Can Under Armour Run with the Big Dogs?

Under Armour (NYSE:UA) has made significant strides in catching up to industry powerhouses Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Adidas (ADDYY.PK) over the last decade. With a large market share in the U.S., and growing popularity overseas, Under Armour looks poised for profitability in the coming years. However, does the stock's high price justify its growth opportunities? Let's use our CHEAT SHEET investing framework to decide whether Under Armour is an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY.

C = Catalysts for the Stock's Movement

With its popular campaigns such as "Protect This House," and key sponsorships of American athletes including Lindsey Vonn, Tom Brady, and the U.S. men and women's Olympics gymnastics team, Under Armour has established a presence in the domestic marketplace.

However, as 94 percent of its sales come from the U.S., the same cannot be said for its foreign operations. According to CEO Kevin Plank, the company hopes to change that by ramping up its marketing efforts in Europe and Asia. One win for the company was reaching a deal with English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur to supply the team's jerseys. The company has a long way to go to catch up to international players like Nike, which generates more than half of its $6 billion in revenue from overseas markets. Still, if Under Armour can find success abroad while keeping marketing costs at a manageable level, the company has huge growth potential.

E = Earnings are Mostly Increasing Year-over-year

Under Armour announced its first quarter earnings in April. The company beat analysts' earnings estimates of $0.03 a share, reporting EPS of $0.07. However, earnings were a full 50 percent lower than in the previous year's quarter. This earnings miss comes after two consecutive quarters of year-over-year earnings growth. The decrease stemmed from lower operating margins due to increased marketing costs, as the company continues its expansion program in North America and abroad.

Investors will have to wait and see when and if the higher marketing expenditures will pay off in the coming year, but the company expects year-over-year revenue will increase by up to 24 percent for the entire fiscal year. Additionally, Under Armour expects that its operating margin will improve next quarter. The company announced its second quarter earnings on July 25.

	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2	2012 Q1
Qtrly. EPS	$0.07	$0.47$	$0.54	$0.06	$0.14
EPS Growth YoY	-50.00%	51.56%	22.73%	0.00%	21.74%
Qtrly. Revenue	$471.61M	$505.86M	$575.20M	$369.47M	$384.39M
Revenue Growth YoY	22.69%	25.49%	23.56%	26.82%	22.93%

*Data sourced from YCharts

E = Excellent Performance Relative to Peers?

Under Armour's chief competition are sports apparel giants Nike and Adidas. Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) is also included — despite a smaller product line and a different target market — because they are a high-growth sports apparel company, like Under Armour. The most striking item on the table is the price to earnings ratio, of which Under Armour has the highest, by 1.5 times.

The company has more growth opportunities than the more mature brands Nike and Adidas, but it is much more expensive than the high-growth darling, Lululemon. Under Armour's gross margins are not as impressive as those of Nike's and Lululemon's, but Lululemon's margin is not as easily sustainable, as it will certainly face increasing competition in the future. On the basis of the price to earnings growth ratio — remember, the lower the better — Nike and Lululemon both trump Under Armour.

	UA	NKE	ADDYY	LULU
Trailing P/E	54.44	23.29	32.68	36.64
Price/Sales	3.36	2.23	1.21	6.82
PEG Ratio	1.98	1.83	-2.65	1.56
Gross Margin	6.34%	9.82%	3.68%	18.96%
Dividend Yield	N/A	1.30%	N/A	N/A

*Data sourced from Yahoo! Finance

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Under Armour is currently trading at around $61.90, well above both its 200-day moving average of $54.63, and its 50-day moving average of $59.91. The stock has experienced a strong uptrend since the beginning of the year — up around 30 percent in the last six months. The stock experienced a slight pullback during the month of June, but seems to have resumed its bullish trend.

Conclusion

Under CEO Kevin Plank's guidance, Under Armour has established a growing domestic presence. With revenue growth of more than 20 percent each quarter, the company continues to resonate with American consumers. However, it faces an uphill battle in trying to compete with giants Nike and Adidas in European and Asian markets, both of which have already established strongholds abroad. Additionally, niche player Lululemon could threaten Under Armour's female customer base in the U.S.

Best Bets Among Utility Stocks

Utility sector specialist Roger Conrad has launched a new advisory letter and shares some of his new top stock picks from his conservative and aggressive model portfolios.

Steve Halpern: We're here today with Roger Conrad, Editor of the just launched newsletter Conrad's Utility Investor. How are you doing, Roger?

Roger Conrad: Pretty good. How are you?

Steve Halpern: Very good. You've been following the utility sector for nearly 30 years now, but your latest newsletter venture is only a few weeks old. Can you tell us a little about your new service?

Roger Conrad: Well, what we're trying to do is based on the same philosophy that I've had over the years, but we're trying to make a few new improvements that I think will be interesting for investors. We have a DRIPs Portfolio and, really, we're talking about three different objectives here.

One is compounding wealth over time and that's obviously accomplished with the DRIPs. I've had quite a bit of personal success with that, as well as in the letter. We have a conservative income portfolio and our approach there is, basically, people who are living off their investments, and trying to make the most of what's, really a different kind of environment, than certainly when I started the business.

Back when I started writing about utilities, back in the 1980s, for example, the retail investor pretty much dominated that space, but now we're seeing, particularly with the rise in popularity of income investments, a lot more institutional participation.

The result has been a lot more volatility in the group, but more opportunity to buy low and sell high. That's our objective there with, of course, the great companies in the sector.

Then also, I have an aggressive income portfolio, and another consequence of change in sector, with deregulation, which, of course, has changed the industry a lot, and companies no longer really move in lock step, but they really have to look at individual business models.

But one of the consequences there is, we've seen some tremendous opportunities appear in the unloved stocks of the group. That's what we try to do there, to take advantage of good opportunities.

We're more or less based around those things. I have a coverage universe of about 200 names, and that's been a staple of mine over the years, is really trying to take a bottoms-up approach.

