Then, it happens. Your grown kids tell you they need your help, and they need to come back home. The big question is, how do you help your children and keep your retirement on track?
"First piece of advice is, 'Don't panic,'" says Lynn Ballou, managing partner of Ballou Plum Wealth Advisors in Lafayette, Calif. "Take a deep breath. Listen to your children tell you what they think they need. It may not be as horrible as the first panic call would lead you to believe."
RETIREMENT: Get all the latest news, tips on planing and living in retirement
How to Age in Place.
There are two different scenarios where children return, planners say:
Hot Semiconductor Companies To Invest In Right Now: Swift Transportation Company(SWFT)
Swift Transportation Company, through its subsidiary, Swift Transportation Co., LLC, operates as a multi-faceted transportation services company and truckload carrier in North America. The company offers its truckload services through dry van, temperature-controlled, flatbed, and specialized trailers; and rail intermodal services. It also provides freight brokerage and logistics management services to other trucking companies, as well as leases tractors and offers repair services. As of December 31, 2011, the company operated a tractor fleet of approximately 15,900 units, including 11,900 tractors driven by company drivers and 4,000 owner-operator tractors; 50,600 trailers; and 6,200 intermodal containers in the United States and Mexico. It serves various industries, such as retail, discount retail, consumer products, food and beverage, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics industries. The company, formerly known Swift Holdings Corp., and was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Swift Transportation (NYSE: SWFT ) , for example, delivered a 4% increase in revenue this past quarter in spite of having fewer trucks in service. The company was able to realize better utilization of its existing fleet and actually saw fuel prices fall from the previous year. The results were even more robust for Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX ) , whose shareholders saw revenue rise by 7% as the company grew from the year-ago quarter for the 14th straight time and delivered growth from each of its business segments.
- [By Seth Jayson]
Swift Transportation (NYSE: SWFT ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Swift Transportation met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: Webster Financial Corp (WBS)
Webster Financial Corporation (Webster), incorporated on September 10, 1986, is a bank holding company and financial holding company. Webster�� principal asset as of December 31, 2012, was Webster Bank, National Association (Webster Bank). Webster, through Webster Bank and various subsidiaries, delivers financial services to individuals, families and businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York. Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage lending, financial planning, trust and investment services through 167 banking offices, 293 automated teller machines (ATMs), telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet Website www.websterbank.com. Webster also offers equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and asset-based lending across the Northeast. Webster Bank offers health savings accounts on a nationwide basis, through its HSA Bank division and its Internet Website www.hsabank.com. Webster�� operations are managed along four business segments: Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Consumer Finance and Other. Other includes Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Private Banking (including Webster Financial Advisors (WFA)).
Commercial Banking
The Commercial Banking segment includes middle market, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, equipment finance, and Government and not-for-profit banking. Webster�� Commercial Banking group provides lending, deposit and cash management services to middle market companies in its franchise territory. Additionally, it serves as a primary referral source to Wealth Management and Retail Banking.
Retail Banking
Retail Banking serves consumers and small businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York, with a distribution network of 167 banking offices and 293 owned ATMs, and a full range of Internet and mobile banking services. Retail Banking includes Webster�� branch network, Consumer deposits, Busin! ess and Professional Banking (BPB), Webster Investment Services (WIS) and the Customer Care Center.
Consumer Finance
Consumer Finance offers lending solutions for consumers primarily in southern New England and Westchester County, New York. Products include: residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans as well as credit card options.
Other
Other includes HSA Bank (HSA) and Private Banking. HSA Bank is a bank custodian of health savings accounts. These accounts are provided for high deductible health plans offered by employers or directly to consumers. Private Banking provides local full relationship banking that serves high net worth clients, not-for-profit organizations and business clients for asset management, trust, loan and deposit products and financial planning services.
