Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd., a cash shell founded by 32 year-old Ugandan tycoon Ashish J. Thakkar and former Barclays Barclays Plc CEO Bob Diamond to invest in Africa, has raised $325 million in an initial public offering, according to a report by the New York Times.
Atlas Mara, which filed its prospectus on Tuesday, December 17, said its initial target was to raise $250 million, but the offer was significantly oversubscribed. Atlas Mara plans to list on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange on Friday, December 20, while conditional trading of the stock begins on Tuesday.
Atlas Mara will seek out investment opportunities in Africa�� financial sector, aiming to acquire a financial services company that has a significant presence in Africa. Thakkar and Diamond have had a series of meetings with Nigerian senior officials, prompting speculation that they might be looking to purchase one of the lenders in the country.
��here are significant gaps in the market today including the need for capital created by European financial institutions retreating to their home territories due to the sovereign debt crisis and the Basel III regulatory framework at a critical time for growth in Africa��this situation presents opportunities for the company to execute the acquisition and to create a financial institution that provides leadership, liquidity, access to investors, product innovation, and technology to support economic growth and strengthen financial systems in Africa,��the directors said in a press release.
Hot Healthcare Equipment Companies To Buy Right Now: Euro/Yen(EJ)
E-House (China) Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate services company in China. It provides primary real estate agency services, secondary real estate brokerage services, real estate information and consulting services, real estate advertising services, real estate promotional event services, real estate online services, and real estate investment fund management services. The company offers primary real estate agency services to real estate developers. Its secondary real estate brokerage services include offering advisory services on choices of properties; accompanying potential buyers on house viewing trips; drafting purchase contracts; negotiating price and other terms; and providing preliminary proof of title, as well as coordinating with the notary, the bank, and the title transfer agency. The company also provides real estate information services comprising data subscription services and data integration services; and real estate cons ulting services, including land acquisition consulting, development consulting, marketing consulting, and comprehensive solution consulting. In addition, it offers real estate advertising services consisting of advertising design and sales in print and other media; and real estate promotional event services, including securing venues, hiring caters and other various service providers, formulating event themes, and inviting speakers and guests for real estate promotional events. Further, the company provides real estate online services, including real estate news, information, property data, and access to online communities to real estate consumers and participants through local Web sites; and involves in real estate investment fund management activities that consist of investments in China?s real estate sector. E-House (China) Holdings Limited was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Belinda Cao]
E-House China Holdings Ltd. (EJ), a real estate brokerage, gained 9.2 percent to $9.70, extending it advance to a third week. Its American depositary receipts retreated 3.1 percent Sept. 20 from the highest level since May 2011.
- [By Seth Jayson]
E-House (China) Holdings (NYSE: EJ ) reported earnings on May 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), E-House (China) Holdings crushed expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share. - [By Roberto Pedone]
One under-$10 name that's quickly pushing within range of triggering a big breakout trade is E-House China (EJ), which is engaged in providing real estate agency and brokerage services in the primary and secondary markets and real estate consulting and information services in the People's Republic of China. This stock is off to a monster start in 2013, with shares up sharply by 131%.
If you take a look at the chart for E-House China, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways and consolidating for the last month and change, with shares moving between $8.35 on the downside and $10.24 on the upside. Shares of EJ are starting to spike sharply higher today right above that $8.35 low, and this stock is now quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent range.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in EJ if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $9.74 to $10.19 a share, and then once it clears its 52-week high at $10.24 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.11 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then EJ will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory above $10.24, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $13 to $15 a share.
Traders can look to buy EJ off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support at $8.35 a share, or around its 50-day moving average at $7.96 a share. One can also buy EJ off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
- [By Richard Schmidt]
e-House Holdings Limited (EJ), a Chinese real estate services company, continued its move back up in November. With strong third-quarter earnings, the stock jumped up over 30%.
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp (ECIG)
Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation, formerly Teckmine Industries, Inc., incorporated on May 19, 2004, is a development-stage company. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was seeking opportunities with established business entities for the merger or other form of business combination with its company. In April 2013, it acquired Victory Electronic Cigarettes LLC.
