The average American worker made $19.77 per hour last year. Let's contemplate the hourly pay of some other Americans' wages. Oracle's (NYSE: ORCL ) Larry Ellison made $46,000 per hour. General Electric's (NYSE: GE ) Jeffrey Immelt made $12,000 per hour. Boeing's (NYSE: BA ) W. James McNerney Jr. made $13,000 per hour. CBS'� (NYSE: CBS ) Leslie Moonves made $33,000 per hour.
An hour is the amount of time Americans might allot for watching an episode of, say, Dirty Jobs in their free time. Speaking of jobs, dirty or otherwise, Discovery Communications' (NASDAQ: DISCA ) CEO David Zaslav's pay calculation came to $24,000 per hour.
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Superstar salaries
The AFL-CIO released its annual PayWatch data on Monday, dumping a treasure trove of disturbing information about CEO pay into Americans' news feeds. Check out the site here, where you can see a wealth of stats about corporate America's wealthiest, and how their pay compares to that of many regular citizens.
Hot Value Companies To Watch In Right Now: Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd.(IGLD)
Internet Gold ? Golden Lines Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides communications services in Israel. The company offers a range of telecommunication operations and services, including domestic fixed-line, cellular and international communication services, multi-channel television, satellite broadcasts, Internet services, customer call centers, maintenance and development of communications infrastructures, provision of communications services to other communications providers, television and radio broadcasts, and supply and maintenance of equipment on customer premises. It also provides data services, server and Web site hosting services, technical maintenance and support services, networking and system services, outsourcing and out-tasking services, security and risk management solutions, and IP based services; media services, which include the sale of advertising on its Web sites; and sale of products and services on the Internet. The company was formerly known as Euronet Golden Lines (1992) Ltd. and changed its name to Internet Gold ? Golden Lines Ltd. in June 1999. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Ramat Gan, Israel. Internet Gold ? Golden Lines Ltd. is a subsidiary of Eurocom Communications Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
On Wednesday, the telecommunications services sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Internet Gold Golden Lines (NASDAQ: IGLD) and NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ).
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: TRW Automotive Holdings Corporation(TRW)
TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells automotive systems, modules, and components for automotive original equipment manufacturers and related after-markets. It operates in four segments: Chassis Systems, Occupant Safety Systems, Electronics, and Automotive Components. The Chassis Systems segment offers product lines relating to steering gears and systems, foundation brakes, modules, brake controls, and linkage and suspension. The Occupant Safety Systems segment provides airbags, seat belts, steering wheels, and occupant restraint systems. The Electronics segment offers various products comprising safety electronics, radio frequency electronics, chassis electronics, powertrain electronics, and driver assist systems. The Automotive Components provides body controls, engine valves, and engineered fasteners and components. The company offers its products for passenger cars, light trucks, and commercial vehicles worldwid e. TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. was founded in 1904 and is based in Livonia, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Vera Yuan]
On the morning of September 15, TRW Automotive Holdings (TRW) announced it was going to be acquired by ZF Friedrichshafen for $105.60 per share. This was of more than a passing interest to us because at the time TRW was the largest holding in Oakmark Select. It was also the culmination of a process we applauded because TRW stock began 2012 at $33 per share, and was only up to $74 at the end of 2013. Over the years, takeovers have contributed significantly to Oakmark and Oakmark Select�� returns. In 2014 both Funds benefited when AT&T offered to buy DirecTV and when Actavis purchased Forest Laboratories. Additionally, Oakmark Fund owned Covidien, which increased from $72 to $92 after announcing its merger with Medtronic. Obviously, we welcome takeover activity in any of our holdings.But when TRW announced news of the acquisition at 8:16 a.m. Chicago time, it took less than an hour ��9:04 to be exact ��for the first law firm to announce its threat to sue TRW for accepting too low a price. Within 10 days I had counted at least 27 similar press releases from various law firms purporting to represent shareholders, threatening legal action to block the takeover. How do you square the law firms all jumping in to protect the shareholders while as a large shareholder ourselves, we were cheering the news?Merger objection lawsuits aren�� unique to the TRW deal. In fact, each of the takeovers we were invested in had multiple law firms trying to block the deals, alleging that shareholders weren�� getting paid a high enough price. And it isn�� just those takeovers. Within minutes of almost any takeover announcement, many law firms race to file press releases. Ten years ago, less than 10% of announced acquisitions of public companies were followed by merger objection suits. Today, almost every deal produces multiple suits. The overwhelming majority of these suits result in zero benefit to the shareholders, but almost all result in payments to law firms. Effecti
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Rowan Companies Inc.(RDC)
Rowan Companies, Inc. provides onshore and offshore oil and gas contract drilling services in the United States and internationally. The company offers its contract drilling services through its fleet of 28 self-elevating mobile offshore drilling platforms and 30 deep-well land drilling rigs. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Diamond Offshore (DO) is scheduled to report its earnings following the close today, followed by Noble (NE) and Ensco (ESV) at the end of the July, and Transocean (RIG) and Rowan (RDC) in August.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Offshore drillers like Ensco (ESV), Seadrill (SDRL) and Rowan (RDC) are sinking today, but shares of Transocean (RIG) have managed to stay afloat.
