Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now

The Food and Drug Administration has approved�St. Jude Medical's (NYSE: STJ  ) new Ellipse implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and its Assura cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), high-voltage devices with new safety features.

According to St. Jude's press release yesterday, the products are designed to promote effectiveness in providing electronic shock therapy while reducing safety risks.

The approvals come as St. Jude's cardiovascular rhythm management (CRM) division, which includes these and similar devices, has faced significant sales pressure. St. Jude's CRM revenue�fell by around 6% last year.

St. Jude's U.S. approvals come after the company received European�CE Mark approval for the Ellipse and Assura last year. The Ellipse and other ICDs are designed to treat abnormal heart rates, while Assura and other CRT-Ds are designed to manage irregularities in the beating of the heart's lower chambers. Both conditions, if untreated, can lead to potentially fatal outcomes such as sudden cardiac death and heart failure.

Top 5 New Stocks To Own Right Now: Blue Water Global Group Inc (BLUU)

Blue Water Global Group, Inc. (Blue Water), incorporated on March 3, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses on developing a chain of casual dining restaurants in tourist destinations throughout the Caribbean region. The Company's initial restaurant is going to be called Blue Water Bar & Grill and will be located in St. Maarten, Dutch West Indies.

As of February 7, 2013, the Company did not operate any restaurant properties, and did not have any ownership or leaseholds in any restaurant properties. As of February 7, 2013, the Company did not have any ownership or leaseholds in any restaurant properties.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Naturalnano Inc (OTCMKTS: NNAN), Global Payout, Inc (OTCMKTS: GOHE) and Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) were either jumping higher or diving lower yesterday. To complicate matters for investors, two of these small cap stocks have been subjects of disclosures about paid promotion or investor relation campaigns. So what will these three small caps do for the rest of this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Last Friday, small cap Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group Inc (OTCMKTS: DBMM) surged 22.22% while Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) sank 18.42% and Medina International Holdings, Inc (OTCMKTS: MIHI) sank 50%. However, one of these small caps (Blue Water Global Group) appears to be reversing course in early morning trading today. So with it and the rest of these small cap stocks either sink or swim in trading this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Caribbean International Holdings (OTCMKTS: CIHN), Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) and Metrospaces Inc (OTCMKTS: MSPC) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and all three have focused their activities in the Caribbean or South America. However, all three have been the subject of paid promotions which have helped to get them mentions in various investment newsletters. With that in mind, will bets on the Caribbean or South America pay off big for these three small cap stocks and their investors? Here is a quick reality check:

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now: US Airways Group Inc (LCC)

US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways Group) is a holding company whose primary business activity is the operation of a network air carrier through its wholly owned subsidiaries, US Airways, Piedmont Airlines, Inc. (Piedmont), PSA Airlines, Inc. (PSA), Material Services Company, Inc. (MSC) and Airways Assurance Limited (AAL). MSC and AAL operate in support of the Company�� airline subsidiaries in areas, such as the procurement of aviation fuel and insurance. It has hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia and Phoenix and a focus city in Washington, D.C. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (Washington National). During the year ended December 31, 2011, it offered scheduled passenger service on more than 3,100 flights daily to more than 200 communities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It also has an East Coast route network, including the US Airways Shuttle service.

The Company had approximately 53 million passengers boarding its mainline flights in 2011. During 2011, the Company�� mainline operation provided scheduled service or seasonal service at 133 airports, while the US Airways Express network served 156 airports in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including 78 airports also served by its mainline operation. US Airways Express air carriers had approximately 28 million passengers boarding their planes in 2011. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 340 mainline jets and was supported by its regional airline subsidiaries and affiliates operating as US Airways Express under capacity purchase agreements, which operated 233 regional jets and 50 turboprops. The Company�� prorate carriers operated seven turboprops and seven regional jets at December 31, 2011.