I come up with theories, and themes, rather, and trends, by looking at what's going on on the ground with these individual companies, and that's, I think, one way that we identify opportunities. It's one way that we identify the dangers that are inherent in these sectors, and that's really how we make good returns over the long-term.

Steve Halpern: Under the overall umbrella of utilities, you cover all, what you call, essential services such as electricity, heating, communications, water, and even pipelines. Among these areas are there any sectors that stand out as offering the best current value?

Roger Conrad: Well, I think right now what we're seeing in the markets is a lot of worry about what happens at the end of QE3, or quantitative easing, that the Federal Reserve has been undertaking, really, since the crash in 2008.

The worry is we're going to see a real backup in interest rates, and that dividend paying stocks, that we see a big correction there.

We've heard a lot about interest rate sensitivity. I think a lot of people are putting out a message that you want to sell your dividend paying stocks because interest rates are rising and they're really just bonds.

But, you know, if you look back at the performance, the actual correlation of dividend paying stocks with the bond market, you have to stretch the imagination really to see much of anything.

Rather, these stocks follow the stock market. In fact, if you look back, 2008, when the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell from well over 5% to less than 2%, and of course lower rates, there was tremendous buying. It was really the mother of all rallies for bonds.

If you looked at what happened with the dividend paying stocks like utilities, if they were real interest rate sensitive, you should have had really a tremendous rally then. Instead, they fell along with everything else. Maybe not quite so bad as the S&P 500, but certainly falling along with the rest of the stock market.

The more people talk about the so-called interest rate sensitivity and correlation, and the more they talk themselves out of owning good positions, and just basically steady utility stocks, the better values that we're seeing.

We've had a four and a half year bull market and stock prices really running up. I was really having a lot of trouble finding values back last spring. That's no longer the case today. We're seeing more and more companies come down and the stock prices come down.

It's a great opportunity to pick those up, so I think the stocks that are considered to be the most interest rate sensitive are actually becoming quite impressive in values.

Again, you're just basically taking advantage of a lot of investors' misconception that these stocks are somehow bond substitutes, when the record is crystal clear that they follow the stock market.

Steve Halpern: As you mentioned, you have both an aggressive model portfolio and a conservative portfolio. Let's start with the aggressive one. Obviously, aggressive stocks are going to entail more risk for investors, but would you be kind enough to share a name or two that you like that fall under your aggressive portfolio.

Roger Conrad: Well, one that I read about actually in the very first issue of Conrad's Utility Investor is a company called Telefonica (TEF). This one is a company that has had a pretty tough several years.

Europe has obviously been a very tough place to operate, particularly Spain, which is its old home country. Still they're sourcing about 30% of revenue, but this company has managed to navigate through a pretty tough environment.

They do have a lot of very rapidly growing operations in Latin America and they've been making very good progress of reducing debt, which the market really has demanded of them.

I think what you have here is pretty much a quintessential aggressive portfolio type of stock, where you have a lot of bad feelings, a lot of low sentiment, a very low bar of expectations set for a company that has a very strong long-term track record and a number of catalysts for future growth.

As long as they execute, and they have, then you're going to get that higher valuation, so as an investor it's a really good opportunity to pick up some very strong capital gains in a company with a lot of staying power.

Again, they're an essential service company. People are using communication services really no matter what the economy is, so they have a very large degree of revenue stability that other industries simply don't have.

Steve Halpern: In your conservative portfolio, you focus on what you call, tried and true stocks, that you expect to deliver reliable returns through both bull and bear markets. Would you share an example of one of those?

Roger Conrad: Sure. I mean one of the companies I think you'd be very hard pressed to find a peer to, in terms of just sheer resilience, would be Southern Company (SO).

It's an electric utility. It services Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida states. They tend to have a pretty strong pro-business bent and they're also states that are growing partly for that reason.

This company has just been able to invest in its network of power lines, power plants, and so forth; pass those costs through in a cooperative way with supportive regulators in those states, and they still have very, very low rates, because they've been able to do this in an efficient way and utilize long-term planning.

Here you have this company with a tremendous formula for growth. It's actually down over the past several months to a large extent because of this interest rate sensitive thesis, and the way that people sell particularly larger stocks like that, that are owned a lot by institutions, encountering a lot of selling just on that basis.

Again, I think people are going to wake up and discover that they've sold at a bad time, a company that yields pretty close to 5% and is growing its dividend at an annual rate of 3% to 5% a year. That's a real nice formula for long-term growth. I actually have Southern Company in my DRIPs Portfolio as well.

It's a great wealth compounder even though it's a very conservative company, even though there are not a whole lot of ups and downs. If you're reinvesting those dividends, it's going to build wealth for you in a way that will be quite surprising, if you look down the road and see what happens just from simply, again, reinvesting dividends.

Steve Halpern: Well congratulations on the launch of the new Conrad's Utility Investor and thanks for joining us today.

Roger Conrad: Thanks Steve. Thanks for having me.

Subscribe to Conrad's Utility Investor here...

Hot Low Price Stocks To Own Right Now

The expert featured in this column, Roger Conrad, may or may not own positions in any investment vehicle mentioned here. The views and opinions expressed are his or her own.

Bankruptcy Behind It, Kodak to Focus on Commercial Printing

David Duprey/AP Eastman Kodak, the photography pioneer which invented the digital camera, emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, with plans to continue as a smaller digital imaging company. The new Kodak will focus on commercial products such as high-speed digital printing technology and printing on flexible packaging for consumer goods. "You can't imagine how much I have been waiting for this moment ... This is a totally new company," Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez told reporters. Kodak, founded in 1880 by George Eastman, was for years synonymous with household cameras and family snapshots. It filed a $6.75 billion bankruptcy in January 2012, weighed down by high pension costs and a years-long delay in embracing digital camera technology. The new company expects to have $2.5 billion in revenue this year, Perez said. Kodak once employed more than 60,000 people and was one of the largest employers in Rochester, N.Y., where it is based. Perez told reporters his most difficult task at the helm of the bankrupt company was dealing with hefty pension costs. "I would not recommend anyone to file for Chapter 11, but if you have to deal with legacy costs, in my opinion, that's the only way you can do it," Perez said.

