Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now

The price-to-earnings ratio has its supporters and detractors, but this simple statistic can be an easy way for investors to gauge how cheap an average stock is on the fly. For some stocks, however, the P/E ratio is a misleading statistic -- particularly when earnings betray a poor business model. With stocks' rise this year and earnings on the upswing, however, is the P/E ratio a suitable fit in the medical device industry, particularly as many device stocks have soared in 2013?

Using data compiled by stock screening site Finviz.com, here are three of the cheapest medical device stocks in the industry as sorted by the P/E ratio. Are these picks worth your investment -- or is this simple statistic hiding lagging financials and flailing companies? Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll tells you what you need to know about the device industry's cheapest pickings below.

While you can certainly make huge gains in biotech and pharmaceuticals, the best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of.�Click here now�to keep reading.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: CEL-SCI Corp (CVM)

CEL-SCI Corporation (CEL-SCI), incorporated on March 22, 1983, is engaged in the business of Multikine cancer therapy; New cold fill manufacturing service to the pharmaceutical industry, and ligand epitope antigen presentation System (LEAPS) technology, with two products, hemagglutinin type 1 and neuraminidase type 1 (H1N1) swine flu treatment for H1N1 hospitalized patients and CEL-2000, a rheumatoid arthritis treatment vaccine.

Multikine

CEL-SCI's Multikine, is being developed for the treatment of cancer. It is a cancer immunotherapy drugs called Combination Immunotherapy because it combines active and passive immunity in one product. It is the only cancer immunotherapy that both kills cancer cells and activates the general immune system to destroy the cancer. Multikine target the tumor micro-metastases for treatment failure. Multikine is also applicable in many other solid tumors.

New Manufacturing Facility

CEL-SCI's facility manufactures Multikine for CEL-SCI's Phase III clinical trial. CEL-SCI offers the use of the facility as a service to pharmaceutical companies and others, particularly those that need to fill and finish their drugs in a cold environment. Fill and finish is the process of filling injectable drugs in a sterile manner.

LEAPS

CEL-SCI's patented T-cell Modulation Process uses heteroconjugates to direct the body to choose a specific immune response. The heteroconjugate technology, referred to as LEAPS, is intended to stimulate the human immune system to fight bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, as well as autoimmune, allergies, transplantation rejection and cancer. Administered like vaccines, LEAPS combines T-cell binding ligands with small, disease associated and peptide antigens.

Using the LEAPS technology, CEL-SCI has created a peptide treatment for H1N1 (swine flu) hospitalized patients. This LEAPS flu treatment is designed to focus on the conserved, non-changing epitopes of the di! fferent strains of Type A Influenza viruses, including swine, avian or bird, and Spanish Influenza. CEL-SCI's LEAPS flu treatment contains epitopes.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bioanalytical Systems Inc.(BASI)

Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. provides drug discovery and development services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, and government organizations primarily in North America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe. The company operates in two segments, Contract Research Services and Research Products. The Contract Research Services segment offers various services, including product characterization, method development, and validation; bioanalytical testing to measure drug and metabolite concentrations in complex biological matrices; stability testing to establish and confirm product purity, potency, and shelf life; in vivo sampling services for the continuous monitoring of chemical changes in life; and pharmacokinetic and safety testing services, as well as provides screening and pharmacological testing, preclinical safety testing, formulation development, regulatory compliance, and quality control testing services. The Research Products segment offers analytical products compris ing liquid chromatographic and electrochemical instruments with associated accessories; in vivo sampling products, such as Culex family of automated in vivo sampling and dosing instruments; and Vetronics? products consisting of instruments and related software to monitor and diagnose cardiac function, and measure other vital physiological parameters in cats and dogs. The company was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: OncoSec Medical Inc (ONCS)

OncoSec Medical Incorporated, incorporated on February 8, 2008, is an emerging drug-medical device company. The Company focused on designing, developing and commercializing medical approaches for the treatment of solid cancers. In March 2011, the Company acquired from Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Inovio) certain assets related to the use of drug-medical device combination products for the treatment of different cancers.

