Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014

Consumers' interest in their credit scores, and their credit in general, is yet another hook for those running scams. Whether it's to get you to pay for things you shouldn't, get your personal information or steal your identity, scams involving credit scores and information from the three credit bureaus can easily be avoided.

"The key here is a hefty dose of skepticism," said Jean Chatzky, personal finance expert for NBC's Today show.

Crooked companies seem to prey on people who seek an expedited path to remedying bad credit and low credit scores, she said.

"The only thing that will move your credit history (and therefore your score) in the right direction is a combination of good behavior and time," she said.

Clearly, there are legitimate sites that offer your credit score for free (like�WisePiggy.com) and others that charge a fee that are not scams. It's seeing the difference between the real ones and the slimy ones that's key.

Top Gold Companies For 2015: Hecla Mining Co (HL)

Hecla Mining Company, incorporated on August 7, 2006, is engaged in discovering, acquiring, developing, producing, and marketing silver, gold, lead and zinc. The Company operates in two segments: the Greens Creek unit and the Lucky Friday unit. Its wholly-owned subsidiary is Hecla Alaska LLC. The Company produces zinc, lead and bulk concentrates at its Greens Creek unit and lead and zinc concentrates at its Lucky Friday unit, which it sells to custom smelters on contract, and unrefined gold and silver bullion bars (dore) at Greens Creek, which are sold directly to customers or further refined before sale to precious metals traders. The concentrates produced at its Greens Creek and Lucky Friday units contain payable silver, zinc and lead, and the concentrates produced at Greens Creek also contain payable gold. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company produced 6,394,235 ounces of silver, 55,496 ounces of gold, 21,074 tons of lead and 64,249 tons of Zinc. Effective February 26, 2013, Hecla Mining Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, acquired a 24.73% stake in Brixton Metals Corp. In June 2013, the Company announced that its acquisition of Aurizon Mines Ltd is complete.

The Greens Creek Unit

Greens Creek is located on Admiralty Island, near Juneau, Alaska. The Greens Creek unit is 100% owned. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Greens Creek contributed 100%, of its consolidated revenue.

The Lucky Friday unit

The Lucky Friday unit is located in northern Idaho. Lucky Friday is 100% owned by the company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  This is helping to boost Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL). 24/7 Wall St. recently named nine stocks that could double in 2014, and Hecla was one of those nine stocks. Hecla is trying to turnaround after a series of unfortunate events. To highlight just how bad this was, Hecla’s stock price started imploding before it became the norm for gold and silver miners to begin imploding. Yet its chart is at a critical inflection point.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Knapp and Slover were also kind enough to provide a screen of stocks that could outperform. They started with the Russell 2000, removed the smallest 40% based on market cap (the aforementioned liquidity issues), then selected the 5% worst performers from among the 30% cheapest stocks based on book-to-price. The result is a bunch of names you never heard of, including Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI), Fusion-IO (FIO), Walter Energy (WLT), Hecla Mining (HL) and Molycorp�(MCP).

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE)

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe), incorporated on October 5, 1983, is a diversified software company. The Company offers a line of software and services used by professionals, marketers, knowledge workers, application developers, enterprises and consumers for creating, managing, delivering, measuring and engaging with content and experiences across multiple operating systems, devices and media. The Company markets and licenses its software directly to enterprise customers through its sales force and to end users through application stores and its Website at www.adobe.com. Adobe also distributes its products through a network of distributors, value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs), retailers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In addition, Adobe licenses its technology to hardware manufacturers, software developers and service providers for use in their products and solutions. It offers some of its products via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model (also known as a hosted model or cloud-based model), as well as through term subscription and pay-per-use models. The Company�� software runs on personal computers (PCs) and server-based computers, as well as on smartphones, tablets and other devices, depending on the product. It has operations in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. On January 13, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Efficient Frontier. In January 2011, the Company acquired Demdex. In July 2011, the Company acquired EchoSign. In October 2011, the Company acquired Typekit Inc. In November 2011, it acquired Auditude Inc. In January 2012, the Company acquired Efficient Frontier. In December 2012, the Company acquired Behance. In May 2013, Adobe Systems Inc acquired Ideacodes LLC. In July 2013, Adobe Systems Inc announced the completion of acquisition of privately held Neolane.