Best Stocks To Invest In

The company in April resolved a crucial dispute with its British pension fund, which dropped a $2.8 billion claim against Kodak. The fund also bought the company's personalized imaging and document imaging businesses, to be named Kodak Alaris, for $650 million. The company said it has repaid its debtor-in-possession lenders and will receive about $406 million in new financing. Perez, in charge since 2005, had been trying to steer the company towards consumer and commercial printers but was unable to stem the cash drain. The company hasn't posted an annual profit since 2007. Chief executives are commonly ousted through the bankruptcy process, but Perez remains top boss at Kodak, a result he attributed to his ability to do "what I needed to do" during the restructuring. "When I came here, the previous board ... gave me three tasks - restructure the film business, create a completely new company that would have a future, and ... eliminate or settle the very large legacy costs that we had from the old company," Perez said. Kodak had hoped to fetch more than $2 billion through its bankruptcy process for about 1,100 patents related to digital imaging, but drew only $525 million for the portfolio, which experts said was a crucial reason it had to sell core businesses and reinvent itself. "We're not the largest competitor in the market, but we're offering the biggest differentiation in the market," Perez said.

Morgan Stanley Adds 9 Reps From Rivals

Morgan Stanley (MS) has made a big end-of-summer recruiting push and attracted nine more advisors from rival broker-dealers, the wirehouse said early Tuesday.

The advisors are expected to join the firm with about $1.85 billion in client assets and some $10 million in yearly fees and commissions.

Scott Siegel, Mehmet Kirdar and Michael O'Hara moved to Morgan Stanley from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), while Joseph Carmody came over from UBS (UBS), which last week recruited a New Jersey-based team from Morgan Stanley with some $4.8 billion in assets and $10 million in yearly production.

The new Morgan Stanley group has formed the SKOC Team, which has some $1.5 billion in total client assets and trailing-12-month fees and commissions of $6.1 million. The team joins Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's office at 522 Fifth Ave. in New York, where the advisors report to branch manager Michael Simeone

Top Dividend Companies To Buy For 2014

Al Maulini and Joseph Torano moved to Morgan Stanley in Coral Gables, Fla., where they now work with branch manager Sergio Alvarez-Mena. The two advisors join the wirehouse from HSBC. The Maulini and Torano Team has total client assets of $121 million and yearly production of $1.7 million.

The Marano Brothers Team, which includes Frank and Donald Marano, came to Morgan Stanley from Raymond James Financial Services (RJF) with about $100 million in assets and yearly fees and commissions of $1.2 million.

The team is now based in Allentown, Pa., and reports to complex manager Richard Franchella.

Also, Jason Moss moved to Morgan Stanley from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) in the Atlanta area. He has client assets of $130 million and yearly production of $1 million.

Moss now works with branch manager Michael Childs in Morgan Stanley’s Pinnacle office.

The headcount of Morgan Stanley advisors as 16,321 on June 30, an increase of 37 reps from March 31 and a drop of 157 reps from a year ago.

The Morgan Stanley financial advisors had average fees and commissions (also known as production) of $866,000 in Q2’13, up 2% from $851,000 in Q1’13 and up 12% from $770,000 in Q2’12.

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Check out 13 Best & Worst Broker-Dealers: Q2 Earnings, 2013 on ThinkAdvisor.

Buying a Smartphone? Listen to Users, Not the Experts

Getty Images Not all smartphones that receive high ratings from expert reviewers end up being popular, according to an analysis of ratings data from FindTheBest. The report analyzed the ratings that expert reviewers gave smartphone models and compared them to consumers' ratings of the same. It found that some phones that get very high ratings from expert reviewers don't get the same glowing reviews from users. For example, expert reviewers thought the Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere II was a fantastic phone. It received a rating of 88 out of 100 on FindTheBest, a website that aggregates and analyzes ratings from tech review sites. However, smartphone users gave the phone a rating of 2.5 out of 5. The reverse held true in some cases. Although expert reviewers gave the LG Optimus Elite (LG) a low rating -- 48 out of 100 -- the same phone got an average rating of 4 out of 5 from users. Here's a scatterplot of a variety of smartphones, as rated by both expert ("smart") reviewers and users: (Click on the chart to view a larger version.)

FindTheBestNot all smartphones that receive high ratings from expert reviewers end up being popular.

Top Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now

The custom prosthetics and orthotics market is shaping up to be the next place where 3-D printing is headed. Companies like Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS  ) and 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD  ) have increased their exposure to this multi-billion-dollar industry. In this video, Fool.com contributor Steve Heller sits down with The Motley Fool's Erin Miller to discuss why this is another area where 3-D printing is changing the landscape and how it could lead to billions in new revenues.

3D Systems is at the leading edge of a disruptive technological revolution, with the broadest portfolio of 3-D printers in the industry. However, despite years of earnings growth, 3D Systems' share price has risen even faster, and today the company sports a dizzying valuation. To help investors decide whether the future of additive manufacturing is bright enough to justify the lofty price tag on the company's shares, The Motley Fool has compiled a premium research report on whether 3D Systems is a buy right now. In our report, we take a close look at 3D Systems' opportunities, risks, and critical factors for growth. You'll also find reasons to buy or sell the stock today. To start reading, simply click here now for instant access.

Top Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Ztest Electronics Inc (ZTE.V)

ZTEST Electronics Inc., through its subsidiary, Permatech Electronics Corporation, offers electronic manufacturing services in Canada. The company engages in designing, developing, and assembling printed circuit boards and other electronic equipment. Its services also include materials management, and printed circuit board design and testing. The company serves customers in the medical, power, computer, telecommunication, wireless, industrial, and consumer electronics markets. ZTEST Electronics Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in North York, Canada.

