It has been a great year for Q4 Systems (NASDAQ: QFOR) and its shareholders. Although it is a small cap firm in the information technology sector, clients of Q4 Systems have included such blue chips as Alcoa, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens, among many others.
A previous article on Benzinga, "A Small Cap That is Cashing in on ObamaCare," detailed why Q4 Systems would do well as a result of the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare.
With the stock price up more than 500 percent for the last year of market action, that has clearly happened. Revenues are increasing by 40 percent on a quarterly basis, according to Yahoo Finance. Unlike many small caps, Q4 Systems posts a gross profit, has hundreds of employees, operates in several companies, and as a high retention rate for clients. As a result, while it is now trading at under $1, two of the most recent analyst recommendations have Q4 Systems at $5.25 a share and $7.00 a share.
Top 5 Japanese Companies To Buy For 2015: 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 Paul Ausick]
Another big gainer today was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) which traded up 1.59% at $215.50 in a 52-week range of $161.27 to $235.50. The Dow�� highest priced stock slipped initially Monday morning as investors seemed worried about the suit filed against the company last week by Walmart. But the stock popped back up as quickly as it had dropped and remained at a higher level the rest of the day. Volume was about two-thirds the daily average of around 3.3 million shares traded.
- [By Amanda Alix]
A long-standing dispute between credit card issuers Visa (NYSE: V ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) and the businesses that accept consumer payments via those instruments is heating up again, as a flurry of lawsuits filed on both sides over a prior settlement regarding interchange fees jump-start the hostilities all over again.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
The Dow’s comeback–if erasing a 0.4% drop can be called a comeback–was especially impressive considering that the four highest-priced stocks, and the ones with the biggest weights in the index, finished in the red. Visa (V) fell 0.6% to $220.55–perhaps a side-effect of this American Express (AXP) upgrade?–while Goldman Sachs (GS) fell 0.6% to $161 after naming a third co-head to its securities division, and 3M (MMM) declined 0.5% at $129.70. International Business Machines (IBM) dipped 0.1% to $177.14.
Best Blue Chip Stocks 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 Munarriz]
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) finally unveiled iTunes Radio, the consumer tech giant's response to Pandora's (NYSE: P ) success.
Pandora shares actually moved higher on the news initially, but that's just near-term relief.
Best Blue Chip Stocks 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 Ben Levisohn]
We have patiently waited for equity prices to fully digest downward 3Q revisions. Initial indications were that numbers needed to move lower, but the magnitude has taken both buy side and sell side by surprise. The Chevron (CVX) interim update citing weak downstream performance in 3Q should be the final communication the Street needs to fully digest a weak quarter…
Best Blue Chip Stocks 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 Ben Levisohn]
Interesting… so we got negative earnings from [Goldman Sachs (GS), eBay (EBAY), International Business Machines (IBM). And SPX doing very well. You can argue that EBAY does not have broad relevance to market, and that GS is really a quarter to quarter thing, where earnings this quarter tell us little about next quarter (trading), but IBM is a big deal as it is a good measure of spending on IT. So SPX performance very impressive, even though it is driven to some extent by defensives/ rates plays (utilities, telcos etc). This is a good sign. The market wants to go up into year end.
- [By Anders Bylund]
Here's something you don't see often. Shares of IBM (NYSE: IBM ) have fallen as much as 7.7% today on an earnings miss -- an event as rare as chicken lips. The stock's plunge took more than 100 points off the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) index, dragging the blue-chip index into the red today despite the gains being made by 25 of its 30 components. The Dow's price-weighted nature magnifies IBM's every move, and today it's working against the index.
- [By Douglas A. McIntyre]
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison will use just about any excuse he can to brag about the company he founded. He discovered a new path, as Oracle used IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) earnings release to claim that the century old corporation had fallen to the No.3 spot in global software sales. �If so, that would mean Oracle now holds the No.2 spot behind Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The change in positions says a great deal about the power of Oracle’s enterprise customer base, and the erosion of some of IBM’s core businesses.
