Canadian oil-sands producers may want to sing "I Want to Be Free" right about now. Between the European Union's proposal of a penalty on oil sands consumed in Europe and the political wrangling surrounding TransCanada's (NYSE: TRP ) Keystone XL pipeline, producers just can't seem to find a market. Even without the political problems, there are still some massive logistics problems facing Canadian oil sands. Let's take a look at one critical issue with Canadian oil sands and how one U.S. energy play could be a savior.
Sweet Sticky Thing
Even though we call everything "crude oil," every source of crude is different. Crude is a collection of hundreds of different types of molecules that are based on the same basic concept: chains or rings of carbon atoms flanked by hydrogen atoms. Depending on where oil comes from, the percentages of these molecule types change, which changes the physical properties -- and the market value -- of these crudes. In the case of the Canadian oil sands, the product is considered a heavy oil/bitumen crude source. This means it has a much higher percentage of long-chain molecules used for products such as lubricants, residual fuels such as home heating oil, and asphalt for roads and roofs. By contrast, lighter oil types, such as what we're seeing from shale oil in the U.S., have more short-chain molecules and will produce a higher percentage of light products, such as gasoline, kerosene, and jet fuel.�
Top 5 Gas Companies To Own For 2015: Response Genetics Inc.(RGDX)
Response Genetics, Inc., a life sciences company, engages in the research, development, marketing, and sale of clinical diagnostic tests and pharmacogenomic tests for use in the treatment of cancer primarily in the United States, Asia, and Europe. The company develops genetic tests that measure predictive factors for tumor response in tumor tissue samples. It offers tests for non-small cell lung cancer under the ResponseDX: Lung trade name; colorectal cancer under the ResponseDX: Colon trade name; and gastric and gastroesophageal cancer under the ResponseDX: Gastric trade name. The company also develops tests for other types of cancer that identify genetic profiles of tumors that recur after surgery. Response Genetics, Inc. offers its products through its sales force to community based oncologists, hospitals, and physician offices. In addition, it provides pharmacogenomic testing services to pharmaceutical companies. The company was formerly known as Bio Type, Inc. and cha nged its name to Response Genetics, Inc. in August 2000. Response Genetics, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
Response Genetics (NASDAQ: RGDX) slipped 9.47% to $1.34 after the company reported Q4 results. The company posted a quarterly net loss of $3.2 million, or $0.09 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $0.5 million, or $0.01 per share.
Top 5 Consumer Service Companies For 2014: Kforce Inc.(KFRC)
Kforce Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides professional and technical staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates in five segments: Technology, Finance and Accounting, Clinical Research, Health Information Management, and Government Solutions. The Technology segment offers temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its clients, focusing on information technology comprising systems/applications programmers and developers, senior-level project managers, systems analysts, enterprise data management, e-business, and networking technicians, as well as healthcare, financial services, and government integrators. The Finance and Accounting segment provides temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its customers in taxation, budget preparation and analysis, mortgage and loan processing, financial reporting, cost analysis, accounts payable, accounts receivable, professional administrative, credit and collections, general acco unting, audit services, and systems and controls analysis and documentation. The Clinical Research segment is involved in providing functional outsourcing solutions for monitoring clinical research site, contingent contract staffing, and permanent placement of clinical research personnel to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The Health Information Management segment offers temporary staffing and permanent placement services to its clients consisting of acute care facilities, physician clinics, software providers, and insurance companies, as well as in medical coding, the revenue life cycle, and health information technology areas. The Government Solutions segment provides technology, and finance and accounting professionals to the federal government; and integrated business solutions in the information technology, data and knowledge management, research and development, financial management, and accounting areas. Kforce Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of staffing service specialist Kforce (NASDAQ: KFRC ) plunged 16% today after its quarterly results missed Wall Street expectations.