The Company�� acquired assets relate to certain non-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccine technology and property relating to selective tumor ablation technologies, which it refers to as the OncoSec Medical System (OMS), a therapy which uses an electroporation device to facilitate delivery of chemotherapy agents, or nucleic acids encoding cytokines, into tumors and/or surrounding tissue for the treatment and diagnosis of various cancers. As of January 24, 2012, the Company had not generated any revenue from operations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap biotech stocks AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: AVEO), OncoSec Medical Inc (OTCMKTS: ONCS) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST) are focused on or are developing treatments or diagnostic technologies for metastatic cancers. In case you aren�� familiar with the term metastasis or metastatic, it�� the�spread of cancer from its primary site to other places in the body as cancer cells break away from a primary tumor, penetrate into lymphatic and blood vessels, circulate through the bloodstream and then grow in a new focus (metastasize) in normal tissues elsewhere in the body. In other words, it�� a dangerous form of cancer, but there are some small cap biotech stocks targeting it for diagnostics or treatment:

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)

ArQule, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the research and development of cancer therapeutics directed toward molecular targets and biological processes. Its lead product ARQ 197 is non-adenosine triphosphate competitive inhibitor of the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase, which is being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination therapy in a Phase II clinical development program that includes trials in non-small cell lung cancer, c-Met-associated soft tissue sarcomas, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, germ cell tumors, and colorectal cancer. The company is also developing ARQ 621, a Phase I program focused on inhibition of the Eg5 kinesin spindle protein. Its clinical stage products include ARQ 501, ARQ 761, and ARQ 171, which are designed to kill cancer cells selectively while sparing normal cells through the direct activation of DNA damage response/checkpoint pathways. In addition, the company involves in pre-clinical development o f B-RAF and AKIP Kinase inhibitors. The company has collaborations with Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. ArQule, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ARIA)

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer. The company?s lead cancer product, ridaforolimus is being studied in multiple clinical trials in patients with various types of cancers, including metastatic sarcomas, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Its product pipeline also includes ponatinib, a pan BCR-ABL inhibitor in phase 2 clinical trial for applications in various hematological cancers and solid tumors; and AP26113, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor in preclinical studies for the treatment of various cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, lymphoma, and neuroblastoma. In addition, the company focuses on a drug discovery program centered on small-molecule therapies that are molecularly targeted to cell-signaling pathways implicated in cancer. Further, it licenses its ARGENT cell-sign aling regulation technologies to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop and commercialize therapeutic products, and to conduct drug discovery research. The company has collaboration and license agreements with Merck & Co., Inc. for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of ridaforolimus; and license agreements with Medinol Ltd. and ICON Medical Corp. to develop and commercialize stents and other medical devices to deliver ridaforolimus to prevent restenosis of injured vessels. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap cancer stock Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ARIA) got annihilated yesterday on bad news which seemed to spread like a virus through other biotech stocks, but not all the recent�news surrounding cancer or both large cap and small cap cancer stocks has been�bad as there is good news coming from AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) and MetaStat Inc (OTCMKTS: MTST). Moreover, many investors are distracted by the sideshow going on in Washington DC and may not be paying attention to the following news, good or bad, surrounding the cancer space or cancer stocks:

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: EntreMed Inc (ENMD.PH)

EntreMed, Inc. (EntreMed), incorporated in 1991, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. EntreMed's drug candidate is ENMD-2076, an Aurora A and angiogenic kinase inhibitor for the treatment of cancer. ENMD-2076 has completed Phase I studies in patients with advanced solid tumors, multiple myeloma and leukemia and is completing data for a multi-center Phase II study in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer. The Company�� other product candidates have includes MKC-1, ENMD-1198 and 2-methoxyestrdiol (2ME2, Panzem) for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

