“I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won’t stick around forever,” Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a lengthy blog postlast week detailing where he sees the social networking giant’s “privacy-focused” future. The missive comes after Facebook has grappled with countless privacy and data use scandals over the past few years, and at face value represents a massive shift in direction for the company.

It also means that Facebook will be competing with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) like never before.

iMessage is a huge threat to Facebook. Image source: Apple.

iMessage is Facebook’s “biggest competitor by far”

As Facebook’s growth has slowed in recent quarters, the company is turning to messaging as its next frontier. “Today we already see that private messaging, ephemeral stories, and small groups are by far the fastest growing areas of online communication,” Zuckerberg wrote. Facebook had already made a massive bet on messaging with its 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp, its largest to date. But Facebook has struggled to ramp up WhatsApp monetization, which it needs to do in order to justify the exorbitant premium it paid.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Werner Enterprises, Inc.(WERN)

Werner Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on September 14, 1982, is a transportation and logistics company. The Company is engaged in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in both interstate and intrastate commerce. The Company operates through two segments: Truckload Transportation Services (Truckload) and Value Added Services (VAS). The Company also provides logistics services through its VAS division. The Company has a fleet of approximately 7,450 trucks, of which over 6,640 are Company-operated and over 810 are owned and operated by independent contractors. Its VAS division operates over 60 additional intermodal drayage trucks.

Truckload Transportation Services

Truckload segment comprises the One-Way Truckload and Specialized Services units. Its One-Way Truckload unit’s operating fleet includes the regional short-haul (Regional) fleet, which transports a variety of consumer non-durable products and other commodities in truckload quantities within geographic regions across the United States using dry van trailers; the medium-to-long-haul van (Van) fleet, which provides comparable truckload van service over irregular routes, and the expedited (Expedited) fleet, which provides time-sensitive truckload services utilizing driver teams. Its Specialized Services unit provides truckload services for a retail distribution center or manufacturing facility, including services for products requiring specialized trailers, such as flatbed or temperature-controlled trailers.

The Company’s Truckload fleets operate across over 40 contiguous United States’ states pursuant to operating authority, both common and contract, granted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and pursuant to intrastate authority granted by various United States’ states. It also operates in several provinces of Canada and provides through-trailer service into and out of Mexico. The principal types of freight it transports include retail store merchandise, consumer product! s, grocery products and manufactured products.

VAS segment

The Company’s VAS segment is a non-asset-based transportation and logistics provider. VAS comprises operating units that provide non-trucking services to its customers, which include truck brokerage (Brokerage) that uses contracted carriers to complete customer shipments; freight management (Freight Management), which offers a range of single-source logistics management services and solutions; the intermodal (Intermodal) unit, which offers rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers as an alternative to truck transportation, and Werner Global Logistics international (WGL), which provides complete management of global shipments from origin to destination using a combination of air, ocean, truck and rail transportation modes. Its Brokerage unit has transportation services contracts with approximately 12,920 carriers.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  BidaskClub downgraded shares of Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Werner Enterprises (WERN)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan lessened its holdings in Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,510 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,040 shares during the period. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan’s holdings in Werner Enterprises were worth $395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) and Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and risk.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation(IPCC)

Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides personal automobile insurance with a concentration on nonstandard auto insurance in the United States. The company offers personal automobile insurance to individuals; mono-line commercial vehicle insurance to businesses; and classic collector insurance, which provides protection for classic collectible automobiles. It products provide coverage to individuals for liability to others for bodily injury and property damage, and for physical damage to an insured?s own vehicle from collision and various other perils. Infinity distributes its products primarily through a network of independent agencies and brokers. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Infinity Property and Casualty (NASDAQ:IPCC) and Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B (NYSE: BRK.B) and Infinity Property and Casualty (NASDAQ:IPCC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  ValuEngine lowered shares of Infinity Property and Casualty (NASDAQ:IPCC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: United States Steel Corporation(X)

