Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.77 percent to 16,374.72 while the NASDAQ tumbled 1.68 percent to 4,078.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.77 percent to 1,864.40.
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities sector was the only gainer in the US market on Friday. Leading the sector was strength from FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) and Wisconsin Energy (NYSE: WEC). Technology shares declined around 1.53 percent in Friday's trading.
Top 10 Heal Care Companies To Watch For 2015: Control4 Corp (CTRL)
Control4 Corporation, incorporated on March 27, 2003, is a provider of automation and control solutions for the connected home. The Company provides its consumers with the ability to integrate music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other functionalities into a unified home automation solution. The Company's solution functions as the operating system of the home, making connected devices work together to control, automate and personalize the homes of its consumers. Control4 Home Operating System (C4 OS) is one of the product line of the Company. It embeds its C4 OS in a range of products, including controller appliances, interfaces and connected devices that interact with various music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other devices. The Company offers its 4Sight subscription service, which allows consumers to control and monitor their homes remotely from their smartphone, tablet or laptop, and allows its dealers to perform remote diagnostic services. The Company's 4Sight allows consumer to remotely unlock the front door to let in a repairman, to turn on the air conditioning on the way home, and to monitor the home security cameras from a smartphone. In addition, its 4Store application marketplace offers a range of third-party applications for use with the Company's products. The Company's solution provides consumers with access to over 6,400 third-party devices.
Software Platform
At the center of the Control4 product line is the Control4 Home Operating System, and the associated application software and software development kits (SDKs). The high-level software components include Director, Navigator, Composer Professional Edition, Composer Home Edition and Composer Media Edition, DriverWorks SDK, and Navigator SDK and Application SDK. Director is a real-time, extensible home operating system kernel that is responsible for monitoring and receiving events from numerous devices and services, processing those events according ! to consumer personalized settings, and then dispatching commands to the appropriate devices to perform predefined actions. Navigator displays intuitive and rich graphical user interfaces on televisions, in-wall and table-top touch panels, smartphones and tablets, as well as list-based devices, such as a remote controls with LCD text-displays. Composer Professional Edition is a software application that enables trained and certified Control4 dealers and installers to design, configure and personalize a Control4 home automation system for consumers. Composer Home Edition and Media Edition enable consumers to view and configure their Control4 managed devices. These drag-and-drop programs provide the ability to manage digital media and create and modify simple programs and policies (such as changing lighting scenes, modifying custom buttons and controlling behaviors among devices based on schedules or times of the day). DriverWorks SDK is a software development kit that enables dealers, programmers and device manufacturers to independently develop and test custom two-way interface drivers to support the integration of a new device or device model into its system, or to customize and enhance an existing driver. Navigator SDK and Application SDK are software development kits that enable third-party dealers and programmers to customize and deliver new application functionality within Navigator user interfaces on Control4 interface devices through the development of applications.
Products with Embedded Software and Services
The Company's controller appliances run its Director software to monitor, process and automate events, statuses and actions for numerous devices and services, creating a connected home experience. It offers the HC-800, a whole home controller appliance, and the HC-250, a single-room controller appliance. It also licenses its Director software on the new Sony ES 5800 and 2800 receivers, transforming them into controller appliances with home theater audio and video ! capabilit! ies. The Company offers touch panels, handheld remote controls and keypads as interface devices. It also develops and delivers software applications for Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets that enable these personal devices to become control interfaces to Control4 connected homes, both on-premise and remotely. The Company offers network-enabled 4x4 and 8x8 zone audio amplifiers, and a 16x16 audio matrix switch for versatile multi-room and whole-home audio distribution. It also offers an integrated digital media player for integration of local digital audio and video, as well as Wi-Fi and Ethernet amplified speaker points for streaming digital audio to speakers in areas without an audio receiver.
