AAPL IBM Among 44 Technology Stocks to Sell Right Away

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This may be a short trading week on Wall Street (the markets are closed on Thanksgiving Thursday and close at 1 p.m. EST on Friday), but that didn’t stop the NASDAQ from breaking through 4,000 for the first time in 13 years. The fact is that this was a big day for tech stocks.

Shares of tech behemoths Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) trended higher. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt announced today that the company has tightened security measures at its data centers. Meanwhile, Apple shares climbed in the wake of the company’s buyout of PrimeSense, a motion sensor company that helped develop Microsoft’s (MSFT) Kinect. It appears that while Google is empowering users to hide their movements on the internet, Apple Inc. is buying technology that watches users move. When you plug both stocks in my Portfolio Grader screening tool, GOOG is a C-rated hold while AAPL is a D-rated sell.

China’s Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU) also made headlines today after its third-quarter earnings announcement. Net income more than tripled to $44.5 million, and revenues more than doubled to $187.9 million. Adjusted EPS beat the consensus estimate by $0.10, or 27%. Even so, shares fell after Stifel Research (SF) downgraded the stock to hold (despite the fact that Morgan Stanley raised its target price for QIHU to $95.30). As for me, I’m with Morgan Stanley (MS)  on this and consider .

When it comes to the tech sector, there are new developments by the minute. Processing power effectively doubles every few years and every year brings a slew of new startups, apps, software and hardware to replace last year’s innovations. With stakes these high, it’s no wonder that tech stocks are among the fastest to get upgraded (and downgraded) in my screening tool.

So today I’ve compiled up a fresh list of technology stocks that you’ll want to avoid in the coming weeks. These 44 companies may be innovators in their respective fields, but when it comes to keeping shareholders happy, they’re lacking. Take a moment to review the list and note whether you currently hold any of these stocks. If you do, you may want to find a good time to exit your position.

 

Symbol	Company Name	Market Cap (Billions)	Quantitative Grade	Fundamental Grade	Total Grade
AAPL	Apple Inc.	$467.4	D	B	D
ACN	Accenture Plc	$49.5	D	C	D
AKAM	Akamai Technologies, Inc.	$7.9	D	B	D
ALTR	Altera Corporation	$10.4	F	C	D
AMX	America Movil SAB de CV Class L	$83.7	F	B	D
ARMH	ARM Holdings plc	$22.5	D	C	D
BCE	BCE Inc.	$34.4	D	C	D
BRCM	Broadcom Corporation	$15.0	F	C	F
CAJ	Canon Inc.	$37.0	F	C	D
CCI	Crown Castle International Corp.	$21.7	D	C	D
CHA	China Telecom Corp. Ltd. Class H	$43.2	F	B	D
CHL	China Mobile Limited	$210.1	F	B	D
CHT	Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd	$23.9	F	B	D
CSCO	Cisco Systems, Inc.	$114.8	D	C	D
CTL	CenturyLink, Inc.	$18.2	F	D	F
CTXS	Citrix Systems, Inc.	$11.0	F	C	D
EBAY	eBay Inc.	$65.1	F	B	D
EMC	EMC Corporation	$49.6	F	C	F
EQIX	Equinix, Inc.	$8.0	F	C	D
FFIV	F5 Networks, Inc.	$6.5	F	C	D
IBM	International Business Machines Corporation	$196.9	F	C	D
JNPR	Juniper Networks, Inc.	$10.4	D	B	D
KT	KT Corporation	$7.6	F	D	F
LLTC	Linear Technology Corporation	$9.9	D	C	D
LPL	LG Display Co., Ltd	$8.0	F	C	F
MXIM	Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.	$8.0	F	C	F
NUAN	Nuance Communications, Inc.	$5.1	F	D	D
NVDA	NVIDIA Corporation	$8.6	D	C	D
ORCL	Oracle Corporation	$159.1	F	B	D
PHI	Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.	$13.3	F	C	D
QCOM	QUALCOMM Incorporated	$122.9	D	B	D
RAX	Rackspace Hosting, Inc.	$5.4	F	D	F
RHT	Red Hat, Inc.	$8.9	F	B	D
SAP	SAP AG	$98.1	F	B	D
SNPS	Synopsys, Inc.	$5.6	D	C	D
STM	STMicroelectronics NV	$7.0	D	C	D
T	AT&T Inc.	$187.0	F	C	D
TDC	Teradata Corporation	$7.4	F	C	F
TI	Telecom Italia S.p.A.	$17.8	D	D	D
TKC	Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.	$13.4	D	C	D
TLK	PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tbk	$18.0	F	C	D
TSM	Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.	$88.8	D	C	D
VIV	Telefonica Brasil S.A. Pfd	$14.5	F	C	D
VMW	Vmware, Inc.	$35.0	F	B	D

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burger King shares jump as earnings hum

Burger King's third-quarter income soared and the fast food chain raised its dividend as the company reported an 111% net restaurant growth Monday.

Company shares rose nearly 5.5% to $20.84 shortly after U.S. financial markets opened.

