Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now

LONDON -- I'm looking at some of your favorite FTSE 100 companies and examining how each will deliver their dividends.

Today, I'm putting iconic high street retailer�Marks and Spencer�Group� (LSE: MKS  ) under the microscope.

Dividend history: cut No. 1
All was rosy with M&S in the mid-1990s. Within its final results for the year ended March 1998, the company was able to toast five-year earnings-per-share growth of 62% and dividend growth of 77%. The 1997-1998 dividend was covered around twice by both adjusted and statutory EPS -- a healthy level of cover, you might think, with little imminent risk to shareholders' income.

However, M&S suffered a terrible second half the following financial year. Profits collapsed, the final dividend was held flat, and the total dividend for the year (14.4 pence) was barely covered by adjusted EPS and uncovered by statutory EPS.

The next year -- 1999-2000 -- profits fell again as a result of restructuring charges. M&S slashed the dividend by 37.5%, the payout representing the entirety of the company's profits for the year.

Top 5 Prefered Companies To Buy Right Now: EnteroMedics Inc.(ETRM)

EnteroMedics Inc., a clinical development stage medical device company, focuses on the design and development of devices that use neuroblocking technology to treat obesity and associated co-morbidities, and other gastrointestinal disorders. The company?s proprietary neuroblocking technology is designed to intermittently block the vagus nerve using electrical impulses. Its product under development is the Maestro System, which is used to limit the expansion of the stomach, control hunger sensations between meals, reduce the frequency and intensity of stomach contractions, and produce a feeling of early and prolonged fullness. The company intends to market its products to potential referral source clinicians, including general practitioners, internists, endocrinologists, and nurses. It has collaboration agreement with Mayo Clinic and Australian Institute of Weight Control. The company was formerly known as Beta Medical, Inc. and changed its name to EnteroMedics Inc. in 2003 . EnteroMedics Inc. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Tuesday, small cap EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ: ETRM) soared 63.5% after reporting new clinical trial data for its Maestro system that is designed to control obesity, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other small cap obesity drug or treatment players like Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: OREX) and VIVUS, Inc (NASDAQ: VVUS).

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETRM) may be a largely unknown microcap stock to most investors. The company is in the development stages of making medical devices using neuroblocking technology to treat obesity, metabolic diseases and other gastrointestinal disorders. A new research report has shares rising handily.

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap�obesity drug stock�VIVUS, Inc (NASDAQ: VVUS), who�� potential obesity�treatment�peers include Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA), EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ: ETRM) and Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: OREX), has elevated short interest of 35.63% according to Highshortinterest.com.�However, obesity drug stocks in general have caused investor portfolios to loose weight amid safety concerns, costs, reimbursements and the fact that players in the space tend to be small - making it more difficult for them to reach out to large numbers of doctors or consumers.

Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now: CC Media Holdings Inc (CCMO)

CC Media Holdings, Inc., incorporated May 2007, is a diversified media and entertainment company. The Company provides radio, digital, out-of-home, mobile and on-demand entertainment, and information services for audiences and local communities, and providing opportunities for advertisers. The Company operates in three segments: Media and Entertainment (CCME, formerly Radio), Americas outdoor advertising (Americas outdoor) and International outdoor advertising (International outdoor). On April 29, 2011, the Company acquired the traffic business of Westwood One, Inc. (the Traffic acquisition). The Company, during 2011, also purchased a cloud-based music technology business. During 2011, the Company also acquired Brouwer & Partners, a street furniture business. During 2011, the Company divested and exchanged its 27 radio stations.

CCME

The CCME segments operations include radio broadcasting, online and mobile services and products, program syndication, entertainment, traffic data distribution and music research services. The Company�� radio stations and content can be heard on amplitude modulation (AM) / frequency modulation (FM) stations, high definition (HD) radio stations, satellite radio, the Internet at iHeartRadio.com, and the Company�� radio stations Websites, through the Company�� iHeartRadio mobile application on iPads and smart phones, and via navigation systems. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 866 radio stations, including 249 AM and 617 FM servicing approximately 150 the United States markets.

The Company operates premiere networks (Premiere), a national radio network that produces, distributes or represents approximately 90 syndicated radio programs, and serves approximately 5,800 radio station affiliates. The Company�� syndicated radio programs include Rush Limbaugh, Jim Rome, Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest, Elvis Duran and Delilah. It also delivers real-time traffic information via navigation systems, radio and television broadcast m! edia and wireless and Internet-based services through the Company�� traffic business, total traffic network. During 2011, the CCME segment generated 48% of the Company�� revenues. The primary source of revenue in the CCME segment is the sale of commercials on the Company�� radio stations for local, regional and national advertising. The Company�� advertisers include consumer services, retailers, entertainment, health and beauty products, telecommunications, automotive and media.

