Best Consumer Service Companies For 2014

(click to enlarge)

The pro-renewable fuels, pro-ethanol, anti-fossil fuel organization Fuels America, which is "committed to protecting America's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)," featured the chart above on Twitter with this text:

FACT: Oil, not corn, drives food prices. Near perfect correlation

The chart presented by Fuels America shows the historical relationship (August 1999 to April 2011) between oil futures prices and the Reuters/Jeffries CRB commodity futures price index, and is supposedly presented as "evidence" to counter the frequent claim that higher corn prices, due to the RFS' ethanol mandate, are driving up food prices. Where to start with such sloppy "statistics"?

1. The CRB commodity futures index is based on the prices of 19 commodities: Aluminum, Cocoa, Coffee, Copper, Corn, Cotton, Crude Oil, Gold, Heating Oil, Lean Hogs, Live Cattle, Natural Gas, Nickel, Orange Juice, Silver, Soybeans, Sugar, Unleaded Gas and Wheat. Fewer than half (9) of those commodities are food (with a combined weight of only 36%) and the other 10 are metals, petroleum products, and fibers. Conclusion: the CRB commodity price futures index is not a measure of food prices, it's a broad-based commodity index.

10 Best Construction Stocks To Buy For 2015: NETGEAR Inc.(NTGR)

NETGEAR, Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of networking products. The company offers home networking, storage, and digital media products to connect users with the Internet and their content and devices; networking, storage, and security solutions to commercial businesses; and whole home networking solutions to service providers for sale to their customers. Its products include commercial business networking products consisting of Ethernet switches, wireless controllers, Internet security appliances, and network attached storage devices; broadband access products, such as routers, gateways, IP telephony products, and media servers; and network connectivity products comprising wireless access points, wireless network interface cards and adapters, Ethernet network interface cards and adapters, media adapters, powerline adapters and bridges, and multimedia over coax alliance standard adapters and bridges. The company produces its products through t hird-party manufacturers. NETGEAR, Inc. markets its products primarily through retailers, online retailers, wholesale distributors, direct market resellers, value added resellers, and broadband service providers worldwide. NETGEAR, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Netgear (Nasdaq: NTGR  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 25. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Netgear's revenues will grow 10.2% and EPS will contract -12.5%.

• [By Steve Symington]

  Shares of Netgear� (NASDAQ: NTGR  ) touched a fresh 52-week-low during Tuesday's intraday trading after the company released select preliminary results for the first quarter of 2013.

• [By Steve Symington and Erin Miller]

  Early last week, Fool contributor Steve Symington wrote that he would soon buy shares of Netgear (NASDAQ: NTGR  ) in his personal portfolio.

Best Consumer Service Companies For 2014: SLM Corporation(SLM)

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates, acquires, finances, and services private education loans in the United States. It offers processing capabilities to educational institutions, 529 college-savings plan program management services, and a consumer savings network. The company also provides servicing, loan default aversion, and defaulted loan collection services for loans owned by the Department of Education (ED), Guarantors of FFELP Loans, and other institutions. In addition, SLM Corporation offers campus solutions, which comprise electronic billing, collection, payment and refund, and tuition payment plan administration services. The company promotes its products through the financial aid offices on campuses, as well as through direct marketing to students and their families. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell]

  Sallie Mae sa(SLM)id its fourth-quarter profit slid 22% on bigger losses on derivative and hedging actions, masking lower loan-loss provisions and an increase in loan originations. Core earnings for the latest period missed Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares down 4.2% to $26 premarket.

Best Consumer Service Companies For 2014: KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals Inc (KYTH)

KYTHERA Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated in June 2004, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription products for the aesthetic medicine market. The Company�� initial focus is on the facial aesthetics market. The Company�� product candidate, ATX-101, is a injectable drug in Phase III clinical development for the reduction of submental fat, which commonly presents as an undesirable double chin. Based on clinical trials conducted, ATX-101 has exhibited results in the reduction of submental fat. ATX-101 contains a synthetic form of sodium deoxycholate. In the United States and Canada, the Company is conducting two pivotal Phase III trials of ATX-101 for the reduction of submental fat. The Company initiated this pivotal Phase III clinical program, with planned enrollment of 1,000 patients, in March 2012.

In Europe, Bayer, its collaborator outside the United States and Canada, recently completed two pivotal Phase III trials of ATX-101 for the reduction of submental fat. In these multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pivotal trials involving 723 patients, ATX-101 resulted in a reduction in submental fat, as assessed by a validated clinician scale and a patient satisfaction scale.

ATX-101 contains a synthetic form of sodium deoxycholate. ATX-101 is designed to be a locally-injected drug that causes proximal, preferential destruction of adipocytes, or fat cells, with minimal effect on surrounding tissue. Upon subcutaneous injection under the skin, ATX-101 disrupts cell membranes in protein-poor tissues, such as fat, while being attenuated by interactions with protein-rich tissue, such as skin, muscle and blood vessels. This attenuation by protein-rich tissue results in the preferential destruction of adipocytes by ATX-101. The destruction of adipocytes, or adipocytolysis, elicits a natural response, in which macrophages are attracted to remove cellular debris and fat particles t! hrough the lymphatic system. The macrophages also emit low levels of chemical messengers, known as cytokines, which attract fibroblasts, another cell type, to the area. Fibroblasts produce collagen, and it is believed that new collagen production, or neocollagenesis, promotes retraction of the skin in the areas of fat reduction. The fat removal process with ATX-101 is incremental with each treatment, thereby allowing for control of the aesthetic outcome.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bioassociate Consulting]

  Yesterday evening, after trading hours, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH) announced positive top line results from its Phase III studies with ATX-101 for the reduction of submental fat. The REFINE-1 and REFINE-2 Phase III trials met all primary and secondary endpoints and reaffirmed the efficacy and safety of ATX-101 for the reduction of submental fat, commonly referred to as a double chin.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KYTH) shares surged 24.40% to touch a new 52-week high of $41.71 after the company reported positive ATX-101 top line phase III trial results for the reduction of submental fat.

Best Consumer Service Companies For 2014: Territorial Bancorp Inc.(TBNK)

Territorial Bancorp Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Territorial Savings Bank, a federally-chartered savings bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals, families, and businesses in Hawaii. It involves in accepting deposits from the general public and investing those deposits together with funds generated from operations and borrowings in loans and investment securities. The company?s deposit products include passbook and statement savings accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, commercial and regular checking accounts, and NOW accounts. Its loan products include one-to-four-family residential mortgage loans; home equity loans and lines of credit; construction, commercial, and other non-residential real estate loans; consumer loans; and multi-family mortgage loans. The company, through its subsidiary, Territorial Financial Services, Inc., also engages in insurance agency activities. In addition, it provides various non-d eposit investments, including annuities and mutual funds through a third-party broker-dealer. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 26 full-service branch offices in Hawaii. The company was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Territorial Bancorp (NASDAQ: TBNK) shares touched a new 52-week low of $21.31. Territorial Bancorp shares have dropped 9.43% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 16.18% in the same period.