If you want to figure out how much money you're spending, using a budget spreadsheet can give you the most complete picture of where your hard-earned cash goes every month. But spreadsheets can be intimidating to many people. If you're one of them, we'll have some budgeting alternatives for you later in this article to help you stay smart with your cash.
The pros and cons of spreadsheets
As Fool contributor Selena Maranjian discussed late last month, a budget spreadsheet can be a useful tool in tracking your money. By helping you keep track of every last penny that you spend and giving you complete flexibility in dividing your expenses into as many relevant categories as you see fit to create, building your own spreadsheet lets you tailor your budgeting strategy to play to your own particular strengths and avoid your specific weaknesses.
Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group Inc (DBMM)
Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group Inc. (DBMM), formerly RTG Ventures, Inc., incorporated on September 29, 1998, designs and executes digital marketing strategies across multiple ad platforms and social media networks for a broad array of clients to help each of them establish a uniform brand identity across the digital universe. Digital Clarity is a Digital Marketing Agency that has been at the forefront of online marketing.
The Company is engaged in search engine marketing, Web design, social media including digital analysis, the Company works with both brands and medium sized companies to help leverage online brand presence and new customer acquisition strategy. Digital Clarity also delivers consultancy and strategy planning for both client companies and advertising agency partners. Pay per click (PPC) (also called Cost per click) is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher (typically a Website owner) when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a Website or a Web page in search engines via the natural or un-paid (organic or algorithmic) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it receives from the search engine's users. Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses email as a means of communicating commercial or fund-raising messages to an audience.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Last Friday, small cap Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group Inc (OTCMKTS: DBMM) surged 22.22% while Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) sank 18.42% and Medina International Holdings, Inc (OTCMKTS: MIHI) sank 50%. However, one of these small caps (Blue Water Global Group) appears to be reversing course in early morning trading today. So with it and the rest of these small cap stocks either sink or swim in trading this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy:
Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)
Devon Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the United States and Canada. It also involves in transporting oil, gas, and natural gas liquids (NGL); and processing natural gas. The company owns oil and gas properties in the mid-continent area of the central and southern United States; the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Rocky Mountains area of the United States; and the onshore areas of the Gulf Coast, principally in south Texas and south Louisiana. It also owns oil and gas properties in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition, the company offers marketing and midstream services, including marketing of gas, crude oil, and NGL, as well as constructing and operating pipelines, storage and treating facilities, and natural gas processing plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had 2,042 million barrel of oil equivalent of proved developed reserves. The company sells its gas production to various customers, such as pipelines, utilities, gas marketing firms, industrial users, and local distribution companies; crude oil production to refiners, remarketers, and other companies; and NGL production to customers in petrochemical, refining, and heavy oil blending activities. Devon Energy Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Joel South and Taylor Muckerman]
To find long-term value in surging markets sometimes its best to dive into the discount bin. In the video below, energy analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman look into the lagging energy sector to find a rare gem in Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN ) . This exploration and production company is trading�significantly�under its net asset value as the market continues to punish energy producers who hold significant natural gas assets in addition to oil sands�acreage.�
- [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) �shares rose 5%. Devon is close to reaching a deal to buy GeoSouthern Energy Corp. for about $6 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. A deal could come as early as Wednesday, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
- [By Alyce Lomax]
This past proxy season, more investors have apparently seen the light when it comes to majority voting, and believe it will be a good thing at their companies. Check out the following significant vote results.
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) is a massive and popular blue chip company. However, a sizable 45% of its shareholders voted in favor of majority voting. Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN ) shareholders pretty much split in half on the majority voting issue, with 51% voting for the policy. In that case, individual investors who sat on the sidelines and didn't vote (and we know that many still do) could have made a difference in a victory that barely squeaked by. Aetna (NYSE: AET ) experienced a landslide -- a landslide defeat on this issue, that is. John Chevedden's proposal for majority voting received 76% of shareholders' votes.Significant shareholder revolts
Executive compensation remains the less esoteric issue, and it's alive and well in 2013 as majority voting gains more traction. This year, a few high-profile say-on-pay defeats or squeakers should grab our attention.
Hot Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: The Marcus Corp (MCS)
The Marcus Corporation, incorporated in August 2005, is engaged in two segments: movie theatres, hotels and resorts. As of May 26, 2011, the Company�� theatre operations included 55 movie theatres with 684 screens throughout Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa, including two movie theatres with 11 screens in Wisconsin and Nebraska owned by third parties but managed by the Company. As of May 26, 2011, its hotels and resorts operations included eight owned and operated hotels and resorts in Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois and Oklahoma. It also manages 10 hotels, resorts and other properties for third parties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Nevada and California. As of May 26, 2011, it owned or managed over 4,700 hotel and resort rooms. In September 2010, it purchased a 16-screen theatre in Appleton, Wisconsin from Regal Entertainment Group. During the fiscal year ended May 26, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Xona Resort Suites in Scottsdale, Arizona was sold by its owners and its management contract for this resort was terminated.