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products in North America and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flat-Rolled Products (Flat-Rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, rounds, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products. This segment serves customers in the automotive, consumer and the combined industrial, service center, and mining commercial markets. The USSE segment provides slabs, sheets, strip mill plates, tin mill products, and spiral welded pipes, as well as heating radiators and refractory ceramic materials. This segment serves customers in the construction, service center, conversion, container, transportation, appliance and electrical, oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The Tubular segment offers seamless and electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing; and standard and line pipe and mechanical tubing products primarily to customers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The company also provides railroad services; and owns, develops, and manages various real estate assets. United States Steel Corporation was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on United States Steel (X)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Max Byerly]

  United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) – Equities researchers at KeyCorp raised their FY2018 EPS estimates for shares of United States Steel in a research note issued to investors on Sunday, September 9th. KeyCorp analyst P. Gibbs now forecasts that the basic materials company will earn $6.27 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $5.98.

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  Shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X) plunged 18.5% in August, according to data fromS&P Global Market Intelligence. The steelmaker announced its second-quarter earnings on the first day of the month, but there’s more to the stock’s drop than just the numbers.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Shares of TMX Group Ltd (TSE:X) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$90.33.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA)

SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (the Trust) is a unit investment, which issues securities called trust units or units. The Trust seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yields performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an Index of 30 blue chip United States stocks.
Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By ]

  How Traders Use It
  The chart below shows weekly prices of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), an ETF that tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average. A 52-week cycle with a bottom in October has been added to the chart. Some of the cycle lows are seen very close to bottoms in price. This simple approach only works occasionally and would not be a winning trading strategy on its own.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “Beaumont Financial Partners LLC Boosts Stake in SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA)” was posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are reading this news story on another domain, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of U.S. & international copyright and trademark legislation. The original version of this news story can be read at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4162778/beaumont-financial-partners-llc-boosts-stake-in-spdr-dow-jones-industrial-average-etf-trust-dia.html.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Traders bought shares of SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:DIA) on weakness during trading hours on Thursday. $242.64 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $212.95 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $29.69 million into the stock. Of all companies tracked, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust had the 29th highest net in-flow for the day. SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust traded down ($0.64) for the day and closed at $255.16

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Kronos Worldwide Inc(KRO)

Kronos Worldwide, Inc. produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2) worldwide. It produces TiO2 in two crystalline forms, rutile and anatase to impart whiteness, brightness, opacity, and durability for products, paints, coatings, plastics, paper, fibers, and ceramics, as well as for various specialty products, such as inks, food, and cosmetics. The company also provides ilmenite, a raw material used directly as a feedstock by sulfate-process TiO2 plants; iron-based chemicals, which are co-products and processed co-products of the sulfate and chloride process TiO2 pigment production used as treatment and conditioning agents for industrial effluents and municipal wastewater, as well as in the manufacture of iron pigments, cement, and agricultural products; and titanium oxychloride and titanyl sulfate that are side-stream specialty products from the production of TiO2 under the Kronos brand name. The companys titanium oxychloride is used in the formulation of pearlescent pigments and production of electroceramic capacitors for cell phones and other electronic devices; and titanyl sulfate is used in pearlescent pigments, natural gas pipe, and other specialty applications. In addition, it sells and provides technical services for its products. The company sells its products through distributors and agents to paint, plastics, decorative laminate, and paper manufacturers. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Kronos Worldwide, Inc. is a subsidiary of Valhi, Inc.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) issued its earnings results on Monday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.01), Fidelity Earnings reports. Kronos Worldwide had a return on equity of 33.77% and a net margin of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $349.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.00 million.

