The number of job openings rose 1.5% to 3.9 million and was close to November's five-year high, the Labor Department said Tuesday.
Hiring dipped to 4.54 million from 4.58 million in December. While openings generally have returned to pre-recession levels, hiring is still lagging.
The number of available jobs and hiring held up fairly well in January despite a slowdown in job growth that some economists have partly attributed to unusually cold and stormy weather. The economy added just 129,000 jobs in January, turning in weak gains for the second straight month. Last week, the government said employers added 175,000 jobs in February.
Hiring picked up in professional and business services, construction and education and health. It fell in manufacturing, retail and trade, transportation and utilities.
Top 10 Airline Companies To Watch For 2015: Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (FBHS)
Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc., incorporated on June 9, 1988, is engaged in home and security products with companies focused on the design, manufacture and sale of products in Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry, Plumbing & Accessories, advanced material windows & entry door Systems, and security and storage products. The Company operates through four business segments: Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry, Plumbing & Accessories, Advanced Material Windows & Door Systems, and Security & Storage. The Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry segment manufactures custom, semi-custom, and stock cabinetry for the kitchen, bath, and other areas of the home. Plumbing & Accessories segment manufactures and assembles faucets, accessories, and kitchen sinks. The Advanced Material Windows & Door Systems segment manufactures and sells fiberglass and steel entry door systems. The Security & Storage segment provides locks, safety, and security devices and electronic security products. In June 2013, Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc completed the acquisition of WoodCrafters Home Products.
Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry
The Company�� Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry segment�� products includes brand names, such as Aristokraft, Omega, Kitchen Craft, Schrock, Diamond, HomeCrest, Decora, Kemper, Thomasville and Martha Stewart Living. Principally all of this segment�� sales are in North America. The Company sells directly to kitchen and bath dealers, home centers, wholesalers and builders. During the year ended December 31, 2012, sales to The Home Depot and Lowe's consisted of approximately 32% of net sales of the Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry segment.
The Company competes with Masco and American Woodmark.
Plumbing & Accessories
The Plumbing & Accessories segment manufactures accessories and kitchen sinks in North America, China and India, predominantly under the Moen brand. The sells its Plumbing & Accessories products principally in the United States and Canada. It also sells them in China, India, ! Mexico, South America and Southeast Asia. It sells directly through its own sales force and indirectly through independent manufacturers��representatives, primarily to wholesalers, home centers, mass merchandisers and industrial distributors. During 2012, sales to The Home Depot and Lowe's consisted of approximately 29% of net sales of the Plumbing & Accessories segment.
The Company competes with Delta, Kohler, Pfister and American Standard.
Advanced Material Windows & Door Systems
The Company�� Advanced Material Windows & Door Systems segment manufactures fiberglass and steel entry door systems, vinyl-framed window and patio doors, and urethane millwork product lines. Therma-Tru products include fiberglass and steel residential entry door and patio door systems, primarily for sale in the United States and Canada. Simonton brand of vinyl-framed windows and patio doors are mainly manufactured and sold in the United States. The segment�� principal customers are home centers, millwork building products and wholesale distributors, and specialty dealers that provide products to the residential new construction market, as well as to the remodeling and renovation markets. During 2012, sales to The Home Depot and Lowe�� comprised approximately 17% of net sales of the Advanced Material Windows & Door Systems segment.
The Company competes with Masonite, JELD-WEN and Plastpro, Silverline, Atrium and Milgard.
Security & Storage
The Company�� Security & Storage segment consists of locks, safety and security devices, and electronic security products manufactured, sourced and distributed by Master Lock and tool storage and garage organization products manufactured by Waterloo. The segment sells products principally in the United States Canada, Europe, Australia and Central America. Master Lock manufactures and sells key-controlled and combination padlocks, bicycle and cable locks, built-in locker locks, door hardware, automotive, t! railer an! d towing locks, and other specialty safety and security devices. Master Lock sells products for consumer use to hardware and other retail outlets, wholesale distributors and home centers, industrial and institutional users, original equipment manufacturers and retail outlets. During 2012, Security & Storage sales to international markets comprised approximately 20% of sales.
Waterloo manufactures tool storage and garage organization products, steel toolboxes, tool chests, workbenches and related products. Waterloo primarily sells to Sears retail stores. In addition, Waterloo sells under the Waterloo and private-label brand names to specialty industrial and automotive dealers, mass merchandisers, home centers and hardware stores.