The Miami-based hamburger giant reported earnings of $68.2 million for the three months ending at Sept. 30. That was up sharply from the $6.6 million the company reported for the same period last year.

MERCK: Reports profit drop

Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 23 cents. That topped the 21 cents per share forecast by analysts reported by Thomson
Financial Network.

The company reported net restaurant growth of 133 locations, up sharply from the same period last year.

System-wide comparable sales growth rose 0.9% for company-owned and franchise locations open at least one year. The measure is viewed as a key indicator of a restaurant business' financial health.

Burger King raised its dividend to 7 cents per share, a one-cent increase.

"We grew comparable sales across all three international regions and opened 133 net new restaurants globally," said Burger King CEO Daniel Schwartz in a statement issued with the earnings report. Citing the company's recent U.S. and Canada launch of Satisfries, a "better-for-you French fry," he said "we believe that new products like this, combined with our focus on improving operations will enhance the guest experience and drive increased restaurant profitability."

Since its 2010 acquisition by global private investment firm 3G Capital, Burger King has been trying to cut overhead expenses by selling more of its restaurants to franchisees. Founded in 1954, the company has more than 13,000 restaurants in 91 countries worldwide.

[video] Jim Cramer Quick Take: Gotta Like Yellen

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The White House has confirmed that Janet Yellen will be nominated to be chairwoman of the Federal Reserve.

TheStreet's Jim Cramer told Brittany Umar that Yellen was the best candidate for the job, but admitted he likes Stanley Fischer, too.

While equities initially rallied on the news, high-multiple stocks continued to get hit hard on Wednesday.

Cramer called it day two of a four-day weakness cycle for them. But he also suggested that there should be some stabilization in the broader market. However, each time a politician gets on TV and comments, stocks will likely fall further. Cramer said that he raised his default possibilities to a 20% likelihood from 10%, due to the complacency in Washington about avoiding a default. If the U.S. stopped making its interest payments, China, which is a large holder of Treasuries, could begin to unwind its position. "Thank heavens the Federal Reserve is in there to buy them," Cramer said, otherwise it could be a true catastrophe. He concluded that every other country would be proud to have Yellen as its own and we should be thankful she will be the next head of the Fed. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

You'll Be Tempted By the Twitter IPO, But Read This First

The Twitter stock IPO is going to happen - it's no longer a question of if, but of when. The company is the latest social media concern to go public, and investors and commentators alike are looking forward to the festivities.

It remains to be seen whether or not Nasdaq can avoid the issues that it ran into with Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB). That IPO was one of the biggest in history. The company had a market cap of $104 billion, unprecedented for an IPO.

But the offering was beset by... nearly everything that could go wrong with an IPO. The exchange suffered a computer malfunction that misplaced somewhere between $10 and $20 million worth of share orders. There were allegations that underwriter Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) offered too many shares at too high a price.

Although it's impossible to tell for sure, as the JOBS act allows firms with less than $1 billion in annual revenue to keep IPO details confidential, the smart money says that Twitter will open lower - much lower - than Facebook did, in order to allow the markets to regulate themselves and for shares to appreciate according to market forces. It remains to be seen whether or not this is a wise move, but it's undeniably more level-headed.

Who Wins the Most from Twitter's Stock IPO

However the Twitter stock IPO fares, the biggest winners will be the early investors, the angel investors, and the people who started the undertaking. The New York Timestells the story of Twitter founder Evan Williams passing the hat around among some of Silicon Valley's many financiers as he was starting out. He lit upon Dick Costolo, who agreed to put up $25,000.

Six years later, Dick Costolo is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter. The New York Timesestimates Costolo's $25,000 stake to be worth more than $10 million now, not including anything he's entitled to as part of his CEO compensation. It's a near certainty that Evan Williams himself is set to be America's newest billionaire.

The underwriters usually do well, too. In Twitter's case, Goldman Sachs is taking the lions' share of the underwriting. According to Bloomberg, this will put Goldman on track to be the top underwriter in the United States for the first time since 2009. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE: DB) will all take on underwriting duties - and profits - as well.

After all these categories of people get their cut, it's next to impossible for individual retail investors to pick up the very best IPO shares. The system works against smaller investors, by design if not intention.

But maybe that's not a bad thing.

The truth is that there have been plenty of "hot" IPOs that have fizzled, and in the worst cases they've burnt investors.

Facebook is a great example. The problems with the IPO, the valuation and technical issues, were so bad that shares have only recovered in the last few weeks, after a year in the basement. The offering price was $38 per share in May 2012, and it was August 2013 before they hit that level again. The shares hit a low of $18.80.

Facebook Wasn't the Worst IPO

Facebook is probably not going anywhere anytime soon, even if it's not a great investment. It has the mindspace to stay relevant, and its advertising model is a moneymaker, capturing nearly 16% of global mobile advertising revenue this year.

