LONDON -- The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE ) is finally picking up a bit today after a flat start to the week, gaining 0.56% to reach 6,466 by 8:40 a.m. EDT. The banks have led the way as hopes rise of further economic easing by central banks ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's next policy decision later today. The European Central bank will also meet tomorrow amid expectations of a further interest rate cut.
Sadly, not all our companies are enjoying similar rises. Here are three that look set to lag the index today.
Home Retail
Home Retail Group has seen its share price drop 3.7% to 150 pence this morning after the owner of the U.K.'s Argos and Homebase chains reported a fall in full-year profit. For the year to March 2, sales were pretty much flat at 5.5 billion pounds, but underlying pre-tax profit fell 10% to 91 million pounds, with earnings per share down 11% to 7.7 pence.
Although the transformation of Argos is going well, with a rise in like-for-like sales for the first time in five years boosting underlying operating profit by 6.5% to 100 million pounds, underlying operating profit at Homebase slumped 50% to just 11 million pounds.
Hot Logistics Companies To Watch For 2015: Winning Brands Corp (WNBD)
Winning Brands Corporation is a manufacturer of cleaning solutions. The Company offers products in three markets: Consumer, Industrial and Commercial. Its Consumer products include 1000+ Stain Remover; KIND Laundry Detergent; KIND Fabric Softener; KIND Laundry Stain Remover, and CLEAN1 All Purpose. Its Industrial products include TrackMoist Dust Suppressant, and ReGuard-4 Equipment Cleaning for Emergency Responders. Its Commercial products include Professional Wet Cleaning Solutions. The Company owns 100% interests in Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd.
The consumer products are offered for sale through stores in various sectors, such as hardware, paint, convenience, and grocery. The industrial products are targeted for sale through professional property maintenance personnel in the case of TrackMoist and distributors to fire-fighting organizations in the case of ReGuard-4. The commercial products are for use by businesses in their line of work to generate a finished product, with an emphasis on the dry-cleaning sector, such as on cruise ships to perform cleaning of Dry Clean Only garments in substitution of the solvent perchloroethylene (Perc).
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Beamz Interactive Inc (OTCBB: BZIC), EHouse Global (OTCBB: EHOS) and Winning Brands Corporation (OTCMKTS: WNBD) were all heading in different directions at the end of last week with the first small cap surging 49.94% while the other two sank 31.28% and 25.32%, respectively, on Friday. Moreover, all three small cap stocks are already heading in different directions again this morning. So where should investors and traders place their bets? Here is a closer look at all three small cap stocks:
Top 5 US Companies To Buy For 2014: Labor Smart Inc (LTNC)
Labor Smart, Inc., incorporated in May 31, 2011, provides temporary blue-collar staffing services. The Company supplies general laborers on demand to the light industries, including manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing, skilled trades��people, and general laborers to commercial construction industries. It provides unskilled and semi-skilled temporary workers to its customers. It pays its workers the same day they perform the job. In May 2013, the Company acquired Qwik Staffing Solutions Inc.
The Company is a provider of temporary employees to the construction, manufacturing, hospitality, restoration and retail industries. At March 31, 2012, the Company operated four branches located in two states.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By idahansen]
The more I read about how companies are responding to Obamacare, the more bullish I become for stocks in the demand labor market such as Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC), Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), and ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN).
- [By idahansen]
Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC) is proving my pick right as it booked record revenues for August.
The entire demand labor industry should do well as the US Department of Labor just reported that 169,000 more jobs were added to the American economy. The more work there is, the more demand there is for the services of staffing solutions firms such as Labor SMART, Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), and Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI).
Top 5 US Companies To Buy For 2014: Dole Food Company Inc(DOLE)
Dole Food Company, Inc. engages in sourcing, growing, processing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables, and food products to wholesale, retail, and institutional customers worldwide. It operates in three segments: Fresh Fruit, Fresh Vegetables, and Packaged Foods. The Fresh Fruit segment involves in growing and selling bananas under the DOLE brand name primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia; ripening and distributing DOLE and non-DOLE branded fresh produce in Europe; growing, sourcing, and selling fresh pineapples under the DOLE TROPICAL GOLD label; and exporting Chilean fruits, including grapes, apples, pears, stone fruits, and kiwifruits primarily to North America, Latin America, and Europe. The Fresh Vegetables segment engages in sourcing, harvesting, cooling, distributing, and marketing various fresh and fresh-cut vegetables, including iceberg lettuce, red and green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, butter lettuce, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, c arrots, Brussels sprouts, green onions, asparagus, snow peas, artichokes, and radishes, as well as fresh strawberries and raspberries. This segment also processes and markets value-added vegetable products, such as packaged salads and packaged fresh-cut vegetables. The Packaged Foods segment produces and markets canned pineapples, canned pineapple juice, fruit juice concentrate, fruit parfaits, snack foods, and frozen fruits, as well as fruits in plastic cups, jars, and pouches. Its principal customers include mass merchandisers and supermarkets. Dole Food Company, Inc. was founded in 1851 and is based in Westlake Village, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Nau]
How would you react as a shareholder if the management of a company you owned behaved erratically and consequently pushed down the company's share price? What if after pushing down the share price, management offered to buy you out on the cheap? That is exactly what the Chairman, CEO and 40% owner of Dole (DOLE) David Murdock appears to have done.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Shares of fresh-fruit producer Dole Foods (NYSE: DOLE ) soared more than 20% in morning trading after the board of directors announced its chairman and CEO had offered to�acquire all of the outstanding shares of company stock he and his family don't already own for $12.00 per share in cash, which values the company at $1.07 billion.