The Company offers a suite of lighting products that provide personalized control and energy management. Its suite of wireless light switches and dimmers can replace devices in an existing home or be installed in new homes. It offers in-wall wireless switches and dimmers for 120V, 240V and 277V electrical loads, which meet the requirements of North America and many international markets. The also plan to offer panelized systems, where all of the lighting control will be done on a remote panel. Its new Control4 lighting products will have the ability to measure how much energy each load is using and provide suggestions to the consumer on how to conserve energy and reduce costs. The Company offers devices that provide energy savings, convenience and efficiency for temperature control. Its wireless multi-stage thermostat is completely programmable with up to six set points per day and, using its 4Sight subscription service, is remotely accessible and controllable. The Company provides a set of products and software services created by the Company, as well as distribute certified third-party products, including deadbolts, door and window sensors, motion sensors, garage access systems and water leak detection systems, from its security partners, such as Baldwin, Card Access, Kwikset and Yale. ! The Compa! ny offers full motion video and hi-fidelity audio intercom capability through its in-wall and tabletop touchscreens, as well as its exterior weather-resistant door stations. 4Sight is a subscription service that enables 24x7 home monitoring and control from virtually anywhere, remote home programming and support, and instant email alerts based on home events so that homeowners are always in-the-know.
The Company offers a subscription service called 4Sight that enables remote access to the connected home without exposing the installer or consumer to the complexities of communicating around firewalls and private Internet Protocol addresses. This service facilitates connections between remote client devices and its systems through a cloud-based service. Using 4Sight, consumers can remotely monitor and control their Control4 systems as if they were at their homes.
The Company competes with AMX, Crestron, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, Savant, Logitech, Lutron, Nest, Roku, Sonos and Universal Remote Control, ADT, Comcast, Verizon and Vivint.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]
Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From food giants to tech bellwethers, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Organic Growth: The market for organic foods has never been hotter, and Annie's (BNNY) is there to cash in on consumers craving more natural edibles. It makes organic pastas, crackers, frozen pizzas, and other food products. Annie's reports after the market closes on Monday. It should be another quarter of healthy growth. Analysts see revenue and earnings growing by roughly 20 percent for the quarter that ended in December. The one thing that investors will need to watch out for is that Annie's has missed Wall Street's profit targets in the previous two quarters. Tuesday -- In Control: One of last month's big winners was Control4 (CTRL). Shares of the home automation specialist soared 29 percent in January, bucking the market, which took a bit of a tumble. And you don't have to look too hard to spot the catalyst behind its rally. Google's (GOOG) acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest drew attention to Control4 as another play on automated home technology. The thinking here is that if Google is buying into the niche of Web-fueled home automation, other dot-com giants may consider acquiring Control4 to establish a presence in this new battlefield. Control4 reports on Tuesday. It's unlikely to admit that it's receiving buyout interest on the heels of Google's move, but you know it's going to be asked. Wednesday -- The Cisco kid: It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when Cisco (CSCO) was this country's most valuable company. Just before the dot-com bubble popped, the leading provider of routers, switches, and other networking gear commanded the market's largest market cap. Then again, at the time we thought that anything Web-related was worth a whole lot of money, and Cisco was the co
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Control4�Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) was started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity on a likely late Tuesday call. This one was started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch on Tuesday as the broker quiet period ended.
- [By Jason Moser]
In this edition of The Motley Fool's "Ask a Fool" series,�Motley Fool�analysts Jason Moser and Brendan Mathews take a question from a reader who asks, "Is there any specific reason why�Control4 (NASDAQ: CTRL ) is pretty volatile? Seems like it's up or down over 5% everyday!"
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Control4�Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) was started as Buy with a $26 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reinstated as Buy with a $62 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch, and remember this one we recently dubbed the current king of the stock buybacks.
Hot Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: MGP Ingredients Inc.(MGPI)
MGP Ingredients, Inc. produces ingredients and distillery products in the United States. It processes wheat flour and corn into various products through an integrated production process. The company operates in three business segments: Ingredient Solutions, Distillery Products, and Other. The Ingredient Solutions segment products consist of specialty proteins, specialty starches, vital wheat gluten, commodity wheat starch, and mill by-products. The Distillery Products segment offers food grade alcohol; fuel grade alcohol, commonly known as ethanol; and distiller?s feed and carbon dioxide, which are co-products of the company?s distillery operations. The Other segment products comprise resins, and plant-based polymers and composites. MGP Ingredients, Inc. sells its products directly or through distributors to the manufacturers and processors of finished goods. The company was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Atchison, Kansas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap ingredients stock Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ: BCPC) jumped 22.76% yesterday on news about an acquisition, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with potential peers like small cap MGP Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ: MGPI) and the PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF (NYSEARCA: PBJ).