In May 2011, US Airways Group and US Airways entered into an Amended and Restated Mutual Asset Purchase and Sale Agreement (the Mutual APA) with Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta). Pursuant to the Mutual APA, Delta agreed to acquire 132 slot pa! irs at LaGuardia from US Airways and US Airways agreed to acquire from Delta 42 slot pairs at Washington National and the rights to operate additional daily service to Sao Paulo, Brazil. On December 13, 2011, the transaction contemplated by the Mutual APA closed and ownership of the respective slots was transferred between the airlines. During 2011, the US Airways Express network served 156 airports in the continental United States, Canada and Mexico, including 78 airports also served by its mainline operation. During 2011, approximately 28 million passengers boarded US Airways Express air carriers��planes, approximately 44% of whom connected to or from its mainline flights.

The Company competes with Southwest, JetBlue, Allegiant, Frontier, Virgin America and Spirit.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded US Airways Group (NYSE: LCC) from ��eutral��to ��verweight.��The target price for US Airways has been raised from $18 to $26.

• [By Tim Beyers]

  After combining satisfaction scores tracked by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, or ACSI, with each carrier's year-to-date load factor, I think those flying Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV  ) are most likely to get home without incident. US Airways (NYSE: LCC  ) travelers might not be so lucky. Here's a closer look at the entire field.

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now: Amedisys Inc(AMED)

Amedisys, Inc., a health care company, provides home health and hospice services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice. The Home Health segment offers various services in the homes of individuals who may be recovering from an illness, injury, or surgical procedure. This segment?s services include skilled nursing, home health aides, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medical social services; and chronic care clinical programs for patients with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, behavioral health, rehabilitative, and medical surgical conditions. The Hospice segment provides care that is designed to offer comfort and support for those who are facing a terminal illness, such as heart disease, pulmonary disease, dementia, Alzheimer?s, HIV/AIDS, or cancer. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 440 Medicare-certified home health care centers, 87 Medicare-certified hospice care centers, and 2 hospice inpatient units in 41 states within the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Amedisys, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Last week, we saw home-health sector stocks like Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED  ) and Gentiva Health Solutions (NASDAQ: GTIV  ) get clobbered because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommended a 1.5% reduction in Medicare reimbursements each year between 2014 and 2017. With Amedisys and Gentiva reliant on Medicare for more than 80% and 90% of their revenue, respectively, it could put hospitals that rely on government reimbursements in a growth bind.�

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) shares jumped more than 29% on Friday after the company issued Q2 outlook. The company projected its Q2 earnings of $0.15 to $0.20 per share on revenue of $300 million to $305 million. Amedisys shares surged 5.33% to $18.39 in after-hours trading.

• [By Brendan Conway]

  That zipping sound you hear is home-health provider�Amedisys‘ (AMED) 24% surge on news that�private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.�has a stake of more than 8% in the stock.

  CRT Capital analyst Sheryl Skolnick, a critic of company management, upgrades to “fair value” this morning and essentially tells clients to get out of KKR’s way, since the firm could end up ushering in a new board and management:

  There are times when this analyst will ‘take on’ shareholders with differing views and there are times when she knows, from long experience, not to even think about it. This is one of the latter times ….

  We know that when activists get involved, strange and interesting things happen, even (especially?) with entrenched managements. For the record, we think it unlikely that this part of KKR will take AMED private: filing a 13-D that almost surely takes the stock up would be that act of amateurs, in our view, not the act of a savvy firm like KKR. Some may conclude from the language of the 13-D that KKR may not actually become active. We reviewed it and found it nearly identical to other activists’ initial statements: then things changed. Thus, a new Board and management does seem likely and is indeed the strategy we advocated in our 4/3/13 report and THAT is the root cause of our upgrade.

  But for the 13-D we would NOT have upgraded. Indeed, we were in the midst of preparing a strong reiteration of our view that AMED cannot be fixed by this CEO and his Board. We reiterate that view here and strongly suspect that any activist likely has or will reach that same conclusion.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Sell-off leads to buying?
  Home health and hospice provider Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED  ) also had a great week. Shares climbed 14%.

  What precipitated these nice gains? Amedisys made no major announcements other than to report results from its annual stockholder meeting held on June 6. There wasn't anything in that announcement to fire up investors, though.