• [By Timothy Green, Travis Hoium, and Maxx Chatsko]

  No matter your investing style, stocks that no one is paying attention to are often the best deals. Unpopular or lightly followed dividend stocks can become depressed in price, pushing up the yields and creating bargains for eagle-eyed investors. Three of our Motley Fool contributors think Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD), Hanesbrands (NYSE:HBI), and Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Here’s why these dividend stocks would make a great addition to your portfolio.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Despite continued strength globally for the material, many titanium dioxide producers have seen their share prices drop by double digits since the beginning of the year. For instance, Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) stock has dropped by 19% in 2018 even though the business is cruising along right now. That has pushed its dividend yield to 3.4% — much higher than most peers.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Lam Research Corporation(LRCX)

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing systems used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. It provides thin film deposition products, including SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper damascene manufacturing; ALTUS systems to deposit conformal atomic layer films for tungsten metallization applications; VECTOR plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition systems to deposit oxides, nitrides, carbides, multiple patterning films, anti-reflective layers, multi-layer stack films, and diffusion barriers; SPEED high-density plasma-chemical vapor deposition products for applications in shallow trench isolation, pre-metal dielectrics, inter-layer dielectrics, inter-metal dielectrics, and passivation layers; and SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for the treatment of back-end-of-line low-k dielectric films and front-end-of-line silicon nitride strained films. The company also offers plasma etch products, such as Kiyo products that provide solutions for conductor etch applications; Flex products, which offer technologies and application-focused capabilities for dielectric etch applications; and Syndion products that provide solutions to address various through-silicon via etch applications. In addition, it provides single-wafer clean products, including EOS, Da Vinci, DV-Prime, and SP series products for wet etch and clean applications in wafer-level packaging , including silicon substrate thinning, wafer stress relief, underbump metallization etch, and photoresist removal; and Coronus plasma-based bevel clean products to enhance die yield by removing particles, residues, and unwanted films from the wafers edge, as well as legacy products. The company offers its products in the United States, Europe, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Lam Research Corporation was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Fremont, California.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Lourd Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,909 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Bank of Stockton bought a new stake in Lam Research Co. (NASDAQ:LRCX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,520 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

• [By Trey Thoelcke]

  And Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) EPS are expected to grow 21.4% in the next five years, putting on the brakes after more than 90% growth in the prior five years. The stock has been a laggard despite the bull market. The share price is more than 21% lower than at the beginning of the year. The company is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter results on October 16.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Prudential Public Limited Company(PUK)

Prudential plc provides retail financial products and services, and asset management services to individuals and businesses in Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It offers savings, protection, investment, and unit-linked products; manages investments across a range of asset classes for internal, retail, and institutional clients; manages onshore mutual funds; and provides retirement planning, consumer and Islamic finance, and health solutions. The company also provides retirement savings and income solutions; variable annuities; fixed and fixed index annuities; term life, universal life, and variable universal life insurance; permanent individual life insurance; and institutional products, such as guaranteed investment contracts, funding agreements, and medium term note funding agreements. In addition, it offers pensions and annuities; investment plans; and car, health, home, travel, and protection insurance policies. Further, Prudential plc provides fund man agement services for individual and institutional clients. The company was founded in 1848 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Prudential Public Limited (NYSE:PUK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Prudential (NYSE: PUK) and Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Here are some of the news headlines that may have effected Accern’s rankings:

  Get Prudential alerts:

  Zacks Investment Research Lowers Prudential (PUK) to Hold (americanbankingnews.com) Financial wellness program popularity rises among employers, up 63 percentage points in two years (markets.financialcontent.com) FY2018 EPS Estimates for Prudential (PUK) Reduced by Jefferies Group (americanbankingnews.com) Jefferies Group Weighs in on Prudential’s FY2020 Earnings (PUK) (americanbankingnews.com) ValuEngine Downgrades Prudential (PUK) to Hold (americanbankingnews.com)

  Shares of PUK stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.56. 141,455 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 198,097. The firm has a market cap of $66.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. Prudential has a 52-week low of $44.49 and a 52-week high of $55.36.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ValuEngine lowered shares of Prudential (NYSE:PUK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

  Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Prudential from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 27th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Prudential from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, March 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Prudential from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $57.00.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Actuant Corporation(ATU)

Actuant Corporation, incorporated on October 26, 1910, designs, manufactures and distributes a range of industrial products and systems to various end markets. The Company operates through three segments: Industrial, Energy and Engineered Solutions. The Company’s Industrial segment is primarily involved in the design, manufacture and distribution of branded hydraulic and mechanical tools to the maintenance, industrial, infrastructure and production automation markets. The Company’s Energy segment provides joint integrity products and services, customized offshore vessel mooring solutions, as well as rope and cable solutions to the global oil and gas, power generation and other energy markets. The Company’s Engineered Solutions segment provides engineered position and motion control systems to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in various on and off-highway vehicle markets, as well as various other products to the industrial and agricultural markets.

Industrial

The Company’s Industrial segment is a global supplier of hydraulic and mechanical tools to a range of end markets, including general maintenance and repair, industrial, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure and production automation. The Company’s primary products include high-force hydraulic tools, engineered heavy lifting solutions, workholding (production automation) solutions, and concrete stressing components and systems. Its high-force hydraulic and mechanical tools, including cylinders, pumps, valves, specialty tools and presses are designed to allow users to apply controlled force and motion. The hydraulic tools operate at high pressures of approximately 5,000 to 12,000 pounds per square inch and are generally sold by industrial and specialty fluid power distributors to customers in the infrastructure, mining, steel mill, cement, rail, oil and gas, power generation and general maintenance industries. In addition to providing a line of industrial tools, the segment also provides high-force hydraulic systems (in! tegrated solutions).

The Company’s integrated solutions standard product offering also includes hydraulic gantries, strand jacks and synchronous lift systems. The Industrial segment offers a range of workholding products (work supports, swing cylinders and system components) that are marketed through distributors to the automotive, machine tool and fixture design markets. In addition, the Industrial segment designs, manufactures and distributes concrete tensioning products (chucks and wedges, stressing jacks and anchors), which are used by concrete tensioning system designers, fabricators and installers for the residential and commercial construction, bridge, infrastructure and mining markets.

Energy

The Company’s Energy segment provides products and services to the global energy markets. The Company’s products include joint integrity tools and connectors for oil and gas and power generation installations and high performance ropes, cables and umbilicals. In addition to these products, the Energy segment also provides mooring systems and joint integrity tools under rental arrangements, as well as technical manpower solutions. The products and services of the Energy segment are distributed and marketed under various brand names (principally Hydratight, Cortland and Viking SeaTech) to OEMs, maintenance and service organizations and energy producers in emerging and developed countries. Its joint integrity products include hydraulic torque wrenches, bolt tensioners, portable machining equipment and subsea connectors, which are either sold or rented to asset owners, service providers and end users. These products are used in the maintenance of bolted joints on oil rigs and platforms, wind turbines, refineries and pipelines, petrochemical installations, as well as fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. Its Hydratight business provides manpower services where its trained technicians perform bolting, machining and joint integrity work for customers. The Company delivers pro! ducts and! services through a localized infrastructure of rental and maintenance depots.

The Company’s Energy segment develops highly-engineered rope, umbilical and cable solutions to various markets, including oil and gas, heavy marine, subsea, remote operating vehicle (ROV) and seismic. With its global design and manufacturing capabilities, the Cortland business provides customized synthetic ropes, heavy lift slings, specialized mooring, rigging and towing systems, electro-optical-mechanical cables and umbilicals. These products are utilized in applications, often deployed in harsh operating conditions (subsea oil and gas production, maintenance and exploration). In addition, the Energy segment provides customers with a range of marine mooring equipment and associated services (survey, inspection, design and installation). Its Viking business delivers mooring solutions in the harshest environments to customers involved in offshore oil and gas exploration, offshore construction and renewable energy projects.