Theatre Operations
During fiscal 2011, the Company owned or operated 55 movie theatre locations with a total of 684 screens in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Company�� 53 owned facilities include 33 megaplex theatres (12 or more screens), representing 75% of its total screens, 19 multiplex theatres (two to 11 screens) and one single-screen theatre. During fiscal 2011, it operated 663 first-run screens, 11 of which are operated under management contracts, and 21 budget-oriented screens. It owns land in six different communities that may be used for new theatres at a future date, including land in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. It owns a minority interest in MovieTickets.com, a joint venture of movie and entertainment companies that was created to sell movie tickets over the Internet and represents a large majority of the top 50 market theatre screens throughout the United ! States and Canada.
As of May 26, 2011, the Company offered digital three dimensional (3D) systems at 101 screens, including 11 UltraScreens, at 35 of its theatre locations in seven states. As of May 26, 2011, there were approximately 35 3D films. It sells food and beverage concessions in all of its movie theatres. The Company also own a family entertainment center, Funset Boulevard, adjacent to the 14-screen movie theatre in Appleton, Wisconsin. Funset Boulevard features a 40,000 square foot Hollywood-themed indoor amusement facility that includes a restaurant, party room, laser tag center, virtual reality games, arcade, outdoor miniature golf course and batting cages.
Hotels and Resorts Operations
The Company owns and operates the Pfister Hotel, which is located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Pfister Hotel is a full service luxury hotel and has 307 guest rooms (including 82 luxury suites and 176 tower rooms), two restaurants, three cocktail lounges and a 275-car parking ramp. It also has 24,000 square feet of banquet and convention facilities. The Pfister�� banquet and meeting rooms accommodate up to 3,000 people and the hotel features two large ballrooms, including one of the ballrooms in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, with banquet seating for 1,200 people. It owns and operates the 729-room Hilton Milwaukee City Center. The Hilton Milwaukee City Center also features Paradise Landing, an indoor water park and family fun center that features water slides, swimming pools, a sand beach, lounge and restaurant. The hotel also has two cocktail lounges, two restaurants and an 870-car parking ramp. It owns and operates the 240-room Hilton Madison at Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. The Hilton Madison is connected by skywalk to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, has four meeting rooms totaling 2,400 square feet, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, a lounge and a restaurant.
The Company owns and operates the Grand Geneva ! Resort & ! Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The resort is located on 1,300 acres and includes 355 guest rooms, over 60,000 square feet of banquet, meeting and exhibit space, over 13,000 square feet of ballroom space, three specialty restaurants, two cocktail lounges, two championship golf courses, several ski hills, two indoor and five outdoor tennis courts, three swimming pools, a spa and fitness complex, horse stables and an on-site airport. The Company owns and operates the Hotel Phillips, a 217-room hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hotel Phillips has conference rooms totaling 5,600 square feet of meeting space, a 2,300 square foot ballroom, a restaurant and a lounge. The Company owns and operates the InterContinental Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The InterContinental Milwaukee has 220 rooms, 12,000 square feet of flexible banquet and meeting space, on-site parking, a fitness center, a restaurant and a lounge and is located in the heart of Milwaukee�� theatre and financial district.
The Company is the operator of the Skirvin Hilton hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The hotel has 225 rooms, including 20 one-bedroom suites and one Presidential Suite. The Skirvin Hilton has a restaurant, lounge, fitness center, indoor swimming pool, business center and approximately 18,500 square feet of meeting space. The Company operates the Four Points by Sheraton Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile, a 226-room (including 130 suites) hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Four Points by Sheraton Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile has affordable, well-appointed guest rooms and suites, 3,000 square feet of high-tech meeting rooms, an indoor swimming pool and fitness room and an on-site parking facility. The hotel leases space to two area restaurants. It manages the Crowne Plaza-Northstar Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Crowne Plaza-Northstar Hotel is located in downtown Minneapolis and has 226 guest rooms, 13 meeting rooms, 6,370 square feet of ballroom and convention space, a restaurant, a cocktail lounge and an ! exercise ! facility.. It manages Beverly Garland�� Holiday Inn in North Hollywood, California. The Beverly Garland has 257 guest rooms, including 12 suites, meeting space for up to 600, including an amphitheater and ballroom, an outdoor swimming pool and lighted tennis courts.