- [By Traders Reserve]
General Electric (GE) also invested $105 million to buy a 10% stake in Pivotal Initiative. Best of all, EMC�� products are compatible with many different platforms including IBM (IBM) and Oracle (ORCL).
Best Blue Chip Stocks 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 WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images The Rolling Stones may have sung about not getting any satisfaction, but now Burger King (BKW) patrons can't get any Satisfry-action. The burger chain announced last week that it was discontinuing the relatively healthier french fries. It was easy to see why the crinkle-cut fries were doomed. Satisfries may have had an interesting marketing angle -- they were promoted as having 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than a comparably sized McDonald's (MCD) fries -- but charging 30 cents more for an order than Burger King's own regular shoestring spuds was a deal breaker. Despite the slightly healthier attributes, it was a value proposition that didn't resonate with Burger King's penny-pinching customers. Burger King may have served up 100 million orders of Satisfries since they were introduced late last year, but it wasn't enough. Then again, seeing how other fast food giants have fared in rolling out ill-fated healthier fare, the only real surprise is that Burger King tried at all. Seaweed Burgers and Shaking Salads Outside of perhaps Subway -- which has set itself apart on its "eat fresh" mantra and healthier sandwiches, wraps and salads -- it's been hard for any major quick-service chain to establish itself as a place for nutrition table watchers. The failures have been plenty. Let's start with Burger's King's biggest rival. McDonald's introduced the McLean Deluxe in 1991. True to the "lean" in its name, the McLean Deluxe was a reduced-fat burger, made with 91 percent lean beef and an edible red seaweed extract. Taste tests went well, and McDonald's received critical praise for offering a slightly healthier menu option for burger lovers. It didn't succeed. McDonald's nixed it five years later. Another McDonald's attempt to woo health-conscious diners was the McShaker salad that was served in an enclosed plastic cup that diners would shake to mix up. It was another flop, but largely on logistics of the experience. T
- [By Alex Planes]
Restaurateur Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) franchise on April 15, 1955. The hamburger joint had been around since 1948, but it was only after milkshake machine vendor Kroc sought to emulate the McDonald brothers' successful fast-food formula that McDonald's took its current form. The first Kroc franchise wasn't at the level of today's McDonald's stores, with their standardized, rapid assembly-line preparation methods. Potatoes were still hand-peeled and sliced in the store then, and soft drinks were served from syrup barrels. Kroc quickly progressed beyond this level of charming simplicity, and by 1958 he owned exclusive franchise rights and 38 restaurants. True growth was about to begin.
- [By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE: ARCO ) , which operates McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) franchises in Latin America, has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
- [By John Reeves and David Meier]
Look at the amazing results of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) over the past several decades, for example. The company has been able to deliver outstanding total returns by paying out higher and higher dividends each year over an extremely long time horizon. Ultimately, investors are willing to pay higher and higher prices for shares that offer a growing stream of dividends.
Best Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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 Melvin Backman]
Reynolds American (RAI) fell 2.6% in early trading, and Lorillard (LO), which Reynolds agreed to buy last week, is down 2%. Philip Morris (PM) shares fell nearly 1%, and Altria Group (MO) was down about 1.5%.
- [By Ted Cooper]
Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) returned 146% in stock price increases and dividends over the last five years. That's an average of nearly 30% per year. Clearly, investors who owned Philip Morris for any significant length of time during the last five years made out pretty well. Unfortunately, two new developments have emerged to make future returns less certain. All Philip Morris investors need to know about these two things before deciding whether to hold or sell their stock.
Best Blue Chip Stocks 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 Bob Ciura]
Investors often flock to consumer staples companies because of their stable businesses that produce reliable profits, year-in and year-out. Even when the economy takes a nosedive, companies like The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG ) and Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL ) see their earnings stay afloat. After all, even when consumers are under economic distress, they still have to buy everyday household items like toothpaste, soap, and paper towels.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target is now $68 (versus a $59.93 close) at Morgan Stanley.
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