Five states have passed measures to raise the minimum wage this year, according to data published by the National Conference of State Legislators. Only one of these states, California, has passed a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour. Based on data from the U.S. Department of Labor, 24/7 Wall St. identified the states with the highest minimum wages.
Whether or not a higher minimum wage is good for the economy continues to be the subject of debate. The National Employment Law Project (NELP), which advocates raising the minimum wage, maintains that the decline in the purchasing power of the minimum wage "has contributed to the growth of income inequality over the past three decades."
Hot Communications Equipment Companies To Own In Right Now: AutoNation Inc (AN)
AutoNation, Inc. (AutoNation), incorporated on May 30, 1991, is an automotive retailer in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had three operating segments: Domestic, Import, and Premium Luxury. As of December 31, 2011, it owned and operated 258 new vehicle franchises from 215 stores located in the United States, predominantly in metropolitan markets in the Sunbelt region. Its stores sell 32 different brands of new vehicles. The core brands of vehicles that it sells, representing approximately 90% of the new vehicles that it sold during the year ended December 31, 2011, was manufactured by Ford, Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Chrysler. The Company offers a diversified range of automotive products and services, including new vehicles, used vehicles, parts and automotive repair and maintenance services , and automotive finance and insurance products, which includes the arranging of financing for vehicle purchases through third-party finance sources. The Company retailed approximately 400,000 new and used vehicles through its stores in 2011. It acquired one automotive retail franchise and related assets during 2011.
Domestic segment consists of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured by General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Its Import segment is comprised of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured primarily by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. Its Premium Luxury segment is consists of retail automotive franchises that sell new vehicles manufactured primarily by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus. The franchises in each segment also sells used vehicles, parts and automotive repair and maintenance services, and automotive finance and insurance products. For the year ended December 31, 2011, Domestic revenue represented 34% of total revenue, Import revenue represented 37% of total revenue, and Premium Luxury revenue represented 28% of total revenue. Corporate and other is consist of its other businesses, incl! uding collision centers, e-commerce activities, and an auction operation, each of which generates revenues, as well as unallocated corporate overhead expenses and retrospective commissions for certain financing and insurance transactions that it arranges under agreements with third parties.
The Company�� stores acquires vehicles for retail sale either directly from the applicable automotive manufacturer or distributor or through dealer trades with other stores of the same franchise. it acquires used vehicles from customer trade-ins, auctions, lease terminations, and other sources. It recondition used vehicles acquired for retail sale at its stores��service facilities and capitalize costs related thereto as used vehicle inventory. Through its VVOs, which are located on existing store facilities, it sells vehicles that it would have traditionally wholesaled with an average retail price lower than that of used vehicles it typically retail. Used vehicles that the Company do not sell at its stores or VVOs generally are sold at wholesale prices through auctions.
The Company offers a variety of automotive finance and insurance products to its customers. The Company arranges for its customers to finance vehicles through installment loans or leases with third-party lenders, including the vehicle manufacturers��and distributors��captive finance subsidiaries, in exchange for a commission payable to the Company. It also offers its customers various vehicle protection products, including extended service contracts, maintenance programs, guaranteed auto protection (GAP, this protection covers the shortfall between a customer�� loan balance and insurance payoff in the event of a casualty), tire and wheel protection, and theft protection products. The vehicle protection products that its stores offers to customers are underwritten and administered by independent third parties, including the vehicle manufacturers��and distributors��captive finance subsidiaries. The Company sells t! he produc! ts on a straight commission basis; however, it also participate in future underwriting profit for certain products pursuant to retrospective commission arrangements. Commissions that it receives from these third-party providers may be subject to chargeback, in full or in part, if products that it sells, such as extended service contracts, are cancelled. Its stores also provide a range of vehicle maintenance, repair, paint, and collision repair services, including warranty work that can be performed only at franchised dealerships and customer-pay service work. The Company has entered into framework agreements with vehicle manufacturers and distributors. It operates each of its new vehicle stores under a franchise agreement with a vehicle manufacturer or distributor.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