ENMD-2076 is a novel orally-active, Aurora A/angiogenic kinase inhibitor with potent activity against Aurora A and multiple tyrosine kinases linked to cancer and inflammatory diseases. ENMD-2076 is relatively selective for the Aurora A isoform in comparison to Aurora B. Aurora kinases are key regulators of the process of mitosis, or cell division, and are often over-expressed in human cancers. E NMD-2076 exerts its effects through multiple mechanisms of action, including anti-proliferative activity and the inhibition of angiogenesis. ENMD-2076 has demonstrated significant, dose-dependent preclinical activity as a single agent, including tumor regression, in multiple xenograft models (such as breast, colon, leukemia), as well as activity towards ex vivo-treated human leukemia patient cells.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: ViroPharma Incorporated(VPHM)

ViroPharma Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes therapeutic products that address serious diseases in the United States and internationally. It focuses on developing products used by physician specialists or in hospital settings. The company markets and sells Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor therapy for the routine prophylaxis against angioedema attacks in adolescent and adult patients with hereditary angioedema, a life-threatening genetic disorder; and Vancocin HCl capsule, an oral capsule formulation for the treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and to treat enterocolitis caused by staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains. It also offers Plenadren, an orphan drug for treatment of adrenal insufficiency in adults; Buccolam, a oromucosal solution for treatment of prolonged, acute, and convulsive seizures in infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents; and maribavir, an antiviral compound for the treatment o f CMV disease through a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. The company?s primary development programs include Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor for management of hereditary angioedema; and VP 20621, a non-toxigenic strain of C. difficile. Its clinical stage drug candidate comprises VP-20629 for the treatment of Friedreich?s Ataxia. The company sells its products directly to wholesale drug distributors and specialty pharmacies/distributors. ViroPharma Incorporated was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap orphan drug stocks Zalicus Inc (NASDAQ: ZLCS), Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ: OMER) and Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ: VPHM) have been active lately thanks to good news about their orphan drug treatments. In case you aren�� familiar with the term, orphan drug designation by the FDA is granted for drugs targeting conditions affecting 200,000 or fewer US patients annually that are expected to provide significant therapeutic advantage over existing treatments. The designation will also qualify companies for benefits across all stages of drug development, such as�accelerated approval processes, seven years of market exclusivity�after marketing approval, tax credits on�any US�clinical trials, grants and waiver of certain administrative fees.

• [By Max Macaluso and David Williamson]

  At the end of last week, a Bloomberg article revealed that Shire (NASDAQ: SHPG  ) and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi� (NYSE: SNY  ) may be circling ViroPharma� (NASDAQ: VPHM  ) . The the following video, from The Motley Fool's health care show Market Checkup, analysts David Williamson and Max Macaluso take a close look at ViroPharma and discuss the recent interest in this small biotech company.

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of ViroPharma (NASDAQ: VPHM  ) , a biotechnology company specializing in treating rare diseases, rose as much as 14% after a report from Reuters noted preliminary buyout interest in the company.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Beyond clinical data, rare disease-focused biopharmaceutical company ViroPharma (NASDAQ: VPHM  ) rose after a Reuters report noted multiple unnamed pharmaceutical companies showing early interest in acquiring the company. Although ViroPharma itself may not be interested in selling itself, big pharmaceutical companies with aging pipelines certainly have to like the way sales of hereditary angioedema drug Cinryze have exploded higher. In addition, ViroPharma received orphan drug status in Europe for maribavir, its anti-cytomegalovirus drug, just over a week ago. Even if a buyout isn't on the table, there are plenty of reasons ViroPharma should be on your Watchlist.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Buy Right Now: Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NAVB.A)

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Navidea), formerly Neoprobe Corporation, incorporated in 1983, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precision diagnostic agents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� radiopharmaceutical development programs included Lymphoseek (Lymphoseek, Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection), a radiopharmaceutical agent for lymph node mapping; AZD4694, an imaging agent, and RIGScan, a tumor antigen-specific targeting agent. In January 2012, the Company executed an option agreement with Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Alseres) to license [123I]-E-IACFT Injection, also called Altropane, an Iodine-123 radiolabeled imaging agent, being developed as an aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson�� disease, movement disorders and dementia. In August 2011, the Company sold its gamma detection device line of business (the GDS Business) to Devicor Medical Products, Inc.