There have been other IPOs that went worse, much worse. Here are three of the absolute worst.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) had a notorious, comically bad IPO. The Internet communications company had ubiquitous advertising and a decent product, Voice over Internet Protocol, which essentially offered phone calls for free or at a low cost over the broadband connections. Vonage raised a very tidy $531 million on the first day. The first day was the best day, and for all intents and purposes the last day. Over the week that followed, the company lost something like 30% of its value. Analysts for MSNBC said the firm "may never be profitable." Vonage won the dubious honor of the single worst trading day for a company in 2006. Shares that debuted at $17 per share are now worth about $3.

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) had more or less everything going for it. It was a household name, one of the world's leading rental agencies with hundreds of outlets across the globe, and it offered a necessary product for most travelers. But, in 2006, the private equity firm who owned the company took on close to $3 billion in debt - not necessarily the best circumstances for an IPO. Even worse, the private-equity barons constructed special payout vehicles to dole out $1.4 billion to key executives just a few months before the IPO. Thus was the IPO met with... a total lack of enthusiasm and extreme levels of suspicion. Investors just couldn't be conned into investing in a debt-ridden, thoroughly unimproved issue. Shares started trading at $15 and declined sharply over the next four years, until the company radically restructured and expanded.

In 2005, The Go Daddy Group, Inc. was the biggest ICANN-accredited Internet domain registrar on the Internet. It was consistently in the Top Three web hosting companies as well. Its advertising was a Super Bowl fixture, famous - or infamous - for featuring scantily clad women in provocative situations. On the surface, it seemed that Go Daddy would be perfect for a mid-decade tech IPO. Except that it wasn't. Go Daddy radically overestimated enthusiasm for small- and medium-sized technology offerings. Remember, barely five years previously, the "dot.bomb" bubble, driven by fantastically overvalued technology companies, wiped out $5 trillion in market value when it burst. The investing public was once-bitten, twice shy in this case. The IPO was canceled due to "market uncertainties," the understatement of the year.

Top 5 Oil Stocks For 2015

So, as we await the fireworks attending the Twitter stock IPO, don't feel too bad if you can't get in on the shares early. You just might have been done a favor.

What do you think will happen with the #twitterIPO - Explosive growth, or tempest in a teacup? Drop us a line on Twitter or Facebook to give your two cents.

For the full story on IPO investing, and how not to get burned, click here.

Related links:

The New York Times:
The Payday at Twitter Many Were Waiting For The Los Angeles Times:
Twitter Drawing on Lessons Learned from Facebook IPO

5 Big Trades to Take This Week

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Sure enough, stocks are bouncing in a big way in September.

Last week, in this column, the picture looked pretty clear: the S&P 500 was setting up for a bounce off of the trend line that's acted like a floor for shares since all the way back in November. And now, we're getting pretty strong confirmation that buyers are jumping into the market again. The August correction is very broken at this point, and the S&P is just 1.3% away from the all-time highs the big index set more than a month ago.

New month, new market indeed.

As strong as the situation looks in the broad market, it's even more tradable in a handful of individual names this week. That's why today, we're taking a technical look at five of them.

If you're new to technical analysis, here's the executive summary.

Technicals are a study of the market itself. Since the market is ultimately the only mechanism that determines a stock's price, technical analysis is a valuable tool even in the roughest of trading conditions. Technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms, and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And research shows that skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.

Every week, I take an in-depth look at big names that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at five high-volume stocks to trade this week.

Walgreen

There's no two ways about it – 2013 been a stellar year for shares of Walgreen (WAG). The $48 billion retail pharmacy giant has rallied more than 36% since the calendar flipped to January, and now, there's reason to believe that WAG could be headed for even higher ground. Here's how to trade it...

Walgreen is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by horizontal resistance above shares at $51, and uptrending support to the downside. As WAG bounces in between those two technically important levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout. When the move above $51 happens, it makes sense to be a buyer.

The 50-day moving average has been acting like a pretty good proxy for support in the very short-term. If you decide to jump in after the breakout, that's a good place to keep a protective stop.

Apple

Apple (AAPL) has been the one exception to buying pressure this week. The $430 billion tech giant got shellacked after announcing its new iPhone models on Tuesday, down more than 5% in yesterday's session as sellers logjammed orders into the market. But risk takers could have a big buying opportunity on their hands this week.

In the short-term, Apple was forming a double top, a bearish pattern formed by two swing highs that stall out at approximately the same price level. The sell signal happened quickly – it triggered when AAPL gapped down below $490 yesterday morning, giving few traders a chance to act. But what's important is that Apple almost immediately found its downside price objective at $468, a level right above a key support level at $460. In other words, this giant hated stock looks likely to bounce here.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles, double tops, and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable -- instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That support line at $460, for example, is a price where there is an excess of demand for shares; in other words, it's a place where buyers have been more eager step in and buy shares at lower levels than sellers have been sell. If AAPL holds $460, then buying the bounce becomes a much lower risk proposition. Just keep a tight stop in place.

