Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014

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Hot Asian Companies For 2015: Atossa Genetics Inc (ATOS)

Atossa Genetics Inc., incorporated on April 30, 2009, is a development-stage healthcare company focused on the prevention of breast cancer through the commercialization of diagnostic tests that can detect precursors to breast cancer, and through the research, development, and ultimate commercialization of treatments for pre-cancerous lesions. The Company�� diagnostic tests consist of medical devices cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which can collect fluid samples from the breast milk ducts, where over 95% of breast cancers arise. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012, the tests that the Company offered and that are in development consist of ForeCYTE, ArgusCYTE, FullCYTE and NextCYTE. In September 2012, the Company acquired all of the assets of Acueity.

The ForeCYTE Breast Health Test provides personalized information about the 10-year and lifetime risk of breast cancer for women between ages 18 and 73. The ArgusCYTE Breast Health Test provides information to help inform breast cancer treatment options and to help monitor potential recurrence. The FullCYTE Breast Health Test is designed to assess the individual breast ducts for pre-cancerous changes in women previously identified to be at high risk for breast cancer. The NextCYTE Breast Cancer Test is designed to profile breast cancer specimens for prediction of treatment outcomes and distant recurrence in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. MASCT, Oxy-MASCT, and its name and logo are the trademarks. ForeCYTE, FullCYTE, NextCYTE, and ArgusCYTE are its service marks.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Virginia Harrison]

  The other big Olympic sponsors are Visa (V, Fortune 500), Samsung (SSNLF), Panasonic (PCRFF), General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500), Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), Omega (OCFN) and Atos (ATOS). They're staying tight-lipped about the issue in public but a senior official at the International Olympic Committee said this month that several had raised concerns about how the law could affect the Games.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  You know, it's fun to be right about a particular stock, but at the same time, it's miserable if you didn't have the guts to actually act on the idea. That's my tale of woe with Atossa Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:ATOS). On Monday of this week I was singing its praises, explaining how the chart suggested ATOS was on the verge of a breakout. But, I also suggested waiting for shares to take that one final confirming step.... a move above the 100-day moving average line. Now I wish I hadn't been so picky.

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: Abraxas Petroleum Corp (AXAS)

Abraxas Petroleum Corporation is an independent energy company primarily engaged in the acquisition, exploitation, development and production of oil and gas in the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� estimated net proved reserves were 29.0 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe), (including reserves attributable to its 34.7% equity interest in the proved reserves of Blue Eagle), of which 53% were classified as proved developed, 54% were oil and natural gas liquids (NGL��) and 94% by PV-10 were operated. Its daily net production during the year ended December 31, 2011, was 3,484 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 45% was oil or liquids. Its oil and gas assets are located in four operating regions in the United States, the Rocky Mountain, Mid-Continent, Permian Basin and onshore Gulf Coast, and in the province of Alberta, Canada.

The Company�� properties in the Rocky Mountain region are located in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana and in the Green River, Powder River and Unita Basins of Wyoming and Utah. In this region, its wells produce oil and gas from various reservoirs, including the Niobrara, Turner, Bakken and Three Forks formations. Well depths range from 7,000 feet down to 14,000 feet. The Company�� properties in the Mid-Continent region are primarily located in the Arkoma Basin and principally produce gas from the Hartshorne coals at 3,000 feet. Its properties in the Permian Basin region are primarily located in two sub-basins, the Delaware Basin and the Eastern Shelf. In the Delaware Basin, its wells are located in Pecos, Reeves, and Ward Counties, Texas and produce oil and gas from multiple stacked formations from the Bell Canyon at 5,000 feet down to the Ellenburger at 16,000 feet.