Lymphoseek

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Navidea�� pipeline includes clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical agents used to identify the presence and status of disease. Lymphoseek (Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection) is a lymph node targeting agent intended for use in intraoperative lymphatic mapping (ILM) procedures and lymphoscintigraphy employed in the overall diagnostic assessment of certain solid tumor cancers. The lymph system is a component of the body�� immune system. The key components of the lymph system are lymph nodes-small anatomic structures that contain disease-fighting lymphocytes, filter lymph of bacteria and cancer cells, and signal infection in response to heightened levels of pathogens. In Navidea�� Phase III clinical studies of Lymphoseek, it detected over 99% of positive nodes identified by vital blue dye (VBD). As of December 31, 2011, Navidea, in co-operation with UC, San Diego affiliate (UCSD), completed or initiated five Phase I clinical trials, one multi-c enter Phase II trial and three multi-center Phase II trial! s ! involving Lymphoseek. Two Phase III studies were completed in subjects with breast cancer and melanoma. During the year ended December 31, 2011, data from NEO3-09 were released, which indicated that all primary and secondary endpoints for the study were met. As of December 31, 2011, third Phase III clinical trial for Lymphoseek in subjects with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (NEO3-06) was in progress.

AZD4694

AZD4694 is a Fluorine-18 labeled precision radiopharmaceutical candidate for use in the imaging and evaluation of patients with signs or symptoms of cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). It binds to beta-amyloid deposits in the brain that can then be imaged in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Amyloid plaque pathology is a required feature of AD and the presence of amyloid pathology is a supportive feature for diagnosis of probable AD. Patients who are negative for amyloid pathology do not have AD. AZD4694 has b een studied in several clinical trials. Clinical studies through Phase IIa have included more than 80 patients to date, both suspected AD patients and healthy volunteers. No significant adverse events have been observed. Results suggest that AZD4694 has the ability to image patients quickly and safely with high sensitivity.

RadioImmunoGuided Surgery

As of December 31, 2011, RIGScan had been studied in a number of clinical trials, including Phase III studies. Navidea has conducted two Phase III studies, NEO2-13 and NEO2-14, of RIGScan in patients with primary and metastatic colorectal cancer, respectively. Both studies were multi-institutional involving cancer treatment institutions in the United States, Israel, and the European Union.

The Company competes with Pharmalucence, Eli Lilly, Bayer Schering, General Electric and GE Healthcare.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Just over a year ago, we launched a buy-and-hold model portfolio, specifically designed for investors who don't want to spend a lot of time reviewing their positions and are not interesting in active trading.

For this portfolio, we��e focused on individual blue-chip stocks that we felt offered both long-term growth potential and regular dividend payments.

We included both Canadian and US issues and each stock was given a 10% weighting. We also added a 20% weighting in a bond ETF to provide some downside protection in the event of a stock-market plunge.

At the time, we stated that the objective was to generate decent cash flow and slow but steady growth. Given the nature of the portfolio, the intention was to make changes only when absolutely necessary. These are the securities we selected.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CNH Global N.V. (CNH)