General Electric

Things are a little more straightforward in shares of General Electric (GE). GE is another name that's bounced higher alongside the broad market for the last ten months, and you don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out what's going on in shares from here. This stock is in a textbook uptrending channel right now.

General Electric pinballed off of trend line support this week, gapping higher as shares caught a bid at their long-term price floor. And generally speaking, it makes sense to buy the bounce for two big reasons: it's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong).

Momentum adds some extra confirmation to the move; the 14-day RSI line broke its downtrend at the start of the week, a signal that's historically been followed by a three-month rally period. If you decide to pick up shares here, consider unloading before they get too close to trend line resistance.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Buy Right Now

Berkshire Hathaway

Not all the names we're looking at are bullish setups -- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) is starting to look "toppy" right now. And investors who own this name should take note.

Berkshire Hathaway has stomped the broad market's impressive performance this year, climbing almost 30% year-to-date. But Berkshire broke its uptrend on this latest correction, and it's currently in the late stages of forming a head and shoulders top: a bearish reversal pattern that indicates exhaustion among buyers. The head and shoulders is formed by two swing highs that top out around the same level (the shoulders), separated by a bigger peak called the head; the sell signal comes on the breakdown below the pattern's "neckline" level, which is right at $111 at the moment. A drop below that $111 level is the major sell signal for this stock.

Lest you think that the head and shoulders is too well known to be worth trading, the research suggests otherwise: a recent academic study conducted by the Federal Reserve Board of New York found that the results of 10,000 computer-simulated head-and-shoulders trades resulted in "profits [that] would have been both statistically and economically significant."

The case in point comes from the last name we're looking at today...

China Mobile

Last up is Chinese phone carrier giant China Mobile (CHL). This phone stock had been forming an inverse head and shoulders setup, the bullish opposite of the pattern in Berkshire Hathaway. We actually looked at this name a week ago, when shares had just broken out above their own neckline to trigger a buy. If you haven't already, now's the time to sell.

CHL showed traders a textbook breakout in the last week, filling the space between the neckline at $54 and previous resistance at $57.50 -- that resistance level got set back in January, when CHL previously got swatted down by profit taking. Yesterday's big bounce off of resistance is a good indicator that sellers are still holding strong at that level, so short-term traders should take their gains here...

To see this week's trades in action, check out this week's Must-See Charts portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS: >>5 Tech Stocks Spiking on Big Volume
>>5 Stocks Setting Up to Break Out
>>4 Red-Flag Stocks to Sell This Fall

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author was long AAPL.

 

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

 

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

 

 

3 Chinese Stocks Under $10 to Watch

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Rocket Stocks to Buy for a Short Trading Week

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

Shanda Games

Shanda Games (GAME) develops, sources and operates online games in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 6.5% to $5.08 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $4.53-$5.14

52-Week Range: $2.68-$6.42

Tuesday's Volume: 4.72 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.11 million

From a technical perspective, GAME spiked sharply higher here and broke out above some key overhead resistance levels at $4.96 to $4.98 with heavy upside volume. This breakout has now pushed shares of GAME above a five-month range, which saw the stock trend between $3.79 on the downside and $4.98 on the upside. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if GAME manages to take out Tuesday's high of $5.14 with strong upside volume flows.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GAME as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of $4.53 or above its 50-day at $4.31 and then once it sustains a move or close above Tuesday's high of $5.14 with volume that hits near or above 1.1 million shares. If we get that move soon, then GAME will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to its 52-week high at $6.42.

Guanwei Recycling

Guanwei Recycling (GPRC) engages in the manufacture and distribution of low density polyethylene and other recycled plastics products primarily in the People's Republic of China and internationally. This stock closed up 8.2% to $3.01 a share in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $2.80-$3.05

52-Week Range: $1.14-$3.60

Tuesday's Volume: 269,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 105,340

From a technical perspective, GPRC spiked sharply higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $2.82 with above-average volume. This stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $2.60 to $2.62. Following that bottom, shares of GPRC have started to trend higher and move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if GPRC manages to take out Tuesday's high of $3.05 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $3.07 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in GPRC as long as it's trending above Thursday's low of $2.80 or above more near-term support at $2.60 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 105,340 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then GPRC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at its 52-week high of $3.60 to $4, or even $4.20.

China Ming Yang Wind Power Group

China Ming Yang Wind Power Group (MY) engages in designing, manufacturing, selling, leasing and servicing megawatt-class, grid-connected and horizontal-axis wind turbines primarily in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 9.5% to $2.98 in Tuesday's trading session.

Tuesday's Range: $2.74-$3.00

52-Week Range: $1.13-$3.52

Tuesday's Volume: 3.12 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.23 million

From a technical perspective, MY ripped sharply higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $2.89 with strong upside volume. This stock recently pulled back right to its 50-day moving average and held that key technical support level. Shares of MY have now bounced higher off its 50-day and entered a new uptrend prior to breaking out on Tuesday. Market players should now look for a continuation move higher in the short-term if MY can manage to take out Tuesday's high of $3 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MY as long as it's trending above Tuesday's low of $2.74 or above $2.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above $3 with volume that hits near or above 1.23 million shares. If we get that move soon, then MY will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $3.35 to its 52-week high at $3.52. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give MY a chance to tag $4.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>5 Sin Stocks to Play Defense in 2014

>>3 Retail Stocks on Traders' Radars

>>Should You Invest in the Government's 5 Favorite Stocks?