The Company competes with Asian importers, Homak, Stanley Black & Decker, Snap-On, Kennedy, Stack-On and others in the metal storage segment and with Stanley Black & Decker, Keter, Newell Rubbermaid
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Despite economic and political turmoil, equity markets performed well across the board in September of 2013 and over the trailing twelve months. The September gains reversed losses in August and also resulted in positive overall quarterly performance with a number of major indexes moving further into record territory. After disturbing the markets in May and June with comments that they may taper Quantitative Easing (QE), the Fed surprised investors with an announcement that it would not reduce its asset purchases in the near-term. The announcement removed fears that a continued rise in interest rates may stall the economic recovery, as seen by the market's negative reaction to the sharp rise in the 10-year Treasury rate in August of 2013. Investors were also comforted by improving fundamentals both domestically and abroad. The Eurozone may finally be emerging from its prolonged recession and a number of economic reports in the U.S. continue to show progress. Specifically, initial unemployment claims dropped to a multiyear low early in September and the housing market continued to improve, as evidenced by prices rising 12.4 percent year-over year, which along with the stock market's strength, has created a positive wealth effect for consumers. In response to this general economic improvement, consumer confidence increased at the end of September, and the index of leading economic indicators ticked up as well, suggesting that, absent the effects of politics, the recovery in the real economy was continuing. Our portfolios that focus on corporate restructuring (Keeley Small Cap Value, Keeley Small-Mid Cap Value, Keeley Mid Cap Value, Keeley All Cap Value, and Keeley Alternative Value) have all experienced a productive investment cycle with respect to their opportunity sets, and many of our holdings have posted impressive results in recent quarters. Although we acknowledge an improving economy has boosted the outlook for our more cyclical holdings, our research has gu
- [By Joseph Gacinga]
Another notable case is the spinoff of Fortune Brands Home & Security (NYSE: FBHS ) from Beam (NYSE: BEAM ) in 2011. Fortune Brands Home & Security shares have climbed at a much faster clip than Beam's shares since then.
- [By Marc Bastow]
Home security products distributor Fortune Brands Home and Security (FBHS) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 12 cents per share, payable on March 19 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 28.
FBHS Dividend Yield: 1.13%
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI)
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CB&I) is one of the integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services providers and process technology licensors, delivering solutions to customers primarily in the energy, petrochemical and natural resource industries. CB&I consist of three business sectors: Steel Plate Structures, Project Engineering and Construction, and Lummus Technology. Through these business sectors, the Company offers services both independently and on an integrated basis.
As of December 31, 2012, the Company had more than 900 projects in process in more than 70 countries. On February 13, 2013, it acquired The Shaw Group Inc. (Shaw).
Steel Plate Structures
Steel Plate Structures provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services, including mechanical erection services, for the hydrocarbon, water and nuclear industries. Projects include above ground storage tanks, elevated storage tanks, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanks, pressure vessels, and other specialty structures, such as nuclear containment vessels. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as ADNOC (Abu Dhabi), CNOOC (China) and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia); and regional energy companies, such as Kinder Morgan (United States) and Suncor (Canada).
Project Engineering and Construction
Project Engineering and Construction provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services for upstream and downstream energy infrastructure facilities. Projects include LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals, gas processing plants, refinery units, petrochemical complexes and a wide range of other energy-related projects. Customers include international energy companies, such as British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as Ecopetrol (Colombia) and ORPIC (Oman); and regio! nal energy companies, such as Dominion (United States), Gazprom (Russia), Nexen (United Kingdom), and Woodside (Australia).
Lummus Technology
Lummus Technology provides licenses, services, catalysts and equipment for the hydrocarbon refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron and Shell; national energy companies, such as Pemex (Mexico), Petrochina (China), Rosneft (Russia) and Sabic (Saudi Arabia); and regional refiners and chemical and gas processing companies, such as China Coal (China), IRPC (Thailand), Kazakhstan Petrochemical (Kazakhstan), and Williams Energy Services (United States).
Power provides a range of services, including design, EPC, technology and consulting services, primarily to the fossil and nuclear power generation industries. Plant Services provides electric power refueling outage maintenance, turnaround maintenance, routine maintenance, offshore maintenance, modifications, capital construction, off-site modularization, fabrication, reliability engineering, plant engineering, plant support and specialty services. Additionally, it provides services to restore, rebuild, repair, renovate and modify industrial and electric power generation facilities, and offers predictive and preventive maintenance services. Environmental & Infrastructure (E&I) provides full-scale environmental and infrastructure services for government and private-sector clients. These services include program and project management, design-build, engineering and construction, sustainability and energy efficiency, remediation and restoration, science and technology, facilities management and emergency response and disaster recovery. Fabrication and Manufacturing is a worldwide supplier of fabricated piping systems primarily to the electric power, petrochemical and refinery industries, supporting both external clients and other Shaw business sectors.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Chicago Bridge & Iron�(CBI) has gained 2.7% to $81.70 after the engineering firm trounced earnings forecasts but missed ever so slightly on revenue.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Winning a big contract is usually good news for a company like Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), and today was no exception, as the engineering company won contract to build a liquefied natural gas facility.
