The cost of medical care continues to rise and to be the wild card in retirement plans. Reports and studies update the estimates of the cost of retirement medical care each year. They show the cost to be high and also very unpredictable for individual retirees and couples. The studies focus on average or median costs. In your planning you have to be aware that individual costs vary greatly because of differences in personal health, geography, and insurance coverage. Your retirement medical costs can be substantially higher or lower than the overall forecasts.
We��e talking about out-of-pocket costs, those expenses that aren�� covered by Medicare. People on average incur higher medical costs than these estimates, but Medicare picks up some of the costs. These estimates are of what you��l have to pay.
A couple retiring in 2013 and incurring median drug expenses during retirement would need to save $151,000 to have a 50% chance of covering their lifetime costs for prescription drugs only, according to the latest study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Those who incur among the highest medicine expenses are likely to need over $220,000. The good news in the report is that the prescription drug expense estimates are lower than last year�� because of a reduction in the rate of growth of medical and drug costs.
Top Energy Stocks To Invest In 2015: China Direct Industries Inc.(CDII)
CD International Enterprises, Inc. sources, produces, and distributes industrial products in the People?s Republic of China and the Americas. The company operates in three segments: Magnesium, Basic Materials, and Consulting. The Magnesium segment produces, sells, and distributes pure magnesium ingots, magnesium powder and granules, and magnesium scraps. The Basic Materials segment sells and distributes various products, including industrial grade synthetic chemicals, steel products, non-ferrous metals, recycled materials, and industrial commodities. The Consulting segment provides a range of consulting services to the U.S. public companies that operate primarily in China. This segment offers its services in the areas of financing structures and arrangements, mergers, acquisitions and other business transactions, identifying potential areas of growth, translation services, managing and coordinating necessary government approvals and licenses, marketing services, investor relations services, and coordination of the preparation of required SEC filings. The company was formerly known as China Direct Industries, Inc. and changed its name to CD International Enterprises, Inc. in February 2012. CD International Enterprises, Inc. is headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks CD International Enterprises Inc (OTCMKTS: CDII), Creative Edge Nutrition Inc (OTCMKTS: FITX) and Metrospaces Inc (OTCMKTS: MSPC) have all been the subject of recent as well as past paid for stock promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed stock promotions or investor awareness campaigns, but they can and do often backfire on unwary investors and traders alike. With that in mind, will investors and traders come out winners with these small caps or should they just be left to the promoters? Here is a quick reality check:
CD International Enterprises Inc (OTCMKTS: CDII) Has Been Busy Announcing New DealsSmall cap CD International Enterprises is a US based company that produces, sources, and distributes industrial commodities in China and the Americas and provides business and financial corporate consulting services. On Friday, CD International Enterprises closed at $0.133 for a market cap of $7.60 million plus CDII is up 29% since the start of the year and down 91.4% over the past five years according to Google Finance.
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: First Connecticut Bancorp Inc (FBNK)
First Connecticut Bancorp, Inc. (FCB) is a stock holding company. FCB has been formed in connection with the conversion of First Connecticut Bancorp, Inc. a mutual holding company (MHC), from the mutual to the stock form of organization. As of December 31, 2009, MHC owned all of the outstanding stock of Farmington Bank, a savings bank. The MHC will cease to exist as a result of the conversion, and FCB will own all of the common stock of Farmington Bank. As of December 31, 2009, FCB was not engaged in any business. Farmington Bank is a full-service, community bank with 15 full-service branch offices and four limited service offices, including its main office, located throughout Hartford County, Connecticut.
Farmington Bank provides a diverse range of commercial and consumer services to businesses, individuals and governments across Central Connecticut. Farmington Bank provides a range of banking services to businesses, individuals and governments in Central Connecticut. It also offers a range of residential mortgage loan services. Farmington Bank�� subsidiaries include Farmington Savings Loan Servicing, Inc., Village Investments, Inc., Village Corp., Limited, 28 Main Street Corp., Village Management Corp. and Village Square Holdings Inc.
Farmington Savings Loan Servicing, Inc. operates as Farmington Bank�� passive investment company (PIC). Village Investments, Inc. offers brokerage and investment advisory services through a contract with Infinex Financial Services, a registered broker-dealer. Village Corp., Limited was established to hold certain commercial real estate acquired through foreclosures, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, or other similar means. Village Square Holdings, Inc. holds certain commercial real estate of Farmington Bank, formerly used as Farmington Bank�� operations center prior to its relocation to One Farm Glen Boulevard, Farmington, Connecticut. As of December 31, 2009, 28 Main Street Corp and Village Management Corp were inactive.