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now: adidas AG (ADDYY)

adidas AG designs, develops, produces, and markets through its own retail activities a range of athletic and sports lifestyle products. The Company operates in six segments: Wholesale, Retail, TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Rockport, Reebok-CCM Hockey and Other Centrally Managed Brands. adidas AG is the ultimate parent if the adidas Group. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 169 subsidiaries worldwide. In June 2012, the Company announced that its TaylorMade-adidas Golf business segment completed the acquisition of Adams Golf, Inc.

The Wholesale segment consists of all business activities relating to the distribution of adidas and Reebok products to retail customers. The Retail segment consists of all business activities relating to the sales of adidas and Reebok products directly to consumers through own retail and own e-commerce platforms. adidas and Reebok branded products include footwear, apparel and hardware, such as bags and balls. TaylorMade-adidas Golf includes the three brands: TaylorMade, adidas Golf and Ashworth. TaylorMade designs, develops and assembles golf clubs, balls and accessories. adidas Golf branded products include footwear, apparel, and accessories. Ashworth designs and distributes men�� and women�� lifestyle sportswear. Rockport designs and markets leather footwear for men and women. Reebok-CCM Hockey designs, produces and markets hockey equipment, such as sticks and skates, as well as apparel mainly under the brand names, Reebok Hockey and CCM. The Other Centrally Managed Brands segment primarily includes the business activities of the Y-3 label, under which premium footwear and apparel are designed and distributed.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake Mann]

  Enter Rich Froning
  Rich Froning, the sport's equivalent of Michael Jordan, recently won a record fourth-straight CrossFit Games title. The victory came days after he signed a�long-term endorsement contract with�Adidas� (NASDAQOTH: ADDYY  ) �subsidiary�Reebok.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Europe's economic woes have been hitting German companies hard. Sporting-goods and clothing company Adidas (NASDAQOTH: ADDYY  ) has grown its profit and margins recently, but the company's sales lagged in the first quarter, particularly in Western Europe, where revenue fell by 6%. This week, Adidas attempted to prop up its lagging Reebok division -- which the company purchased for $3.8 billion in 2006 -- by rebranding the segment with the symbol of its highly successful CrossFit program. There's no telling whether that's enough to turn around unprofitable Reebok and boost Adidas' margins further, but CrossFit has become a big success as a fitness program in Europe and the U.S.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  As I pointed out about a year ago, SKUL stock would face some tough headwinds, such as:

  Competition: It is intense, with operators like Beats by Dre, Incase, Urbanears, Soul, Sony (SNE), JVC, Bose and even Adidas (ADDYY). Fickleness: This is the bane of the fashion business. The Skullcandy brand isn’t too hip — that can change overnight, but success can be fleeting, too. Market Size: For the most part, Skullcandy has focused on the youth crowd, such as those who are snowboarders or skateboarders. The problem is that it’s a niche market, and one where the crowd rapidly moves on as it gets older.

  These issues all remain for SKUL stock, as evidenced by the steep drop in the revenues in 2013.

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now: Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY)

Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norway-based company engaged in a number of activities along the aluminum industry�� value chain. The Company is organized into six segments; the Bauxite & Alumina segment includes the Company�� mining activities, sourcing arrangements and alumina commercial operations; the Primary Metal segment consists of aluminum production, re-melting and casting activities; the Metal Markets segment includes sales and distribution activities relating to products from metal plants, metal sourcing and trading activities; the Rolled Products segment comprises operations of the Company�� rolling mills; the Extruded Products segment focuses on delivering solutions to the building and construction, transportation, and engineered products industries and includes aluminum building systems and precision tubing activities, and the Energy segment is responsible for managing the Company�� captive hydropower production and external power sourcing arrangements to the aluminum business. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Norsk Hydro (NHY) ASA slumped the most in one year after Vale SA sold a stake in the aluminum maker. UniCredit SpA (UCG) and Infineon Technologies AG added at least 1 percent each after posting quarterly profit that beat projections. Henkel AG rose 2.1 percent as third-quarter profit beat analysts��estimates.