Digital Media

The Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small! businesses and enterprises to create, publish, promote and monetize their content anywhere. Its customers include content creators, Web application developers and digital media professionals, as well as their management in marketing departments and agencies, companies and publishers. The flagship of the Company�� Digital Media business is its Creative Suite family of products. Consisting of 13 individual products and five suites that contain different configurations of these products, the Company focuses on the needs of professional customers, which include graphic designers, production artists, Web designers and developers, user interface designers, writers, videographers, motion graphic artists, prepress professionals, video game developers, mobile application developers, students and administrators. They use and rely on its solutions for publishing, Web design and development, video and animation production, mobile applications and gaming development and, document creation and collaboration. They work in businesses ranging from publishers, media companies and global enterprises, to design agencies, small and medium-sized businesses, and individual freelancers. Its Creative Suite family of products is used by creative professionals to create the printed and online information people see, read and interact with every day, including newspapers, magazines, websites, mobile applications, catalogs, advertisements, brochures, product documentation, books, memos, reports and banners. Its tools are also used to create content, including video, animation and mobile content, that is created by multimedia, film, television, audio and video producers who work in advertising, Web design, music, entertainment, corporate and marketing communications, product design, user interface design, sales training, printing, architecture and fine arts. Knowledge workers, educators and hobbyists also use its creative products to create and deliver content.

Adobe Digital Publishing solution is an online, hosted p! ublishing! solution that enables magazine and newspaper publishers to deliver engaging, reading experiences of their publications to an array of mobile and tablet devices. Its Digital Publishing solution utilizes E-commerce models to sell single issues and subscriptions directly to consumers through mobile marketplaces, and analytics capabilities based on its Adobe Digital Marketing Suite. The Company�� Digital Media-Creative products include Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium, Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard, Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection, Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium, CS Live Services, Adobe Digital Publishing solution, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Edge, Adobe Encore, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InCopy, Adobe InDesign, Adobe InDesign Server, Adobe Muse, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Photoshop Express Mobile, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Extended, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe Premiere Express, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Soundbooth, Adobe Story, Adobe Visual Communicator, Business Catalyst and TypeKit. Its Digital Media-Touch App Products include Adobe Revel, Adobe Collage, Adobe Debut, Adobe Ideas, Adobe Kuler, Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Proto. Its Developer and Platform products include Adobe AIR, Adobe Flash Builder, Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Flash Lite, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Flash Platform Services, Adobe Flex and PhoneGap Build. The Company�� Adobe Media Server products include Adobe Flash Access, Adobe Media Interactive Server, Adobe Media Enterprise Server, Adobe Media Live Encoder, Adobe Media Playback, Adobe Media Streaming Server, Adobe Video Streaming Service, Adobe Pass, Auditude, HTTP Dynamic Streaming, Digital Media, Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe Acrobat Suite, Adobe CreatePDF, Adobe SendNow and EchoSign.

The Company competes with Apple, Aviar! y, Avid, ! Corel, Microsoft, Quark, ACDsee, Mediascape, Xara, Bare Bones Software, FlashDevelop, JetBrains, Panic, MacRabbit, MacroMates, Oracle, Micro Focus, IBM, Amazon, Aquafada, Google, Texterity, Zinio, ACD Systems, AI Soft (Japan), ArcSoft, Corel, i4 (Japan), Kodak, Nova Development, Magix, Microsoft, Rovi, Sony, Canon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Nikon, Phase One, Autodesk, Broderbund and Grass Valley.

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing segment provides solutions and services for how digital advertising and marketing are created, managed, executed, measured and optimized. Its customers include digital marketers, advertisers, publishers, merchandisers, Web analysts, chief marketing officers and chief revenue officers. The Company�� Digital Marketing Business unit provides solutions that include Web analytics, online business optimization and Web experience management products, solutions and services. It delivers these capabilities through its Digital Marketing Suite, which includes its Day CQ5 WEM offerings, as well as the offerings gained through its acquisition of Efficient Frontier. The Company�� products include Adobe SearchCenter, Adobe AudienceManager, Context Optional Social Marketing Suite, Adobe CQ, Adobe Merchandising, Adobe Publish, Adobe Recommendations, Adobe Scene7 On-Demand, Adobe Search&Promote, Adobe SiteSearch, Adobe Test&Target, Adobe Discover, Adobe SiteCatalyst, Adobe SocialAnalytics, Adobe Survey, Adobe Tag Manager, Adobe Insight, Adobe Insight for Retail, Adobe CRX, Adobe DataWarehouse and Adobe Genesis.