Len! ding Activities
Farmington Bank�� primary lending activities consists of the origination of one-to-four family residential real estate loans that are primarily secured by properties located in Hartford County and surrounding counties in Connecticut. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Bank originated $75.8 million of fixed-rate one-to-four family residential loans. The Bank also offers adjustable-rate mortgage loans for one-to-four family properties, with an interest rate that adjusts annually based on the one-year Constant Maturity Treasury Bill Index, after a one, three, four, five, seven or nine-year initial fixed-rate period. Its adjustable rate mortgage loans generally provide for maximum rate adjustments of 200 basis points per adjustment, with a lifetime maximum adjustment up to 6%, regardless of the initial rate. Its adjustable rate mortgage loans amortize over terms of up to 30 years. During 2009, it originated $49.2 million adjustable rate one-to-four family residential loans and purchased $33 million adjustable rate mortgages.
Farmington Bank originates commercial real estate loans and loans on owner-occupied properties used for a variety of business purposes, including office buildings, industrial and warehouse facilities and retail facilities. As of December 31, 2009, the Bank�� owner-occupied commercial mortgage loans constituted the largest portion of its commercial real estate portfolio. During 2009, commercial mortgage loans totaled $265.5 million and owner-occupied commercial real estate loans totaled $133.3 million of its commercial real estate portfolio.
Farmington Bank offers construction loans, including commercial construction loans and real estate subdivision development loans, to developers, licensed contractors and builders for the construction and development of commercial real estate projects and residential properties. During 2009, the Bank�� loans outstanding, including commercial and residential, totaled $68.7 million! . The Ban! k also originates construction loans to individuals and contractors for the construction and acquisition of personal residences.
Farmington Bank�� commercial business loan portfolio comprises both middle market companies and small businesses located primarily in Connecticut. Farmington Bank�� Resort (Timeshare) Loans include receivables loans, pre-sale loans, inventory loans, acquisition and development loans, and homeowner association loans. During 2009, its timeshare loans totaled $82.8 million. Farmington Bank also offers home equity loans and home equity lines of credit, both of which are secured by owner-occupied one-to-four family residences. At December 31, 2009, home equity loans and equity lines of credit totaled $66.7 million.
Farmington Bank also offers various types of consumer loans, including installment, demand, revolving credit and collateral loans, principally to customers residing in its primary market area with acceptable credit ratings. Its installment and collateral consumer loans generally consist of loans on new and used automobiles, loans collateralized by deposit accounts and unsecured personal loans.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
First Connecticut Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:FBNK) reported that its Board of Directors has voted to pay a cash dividend in the amount of $0.03 per share on June 14, 2012 to all shareholders of record as of June 4, 2012.
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: Dollar General Corporation(DG)
Dollar General Corporation operates as a discount retailer of general merchandise in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. The company offers consumables, including paper towels, bath tissue, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, laundry, and other home cleaning supplies; packaged food and perishables; beverages and snacks, such as candies, cookies, crackers, salty snacks, and carbonated beverages; over-the-counter medicines and personal care products; and pet supplies and pet food products. It also provides seasonal products consisting of decorations, toys, batteries, small electronics, greeting cards, stationery, prepaid cell phones and accessories, gardening supplies, hardware, and automotive and home office supplies; home products comprising kitchen supplies, cookware, small appliances, light bulbs, storage containers, frames, candles, craft supplies, and bed and bath soft goods; and apparel products, such as casual everyday apparel for infants, toddlers, girls, boys, women and men, as well as offers socks, underwear, disposable diapers, shoes, and accessories. In addition, the company holds a license to Bobbie Brooks clothing, as well as the Fisher Price brand for various items of children's clothing. As of May 25, 2011, it operates approximately 9,500 stores in 35 states. The company was formerly known as J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. and changed its name to Dollar General Corporation in 1968. Dollar General Corporation was founded in 1939 and is based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703{display:none}.cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703,#postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-305703{width:570px;height:411px;display:block} NEW YORK -- The fight for penny pinchers is intensifying. Dollar Tree (DLTR) said Monday it is buying rival discounter Family Dollar (FDO) for $8.5 billion, significantly broadening its reach as it looks to fend off Walmart, which has been stepping up its courtship of lower-income customers The deal makes Dollar Tree the biggest player in the dollar store segment, with its more than 13,000 combined locations eclipsing current leader Dollar General (DG), which has about 11,300. Dollar stores grew during the recession as people across income groups searched for cheaper options. To attract a broader array of customers, they also expanded their offerings to include more groceries and brand-name products, instead of just the party favors and other knickknacks people often associated with them. More recently, however, sales at dollar stores have been suffering because the lower-income customers who go to them are facing persistent job instability and slow wage growth in the aftermath of the recession. Walmart Stores (WMT) and Kroger (KR) also have been opening smaller store formats to directly compete with dollar stores. During its current fiscal year, Walmart plans to open 270 to 300 smaller outlets designed to cater to shoppers looking for more convenience. Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors, said because the Dollar Tree deal will allow the company to lower expenses by merging its operations, it will ultimately be able to lower prices to better compete with Walmart. "Now they're going to take the fight back to Walmart," Sozzi said. The deal also gives Dollar Tree more flexibility. Dollar Tree is true to its name, with everything in its stores costing just a buck. The fixed pricing has helped attract more customer
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: QEP Midstream Partners LP (QEPM)
QEP Midstream Partners, LP (QEP), incorporated on April 19, 2013, is a limited partnership formed by QEP Resources, Inc. to owns, operates, acquires and develops midstream energy assets. The Company�� primary assets consist of ownership interests in four gathering systems and two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated pipelines, through which it provides natural gas and crude oil gathering and transportation services. The Company�� assets are located in, or are within close proximity to, the Green River Basin located in Wyoming and Colorado, the Uinta Basin located in eastern Utah, and the portion of the Williston Basin located in North Dakota. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� gathering systems had 1,475 miles of pipeline and an average gross throughput of 1.8 million british thermal units per hour of natural gas and 18,224 barrels of crude oil.
Green River System
The Company�� Green River System, located in western Wyoming, consists of three complimentary systems owned by Green River Gathering, Rendezvous Gas and Rendezvous Pipeline and gathers natural gas production from the Pinedale, Jonah and Moxa Arch fields. In addition to gathering natural gas, the system also gathers and stabilizes crude oil production from the Pinedale Field, transports the stabilized crude oil to an interstate pipeline interconnect, and gathers and handles produced and flowback water associated with well completion activities in the Pinedale Field. The Green River Gathering assets are comprised of 405 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines, 61 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines, 81 miles of water gathering pipelines and a 60-mile, FERC-regulated crude oil pipeline located in the Green River Basin. The Rendezvous Gas assets consist of three parallel, 103-mile high-pressure natural gas pipelines, with 1,032 million cubic feet per day of throughput capacity and 7,800 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression. Rendezvous Pipeline�� sole asset is a 21-mile, FERC-regu! lated natural gas transmission pipeline that provides gas transportation services from QEP�� Blacks Fork processing complex in southwest Wyoming to an interconnect with the Kern River Pipeline.
Vermillion Gathering System
The Vermillion Gathering System consists of gas gathering and compression assets located in southern Wyoming, northwest Colorado and northeast Utah, which, when combined, include 454 miles of low-pressure, gas gathering pipelines and 23,197 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression. The Vermillion Gathering System is primarily supported by life-of-reserves and long-term, fee-based gas gathering agreements with minimum volume commitments, which are designed to ensure that it will generate a certain amount of revenue over the life of the gathering agreement by collecting either gathering fees for actual throughput or payments to cover any shortfall. The primary customers on our Vermillion Gathering System include Questar, Samson Resources Corporation (Samson Resources), QEP and Chevron USA, Inc. (Chevron).
Three Rivers Gathering System
Three Rivers Gathering is a joint venture between QEP and Ute Energy Midstream Holdings, LLC (Ute Energy) that was formed to transport natural gas gathered by Uintah Basin Field Services, L.L.C., an indirectly owned subsidiary of QEP (Uintah Basin Field Services), and other third-party volumes to gas processing facilities owned by QEP and third parties. The Three Rivers Gathering System consists of gas gathering assets located in the Uinta Basin in northeast Utah, including approximately 50 miles of gathering pipeline and 4,735 basic hydrogen peroxide of gas compression.
Williston Gathering System
The Williston Gathering System is a crude oil and natural gas gathering system located in the Williston Basin in McLean County, North Dakota. The Williston Gathering System includes 17 miles of gas gathering pipelines, 17 miles of oil gathering pipelines 239 basic hydrogen peroxide o! f gas com! pression, and a crude oil and natural gas handling facility, located primarily on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
The Company competes with Enterprise Products Partners, L.P., Western Gas and The Williams Companies, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
QEP Resources Inc.(QEP) plans to separate its midstream business, QEP Field Services Co., into a separate entity, including its interest in QEP Midstream Partners LP(QEPM).