Bloomberg NewsThe New Orleans Times-Picayune has the details:
Netherlands-based energy infrastructure company Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) and Chiyoda International Corp., a Japan-based contractor that designs and constructs LNC plants, announced that they were contracted by Cameron LNC, LLC to construct the Cameron Liquefaction Project in Hackberry, La…
The $6 billion contract will include procurement, engineering and construction of natural gas liquefaction and export facilities that will be added to the existing LNC regasification facility. It’s expected to create about 3,000 on-site jobs including several hundred jobs at CB&I’s fabrication facilities in Louisiana. Additionally, officials expect several hundred engineering and project management jobs at its Baton Rouge office that will support design, fabrication and construction of the new facilities.
Deutsche Bank’s Vishal Shah and team consider the impact on Chicago Bridge & Iron, as well as Fluor (FLR), who had a competing bid:
While the award of Cameron LNG is clearly a positive for [Chicago Bridge & Iron], we believe this project could provide upside of $1.6B to our current new award estimate of $13.6B for 2014. Additionally, this project win further supports�[Chicago Bridge & Iron] as a leader in [liquefied natural gas] projects. The company is currently in the running for Golden Pass LNG ($10B), Anadarko Mozambique LNG ($15B, competing against FLR) and Russia Far East LNG ($15B), all of which will likely be awarded in 2015. As for [Fluor], our probability-weighted new award estimate for Cameron was $1.4B, which suggests that 2014 new awards could be $24.6B, vs. our current estimate of $26.0B.
Shares
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: KBR Inc. (KBR)
KBR, Inc. operates as an engineering, construction, and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power, and industrial sectors worldwide. Its Downstream business unit provides front end engineering design; detailed engineering; engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC); EPC management; and program management services to petrochemical, refining, coal gasification, and syngas markets. The company?s Government and Infrastructure business unit provides program and project management, contingency logistics, operations and maintenance, construction management, engineering, and other services to military and civilian branches of governments and private clients. Its Services business unit delivers engineering, construction, construction management, fabrication, maintenance, and turnaround services. It also offers maintenance, construction, and drilling support services for offshore oil and gas producing facili ties using semisubmersible vessels. This segment serves oil, gas, petrochemicals, and hydrocarbon processing industries, as well as power, alternate energy, pulp and paper, industrial and manufacturing, and pharmaceutical industries. The company?s Technology business unit offers various process technologies, including value-added technologies in the coal monetization, petrochemical, refining, and syngas markets. Its Upstream business unit constructs liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, onshore oil and gas production facilities, offshore oil and gas production facilities, and onshore and offshore pipelines. The company?s Ventures business unit invests in and manages projects, where the company provides engineering, construction, construction management or operations, and maintenance services. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Houston, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Aaron Levitt]
Those hefty contract wins, plus the forward P/E of just 14 — make CBI one of the best stocks to buy.
KBR (KBR)Spun-off from oil service stock Halliburton (HAL), KBR (KBR) could an interesting ��alue��pick for building outAmerica�� energy boom.
- [By Monica Gerson]
KBR (NYSE: KBR) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.70 per share on revenue of $1.99 billion.
Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is estimated to post a Q3 loss at $0.04 per share on revenue of $142.67 million.
- [By Rich Smith]
Raytheon's rockets will be deployed to defend the base, while Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) is managing the overall project. And last week, we found out who will build it, when government contractor KBR (NYSE: KBR ) was awarded $134 million to turn the 430-acre site into a missile base.
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Foster Wheeler AG. (FWLT)
Foster Wheeler AG, through its subsidiaries, operates as an engineering and construction contractor; and power generating equipment supplier worldwide. Its Global Engineering and Construction division designs, engineers, and constructs onshore and offshore upstream oil and gas processing facilities; natural gas liquefaction facilities and receiving terminals; gas-to-liquids facilities; and oil refining, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology facilities, as well as related infrastructure, including power generation, distribution, gasification, and processing facilities for metals and mining sector. This division also designs carbon capture and storage, and solid fuel-fired integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants, as well as coal-to-liquids, coal-to-chemicals, and biofuels facilities; and operates power generation facilities, such as conventional and renewable source, and waste-to-energy facilities. In addition, it offers project and constr uction management services, including procurement of equipment, materials, and services from third-party suppliers and contractors; provides environmental remediation services; and designs and supplies direct-fired furnaces comprising fired heaters and waste heat recovery generators used in refinery, chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas processes. The company�s Global Power division designs, manufactures, and erects steam generators and auxiliary equipment, including surface condensers, feedwater heaters, coal pulverizers, steam generator coils and panels, biomass gasifiers, and replacement parts; nitrogen-oxide reduction systems and components; and flue gas desulfurization equipment for steam generators. It also offers various site services; conducts research and development in combustion, fluid and gas dynamics, heat transfer, materials, and solid mechanics areas; and licenses technology to other steam generator suppliers. The company was founded in 1894 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq:FWLT) reported that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by PDVSA Petrč´¸leo S.A. for the engineering, procurement services and construction management (EPCm) for the El Palito Refinery Expansion Project in Venezuela.