In the Eastern Shelf, its wells are principally located in Coke, Scurry, Midland, Mitchell and Nolan Counties, Texas and produce oil and gas from the Strawn Reef formation at 5,000 to 7,500 feet and oil from the shallower Clea! rfork formation at depths ranging from 2,300 to 3,300 feet. The Company�� properties in the onshore Gulf Coast region are located along the Edwards trend in DeWitt and Lavaca Counties, Texas and in the Portilla field in San Patricio County, Texas. In the Edwards trend, its wells produce gas from the Edwards formation at a depth of 14,000 feet and in the Portilla field, its wells produce oil and gas from the Frio sands and the deeper Vicksburg from depths of approximately 7,000 to 9,000 feet. In addition, the Company also owns a 34.7% equity interest in a joint venture targeting the Eagle Ford in South Texas. Its properties in the province of Alberta, Canada are located in the Pekisko fairway and the Nordegg/Tomahawk area of Central Alberta.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company leased approximately 20,835 net acres, primarily in counties located on the Nesson Anticline and in areas west, including Rough Rider and Lewis & Clark in North Dakota and in Sheridan County, Montana, which are prospective for the Bakken and Three Forks formations. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two operated wells and participated in an additional 19 gross (1.0 net) non-operated wells. In July 2011, Abraxas purchased a used Oilwell 2000 horsepower diesel electric drilling rig. In August 2010, the Company formed a joint venture, Blue Eagle, with Rock Oil to develop its acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale play. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 34.7% interest in Blue Eagle. During 2011, Blue Eagle drilled, completed or participated in three gross (2.4 net) wells and added approximately 3,800 net acres to its holdings, principally in McMullen County, Texas.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company leased a total of approximately 20,720 gross (17,800 net) acres in the southern Powder River Basin, of which 17,800 gross (15,700 net) acres were located in the Brooks Draw field of Converse and Niobrara Counties, Wyoming. In addition, it owns approximately 2,100 net acres in sout! hern Camp! bell County, Wyoming which are held by production and are near the Crossbow field operated by EOG Resources, Inc. and other recent horizontal activity. As of December 31, 2011, the Company leased 6,880 net acres in western Alberta. In 2011, it drilled or completed six gross (6 net) wells in the Twining area. In the emerging southern Alberta Basin Bakken play of Toole and Glacier Counties, Montana, the Company leased approximately 10,000 gross/net acres under long-term leases or direct mineral ownership. As of December 31, 2011, it leased approximately 5,600 gross/net acres in Nolan County, Texas. In 2011, the Company drilled three wells in the Spires Ranch offsetting the prolific Nena Lucia field.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson] Related AMKR Stocks to Watch for September 12, 2013 Seven Dividend-Paying Tech Stocks Analysts Are Bullish On Related AXAS EXCO Resources to Offer Senior Notes - Analyst Blog Abraxas (AXAS) Shares March Higher, Can It Continue? - Tale of the Tape

  Amkor Technology (NASDAQ: AMKR) shares gained 1.63% to touch a new 52-week high of $7.46. Amkor Technology's PEG ratio is 0.94.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Friday
  The market is typically quiet on Friday, but that's certainly not the case during earnings season. Abraxas Petroleum (NASDAQ: AXAS  ) checks in with its latest quarterly results on Friday morning. The San Antonio-based crude oil and natural gas exploration and production company is expected to post breakeven results.

• [By Lisa Levin] Related IIN Morning Market Movers Morning Market Losers Related AXAS Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (AXAS) in Focus: Stock Moves 6.4% Higher - Tale of the Tape Will Noble Energy Disappoint This Quarter? - Analyst Blog

  Intricon (NASDAQ: IIN) shares gained 33.98% to touch a new 52-week high of $6.23 after the company reported Q1 results.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Penn Virginia has gained 6.9% to $7.15 at 11:56 p.m. today, while Sanchez Energy (SN) has advanced 5.2% to $29.10, Abraxas Petroleum (AXAS) has risen 2.4% to $2.97 and Gulfport Energy (GPOR) is up 1.3% at $67.31.

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: j2 Global Inc (JCOM)

j2 Global, Inc., incorporated on December 14, 1995, is a provider of services delivered through the Internet. The Company provides cloud services to businesses of all sizes, from individuals to enterprises. The Company operates in two segments: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. The Company's Digital Media business segment consists of the Web properties and business operations of Ziff Davis, Inc. (Ziff Davis). The Company�� cloud services and solutions include fax, voice and unified communications, email and customer relationship management, online backup, global network and operations, and customer support services. In February 2013, it acquired IGN Entertainment, Inc. On November 9, 2012, the Company acquired Ziff Davis. Effective March 18, 2013, it acquired MetroFax Inc. In April 2013, the Company acquired Backup Connect BV.