The Company�� Digital Enterprise Products include Adobe Connect, Adobe LiveCycle Collaboration Service, Adobe LiveCycle Connectors for ECM, Adobe LiveCycle Content Services, Adobe LiveCycle Mosaic, Adobe LiveCycle Data Services, Adobe LiveCycle Forms, Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions, Adobe LiveCycle Output, Adobe LiveCycle PDF Generator, Adobe LiveCycle Production Print, Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures, Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management, A! dobe Live! Cycle Process Management, Adobe LiveCycle Business Activity Monitoring, Adobe LiveCycle Managed Services, Adobe Central Pro Output Server, Adobe LiveCycle Designer, Adobe Output Designer, Adobe Output Pak for mySAP.com and Adobe Web Output Pak.

The Company competes with Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, HP, salesforce.com, AdXpose, WebTrends, Infor, Nielsen Company, SAS Institute, Microsoft Advertising, WPP, Truviso, Clickfox, QlikTech, Teradata, Accenture, Acxiom Digital, [x + 1], Celebros, SLI Systems, Nextopia Software, Fredhopper. EMC, OpenText, Alfresco, CoreMedia, Percussion, SDL, Cisco WebEx, IBM Lotus Sametime, Citrix GoToMeeting, PegaSystems, Nuance and Ultimus.

Print and Publishing

The Company�� Print and Publishing business segment contains products and services that address market opportunities, including eLearning solutions, technical document publishing, Web application development and high-end printing. Its ColdFusion offering provides ways to build and deploy Internet applications. Developers can extend or integrate ColdFusion with Java or .NET applications, connect to enterprise data and applications, create and interact via Web services, or interface with short messaging service (SMS) on mobile devices or instant messaging clients. Its Print and Publishing products include Adobe Authorware, Adobe Captivate, Adobe ColdFusion, Adobe Contribute, Adobe Director, Adobe eLearning Suite, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe FrameMaker Server, Adobe Font Folio, Adobe JRun, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe PDF Print Engine, Adobe PostScript, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Shockwave Player, Adobe Technical Communication Suite, Adobe Type Classics for Learning, Adobe Type Sets and FreeHand MX.

The Company competes with Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From earnings reports to a new "Hobbit" film, let's take a look at the business news that will break in the week ahead. Monday -- Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow: Ski resorts are open for the season, and we'll get a great early read on how the business is holding up when Vail Resorts (MTN) reports fresh financials after Monday's market close. True to its name, Vail Resorts operates a ski property in Vail as well as nearby slopes in Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado. It also owns resorts in six different snowy states. Don't expect a quarterly profit out of Vail Resorts. The months of August, September, and October are naturally forgettable for ski resorts. Vail expects to generate four times as much revenue during the next three months as it did during the period that ended in October. However, Vail Resorts should be able to offer a glimpse about how the new ski season is starting to shape up. It has enough advance booking information to know what folks are willing to pay this year for a trek out to the slopes. Tuesday -- For Whom the Bell Tolls: It's once again great time to be a real estate developer. Home prices are moving higher, and those increases are moving at a headier clip than the costs to build new digs. We'll get a good snapshot of the housing industry when Toll Brothers (TOL) reports on Tuesday. The builder of upscale properties is typically blunt about its assessment, and naturally the news has been good in recent quarters as home buyers aren't walking away from their contracts, and asking prices keep inching up. Hovnanian (HOV) -- another developer that offers more accessibly priced properties -- reports two days later. Analysts see revenue surging 56 percent at Toll and 19 percent at Hovnanian. It's good to be a builder right now, but that won't remain that way i

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Gold Resource Corporation (GORO)

Gold Resource Corporation engages in the exploration for and production of gold and silver in Mexico. The company also explores for copper, lead, and zinc. It holds interest in the El Aguila project comprising 10 mining concessions aggregating approximately 20,055 hectares located in the State of Oaxaca. The company also holds interests in the El Rey property covering approximately 2,773 hectares; Las Margaritas property that covers an area of approximately 925 hectares; Alta Gracia property comprising approximately 5,175 hectares; El Chamizo property; Solaga property that include 2 mining concessions totaling 618 hectares; and El Fuego property covering approximately 2,554 hectares. Gold Resource Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Gold and silver miner Gold Resource (NYSEMKT: GORO  ) announced yesterday its June monthly distribution of $0.03 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two months after it cut the payout in half from $0.06 per share due to precious metal price volatility.�

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  We continue to recommend Newmont, [Coeur Mining (CDE)] and [Gold Resource Corp. (GORO)] as large cap, silver and small cap picks, respectively.

