Pension funds are in the news again… and the news isn’t very good. Many plans are underfunded, which means they don’t have enough money to pay the benefits they’ve promised.
Among those many underfunded plans are funds managed by the city of Chicago, which were recently blocked by a court ruling that prevents the fund from reducing benefits. That means the city will need to find other ways to reduce its shortfall.
But Chicago is not alone in its pension problems. Experts estimate pension funds across the country — both government-run plans and corporate plans run by large companies — are underfunded by trillions of dollars. That’s bad news for the plan participants.
It’s safe to assume the experts’ original assumptions for these plans were overly optimistic. And in order to keep the promises these funds made to the hardworking men and women who paid into the plan so many years ago, the plan managers have two choices:
swing trading: BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.(BMRN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Skorney’s namesVertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX),Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT), and Curis (CRIS) his top biotech picks for 2017, while Ulz chosesBioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) andParatek Pharmaceuticals (PRTK).
- [By George Budwell, Rich Smith, and Matthew DiLallo]
With this question in mind, we asked three of our contributors which stocks they recommend to buy and hold for the next 20 years. They suggestedBioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN), Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD), andLockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT). Below, they discuss why they chose these particular stocks, and why investors with a long-term outlook may want to consider adding them to their portfolios right now.
- [By Keith Speights]
You might not have heard too much about Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA), BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN), and Idera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IDRA). These are three biotech stocks that you could be overlooking — but deserve your attention. Here’s why.
swing trading: Wipro Limited(WIT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shanthi Rexaline]
The industry — valued at over $150 billion and comprising companies such as Wipro Limited (ADR) (NYSE: WIT), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ: CTSH), Infosys Ltd ADR (NYSE: INFY) and Tata Consultancy Services — has thus far been competing effectively on certain unique selling propositions such as low-cost technology skills and high quality manpower.
swing trading: Terra Nitrogen Company L.P.(TNH)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Robert Rapier] While the MLP space is dominated by the oil and gas sector, in last week’s article we began to explore some of the more exotic master limited partnership offerings. This week we continue our exploration of nontraditional MLPs by looking at the partnerships supplying fertilizer.
Rentech (Nasdaq: RTK) has been around for more than a decade, and it has shifted strategies several times. Full disclosure: Rentech’s Chief Technology Officer Harold Wright is a former manager of mine when we were both at ConocoPhillips, and I have visited Rentech’s facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
For most of Rentech’s existence, the company has sought to commercialize alternative fuels. At one time it had ambitions to build a large coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant, but federal legislation ultimately nudged it instead into the biomass-to-liquids (BTL) space. The company did build a BTL demonstration plant, but ultimately shut it down and has now refocused its efforts on becoming “one of the largest wood processing companies in the world.”
During its interesting journey as a company, Rentech acquired two ammonia nitrogen fertilizer facilities, which turned out to be a profit center that funded the alternative energy research. In November 2011, Rentech spun off this fertilizer business into an MLP called Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (NYSE: RNF).
In the months leading to the spin-off, RTK’s market capitalization was about $200 million. Rentech maintained 60 percent ownership of RNF, and three months after the spin-off RTK’s market cap had risen to $400 million, while investors had bid RNF up to $1 billion. Interestingly, RTK’s share of RNF was worth more than RTK’s entire market cap, a situation that persists. The market currently values Rentech at $482 million, while the valuation of Rentech Nitrogen Partners makes RTK’s 60 percent stake in RNF worth slightly more than $600 million — another illu
swing trading: XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.(XTLB)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
X T L Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ: XTLB) shares dropped 38 percent to $2.21 after the company reported a $2.5 million registered direct offering.
swing trading: ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc(ZIOP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Friday, healthcare shares fell by 0.88 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Simulations Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLP), down 7 percent, and ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIOP), down 7 percent.
swing trading: Ternium S.A.(TX)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Matthew DiLallo]
Shares of Ternium SA (NYSE:TX) jumped on Wednesday: up more than 10% by 2:30 p.m. EST. While the steelmaker reported weaker-than-expected earnings after the closing bell yesterday, it provided optimistic guidance and announced a compelling acquisition.