The Company also provides hospitality management services, including check-in, housekeeping and maintenance, for a vacation ownership development adjacent to the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa owned by Orange Lake Resort & Country Club of Orlando, Florida. It manages the Hilton Garden Inn Houston NW/Chateau in Houston, Texas. The Hilton Garden Inn has 171 guest rooms, a ballroom, a restaurant, a fitness center, a convenience mart and a swimming pool. It manages and owns a 15% minority interest in the Sheraton Madison Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. The Sheraton Madison features 237 rooms and suites, an indoor heated swimming pool, whirlpool, fitness center, a restaurant, lounge and 18,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Company manages and owns a 15% minority interest in the Westin Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. The Westin Columbus is an AAA four-diamond full-service historic hotel, which includes 186 rooms and suites and offers more than 12,000 square feet of meeting, banquet and ballroom space, a restaurant and a cocktail lounge. It manages the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, which offers 257 rooms and suites, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness facility, and a business center. It manages the Hilton Minneapolis/Bloomington in Bloomington, Minnesota. It manages the Timber Ridge Lodge, an indoor/outdoor waterpark and condominium complex in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Timber Ridge Lodge has meeting rooms totaling 3,640 square feet, a general store, a restaurant-cafe, a snack bar and lounge, a fitness center and an entertainment arcade. It manages the Platinum Hotel & Spa, a condominium hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada just off the Las Vegas Strip, and owns the hotel�� public space. The Platinum Hotel & Spa ! has 255 on! e and two-bedroom suites.
The Company competes with AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Regal Cinemas, Carmike Cinemas, Hyatt Corporation, Marriott Corporation, Ramada Inns and Holiday Inns.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Marcus (NYSE: MCS ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Microchip Technology Incorporated(MCHP)
Microchip Technology Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products for various embedded control applications. It offers a family of microcontroller products that include 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers; and 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controllers, which feature on-board flash memory technology. The company also provides a set of application development tools that enable system designers to program a PIC microcontroller and dsPIC DSC for specific applications. In addition, it offers analog and interface products, which consist of various families with approximately 600 power management, linear, mixed-signal, thermal management, safety and security, and interface products. Further, the company provides memory products comprising serial electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. Its products are used in various applications in automotive, communications, computing, consumer, and industrial contr ol markets. Microchip Technology Incorporated markets its products primarily through a network of direct sales personnel and distributors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Chandler, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP), a leading provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, reported that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of 35.1 cents per share.
Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Continental Gold Ltd (CGOOF.PK)
Continental Gold Limited is an exploration-stage company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, evaluation and development of principally gold resource properties in Colombia. The Company holds the rights to explore and develop six properties in Colombia totaling approximately 122,317 hectares. The Buritica project encompasses an aggregate area of 57,588 hectares and is located about 75 kilometers northwest of Medellin in the Antioquia Department of north-western Colombia. The Berlin project covers an aggregate area of 25,059 hectares. The project area is located 90 kilometers north of Medellin in the Antioquia Department. The Dominical project encompasses an aggregate area of 24,327 hectares and is located in southern Colombia in the Cauca Department. The project area is consists of four registered concessions totaling 5,590 hectares, five pending registration concessions totaling 3,426 hectares and 10 concession applications covering 15,311 hectares. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Markus Aarnio]
Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).
Best Dow Dividend Companies To Watch In Right Now: Cree Inc.(CREE)
Cree, Inc. develops and manufactures light emitting diodes (LEDs), LED lighting, and semiconductor solutions for wireless and power applications. Its LED products include blue and green LED chips that are used in various applications, including video screens, gaming displays, function indicator lights, and automotive backlighting; LED components comprising a range of packaged LED products and LED modules for lighting applications; LED lighting products, such as LED downlights, LED troffers, and LED lamps or bulbs for construction, retrofit, and renovation projects in commercial, governmental, and residential applications; and silicon carbide (SiC) wafers, which are used in the manufacture of optoelectronics, microwave, power switching, and other applications. The company also provides semiconductor materials and devices primarily based on silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), and related compounds. Its power and radio frequency (RF) products include SiC-based power products comprising 600, 1,200, and 1,700-volt Schottky diodes, as well as 1,200-volt SiC metal semiconductor field-effect transistor switches that are used in power factor correction circuits for power supplies in computer servers and other applications, such as solar inverters; and RF devices, including a range of GaN high electron mobility transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits for military or commercial applications, as well as 10 watt and 60 watt SiC transistors and metal semiconductor field effect transistor products. The company primarily operates in China, the United States, Europe, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Cree, Inc. was formerly known as Cree Research, Inc. and changed its name in January 2000. Cree, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Durham, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jon C. Ogg]
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $80 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $80 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
- [By Eric Volkman]
Cree (NASDAQ: CREE ) just-released results revealed a strong Q3 for the LED lighting specialist. For the quarter, net revenue totaled just under $349 million, a substantial gain from the $285 million posted in the same period the previous year. Non-GAAP net profit advanced 75% on a year-over-year basis, coming in at $40.8 million ($0.34 per diluted share) from Q3 2012's $23.3 million ($0.20).
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