When I was asked to write this piece for our ongoing series on Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) annual meeting, I struggled to come up with seven legitimate reasons to sell the Omaha, Neb.-based company. After thinking it over, however, I believe I've drawn up a list of factors that fits the bill. To be clear, there's little about Berkshire that leads me to believe it's a "sell" right now. But that's not to say this won't change in the not-too-distant future.
1. Warren Buffett
If Buffett had it his way, he'd probably run Berkshire forever. But he doesn't. And in last year's annual letter to shareholders, the Oracle of Omaha assured investors that the board of directors has not only picked a successor ("an individual to whom they have had a great deal of exposure and whose managerial and human qualities they admire") but that they've identified two "superb backup candidates" as well.
This may be so, but the fact remains that Berkshire won't be the same without Buffett. Aside from his ethereal ability to grow and manage an increasingly massive conglomerate, Buffett has become a magnate for deals. When Solomon Brothers fell on hard times, who'd they call? When Long-Term Capital Management nearly imploded, Buffett was among the first to offer assistance. And when Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) needed to reassure the market of their respective solvencies, it was Buffett who came to the rescue.
Best Sliver Stocks To Buy Right Now: Exponent Inc.(EXPO)
Exponent, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides engineering and scientific consulting services worldwide. Its services include analysis of products, people, property, processes, and finances related to litigation, product recall, regulatory compliance, research, development, and design. The company offers approximately 90 different technical disciplines to solve complicated issues facing industry and government. It offers services in the areas of biomechanics, biomedical engineering, buildings and structures, civil engineering, construction consulting, defense technology development, ecological and biological sciences, electrical engineering and computer science, engineering management consulting, environmental and earth sciences, health sciences, human factors, industrial structures, materials and corrosion engineering, mechanical engineering, polymer science and materials chemistry, statistical and data sciences, thermal sciences, and vehicle analysis. The compa ny provides its services through a team of scientists, physicians, engineers, and business and regulatory consultants. It serves clients in automotive, aviation, chemical, construction, consumer products, energy, government, health, insurance, manufacturing, and technology sectors. The company was formerly known as The Failure Group, Inc. and changed its name to Exponent, Inc. in 1998. Exponent, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is based in Menlo Park, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Exponent (Nasdaq: EXPO ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Virtual Piggy Inc (VPIG)
Virtual Piggy Inc., formerly Moggle, Inc., incorporated on February 11, 2008, is a development-stage company. The Company is a technology development company that delivers an online security platform, which consists of three separate products: Virtual Piggy, ParentMatch and ParentPlayback, and Age Verification Service. Its Virtual Piggy product enables online businesses to interact and transact with the Under 18 market in a manner consistent with the Children�� Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The Company�� Platform is designed to solve the friendly fraud problem for Website operators, providers, and online retailers, and permitting Website operators and online retailers to transact online business with children between the ages of 8 and 13 in compliance with COPPA.
Virtual Piggy
Virtual Piggy was developed in response to the growing need for parents/guardians to allow their children to transact online in a controlled manner in light of an increasing number of online services and products targeted towards children. Virtual Piggy provides an online payment profile that allows parents to set up, monitor and control their children�� online spending. Parents can establish how much a child can spend in a single transaction, or over time, and also control the merchants with which the child can transact business. Parents also have the ability to set up approval rules and notification methods. The Virtual Piggy product tracks all spending and parents can receive alerts and reports on spending patterns. Virtual Piggy has been certified by the Chase Paymentech system and can process transactions from all major credit and debit card systems, including MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.
ParentMatch and ParentPlayback
The ParentMatch and ParentPlayback Web services are designed to provide the parent/guardian with a higher level of control than is provided by nanny type services. In addition, the Web service ID will follow the child whenever he or! she is on a computer, as opposed to traditional controls that are resident on a personal computer (PC) by PC basis. ParentMatch will provide filtering for the parent or guardian to be able to control, such areas as the Web sites a child may access; the types of content they may view, and who they can interact with online. ParentPlayback will provide the parent or guardian with a video transcript of their child�� online session.
Age Check
Age Check will be a persistent software system and service designed to provide a verification mechanism for the age of a person online. The system and service will provide a secure checking mechanism to determine a person�� age. The main purpose of this system and service is to determine whether setup information supplied by a person to gain access to a social network or other online site is correct. The invention will provide an Application Programming Interface (API) that exposes software functions that Websites, Web services and Internet enabled desktop applications can utilize to enforce age checks when a person attempts to create an online account and/or gain access to a Website.
The Company competes PayPal and Teen Visa.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Today, VPIG has shed (-4.37%) down -0.10 at $2.19 with 144,475 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:26PM EDT June 26, 2013), but don�� let this get you down.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. previously reported it has reached a membership of over 250,000 users.
Virtual Piggy promotes financial management while empowering youth under 18 to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents. The technology serves as a family wallet that is available online or via mobile, and is always 100% free to use.
- [By CRWE]
Last Friday, VPIG previously surged (+7.27%) up +0.16 at $2.33 with 89,577 shares in play at the close (ref. google finance June 28, 2013 ��Close).