Subsidiaries of Webster Financial Corporation
Webster�� direct subsidiaries as of December 31, 2012 included Webster Bank, Fleming, Perry & Cox, Inc., and Webster Licensing, LLC. Webster also owns all of the outstanding common stock of Webster Statutory Trust, an unconsolidated financial vehicle that has issued or may in the future issue trust preferred securities. On July 18, 2012, the Company completed the redemption at par of all the outstanding principal amount of Webster Capital Trust IV fixed to floating-rate trust preferred securities. Webster Bank's direct subsidiaries include Webster Mortgage Investment Corporation, Webster Business Credit Corporation (WBCC) and Webster Capital Finance, Inc. (WCF). Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated Company. Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated group. Webster Bank provides banking services through 167 banking offices, 293 owned ATMs, telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet websites. Residential mortgage origination activity is conducted through Webster Bank. Webster Mortgage! Investme! nt Corporation is a passive investment subsidiary whose primary function is to provide servicing on passive investments, such as residential real estate and commercial mortgage real estate loans transferred from Webster Bank. Various commercial lending products are provided through Webster Bank and its subsidiaries to clients within the region from Westchester County, NY to Boston, MA. WBCC provides asset-based lending services. WCF provides equipment financing for end users of equipment. Additionally, Webster Bank has various other subsidiaries that are not significant to the consolidated Company.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Bank holding and financial company Webster Bank (WBS) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 20 cents per share payable June 16 to shareholders of record June 2.
WBS Dividend Yield: 2.63% - [By Rich Duprey]
Business and consumer banking concern�Webster Financial� (NYSE: WBS ) �announced yesterday that its board of directors has approved increasing its quarterly dividend by 50%, from�$0.10 per share to�$0.15 per share.�The new, higher payment�will be made on May 20 to stockholders of record as of May 6.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAM)
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is an international automotive company. The Company is engaged in designing, engineering, manufacturing, distributing and selling vehicles and components and production systems. The Company operates in approximately 40 countries and its products are sold directly or through distributors and dealers in more than 150 countries. It designs, engineers, manufactures, distributes and sells vehicles for the mass market under the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia and Ram brands and the SRT performance vehicle designation. It operates in six segments: four regional mass-market vehicle segments, which include United States, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA), South and Central America, excluding Mexico (LATAM), Asia and Pacific countries (APAC) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a global Luxury Brands segment, and a global Components segment.
The Company support its vehicle sales with after-sales services and products worldwide under the Mopar brand and, in certain markets, with retail and dealer financing, leasing and rental services, which it makes available through its subsidiaries, joint ventures and commercial arrangements. The Company designs, engineers, manufactures, distribute and sell luxury vehicles under the Ferrari and Maserati brands, which it support with financial services provided to dealers and retail customers. It also operates in the components and production systems sectors through the Magneti Marelli, Teksid and Comau brands.
The Company�� four regional mass-market vehicle reportable segments deal with the design, engineering, development, manufacturing, distribution and sale of passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and related parts and services in specific geographic areas: NAFTA, LATAM, APAC and EMEA. It also operates on a global basis in the luxury vehicle and components sectors. In the luxury vehicle sector, it has the operating segments Ferrari and Maserati, while in the components se! ctor the Company has the operating segments Magneti Marelli, Teksid and Comau. The Company supports its mass-market vehicle sales with the sale of related service parts and accessories, as well as service contracts under the Mopar brand name.
The Company�� NAFTA operations supports distribution and sales of mass-market vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico, primarily through the Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram brands. Its LATAM operations support the distribution and sale of mass-market vehicles in South and Central America (excluding Mexico), primarily under the Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram brands, with the focus of its business in the LATAM segment in Brazil and Argentina. Its APAC operations supports the distribution and sale of mass-market vehicles in the Asia Pacific region (mostly in China, Japan, Australia, South Korea and India), primarily under the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat and Jeep brands. Its EMEA operations support the distribution and sale of mass-market vehicles in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, primarily under the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep and Lancia brand names. Its Luxury Brands designs, engineering��, develops, manufacturing, worldwide distribution and sale of luxury vehicles under the Ferrari and Maserati brands, management of the Ferrari racing team and supply of financial services offered in conjunction with the sale of Ferrari-branded vehicles. Its Components is engaged in production and sale of lighting components, engine control units, suspensions, shock absorbers, electronic systems, and exhaust systems and activities in powertrain (engine and transmissions) components, engine control units, plastic molding components and in the after-market carried out under the Magneti Marelli brand name; cast iron components for engines, gearboxes, transmissions and suspension systems, and aluminum cylinder heads under the Teksid brand name; and design and production of industrial automation systems ! and relat! ed products for the automotive industry under the Comau brand name.