- [By Rich Duprey]
That's why seeing Dole Foods (NYSE: DOLE ) lurch from a stock buyback program one day to suspending it weeks later so it can buy new ships instead, rattled investors and caused its stock to drop 10% so far.
- [By Chris Hill]
Shares of Sony (NYSE: SNE ) rise after the company's new PlayStation4 game console is priced at $399. Softbank raised its offer to buy Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S ) by $1.5 billion. Dole Food (NYSE: DOLE ) CEO David Murdock offers to buy the entire company. And bricks-and-mortar retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME ) also gets a boost from Sony's news that the new PlayStation4 will allow unlimited used-game sales. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making big moves.
Top 5 US Companies To Buy For 2014: AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. (AMP)
Ameriprise Financial Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services in the United States and internationally. The company�s Advice and Wealth Management segment offers financial planning and advice, as well as brokerage and banking services primarily to retail clients through its financial advisors. The Asset Management segment provides investment advice and investment products to retail and institutional clients. The Annuities segment offers variable and fixed annuity products to retail customers through affiliated and unaffiliated advisors, and financial institutions. The Protection segment provides various protection products through financial advisors to address the protection and risk management needs of retail clients, including life, disability income, and property-casualty insurance. The company was formerly known as American Express Financial Corporation and changed its name to Ameriprise Financial, Inc. in September 2005. Ame riprise Financial Inc. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Karen Roach/Shutterstock When singles are looking for love, they typically don't start by checking out a potential mate's credit score. But maybe they should. A recent survey of 1,010 married people by Experian (EXPGY) Consumer Services division found that 95 percent of those polled rate financial responsibility as an important attribute in a spouse. Compare that to physical attractiveness -- often the first criterion we use to judge potential mates -- which was deemed an important trait for compatibility by just 86 percent. (Personal compatibility led the list at 98 percent.) Financial communication can be an important barometer of how successful a relationship will be, although women place more of a premium on it than men. Among those surveyed, 73 percent of women and 60 percent of men said that being open about personal finances and credit makes a person more attractive as a spouse. On the flip side, 59 percent of women and 44 percent of men say that a partner who avoids talking about those things is less attractive as a spouse. What's Your Number? "Financial debt and a person's credit score are so important to disclose before you tie the proverbial knot," says Les Parrott, co-author with his wife, Leslie, of "Making Happy" and "The Good Fight." "We can tell you about lots of disastrous money surprises when a person isn't up front about this." It's important to discuss all aspects of your individual and shared financial situations regularly with your significant other, but because your credit score will impact your ability to make major purchases like a home or a car, it's especially important to determine whether a low credit score tied to one or both of you may affect your long-term goals, says Suzanna de Baca, vice president of wealth strategies at Ameriprise Financial (AMP). "An important step toward having a successful relationship is being willing to share your feelings about money with your partner. This includes being honest about past and p
- [By U.S. News]
Getty Images Recently, a client came to me with a difficult dilemma. He was retired and living comfortably but didn't have much room in his budget for additional expenses. His son was a high-ranking executive with a midsize company. He was married, with three children, all of whom were in private school in New York City. The son lost his job as a consequence of restructuring. He was having difficulty finding another position at anything close to his prior income. He had been looking without success for more than six months. He was at a point where he could no longer meet his substantial monthly expenses. He asked my client to provide the funds necessary to maintain his lifestyle and the education of his children, until he was able to "land on his feet." My client could afford to make these payments for a limited period of time but his retirement plans would be jeopardized if the time period was prolonged and if his son did not pay him back. He asked for my advice. For many Americans, the goal of helping children and grandchildren pay for their education and preserving wealth to leave to their children is an important goal. Unfortunately, the 2008 recession reduced the confidence of investors in their ability to meet those goals. According to a report prepared by Ameriprise Financial (AMP), only 24 percent of those surveyed in 2012 were "very confident" they could help with education and only 16 percent had confidence in their ability to leave an inheritance to their children. What is more troubling is the finding that only one-third of those surveyed felt very confident in their ability to provide adequately for themselves and their family. My client had never discussed his finances with his children. He is not alone. More than one-third of the parents of boomers believe they haven't adequately discussed finances with their children, according to the Ameriprise study. Their children were often reluctant to engage in these discussions with aging parents b
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