Top Net Payout Yield Companies To Invest In Right Now: PHH Corp (PHH)

PHH Corporation (PHH), incorporated in 1953, is an outsource provider of mortgage and fleet management services. PHH operates in three segments: Mortgage Production, Mortgage Servicing and Fleet Management Services. The Company provides mortgage banking services to a range of clients, including financial institutions and real estate brokers, throughout the United States. The Company�� mortgage banking activities include originating, purchasing, selling and servicing mortgage loans through its wholly owned subsidiary, PHH Mortgage Corporation and its subsidiaries (collectively PHH Mortgage). It provides commercial fleet management services to corporate clients and government agencies throughout the United States and Canada through its wholly owned subsidiary, PHH Vehicle Management Services Group LLC (PHH VMS). PHH VMS is a fully integrated provider of fleet management services with a range of product offerings, including managing and leasing vehicle fleets and providing other fee-based services for its clients��vehicle fleets.

Mortgage Production Segment

The Mortgage Production segment provides mortgage services, including private-label mortgage services, to financial institutions and real estate brokers through PHH Mortgage. The Mortgage Production segment generates revenue through fee-based mortgage loan origination services and the origination and sale of mortgage loans into the secondary market. PHH Mortgage generally sells all mortgage loans that it originates to secondary market investors, which include a variety of institutional investors, and typically retains the servicing rights on mortgage loans sold. During the year ended December 31, 2011, 92% of its mortgage loans were sold to, or were sold pursuant to, programs sponsored by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae and the remaining 8% were sold to private investors. The Mortgage Production segment includes PHH Home Loans, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, PHH Home Loans), which is a joint venture that the C! ompany maintains with Realogy Corporation. The Company owns 50.1% of PHH Home Loans through its subsidiaries and Realogy owns the remaining 49.9% through their affiliates. PHH has rights to use the Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA brand names in marketing its mortgage loan products through PHH Home Loans and other arrangements that it has with Realogy.

The Mortgage Production segment also includes its interest in Speedy Title & Appraisal Review Services LLC (STARS), which provides appraisal services utilizing a network of professional licensed firms offering local coverage throughout the United States and also provides credit research, flood certification and tax services. On March 31, 2011, it sold 50.1% of the interests in STARS to CoreLogic, Inc. The Company operates through two principal business channels: private label services and real estate.

The retail platform consists of private label services and real estate channels. The Company is a provider of private-label mortgage loan originations for financial institutions and other entities throughout the United States. In this channel, the Company offers a complete outsourcing solution, from processing applications through funding, for clients that wish to offer mortgage services to their customers but are not equipped to handle all aspects of the process cost-effectively. The Company also purchases closed mortgage loans from financial institutions.

The Company works with real estate brokers to provide their customers with mortgage loans. Through its affiliations with real estate brokers, it has access to home buyers at the time of purchase. It works with brokers associated with NRT Incorporated, Realogy�� owned real estate brokerage business, brokers associated with Realogy�� franchised brokerages (Realogy Franchisees) and third-party brokers that are not affiliated with Realogy. During 2011, approximately 22% of the Company�� mortgage loan originations were derived from its relationship with Realogy ! and its a! ffiliates. In this channel, it also works with Cartus Corporation, Realogy�� relocation business, to provide mortgage loans to employees of Cartus��clients. Cartus provides outsourced corporate relocation services in the United States. Realogy has agreed that the real estate brokerage business owned and operated by NRT Incorporated and the title and settlement services business owned and operated by Title Resource Group LLC will recommend PHH Home Loans as provider of mortgage loans to the independent sales associates affiliated with Realogy, excluding the independent sales associates of any Realogy Franchisee, and all customers of Realogy Services Group LLC and Realogy Services Venture Partner, Inc., excluding Realogy Franchisees. Certain Realogy Franchisees have agreed to recommend PHH Mortgage as provider of mortgage loans to their respective independent sales associates. As of 2011, it has entered into exclusive marketing service agreements with 5% of Realogy Franchisees. In the Relocation Channel, the Company works with Cartus Corporation, Realogy�� relocation business, to provide mortgage loans to employees of Cartus��clients.