The Company designs, engineers, manufactures, distributes and sells vehicles and service parts under 11 mass-market brands and designations. As of December 31, 2013, it has 50 parts distribution centers throughout the world to support its customer care efforts in each of its regions. The Company�� Mopar brand accessories allow its customers to customize their vehicles by including after-market sales of products from side steps and lift-kits, to graphics packages, such as racing stripes, and custom leather interiors. The Company sells mass-market vehicles in all segments of the passenger car and truck markets. Its passenger car product portfolio includes vehicles such as the iconic Fiat 500 (which has sold more than 1 million units globally since its launch in 2007), Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Dodge Charger, Chrysler 200 and Lancia Ypsilon. Its light commercial vehicles include vans such as the Fiat Professional Doblo, Fiat Professional Ducato and Ram ProMaster, and light and heavy-duty pick-up trucks such as the Ram 1500 and 2500/3500. The Company also sells SUVs and CUVs in a number of vehicle segments, such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee, including expanding into the small SUV segment market with the recently-unveiled Jeep Renegade.
The Company sells components and production systems under Magneti Marelli, Teksid and Comau brands. Magneti Marelli is engaged in designs and productions of automotive systems and components. Through Magneti Marelli, it designs and manufactures automotive lighting systems, powertrain (engines and transmissions) components and engine control unit, electronic systems, suspension systems and exhaust systems, and plastic components and modules. The Teksid brand is engaged in the production of grey and nodular iron castings. Under the Teksid brand it produces engine blocks, cylinder heads, engine components, transmission parts, gearboxes and suspensions. Through Teksid Aluminum, it is also in! volved in! the production of aluminum cylinder heads and engine components.
Comau produces advanced manufacturing systems through an international network. Comau operates primarily in the field of integrated automation technology, delivering advanced turnkey systems to its customers. Through Comau, it develops and sells a range of industrial applications, including robotics, while it provides support service, including training to customers. Comau�� principal activities include powertrain machining (from raw material to final components); mechanical assembly systems and performance testing; body welding and assembly systems, and robotics (producing versatile naked or in line robots, aimed at improving efficiency of manufacturing and quality of products manufactured). Comau�� automation technology is used in a variety of industries, including automotive, aerospace, petrochemical, military, shipbuilding and energy efficiency consultancy. Comau also provides maintenance service for the Company and other customers in Brazil.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Valdes-Dapena]
There are Russian, French and Asian cars on the roads of Havana, she said, and they're usually much newer than and in better shape than these American models, but it's clearly General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler (FCAM) products for which people have the most affection.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: CECO Environmental Corp.(CECE)
CECO Environmental Corp. provides air-pollution control technology products and services worldwide. The company offers engineered equipment, cyclones, scrubbers, dampers, diverters, regenerative thermal oxidizers, component parts, and monitoring and managing services. Its Engineered Equipment Technology and Parts Group segment provides air handling equipment and systems for filtering, cooling, heating, and capturing emissions in the metal industries; systems for corrosion protection, fugitive emissions control, evaporative cooling, and other ventilation and air handling applications; and fume exhaust systems that provide control of oil mist and fumes, as well as remove liquid particles and vapor phase emissions from rolling mill, machining, and other oil mist generating processes. This segment also markets a strip cooler under the JET*STAR name designed to cool metal strip coatings. The company?s Contracting/Services Group segment offers oil mist collection, dust collecti on, industrial exhaust, chip collection, make-up air, and automotive spray booth systems, as well as industrial and process piping, and other industrial sheet metal works. This segment also engages in fabricating parts, engineered subassemblies, and customized products for air pollution and non-air pollution systems from sheet, plate, and structurals. Its Component Parts Group segment manufactures and markets component parts for industrial air systems to contractors, distributors, and dealers. The company markets its products and services under the Kirk & Blum, CECO Filters, Busch International, CECO Abatement Systems, KB Duct, Effox, Fisher-Klosterman, Buell, A.V.C., FKI, and Flextor names. It serves aerospace, brick, cement, steel, ceramics, metalworking, printing, paper, food, foundries, utilities, metal plating, woodworking, chemicals, glass, automotive, ethanol, pharmaceuticals, and refining industries. CECO Environmental Corp. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered i n Cincinnati, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on CECO Environmental (Nasdaq: CECE ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: STEC Inc.(STEC)