CNH Global N.V. manufactures, markets, and distributes a line of agricultural and construction equipment and parts worldwide. It operates in three segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, and Financial Services. The Agricultural Equipment segment provides tractors, combine harvesters, hay and forage equipment, seeding and planting equipment, tillage equipment, and sprayers, as well as cotton picker packagers, and sugar cane and grape harvesters primarily under the Case IH and New Holland brands. The Construction Equipment segment offers heavy construction equipment, such as crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, and articulated haul trucks; and light construction equipment, including backhoe loaders, skid steer and tracked loaders, mini and midi excavators, compact wheel loaders, and telehandlers primarily under the Case and New Holland Construction brands. This segment serves construction companies, municipalities, local governmen ts, rental fleet owners, quarrying and aggregate mining companies, waste management companies, forestry-related concerns, contractors, residential builders, utilities, road construction companies, landscapers, logistics companies, and farmers. The Financial Services segment provides financial products and services, including retail financing for the purchase or lease of the company�s and other manufacturers� new and used products; and facilitates the sale of insurance products and other financing programs to retail customers. This segment also offers wholesale financing to its dealers and rental equipment operators, as well as financing options to dealers to finance working capital, real estate, and other fixed assets and maintenance equipment. CNH Global N.V. sells and distributes its products through dealers and distributors in approximately 170 countries. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CNH Global N.V. is a subsidiary of Fiat Netherlands Holding N.V.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike the PhD]

  Historically the stock prices of Deere (DE) and other agricultural equipment firms and retailers like Case-New Holland (CNH), Titan Machinery (TITN), AGCO (AGCO), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Valmont (VAL), and Lindsay (LNN) have tended to closely track the price of corn. When corn prices go up, farmers tend to make more money, and they spend that money on new equipment from Deere and other firms. This relationship is especially strong for Deere and Corn, but it holds true for all of the stocks above to some extent. (Correlation coefficients between all of the stock prices above and corn are statistically significant to at least the 5% level, see my blog here for more details.)

• [By vaninaegea]

  In august, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) published the mid-year review for the agricultural sector. Their findings point to a slowdown for the industry, highlighting a 9.5% decline on exports through the first half of 2013. Also, late soybean planting in the USA is expected to compound the industry�� slowdown. So, what are the prospects for AGCO (AGCO), CNH Global (CNH), and Deere & Co. (DE) under such conditions?

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Kubota isn't the only company aggressively challenging Deere. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO  ) has made aggressive expansion efforts in Africa, working with specialty agricultural lender Rabobank to try to help farmers on the continent buy more farming equipment. Moreover, both AGCO and CNH Global (NYSE: CNH  ) have made emerging markets like Latin America a high priority, reaping benefits from the more rapidly expanding economies among Latin American nations. Deere has targeted Latin America as well, but it hasn't been as aggressive with its international efforts as its peers. Deere's stock price has reflected its lack of initiative in expanding globally:

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.(CMG)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. develops and operates fast-casual, fresh Mexican food restaurants in the United States, Canada, and England. Its restaurants primarily offer burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 1,230 restaurants, which includes 1 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG  ) has an appetite for Asian growth. The company announced this week that it has inked lease deals for four more ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP, Rockstar GamesGrand Theft Auto V has been a big winner for Take-Two Interactive. When it releases its earnings this week, we'll find out just how big. 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 out of Apple to a deal on burritos on Halloween, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- An Apple a Day: Last Tuesday Apple (AAPL) had the ear of consumers as it introduced new iPads, iMacs, and an updated operating system. Monday afternoon it will be time to sway investors with its fiscal fourth quarter report. Apple is still the top dog in consumer electronics, but iPad, iPod, and Mac sales have been slipping lately. Apple's iPhone is the only product category growing, and the end result is that analysts see flat revenue growth at Apple on declining profitability. Apple's quarter ended with the welcome news that it had sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c devices in their initial weekend of availability. Now it's time to see if it was enough to save Apple's quarter. Tuesday -- Game On: After years of sluggish sales the video game console industry showed signs of life last month. Take-Two Interactive's (TTWO) Grand Theft Auto V was a smashing success, helping push the industry to a rare monthly gain. Things will get even more interesting next month when the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hit the market. The market will get a good read on the state of the industry on Tuesday as Take-Two Interactive and the larger Electronic Arts (EA) report fresh earnings. It may be too early for either company to have reliable projections on how the new consoles will fare, but any insight would be incremental at this point. Wednesday -- Face to Facebook: One of last year's most prolific IPOs was Facebook (FB). The leading social networking website operator went public at $38, but a few months later the stock was -- like th