During 2011, the Company originated mortgage loans for approximately 17% of the transactions in which real estate brokerages owned by Realogy represented the home buyer. And approximately 8% of the transactions in which real estate brokerages franchised by Realogy where it had exclusive marketing service agreements, represented the home buyer.

Mortgage Servicing Segment

The Company principally generates revenue in its Mortgage Servicing segment through fees earned from its servicing rights or from its subservicing agreements. Mortgage servicing rights are the rights to receive a portion of the interest coupon and fees collected from the mortgagors for performing specified mortgage servicing activities, which consist of collecting loan payments, remitting principal and interest payments to investors, managing escrow funds for th! e payment! of mortgage-related expenses, such as taxes and insurance, performing loss mitigation activities on behalf of investors, and otherwise administering its mortgage loan servicing portfolio. Mortgage servicing rights for sold loans are initially recorded at fair value in its Mortgage Production Segment�� results of operations. Changes in fair value subsequent to the initial capitalization are recorded in its Mortgage Servicing Segment�� results of operations. The Company�� Mortgage Servicing segment also includes the results of its reinsurance activities from its wholly owned subsidiary, Atrium Reinsurance Corporation.

The Company provides mortgage reinsurance to certain third-party insurance companies that provide primary mortgage insurance on loans originated in its Mortgage Production segment. While it does not underwrite primary mortgage insurance directly, it provides reinsurance that covers losses in excess of a specified percentage of the principal balance of a given pool of mortgage loans, subject to a contractual limit. In exchange for assuming a portion of the risk of loss related to the reinsured loans, Atrium Reinsurance Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiary, receives a portion of borrower�� premiums from the third-party insurance companies.

Fleet Management Services Segment

The Company provides fleet management services to corporate clients and government agencies throughout the United States and Canada. It is an integrated provider of these services with a range of product offerings. The Company primarily focuses on clients with fleets of greater than 75 vehicles. As of 2011, it had approximately 270,000 vehicles leased, primarily consisting of cars and light-duty trucks and, to a lesser extent, medium and heavy-duty trucks, trailers and equipment, and approximately 300,000 additional vehicles serviced under fuel cards, maintenance cards, accident management services arrangements and/or similar arrangements. During 2011, the Company purchas! ed approx! imately 61,000 vehicles.

The Company provides corporate clients and government agencies with services and products, such as Fleet Leasing and Fleet Management Services, Maintenance Services, Accident Management Services, and Fuel Card Services. The Fleet Leasing and Fleet management services include vehicle leasing, fleet policy analysis and recommendations, benchmarking, vehicle recommendations, ordering and purchasing vehicles, arranging for vehicle delivery and administration of the title and registration process, as well as tax and insurance requirements, pursuing warranty claims and remarketing used vehicles. It leases vehicles to its clients under both open-end and closed-end leases. Open-end leases represent 97% of its lease portfolio, and are a form of lease in which the client bears substantially all of the vehicle�� residual value risk. These leases typically have a minimum term of 12 months, and can be continued after that at the lessee�� election for successive monthly renewals. Upon return of the vehicle by the lessee, it typically sells the vehicle into the secondary market, and the client receives a credit or pays the difference between the sale proceeds and the vehicle�� book value.

Open-end leases may be classified as operating or direct financing depending upon the nature of the residual guarantee. Revenues for operating leases contain a depreciation component, an interest component and a management fee component, and are recognized over the lease term. For direct financing leases, revenues contain an interest component and a management fee component, and are recognized over the lease term. Closed-end leases represent 3% of its lease portfolio, and are a form of lease in which it retains the residual risk of the value of the vehicle at the end of the lease term. Closed-end leases may be classified as operating or direct financing based on the terms of the individual contracts.

