Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY ) will be reporting first-quarter earnings soon, when investors will get a glimpse of how 2013 has been treating the mega mortgage REIT. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look even further ahead in the year, since several political issues are on tap that concern mREITs in general, and Annaly in particular.
So, without further ado, here are three factors that I feel might trip up Annaly later this year.
1. Concerns about an mREITs bubble
Regulators have been peering at mREITs for some time, wringing their hands over the amount of assets they own and worrying that a failure of these trusts might put the economy at risk. Recently, these trusts were on the agenda�of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, as that body considers various financial entities that could pose a threat to the economy.
Under particular scrutiny is Annaly and its fast-growing peer, American Capital Agency (NASDAQ: AGNC ) , which together, hold nearly $235 billion in assets. Despite their relatively small participation in the mortgage-debt market, mREITs could find themselves facing new rules that limit their use of leverage -- and as a result, their stellar returns.
Hot Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now: iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC)
iShares Russell Microcap Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell Microcap Index (the Index). The Index measures the micro-cap sector of the United States equity market and consists of those securities having the highest historical trading volumes of that index. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index and includes companies ranging in total market capitalization from approximately $50 million to $550 million.
The Index represents approximately 3% of the market capitalization of listed United States equity securities. The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. iShares Russell Microcap Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Mark Hulbert]
Fosback nevertheless favors the microcap category for the seasonal portfolio he recommends to clients, though not by buying and selling individual stocks. Instead, he prefers the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) �, with an expense ratio of 0.72%. The fund replicates the performance of the smallest 1,000 stocks in the Russell 2000 Index (RUT) �; the average market cap of the stocks it owns is $420 million.
- [By Richard Moroney]
Micro-cap ETFs, which typically focus on stocks with market values below $500 million, can be volatile, but represent a nice diversifier for most portfolios. Up 35% this year, iShares Micro-Cap (IWC) is worth consideration.
- [By Jim Fink]
Simply buying a small-cap ETF like the iShares Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) of the iShares Russell Microcap (NYSE: IWC) doesn’t work. Over the past 11 years, the Russell 2000 index (median market cap of $460 million) has declined in January seven times (64% of the time) and has actually performed worse than the S&P 500 a majority of the time (6 out of 11). The Russell Microcap index (median market cap of $152 million) has only been around for seven Januarys (since 2006) and it has underperformed the S&P 500 in four of those years (a majority of the time). December relative performance has been no better for IWM, which underperformed the S&P 500 a majority of the time over the past 11 years, but IWC has done much better in December, outperforming the S&P 500 in each of its first seven years of existence. Like I said earlier, however, microcap “gains” are suspect.
Best Investments For 2014: Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc.(BNCL)
Beneficial Mutual Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Beneficial Bank that provides financial services to consumers and businesses in the United States. The company accepts a range of deposit products, such as non-interest bearing demand deposits, including individual checking accounts; interest-bearing demand accounts comprising negotiable order of withdrawal and money market accounts; savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and business banking deposit products, such as a commercial checking account and a checking account for small businesses, as well as offers cash management services, which consist of remote deposit, lockbox, and sweep accounts. It originates various loans, including fixed-rate and adjustable-rate one-to-four family residential loans; commercial real estate loans; commercial business loans, such as installment loans for capital improvements, equipment acquisition, and long-term working capital to professionals, sole proprietorships, an d small businesses; consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, boat loans, loans for recreational vehicles, guaranteed student loans, and loans secured by passbook accounts and certificates of deposit; and construction loans. In addition, the company provides insurance brokerage and investment advisory services. It operates approximately 65 banking offices located in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; and Burlington and Camden Counties in New Jersey. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Beneficial Mutual Bancorp, Inc. is a subsidiary of Beneficial Savings Bank MHC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]
spaxiax/Shutterstock Loans are inevitable for most adults. If you buy a house or car, use a credit card or go to college, you'll likely need to take out a loan. U.S. household debt stands at $11.7 trillion, according to a recent Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey that draws on information from 40 million individuals. But taking out a loan doesn't always work out well, as anyone who has dealt with a debt collector can attest. So what mistakes are you most likely to make in the loan process? A good rule of thumb: If there's a chance your loan can destroy your marriage, business or send you into bankruptcy, you're about to make the biggest mistake of all: taking out the loan in the first place. 1. Not Reading the Fine Print There are always important gems of information buried in all that legalese, so you owe it to yourself to take a good look at what you're signing up for, says Leslie Tayne, a financial attorney and debt specialist who runs the Tayne Law Group in New York City. "Many people have a tendency to simply sign the dotted line, listening to the salesperson and not double-checking the agreement," Tayne says. "I see this all the time. A client will come in and tell me that they didn't know about something in the loan, such as a balloon payment or increase in interest rate." But if you sign the contract, you're telling the lender that you do know –- even if you don't -– which, of course, is the problem. 2. Taking Out a Loan for Someone Else Co-signing is a mistake, but some people double that error by taking out a loan and giving the money to someone else. "You'd be surprised at how often this happens," says Michael Poulos, CEO of Michigan First Credit Union in Lathrup Village, Michigan. He says his staff has, on occasion, encountered loan scenarios such as parents coming in to borrow money for their children and customers needing money to bail out family members from jail. One of the more interesting cautionary tales about borr
Best Investments For 2014: NXP Semiconductors N.V.(NXPI)
NXP Semiconductors N.V., through its subsidiary, NXP B.V., provides mixed signal solutions and standard products worldwide. The company provides amplifiers, audio/radio products, bipolar transistors, data converters, diodes, identification and security products, interface and connectivity products, logic devices, media processors, microcontrollers, MOSFETs, power management integrated circuits (IC), radio frequency devices, sensors, thyristors, television and set-top-box front ends, and logic driver and controller ICs, as well as ESD, EMI, and signal conditioning products. Its products are used in automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, mobile, consumer, computing, and industrial applications. NXP Semiconductors N.V. markets its products directly and through distribution to various original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and distributors. The company was formerly known as KASLION Acquisition B.V and ch anged its name to NXP Semiconductors NV in May 2010. NXP Semiconductors N.V. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
Mobile-chip maker�NXP Semiconductors� (NASDAQ: NXPI ) �reported first-quarter earnings that came in ahead of top-line consensus estimates by Capital IQ analysts, and issued guidance for the full year that was above expectations.