AFPTransocean has gained 0.9% to $41.85 at 1:22 p.m. today, even as Ensco has fallen 1.3% to $50.89, Seadrill has plunged 3.1% to $34.87 and Rowan has dipped 0.8% to $30.89.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Consider the losses: Noble Corp (NE) has plunged 19% so far this year,�while Transocean (RIG) has plummeted 16%, Rowan (RDC) has slid 15%, Ensco (ESV) has dropped 13% and Diamond Offshore Drilling (DO) has fallen 12%.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Atwood have dropped 1.9% to $45.45 at 3:38 p.m. and pulled down other offshore players. Noble has fallen 1.4% to $48.68, Transocean has declined 1.9% to $41.60,�Rowan�(RDC) is off 0.8% at $31.41 and�Seadrill (SDRL) has dropped 1.8% to $35.53.
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (SGYP)
Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on February 11, 1992, is a biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on the development of drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI), disorders and diseases. The Company�� lead product candidate is plecanatide, a guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C), receptor agonist, to treat GI disorders, primarily chronic constipation (CC), and constipation-predominant-irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C). It is also developing SP-333, the second generation GC-C receptor agonist for the treatment of gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases, such as ulcerative colitis (UC). The Company�� active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and the final formulated drug products are manufactured for it by third party contractors.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company was developing plecanatide, a synthetic hexadecapeptide designed to mimic the actions of the GI hormone uroguanylin, for the treatment of CC and IBS-C. Plecanatide is an agonist of GC-C receptor. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was dosing patients in an 800-patient Phase II/III clinical trial of plecanatide to treat. It is also developing a second generation GC-C receptor analog, SP-333, which is in pre-clinical development for the treatment of gastrointestinal inflammatory diseases. SP-333 is a synthetic analog of uroguanylin, a natriuretic hormone.
The Company competes with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Forest Laboratories, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc., Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Shire Plc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Finally, Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGYP ) may have had the wildest week of them all. Synergy's share price spiked 16% on Tuesday as an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald raised her peak sales estimate for plecanatide, the company's midstage drug for chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, to $1.58 billion from $1.05 billion, as clinical data has been stronger than expected. However, the company didn't return the favor to shareholders by -- the very next day, mind you ��announcing a secondary offering of 16.375 million shares. The downside of clinical-stage companies is the always apparent risk of dilution. Shares have lost 25% since their Tuesday close.
- [By Monica Gerson]
Breaking news
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) reported a drop in its third-quarter profit. Time Warner Cable's quarterly profit fell to $532 million, or $1.84 per share, from $808 million, or $2.60 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here. Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGYP) today announced the start of a phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of SP-333, its second-generation GC-C agonist and once-daily oral treatment, in adult patients with opioid-induced constipation (OIC). To read the full news, click here. Cigna (NYSE: CI) reported a 19% rise in its third-quarter earnings and lifted its full-year earnings outlook. To read the full news, click here. Charm Communications (NASDAQ: CHRM) announced today that the special committee of the Company's board of directors, consisting of independent directors Mr. Zhan Wang, Mr. Andrew J. Rickards and Mr. Gang Chen, has retained China Renaissance Securities (Hong Kong) Limited as its financial advisor and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP as its legal advisor. To read the full news, click here.Posted-In: Bank of America US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: PowerShares DWA Momentum Portfolio (PDP)
PowerShares DWA Technical Leaders Portfolio (Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and of an equity index called the Dorsey Wright Technical Leaders Index (the Index). The Index consists of stocks of approximately 100 United States companies that are selected pursuant to a selection methodology of Dorsey Wright & Associates (the Index Provider). The Index is designed to identify companies that demonstrate powerful relative strength characteristics. Relative strength characteristics are based upon each security�� market performance. The companies are selected from a broad mid-cap and large-cap universe.
