The European Central Bank, which sets monetary policy for the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a new record low of 0.5 percent.
The ECB's president, Mario Draghi, also hinted that the bank could do more in coming months to get the eurozone economy growing again. That could include setting a negative deposit rate -- meaning it would charge banks to place money with the ECB, encouraging them to lend it out instead.
Here are some reactions from economists:
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit: "At last, the fastest contracting region in the world no longer has the highest central bank policy rate of all major developed economies."
Tim Ohlenburg, senior economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research: "A cut in interest rates has long made sense given the scale of the eurozone's fundamental economic weakness."
Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics: "The ECB's widely anticipated interest rate cut should provide troubled banks in the region's periphery with some much-needed support. But it will not be enough to drag the eurozone out of recession on its own and bolder plans to boost lending to small and medium sized enterprises seem to be in their infant stages to say the least."
Hot Oil Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Telefonica SA(TEF)
Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Is Europe back?
Certainly, some of the enthusiasm about Europe has to do with the stabilization of economic prospects throughout the region. Germany, France, and Spain are still reporting sluggish GDP numbers, but some early signs suggest that the recession could already have hit bottom in many countries in Europe. Perhaps more importantly, just the fact that conditions on the continent haven't gotten markedly worse has seemed to bolster investor confidence. In particular, Spain's recovery has given investors in Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) new hope that efforts to keep its telecom business strong not just in Europe but in Latin America as well could bear fruit. - [By Dan Caplinger]
Working with incomplete information is something markets are used to, though, despite the volatility that it can produce. AT&T (NYSE: T ) posted minimal gains after Spain's Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) denied rumors that AT&T was looking to buy out the European telecom giant. With its already massive position in the U.S. wireless market, AT&T will have to look abroad for substantial growth opportunities. With Telefonica having chosen to cut its dividend temporarily in order to reallocate capital, a buyout might have been good news for its shareholders; Telefonica stock is up 3.5% despite its denial. Still, given the amount of money involved -- $93 billion, according to one report -- it would take a massive commitment to get the deal done.
- [By The Investment Doctor]
In this article I'll follow up on my earlier article on Telefonica (TEF) 'Why Telefonica might be a good investment right now', and have a look at the company's H1 financial results which were published last week. I'll first discuss the numbers, have a closer look at the debt level (as it's one of Telefonica's priorities to considerably reduce this debt) and give my updated opinion at the end of this article.
- [By Chris Hill, Jason Moser, and Eric Bleeker, CFA]
Reports last week out of Spain indicated that AT&T (NYSE: T ) �was looking at making an offer to�Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) �valued at $93 billion. According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo,�the sale didn't proceed in part because of governmental concerns over having a foreign company buy the country's most valuable telecom player. Yet even if AT&T and Telefonica aren't met to be, there is ample evidence that America's dominant mobile companies have begun looking abroad for growth.
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Charles Carlson, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Horizon Investment Services]
For investors looking for growth but also income, I especially like three health-care related stocks��resenius Medical (FMS), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and Smith & Nephew (SNN).
- [By John Udovich]
Small cap dialysis stock Rockwell Medical Inc (NASDAQ: RMTI) looks set to decline when the market opens after Brean Capital initiated coverage with a sell rating and a price target of $4.00, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at what is going on with the stock along with�the performance of large cap dialysis stocks DaVita Healthcare Partners (NYSE: DVA)�and Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS) along with small cap dialysis stocks NxStage Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: NXTM).�
- [By Ben Eisen]
DaVita (DVA) �gained 8.9% and Fresenius (FMS) �rose 7.2%.
- [By Johanna Bennett]
Dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners (DVA) soared almost 8.9% to close at $61.55 after the market learned that Medicare funding cuts would come in lower than expected. Rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rose 7.2% on the same news.
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: Aegon NV(AEG)
AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Will Ashworth]
Assuming it delivers on its outlook for 2014, its current free cash flow yield is a very enticing 20%. This isn�� a growth stock, but its brands still possess hidden value. As cheap stocks go, it�� very attractive.
Cheap Stocks to Buy: Aegon (AEG)It�� not often that you can buy a $19 billion market cap for under 10 bucks. Aegon�� a Dutch insurance company that�� had a rough ride over the past few years, and its stock�� suffered as a result. In the late ’90s AEG stock traded around $60 — it hasn�� been anywhere close since. However, it�� got some good assets that should bear fruit in the years to come. Aegon has 12,000 employees in the Americas doing business primarily under the Transamerica brand, which has been a part of AEG since 1999.
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: BP p.l.c.(BP)
BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Looking back over the past year, a simple S&P 500 index fund has outperformed many key oil stocks, both domestic and foreign. In particular, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) has delivered less than half the gains of the S&P, while British giant BP (NYSE: BP ) has been stuck right at the halfway point. Most of the biggest oil stocks in the U.S. and abroad have delivered only single-digit-percentage gains so far this year, compared to the S&P's double-digit rise. Let's take a look at what's behind the underperformance in oil stocks and whether the industry is poised to recover in the near future.
- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Sometimes the attempt to cover them up actually makes it stand out more than if they just put up the tower.
"You can tell right away that they're not what they pretend to be," Ashburn said. "Sometimes the attempt to cover them up actually makes it stand out more than if they just put up the tower." When Verizon first contacted the church last year, the company proposed standard designs for the tower. The church ultimately pushed for the cross-shaped design, which mirrors a tower outside a church in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie. Stealth Concealment Solutions, a South Carolina-based company that offers hidden antennas and towers, has created dozens of multitasking steeples and crosses over the years. In 1992, a BP (BP) sign at a gas station in Atlanta earned the distinction of being the first stealth cellphone tower in the country, according to the company. Designs have expanded over the years and now include a quirky pole in Liberty, Michigan, that looks like a pencil. Cindy Wishart, a Stealth spokeswoman, said the company is constantly educating people about the industry and its possibilities. "They always associate concealment as a tree," she said. "It's just so much more than that." Specific data on the number of stealth towers is limited, but Stealth said it works on up to 800 projects a year. The Wireless Association, an industry trade group also known at CTIA, said the presence of towers in general around the country has dramatically increased over the years in an effort to expand coverage. At the end of 1997, the country had just over 50,000 cell towers. By the end of 2012, the most recent year for which information is available, that number had jumped to more than 300,000. Stubert said he was surprised by the community backlash. "It's ridiculous," he said. "Churches put up crosses all the time that are simply crosses. This will be a cross that's also helping us to pay our bills." Jensen said the tower should be put in another lo
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: STMicroelectronics N.V.(STM)
STMicroelectronics N.V., an independent semiconductor company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of semiconductor integrated circuits and discrete devices. Its products include discrete and standard commodity components, application-specific integrated circuits, custom devices and semi-custom devices, and application-specific standard products for analog, digital, and mixed-signal applications. The company also offers subsystems and modules for the telecommunications, automotive, and industrial markets comprising mobile phone accessories, battery chargers, ISDN power supplies, and in-vehicle equipment for electronic toll payment, as well as provides Smartcard products. Its products are used in various microelectronic applications consisting of automotive products, computer peripherals, telecommunications systems, consumer products, industrial automation, and control systems. The company sells its products through distributors and ret ailers. STMicroelectronics N.V. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 29 (Q2), STMicroelectronics met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)
AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Shahida Humayun]
Air Lease's fleet has a weighted average age of 3.5 years, compared to 10.7 years for Aircastle (NYSE: AYR ) and 5.1 years for AerCap Holdings (NYSE: AER ) . As a result of this advantage, Air Lease is currently trading at a price-to-book value (P/BV) of 1.17, compared to 0.8 and 0.95 for Aircastle and AerCap Holdings, respectively.
10 Best European Stocks To Buy For 2014: Flamel Technologies S.A.(FLML)
Flamel Technologies S.A., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of controlled-release therapeutic products based on its proprietary polymer based technology in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, France, and Europe. The company develops nanogel Medusa technology, which is intended to provide controlled release following injection of therapeutic proteins, peptides, and other molecules; a microparticle adaptation of the Medusa platform that is intended for use in the delivery of smaller proteins and peptides; and Micropump technology, a microparticle technology for oral administration of small molecule drugs with applications in controlled-release, taste-masking, and bioavailability enhancement; and Trigger-Lock technology, an adaptation based on Micropump technology, which is intended to minimize the misuse and abuse of medications subject to abuse. Its principal product based on Micropump technology is Coreg CR, which is intended for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction following myocardial infarction. The company?s products under development based upon Medusa technology include Interferon-alpha, a naturally occurring protein that the body uses for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus and as a immune response; and FT-105, an injectable insulin formulation for diabetic patients. Its products based on its Micropump technology comprise LiquiTime for the elderly and pediatric patient patients, or others who have difficulty swallowing. The company has strategic alliance with Baxter International, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck Serono; and Pfizer Inc, as well as has a joint development agreement with Digna Biotech, S.L. Flamel Technologies S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Venissieux, France.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Healthcare shares gained 0.81 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG), StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM), and Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML).
- [By Anna Prior]
Flamel Technologies SA(FLML) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s new drug application for Vazculep, an alpha-1 adrenergic receptor agonist indicated for the treatment of clinically important hypotension resulting primarily from vasodilation in the setting of anesthesia. American depositary shares rose 5.1% to $14.78 in premarket trading.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Healthcare shares gained 0.81 percent in the US market on Friday. Top gainers in the sector included Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG), StemCells (NASDAQ: STEM), and Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ: FLML).
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