Top Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Youku.com Inc.(YOKU)

Youku.com Inc. operates as an Internet television company in the People?s Republic of China. Its Internet television platform enables consumers to search, view, and share video content across various devices. The company?s services for users comprise video content library consisting primarily of professionally produced content, including television serial dramas, movies, event reports, variety shows, and music videos under the Youku brand. It also provides user-generated content through Youku Paike and Youku Niuren programs; and produces a range of content, such as sponsored Web serial dramas, reality shows, interviews, and variety shows under Youku Originals brand. The company?s other services for users comprise online video search and discovery, online community, video space, real time commenting, and searchable community message board, as well as wireless video, iPhone channels and iPad, and P2P downloadable software client services. In addition, it offers online advert ising services to various advertising companies operating in fast moving consumer goods, information technology services, automobile manufacturing, electronics, telecommunications, financial services, e-commerce, and online game industries. The company?s products and services for advertisers and customers include online advertising services, such as in-video, display, sponsorship, and other forms of advertisements; targeting solutions; viral video advertisements; product placements; subscription-based services that enables users to watch advertisement-free premium content, such as high-definition movies; and sub-licensing content. It sells its advertising services through third-party advertising agencies comprising members of American Association of Advertising Agencies and Chinese advertising agencies. The company was formerly known as 1Verge Inc. and changed its name to Youku.com Inc. in June 2008. Youku.com Inc. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Beijing, the Peo ple?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dave Friedman]

  On 3/31/11 Maverick Capital reported holding 0,000 shares with a market value of $0. This comprised 0.00% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Maverick Capital held 8,796,898 shares with a market value of $302,173,433. This comprised 2.95% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 8,796,898. About the company: Youku.com Inc. is an Internet television company. The Company’s Internet television platform enables consumers to search, view and share video content quickly and easily across multiple devices in the People’s Republic of China.

Best Heal Care Companies To Watch In Right Now: Celgene Corp (CELG)

Celgene Corporation is a global biopharmaceutical company primarily engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory related diseases. The Company is engaged in the research and development, which is designed to bring new therapies to market, and is engaged in research in several scientific areas that may deliver therapies, focusing areas, such as intracellular signaling pathways in cancer and immune cells, immunomodulation in cancer and autoimmune diseases, and therapeutic application of cell therapies. The Company�� primary commercial stage products include REVLIMID, VIDAZA, THALOMID, ABRAXANE and ISTODAX. Additional sources of revenue include a licensing agreement with Novartis, which entitles it to royalties on FOCALIN XR and the entire RITALIN family of drugs, the sale of services through its Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary and other miscellaneous licensing agreements. In March 2012, it acquired Avila Therapeutics.

The Company invests in research and development, and the drug candidates in its pipeline at various stages of preclinical and clinical development. These candidates include pomalidomide and apremilast, its oral anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory agents, PDA-001, its cellular therapy, oral azacitidine, CC-223 and CC-115 for hematological and solid tumor malignancies, CC-122, its anti-cancer pleiotropic pathway modifier, and ACE-011 and ACE-536 biological products for anemia in several clinical settings of unmet need. Celgene product candidates include Pomalidomide (CC-4047), Oral Anti-Inflammatory: Apremilast (CC-10004), CC-11050, Kinase Inhibitors:Tanzisertib (CC-930), Cellular Therapies: PDA-001, Activin Biology: Sotatercept (ACE-011) ACE-536, and Anti-tumor Agents: CC-22, CC-115, CC-122 and Oral Azacitidine. It owns and operates a manufacturing facility in Zofingen, Switzerland. The Company also owns and operates a drug product manufacturing facility in Boudry, Switzerland.

Commercial! Stage Products

REVLIMID (lenalidomide) is an oral immunomodulatory drug marketed in the United States and many international markets, in combination with dexamethasone, for treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. It is also marketed in the United States and certain international markets for the treatment of transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. REVLIMID is distributed in the United States through contracted pharmacies under the RevAssist program, which is a risk-management distribution program. Internationally, REVLIMID is distributed under mandatory risk-management distribution programs.

REVLIMID continues to be evaluated in numerous clinical trials worldwide either alone or in combination with one or more other therapies in the treatment of a range of hematological malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MDS) various lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) other cancers and other diseases. VIDAZA (azacitidine for injection) is a pyrimidine nucleoside. VIDAZA is a Category 1 recommended treatment for patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk MDS and is marketed in the United States for the treatment of all subtypes of MDS. In Europe, VIDAZA is marketed for the treatment of intermediate-2 and high-risk MDS, as well as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with 30% blasts and has been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of MDS and AML.

THALOMID (thalidomide) is marketed for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and for the acute treatment of the cutaneous manifestations of moderate to severe erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) an inflammatory complication of leprosy and as maintenance therapy for prevention and suppression of the cutaneous manifestation of ENL recurrence. THALOMID is distributed in the United States under its System f! or Thalid! omide Education and Prescribing Safety (S.T.E.P.S.) program. Internationally, THALOMID is also distributed under mandatory risk-management distribution programs. ABRAXANE (paclitaxel albumin-bound particles for injectable suspension) is a solvent-free chemotherapy treatment option for metastatic breast cancer, which was developed using its nab technology platform. This protein-bound chemotherapy agent combines paclitaxel with albumin. As of December 31, 2011, ABRAXANE was in various stages of investigation for the treatment of expanded applications for metastatic breast; non-small cell lung; malignant melanoma; pancreatic; bladder and ovarian.

ISTODAX (romidepsin) has received orphan drug designation for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's T-cell lymphomas, which includes CTCL and PTCL. The Company has licensed the worldwide rights (excluding Canada) regarding certain chirally pure forms of methylphenidate for FOCALIN and FOCALIN XR to Novartis. It also licensed to Novartis the rights related to long-acting formulations of methylphenidate and dex-methylphenidate products which are used in FOCALIN XR and RITALIN LA.

Preclinical and Clinical-Stage Pipeline

The product candidates in the Company�� pipeline are at various stages of preclinical and clinical development. Pomalidomide is a small molecule that is orally available and modulates the immune system and other biologically important targets. Pomalidomide is being evaluated in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of myelofibrosis and a phase III clinical trial evaluating pomalidomide as a treatment for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma is accruing patients.