Engineered Solutions

The Company’s Engineered Solutions segment designs and assembles customized position and motion control systems and other industrial products to various vehicle and other markets. The Engineered Solutions segment focuses on providing technical and highly engineered products, including actuation systems, mechanical power transmission products, engine air flow management systems, human to machine interface (HMI) solutions and other rugged electronic instrumentation. Products in the Engineered Solutions segment are primarily marketed directly to OEMs through a technical sales organization. The Company’s diesel engine air flow solutions, such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems and air flow actuators, are used by diesel engine and turbocharger manufacturers. It also sells actuation systems to a range of specialty vehicle customers, principally in the defense and off-highway markets. Its products include severe-duty electronic instrumentation, suc! h as disp! lays and clusters, machine controls and sensors, and HMI solutions and power transmission products, such as drive shafts, torque limiters, gearboxes, torsional dampers and flexible shafts. These products are sold to a range of markets, including agricultural implement, lawn and turf, construction, forestry, industrial, aerospace, material handling and security.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  Get an exclusive invitation to meet Tim before everyone else right here.

  The Top Stock Market Stories for Wednesday
  The U.S. markets are preparing for the eighth interest rate hike since 2015, and the Federal Reserve may not be done yet. Markets are weighing the possibility that the Fed may raise rates one more time this year (in December). The hikes come as the Fed is attempting to shrink its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. When Powell speaks this afternoon, expect a few questions about the impact of the trade war between the United States and China. Reporters will also likely want to know about geopolitical risks to the U.S. economy and how they might affect growth in a higher-interest-rate environment. Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a speech before the United Nations General Assembly. During his talk, Trump praised the U.S. economy and defended his administration’s actions this year on trade. Trump said that the United States will no longer endure “abuse” from other trade partners. The U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer also said Tuesday that the U.S. is prepared to proceed on a new trade deal with Mexico without the participation of Canada. Oil prices are in focus after President Trump called out OPEC members before the U.N. on Tuesday. During his talk, Trump accused OPEC and non-OPEC participants in collusion efforts on production and prices of ripping off the rest of the world.
  Three Stocks to Watch Today: NKE, SVMK, DB
  Shares of Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) fell 3.5% after the sports apparel giant reported earnings after the bell. The company topped earnings expectations and reported profit growth of 15%. However, investors took some profits off the table. Shares of Nike stock are up more than 35% on the year. SVMK, the parent company of SurveyMonkey, has priced its upcoming IPO at $12 per share. That figure is above analysts’ initial range expectation of $9 to $11 per share. The firm expects to reach a market capitalization of $1.46 bil

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Actuant Corporation (NYSE:ATU)Q3 2018 Earnings Conference CallJune 20, 2018, 11:00 a.m. ET

  Contents:
  Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants
  Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Garrett Baldwin]

  After 111 years as a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) has been replaced on the index by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.(NYSE: WBA). According to David Blitzer, managing director and chair of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, the change is part of an effort to increase value and prominence of consumer goods, finance, healthcare, and technology firms on the U.S. economy. GE is the last original member to be removed from the index. Shares of Boeing Co.(NYSE BA), DowDuPont Inc. (NYSE: DOW), and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) are getting pounded on concerns that a full-blown trade war may accelerate and hurt major exporters to China. Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he may seek tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese goods. Trump has asked U.S. trade representatives to identify potential products on which the United States could implement a 10% tariff. Recent trade volatility has erased all gains in the Dow Jones in 2018. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) has raised its bid forTwenty-FirstCentury Fox Inc.(NYSE: FOXA) assets to $71.3 billion in cash and stock. The new offer tops the $35 all-cash offer proposed last week by cable and telecom giant Comcast Corp.(Nasdaq: CMCSA).
  Three Stocks to Watch Today: MU, ORCL, SBUX
  Micron Technology Inc.(Nasdaq: MU) will lead a light day of earnings reports Wednesday. The Chinese semiconductor giant is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $3.14 on top of $7.75 billion in revenue. While markets will be interested in this report, the greater focus will likely center on the impact of U.S. tariffs on the company’s forward guidance. Oracle Corp.(NYSE: ORCL) stock was off 3.7% despite news that the cloud computing giant topped Wall Street earnings expectations yesterday. The firm reported adjusted EPS of $0.99 on top of $11.25 billion in revenue. Those numbers beat average expectations of $0.94 on $11.18 billion. The stock slumped after

