NASDAQ and ICE Making Takeover Offer for NYSE

Nasdaq (NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) are making a joint offer of $11.3 billion offer for NYSE Euronext (NYX), the parent of the New York Stock Exchange. I have previously predicted stock exchange takeover activity in an article back in February. Just one week later, the NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse (DBOEY.PK), which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, had agreed to a $10 billion stock merger.

NYSE Euronext, Inc. operates the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext and NYSE Arca. The stock trades at 13 times forward earnings and pays a yield of 3.4%.

The biggest American competitor to NYX is Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. which trades on its own exchange. NASDAQ was founded in 1971, and went public in 2002. It is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States and second-largest by market capitalization in the world. The stock has a forward P/E of 10.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE) operates regulated futures exchange and over-the-counter markets, and derivatives clearing exchanges. The stock trades at 16 times forward earnings.

CME Group Inc. (CME) operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX futures and options exchanges that trade futures contracts and options on futures contracts on interest rates, stock indexes, and other investments. The stock has a forward PE ratio of 16 and sports a yield of 1.9%.

To access other interesting stock lists like this, you should check out the various free downloadable stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of March

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable Excel list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

NYSE Euronext (NYX) market cap: $9.7B ex div date: 3/14/2011 yield: 3.3%

Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) market cap: $19.3B ex div date: 3/16/2011 yield: 4.2%

Sempra Energy (SRE) market cap: $12.7B ex div date: 3/16/2011 yield: 3.6%

DTE Energy Company (DTE) market cap: $7.9B ex div date: 3/17/2011 yield: 4.8%

Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NM) market cap: $573.1M ex div date: 3/18/2011 yield: 4.4%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Below $3 Trading on the NYSE

Many investors believe low price stocks are dead, even those that trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYX). But look at Flotek Industries Inc. (FTK), the Houston based drilling supply company. The stock traded between 1.06 to 1.36 during the month of July last year. It closed at 6.53 on Friday. This is a 516% increase from its low in less than a year.

Or how about Global Ship Lease, Inc. (GSL), which 14 months ago was trading at 1.05, and last summer traded between 2.25 and 3.00 and now is at 7.34, more than doubling since July. The real estate investment company, Newcastle Investment Corp. (NCT), went from 2.42 six months ago to 8.47, a 250% increase.

According to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 20 stocks that are trading for less than three dollars a share on the NYSE, five of which pay dividends.

These low priced NYSE gems include such companies as Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (JTX). It is tax season after all. The stock closed at 1.17 last Friday and trades at 14.6 times forward earnings. Investors should be aware that the company generated significant negative earnings and carries a large amount of debt. The company's earnings call is scheduled for Thursday, March 10.

The medical device company, Theragenics Corp. (TGX), sells for 1.71 below its book value of 2.41. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 21.4, and had a revenue increase of 10.6% for the latest quarter.

Magnetek Inc. (MAG), a two dollar a share stock, is a provider of digital power control systems. The stock trades at nine times forward earnings and posted a 35.5% increase in revenues for the latest quarter.

To see a free list of low priced NYSE stocks, go to wsnn.com. Do your homework before investing in these as many have been generating negative earnings and have low market caps.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Sugar Stocks are Sweet

Sugar production actually started in India in ancient times, where sugarcane juice was turned into granulated crystals. Honey was obviously used as a sweetener in other areas of the world back then. Did you know that Christopher Columbus brought the first sugarcane cuttings to the New World? Now Brazil has the highest per capita production of sugar in the world. One growing byproduct of sugar production for food is fuel for energy such as ethanol.

Unfortunately, there are not too many sugar production companies that are publicly traded, but there are several that use sugar in their candy and chocolate products. Imperial Sugar Co. (IPSU) is a processor and marketer of refined sugar in several formats, including granulated, powdered, and liquid. The stock trades on NASDAQ at seven times forward earnings and pays a yield of 0.7%.

Cosan Ltd. (CZZ), based in Brazil, is one of the largest growers and processors of sugarcane in the world and the largest ethanol producer in Brazil from sugarcane. This New York Stock Exchange (NYX) traded company trades at 9.3 times forward earnings and pays a decent yield of 2%.

If you think the price of sugar is going up, but you don't want to invest in commodities directly, you might want to consider the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Total Return Sub-Index Exchange Traded Note (SGG), which attempts to replicate the Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Total Return Sub-Index. This ETN, which also trades on the NYSE, has a one year total return of over 25%.

The other alternative is investing in companies that use sugar in their products, such as The Hershey Company (HSY), Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. (TR), and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. (RMCF). To see a free down-loadable list of all the candy and chocolate stocks, which can be updated and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

NYSE to Merge with Deutsche Boerse: Did You Read My Article Last Week?

Last week, I wrote an article about how the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange were merging and that there may be more stock exchange mergers on the horizon. Now the news is out. The NYSE Euronext (NYX), which runs the New York Stock Exchange, and Deutsche Börse (DBOEY.PK), which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, have agreed a $10 billion stock merger.

It looks like there aren't too many ways left to invest in a stock exchange.

Top Stock Exchange Stocks

The London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, which is owned by the TMX Group holding company, announced that they are merging, which will create one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, trading more than 6,700 companies. Will this be the beginning of more merger activity in stock exchange companies? If so, maybe it is time to look at the ones that are publicly traded.

NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYX) operates the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext and NYSE Arca. The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings and pays a yield of 3.7%.

The biggest American competitor to NYX is Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) which trades on NASDAQ of course. Although NASDAQ was founded in 1971, it went public in 2002. It is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States and second-largest by market capitalization in the world. The stock has a forward P/E of 10.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE) operates regulated futures exchange and over-the-counter markets, and derivatives clearing exchanges. The stock trades at 20 times forward earnings.

CME Group Inc. (CME) operates the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX futures and options exchanges that trade futures contracts and options on futures contracts on interest rates, stock indexes, and other investments. The stock has a forward PE ratio of 15 and sports a yield of 1.5%.

If you like interesting stock lists like this, you should check out the various stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: A relative of the author owns NYX.

By Stockerblog.com

High Yield American Stock Exchange Stocks

The American Stock Exchange, also known as the AMEX, was founded in 1842 as the New York Curb Exchange. It got that name since stock traders and brokers used to stand out on the street by the curb and trade stocks back in the early 1800's. On October 1, 2008, NYSE Euronext (NYX) took over the American Stock Exchange. The AMEX is now known as NYSE Amex Equities.

Although the AMEX is now a division of the NYSE, over 500 stocks are still traded on the exchange, and according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over 20 AmEx stocks with yields above 2.5%. Many of these stocks are closed end funds, real estate investment trusts also known as REITs, and oil and natural gas income partnerships. But there are a few gems that are regular corporations.

British American Tobacco (BTI), which produces Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Viceroy, Kool, and Benson & Hedges cigarettes, generates a yield of 2.8%. The stock has forward price to earnings ratio of 12.6.

National Healthcare Corp. (NHC) operates health care centers, assisted living centers, and retirement centers. The yield is 2.7% and the forward PE is 15.3.

Park National Corp. (PRK), a bank holding company, has paid quarterly dividends since December 1996 and has raised their dividend every year. The stock yields 5.5%. The company which has a market cap of almost $1 billion, has a forward PE of 13.7.

For a free Excel list of high yielding American Stock Exchange stocks, over ten of which yield more than 7%, go to wsnn.com. The list can be downloaded, sorted, updated, and added to.

Author owns NYX.

By Stockerblog.com