Americas Outdoor Advertising

The Americas outdoor advertising segment operates in the markets of the United States, Canada and Latin America. It consists of billboards, street furniture and transit displays, airport displays, mall displays, and wall scapes, and other spectaculars, which the Company owns or operates under lease management agreements. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated approximately 125,000 display structures in its Americas outdoor advertising segment with operations in the United States. The Americas outdoor advertising segment generated 21% of the Company�� revenues during 2011. Americas outdoor revenue is derived from the sale of advertising copy placed on the Company�� digital displays and traditional displays. The Company�� display inventory consists primarily of billboards, street furniture displays and transit displays.

The street furniture displays of the Company include advertising surfaces on bus shelters, information kiosks, freestanding units and other public structures. The transit displays advertise on various types of vehicles or within transit systems, including on the interior and exterior sides of buses, trains, trams, and in the common areas of rail stations and airports. The other display inventories consist of spectaculars, wall scapes and mall displays.

International Outdoor Advertising

The International outdoor business segment includes the Company�� operations in Asia, Australia and E! urope, wi! th approximately 34% of its revenue in this segment derived from France and the United Kingdom during 2011. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned or operated approximately 630,000 displays across 30 countries. The International outdoor segment generated 27% of the Company�� revenues during 2011. International outdoor advertising revenue is derived from the sale of traditional advertising copy placed on the Company�� display inventory and electronic displays, which are part of the Company�� network of digital displays. The International outdoor display inventory consists primarily of street furniture displays, billboards, transit displays and other out-of-home advertising displays, such as neon displays.

The Company competes with JCDecaux, CBS and Lamar Advertising Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, CCMO� remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $4.71 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed:�� 3:18PM EDT August 5, 2013).

  CC Media Holdings, Inc. previously reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013.

  Revenue grew 1% to $1.6 billion, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures
  OIBDAN1 declined 5% year over year to $505 million, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures; OIBDAN margin of 31%
  Extended $5.0 billion of term loans to 2019 from 2016, and exchanged senior notes due 2016 for senior notes due 2021

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Fans of Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI  ) have typically dismissed the surprising success of Clear Channel's� (NASDAQOTH: CCMO  ) �iHeartRadio, and rightfully so.�

• [By CRWE]

  Last Friday, CCMO remained (0.00%) +0.000 at $4.90 at the close (ref. google finance August 9, 2013 ��Close).

  CC Media Holdings, Inc. previously reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013.

  Revenue grew 1% to $1.6 billion, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures
  OIBDAN1 declined 5% year over year to $505 million, excluding foreign exchange and divestitures; OIBDAN margin of 31%
  Extended $5.0 billion of term loans to 2019 from 2016, and exchanged senior notes due 2016 for senior notes due 2021

Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now: Pernod Ricard SA (PDRDY)

Pernod Ricard SA is a France-based producer and distributor of spirits and wines. The Company offers such products as whiskies, aniseed spirits, liqueurs, cognacs and brandies, white spirits and rums, bitters, champagnes and wines. Its business is divided into three segments: Top 14 Spirits & Champagne, Priority Premium Wines and 18 key local spirits brands. Pernod Ricard SA�� flagship brands include ABSOLUT, Ricard, Havana Club, Ballantine��, Malibu, The Glenlivet, Chivas Regal, Beefeater, Kahlua, Martell, Royal Salute, Mumm, Perrier-Jouet and Jameson, among others. The wine category includes, Jacob�� Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo and Graffigna. It operates as a holding company, with the structure divided between brand owner subsidiaries, such as The Absolut Company, Havana Club International and Chivas Brothers and regional distribution subsidiaries, such as Pernod Ricard Europe, Pernod Ricard Americas and Pernod Ricard Asia, distribute local brands. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  But its current valuation��t trades at 31 times earnings��akes me pause. At that price, you are implicitly expecting one of two things to happen:

  The American whiskey boom continues unabated for years��nd isn�� replaced by something new and trendy. Brown-Forman will be acquired by a larger competitor (think Diageo or Pernod-Ricard (PDRDY)).

  The first assumption is one I�� be hesitant to make given the whims of fashion. And the second is even less likely. Brown-Forman is family controlled, and in the past the company has very adamant about preserving its independence.

Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now: Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd(ACH)