Hot Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: Digicore Holdings Ltd (DGC)
Digicore Holdings Limited is a South Africa-based holding company engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions. The Company operates in three segments: South African Distribution, Foreign Distribution, Product Development and Manufacturing and Group Management. The Company's South African distribution segment focuses on distribution of manufactured fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions within the South African consumer market. Foreign distribution focuses on the distribution of manufactured fleet management and vehicle tracking solutions all around the world. Product development and manufacturing segment focuses on investing in research, manufacturing and development of vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions for distribution. Group Management segment renders management services to the Company. On August 31, 2012, the Company obtained an additional 27% shareholding in Ctrack (Pty) Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Lam]
Detour Gold (DGC) plunged 18 percent to C$6.35, an almost five-year low. The company said in a statement it will not reach its 2013 production target of 270,000 ounces of gold and now forecasts 240,000 to 260,000 ounces.
Hot Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: MarineMax Inc (HZO)
MarineMax, Inc., incorporated in January 1998, is a recreational boat dealer in the United States. Through 54 retail locations in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas, the Company sells new and used recreational boats, including pleasure and fishing boats. It also sells related marine products, including engines, trailers, parts, and accessories. In addition, the Company provides repair, maintenance, and slip and storage services; it arranges related boat financing, insurance, and extended service contracts; it offers boat and yacht brokerage services, and it operates a yacht charter business. It is also retailer of Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Cabo, Hatteras, and Meridian recreational boats and yachts, all of which are manufactured by Brunswick Corporation (Brunswick). In March 2013, it acquired Parker Boat Company's retail boat sales and service operations in Orlando and Daytona, Florida.
The Company is a dealer for Hatteras Yachts throughout the state of Florida (excluding the Florida panhandle) and the states of New Jersey, New York, and Texas; the exclusive dealer for Cabo Yachts throughout the states of Florida, New Jersey, and New York; the exclusive dealer for Boston Whaler in many of its markets; the exclusive dealer for Bayliner in many of its markets, and the exclusive dealer for Meridian Yachts in most of its markets. In addition, it is the exclusive dealer for Italy-based Azimut-Benetti Group for Azimut mega-yachts, yachts, and other recreational boats for the Northeast United States from Maryland to Maine and the state of Florida.
New Boat Sales
The Company sells recreational boats, including pleasure boats and fishing boats. The products it offers are manufactured by Brunswick, the manufacturer of recreational boats, including Sea Ray pleasure boats, Boston Whaler fishing boats, Cab! o Yachts, Hatteras Yachts, and Meridian Yachts. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it derived approximately 48% of its revenue from the sale of new boats manufactured by Brunswick. During fiscal 2011, new boat sales accounted for 60.6% of its revenue. It offers recreational boats in most market segments. Hatteras Yachts and Azimut are two of the premier yacht builders. The motor yacht product lines include designs with live-aboard luxuries. Hatteras offers a flybridge with guest seating; covered aft deck, which may be fully or partially enclosed, providing the boater with additional living space; an elegant salon; and multiple staterooms for accommodations.
Hatteras Yachts and Cabo Yachts are convertible yacht builders and offer designs with live-aboard luxuries. Convertibles are primarily fishing vessels, which are well equipped to meet the needs of even the most serious tournament-class competitor. Hatteras features interiors that offer luxurious salon/galley arrangements, multiple staterooms with private heads, and a cockpit that includes a bait and tackle center, fishbox, and freezer. Cabo is known for spacious cockpits and accessibility to essentials, such as bait chests, livewells, bait prep centers, and tackle lockers.
Sea Ray and Meridian pleasure boats target both the luxury and the family recreational boating markets and come in a range of configurations to suit each customer�� particular recreational boating style. Sea Ray sport yachts and yachts serve the luxury segment of the recreational boating market and include living accommodations with a salon, a fully equipped galley, and multiple staterooms. Sea Ray sport yachts and yachts are available in cabin, bridge cockpit, and cruiser models. Meridian sport yachts and yachts are available in sedan, motoryacht, and pilothouse models.
The fishing boats the Company offers, such as Boston Whaler and Grady White, range from entry level models to advanced models designed for fish! ing and w! ater sports in lakes, bays, and off-shore waters, with cabins with limited live-aboard capability. The fishing boats feature livewells, in-deck fishboxes, rodholders, rigging stations, cockpit coaming pads, and fresh and saltwater washdowns. The ski boats it offers, such as Malibu, Axis, and Nautique by Correct Craft, range from entry level models to advanced models.
