Top 5 Logistics Stocks To Watch Right Now

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress�(link opens in PDF) on Monday of plans to conduct a Foreign Military "Sale" of technical and logistics support services for F/A-18 C/D fighter jets to the government of Kuwait.

According to the DSCA, contractors General Dynamics (NYSE: GD  ) , Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) , and Wyle Laboratories are in line to perform avionics software upgrades and engine component improvements and to sell ground support equipment, spare parts, technical documentation, and other "technical and logistics support services" to Kuwait for an estimated $200 million.

The DSCA justifies the "sale" by saying it will "contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East."

The DSCA further assures Congress that "the proposed sale of this support will not alter the basic military balance in the region," nor will there be any "adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale."

Best Logistics Stocks For 2015: Pimco High Income Fund(PHK)

PIMCO High Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. The fund is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. It invests in the public fixed income markets across the globe. The fund invests in U.S. dollar denominated high-yield corporate debt obligations. It employs fundamental analysis along with a top down stock picking approach to make its investments. PIMCO High Income Fund was formed on April 30, 2003 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:

  Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP  ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK  ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM  ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.

  When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

• [By Morgan Housel]

  Interest rates have risen over the last month, offering a taste. Pimco High Income Fund (NYSE: PHK  ) is down 10% in the last month. The Vanguard Long Term Corporate Bond Fund (NASDAQ: VCLT  ) lost 4.6%. Mortgage REITS sensitive to the same interest rate risk have been pummeled; Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY  ) shares are off by one-fifth over the last year.

Top 5 Logistics Stocks To Watch Right Now: Select Sector Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU)

Select Sector Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund), formerly Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Utilities Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes companies that produce, generate, transmit or distribute electricity or natural gas.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Putnam]

  First, the good news. The Health Care SPDR (XLV) is flat in 2014 (a total return of -0.07%, to be exact) compared with a return of -5.4% for the S&P 500. This places healthcare second only to utilities — up 1.6% based on the Utilities SPDR (XLU) — in terms of year-to-date performance among the 10 major sectors. This comes on the heels of a year in which healthcare stocks outpaced the S&P 500 by more than 9 percentage points.

• [By Richard Stavros]

  In early August, Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSE: VPU), iShares US Utilities (NYSE: IDU), and Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index ETF (NYSE: FUTY) added almost $250 million in new assets combined, more than enough to offset outflows from Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NSDQ: XLU).

Top 5 Logistics Stocks To Watch Right Now: Citigroup Inc.(C)

Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Eberhard]

  Dividend strength
  Wells Fargo doesn't have the largest dividend of the Big Four banks -- that honor belongs to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) -- but its current annual dividend of $1.20 per share greatly exceeds both Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Citigroup's (NYSE: C  ) paltry $0.04 per share annual payment. This dividend equates to a payout ratio of just over 25%, providing the bank with plenty of room to continue to grow its dividend going forward. It last boosted its dividend in March after receiving permission from the Fed as part of the stress tests, and should hopefully see a similar result early next year, especially if the bank can equal 2012's strong performance.

Top 5 Logistics Stocks To Watch Right Now: Envivio Inc (ENVI)

Envivio, Inc., incorporated on January 5, 2000, is a provider of Internet protocol (IP) video processing and distribution solutions, which enable the delivery of video to consumers. The Company�� solution is designed to enable service providers and content providers to offer video anytime, anywhere across a range of video formats, networks, consumer devices and operating systems. Its software-based solution runs on industry-standard hardware and includes encoders, transcoders, network media processors all controlled through its network management system. It enables service providers and content providers to deliver linear broadcast and on-demand video services to their customers through multiple screens, such as tablets, mobile handsets, netbooks, laptops, personal computers (PCs) and televisions. Its customers include mobile and wireline telecommunications service providers, cable multiple system operators (MSOs), direct broadcast satellite service providers (DBSs), and content providers, which includes broadcasters and content publishers, owners, aggregators and licensees.

Core Technologies

The Company�� software platform includes core technologies: modular software architecture and multi-core video compression. The Company�� core competencies are in developing advanced media compression and video over IP technologies, where it delivers a carrier grade, multi-screen solution. Its modular software architecture provides a common platform of capabilities and features, which allows its products to perform critical video processing and distribution functions, including ingestion, processing, packaging, protection and encryption, network optimizations and monitoring. In addition, its software-based architecture allows customers to enable features or add capacity through the input of a simple security or license key.

The Company Multi-core video compression has a set of video processing and compression algorithms designed to optimize performance on industry-stan! dard, multi-core hardware chipsets. These algorithms are central to all of its encoder and transcoder products.

Products

The Company�� unified video headend solution and unified delivery infrastructure for live and on-demand multi-screen video delivery are built on its encoding, transcoding and video distribution products. Its suite of products consists of Envivio 4Caster, Muse, Halo and 4Manager. Its 4Caster product delivers video to mobile, PC and television from a single platform. It has designed 4Caster to optimize live and on-demand workflows for video delivery commensurate with the characteristics of both legacy and current network infrastructures by encoding video input in multiple codecs, resolutions, bit rates and formats. 4Caster utilizes pre-processing techniques to clean and optimize video sources before encoding.

Envivio Muse is its new multi-screen software architecture designed for live or file-based video transcoding and distribution to multiple devices. Muse is available on industry-standard blade servers or its 4Caster appliances and enables service providers running large-scale operations to leverage their existing datacenter infrastructure to deliver enhanced video services. Muse also enables advanced functionality, such as ad-insertion and content protection for mobile devices that facilitates service monetization.

The Company�� Halo Network Media Processor performs final content adaptation for consumer devices, including protected adaptive bitrate streams compatible with Apple iOS, Android 3 and Microsoft Smooth Streaming enabled consumer devices. Its 4Manager network management system is specifically engineered to manage next generation video headends for mobile television, over-the-top (OTT) and Internet protocol television (IPTV), while continuing to support traditional broadcast distribution networks. 4Manager allows service providers to monitor and control all headend appliances. 4Manager is designed to maximize video he! adend ava! ilability and reliability by reporting system malfunctions and can automatically switch away from a defective unit, minimizing service disruption.

Services

The Company offers a range of services in support of its products, including on-site project assessment, systems integration, on-site delivery and operational and customer support. On-site project assessment include complete review of content sources, existing systems and middleware to determine the proper interface and adaptation equipment necessary for its customer to deliver an optimized consumer quality of experience. Systems integration configures all the equipment with its solution according to network design and plan. On-site delivery install all equipment and test the operational environment, including redundancy and system monitoring, as well as administer technical training to validate predefined use cases in an operational environment. Operational and customer support provides different grades of service level agreements and support contracts according to requirements.

The Company competes with Harmonic Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., Elemental Technologies, RGB Networks, Inc., Google Inc. and Ericsson AB.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap video technology stocks Envivio Inc (NASDAQ: ENVI), Ku6 Media Co Ltd (NASDAQ: KUTV) and Tremor Video Inc (NYSE: TRMR) made some interesting moves today and in recent days or months���meaning its worth taking a closer look at all three to see if there might be opportunities for traders and investors alike:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Thursday, with Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Envivio (NASDAQ: ENVI), with shares up 2.8 percent, and Adept Technology (NASDAQ: ADEP), with shares up 4.3 percent.