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Aethlon Medical, Inc.(AEMD)

Aethlon Medical, Inc., incorporated on April 17, 1991, is a medical device company, which creates medical devices to address unmet therapeutic needs in infectious disease, cancer and other life-threatening conditions. The Company’s lead product is the Aethlon Hemopurifier, which is a device that selectively targets the elimination of circulating viruses and tumor-secreted exosomes that promote cancer progression. The Aethlon Hemopurifier sheds glycoproteins to treat infectious viral pathogens. In oncology indications, the Hemopurifier targets the removal of circulating exosomes, which are secreted by tumors to prevent the immune system from rejecting the tumors. Through its majority-owned subsidiary, Exosome Sciences, Inc. (Exosome), the Company is also developing exosome-based products to diagnose and monitor neurological disorders and cancer.

In addition, the Company operates under a Department of Defense contract through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), related to the development of a sepsis treatment device. The Company also operates under a second Department of Defense contract as a subcontractor. Under these contracts, the Company’s tasks include the development of a dialysis-like device to prevent sepsis, a fatal bloodstream infection. The Company is also studying the use of its Hemopurifier as a therapeutic solution against viral pathogens that are not treatable with antiviral drugs, as well as viral pathogens that have evolved to become drug resistant.

The Aethlon Hemopurifier addresses antiviral drug-resistance in Hepatitis C virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-infected individuals and serves as a countermeasure against viral pathogens not addressed by drug or vaccine therapies. In the Company’s clinical studies that are conducted in India, safety and efficacy observations of Hemopurifier therapy have been observed in both Hepatitis C virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-infected individuals. Delivery of Hemopurifier therapy can occur thro! ugh the infrastructure of continuous renal replacement therapy and dialysis instruments routinely found in hospitals and clinics. The Hemopurifier is designed to provide a spectrum mechanism to inhibit the presence of certain cancer and infectious disease related particles. Treatment with the Hempurifier lasts from three to six and one half hours in duration. The Company has conducted Hepatitis C virus treatment studies for Aethlon Hemopurifier.

In addition to treating Hepatitis C virus-infected individuals, the Company has conducted a single proof-of-principle treatment study related to the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the study, Hemopurifier therapy reduced viral load by around 93% in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-infected individual without the administration of antiviral drug therapy.

The Company competes with Asahi Kasei Kurary Medical.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Aethlon Medical (AEMD)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ: AEMD) is one of 23 publicly-traded companies in the “Analytical instruments” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Aethlon Medical to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Invest In 2021: Tata Motors Ltd(TTM)

Tata Motors Limited, incorporated on September 1, 1945, is an automobile company. The Company is engaged mainly in the business of automobile products consisting of all types of commercial and passenger vehicles, including financing of the vehicles sold by the Company. The Company’s operating segments include automotive operations and all other operations. The Company’s automotive operations are further subdivided into Tata and other brand vehicles (including vehicle financing) and Jaguar Land Rover. The Company operates in over 175 countries. The Company’s commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, South Asia, South America, Australia, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russia. It has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in Bangladesh, Ukraine and Senegal.

Automotive Operations

The Company’s automotive segment operations include all activities relating to the development, design, manufacture, assembly and sale of vehicles, including vehicle financing, as well as sale of related parts and accessories. The Company offers premium cars in markets, such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe, as well as in emerging markets, such as China, Russia and Brazil through its Jaguar Land Rover business. In the automotive segment, the Company manufactures and sells passenger cars, utility vehicles, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), and medium and heavy commercial vehicles. The Company further divides these categories based on the size, weight, design and price of the vehicle. The Company’s subcategories vary between and within Tata, and other brand vehicles and Jaguar Land Rover businesses.