  Sterne Agee’s comments come one day after Ned Davis Research upgraded the gold sector to Neutral from Underweight. “…gold miners look to be finally bottoming,” John Laforge and Waren Pies wrote, though they say it’s too early to know if a new uptrend has begun.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Gold Resource (NYSE: GORO) dropped 20.90% to $6.44. Gold Resource shares have dropped 63.35% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 16.18% in the same period.

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Ctrip.com International Ltd.(CTRP)

Ctrip.com International, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides travel services for hotel accommodations, airline tickets, and packaged tours in the People?s Republic of China. It also sells independent leisure travelers bundled package-tour products, which include transportation and accommodation, as well as guided tours covering various domestic and international destinations. In addition, the company offers Internet-related advertising, aviation casualty insurance, and air-ticket delivery services. Further, it sells Property Management System, a hotel information software; travel guidebooks, which provide information for independent travelers; and VIP membership cards that allow cardholders to receive discounts from various restaurants, clubs, and bars. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of Chinese travel website Ctrip.com International (NASDAQ: CTRP  ) surged 19% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations. �

• [By Shareholders Unite]

  The Chinese travel agency Ctrip (CTRP) has been one of our best performers in the past 12 months. The shares more than tripled since we first suggested a buy at $13.69 almost exactly a year ago.

• [By GuruFocus]

  George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Walter Energy Inc.(WLT)

Walter Energy, Inc. produces and exports metallurgical coal for the steel industry primarily in the United States. The company also produces thermal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, coal bed methane gas, and other related products. It principally serves electric utility and industrial customers. The company was formerly known as Walter Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Walter Energy, Inc. in April 2009. Walter Energy, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Heading into the 2Q14 earnings season, we think the coal sector continues to be unloved with met coal prices close to bottom while steam coal prices are slightly cooling off after a strong rally during 1Q14. Similar to 1Q14, the two major challenges for coal producers remain weak met coal pricing and rail service limiting steam coal volume uptick. On the positive side, since 1Q14, we have gotten about 16 MTPA of global met coal production cuts, which are slowly flowing through the system but could take another three months to drive prices higher. On the other hand, rail service (BNSF and CSX) challenges continue, and we do not expect to see any major improvement through 2H14, which is later than expected during 1Q14, when some producers indicated 3Q14 normalization. We expect a majority of earnings calls to be focused on those two themes over and above company-specific issues (asset sales/divestitures, cost control, and balance sheet management). While still in the early days, we will look for any color on the coal industry’s preparedness for eventual implementation of GHG regulation announced by the EPA in early June. Within our coal coverage, we are lowering our 2014 EBITDA estimates by an average of 12% for the group, while our 2015��016 estimates are largely unchanged. In addition, we are adjusting our price targets for Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) to $25 from $26 and Walter Energy (WLT) to $7.50 from $8.50 as we update our coal price deck for 2Q14 actuals and the 3Q14 met coal benchmark settlement, as well as adjust for rail service issues in the Powder River Basin. In terms of our overall coal coverage, we continue to prefer steam coal names and/or low-cost met coal assets with solid balance sheets. Our Outperform rated names include Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, Cloud Peak Energy, and Consol Energy (CNX).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Amidst the coal slump that has battered the shares of producers like Walter Energy (WLT), Arch Coal (ACI) and Alpha natural Resources (ANR), Peabody Energy (BTU) has held up slightly better thanks to its “relatively more balanced financials.” That didn’t stop Imperial Capital’s Matthew Farwell from taking a sour view of Peabody Energy in a note today:

  Reuters

  We are assigning an Underperform Rating to the common stock and establishing a one-year price target of $5.00. We are assigning SELL ratings to select senior notes…While Peabody has a stellar reputation and a strong management team, in our view, its shares and senior notes likely will remain under pressure from rising leverage and instability in global coal markets. The shares currently are valued at about 12.4x EV/EBITDA, and could rise to 14.0x if coking coal were to settle at $110/t in the short-term, near where current spot prices are indicated. Our Underperform rating factors in a view that coking coal could settle in the $140-150/t range long-term and the shares should trade at 6.0x-7.0x normalized EBITDA. Our SELL rating on the senior notes is a function of high 7.4x net leverage that could rise to 8.4x with a similar short-term drop in coking coal, also causing free cash flow to turn negative, which would necessitate using revolver capacity or secured debt to cover pending maturities. We are most negative on longer-dated notes the market will realize would be layered with secured debt over time. Like more distressed coal producers (Walter Energy, Alpha Natural Resources, Arch Coal), Peabody�� troubles stem from the debt-financed acquisition of coking coal assets in the 2011 time period when it issued $4bn of debt to purchase Macarthur Coal.

  Shares of Peabody Energy have dropped 5.9% to $10.16 at 9:48 a.m. today, while Arch Coal has fallen 4.8% to $1.60, Alpha Natural Resources has declined 4.7% to $1.74 and Walter Energy is off 1.9% at $1.58.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) fell 4.55% to $7.97 after UBS downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell.

  Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) shares slipped 4.30% to $4.67 after UBS downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  When Goldman Sachs talks, people listen. So it’s odd to see Goldman upgrade Consol Energy (CNX) and for the coal miner to fall today. Even odder: Three coal stocks that were on the receiving end of price target cuts–Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Arch Coal (ACI) and Walter Energy (WLT)–have gained. At least Peabody Energy (BTU), which Goldman cut, is falling.

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: BankUnited Inc (BKU)

BankUnited, Inc. (BKU), incorporated on April 28, 2009, is a bank holding company with three wholly owned subsidiaries: BankUnited, National Association (the Bank) Herald National Bank (Herald), and BankUnited Investment Services, Inc. (BUIS), collectively, the Company. As of December 31, 2012, it provides a range of banking services to individual and corporate customers through 98 branches located in 15 Florida counties. Herald is a national banking association with 2 branch locations in the New York metropolitan area. BUIS is a Florida insurance agency providing wealth management and financial planning services. As of December 31, 2012, its distribution network also includes 97 automated teller machines (ATMs), online banking and a telephone banking service. As of December 31, 2011, the Bank had 98 branches in 15 counties. On February 29, 2012, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Herald National Bank (Herald).

Lending Activities

The Company�� primary lending focus is to serve consumers, commercial and middle-market businesses and their executives with a range of financial products and services. It offers a range of lending products, including small business loans, residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate loans, equipment loans and leases, term loans, asset-backed loans, municipal leases, letters of credit and commercial lines of credit. As part of the Company�� loan activities, it also purchases performing residential loans on a national basis.

The Company�� commercial loans, which are generally made to small and middle-market businesses, include equipment loans, lines of credit, acquisition finance credit facilities and an array of Small Business Administration product offerings, and typically have maturities of five years or less. It also offers term financing for the acquisition or refinancing of properties, primarily rental apartments, industrial properties, retail shopping centers and free-standing buildings, office! buildings and hotels located primarily in Florida. Other products that it provides include secured lines of credit, acquisition, development and construction loan facilities and construction financing.

The Company provides one- to four-single family residential real estate loans with terms ranging from 10 to 40 years, with either fixed or adjustable interest rates. Loans are offered to customers primarily in Florida through its branches and loan officers. The majority of its loans are owner occupied, full documentation loans. The Company offers consumer loans to its customers primarily in Florida for personal, family and household purposes, including home equity loans, auto, boat and personal installment loans.

Sources of Funds

The Company offers traditional deposit products, including checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit with a variety of rates. Demand deposits comprised 22% of total deposits as of December 31, 2012. The Company also utilizes Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances to finance its operations.

Wealth Management

Through financial consultants and bankers, BankUnited Investment Services provides a range of wealth management product offering that includes mutual funds, annuities, life insurance and individual securities. It also provides succession planning, estate planning, and financial planning to individuals and business owners. It uses a third-party financial services company to provide its trading platform, administrative and back office support, and provides its customers with around-the-clock access to account balances and summaries, positions and portfolio views, transaction detail, portfolio view, and online statements.