Aluminum Corporation of China Limited engages in the manufacture and distribution of alumina, primary aluminum, and aluminum fabrication products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. Its Alumina segment involves in the mining and purchasing of bauxite and other raw materials, refining of bauxite into alumina, and sale of alumina. This segment also produces and sells chemical alumina, including alumina hydroxide and alumina chemicals, and metal gallium. The company?s Primary Aluminum segment engages in smelting alumina to produce primary aluminum, principally ingots for use in general aluminum fabrication in the construction, power generation, automobile, packaging, machinery, and durable goods industries. This segment also produces and sells carbon products and aluminum alloy products. The Aluminum Fabrication segment involves in the production and sale of aluminum fabrication products, including casts, planks, screens, extrusions, forges, powder, and die castings for use in the construction, power generation, automobile, packaging, machinery, and durable goods industries. The Trading segment engages in the procurement and sale of alumina, primary aluminum, and aluminum fabrication products, as well as relevant metal products, and raw and ancillary materials. The company also engages in the manufacture and distribution of metal materials; sale of general machinery and equipment; production, acquisition, and distribution of limestone ore, aluminum magnesium ore, and related nonferrous metal products; aluminum smelting, manufacture, and distribution of nonferrous metals; and generation and supply of electricity, as well as in iron ore mining and coal mining activities. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited was founded in 2001 and is based in Beijing, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The Chinese slowdown in particular has created large gluts of aluminum on the world market. Chinalco (NYSE: ACH  ) and other Chinese aluminum-producing competitors have merely added to the supply-and-demand imbalance, making it hard to picture a turnaround for Alcoa's earnings anytime soon. Just last week, the company said it would close a smelter in Italy after having reduced its use of the facility over the past three years.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  During the quarter, Visa (V) reported strong year-颅��ver-颅��ear growth with earnings up 14%, as the business continues to operate at a superior level ��very much in-颅��ine with the past several years. Visa has been a core holding for our clients since October 2008 and rarely has a year gone by without the Company and its partners having to contend with lawsuits and legislation aimed at limiting pricing power and 4 distribution. 2014 is no exception, though most of the news has been favorable, with a ruling for "no change" to Visa's exclusivity for high-颅��alue signature transactions. We continue to see Visa's pricing power as being derived from VisaNet's superior value proposition relative to substitutes, particularly paper-颅��based payments, automated clearinghouse (ACH), and more recently, "cryptocurrencies" (e.g. Bitcoin). While these emerging payment platforms, including PayPal and Square, represent very legitimate substitutes to traditional interchange, in our view they are not quite "good enough," as evidenced by merchant acceptance that is largely sequestered to small businesses. While we have been net sellers of Visa over the past 18 months, it has been solely due to valuation ��our primary tool for risk management at Wedgewood. We believe Visa will continue to maintain its superior competitive positioning, as competitors find it difficult to achieve the network-颅��ffect benefits that have compounded the value proposition of VisaNet, particularly as acceptance and issuance of the Visa brand continues to expand.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks extended losses early Monday after a reading of Chinese manufacturing-sector activity came in at a three-month low. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) dropped by 0.7% to 23,074, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined by 0.8%. HSBC/Markit's preliminary China manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for December fell to 50.5, from November's reading of 50.8, indicating the pace of growth is slowing. Financial issues were under pressure, with HSBC Holdings PLC (HK:5) down 1.2%, and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1398) (IDCBF) (CN:601398) off 1.1%. Among miners, shares of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco (HK:2600) (ACH) (CN:601600) gave up 1.5% and Jiangxi Copper Co. (HK:358) (JIXAY) (CN:600362) shed 0.1%. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) moved 0.3% lower.

Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now: Spdr S&P Retail Etf (XRT)

SPDR S&P Retail Exchange Traded Fund (The Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before expenses, the performance of an index derived from the retail segment of the United States total market composite index. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the S&P Retail Select Industry Index (the Retail Index).

The Retail Index represents the retail sub industry portion of the S&P TMI. The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Given that retailers had a mixed holiday season while retail ETFs like the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: XRT), Market Vectors Retail ETF (NYSEARCA: RTH) and Direxion Daily Retail Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA: RETL) have been making declines on their technical charts, should you be buying, holding or folding (as in shorting) retail stocks or ETFs? To begin with, I should mention that we recently started shorting SPDR S&P Retail ETF in�our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio mainly for technical (as you will see later in the charts) rather than fundamental reasons as we think retail stocks (and hence retail ETFs) have gotten a little ahead of themselves.

Top Sliver Stocks To Own Right Now: Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (BIO)

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. manufactures and supplies the life science research, healthcare, analytical chemistry, and other markets worldwide with a range of products and systems used to separate complex chemical and biological materials and to identify, analyze, and purify their components. It operates in two segments, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The Life Science segment develops, manufactures, sells, and services reagents, apparatus, and instruments used for biological research. This segment sells its products to university and medical school laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, food testing laboratories, and government and industrial research facilities. The Clinical Diagnostics segment develops, manufactures, sells, and services automated test systems, informatics systems, test kits, and specialized quality controls for the healthcare market. This segment sells its products to reference laboratories, hospital laboratories, screening faci lities, physicians? office laboratories, transfusion laboratories, and insurance and forensic testing laboratories. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Hercules, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (BIO) is a manufacturer and distributor of its own life science research and clinical diagnostics products. The company has two primary segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. The company sells its products and services to a diverse client base comprised of scientific research, healthcare, education and government customers.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE: BIO  ) reported earnings on May 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Bio-Rad Laboratories met expectations on revenues and whiffed on earnings per share.