The Company is developing a product, ORAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENTS, which is orally available small molecules that target PDE4, an intracellular enzyme that modulates the production of multiple pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-10, IL-12, IL-23, INF-gamma, TNF-a, leukotrienes,! and nitr! ic oxide synthase. Its investigational drug, apremilast (CC-10004), is used for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis and is being evaluated in a phase II trial for rheumatoid arthritis and six phase III multi-center international clinical trials. In addition, it is investigating its oral PDE4 inhibitor, CC-11050, which is an anti-inflammatory compound that treat a variety of chronic inflammatory conditions, such as Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE).

The Company�� oral kinase inhibitor platform includes inhibitors of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) mTOR kinase, spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) c-fms tyrosine kinase (c-FMS) and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNAPK). Its oral Syk, c-FMS and DNAPK kinase inhibitors are being investigated in pre-clinical studies. The Company�� new second generation JNK inhibitor, tanzisertib (CC-930), is being evaluated in a phase II trial for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and a phase II trial for the treatment of discoid lupus is accruing patients. Amrubicin is a third-generation fully synthetic anthracycline molecule with potent topoisomerase II inhibition.

At Celgene Cellular Therapeutics (CCT), it is researching stem cells derived from the human placenta, as well as from the umbilical cord. CCT is the Company�� research and development division. Stem cell based therapies provide disease-modifying outcomes for serious diseases, which lack adequate therapy. It has developed technology for collecting, processing and storing placental stem cells with broad therapeutic applications in cancer, auto-immune diseases, including Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, neurological disorders, including stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), graft-versus-host disease, and other immunological / anti-inflammatory, rheumatologic and bone disorders.

The Company has collaborated with Acceleron Pharma, Inc. (Acceleron) to develop sotatercept. Two phase I clinical studies have been co! mpleted. ! An additional phase II clinical study has been initiated and is ongoing related to treatments for end-stage renal anemia and to evaluate effects on red blood cell mass and plasma volume.

The Company competes with Abbott Laboratories, Amgen Inc. (Amgen), AstraZeneca PLC., Biogen Idec Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eisai Co., Ltd., F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., Johnson and Johnson, Merck and Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Takeda).

Top Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Deltek Inc.(PROJ)

Deltek, Inc. provides enterprise software and information solutions for project-focused organizations in the professional services and government contracting markets worldwide. The company offers Deltek Costpoint, a financial management solution that tracks, manages, and reports on key aspects of a project, including planning, estimating, proposals, budgets, expenses, indirect costs, purchasing, billing, regulatory compliance, and materials management; and Deltek First Essentials, an accounting and project management solution. It also provides Deltek IPM, a command center that offers integrated project management and reporting tools; and GovWin IQ and GovWin CRM solutions that provide a suite of business development solutions, and proposal automation and opportunity management capabilities to government contractors. In addition, the company offers Deltek Maconomy, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, which manages and streamlines the key business processes of pr ofessional services organizations; Deltek Vision, an integrated ERP solution that incorporates critical business functions, project accounting, customer relationship management, resource and cost/schedule management, integrated financial management, time and expense capture, and billing; and GovWin IQ solutions, which provide architecture and engineering firms with information on approximately 2,500 federal government contracting opportunities. Further, it offers various consulting services, such as solution architecture, application implementation, technology architecture design and optimization, and after-implementation consulting services, as well as offers project team and end-user training. The company sells its products through its direct sales force; and through a network of alliance partners. The company was formerly known as Deltek Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Deltek, Inc. in April 2007. Deltek, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Herndon, Virg inia.

Top Tech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO)

Yahoo! Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses. The company?s communications and communities offerings include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, Flickr, and Connected TV, which provide a range of communication and social services to users and small businesses enabling users to organize into groups and share knowledge, common interests, and photos. Its search products comprise Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Local, available free to users to navigate the Internet and discover content. The company?s marketplaces offerings and services include Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Autos, and Yahoo! Small Business, which allow users to research specific topics, products, services, or areas of interest by review ing and exchanging information, obtaining contact details, or considering offers from providers of goods, services, or parties with similar interests. Its media offerings comprise Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Finance, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! Entertainment & Lifestyles, Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Yahoo! Pulse, which are designed to engage users with online content and services on the Web. The company also offers marketing services, such as display and search advertising, listing-based services, and commerce-based transactions to advertisers. In addition, it provides software and platform offerings for third-party developers, advertisers, and publishers, such as Yahoo! Developer Network, Yahoo! Open Strategy, Yahoo! Application Platform, Yahoo! Updates, Yahoo! Query Language, and Yahoo! Search BOSS. The company has strategic alliances with Nokia and ABC News, Inc. Yahoo! Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Mora]

  Yahoo is an Internet bellwether that provides a multitude of services to consumers and companies worldwide. There’s no doubt that Marissa Mayer, the new CEO, has improved the image of the company through a new corporate culture and recent investments. The stock has been on a powerful surge towards higher prices, and is now trading at levels not seen since the mid-2000s. Over the last four quarters, investors have had mixed feelings about the company, as earnings have improved while revenue has remained mixed. Relative to its peers and sector, Yahoo has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Yahoo to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Holly LaFon] Last month, Loeb sold down his position in Yahoo by 201%, retaining just 20.6 million shares. He had by the third quarter of 2012 amassed a position of more than 73 million shares, after he began buying copiously in the third quarter of 2011. His activity with the company helped the price surge and has given him about a 100%, or $1 billion profit.
  
  Upon selling most of his Yahoo shares, Loeb wrote in his mid-year commentary:
  
  ��ince Third Point initiated its position, over $15 billion of value has been created, growing the company's market cap from $15 billion to $30 billion today, while over $5.2 billion of cash has been returned to shareholders. Since Third Point made "The Case for Alibaba" in our original investment presentation, our Fourth Quarter 2011 Investor Letter, and on our valueyahoo.com shareholder advocacy website, consensus Wall Street estimates for Alibaba's value have increased from $20 billion to over $80 billion. In addition, and consistent with our views on Japan, Yahoo Japan's value has also more than doubled during this period.��br>
  He also praised Yahoo�� new board members and CEO, Marissa Mayer, who has headed the transformation of the company.
  