Business Cloud Services

The Company's eFax and MyFax online fax services enable users to receive faxes into their email inboxes and to send faxes via the Internet. eVoice and Onebox provides the Company's customers a virtual phone system with various available enhancements. The Company's FuseMail service provides the Company's customers email, archival and perimeter protection solutions, while Campaigner provides its customers email marketing solutions. KeepItSafe enables the Company's customers to securely backup their data and dispose of tape or other physical systems. The Company's CampaignerCRM business provides customer relationship management solutions designed to increase the Company's customers' sales and increase efficiency. The Company also generates Business Cloud Services revenues from patent licensing and sales and advertising. The Company�� Business Cloud Services and solutions are of two types: direct inward-dial number (DID) -based, which are services provided in whole or in part through a telephone number and non-DID-based, which are its other cloud services for business. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had DIDs issued! to approximately 2.1 million paying subscribers.

The Company's services allow individuals to receive and send faxes as email attachments. In addition to eFax , the Company offers online fax services under a variety of alternative brands, including MyFax , eFax Plus , eFax Pro, eFax Corporate and eFax Developer . eVoice is a virtual phone system that provides small and medium-sized businesses on-demand voice communications services, featuring a toll-free or local company DID, auto-attendant and menu tree. With these services, a subscriber can assign departmental and individual extensions that can connect to multiple United States or Canadian DIDs, including land-line and mobile phones and Internet protocol (IP) networks. These services also include advanced integrated voicemail for each extension, unifying mobile, office and other separate voicemail services and improving efficiency by delivering voicemails in both native audio format and as transcribed text. Onebox is a unified communications suite. It combines the features of many of the Company's other branded services, plus added functionality, to provide a virtual office. Onebox includes a virtual phone system, hosted email, online fax, audio conferencing and Web conferencing.

FuseMail offers hosted email, email encryption and email archival services to businesses. These solutions are hosted offsite and seamlessly integrated into a customer's existing email system. The services include hosted email, VirusSMART virus scanning, CypherSMART encryption services, SpamSMART SPAM filtering and VaultSMART / PolicySMART archiving, which delivers a secure, scalable email archiving and customizable compliance tool to correspond with a company's retention policy. Campaigner is an email marketing service that enables businesses to easily create and send personalized one-to-one email communications to subscribers and customers to build better relationships. Campaigner also helps businesses increase the size of their mailing lists, compl! y with em! ail regulations like CAN-SPAM and get more emails to more inboxes. CampaignerCRM is a cloud-based CRM solution specifically designed to help small/medium-sized businesses close more deals, reduce the sales cycle and sell larger deals. CampaignerCRM has a sales checklist capability that gives sales representatives a step-by-step plan to closing a deal. With CampaignerCRM's Social CRM capabilities, companies can seamlessly integrate a customer's latest information from Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook directly into their Contact profile. KeepItSafe provides managed and monitored online backup solutions for businesses, using its ISO-certified platform.

The Company's Business Cloud Services business operates multiple physical Points of Presence (POPs) worldwide, a central data center in Los Angeles and several remote disaster recovery facilities. The Company connects its POPs to its central data centers through redundant, and often times diverse, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using the Internet. The Company's network is designed to deliver value-added user applications, customer support and billing services for the Company's customers anywhere in the world and a local presence for its DID-based service customers from thousands of cities in 49 countries on six continents. The Company offers DIDs covering all major metropolitan areas in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and such other major cities as Berlin, Hong Kong, Madrid, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Zurich. The Company has customers located throughout the world.

The Company's Business Cloud Services customer service organization supports the Company's cloud services customers through a combination of online self-help, email communications, interactive chat sessions and telephone calls. The Company's Internet-based online self-help tools enable customers to resolve simple issues on their own, eliminating the need to speak or write to the Company's customer service re! presentat! ives. The Company's Business Cloud Services segment customer service organization provides email support seven days per week, 24 hours per day to all subscribers. Paying subscribers have access to live-operator telephone support seven days per week, 24 hours per day. Dedicated telephone support is provided for corporate customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Live sales and customer support services are available in nine languages, including English, Spanish, Dutch, German, French and Cantonese.