The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stocks that comprise the Index. The Index is adjusted quarterly, and the Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate the performance of the Index. The Fund generally will invest in the stocks comprising the Index in proportion to their weightings in the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is PowerShares Capital Management LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Victor Selva]
Of course, a great bet also involves many risks. Even though LCD technology became very popular in these last few years, both in TV screens and computer monitors, we should never miss the fact that technological markets are often exposed to products becoming obsolete due to the development of new, more efficient technology. Without going any further, it�� easy to recall the plasma display panel (PDP) fiasco, an apparently promising market in the 1990s and early 2000s but quickly replaced by LCDs (by 2008 LCDs sell 21.1 million units, almost 10 times PDP sales on the same year). Even Panasonic Corporation (PCRFF) announced it will interrupt production of PDP on 2014.
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: Nabors Industries Ltd (NBR)
Nabors Industries Ltd. (Nabors), incorporated on December 11, 2001, is the land drilling contractor and land well-servicing and workover contractors in the United States and Canada. The Company markets approximately 474 land drilling rigs for oils and gas land drilling operations in the United States Lower 48 states, Alaska, Canada and over 20 other countries globally. The Company actively markets approximately 442 rigs for land well-servicing and workover work in the United States and approximately 106 rigs for land well-servicing and workover work in Canada. In 2012, the Company sold its remaining wholly-owned oil and gas business in Colombia and sold additional wholly owned assets in the United States. In April 2012, TransForce Inc. acquired through its subsidiary, I.E. Miller Services, Inc, certain assets of Peak USA Energy Services, Ltd., subsidiary of Nabors Industries Ltd. In December 2012, the Company sold its 49.7% ownership interest in NFR Energy LLC (NFR Energy).
The Company is a provider of offshore platform workover and drilling rigs, and actively markets 36 platform, 12 jackup and four barge rigs in the United States, including the Gulf of Mexico, and multiple international markets.The Company provides completion and production services, including hydraulic fracturing, cementing, nitrogen and acid pressures pumping services with over 805,000 hydraulic horsepower in United States and Canada. The Company offers a range of ancillary well-site services, including engineering, transportation and disposal, construction, maintenance, well logging, directional drilling, rigs instrumentation, data collection and other support services in select United States and international markets. The Company manufactures and lease or sell drives for a ranges of drilling applications, directional drilling systems, rig instrumentation and data collection equipment, pipeline handling equipment and rig reporting software. The Company has a 51% ownership interest in a joint venture in Saudi Arabia, w! hich owns and actively markets nine rigs in addition to the rigs the Company leases to the joint venture.
A land-based drilling rig generally consists of engines, a drawworks, a mast (or derrick), pumps to circulate drilling fluid under various pressures, blowout preventers, drill string and related equipment. Special-purpose drilling rigs used to perform workover services consist of a mobile carrier, which includes an engine, drawworks and a mast, together with other standard drilling accessories and specialized equipment for servicing wells. These rigs are specially designed for repairs and modifications of oil and gas wells, including standard drilling functions. Land-based drilling rigs are moved between well sites and among geographic areas using the Company's fleet of cranes, loaders and transport vehicles or those of third-party service providers.
Platform rigs provide offshore workover, drilling and re-entry services. The Company's platform rigs have drilling and/or well-servicing or workover equipment and machinery arranged in modular packages that are transported to, and assembled and installed on, fixed offshore platforms owned by the customer. Jackup rigs are mobile, self-elevating drilling and workover platforms equipped with legs that can be lowered to the ocean floor until a foundation is established to support the hull, which contains the drilling and/or workover equipment, jacking system, crew quarters, loading and unloading facilities, storage areas for bulk and liquid materials, helicopter landing deck and other related equipment. The Company also own two workover inland barge rigs. These barges are designed to perform plugging and abandonment, well-service or workover services in shallow inland, coastal or offshore waters.