- [By John Udovich]
Despite a lukewarm economy and jobs situation, the staffing industry along with small cap staffing stocks like On Assignment, Inc (NYSE: ASGN), Kforce Inc (NASDAQ: KFRC) and up and coming Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF) have actually put in pretty decent performances since the end of the financial crisis. I should mention that globally, staffing companies generate about $280 billion in annual revenue and there�are approximately 70,000 private employment services agencies around the world with the top 10 companies accounting for about a third of total industry sales while in the USA there are an estimated 15,000 staffing companies generating less than $20 million in revenues. Overall, Europe is the largest regional staffing services market with 40% of annual revenue, followed by the United States.
Top 5 Consumer Service Companies For 2014: Trinity Industries Inc.(TRN)
Trinity Industries, Inc. provides products and services to the industrial, energy, transportation, and construction sectors primarily in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Sweden. The company?s Rail Group manufactures and sells railcars, including auto carrier, box, gondola, hopper, intermodal, specialty, and tank cars; and railcar components, such as couplers and axles. This group also offers repair and coating services. It primarily serves railroads, leasing companies, and industrial shippers of various products. Trinity Industries? Railcar Leasing and Management Services group leases tank cars and freight cars to industrial shippers and railroads operating in petroleum, chemical, agricultural, and energy industries with a fleet of 54,595 owned or leased railcars; provides management and administrative services; and manages railcar fleets on behalf of third parties. The company?s Construction Products group produces ready mix concret e; produces and distributes construction aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt rock, and specialty sands and gravel; manufactures highway products and other steel products for infrastructure related projects; supplies ready mix concrete; and provides hot-dip galvanizing services for fabricated steel materials. It primarily serves contractors and subcontractors in the construction and foundation industry. Trinity Industries? Inland Barge group manufactures inland barges; and fiberglass reinforced lift covers. It serves commercial marine transportation companies. The company?s Energy Equipment group manufactures structural wind towers, tank containers, and tank heads for pressure vessels; fertilizer containers; and tank heads for non-pressure vessels, LPG tanks, and utility, traffic, and lighting structures. It serves turbine producers, as well as industrial plants, utilities, residences, and small businesses. The company was founded in 1933 and is he adquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
Finally, any new tank-car regulation will benefit those firms that actually build and supply all those new cars. So our last pick in the wide world of railroad stocks is�Trinity Industries (TRN). The firm already has seen its tank-car order backlog surge so much — currently sitting at 40,000 cars — that it has shifted much of its capacity at its wind turbine tower business towards the manufacture of rail cars.
- [By Holly LaFon]
Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee
- [By Eric Volkman]
Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN ) is rolling a higher dividend down the rails. The company has declared a distribution of $0.13 per share of its common stock. This will be paid on July 31 to shareholders of record as of July 15.�That amount represents an 18% improvement over the previous payout, which was handed out at the end of April and totaled $0.11 per share.
- [By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, railcar manufacturer Trinity Industries (NYSE: TRN ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
Top 5 Consumer Service Companies For 2014: Image Systems Nordic AB (IS)
Image Systems Nordic AB, formerly Digital Vision AB, is a Sweden-based company active in the media industry. The Company specializes in high resolution image processing, film scanning and solutions for motion analysis. The Company operates within three business areas: Media, Defense and Motion. The Company�� product portfolio includes the Nucoda software products, providing a suite of colour grading and finishing solutions used in film and television post production; the Phoenix software products, providing image restoration tools for film archives and content owners; the Golden Eye film scanners, which provide high resolution scanning, archive and restoration, and the Image Systems Motion Unit with its TEMA software platform, providing a range of motion analysis solutions, among others. As of March, 1, 2012, the Company acquired Sawco Holding AB and RemaControl Sweden AB. As of March 31, 2012, the Company�� largest shareholder was Tibia Konsult AB (19.1%). Advisors' Opinion:- [By Geoff Gannon]
��The ranking exercise (is) based on growth and fundamental analysis. EXC ranks at the bottom in both analyses��op 4 results are Apple, BHP Billiton (BHP), Mosaic (MOS) and Rio Tinto (RIO). MOS was eliminated as it has one year of negative FCF.
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