Top Heal Care Companies To Invest In Right Now: Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (BIN)

Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. operates as a vertically integrated non-hazardous solid waste management company in North America. It operates through three segments: Canada, the U.S. south, and the U.S. northeast. The company provides waste collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services to commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers in 13 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 6 Canadian provinces. It also owns and operates a power generating plant fuelled by landfill gas; and generates and sells methane gas. The company was formerly known as IESI-BFC Ltd. and changed its name to Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. in May 2011. Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. was founded in 2001 and is based in Vaughan, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Keep in mind, though, this is a sectorwide problem, not just one affecting Waste Management. Canada's Progressive Waste Solutions (NYSE: BIN  ) delivered an 11% increase in first-quarter revenue but succumbed to a decrease of 0.5% in recycling revenue because of lower realized metal prices. �

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Silvercorp Metals Inc(SVM)

Silvercorp Metals Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of silver mineral properties in China and Canada. The company holds interests in four silver, lead, and zinc mines, including the Ying Project, the HPG Project, the TLP Project, and the LM Project at the Ying Mining Camp in the Henan Province of China. It also holds interests in the GC Project, a silver, lead, and zinc mine in the Guangdong Province; and the BYP gold, lead, and zinc mine project in Hunan province, as well as the Silvertip silver, lead, and zinc mine project in northern British Columbia, Canada. The company was formerly known as SKN Resources Ltd. and changed its name to Silvercorp Metals Inc. in May 2005. Silvercorp Metals Inc. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  The recent sell-off in precious metals has boosted the dividend yield on various silver companies, including Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) . Current conditions give investors the chance to own this best-in-class silver streaming company with both a strong income element and plenty of upside. Unlike miners Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and Silvercorp Metals (NYSE: SVM  ) , which offer higher dividend yields, Silver Wheaton has important advantages.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Silvercorp Metals (NYSE: SVM  ) shed 50%, but that leaves it yielding 3.1% -- and it's even earning more than it's paying out, which is promising. The company,�China's biggest primary silver producer, has been in the news as an alleged scammer as well as a possible scamming victim. (It's worth noting that it has been up front about problems, rather than evading them.) In its latest quarter, net income fell 25%, due in large part to falling silver prices, but its silver production was up 17% and gold up 42%. (It produces far less gold than silver, and it also mines lead and zinc.)

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MicroFinancial Incorporated(MFI)

Microfinancial Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialized commercial finance company that provides microticket equipment leasing and rental, and other financing services in the United States. The company provides financing alternatives, and leases and rents commercial equipment to start-up and established businesses for use in their daily operations. It leases water filtration systems, food service equipment, security equipment, point-of-sale cash registers, salon equipment, health care and fitness equipment, and automotive equipment. The company primarily sources its originations through a network of independent equipment vendors, sales organizations, and other dealer-based origination networks. Microfinancial Incorporated was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Alacer Gold Corp. and Iamgold Corp. rallied at least 5.9 percent as the metal traded at its highest in 11 weeks. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI) jumped 7.8 percent as it agreed to sell a unit for C$645 million ($614 million). Penn West Petroleum (PWT) Ltd. added 1.7 percent after cutting 25 percent of its workforce to reduce costs.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Transdigm Group Incorporated(TDG)

TransDigm Group Incorporated designs, produces, and supplies engineered aircraft components for use on commercial and military aircraft principally in the United States. The company?s products include mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, AC/DC electric motors and generators, NiCad batteries and chargers, engineered latching and locking devices, rods and locking devices, engineered connectors and elastomers, cockpit security components and systems, cockpit displays, aircraft audio systems, lavatory components, engineered interior surfaces, and lighting and control technology. Its customers comprise distributors of aerospace components; commercial airlines, including national and regional airlines; commercial transport and regional and business aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); various armed forces of the United States and foreign governments; defense OEMs; system suppliers; and various other industrial customers. TransDigm Group Incorporated was founded in 1993 and is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