Digital Media

The Ziff Davis portfolio of Web properties, including PCMag.com, ExtremeTech.com, Geek.com, ComputerShopper.com, LogicBuy.com and Toolbox.com features reviews of technology products, technology-oriented news and commentary, professional networking tools for IT professionals and online deals and discounts for consumers. The Company generates Digital Media revenues from the sale of display advertising targeted to in-market technology buyers and from the sale of customer leads to online merchants and business-to-business leads to IT vendors. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Digital Media Web properties attracted 345 million visits and 1.1 billion page views.

PCMag is a trusted online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news and buying guides. Toolbox.com is a network of online communities that allows experienced technology professionals to share collective knowledge and collaborate to resolve problems more efficiently. Toolbox.com includes professional networking tools, blogs, collaboration tools and reference guides. Geek.com is an online technology resource and community for technology enthusiasts and professionals. Its gaming site includes IGN.com and men's lifestyle site includes AskMen.com.

The Company competes with Google AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, AOL's Ad.com and Microsoft Media Network.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another potential earnings short-squeeze trade idea is cloud services player J2 Global (JCOM), which is set to release its numbers on Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect J2 Global to report revenue $130.43 million on earnings of 71cents per share.

  The current short interest as a percentage of the float for J2 Global is extremely high at 20.6%. That means that out of the 43.70 million shares in the tradable float, 9.01 million shares are sold short by the bears. If the bulls get the earnings news they're looking for, then shares of JCOM could easily explode higher post-earnings.

  From a technical perspective, JCOM is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last six months, with shares moving higher from its low of $38.07 to its recent high of $56.24 a share. During that uptrend, shares of JCOM have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of JCOM within range of triggering a major breakout trade post-earnings.

  If you're in the bull camp on JCOM, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above its 52-week high at $56.42 a share (or Tuesday's intraday high if higher) on high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 292,457 shares. If that breakout hits, then JCOM will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $65 to $75 a share.

  I would simply avoid JCOM or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout, and then drops below some key near-term support levels at $54 to $53 a share with high volume. If we get that move, then JCOM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its ne

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: AMREP Corp (AXR)

AMREP Corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1987, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in four business segments: the Subscription Fulfillment Services business operated by Palm Coast Data LLC (Palm Coast), the Newsstand Distribution Services business, the Product Services and Other businesses operated by Kable Media Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Kable) (the businesses operated by Palm Coast and Kable are collectively referred to as Media Services), and the real estate business operated by AMREP Southwest Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, AMREP Southwest). The Company, through its Palm Coast subsidiary, conducts its Subscription Fulfillment Services business, in which it performs subscription fulfillment and related services for publishers and other customers; through its Kable Newsstand Distribution Services subsidiary distributes periodicals nationally and in Canada and in other foreign countries, and through its Kable Product Services, Specialty Packaging Services and Staffing Resources subsidiaries, provides Internet order processing and shipment for e-commerce retailers, packaging design, procurement and product fulfillment services and temporary staffing services. In January 2013, the Company's subsidiary, had acquired certain assets of FulCircle, Inc.

Subscription Fulfillment Services

The Subscription Fulfillment Services business performs fulfillment and fulfillment-related activities, principally magazine subscription fulfillment services and ancillary services. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), it accounted for approximately 75% of Media Services revenues. In the magazine subscription fulfillment services operation, Palm Coast maintains subscriber lists and databases, processes new orders, receives and accounts for payments, prepares and transmits to each publisher�� printer the labels or tapes containing the names and addresses of subscribers for mailing each issue, handles subscriber telephone inquiries and correspondence,! prepares renewal and statement notifications for mailing, generates marketing and statistical reports, processes Internet orders and prints forms and promotional materials. List services clients are publishers for whom Palm Coast maintains client customer lists, selects names for clients who rent their lists, merges rented lists with a client�� lists to eliminate duplication for the client�� promotional mailings, and sorts and sequences mailing labels. Palm Coast performs subscription fulfillment services for approximately 450 different magazine titles for approximately 110 clients and maintains databases of approximately 41 million active subscribers for its client publishers and membership organizations.