Virtual Piggy, Inc. previously reported it has reached a membership of over 250,000 users.
Virtual Piggy promotes financial management while empowering youth under 18 to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves, within the boundaries setup by parents. The technology serves as a family wallet that is available online or via mobile, and is always 100% free to use.
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc.(SCLN)
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. engages in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of oncology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular, urological, respiratory, and central nervous system disorders in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. Its principal product is ZADAXIN for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, and certain cancers, as well as for use as a vaccine adjuvant or as a chemotherapy adjuvant for cancer patients with weakened immune systems. ZADAXIN has approval in approximately 30 countries, primarily China, the Pacific Rim, Latin America, eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The company markets and sells ZADAXIN principally through its distributors. It is also developing SCV-07, which is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of oral mucositis and hepatitis C virus. In addition, the company markets partnered products in China, including Depakine, an anti-convulsant; Tritace, an ACE inhibitor for the treatment of hypertension; Stilnox, a hypnotic for the short-term treatment of insomnia; and Aggrastat, a cardiology product. SciClone Pharmaceuticals also has commercialization rights for DC Bead, a product candidate for the treatment of advanced liver cancer in China, as well as for ondansetron RapidFilm, an oral thin film formulation of ondansetron to treat and prevent nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery in China and Vietnam. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Eric Volkman]
SciClone (NASDAQ: SCLN ) has a new man leading its finance team. The company announced that it hired Wilson Cheung to be its new CFO. Cheung is a longtime executive who most recently served as chief compliance officer, Asia Pacific, at digital marketing agency Velti, following a stint as that company's CFO. Before that, he was CFO and corporate secretary at AXT (NASDAQ: AXTI ) and served in various managerial positions in firms such as KPMG and Yahoo!
- [By Monica Gerson]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SCLN) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.15 per share on revenue of $38.30 million.
Essex Rental (NASDAQ: ESSX) is projected to post a Q4 loss at $0.10 per share on revenue of $22.55 million.
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH)
Beazer Homes USA, Inc. designs, builds, and sells single-family and multi-family homes. The company offers homes for entry-level, move-up, or retirement-oriented buyers. It also engages in rental of previously owned homes that are purchased and improved by the company. The company sells its homes through commissioned new home sales counselors and independent brokers. It operates in 16 states, including Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Beazer Homes USA, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
One sign of strength recently has come from Toll Brothers' resilience even in the face of higher interest rates. In its July quarter, Toll Brothers managed to see net new signed contracts rise at a 26% pace, more than doubling rival D.R. Horton's (NYSE: DHI ) pace of growth. What's perhaps most impressive about those gains is that they defied big drops in order volumes at PulteGroup and Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH ) , both of which saw double-digit percentage decreases in orders during the same period.
- [By Sean Williams]
While this is good news from the perspective that the Fed thinks the market is strong enough to move forward without any additional stimulus, it's terrible news for the housing sector, which has relied on low lending rates to drive loans. It's no surprise that last week was the worst one we've witnessed in the housing sector in more than a year -- especially for homebuilders still on the shakiest of ground, like Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH ) . Beazer, which is still losing money on an annualized basis, fell 10% on the week, despite seeing its revenue surge 50% in its most recent quarter.
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (PTX)
Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (Pernix), incorporated in November 8, 1996, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the sales, marketing and development of branded and generic pharmaceutical products for pediatric and adult indications in a range of therapeutic areas. It manages a portfolio of branded and generic products and theobromine, a non-codeine, cough suppressant product candidate in development. The Company�� branded products for the pediatrics market include CEDAX, an antibiotic for middle ear infections, NATROBA, a topical treatment for head lice marketed under an exclusive co-promotion agreement with ParaPRO, LLC and a family of prescription treatments for cough and cold (BROVEX, ALDEX and PEDIATEX). It also markets REZYST IM, which is a probiotic blend to promote dietary management. Pernix markets generic products through its wholly owned subsidiary, Macoven Pharmaceuticals, LLC. In January 2013, the Company acquired Cypress Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Hawthorn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In March 2013, the Company acquired Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. In September 2013, Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. completed the sale of certain non-core assets to Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc.
The Company�� customers consist of drug wholesalers, retail drug stores, mass merchandisers and grocery store pharmacies in the United States. It primarily sells products directly to drug wholesalers, which in turn distribute the products to retail drug stores, mass merchandisers and grocery store pharmacies.
ALDEX Line
ALDEX is a line of antihistamines, decongestants and cough suppressants that are indicated for the temporary relief of respiratory allergies, allergic rhinitis and symptoms of the common cold. The Company�� ALDEX product line is marketed in a range of formulations and combinations using different drug-delivery methodologies to target specific segments of the antihistamine, decongestant and cough suppressant markets. Two used decongestants ar! e phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine.
BROVEX Line
The BROVEX line is a line of antihistamine combinations with the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) brompheniramine maleate, part of the first generation class of antihistamines called alkylamines that are indicated for the temporary relief of sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, itchy nose or throat, and runny nose due to hay fever or other respiratory allergies. Its BROVEX product line is marketed in a range of formulations and combinations to target specific segments of the antihistamine market. The Company completed the conversion of the BROVEX product family to over-the-counter (OTC) monograph from DESI drugs, in April 2011.