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com.

You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

Are These Small Cap Natural Products Stocks Natural Winners for Investors? CDXC & XXII

Small cap stocks Chromadex Corp (OTCMKTS: CDXC) and 22nd Century Group Inc (OTCBB: XXII) are, one way or the other, focused on natural products and have been getting some extra attention lately. Moreover, one of these stocks have been the subject of a disclosed investor awareness campaign. Keeping that in mind, are these two small cap stocks natural winners for investors? Here is a quick look:

Chromadex Corp (OTCMKTS: CDXC) Goes On an Investor Relations Offense

Small cap Chromadex Corp is an innovative natural products company that discovers, acquires, develops and commercializes proprietary-based ingredient technologies through its unique business model that utilizes its wholly owned synergistic business units, including ingredient technologies, natural product fine chemicals (known as "phytochemicals"), chemistry and analytical testing services, and product regulatory and safety consulting (as Spherix Consulting). On Friday, Chromadex Corp rose 3.41% to $1.82 for a market cap of $190.83 million plus CDXC is up 180% over the past year and up 51.7% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

What's the Catch With Chromadex Corp? According to various disclosures, Chromadex Corp has agreed to pay on promoter a monthly cash fee and 100,000 shares of common stock under Rule 144 for twelve (12) months of RedChip investor awareness services. Last Friday, Chromadex Corp announced that its CEO, Frank Jaksch, will present at "TEN," Noble Financial Capital Markets' Tenth Annual Equity Conference at Club Med in Sandpiper Bay, Florida in Room 2 on Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 8:30 am EST while a week earlier, he was interviewed by Michal Yorba on Clear Channel Business Talk Radio's "The Traders Network." Otherwise, the most important news dates from early January when Chromadex Corp announced it had entered into a four year ingredient supply and brand licensing agreement valued at approximately $62 million, with 5LINX, one of the largest and fastest-growing direct marketing companies in the world. Under the terms of the agreement, 5LINX must purchase $2.1 million worth of NIAGEN™ in 2014 plus an aggregate of $46 million of NIAGEN™ from 2015 through 2017. A quick look at Chromadex Corp's financials reveals revenues of $2,718k (most recent reported quarter), $2,707k, $2,335k and $3,523k for the past four reported quarters along with net losses of $1,250k (most recent reported quarter), $1,021k, $1,424k and $1,699k. At the end of September, Chromadex Corp had $1,087k in cash and $1,026k in receivables to cover $3,281k in payables, $4,111k in current liabilities and $4,510k in total liabilities. This means the deal with 5LINX could be a game changer to at least help out the top line and close the gap with the bottom line.

22nd Century Group Inc (OTCBB: XXII) Recently Cleaned Up Its Balance Sheet

Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Watch Right Now

Small cap 22nd Century Group is a plant biotechnology company whose proprietary technology allows for the levels of nicotine and other nicotinic alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anatabine and anabasine) in the tobacco plant to be decreased or increased through genetic engineering and plant breeding. 22nd Century owns or is the exclusive licensee of 114 issued patents in 78 countries plus an additional 36 pending patent applications. On Friday, 22nd Century Group fell 3.48% to $2.22 for a market cap of $110.38 million plus XXII is up 122% over the past year and up 70.8% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

What's the Catch With 22nd Century Group? According to various disclosures, no transactions have occurred to mention 22nd Century Group in various investment newsletters. 22nd Century Group has been quiet since December 16th when they issued a press release to announce that the company's recently concluded warrant exchange was a "huge success greatly exceeding management's expectations." The warrant exchange reduced 22nd Century Group's "derivative warrant liability" by 93% and generated gross proceeds of approximately $3.6 million. The press release stated that as of December 13, 2013, 22nd Century Group had total assets of approximately $12 million, including around $6.2 million in cash and only $700 thousand in current liabilities while the only long-term liability (the "derivative warrant liability") was reduced from $18.6 million to approximately $1.2 million. Otherwise and in early December, 22nd Century Group announced that it had purchased all of the equipment at a cigarette manufacturing facility in Mocksville, North Carolina as up until then, subsidiary Goodrich Tobacco Company had produced all of its products through contract manufacturers. A quick look at 22nd Century Group's income statement reveals revenues of $53k (most recent reported quarter ending Sept 30, 2013), zero, zero and $3k for the past four reported quarters along with net losses of $15,373k (most recent reported quarter), $446k, $2,513k and $4,305k (most recent reported quarter ending Sept 30, 2013). So while 22nd Century Group has taken important steps to clean up its balance sheet, the income statement is still a mess.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now

Bloomberg News

Stocks rallied the most in 10 months Thursday in a relief rally touched off by signs that lawmakers were moving toward an agreement to increase the debt ceiling and avoid a default.