The Company may acquire assets and establish wholly owned subsidiaries in various businesses or acquire existing businesses as subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2011, it had not owned any property interests.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
After marijuana, the electronic cigarette sector and e-Cig stocks or industry players�like�Reynolds American, Inc (NYSE: RAI), mCig Inc (OTCBB: MCIG), Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp (OTCMKTS: ECIG) and American Heritage International Inc (OTCBB: AHII) is looking like the next hot niche sector for investors. However, electronic cigarette stock investors should be aware of the following�recent good and bad news from the sector that needs to be digested:
- [By James E. Brumley]
Fans and investors of American Heritage International Inc. (OTCBB:AHII) - not to mention frenemies Vapor Corp. (OTCMKTS:VPCO) and Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp. (OTCMKTS:ECIG) - can all breathe a sigh of relief today. As it turns out, while the electronic cigarette industry is more than likely be regulated by the FDA, it's going to be regulated in such a way that tends to favor the likes of AHII, ECIG, and VPCO.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
Every cigarette company from Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) to Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp. (OTCMKTS:ECIG) will want to take notice of this morning's news from American Heritage International Inc. (OTCBB:AHII) - the young startup's electronic cigarettes now have something else great going for them. As such, it just got a little easier for smokers to justify dumping traditional tobacco cigarettes like those made by Altria (like Marlboro) in favor of e-cigs....
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Sabine Royalty Trust(SBR)
Sabine Royalty Trust receives a distribution of royalty and mineral interests from Sabine Corporation. Its royalty and mineral interests, include landowner?s royalties, overriding royalty interests, minerals, production payments, and other non-participatory interests in various producing and proved undeveloped oil and gas properties in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The company was founded in 1982 and is based in Dallas, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lawrence Meyers]
The Sabine Royalty Trust (SBR) is diversified from a geographical perspective, with interests spreading across both producing and undeveloped gas properties in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.� It essentially operates as a holding company into which all the royalties get deposited and all the money gets distributed to shareholders via its 9.2% yield.
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: First Bancorp (FBP)
First Bancorp is a bank holding company. The Company is a service provider of financial services and products with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States and the United States and British Virgin Islands. The Company has six segments: Consumer (Retail) Banking; Commercial and Corporate Banking; Mortgage Banking; Treasury and Investments; United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations. The Company specializes in commercial banking, residential mortgage loan originations, finance leases, personal loans, small loans, auto loans, insurance agency and broker-dealer activities. As of December 31, 2011, it controlled two wholly owned subsidiaries: FirstBank and FirstBank Insurance Agency, Inc. (FirstBank Insurance Agency). FirstBank is a Puerto Rico-chartered commercial bank and FirstBank Insurance Agency is a Puerto Rico-chartered insurance agency. On February 16, 2011, FirstBank sold an asset portfolio consisting of performing and non-performing construction, commercial mortgage and C&I loans. The Company�� total investment securities portfolio as of December 31, 2011 amounted to $2 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a total deposit of $9.9 billion. Effective May 31, 2011, the Company purchased FirstBank-branded consumer credit card portfolio from FIA Card Services, N.A. and an affiliate.
Consumer (Retail) Banking
The Consumer (Retail) Banking segment consists of the Company�� consumer lending and deposit-taking activities conducted mainly through FirstBank�� branch network and loan centers in Puerto Rico. Loans to consumers include auto, boat and personal loans and lines of credit. Deposit products include interest bearing and non-interest bearing checking and savings accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and retail certificates of deposit. Retail deposits gathered through each branch of FirstBank�� retail network serve as one of the funding sources for the lending and investment activities. Credit card accounts are issued under Firs! tBank�� name through an alliance with a financial institution, which bears the credit risk.
Commercial and Corporate Banking
The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment consists of the Company�� lending and other services across a spectrum of industries ranging from small businesses to large corporate clients. FirstBank has developed expertise in industries, including healthcare, tourism, financial institutions, food and beverage, income-producing real estate and the public sector. The Commercial and Corporate Banking segment offers commercial loans, including commercial real estate and construction loans, and other products, such as cash management and business management services. A substantial portion of this portfolio is secured by the underlying value of the real estate collateral and the personal guarantees of the borrowers. The segment also includes the Company�� broker-dealer activities, which are primarily concentrated in bonds underwriting and financial advisory services provided to government entities in Puerto Rico.
Mortgage Banking
The Mortgage Banking segment conducts its operations mainly through FirstBank and its mortgage origination subsidiary, First Mortgage. These operations consist of the origination, sale and servicing of a variety of residential mortgage loan products. Originations are sourced through different channels, such as FirstBank branches, mortgage bankers and in association with new project developers. First Mortgage focuses on originating residential real estate loans, some of which conform to Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA) and Rural Development (RD) standards. The Mortgage Banking segment also acquires and sells mortgages in the secondary markets. Most of the Company�� residential mortgage loan portfolio consists of fixed-rate, fully amortizing, full documentation loans.
Treasury and Investments
The Treasury and Investments segment is responsib! le for th! e Corporation�� treasury and investment management functions. The treasury function, which includes funding and liquidity management, sells funds to the Commercial and Corporate Banking segment, the Mortgage Banking segment, and the Consumer (Retail) Banking segment to finance their respective lending activities and purchases funds gathered by those segments and from the United States Operations segment. Funds not gathered by the different business units are obtained by the Treasury Division through wholesale channels, such as brokered deposits, advances from the FHLB and, repurchase agreements with investment securities, among others.