The Company offers clients vehicle maintenance service cards that! are used! to facilitate payment for repairs and maintenance. It maintains a network of third-party service providers in the United States and Canada to ensure ease of use by the clients drivers. The vehicle maintenance service cards provide clients with negotiated discounts off of full retail prices through its supplier network, access to its in-house team of certified maintenance experts that monitor transactions for policy compliance, reasonability and cost-effectiveness, and inclusion of vehicle maintenance transactions in a consolidated information and billing database, which assists clients with the evaluation of overall fleet performance and costs. During 2011, the Company averaged 324,000 maintenance service cards in the United States and Canada. It receives a fixed monthly fee for these services from its clients, as well as additional fees from service providers in its third-party network for individual maintenance services.

PHH provides its clients with accident management services, such as immediate assistance upon receiving the initial accident report from the driver, an organized vehicle appraisal and repair process through a network of third-party preferred repair and body shops and coordination and negotiation of potential accident claims. The Company�� accident management services provide its clients with convenient, coordinated 24-hour assistance from its call center, access to its relationships with the repair and body shops included in its preferred supplier network, which typically provide clients with favorable terms, and expertise of its damage specialists, who ensure that vehicle appraisals and repairs are appropriate, cost-efficient and in accordance with each client�� specific repair policy. During 2011, it averaged 298,000 vehicles that were participating in accident management programs. The Company receives fees from its clients for these services, as well as additional fees from service providers in its third-party network for individual incident services.

It prov! ides its clients with fuel card programs that facilitate the payment, monitoring and control of fuel purchases. Fuel is typically the single fleet-related operating expense. Its fuel cards provide its clients with access to more fuel brands and outlets than other private-label corporate fuel cards, point-of-sale processing technology for fuel card transactions that enhances clients��ability to monitor purchases and consolidated billing, and access to other information on fuel card transactions, which assists clients with the evaluation of overall fleet performance and costs. Its fuel cards are offered through relationships with third parties in the United States, and a card in Canada, which offer expanded fuel management capabilities on one service card. During 2011, it averaged 295,000 fuel cards in the United States and Canada. PHH receives both monthly fees from its fuel card clients and additional fees from fuel partners and providers.

The Company competes with Bank of America, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Chase Home Finance, CitiMortgage, GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services, Wheels, Inc., Automotive Resources International and Lease Plan International.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Despite economic and political turmoil, equity markets performed well across the board in September of 2013 and over the trailing twelve months. The September gains reversed losses in August and also resulted in positive overall quarterly performance with a number of major indexes moving further into record territory. After disturbing the markets in May and June with comments that they may taper Quantitative Easing (QE), the Fed surprised investors with an announcement that it would not reduce its asset purchases in the near-term. The announcement removed fears that a continued rise in interest rates may stall the economic recovery, as seen by the market's negative reaction to the sharp rise in the 10-year Treasury rate in August of 2013. Investors were also comforted by improving fundamentals both domestically and abroad. The Eurozone may finally be emerging from its prolonged recession and a number of economic reports in the U.S. continue to show progress. Specifically, initial unemployment claims dropped to a multiyear low early in September and the housing market continued to improve, as evidenced by prices rising 12.4 percent year-over year, which along with the stock market's strength, has created a positive wealth effect for consumers. In response to this general economic improvement, consumer confidence increased at the end of September, and the index of leading economic indicators ticked up as well, suggesting that, absent the effects of politics, the recovery in the real economy was continuing. Our portfolios that focus on corporate restructuring (Keeley Small Cap Value, Keeley Small-Mid Cap Value, Keeley Mid Cap Value, Keeley All Cap Value, and Keeley Alternative Value) have all experienced a productive investment cycle with respect to their opportunity sets, and many of our holdings have posted impressive results in recent quarters. Although we acknowledge an improving economy has boosted the outlook for our more cyclical holdings, our research has gu

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  PHH Corp. (NYSE: PHH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

  T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) was started as Outperform at Cowen & Co.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  X stock is a stock to short.

  Stocks to Short #2: PHH Corp. (PHH)
  

  PHH Corp. (PHH) provides both mortgage servicing and originates mortgages, though it also handles vehicle fleet services. PHH is struggling with lower total loan margins and refinancing declines.