  Herbalife (HLF)
  
  Loeb purchased 3.1 million shares ��about 8% -- of Herbalife in the fourth quarter of 2012 when it tumbled in reaction to fellow investor Bill Ackman�� presentation eviscerating the company. He also offered his own counter-thesis on the company in his fourth quarter letter, refuting Ackman�� three claims about the company: that it is an ��llegal pyramid scheme,��that its customers and distributors had been exploited and harmed and that its products are sold at inflated prices.
  
  In his fourth quarter letter, he said:
  
  We believe that continued strong operating performance combined with disciplined capital return co
• [By Geoff Gannon] 路 Research In Motion (RIMM)
  
  The least loved of these is ��of course ��RIMM. Einhorn already has a paper loss in that stock. His average cost was $18.88 a share. Today�� price is $15.05. That�� a 20% loss. And Einhorn only started buying Research In Motion in the last three months of 2011.
  
  But Research In Motion is a pretty small position ��0.81% of Einhorn�� total portfolio ��compared to one of his other new buys: Dell.
  
  Einhorn already owns $255 million of Dell shares. He paid $15.36 a share. The stock is now at $18.08 a share. That�� an 18% gain. And Dell will mean a lot more to Einhorn�� performance than Research In Motion. Dell is a 3.9% position for Einhorn. That�� almost five times the size of his investment in Research In Motion. So ��for now at least ��Einhorn�� paper gain on Dell will more than make up for his paper loss on RIMM.
  
  Finally, there�� Yahoo.
  
  This is a quasi-new buy for Einhorn. He actually bought a 8.5 million shares of Yahoo in the first quarter of 2011 only to sell them for a 2% loss the next quarter. Einhorn was out of Yahoo completely for the third quarter of 2011. And now he�� back in with about 3 million shares bought in the fourth quarter of 2011. Einhorn�� average price is a wee bit lower this time. His original purchase price ��back in first quarter 2011 ��was $16.64 a share. He got his Yahoo shares about 6% cheaper this time around. Einhorn paid $15.66 a share for his 3 million shares of Yahoo. The stock is down a smidge from there. Around $15.25 a share.
  
  There have been reports of a breakdown in Yahoo�� buyout talks. But that�� par for the course in a situation like this where a company is shopping itself around. There will be lots of people leaking stories for lots of different reasons. Don�� believe everything you read about Yahoo. And certainly don�� try to trade on everything you read about Yahoo.
  
  Why is Einhorn buying Yahoo?
  
  Probably on a sum of the parts basis. A! s everybody knows, Yahoo has some very valuable Asian assets. Unfortunately, they also have a history of mismanaging their U.S. business and losing the trust of their shareholders.
  
  Einhorn owns just 0.24% of Yahoo. Much less than the more than 5.6% owned by Daniel Loeb. Not surprisingly, Loeb is not a fan of Yahoo�� board. Loeb had this to say to Yahoo:
  
  ���Recent press reports (indicate) that the Board�� current strategic direction is to emphasize the technology aspects of (Yahoo��) business at the expense of advertising and media, which accounts for the vast majority of (Yahoo��) revenues. (We) believe that this approach places (Yahoo��) core revenue generating capability at substantial risk, fails to recognize the tremendous growth opportunity in video, and directly results from a dearth of essential expertise in media and entertainment at the Board level.
  
  ��he reluctance of the Board to prioritize shareholder value to date ��evidenced by years of deferring and delaying comprehensive strategic initiatives and missing out on myriad accretive transactions and strategic opportunities ��will no longer be tolerated or endorsed by investors. Shareholders deserve earnest representation and oversight as (Yahoo) confronts the critical investment and capital allocation decisions it expects to face in the next few months.��br>
  Is Einhorn content to ride Daniel Loeb�� coattails at Yahoo? Who knows? But we do know that David Ei
• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) had a full shareholder recovery under new CEO Marissa Mayer, but now the company has to begin to execute on its strategy. Mayer probably has another three months before Wall St. will demand to see increasingly better results. We only say this because the shares rose by more than one-third from the summer lows to the peak above $20. Mayer has delivered on her promise to monetize the stake in Alibaba in China, and there is hope that more monetization from that may be seen, or from the Yahoo! Japan stake. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) may represent the biggest opportunity, but it also may represent the largest challenge. Yahoo! looks as though it will be a content destination rather than stepping backwards to become a search and aggregation destination.

  Yahoo! trades at $19.40, but it has lost some momentum after closing at $20.08 and peaking at $20.32 for its 52-week high on the first trading day of 2013. The company has a $23 billion market cap, and we would caution that analysts have a consensus price target of only $19.66 after a fresh downgrade by Bernstein on valuation. Yahoo! trades at about 17-times current and forward earnings expectations.

  As you might have expected, there is an ETF for that! The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (NYSEMKT: FDN) ETF trades at $40.60, but note that it hit a 52-week high, and that the 52-week is now $40.67. We would also note that the volume of almost 2.4 million shares seen this past Monday was basically twice as active as the three busiest trading days of 2012 in this ETF.

Taper Tantrum: Markets Recoil, Advisors Scramble on Fed News

Nervous investors — and their financial advisors — watched closely on Monday for signs of where the markets are headed now that the Federal Reserve has spoken and U.S. government bond yields have headed to their highest levels in almost two years.

On Monday, Treasuries extended their selloff, with the benchmark 10-year note yield reaching as high as 2.667% by midafternoon, and stocks dropped across the board.

Economists, meanwhile, are trying to figure out just where the Fed is headed — for example, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch’s Global Economics Research team said Thursday that it didn’t expect the Fed to begin tapering the pace of its quantitative easing program until early 2014. But by Friday, the team changed its mind and released a new Fed call: “We now expect the Fed to announce tapering in December with the first rate hike to begin in summer 2015.”