United States Operations
The United States Operations segment consists of all banking activities conducted by FirstBank in the United States mainland. FirstBank provides a range of banking services to individual and corporate customers primarily in southern Florida through its ten branches. The United States Operations segment offers an array of both retail and commercial banking products and services. Consumer banking products include checking, savings and money market accounts, retail certificates of deposit (CDs), Internet banking services, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans and credit cards through an alliance with a nationally recognized financial institution, which bears the credit risk. Deposits gathered through FirstBank�� branches in the United States also serve as a funding sources for lending and investment activities in Puerto Rico. The commercial banking services include checking, savings and money market accounts, CDs, Internet banking services, cash management services, remote data capture and automated clearing house (ACH), transactions. Loan products include the traditional commercial and industrial and commercial real estate products, such as lines of credit, term loans and construction loans.
Virgin Islands Operations
The Virgin Islands Operations seg! ment cons! ists of all banking activities conducted by FirstBank in the United States and British Virgin Islands, including retail and commercial banking services, with a total of fourteen branches serving the United States Virgin Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, and the British Virgin Islands of Tortola and Virgin Gorda. The Virgin Islands Operations segment is driven by its consumer, commercial lending and deposit-taking activities.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, expects to report its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012, after the market closes on Wednesday, October 31, 2012.
- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Monday
Earnings Releases Expected: UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), First Bancorp. (NYSE: FBP) Economic Releases Expected: �Indian services PMI, Spanish services PMI, Italian services PMI, German services PMI, eurozone services PMI, British services PMI, German CPI, US ISM non-manufacturing PMITuesday
- [By Paul Ausick]
First Bancorp (NYSE: FBP) is another Puerto Rican bank that gets the nod. The bank�� asset divestitures are behind it and, like M&T, it is fundamentally sound. Sterne Agee�� price target on the stock is $11.00, and the stock closed on Friday at $5.81 in a 52-week range of $4.27 to $8.70. The potential upside for this small cap bank is nearly 90%. The bank�� forward multiple according to the analysts is 10.8 and the consensus forward P/E from Thomson Reuters is 11.17. Sterne Agee�� EPS estimate for 2014 is $0.52.
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 2 Inc (NPM)
Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 2, Inc. (NPM) is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax by investing primarily in a portfolio of municipal obligations issued by state and local government authorities or certain United States territories. Nuveen Asset Management (NAM) is the Fund's investment adviser. NAM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, Inc. Effective January 1, 2005, Nuveen Advisory Corp. (NAC) and its affiliate, Nuveen Institutional Advisory Corp. (NIAC), were merged into NAM.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chuck Carnevale]
Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: iShares MSCI Austria Capped ETF (EWO)
iShares MSCI Austria Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the Austrian market, as measured by the MSCI Austria Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the Austrian equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization. Component companies are adjusted for available float and must meet objective criteria for inclusion in the Index. The Index is reviewed quarterly.
The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tom Aspray]
This is quite a bit better than the 9.2% gain of the iShares MSCI Italy (EWI) or the 8.9% rise in the iShares MSCI Austria (EWO). All three have done significantly better than the Spyder Trust (SPY), which is up 3.6%. The French and German country ETFs have not yet moved above their late 2013 highs.
Top Financial Stocks To Own Right Now: Mesabi Trust (MSB)
Mesabi Trust operates as a royalty trust in the United States. The company produces iron ore pellets. It holds interest in the Peter Mitchell mine located in the Mesabi Iron Range near Babbitt, Minnesota. The company holds various agreements with the Northshore Mining Company that mines iron ore, which is in the form of taconite, crushes it, separates the iron particles from the non-metallic, and forms the resulting concentrate into pellets that are shipped for use in steel-producing blast furnaces of customers of CCI, a mining company that produces iron pellets in North America. Mesabi Trust was founded in 1919 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Patience, Grasshopper
For starters, imagine that you invested in Mesabi Trust (NYSE: MSB ) about a year ago and you're down some 20% on your investment. Your holding might be looking to you like an answer to the question, "What is investment panic, Alex?" But don't be so hasty. Ask yourself why you bought it. Mesabi Trust is a royalty trust that receives and then pays out to shareholders a portion of the proceeds from iron mined by a�Cliffs Natural Resources�subsidiary. Some might avoid it because royalty trusts often have expiration dates, but it's worth noting that Mesabi's is rather�far away. But slowdown in demand�for ore is a concern, one that has been�an issue for Cliffs, too.
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