STEC, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets enterprise-class flash solid-state drives (SSDs) for use in high-performance storage and server systems. Its solid-state drive products include ZeusIOPS SSDs, which provide enterprise-class data storage solutions; and MACH-class SSDs that are small form factor storage solutions for mission-critical systems in various industries. The company?s flash cards and flash module products comprise ATA PC Cards for equipment requiring standard form factors and moderate capacities, such as data recorders, avionics systems, and telecommunication applications; CompactFlash products, which provide interoperability with systems based on the PC Card ATA standard by using a passive adapter; flash modules; secure digital memory cards; USB flash drives; and single chip drives. It also offers dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products, which include dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), small-outline DIMMs, mini-registered DIMMs, very low profile registered DIMMs, and fully-buffered DIMMs for computing, communications, and industrial applications. In addition, the company provides integrated circuit tower stacked components for thin small outline package and ball grid array semiconductor packages for use on memory modules and within high capacity flash products; DRAM modules with stacked components for use primarily in high-performance servers, workstations, switches and routers, and other custom systems; and flash products with stacked components. It sells its products through direct sales force and original equipment manufacturer distributors in the United States and internationally. STEC, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Brugger]
HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC ) , has entered into an agreement whereby HGST will acquire a 100% ownership stake in sTec (NASDAQ: STEC ) in an all-cash transaction valued at $340 million, equal to $6.85 a share, the companies announced today.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: Amarin Corporation PLC(AMRN)
Amarin Corporation Plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing treatments for cardiovascular diseases. Its lead product candidate includes AMR101, a prescription grade omega-3 fatty acid, which is in second Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of high triglyceride levels in statin-treated patients who have mixed dyslipidemia. The company, formerly known as Ethical Holdings plc, was founded in 1989 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
If you're looking for a potential trade to kick off the new (though shortened) trading week, then put Amarin Corporation plc (NASDAQ:AMRN) at the top of your watchlist. Though it's been working on a turnaround for a few weeks, today may well be the day AMRN actually gets all the way over the hump and turns into a reliable mover.
Hot Prefered Stocks For 2014: Control4 Corp (CTRL)
Control4 Corporation, incorporated on March 27, 2003, is a provider of automation and control solutions for the connected home. The Company provides its consumers with the ability to integrate music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other functionalities into a unified home automation solution. The Company's solution functions as the operating system of the home, making connected devices work together to control, automate and personalize the homes of its consumers. Control4 Home Operating System (C4 OS) is one of the product line of the Company. It embeds its C4 OS in a range of products, including controller appliances, interfaces and connected devices that interact with various music, video, lighting, temperature, security, communications and other devices. The Company offers its 4Sight subscription service, which allows consumers to control and monitor their homes remotely from their smartphone, tablet or laptop, and allows its dealers to perform remote diagnostic services. The Company's 4Sight allows consumer to remotely unlock the front door to let in a repairman, to turn on the air conditioning on the way home, and to monitor the home security cameras from a smartphone. In addition, its 4Store application marketplace offers a range of third-party applications for use with the Company's products. The Company's solution provides consumers with access to over 6,400 third-party devices.