- [By Dimitra DeFotis]
But things aren’t all bad. A spate of initial public offerings traded at nice prices Friday. Among them was QEP Midstream Partners (QEPM), an energy master limited partnership. (Press release here). More on IPOs from Bloomberg here.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
QEP Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: QEPM) was started as Buy at Janney Capital, and note that four other firms started coverage earlier this week.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Buy with a $55 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: The York Water Company(YORW)
The York Water Company engages in impounding, purifying, and distributing drinking water in Pennsylvania. It has two reservoirs, Lake Williams and Lake Redman, which together holds up to approximately 2.2 billion gallons of water. The company also has a 15-mile pipeline from the Susquehanna River to Lake Redman that provides access to an additional supply of 12.0 million gallons of water per day. As of December 31, 2010, it served 182,000 residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers in 39 municipalities in York County and 7 municipalities in Adams County. The company was founded in 1816 and is based in York, Pennsylvania.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Dittman]
Question: I like the H2O business. I��e owned American Water Works Co Inc (NYSE: AWK) for eons. Is there any compelling reason to own more than one water utility? At what point does is there no marginal benefit added? I do like Connecticut Water Service Inc (NSDQ: CTWS) and York Water Co (NSDQ: YORW) as slow, consistent growers.
As Ben Franklin said, ��ittle strokes fell great oaks.��/p>
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: iShares Government/Credit Bond ETF (GBF)
iShares Lehman Government/Credit Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the United States Government and investment-grade United States corporate securities of the United States bond market as defined by the Lehman Brothers U.S. Government/Credit Index (the Index). The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. Due to the use of representative sampling, the Fund may or may not hold all of the securities that are included in the Index.
The Index measures the performance of United States dollar-denominated United States Treasuries, government-related securities and investment-grade United States corporate securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year, and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. The securities must be fixed-rate and non-convertible securities.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jonathan Morgan]
Bilfinger SE (GBF) climbed 3.1 percent to 74.30 euros. Germany�� second-largest builder predicted a significantly stronger second half after reporting second-quarter net income of 47 million euros ($62.5 million), which was in line with analysts�� estimates.
Top Consumer Service Stocks To Buy For 2014: Buckeye Partners L.P. (BPL)
Buckeye Partners, L.P. owns and operates refined petroleum products pipeline systems in the United States. Its Pipelines & Terminals segment transports refined petroleum products; and provides bulk storage and terminal throughput services in the continental United States. This segment owns and operates approximately 6,000 miles of pipeline serving approximately 110 delivery locations; and has 100 active products terminals with aggregate storage capacity of approximately 40 million barrels. The company’s International Operations segment provides marine terminal throughput, marine bulk storage, and other related services. This segment operates through two petroleum product terminals located on Grand Bahama Island, in The Bahamas and in Puerto Rico with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 30 million barrels. Its Natural Gas Storage segment provides natural gas storage services through a facility with approximately 30 billion cubic feet of working natural gas storage capacity located in Northern California. The company’s Energy Services segment engages in the wholesale distribution of refined petroleum products, including gasoline; propane; ethanol; biodiesel; and petroleum distillates, such as heating oil, diesel fuel, and kerosene to wholesalers and commercial users. Its Development and Logistics segment provides contract operations, construction management, and asset development services to third-party pipeline and energy assets, and energy companies in the United States. This segment owns and operates 2 underground propane storage caverns with approximately 800,000 barrels of throughput and storage capability in Indiana and Illinois; and a 30-mile ammonia pipeline and 25 miles of pipeline in Texas. Buckeye GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Buckeye Partners, L.P. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dividends4Life]
Buckeye Partners LP (BPL) is one of the largest independent U.S. pipeline common carriers of refined petroleum products, with over 6,000 miles of pipeline.
Yield: 6.0% | Years of Dividend Growth: 18 - [By Aimee Duffy]
Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL ) is another company hoping to exploit alternative transportation from its rail and barge hub at the Port of Albany, on the Hudson River.
- [By Aimee Duffy]
Master limited partnerships are not like other stocks, and the metrics we use to compare an MLP to its peers differ from the metrics we use to compare regular companies. For example, instead of the traditional P/E ratio, we emphasize MLP-specific metrics like distribution coverage ratio and today's focus: price to distributable cash flow (P/DCF). I'll use Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD ) , Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP ) , and Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL ) to illustrate the concept.
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