Newsstand Distribution Services

In the Company�� Newsstand Distribution Services business, Kable distributes over 450 publications for approximately 200 publishers. Among the titles are special interest magazines, including hobbyist, celebrity, puzzle, automotive, comics, women�� service and sports magazines. In a typical month, Kable distributes approximately 47 million copies of various titles to wholesalers. Kable coordinates the movement of the publications from its publisher clients to approximately 100 independent wholesalers in North America and to wholesalers in over 80 countries globally. The wholesalers in turn sell the publications to retail chains and independent retail outlets. During fiscal 2012, the Newsstand Distribution Services business accounted for approximately 11% of Media Services revenues. Kable generates and delivers to each publisher�� printer shipping instructions with the addresses of the wholesalers and the number of copies of product to be shipped to each.

Product Services and Other

Together, Kable Product Services and Kable Specialty Packaging Services (collectively, Product Services) offer an integrated approach to electronic and traditional commerce for consumer products manufacturers, including both publ! ishing an! d non-publishing customers. The business unit provides account management by customer; design, procurement, and packaging of retail packs and point-of-purchase displays; front-end processing, including customer out-reach through e-commerce, direct mail and phone; order capturing through electronic mediums, as well as traditional call center operations, mail capture and entry; warehousing and pick/pack/ship functions, including analysis of shipping methods, and billing, as well as collection of payments tendered by credit cards, checks and cash.

As an adjunct to the Subscription Fulfillment Services business, Product Services offers fulfillment services to their publishers, including shipment of premiums (free gifts) provided to subscribers, shipment of replacement copies of newly issued magazines or purchased copies of older editions and shipment and payment processing for product advertised for sale in their publishers��magazines or associated Websites. Kable Staffing Resources (Staffing Resources) operates as a separate business, which provides temporary employees to local companies in the Fairfield, Ohio area, including its affiliate Product Services. During fiscal 2012, together, they accounted for approximately 14% of Media Services revenues in 2012.

Real Estate Operations

The Company conducts its Real Estate business through AMREP Southwest, with these activities occurring in the City of Rio Rancho and adjoining areas of Sandoval County, New Mexico. Rio Rancho consists of 91,049 acres in Sandoval County near Albuquerque, of which approximately 74,100 acres have been platted into approximately 114,680 residential and commercial lots, approximately 16,500 acres are dedicated to community facilities, roads and drainage and the remainder is unplatted land. As of April 30, 2012, approximately 91,000 of these residential and commercial lots had been sold by AMREP Southwest net of lots repurchased and those returned to AMREP Southwest by deeds in lieu of foreclosu! re. As of! April 30, 2012, AMREP Southwest owns approximately 17,350 acres in Rio Rancho, of which approximately 4,415 acres are in several areas of contiguous properties, which are being developed or are suitable for development, and approximately 2,000 acres are in areas with a concentration of ownership, where AMREP Southwest owns more than 50% of the lots in the area.

At Rio Rancho, AMREP Southwest develops both residential lots and sites for commercial and industrial use as demand warrants, and also secures entitlements for development tracts for sale to homebuilders. AMREP Southwest also owns two tracts of land in Colorado, consisting of one property of approximately 160 acres planned for approximately 400 homes that AMREP Southwest focuses to offer for sale upon obtaining all necessary entitlements, and one property of approximately 10 acres zoned for commercial use.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Damian Illia]

  As we can see, the firm has a higher ROE than Amrep Corporation (AXR) but is well below the one registered by US Ecology Inc. (ECOL) and Cintas Corporation (CTAS).

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: Wetherspoon(jd)

JD Wetherspoon plc owns and operates pubs. The company operates 823 pubs that offer food and drinks in England, northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It also operates hotels. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Watford, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Melvin Backman]

  JD.com (JD) shares began trading on the Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker "JD" and priced at $19 a share. They were initially set to sell for between $16 and $18, demonstrating a high demand for the stock.

• [By Matt Egan]

  While Nasdaq missed out on Alibaba, it did land a number of high-profile tech IPOs this year, including Weibo (WB), JD.com (JD) and GoPro (GPRO), which zoomed over 30% higher in its debut on Thursday. Nasdaq said 62% of all U.S. IPOs so far this year have occurred on its exchange.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  Also getting notable attention Thursday was JD.com (JD) , which rose 10% to $20.90 as the Chinese online retailer made its debut as a publicly traded company.

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR)

ING Prime Rate Trust (the Trust) is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The Trust seeks to provide a high a level of current income together with the preservation of capital. It invests least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in United States dollar-denominated, floating-rate secured senior loans. It also invests a substantial portion of its assets in below investment-grade senior loans and other below investment-grade assets.