The Company’s range of Tata-branded passenger cars include the Nano (micro), the Indica, the Vista and the Bolt (compact), the Indigo eCS, the Manza and the Zest (mid-sized) in the sedan category. The Company has expanded its passenger car range with several variants and fuel option! s. The Company’s Jaguar Land Rover operations have its presence in the premium passenger car category under the Jaguar brand name. There are four car lines under the Jaguar brand name, including the F-TYPE two seater sports car coupe and convertible (including all-wheel drive derivatives) the XF sedan (including the Sportbrake and all-wheel drive derivatives), the XJ saloon and the new XE sports saloon.

The Company manufactures a range of Tata-branded utility vehicles, including the Sumo and the Safari (sports utility vehicles), the Xenon XT (lifestyle pickup), the Tata Aria (crossover) and the Venture (multipurpose utility vehicle). Under the Safari brand, the Company offers two variants: the Dicor and the Safari Storme. Under the Sumo brand, the Company offers the Sumo Gold. There are six car lines under the brands of Range Rover and Land Rover in the premium all-terrain vehicles categories, including the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover Discovery, Discovery Sport and the Defender.

The Company manufactures a range of light commercial vehicles, including pickup trucks and small commercial vehicles. This also includes the Tata Ace, which is a mini-truck with a 0.75 ton payload with different fuel options; the Super Ace, with a one ton payload; the Ace Zip, with a 0.6 ton payload; the Magic and Magic Iris, both of which are passenger variants for commercial transportation developed on the Tata Ace platform and the Winger. In addition, the Company introduced a new generation of Ultra LCV trucks. The Company’s offerings in the LCV bus segment include the Cityride and Starbus range of buses.

The Company manufactures a range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles, which include trucks, tractors, buses, tippers and multi-axled vehicles, with gross vehicle weights (GVWs, including payload) of between 8 tons and 49 tons. In addition, through Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles (TDCV), the Company manufactures an array of trucks ranging from 215 h! orsepower! to 560 horsepower, including dump trucks, tractor-trailers, mixers and cargo vehicles. The Company also offers a range of buses, which includes the Divo Coach, the Semi Deluxe Starbus Ultra Contract Bus and the new Starbus Ultra. The Company’s range of buses is intended for a range of uses, including as intercity coaches (with both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned luxury variants) as school transportation and as ambulances.

All Other Operations

The Company’s all other operations segment includes information technology (IT) services, and machine tools and factory automation solutions. As of March 31, 2015, the Company owned a 72.32% equity interest in its subsidiary, Tata Technologies Limited (TTL). TTL specializes in providing engineering services out-sourcing, product development IT services solutions for product lifecycle management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) to the automotive, aerospace and consumer durables manufacturers and their suppliers. TTL’s services also include product design, analysis and production engineering, engineering and customer relationship management systems. TTL also distributes, implements and supports PLM products from solution providers, such as Dassault Systems and Autodesk across the world.

The Company competes with Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Infiniti, Lexus, Porsche, Volkswagen, Isuzu, Nissan and Toyota.

Advisors’ Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  U.S. stocks have enjoyed years of strong gains, but the situation hasn’t been as rosy for many companies that do business across the globe. India’s Tata Motors (NYSE:TTM), which owns key car brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover, gave investors an extremely tough financial report that led to two days’ worth of severe share-price declines. Yet closer to home, Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) has made a name for itself with its services to enterprise and government customers.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) was down almost 10% at $11.40 on Thursday and down another 6.5% at $10.65 for its American depositary shares after posting a loss. Tata was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, and Nomura/Instinet downgraded it to Neutral as well. The52-week trading range is $10.49 to $29.39.