(Find out how to manage the turmoil: Register for AdvisorOne’s premiere advisorcentric Virtual ETF Summit, which starts July 23, and features Rick Ferri, Ron Delegge, Skip Schweiss.)

Advisors Fielding Client Calls

What has all this tapering talk and market madness done to financial advisors? It has left them fielding frantic requests from clients to tell them why the markets are gyrating wildly and what they’re doing to protect their portfolios.

“I never heard of the word ‘taper’ when I was studying economics in graduate school,” wrote Benjamin Hein, president and chief investment officer with PRS Investment Advisory, in a June 14 bond market update for the firm’s clients. “However, ‘tapering’ has become a buzzword of late with speculation regarding when and how the U.S. Federal Reserve will start reducing its purchases of fixed income securities, thus leading to potentially higher interest rates.”

Hein’s advice to fixed income investors is to take a second look at their portfolios and review with their financial advisors “whether some tweaking might be in order.” He believes that investors who have been piling into fixed-income funds over the past year will get a big wake-up call with their June statements, and he says the best way to play bonds these days is with diversified fixed-income portfolios that aren’t composed solely of high-quality securities.

“Of course, there is no guarantee that a diversified fixed-income portfolio will outperform a U.S. Treasury portfolio in a given month, but we believe that, particularly in today's low-interest rate environment, it is prudent to have exposure to a wide range of fixed-income and income-producing investments along with alternative investments to complement a pure fixed-income portfolio,” Hein writes.

In a comment describing “Why Bonds Still Make Sense,” New York-based independent investment advisory Gerstein Fisher reminds investors that the purpose of bonds in an investment portfolio is not to generate high returns — “the past 30 years notwithstanding” — but to dampen total portfolio volatility by balancing out riskier holdings such as equities.

“If you fear a rise in interest rates, one way to reduce your exposure to this risk would be to shorten the maturity or duration of your bond holdings from 10 years to five years or less,” Gerstein Fisher recommends, pointing out that shorter-duration bonds are less volatile. Alternatively, some investors may want to hold more cash, the firm says.

As for the stock market, Nuveen Asset Management chief equity strategist Bob Doll writes that U.S. equities declined last week as the S&P 500 ended down 2.09% and suffered its first back-to-back one-day declines of more than 1% since last November.

However, in his weekly investment comment, “The Fed Unintentionally Lays an Egg,” a bullish Doll asserts that a decrease in the Fed’s quantitative easing is not an economic hurdle.

“A diminished QE3 program should be expected, given slower growth of the federal budget deficit and the decrease in issuance of Treasury debt,” he writes. “Many have focused on the end of the great monetary experiment rather than the Fed’s message about its policy being data dependent. Potential outcomes may be either: 1) the economy will stabilize and allow investors to gain confidence in corporate earnings, or 2) soft and choppy data will persist, and QE will be extended.”

Investors Also Cautious on Equities, ETFs

While Doll remains bullish over a cyclical horizon, current conditions leave him cautious in the near term.

“The equity market has benefited from decent economic growth, moderating tail risk, depressed interest rates and low bond volatility,” he writes. “We maintain our positive views on equities cyclically, as bond yields remain well below nominal GDP growth, and profit growth should continue to be moderately positive. We expect overvalued, defensive sectors and bond proxies to bear the brunt of the position squaring. Conversely, we believe cyclical sectors are undervalued and earnings expectations are acceptable.”

Alec Young, global equity strategist with S&P Capital IQ, is not so bullish on the emerging markets.

Young’s international investment outlook on Monday notes that EM equities are nearing bear market territory, down 16.3% from their January 3 highs and 13.9% year to date, with widespread damage in emerging Asia, Latin America and emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa suffering declines as high as 20%.

“We believe fears of receding central bank monetary policy accommodation are clearly the primary driver as EM volatility really accelerated right after Fed Chairman Bernanke’s May 22 press conference when QE tapering talk first started,” Young writes. “While we acknowledge that oversold EM assets are overdue for a counter-trend bounce, we believe the open-ended nature of the Fed tapering overhang will continue to limit rallies and fuel continued EM underperformance over the coming months.”

Many exchange traded funds also have taken a beating – though some ETFs still offer a safe haven.

ETFtrends.com web editor John Spence reported on Monday in “Treasury ETFs Continue Sell-Off as 10-Year Yield Climbs Above 2.6%” that the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (NYSEArca: TLT) traded lower again Monday after last week’s 5% sell-off when yields on the 10-year note broke through 2.6% for the first time since 2011.

“TLT and other Treasury bond ETFs have fallen sharply since the Federal Reserve said it could start pulling back on monetary stimulus if the economy improves,” Spence wrote.

Meanwhile, ETFtrends.com editor and owner Tom Lydon made an argument in favor of dividend ETFs in the face of market volatility.

“Treasury yields have spiked recently but solid dividend ETFs are still paying out more, which brings the focus back to dividend-yielding stocks, Lydon wrote in “Why Dividend ETFs Can Still Work,” published on Sunday. “Investors should look for dividend exchange traded funds that have potential for growth and the possibility to raise dividend payouts.”

Best Tech Stocks To Invest In 2014

Steve Doster, a certified financial planner with Doster Financial Planning in San Diego, said that he was hustling to get a client report done for a meeting on Monday afternoon because his clients are concerned about interest rates rising and their bond funds going down.

His job right now is to calm client fears.

“I'm a believer of the passive investment philosophy, so I continue to remind clients about the long-term horizon,” Doster wrote in an email. “And rising rates are a good thing for their long-term retirement plan even if there may be some short-term losses in their bond allocations.”

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For direct insights on the role of ETFs in client portfolios from multiple experts—including Rick Ferri, Ron Delegge, Skip Schweiss and more—we invite you to register for AdvisorOne’s premiere advisorcentric Virtual ETF Summit, which starts July 23 (and get multiple hours of CFP Board CE).