- [By Tom Rojas and Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
Foster Wheeler AG's(FWLT) third-quarter earnings and revenue fell short of analysts’ estimates, hurt in part by a higher tax rate. Shares ticked down slightly to $30.87 premarket.
- [By Dimitra DeFotis]
Engineering and construction companies like�Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) have contracted with Rosneft and ExxonMobil (XOM) on a proposed $15 billion Russian liquefied-natural gas (LNG) project. But Russian gas giant Gazprom dominates. Research from last fall here on how�Russia has been pushing to liberalize and expand its natural gas market.�(subscription required)
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC)
Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA (FCC) is a Spain-based company, which is primarily engaged, together with its subsidiaries in the construction and environmental services sector. The Company�� activities include the collection, treatment and elimination of solid urban waste, street cleaning, sewer system maintenance, green areas and buildings maintenance, urban transport, treatment and elimination of industrial waste, full-service water supply management and cement manufacture. The Company is also active in the real estate development, as well as in the renewable energy industry. In addition, the Company is a parent of Grupo FCC, a group which comprises a number of controlled entities. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Quick Pen]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) do not want the number of players in the telecom sector to shrink below four ��Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. To this Sprint�� Son argues that the industry already has four players ��Verizon that purchased Vodafone�� stake in it, AT&T which plans to acquire DirecTV (DTV), and Comcast (CMCSA); Sprint would be the fourth one. But these antitrust issues have been a challenge for Sprint.
- [By Live Investor]
What does the FCC have to say? The regulator�� reaction is nothing surprising. After Son met the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to convince them about the prospects of the proposed deal, Reuters reported that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler wasn�� quite impressed and had dubious thoughts on it.
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd (CSTE)
Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd. (Caesarstone), incorporated on December 31, 1989, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the manufacturing of engineered quartz surfaces sold under its premium Caesarstone brand. Caesarstone�� products consist of engineered quartz slabs, which are sold in 42 countries. The Company�� products are primarily used as kitchen countertops in the renovation and remodeling end markets. Other applications include vanity tops, wall panels, back splashes, floor tiles, stairs and other interior surfaces that are used in a range of residential and non-residential applications. On May 18, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% of the shares of U.S. Quartz Products, Inc.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, it acquired its former United States distributor, Caesarstone USA. As of December 2011, the Company has subsidiaries in Australia, Singapore, Canada and the United States, which is engaged in the marketing and selling of the Company�� products in different geographic areas. Through its design and manufacturing processes it offers a range of colors, styles, designs and textures. Its four diverse collections include Classico, Supremo, Motivo and Concetto. Kibbutz Sdot-Yam owns 70.1% of the Company�� outstanding shares.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
After the bedroom, the kitchen is probably the place where we spend the most time awake in our homes with small cap kitchen stocks Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd (NASDAQ: CSTE) and American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ: AMWD) along with diversified midcap Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (NYSE: FBHS) all putting in a good performance. After all, any sort of housing recovery with more new homes being sold will�help kitchen stocks and so will increased sales of older or foreclosed homes that need to have their kitchens remodeled. But which is the better kitchen stock for investors? Here is�closer look at all three:
10 Best Construction Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL (CBN)
Societe Libanaise des Ciments Blancs SAL is a Lebanon-based joint stock company that operates in the construction materials industry sector. The Company is engaged in the production and sale of white cement. The Company is a 65.99% owned by Holcim (Liban) SAL. Advisors' Opinion:- [By CanadianValue]
Nigeria�� reformed banking system has provided many foreigners with an attractive means to invest in the fast-growing domestic economy. The banking industry is important, not only because of the rise of microfinance, but because of the move by banks into consumer banking. Until recently, banks were mainly financing large businesses or the government through bond purchases. Following a banking crisis in 2008, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted an audit of the commercial banking sector. All banks that failed the audit had their CEOs replaced. The state-owned Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) was created to purchase non-performing loans and recapitalize the unhealthy banks. A recent review of the country�� banks by the IMF showed a dramatic increase in profits for the industry in 2012, while the capital adequacy ratio was above the minimum requirement of 10% and non-performing loans were below the mandated threshold of 5%5.
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