Based on preliminary numbers, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 323.09 points, or 2.2%, to 15,126.10. The broad market S&P 500 index added 32.36 points, or nearly 2%, to 1,688.76 and the Nasdaq composite index surged 82.97 points, or 2.25%, to 3,760.75.

Dow up 300 points! Do investors really think we were that close to default yesterday, and that far away from default today? #stillshutdown

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  McDonald's Corp. (MCD) plans to release third quarter results before the market opens on October 21, 2013 and will host an investor webcast afterwards.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP The hungry will get some new value-priced dining options at McDonald's (MCD) next month as the world's largest restaurant chain breaks the buck to offer a broader Dollar Menu. Facing what it foresees will be a challenging holiday quarter, McDonald's is going national with the Dollar Menu & More menu that it has been testing in five markets. The rollout will officially kick off on Nov. 4, but may be available at an eatery near you before that. McDonald's will make sure that you hear all about it. A national advertising campaign will kick off a week after its debut. Bucking the Trend The premise of Dollar Menu & More is simple. Instead of simple sandwiches, side salads, and dessert treats for a dollar, the new offerings will be slightly more robust and sell for $2. There will also be shareable items available for $5. Franchisees are on board with the shift -- indeed, they'd been pushing for it, and it's easy to see why. The profit on a $1 McDouble sandwich is far less than what they can earn by merely adding bacon to the same burger and charging $2 for it. With labor and operating costs on the rise, the burger beast probably didn't have much of a choice. Pricing flexibility is a big reason why rival Wendy's (WEN) moved away from a value menu where everything set patrons back just 99 cents. It now has more wiggle room under its "Right Price Right Size" signage. If poultry or beef prices shoot higher, it can adjust accordingly. McDonald's now feels that it can offer different value items at dollar intervals. This would make it seem as if customers will wind up paying more when they head out to the Golden Arches next month, but there's more to offering bargains than meets the eye. Too Much Gilding on the Golden Arches McDonald's knows it has a problem. After nearly a decade of consistently rising same-restaurant sales, McDonald's has posted several negative months of unit-level activity since last October. The company concluded that trying to m

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $4.46 billion.

  Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $2.83 per share on revenue of $2.36 billion.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investors have always been interested in stocks that pay dividends, but lately, low interest rates on bonds and other fixed-income investments have made solid dividend payers even more valuable. Among the most promising dividend stocks in the market is Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , and one big reason is that it is one of the few exclusive companies to make the list of Dividend Aristocrats. In order to become a member of this elite group, a company must have raised its dividend payouts to shareholders every single year for at least a quarter-century. Only a few dozen stocks manage to make the cut, and those that do tend to stay there for a long time.

Hot Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Morgan Housel]

  For most of the last decade, investors scooped up stocks that had big international exposure with the idea that they would provide a hedge against a weakening dollar. Companies that do most of their business overseas, like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) (73% overseas), Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) (all overseas), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) (85% overseas), looked compelling as a hedge against the U.S. economy's faults.

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  As the world's second-largest tobacco company, Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is an ideal sin stock.

  And with numbers like these, it's also an ideal way to play global growth...

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images In retrospect, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters may have picked a lousy day to host its first ever investor summit. The company behind the Keurig single-cup coffee brewer chose Sept. 10 to host investors, analysts and journalists as it talks up its java-rich past and unveils what's brewing in the future. That also happens to be the widely sourced date of Apple's (AAPL) new iPhone media event. We know where headlines will be made. Apple shares peaked above $700 the morning that the iPhone 5 came out. Fans and investors alike have been hungry for innovation out of Apple as profit margins have contracted and the tech giant has surrendered market share in the smartphone space. However, don't dismiss Green Mountain's potential to make things interesting. There are some neat things in the works at the Vermont-based company that created a new market with its single-serve brewers just as Apple did with the iPhone and iPad. Brewing Liquid Gold Green Mountain (GMCR) is no stranger to the beverage market outside of the premium blasts of coffee that consumers associate with the Keurig brand. The company has sold K-Cup portion packs to make tea, cocoa and even apple cider for years. However, Green Mountain aimed to expand its market a couple of years ago when it introduced a Brew Over Ice line of K-Cups offering iced teas, chilled coffees and even pre-sweetened fruit drinks. It's a simple process. Consumers are asked to fill up a 16-ounce glass with ice to cool down the beverage that is brewed hot just like its traditional drinks. Some refreshment seekers may not be so keen on warming something up just to cool it down, so Green Mountain is working on new possibilities. "We see opportunity in juices, carbonated beverages, sports drinks and enhanced waters," the company said during last month's quarterly earnings call. Introducing carbonation would be a game changer and not just because it would get in the way of the budding em

• [By John Reeves]

  In the following video, Motley Fool contributor John Reeves takes a closer look at Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) fastest-growing business. The segment is iTunes/Software/Services, and it grew 25% year on year in the most recent quarter. Apple's management believes that its content is the very best in the industry. Consumers clearly love the content and are buying more of it. They're also buying the devices that deliver the content. John is very encouraged by the long-term trend.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Tim Cook is no stranger to price umbrellas. Years ago on a conference call in March 2009 in his days as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) COO, Cook specifically noted something that Apple didn't want to let happen with the iPhone: "[O]ne of the things that we will make sure is that we don't leave a price umbrella for people."