The Company competes with Bank of America, BankAtlantic, BB&T, JPMorgan Chase, Regions Bank, SunTrust Banks, TD Bank and Wells Fargo.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  Loews (NYSE: L) reported a 59% rise in its third-quarter earnings. Loews posted a quarterly profit of $282 million, or $0.73 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $177 million, or $0.45 per share. To read the full news, click here. BankUnited (NYSE: BKU) announced today the commencement of an underwritten offering of 9,000,000 shares of its common stock by certain of its existing stockholders, subject to market and other conditions. To read the full news, click here. Liberty Global (NASDAQ: LBTYA) announced today an agreement to sell substantially all of its international content division Chellomedia to AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX).To read the full news, click here. Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) today announced that validation data for the Myriad myPlan Lung Cancer test showed that it significantly predicted patients' risk of death from early-stage lung adenocarcinoma within five years of being diagnosed. To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Bank of America US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Just last week the investor group, in the last of a series of secondary offerings, said goodbye to BankUnited (NYSE: BKU) and cashed out, having more than doubled their money.

Hot Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2014: Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE)

Cenovus Energy, Inc. (Cenovus), incorporated on January 1, 2011, is a Canadian integrated oil company. The Company�� operations include oil sands projects in northern Alberta, which use specialized methods to drill and pump the oil to the surface. It also has natural gas and oil production in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It operates in four segments: oil sands, conventional, refining and marketing, and corporate and eliminations. The Company has 50% ownership with Phillips 66 in two United States refineries, which includes Wood River (Illinois) and Borger (Texas) refineries. It has two producing steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) projects in the oil sands-Foster Creek and Christina Lake, as well as several emerging projects which are in various stages of development. Foster Creek and Christina Lake are 50%-owned by ConocoPhillips. It also produces heavy oil from the mobile Wabiskaw formation at its 100%-owned Pelican Lake operation in the Greater Pelican Region, about 300 kilometers north of Edmonton.

Its reserves and production are located in Canada, primarily within the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. As of December 31, 2012, it had a land base of approximately seven million net acres and Company Interest Before Royalties proved reserves of approximately 1,717 million barrels of bitumen, 184 million barrels of heavy crude oil, 115 million barrels of light and medium crude oil and NGLs and 955 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It also had Company Interest Before Royalties probable reserves of approximately 676 million barrels of bitumen, 105 million barrels of heavy crude oil, 56 million barrels of light and medium crude oil and natural gas liquefied (NGLs) and 338 billion cubic feet of natural gas as of December 31, 2012.

Oil Sands

The Oil sands segment includes the development and production of Cenovus�� bitumen assets at Foster Creek, Christina Lake and Narrows Lake, as well as heavy oil assets at Pelican Lake. This segment also includes the Atha! basca natural gas assets and projects in the early stages of development, such as Grand Rapids and Telephone Lake. Certain of the Company�� operated oil sands properties, notably Foster Creek, Christina Lake and Narrows Lake, are jointly owned with ConocoPhillips. As of December 31, 2012, it had bitumen rights of approximately 1,469,000 gross acres (1,097,000 net acres) within the Athabasca and Cold Lake areas, as well as the exclusive rights to lease an additional 478,000 net acres areas on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range on its behalf and/or its assignee�� behalf.

As of December 31, 2012, there were 56 wells producing. It operates an 80 megawatt natural gas-fired cogeneration facility in conjunction with the SAGD operation at Foster Creek. The steam and power generated by the facility is presently being used within the SAGD operation and the excess power generated is being sold into the Alberta Power Pool. It has 50% interest in Christina Lake, an oil sands property in northeast Alberta that uses SAGD technology and produces from the McMurray formation. During 2011, the Company drilled three wells at Christina Lake using its Wedge WellTM technology. As of December 31, 2012, there were six producing wells.

The Company holds 50% interest in Narrows Lake, an oil sands property within the Christina Lake Region in northeast Alberta. The project includes gross production capacity of 130,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) of bitumen to be developed in up to three phases, with the first phase expected to have production capacity of approximately 45,000 barrels per day of bitumen. Using a pattern, horizontal well polymer flood, it produces heavy crude oil from the Cretaceous Wabiskaw formation at its Pelican Lake property, which is located within the Greater Pelican Region in northeast Alberta. During 2012, it drilled 76 heavy oil wells. The Company holds a 38% non-operated interest in 110 kilometers, 20-inch diameter crude oil pipeline, which connects the Pelican Lake area to a pipelin! e that tr! ansports crude oil from northern Alberta to crude oil markets.