They did, however, show passion for Autonation (AN), which gained 3.1% to $46.76, benefiting, I suppose, from demand for Ford’s (F) Fusion. Biotech stocks continued their strong run today. Biogen (BIIB) gained 2.1% to $214.13, while Celgene (CELG) rose 2.5% to $142.58.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Wall Street had another rising day, with the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. But one tech stock tanked and the momentum took a bunch of others in the sector down with it. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) closed 25 points higher, the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) added 8 points, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) was up 3 points. One of the top gainers on the S&P 500 was used car giant CarMax (KMX). Its share price zoomed higher by 16.5 percent with revenue and profits hitting record levels. The still lackluster economic recovery is causing many to drive off lots in used cars instead of new vehicles. And the hottest model over the past two years? The Nissan Altima. Automotive retailer AutoNation (AN), which runs new and used dealerships, also got a boost, rising more than 5 percent. It was a different story for software giant Oracle (ORCL), which was one of the S&P 500's biggest losers. Its stock fell 4 percent on sagging earnings. Social media stocks fell too. Pandora (P) was down 1.5 percent as was Groupon (GRPN), LinkedIn (LNKD) lost almost 1 percent and Amazon (AMZN) fell less than 1 percent two days after unveiling its first smartphone. But poor Radioshack (RSH). Its stock hit a new low, trading below a dollar a share for the first time after falling almost 10 percent. Since the beginning of the year the stock is down 64 percent. One analyst has a price target of zero on the stock. Ouch. (We hope you don't have that one in your portfolio.) And Darden's (DRI) earnings weren't very appetizing. Profits came in much lower than expected and guidance was weak. The stock fell 4 percent. It is selling its Red Lobster chain and trying to focus on revamping Olive Garden. Solar stocks had a bright day, though. Shares of SunEdison (SUNE) shone brightly rising 1.5 percent on news it was acquiring some solar farms in Massachusetts. Other solar stocks also basked on the day. Canadian Solar gained 6 percent, and
5 Best Quality Stocks To Own For 2014: GrafTech International Ltd (GTI)
GrafTech International Ltd (GTI) incorporated on April 26, 2010, is a manufacturer of graphite electrodes, products essential to the production of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel and various other ferrous and nonferrous metals. The Company also produces needle coke products, which are the primary raw material needed in the manufacture of graphite electrodes. The Company also manufactures carbon, graphite, and semi-graphite refractory products, which protect the walls of blast furnaces and submerged arc furnaces. The Company is manufactures and provides graphite and carbon materials used in the transportation, solar and oil and gas exploration industries. The Company's operating segments include Industrial Materials, which include graphite electrodes, refractory products and needle coke products, and Engineered Solutions, which includes advanced electronics technologies, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials, and advanced materials. The Company has seven product categories: graphite electrodes, refractory products, needle coke products, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials, advanced electronics technologies (formerly referred to as natural graphite products), and advanced materials.
Industrial Materials.
The Company's Industrial Materials segment manufactures and delivers graphite electrodes, refractory products and needle coke products. Approximately 70% of the Company's graphite electrodes sold is consumed in the EAF steel melting process. The remaining approximately 30% of the Company's graphite electrodes sold is primarily used in various other ferrous and non-ferrous melting applications, including steel refining ladle furnace operations for both EAF and basic oxygen furnace steel production, fused materials, chemical processing, and alloy metals. The Company is a producer of petroleum needle coke. Needle coke is the raw material in the manufacture of the graphite electrodes used in melting operations. The Company is also a leadi! ng global supplier of carbon, semi-graphitic and graphite refractory hearth linings for blast and submerged arc furnaces used to produce iron and ferro alloys.
The Company competes with SGL Carbon A.G. Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. Showa Denko Carbon K.K. Graphite India Limited, HEG Limited, SEC Corporation Limited, Nippon Carbon Co., Ltd., Energoprom Group, Beijing FangDa Carbon Tech Co. Ltd., Sinosteel Corporation, Phillips 66, Petrocokes Japan Limited , Mitsubishi Chemical Company, Baosteel Group , C-Chem Co., Ltd. Indian Oil Company Limited, Hongte Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. JX Holdings Inc., Petrochina International Jinzhou Co., Ltd. and Sinosteel Anshan Research Institute of Thermo-Energy Co. Ltd.
Engineered Solutions
The Engineered Solutions segment includes advanced electronics technologies, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials and advanced materials. Advanced electronics technology products consist of electronic thermal management solutions, fuel cell components, and sealing materials. These products are used in transportation, alternative energy, metallurgical, chemical, oil and gas exploration and various other industries. Advanced composite materials are engineered carbon products that are woven into various shapes to primarily support the aerospace and defense industries. Advanced materials use carbon and graphite powders as components or additives in a variety of industries, including metallurgical processing, battery and fuel cell components, and polymer additives.
SGL Carbon A.G., Mersen S.A., Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd., Toyo Tanso Co., Ltd., SEC Carbon Ltd, Nippon Carbon Co. Ltd, Graphite India Ltd. (India) , Panasonic Corporation , and Kaneka Corporation .