Used Boat Sales
The Company sells used versions of the new makes and models it offers and, to a lesser extent, used boats of other makes and models generally taken as trade-ins. During fiscal 2011, used boat sales accounted for 19.0% of its revenue, and 77.1% of the used boats it sold were Brunswick models. It also sells used boats at various marinas and other offsite locations throughout the country. In addition, it offers the Sea Ray Legacy warranty plan available for used Sea Ray boats less than six years old. The Legacy plan applies to each qualifying used Sea Ray boat, which has passed a 48-point inspection, and provides protection against failure of most mechanical parts for up to three years.
Marine Engines, Related Marine Equipment, and Boating Parts and Accessories
The Company offers marine engines and propellers, substantially all of which are manufactured by Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick. It sells marine engines and propellers primarily to retail customers as replacements for their existing engines or propellers. It also sells a range of marine parts and accessories at its retail locations, at various offsite locations, through its print catalog, and through the Website portal. These marine parts and accessories include marine electronics; dock and anchoring products, such as boat fenders, lines, and anchors; boat covers; trailer parts; water sport accessories, such as tubes, lines, wakeboards, and skies; engine parts; oils; lubricants; steering and control systems; corrosion control products, service products; high-performance accessories, such as propellers and instr! uments, a! nd a complete line of boating accessories, including life jackets, inflatables, and water sports equipment. It also offers novelty items, such as shirts, caps, and license plates bearing the manufacturer�� or dealer�� logos. The sale of marine engines, related marine equipment, and boating parts and accessories accounted for 6.2% of the Company�� during fiscal 2011 revenue.
Maintenance, Repair, and Storage Services
The Company provides maintenance and repair services at most of its retail locations, with extended service hours at certain of its locations. In addition, in many of its markets, it provides mobile maintenance and repair services at the location of the customer�� boat. The Company performs both warranty and non-warranty repair services. It derives the majority of its warranty revenue from Brunswick products. Its maintenance and repair services are performed by manufacturer-trained and certified service technicians. At many of the Company�� locations, it offers boat storage services, including in-water slip storage and inside and outside land storage. Maintenance, repair, and storage services accounted for 8.9% of its revenue during fiscal 2011. This includes warranty and non-warranty services.
F&I Products
At each of the Company�� retail locations, it offers the customers the ability to finance new or used boat purchases and to purchase extended service contracts and arrange insurance coverage, including boat property, credit life, and accident, disability, and casualty insurance coverage (collectively, F&I). The Company also offers third-party extended service contracts under which, for a predetermined price, it provides all designated services pursuant to the service contract guidelines during the contract term at no additional charge to the customer above a deductible. Credit life insurance policies provide for repayment of the boat financing contract if the purchaser dies while the contract is outstanding. Accident an! d disabil! ity insurance policies provide for payment of the monthly contract obligation during any period in which the buyer is disabled. Property and casualty insurance covers loss or damage to the boat.
Brokerage Services
Through employees or subcontractors that are licensed boat or yacht brokers, the Company offers boat or yacht brokerage services at most of its retail locations. It also offers for sale brokered boats or yachts, listing them on various Internet sites, advising its other retail locations, and posting them on its Website, www.MarineMax.com. Its maintenance and repair services, including mobile service, also are generally available to its brokerage customers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
As we head towards Black Friday, small cap specialty retail stocks United Online, Inc (NASDAQ: UNTD), TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) and MarineMax, Inc (NYSE: HZO) have the distinction of being the best performing small cap�specialty retail stocks for this year (according to Finviz.com) with gains of 181.2%, 123.8% and 71.8%, respectively. With those returns in mind, what are these small cap specialty retail stocks doing right and will the performance last through the all important holiday season? Here is what new and existing investors and traders alike need to know or consider:
Hot Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: Shutterstock Inc (SSTK)
Shutterstock, Inc. (Shutterstock) operates as a marketplace for commercial digital imagery. Commercial digital imagery consists of licensed photographs, illustrations and videos that companies use in their visual communications, such as Websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications and video content. As of April 30, 2012, Shutterstock's image library contained more than 19 million images. It operates in North America, Europe and Rest of the world. The Company offers a range of content types, including photography, illustrations, vector art and video footage. Shutterstock�� brands include Shutterstock and Bigstock. Its online marketplace provides a freely searchable library of commercial digital images that its users can pay to license, download and incorporate into their work. Users can search its library and preview watermarked versions of its content. In November 2011, Shutterstock launched Shutterstock for iPad, an application enabling visitors to search, browse and organize images using an iPad.