The Company�� new resource play assets include oil sands properties. Its Grand Rapids property is located in the Greater Pelican Region in northeast Alberta, where deposits of bitumen have been identified in the Cretaceous Grand Rapids formation. Its Telephone Lake property is located in the Borealis Region in northeast Alberta. The Steepbank and East McMurray properties are also located in the Borealis Region, southwest of Telephone Lake. It produces natural gas from the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range and several surrounding landholdings located in northeast Alberta and hold surface access and natural gas rights for exploration, development and transportation from areas. The majority of its natural gas production in the area is processed through wholly owned and operated compression facilities.

Conventional

Conventional segment includes the development and production of conventional crude oil, NGLs and natural gas in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It includes the carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery project at Weyburn and emerging tight oil opportunities. As of December 31, 2012, it had an established land position of approximately 4.9 million gross acres, of which approximately 3.2 million gross acres are developed. The mineral rights on approximately 59% of its net landholdings are owned in fee title by Cenovus. It leases Crown lands in some areas in Alberta, mainly in the Early Cretaceous geological formations, primarily in the Suffield and Wainwright areas.

The Company holds interests in multiple zones in the Suffield, Brooks North, Langevin, Drumheller, and Wainwright areas in southern Alberta with a mix of medium and heavy crude oil production. Development in these areas focuses on infill drilling, optimization of existing wells and other specialized oil recovery methods. It operates water handling facilities to manage oil production. In the unitized portion of the Weyburn crude oil field ! in southe! ast Saskatchewan, it has 62% working interest. The Weyburn unit produces light and medium sour crude oil from the Mississippian Midale formation and covers 78 sections of land. As of December 31, 2012, approximately 90% of the approved CO2 flood pattern development at the Weyburn unit was completed. It holds interests in multiple zones in the Suffield, Brooks North, Langevin and Drumheller areas in southern Alberta.

Refining and Marketing

Refining and marketing segment is focused on the refining of crude oil products into petroleum and chemical products at two refineries located in the United States. The refineries are jointly owned with and operated by Phillips 66. This segment also markets Cenovus�� crude oil and natural gas, as well as third-party purchases and sales of product that provide operational flexibility for transportation commitments, product type, delivery points and customer diversification.

Through WRB Refining LP (WRB), the Company has 50% ownership interest in both the Wood River and Borger Refineries located in Roxana, Illinois and Borger, Texas respectively. ConocoPhillips is the operator and manager of WRB. As of December 31, 2012, the Wood River refinery had a processing capacity of approximately 306,000 barrels per day of crude oil, including approximately 110,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil. It processes light low-sulphur and heavy high-sulphur crude oil that it receives from North American crude oil pipelines to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, petrochemical feedstocks and asphalt. As December 31, 2012, the Borger Refinery had a processing capacity of approximately 146,000 barrels per day of crude oil, including approximately 35,000 barrels per day of heavy crude oil, and approximately 45,000 barrels per day of NGLs. It processes crude oil and NGLs that it receives from North American pipeline systems to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel along with NGLs and solvents.

The Company's Marketing group is focused ! on enhanc! ing the netback price of its production. It manages the transportation and marketing of crude oil for its upstream operations. It also manages the marketing of its natural gas, which is primarily sold to industrials, other producers and energy marketing companies.

Corporate and Eliminations

The segment includes inter-segment eliminations that relate to transactions that have been recorded at transfer prices based on current market prices, as well as unrealized intersegment profits in inventory. The Corporate and Eliminations segment also includes Cenovus costs for general and administrative and financing activities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Whether KXL is approved is unlikely to have a big impact on any particular company. TransCanada would probably see the most significant share price movement, but the project isn�� a make-or-break for the company. Oil sands producers like Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CVE, TSE: CVE) have signed up to ship on KXL, and could see some share price movement as well. KXL would probably be the low-cost shipping option for Cenovus and other oil sands producers, but during my visit to Fort McMurray in November Cenovus emphasized that whether KXL is approved or not, the outcome would have no effect on its growth plans given the ready availability of alternatives.