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]

  In the company's latest earnings release domestic and international struggles surfaced in the form of year-over-year revenue decreases in its two main segments: upstream and downstream operations. Luckily, and ironically, for Exxon, its chemical division bailed it out. Did peers like Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) and BP (NYSE: BP  ) suffer the same fate? Check out the video below to find out.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steve Heller]

  It seems that once you've grown large enough to disrupt business as usual for MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) and Visa (NYSE: V  ) , you run the risk of getting muscled. MasterCard recently announced plans to raise prices on intermediated payment processors (read: digital wallets) that chose to withhold valuable transaction details from MasterCard. In other words, this measure takes direct aim at eBay's (NASDAQ: EBAY  ) PayPal and other digital wallets such as Google Wallet that do not share transaction details with the payment processor.

• [By Sean Williams, Travis Hoium, and Alex Planes]

  In that spirit, we three Fools have banded together to find the market's best and worst stocks, which we'll rate on�The Motley Fool's CAPS�system as outperformers or underperformers. We'll be accountable for every pick based on the sum of our knowledge and the balance of our decisions. Today, we'll be discussing Visa (NYSE: V  ) , the world's largest electronic payment processing network.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks rebounded from yesterday’s rout today as 3M (MMM), Visa (V), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Allergan (AGN) and Mosaic (MOS) helped lead the major indexes higher.

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Visa Inc. (V)

  Even though Visa did not make my cut, I thought it would be interesting to showcase their phenomenal record. Therefore, dividend growth investors interested in total return might want to take a closer look at Visa.

Top 10 Blue Chip Companies To Invest In Right Now: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Muhammad Bazil]

  It is no longer news that International Business Machine (IBM) released disappointing 2013 third quarter results. It is also no longer news that the stock has taken a beating since then from $186.73 per share it traded at the close of business just before the third quarter financials were released to the investing public on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The negative reactions of investors to the third quarter results were noticed during the extended hours of trading on that same day when the stock took a dip from $186.73 to $175.99 per share. That sudden dip in IBM�� stock price amounts to a loss of about 6% per share within a space of a few hours after the release of the third quarter results.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  IBM is a global technology company that provides essential products and services to companies and consumers worldwide. The company is currently undergoing some measures in order to improve the company. The stock has not done well in recent quarters and is now trading near lows for the year. Over the last four quarters, earnings have been rising while revenues have been declining which has not really pleased investors in the company. Relative to its peers and sector, IBM has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what IBM does in coming quarters.

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced early on Thursday that it is acquiring Daeja Image Systems Ltd, a privately held software company headquartered in the U.K. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

  Daeja Image Systems is a leading provider of software that makes it easier for businesses to view large documents and images.

  “IBM is continuing to lead the way in helping organizations access the content they rely upon for everyday operations,” said IBM Enterprise Content Management Business Leader Doug Hunt. “The acquisition of Daeja will simplify how business data is viewed by department or line-of-business users.”

  IBM shares were down 68 cents, or 0.35%, during early morning trading on Thursday. The stock is up 1.06% year-to-date.

BrightScope Defends a Business Model Modeled After Morningstar

Independent registered rep David Sterling was infuriated last month when a BrightScope Advisor Pages salesman called to see if he wanted to pay a fee to manage the information on the Web page that describes Sterling’s business.

Until then, Sterling wasn’t aware that there was such a page. But when he checked it out, he discovered that anybody who looked him up on BrightScope would find a red mark against his name and a link to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s BrokerCheck, where FINRA lists what Sterling believes is an out-of-date and irrelevant report on his long-resolved dispute with a contractor over payment on a kitchen remodeling job.

“For just under $1,000 per year I can subscribe to BrightScope so that I can have access to and edit information gathered about me. Of course, the gentleman went on to explain how valuable this option is to my business and branding. What a farce,” Sterling wrote in an complaint emailed to ThinkAdvisor.

But while advisors such as Sterling are upset about BrightScope's sales methods and online business model, others in the advisor industry say that's exactly how the website is supposed to work.

One such fan of BrightScope is Chip Roame, managing partner of industry consultant Tiburon Strategic Advisors, who calls BrightScope an innovative disruptor. “BrightScope will disrupt the advisor industry, and become a portal for advisor data,” said Roame when commenting on Michael Kitces’ decision in April to join BrightScope’s advisory board. Kitces, a partner with Pinnacle Advisory Group, publishes The Kitces Report financial planning blog and is a regular speaker at industry events. He also is a contriubtor to ThinkAdvisor.