Hot Insurance Stocks To Buy For 2014

Investors have always been interested in stocks that pay dividends, but lately, low interest rates on bonds and other fixed-income investments have made solid dividend payers even more valuable. Among the most promising dividend stocks in the market is Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ: CINF  ) , and one big reason is that it is one of the few exclusive companies to make the list of Dividend Aristocrats. In order to become a member of this elite group, a company must have raised its dividend payouts to shareholders every single year for at least a quarter-century. Only a few dozen stocks manage to make the cut, and those that do tend to stay there for a long time.

Cincinnati Financial is hardly a household name, even among those who generally follow the insurance industry. But with its lines of property and casualty insurance policies, the company has managed to reward investors with more than 50 straight annual dividend increases. Let's take a closer look at Cincinnati Financial to see whether it can sustain its long streak of rewarding dividend payouts to investors.

Hot Insurance Stocks To Buy For 2014: Cameco Corporation(CCJ)

Cameco Corporation operates as a uranium producer, supplier of conversion services, and fuel manufacturer. The company?s Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. Its operating uranium properties include the McArthur River and Key Lake, and Rabbit Lake located in Saskatchewan, Canada; the Crow Butte located in Nebraska and the Smith Ranch-Highland located in Wyoming; and the Inkai uranium deposit located in Kazakhstan. Cameco Corporation?s Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate; and the purchase and sale of conversion services. Its products include uranium trioxide, uranium hexafluoride, and uranium dioxide. This segment also manufactures fuel bundles, reactor components, and monitoring equipment to Candu reactors; and provides nuclear fuel and consulting services to Candu operators. The company?s Electricity segment engages in the generation and sale of nuclear electricity, through its 31.6% interest in Bruce Power L.P. This segment operates four nuclear reactors at the Bruce B generating station in southern Ontario, Canada. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark]

  Canada’s Cameco Corp. (CCJ) is a leading nuclear energy company. As the world’s largest low-cost uranium producer, Cameco satisfies almost 20% of the world’s demand. The company was founded in Saskatoon, Canada, in 1987 and has its roots in gold mining — which still contributes a bit to CCJ’s bottom line.

  Though precious metals are the rage on Wall Street right now, the Cameco’s uranium business is what has the most potential in the current market. As global warming becomes increasingly important to governments around the world, emission-free nuclear power is once again returning to favor.

  President Obama himself made a pitch for nuclear power in a Nevada press stop last week, saying the industry is clean, safe and could create thousands of new jobs. When the U.S. gets behind nuclear power in earnest, it’s sure to mean big things for uranium supplier CCJ.

Hot Insurance Stocks To Buy For 2014: Mission Vly Bcp Ca(MVLY.OB)

Mission Valley Bancorp operates as the holding company for Mission Valley Bank that provides a range of banking services to individual and corporate customers in the United States. The company?s deposit products include checking accounts, certificates of deposits, health savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises personal, automobile, home equity, commercial real estate, equipment, small business administration, and term loans. The company also offers apartment financing, auto and truck financing, accounts receivable financing, leasing, letters of credit, corporate credit cards, and lines of credit. In addition, it provides online banking, account reconciliation, check image, collection, deposit courier, electronic tax payment, image statement, merchant bankcard, night drop, notary, payroll, safe deposit box, and zero balance accounting services, as well as cashier?s checks, t ravelers checks, credit cards, and debit and ATM cards. Further, the company offers financial planning and investment services in the areas of investments, estate plans, retirement plans, and insurance. It operates three branches in Sun Valley, Valencia, and the Centre Pointe area of Santa Clarita, California. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Sun Valley, California.

Top Stocks To Own For 2014: Armarda Group Limited (5EK.SI)

Armarda Group Limited, an investment holding company, provides information technology (IT) professional services to the banking and financial services industry in the People�s Republic of China, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Its IT consulting services business provides IT strategy review and formulation, IT infrastructure architecture, and technology integration. The company�s consulting service includes core banking system construction and technical consulting, project management, test management, banking business work flow transformation consulting, overall consulting of banking system planning, and banking project of process management and business application. Its Application Service business involves in the planning and implementation of banking financial system, which is based on Oracle EBS Financial solution; banking management accounting system based on Oracle OFSA solution; banking plan and budget management system based on Oracle EPB solution; banking auditing syst em based on CaseWare IDEA solution; and human resource management system. In addition, the company involves in the trading of IT equipment and RFID chips. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore.

Funds to Watch: What Investors Are Eyeing Now

Another signal that the Great Rotation is at hand? Maybe not, but investors and advisors are at least looking into equity strategies.

Morningstar analyzed searches made on its three platforms—Morningstar Direct for institutional advisors, Morningstar Advisor Workstation and consumer-facing Morningstar.com—to see which funds were generating the most interest among individual and institutional investors, and financial advisors.

Across all three platforms, investors and advisors showed an increased interest in large-cap equities in the first part of the year, Morningstar found.

Individual investors were most interested in emerging market ETFs, while advisors preferred bond ETFs and large-cap strategies. The firm noted, however, that after showing limited interest in energy sector ETFs in the prior period, it topped the current list.

Similarly, after no bank loan strategies made the list of individual investors’ most researched funds in 2012, one was featured on both the top mutual funds and top ETFs list.

Morningstar also found that advisors’ interest in fixed income funds has slackened since 2012.

“Core equity and bond strategies largely remain the most-researched investments across our main product platforms, but changes to the number of searches in niche categories indicate that investors were switching gears in the first half of the year,“ Paul Justice, director of fund research for Morningstar, said in a statement. “In the institutional segment, we saw a dramatic increase in interest in international preferred stock and junk-rated domestic bonds, likely because of the rapid shift in interest rates in the United States.”

Investors’ Most Researched Mutual Funds

Investors' Most Interesting ETFs

Advisors' Most Interesting Mutual Funds

Advisors’ Most Interesting ETFs

Institutional Investors' Most Interesting Mutual Funds

Institutional Investors' Most Interesting ETFs

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