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
Rhyu joins the company from IAC's (NASDAQ: IACI ) Match.com, where he has filled the roles of both CFO and chief administrative officer since 2011. Previous to that, he was a senior vice president at News Corp's (NASDAQ: FOXA ) Dow Jones & Company. He also served as corporate controller for both Sirius XM Radio and GrafTech International (NYSE: GTI ) .
5 Best Quality Stocks To Own For 2014: Home Bancorp Inc.(HBCP)
Home Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Home Bank that provides various banking services in Louisiana. The company offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking, money market, savings, and negotiable order of withdrawal accounts; and demand deposit and certificates of deposit. It also provides various loan products, such as single-family residential first mortgage loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans, commercial loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, construction and land loans, and other loans. In addition, the company offers online banking, bank cards, and ATM services. As of December 31, 2010, it had 18 full-service banking offices in the Greater Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and Northshore regions of south Louisiana. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
The credit crisis slowed the pace of deals temporarily, but there are plenty of former thrifts trading at low valuations that have the potential for large long-term returns.
Home Bancorp (HBCP)Home Bancorp (HBCP) is a 22-branch bank located in Lafayette, La. The bank has almost $1 billion in assets and the balance sheet is in excellent condition. Also, its equity-to-asset ratio is 14.5 — well above my preferred minimum of 10. Meanwhile, Home Bancorp’s nonperforming assets are just 2.09% of the total.
5 Best Quality Stocks To Own For 2014: Nustar Energy L.P.(NS)
NuStar Energy L.P. engages in the terminalling, storage, and transportation of petroleum products primarily in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. The company operates in three segments: Storage, Transportation, and Asphalt and Fuels Marketing. The Storage segment operates terminal and storage facilities for petroleum products, specialty chemicals, crude oil, and other liquids; and crude oil storage tanks. Its terminals also offer pilotage, tug assistance, line handling, launch, emergency response, and other ship services. The Transportation segment transports refined petroleum products, crude oil, and anhydrous ammonia. This segment operates refined product pipelines in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota; and owns anhydrous ammonia pipelines located in Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska. The Asphalt and Fuels Marketing segment refines crude oil to produce asphalt and other refined products. This segment also purchases gasoline and other refined petroleum products for resale. As of December 31, 2010, the company had 65 terminal and storage facilities providing approximately 80.4 million barrels of storage capacity; 5,605 miles of refined product pipelines with 21 associated terminals that offer storage capacity of 4.6 million barrels, as well as 2 tank farms providing storage capacity of 1.2 million barrels; 2,000 miles of anhydrous ammonia pipelines; 812 miles of crude oil pipelines with 16 associated storage tanks comprising storage capacity of 1.9 million barrels; and 2 asphalt refineries with a combined capacity of 104,000 barrels per day, as well as 2 associated terminal facilities with a combined storage capacity of 5.0 million barrels. Riverwalk Logistics, L.P. serves as the general partner of the company. NuStar Energy L.P. was founded in 1999 and is based in Sa n Antonio, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Robert Rapier]
But it is important to note that ETE also has interests in Sunoco Logistics Partners (NYSE: SXL) and Regency Energy Partners (NYSE: RGP).
Finally, consider NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS) and its general partner NuStar GP Holdings (NYSE: NSH). Like ETE, NSH went public in 2006 and has also significantly outperformed its limited partner since:
The vast majority of partnerships don’t have a publicly-traded GP. But in each of these three cases in which the GP is publicly traded, the GP tends to outperform the LP units on long-term gains, an advantage somewhat offset by the typically higher LP yield.
- [By Rich Smith]
Only five privately held firms will participate in this two-year contract (extendable up to five years). No publicly traded firms at all were chosen to participate -- but publicly traded firms did still win a few of the day's smaller contracts, among them:
A $76.1 million contract modification awarded to the Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, a joint venture between Textron� (NYSE: TXT ) and Boeing (NYSE: BA ) , which instructs the JPO to delivery one single additional CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft to the U.S. Air Force by December 2016. A $39.4 million fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for Sysco (NYSE: SYY ) to provide "prime vendor food and beverage support" to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Job Corps in Florida through April 16, 2019. A $32.3 million option exercise for NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS ) subsidiary Shore Terminals LLC to provide "petroleum storage services" to the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps through Nov. 30, 2016. A $7.7 million undefinitized contract modification compensating Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) for "non-recurring sustainment activities" performed on behalf of the government of the United Kingdom, related to the latter's purchase of F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets. This contract has a completion date of June 201 - [By Rich Smith]
Wrapping up a week most notable for its stinginess, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded only three (yes, you read that right) new contracts Friday. As for the $44 million in Pentagon contracts awarded, the winners were:
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