Morningstar Is BrightScope’s Role Model

BrightScope officials, too, have argued the merits of online transparency since their launch of Advisor Pages two years ago, and they point to Morningstar as their role model.

BrightScope CEO and co-founder Mike Alfred said last week that he and his team of executives have engaged in regular discussions with officials at Morningstar for several years. Alfred described BrightScope as the Morningstar of financial distribution channels, because it intends to democratize information about advisors and 401(k) plans and make those markets more efficient.

“I think our business model is pretty much misunderstood,” Alfred said. “But we’ve seen how Morningstar has evolved since 1984. Although Morningstar had people screaming when it was new, the service that Morningstar offers today is huge. Morningstar drives real consumer decision-making, and now the asset managers have to be users of Morningstar because between 70% and 80% of the mutual funds that sell the most have Morningstar ratings of four or five stars. If you’re rated two stars, you’re probably not moving flows. That’s powerful.”

Alfred said his privately held company has almost 70 employees. Though he wouldn’t reveal BrightScope’s market cap or revenues, he said the firm has been cash flow positive for three straight years, with more than 60% revenue growth every year. He said the public website represents only 3% of what’s going on at BrightScope, at the very front end of the business, and the revenue is generated at the back end through software and data subscriptions sold to large asset managers, recordkeepers, large plan sponsors and financial advisory firms in the RIA, wirehouse and IBD channels.

Best Casino Stocks To Invest In Right Now

When told of Sterling’s complaints, Alfred said his firm is building out additional functionality to benefit non-subscribers. “We’re trying to make it more inclusive so that advisors who don’t use the subscription service can still get something out of it,” he said in a phone interview.

‘When I Got the Solicitation, I Felt Painted Into a Corner’

But Sterling, who in addition to being a registered rep is a practicing attorney and vice-chairman of the American Bar Association’s Insurance and Financial Planning Committee, expressed concern in a separate phone interview that any consumer who checks him out online will see the red mark against his name in the BrightScope regulatory disclosures section and not even bother to do further due diligence on FINRA’s BrokerCheck site.

Further, Sterling said, he resented feeling forced to pay a fee to clear his name.

“It felt like a solicitation that’s so poorly viewed in the finance industry, where you get a sales pitch in a cold call,” he said. “The foundation of my concern centers on the question of the fiduciary issue. Compliance is a way of life for me, and a lot gets lost in translation. That’s the concern I have with all these online digital deals. I laughed when I told a client about the kitchen repair, but I don’t have the opportunity to do that on BrightScope. When I got the solicitation, I felt painted into a corner. Whether you like it or not, you’re a part of the database.”

Alfred disagreed with David Sterling’s argument that online consumer searches of advisors should be viewed as a problem. /* .premium-promo { border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 10px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 200px; float: left; } .premium-promo li, .premium-promo ul { list-style-type: none; margin: 0; padding: 0; } .premium-promo li { margin: 0 0 10px; padding: 0 0 10px; border-bottom: 1px dotted #ddd; } .premium-promo h3 { text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 11px; } .premium-promo h4 { font-size: 16px; } .premium-promo a { text-decoration: none !important; } .premium-promo .btn { background: #0069a1; border-radius: 4px; display: inline-block; padding: 5px 10px; clear: both; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; } .premium-promo .btn:hover { background: #034c92; } */ “Advisors are more sensitive about their disclosures now because they’re public. They’re Googling themselves,” Alfred said. “I’m sensitive to what the lawyer [David Sterling] is saying, but he’s complaining about the wrong thing. Now the lawyer has to have a discussion with clients, which is a good thing, and he also should have a conversation with FINRA because we’re going to publish whatever FINRA puts out.”

Kitces: BrightScope Does a Better Job Than Regulators

Financial advisor Kitces, meanwhile, believes that Sterling’s complaint of a red mark against his name for a kitchen repair payment is a perfect example of why BrightScope should help clean up the financial services industry.

“This red mark has been on his record since FINRA put it there. The only difference is that Brightscope has made it easier to find,” said Kitces, who admitted to disliking BrightScope’s business model until he studied it closely. “If his complaint is that FINRA’s BrokerCheck shows an infraction that he doesn’t like, he should take it up with the regulator.”

The “awkward reality,” Kitces asserted, is that many advisors aren’t doing a very good job of filing their Form ADV when they submit it personally to their regulator. “Frankly, hardly any consumers actually go to regulators. That’s why I’m a fan of BrightScope, because they’re doing a better job than the regulators at getting regulatory information to consumers.”

Kitces added that he expects to see a backlash against FINRA as more advisors go online and find what they feel are unfair infractions against their record. He pointed to a June 13 Reuters story that says FINRA soon expects to send the Securities and Exchange Commission a proposal to make it easier for brokers to erase certain black marks from their records.

“BrightScope is helping to unearth these regulatory infractions that technically are public but nobody can find in the real world,” Kitces said. “Nobody had ever noticed that David Sterling had a regulatory infraction, not even David Sterling, until he saw it on BrightScope.”