The Trust invests in sectors, such as healthcare, education and childcare; cable; chemicals, plastics and rubber; utilities; printing and publishing; leisure, amusement and entertainment; oil and gas; retail stores; data and Internet services, and beverage, food and tobacco. The Trust�� investment advisor is ING Investments, LLC. ING Prime Rate Trust�� sub-advisor is ING Investment Management Co. and its administrator is ING Funds Services, LLC. ING Investments, LLC, ING Investment Management Co. and ING Funds Services, LLC are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of ING Groep N.V.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Dowdee]

  The following 10 funds satisfied all of these conditions:

  BlackRock Float Rate Strategies (FRA). This CEF sells at a discount of 3%, which is low compared to an average premium of 2% over the past year. The distribution has been managed at 6.1% and a small amount (less than 10%) has been return of capital (ROC). However, this has not negatively affected net asset value (NAV) so has not been destructive. The fund holds 447 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. FRA utilizes 27% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.7%, including interest payments. Eaton Vance Floating Rate (EFR). This CEF sells at a 1% premium, which is low compared to an average premium of 5% over the past year. The distribution is 6.2%, none of which was ROC. The fund holds 800 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. About 85% of the securities are from U.S. companies. EFR utilizes 35% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.8% including interest payments. ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR). This CEF sells for a premium of 2%, which is below the average premium of 5%. It has a distribution of 6.8%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 350 holdings, virtually all in senior loans and from US companies. PPR utilizes 29% leverage and has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Dynamic Credit Opportunities (VTA). This CEF sells for a discount of 5%, which is below the average discount of 1%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 495 holdings, with 76% in floating rate loans. About 25% of the loans are from non-US companies. VTA utilizes a relatively low 20% leverage but still has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Senior Income (VVR). This CEF sells for a discount of 1%, which is below the average premium of 3%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has over 500 holdings, with 89% in floating rate loans. Almost all (95%) securities are from US companies. VVR ut
• [By Aaron Levitt]

  The main reason why investors fled bounds during the taper tantrum is that bond prices have a negative correlation with rising interest rates. The ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR) avoids some of those problems.

Top 10 Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Watch For 2014: Vera Bradley Inc.(VRA)

Vera Bradley, Inc., through its subsidiary, Vera Bradley Designs, Inc., engages in the design, production, marketing, and retail of functional accessories for women under the ?Vera Bradley? brand. Its products include a range of handbags, accessories, and travel and leisure items. The company sells its products to independent retailers located in the United States, as well as to national retailers and third party e-commerce sites. As of January 29, 2011, Vera Bradley, Inc. sold its products directly through 35 full-price stores, 4 outlet stores, verabradley.com, and an annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  At first glance, Vera Bradley’s (VRA) earnings report looked great. The retailer reported a profit of 37 cents a share, above analyst forecasts of 32 cents.

  But in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of the stock market, that was the past, and the present and future, well they don’t look so hot. For the third quarter, the Vera Bradley, which competes against Coach (COH) and Michael Kors (KORS), among others, now expects sales between�$128 million to $130 million, below forecasts for about $147 million, and a profit of 30 cents to 35 cents, below forecasts for a 48-cent profit. In 2014, Vera Bradley expects sales of�$535 million to $540 million, below forecasts for $575, while its earnings should come in between�$1.47 and $1.52, below expectations of $1.72.�And did I mention that its margins are expected to decline too?�

  Put it all together and you have a recipe for a big drop. Vera Bradley’s shares have plunged 10% to $17.50 in after-hours trading.

  Ouch.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Wednesday
  Vera Bradley (NASDAQ: VRA  ) cracks open its suitcase for its quarterly report on Wednesday. The maker of stylish luggage and other travel accessories has shed more than half of its value since peaking two years ago, but it's starting to turn heads again. Revenue and earnings per share climbed 17% and 19%, respectively, last year. As the global economy begins picking up and fashion-forward travelers begin upgrading their suitcases, things should continue to improve here.

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  This company is Vera Bradley (NYSE: VRA), which, with a short interest of more than 50%, is one of the most shorted stocks in the market. While VRA has more than disappointed investors over the past 12 months, the market could be offering investors a great entry point for the long term.