Software Platform
At the center of the Control4 product line is the Control4 Home Operating System, and the associated application software and software development kits (SDKs). The high-level software components include Director, Navigator, Composer Professional Edition, Composer Home Edition and Composer Media Edition, DriverWorks SDK, and Navigator SDK and Application SDK. Director is a real-time, extensible home operating system kernel that is responsible for monitoring and receiving events from numerous devices and services, processing those events according ! to consumer personalized settings, and then dispatching commands to the appropriate devices to perform predefined actions. Navigator displays intuitive and rich graphical user interfaces on televisions, in-wall and table-top touch panels, smartphones and tablets, as well as list-based devices, such as a remote controls with LCD text-displays. Composer Professional Edition is a software application that enables trained and certified Control4 dealers and installers to design, configure and personalize a Control4 home automation system for consumers. Composer Home Edition and Media Edition enable consumers to view and configure their Control4 managed devices. These drag-and-drop programs provide the ability to manage digital media and create and modify simple programs and policies (such as changing lighting scenes, modifying custom buttons and controlling behaviors among devices based on schedules or times of the day). DriverWorks SDK is a software development kit that enables dealers, programmers and device manufacturers to independently develop and test custom two-way interface drivers to support the integration of a new device or device model into its system, or to customize and enhance an existing driver. Navigator SDK and Application SDK are software development kits that enable third-party dealers and programmers to customize and deliver new application functionality within Navigator user interfaces on Control4 interface devices through the development of applications.
Products with Embedded Software and Services
The Company's controller appliances run its Director software to monitor, process and automate events, statuses and actions for numerous devices and services, creating a connected home experience. It offers the HC-800, a whole home controller appliance, and the HC-250, a single-room controller appliance. It also licenses its Director software on the new Sony ES 5800 and 2800 receivers, transforming them into controller appliances with home theater audio and video ! capabilit! ies. The Company offers touch panels, handheld remote controls and keypads as interface devices. It also develops and delivers software applications for Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets that enable these personal devices to become control interfaces to Control4 connected homes, both on-premise and remotely. The Company offers network-enabled 4x4 and 8x8 zone audio amplifiers, and a 16x16 audio matrix switch for versatile multi-room and whole-home audio distribution. It also offers an integrated digital media player for integration of local digital audio and video, as well as Wi-Fi and Ethernet amplified speaker points for streaming digital audio to speakers in areas without an audio receiver.
The Company offers a suite of lighting products that provide personalized control and energy management. Its suite of wireless light switches and dimmers can replace devices in an existing home or be installed in new homes. It offers in-wall wireless switches and dimmers for 120V, 240V and 277V electrical loads, which meet the requirements of North America and many international markets. The also plan to offer panelized systems, where all of the lighting control will be done on a remote panel. Its new Control4 lighting products will have the ability to measure how much energy each load is using and provide suggestions to the consumer on how to conserve energy and reduce costs. The Company offers devices that provide energy savings, convenience and efficiency for temperature control. Its wireless multi-stage thermostat is completely programmable with up to six set points per day and, using its 4Sight subscription service, is remotely accessible and controllable. The Company provides a set of products and software services created by the Company, as well as distribute certified third-party products, including deadbolts, door and window sensors, motion sensors, garage access systems and water leak detection systems, from its security partners, such as Baldwin, Card Access, Kwikset and Yale. ! The Compa! ny offers full motion video and hi-fidelity audio intercom capability through its in-wall and tabletop touchscreens, as well as its exterior weather-resistant door stations. 4Sight is a subscription service that enables 24x7 home monitoring and control from virtually anywhere, remote home programming and support, and instant email alerts based on home events so that homeowners are always in-the-know.
The Company offers a subscription service called 4Sight that enables remote access to the connected home without exposing the installer or consumer to the complexities of communicating around firewalls and private Internet Protocol addresses. This service facilitates connections between remote client devices and its systems through a cloud-based service. Using 4Sight, consumers can remotely monitor and control their Control4 systems as if they were at their homes.
The Company competes with AMX, Crestron, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, Savant, Logitech, Lutron, Nest, Roku, Sonos and Universal Remote Control, ADT, Comcast, Verizon and Vivint.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Control4�Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) was started as Buy with a $26 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was reinstated as Buy with a $62 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch, and remember this one we recently dubbed the current king of the stock buybacks.
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