CEDAX Line
CEDAX is a third generation oral cephalosporin indicated for the treatment of mild to moderate acute bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis, middle ear infection due to haemophilus influenza or streptococcus pyogenes. The Company sells a range of dosages utilizing both capsule and oral suspension drug delivery methodologies. It also owns a trademark on the name CEDAX in the United States.
NATROBA Line
NATROBA Topical Suspension is a prescription medicine used to treat head lice (pediculosis capitis) in adults and children four years of age and older. NATROBA contains the active ingredient spinosad, which is derived from a naturally occurring soil bacterium.
PEDIATEX Line
As of December 31, 2011, the only product that the Company marketed and sold in its PEDIATEX line is PEDIATEX TD. PEDIATEX TD is an antihistamine/nasal decongestant combination liquid for oral administration. Each 1 milliliter dose contains the API Tripolidine HC1 and Pseudoephedrine HC1. Tripolidine HC1 is a first generation antihistamine in the alkylamine class. Pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, is a sympathomimetic, which acts on alpha-adrenergic receptors in the mucosa of the respiratory tract, producing vasoconstriction and having minimal eff! ect on be! ta-receptors. It therefore functions as an oral nasal decongestant with minimal central nervous system stimulation.
REZYST Line
REZYST IM is a probiotic blend that promotes the dietary management of patients with the distinctive nutritional requirements associated with the gastro-intestinal flora. It is formulated to improve the digestive health of patients by replacing the active cultures altered by diet, stress, and antibiotics.
Product Candidates in Development
Product candidates in development include Theobromine. Theobromine is an alkaloid naturally present in dark chocolate which is an existing human metabolite of caffeine. The Company is working on several other product candidates, which includes a prescription product for the pediatrics market. In March 2012, the Company entered into a product development agreement with a private company for this product.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
Pernix Therapeutics (PTX), a specialty pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets and sells branded and generic pharmaceutical products. This stock closed up 5% to $7.53 in Thursday's trading session.
Thursday's Range: $7.11-$7.75
52-Week Range: $1.68-$9.56
Thursday's Volume: 396,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 421,860From a technical perspective, PTX ripped sharply higher here right above some near-term support at $7.10 with decent upside volume. This sharp move to the upside on Thursday is now quickly pushing shares of PTX within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if PTX manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance at $8 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PTX as long as it's trending above some key near-term support levels at $7.10 or at $6.83 and then once it sustains a move or close above $8 with volume that hits near or above 421,860 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then PTX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8.93 to $9, or even its 52-week high at $9.56.
- [By Michael Douglass and David Williamson]
Shares of�Pernix Therapeutics� (NASDAQ: PTX ) soared 31% yesterday after the company revealed that it had bought the U.S. rights to�GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK ) Treximet (which helps treat migraines in adults) for $250 million upfront (and some potential additional payments later). The importance of this purchase cannot easily be overstate for Pernix -- the company had $85 million in revenue last year, while Treximet on its own brought in $79 million -- and Pernix clearly sees some additional upside potential for the drug, whether it's through a potential indication expansion (to pediatric patients) or through synergies with Pernix's current salesforce.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
Healthcare stocks gained Wednesday, with Senomyx (NASDAQ: SNMX) leading advancers after the company announced a research agreement with PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP). Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Pernix Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ: PTX), Albany Molecular Research (NASDAQ: AMRI) and Gentiva Health Services (NASDAQ: GTIV).
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Hillenbrand Inc(HI)
Hillenbrand, Inc. designs, manufactures, distributes, and sells funeral service products to licensed funeral directors operating licensed funeral homes. The company?s products include burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers, vaults, urns, and selection room display fixturing for funeral homes, as well as other personalization and memorialization products and services, including Web-based applications, and the creation and hosting of Websites for licensed funeral homes. It markets its products under the Batesville and Options brand name through direct sales force in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The company also designs, produces, markets, sells, and services bulk solids material handling equipment and systems for various industrial markets, including plastics, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, power generation, coal mining, pulp and paper, frac sand, industrial minerals, agribusiness, recycling, wood and forest pr oducts, and biomass energy generation. It offers feeders and pneumatic conveying equipment under the K-Tron brand name; and size reduction equipment, such as hammer mills, double-roll crushers, wood and bark hogs, chip sizers, screening equipment, pneumatic and mechanical conveying systems, storage/reclamation systems, and specialty crushers and other equipment under the Pennsylvania Crusher, Gundlach, and Jeffrey Rader brand names. In addition, the company manufactures dry material separation machines that sort dry, granular products based on the particle?s size serving various industries, including frac sand, potash, urea, phosphates, chemical, agricultural, plastics, and food processing. The company sells its material handling equipment and systems worldwide through a combination of a direct sales force, and a network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Hillenbrand, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Batesville, Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday
Earnings Expected: Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD), Hillenbrand Inc (NYSE: HI), Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Economic Releases Expected: German retail sales, French consumer confidence, German unemployment rate, eurozone CPI, eurozone PPI, US trade balance, US redbookWednesday
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