- [By Ashraf Eassa]
No. 1: NXP Semiconductor
According to a leak from Sonny Dickson, the next-generation iPhone will have a built-in near field communication chip from NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ: NXPI ) . NFC lets devices connect wirelessly by putting them close together.
Best Investments For 2014: Camden Property Trust (CPT)
Camden Property Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is engaged in the ownership, management, development, acquisition, and construction of multi-family apartment communities. As each of its communities has similar economic characteristics, residents, amenities, and services, its operations have been aggregated into one segment.
In April 2011, it sold one of its land parcels to one of the Funds. In June 2011, it sold another land parcel to the Fund. In August 2011, the Company acquired 30.1 acres of land located in Atlanta, Georgia. In December 2011, it acquired 2.2 acres of land in Glendale, California. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it sold two properties consisting of 788 units located in Dallas, Texas. During 2011, the Funds acquired 18 multifamily properties totaling 6,076 units located in the Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa and Atlanta. In January 2012, one of the Funds acquired one multifamily property consisted of 350 units located in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned interests in, operated, or were developing 206 multifamily properties comprising 69,794 apartment homes across the United States. Of these 206 properties, 10 properties were under development. In addition, it owns land parcels, which it focuses on developing into multifamily apartment communities.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Lewis]
Take Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT ) , for example. The stock is up around 16% over two years -- respectable, but incongruent with the industry trends. Since 2010, operating cash flow has increased more than 30%. The company pays a 3.5% dividend and trades at 16.5 times projected one-year earnings. For comparison, Lennar trades at 18 times earnings, while KB Homes trades at more than 20 times forward earnings.
Best Investments For 2014: Spdr Nuveen Barclays Capital Short Term Municipal Bond Etf (SHM)
SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Short Term Municipal Bond ETF, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital Managed Money Municipal Short Term Index (the Index). The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the Index. The Index tracks publicly traded municipal bonds that cover the United States dollar-denominated, short-term tax exempt bond market, including state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds and pre-refunded bonds. The Fund�� investment manager is SSgA Funds Management, Inc. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Todd Rosenbluth]
Fortunately, there are some short-term muni ETFs to choose from. The largest is SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short-Term Muni Bond (SHM). About 65% of the bonds inside have a AA rating, with most of the remaining ones having a AAA rating.
Best Investments For 2014: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)
Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services worldwide. The company?s Retirement and Investor Services segment provides retirement savings and related investment products and services, including a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. This segment offers products and services to businesses for defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services; and annuities, mutual funds, and bank products and services to the employees of its business customers and other individuals. Principal Financial Group?s Principal Global Investors segment offers a range of equity, fixed income, and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services to institutional inve stors. The company?s Principal International segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, institutional asset management, and life insurance accumulation products in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand. Principal Financial Group?s U.S. Insurance Solutions segment offers individual life insurance, as well as specialty benefits in the United States. Its individual life insurance products include universal and variable universal life insurance and traditional life insurance; and specialty benefit products comprise group dental and vision insurance, individual and group disability insurance, and group life insurance, as well as fee-for-service claims administration and wellness services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Michael Calia]
Principal Financial Group Inc.(PFG) said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 8.6%, touting its strong results for the period amid continued economic concern.
- [By Patricio Kehoe] ts newest deal with private benefits company Liazon Corp., through which the firm will offer employer-sponsored group benefit plans to small and medium businesses. While the company already sells ancillary benefit plans, this deal will now also include dental, life insurance, disability insurance and critical illness coverage in an attempt to stay on top of the insurance industry. As an industry leader, Principal has over $466 billion in assets under management and 19 million customers, fragmented among small and medium-size businesses. Furthermore, its solid fourth quarter results have encouraged investment gurus like Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) to recently acquire large amounts of the company�� shares. So, let�� see what this insurer has in store for the future.
Broadening Horizons
Although Principal�� core business is in life insurance, the company has been pursuing a more diverse growth strategy lately, and is now focused on expanding its position in the retirement service and asset management segment. With almost 30,700 pension plans covering over 3.4 million customers, this business��growth rate has not only boosted overall profitability, marked by a 31% annual increase in operating earnings for fiscal 2013, but also helped offset the headwinds of low interest rates and volatility in the emerging markets. In fact, the fourth quarter showed a 65% boost in premium and fee income for the segmenta , consequence of the rollout of total retirement suite products.
Moreover, Principal�� emphasis on retirement products and its use of capital salesforce for distribution has added on to the natural switching cost advantage in the insurance industry. Since plan sponsors provided with pension assets rarely switch providers, the company will likely benefit in the long term from its persistency, as seen in the quarterly 9% bump in recurring deposits.
On another note, Principal�� fee-based b
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