The Company�� products consist of Photographs, Illustrations and Vector Art, and Video Footage. The Company offers photographs that cover a range of subjects, including animals/wildlife, the arts, backgrounds/textures, beauty/fashion, buildings/landmarks, business/finance, celebrities, education, food and drink, healthcare/medical, holidays, nature, objects, people, religion, science, sports/recreation, technology and transportation. Its photography collection is made up of images that can be used in both commercial and editorial contexts. Images that are marked as editorial-only, such as photographs of celebrities and newsworthy events, which constitute fewer than 5% of its total images, cannot be used to promote a product or service; instead these images are licensed for use in editorial settings, such as newspapers, blogs and magazines. Photographs are available in a range of sizes, including small files that are appropriate for mobile b! rowsing and large files appropriate for large format prints and high-resolution displays. As of December 31, 2011, photographs made up 69% of its library.
In addition to photographic images, the Company also offers images that have been created using illustration tools and software. These images are made up of two types: illustrations (raster graphics) and vector art (vector graphics). Raster graphics are stored as a fixed set of pixels, whereas vector graphics are stored using geometric modeling. As of December 31, 2011, illustrations an vector art made up 28% of its library. For users engaged in producing video advertisements, commercial motion pictures, television programming, video games, interactive applications and other video-based media, it also provides video footage. Footage clips are available in a range of formats and sizes, including high definition (HD). As of December 31, 2011, its video footage library contained more than 400,000 video clips and made up 3% of its library.
The Company competes with iStockphoto, Fotolia, Dreamstime, Getty Images, Corbis Corporation, Reuters Group PLC, the Associated Press, Thought Equity Motion, Facebook and Flickr.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
But the real news is the near vertical trajectory in share prices for the two stocks. This could be another manifestation of the market�� hunger for some momentum plays, as we noted earlier this morning the bump to share prices for both JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) and Shutterstock Inc. (NASDAQ: SSTK), both of which held secondary share sales this morning.
- [By Brian D. Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, online imagery marketplace operator Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK ) has received an alarming one-star ranking.
- [By Luke Jacobi]
Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) gained 16.73 percent to $70.41 after the company priced 4.6 million share follow on offering of common stock at $60.00 per share.
Hot Sliver Companies To Invest In Right Now: The Blackstone Group L.P.(BX)
The Blackstone Group, L.P., together with its subsidiaries, provides alternative asset management and financial advisory services worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, Credit Businesses, and Financial Advisory. The Private Equity segment involves in private equity investing through five general private equity funds and one specialized fund focusing on communications-related investments. This segment engages in various transactions comprising leveraged buyout acquisitions of seasoned companies, transactions involving growth equity or start-up businesses in established industries, minority investments, corporate partnerships, distressed debt, structured securities, and industry consolidations. The Real Estate segment manages general opportunistic real estate funds and internationally focused opportunistic real estate funds. This segment also has debt investment funds targeting non-controlling real estate debt-rel ated investment opportunities in the public and private markets, primarily in the United States and Europe. The Hedge Fund Solutions segment manages funds of hedge funds, and Indian-focused and Asian-focused closed-end mutual funds. The Credit Businesses segment manages credit-oriented funds, CLOs, credit-focused separately managed accounts, and publicly registered debt-focused investment companies. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial and strategic advisory, including corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions advice; restructuring and reorganization advisory; and fund placement services for alternative investment funds. Blackstone Group Management L.L.C. operates as the general partner of the company. The Blackstone Group, L.P. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Natasha Doff]
Owned by Blackstone Group LP (BX), CVC Capital Partners Ltd. and Lego Group owner Kirkbi A/S, Merlin is among a host of private-equity backed firms attempting to list in Europe, where IPO volumes have nearly doubled to about $24 billion compared with the same period in 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- [By Louis Navellier]
But now that the company has attracted a sizeable investment from Blackstone (BX) and is on the cusp of a major executive shakeup, could Crocs stock fortunes change in 2014? Find out now.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) shares gained 9.83% to $14.64 in the pre-market after the company reported that it will receive a $200 million investment from Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX).
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