The Company provides a range of wellsite solutions to oil and natural gases companies, consisting primarily of technical pumping services, including hydraulic fracturing, a process sometimes used in the completion of oil and g! as wells ! whereby water, sand and chemicals are injected under pressure into subsurface formations to stimulate gas and oil production, and down-hole surveying services. Other technical services include completion, production and rental tool services. In addition, the Company provides fluid logistics services, including those related to the transportation, storage and disposal of fluids that is used in the drilling, development and production of hydrocarbons.
The Company provides maintenance services on the mechanical apparatus used to pump or lift oils from producing wells. These services include, among other activities, repairing and replacing pumps, sucker rods and tubing. They also occasionally include drilling services. The Company provides the rigs, equipment and crews for these tasks, which are performed on both oil and natural gas wells, but which are more commonly required on oil wells. Producing oil and natural gas wells occasionally require repairs or modifications, called workovers. The Company can also provide other specialized services, including onsite temporary fluid storage; the supply, removal and disposal of specialized fluids used during certain completion and workover operations, and the removal and disposal of salt water that often accompanies the production of oil and natural gas.
Through various subsidiaries, the Company manufactures top drives and catwalks, which is installed on both onshore and offshore drilling rigs. The Company provides heavy equipment to move drilling rigs, water, other fluids and construction materials as well as the means to moves such equipment. The Company offers specialized drilling technologies, including patented steering systems and rigs instrumentation software systems, including ROCKITTM directional drilling system, which is used to provide data collection services to oil and gas exploration and service companies, and RIGWATCHTM software, which is computerized software and equipment that monitors a rig's real-time performance and da! ily repor! ting for drilling operations, making this data available through the Internet.
The Company competes with Helmerich and Payne, Inc., Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., Basic Energy Services, Inc., Key Energy Services, Inc., Superior Energy Services, Inc., Forbes Energy Services Ltd., Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Weatherford International Ltd., Schlumberger Limited, FTS International Services LLC, C&J Energy Services, Inc. and RPC, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By M. Joy, Hayes]
Score one for disruption
We don't need to look far to see why board disruption can be a good thing. Just look at two other energy companies: Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK ) and Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR ) .
Top 10 Diversified Bank Companies To Own In Right Now: ConocoPhillips(COP)
ConocoPhillips operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company?s Exploration and Production (E&P) segment explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its Midstream segment gathers, processes, and markets natural gas; and fractionates and markets natural gas liquids in the United States and Trinidad. The company?s Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets, and transports crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels. Its Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. This segment offers olefins and polyolefins, including ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products; aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene, and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers; and various specialty chemical products comprising organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalyst s, drilling chemicals, mining chemicals, and engineering plastics and compounds. The company?s Emerging Businesses segment develops new technologies and businesses. It focuses on power generation; and technologies related to conventional and nonconventional hydrocarbon recovery, refining, alternative energy, biofuels, and the environment. This segment also offers E-Gas, a gasification technology producing high-value synthetic gas. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividend Growth Investor]
In May 2012, ConocoPhillips split into two separately traded companies: ConocoPhillips (COP), which focused on Exploration and Production for Oil and Natural gas and Phillips 66 (PSX), which focused on Refining and Marketing for crude and natural gas. The legacy ConocoPhillips company was paying a quarterly dividend of 66 cents/share, and had raised dividends since 2002. On the surface, through June 2013 it seemed that the company had not raised distributions since the 20% boost payable in March 2011. Shareholders as of April 30, 2012 received one share of the new upstream focused ConocoPhillips (COP) as well as half a share of the downstream focused Phillips 66 (PSX). However, although the new ConocoPhillips maintained its quarterly dividend of 66 cents/share, this was technically a dividend increase, since it was coming from a lower base. Some dividend investors didn't see it that way however, and worried about the perceived "lack of dividend increase". Most recently however, ConocoPhillipsraised quarterly distributions to 69 cents/share.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Yes, say the folks at Barclays. They took a long, hard look at integrated oil companies like Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP)–but only one came away with a downgrade: ExxonMobil (XOM).
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