total assets by almost $1 billion. The shares trade right at book value. Banc of California is well positioned to benefit from a strong recovery in California and may eventually become a buyout target itself.