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 TransDigm Group (NYSE: TDG  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Canadian Pacific Railway Limited(CP)

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a transcontinental railway providing freight transportation services, logistics solutions, and supply chain expertise in Canada and the United States. It transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, sulphur, and fertilizers; merchandise freight; finished vehicles and automotive parts; forest products, which include wood pulp, paper, paperboard, newsprint, lumber, panel, and oriented strand board; and industrial and consumer products comprising chemicals, energy, and plastics, as well as mine, metals, and aggregates. The company provides rail and intermodal transportation services over a network of approximately 14,700 miles serving the principal business centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, British Columbia; and the Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States. Canadian Pacific Railway Limited was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Not surprisingly, Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP  ) , one of largest rail companies in the U.S., tripled the amount of crude oil it shipped last year, while Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-B  ) Burlington Northern Santa Fe, or BNSF, another rail giant, is currently moving about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, up from next to nothing just five years ago. And Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE: CP  ) expects to ship some 70,000 carloads of crude this year, up from just 500 in 2009.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: DCP Midstream Partners LP (DPM)

DCP Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, storing, and selling natural gas in the United States. It also transports, stores, and sells propane in wholesale markets; and produces, fractionates, transports, stores, and sells natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate. The company operates in three segments: Natural Gas Services, Wholesale Propane Logistics, and NGL Logistics. The Natural Gas Services segment operates Northern Louisiana system that gathers, process, and transports natural gas; Southern Oklahoma system; Colorado system; Wyoming system that covers 1,300 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines that cover approximately 4,000 square miles in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming; and Michigan system. It also operates Discovery system, East Texas system, and Southeast Texas system. The Wholesale Propane Logistics segment owns and operates a propane marine import terminal; a leased propane marine terminal; a propane pipeline terminal; and six propane rail terminals, as well as access to several open access pipeline terminals. This segment sells its propane to retail propane distributors. The NGL Logistics segment operates Seabreeze and Wilbreeze NGL transportation pipelines, the Wattenberg NGL transportation pipeline, the Black Lake interstate NGL pipeline, and the NGL storage facility in Marysville, Michigan. DCP Midstream Partners, LP was founded in 2005 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

How Your VantageScore Credit Report Is Calculated

Top 5 Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now

Since the 1970s, credit scores have played an increasingly vital role in the lending industry. Fair Isaac and Company began assigning credit scores to consumers based upon various factors over 40 years ago, and these scores are now reviewed not only by prospective lenders, but also by landlords, insurers and governmental agencies. But the computation process for the FICO score has some limitations; for example, a consumer has to have a credit line open for at least six months before it will show up on a FICO credit report. This and other deficiencies have led the three major bureaus to establish a new credit score model known as VantageScore, which evaluates customers according to a somewhat different set of criteria that can be much more forgiving in some instances.

A Collaborative Effort
The three major credit bureaus have used the FICO scoring model for decades, but the differences in how each agency computes its scores has led to numerous discrepancies that are often problematic for both lenders and consumers. The VantageScore model is designed to provide a much more standardized grading system than the one used by Fair Isaac and Company. The first version of Vantage appeared in 2006, followed by Vantage 2.0 in 2010, which was modified in response to the changes that swept over the lending industry after the Subprime Mortgage Meltdown of 2008.

The VantageScore Model Methodology
VantageScore credit scores are computed in a fundamentally different manner than FICO scores. They start with a somewhat different set of criteria than FICO and also assign a different weighting to each segment. A comparison of the two is shown as follows:

FICO Score
The Consumer's Payment History: 35% Total Amounts Owed by the Consumer: 30% Length of the Consumer's Credit History: 15% Types of Credit Used by the Consumer: 10% Amount of the Consumer's New Credit: 10% VantageScore
Amount of the Consumer's Recent Credit: 30% The Consumer's Payment History: 28% Utilization of the Consumer's Current Credit: 23% Size of the Consumer's Account Balances: 9% Depth of the Consumer's Credit: 9% Amount of the Consumer's Available Credit: 1% The VantageScore model is also quantified differently than FICO scores. It still uses a numerical range for its scores, but it also assigns a corresponding letter grade for a given range, in some instances, that helps consumers to understand the quality of their score. The grade is statistically based upon the ratio of consumers who are likely to charge off versus those who will pay on time. The VantageScore system is broken down as follows:
901 to 990 = A – 1 charge off for every 300 consumers who pay on time 801 to 900 = B – 1 charge off for every 50 consumers who pay on time 701 to 800 = C – 1 charge off for every 10 consumers who pay on time 601 to 700 = D – 1 charge off for every 5 consumers who pay on time 501 to 600 = F – 1 charge off for every 1 consumers who pay on time As with FICO, the consumer's creditworthiness matches his or her score and grade. Each of the three major credit bureaus computes a score based on the VantageScore model using its own data. Of course, while all three bureaus use the exact same model to compute the VantageScore credit score, it can still differ from one bureau to another because each bureau typically records slightly different information in their consumer files.

The VantageScore Benefit
One of the chief advantages that the VantageScore model brings is the ability to provide a score to a large segment of consumers (about 30 to 35 million) who are currently unscorable when traditional methodologies are applied. The VantageScore model differs from FICO in that a line of credit only has to be open for a single month in order to be factored in, yet this model takes 24 months of consumer credit activity into account, whereas FICO only looks back for six months. The longer look back period can be a big help for consumers who are working to rebuild their credit and are able to show a marked improvement over the longer time span. The VantageScore credit score is also designed to serve as a "predictive score" for those with thin credit histories by indicating the probability that they will meet their future payment obligations in a timely manner. It can also use rent and utility payments in its computations if they are reported by the landlord and/or utility provider.

VantageScore 3.0
The most recent version of the VantageScore model represents a substantial improvement over the previous two models. It was created beginning with over 900 data points from 45 million consumer credit files spanning two overlapping time frames from 2009 to 2012. However, it only uses about half the number of reason codes (which signify various reasons why the consumer's credit score carries the number that it has been assigned), and these codes have been rewritten in plain language that consumers can easily understand. VantageScore Solutions, the company behind the model, also provides an online resource where consumers can look up their reason codes, which can be found at www.reasoncode.org.

As mentioned previously, the risk assessment formula that is used in the model is now identical for each of the major bureaus because it employs uniform definitions for consumer payment and credit information that is received by each bureau. The VantageScore model also claims that the predictive score in this version will be 25% more accurate than the previous one due to the substantial increase in both the quality and quantity of data upon which the model is based.

Impact with Lenders
Despite the hype with which the three credit bureaus have promoted their new scoring system, it has been slow to catch on in the lending industry. The VantageScore model remains a very distant second to the traditional FICO score in the amount of market share that it has carved out among lenders. As of April 2012, less than 6% of the credit scoring market and only 10% of the major banks use the VantageScore model in their underwriting.

The Bottom Line
Although its method of computation is considered to be more fair and realistic than the FICO model, it will likely take some time for lenders to become comfortable with shifting to this alternative methodology. Nevertheless, the number of institutions that accept the VantageScore model is growing, and its popularity will likely continue to increase with its ability to tap a new market of potential lending customers. For these reasons, the major credit bureaus continue to view VantageScore credit scores as a model for the future.

Activision Blizzard's New Deal

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI  ) is striking out on its own. The company reached a purchase agreement with Vivendi (NASDAQOTH: VIVHY  )  to transfer enough shares so that it will become an independent company, one that's majority-owned by public investors rather than a single corporation.

This is a big deal for Activision -- and for existing shareholders. So let's dig right in to the details.

What
Activision will spend $5.83 billion, financed mostly with new debt but also with $1.2 billion of cash, to acquire 429 million shares from Vivendi. An investor group that's led by Activision's management will separately kick in $2.34 billion to buy 172 million shares from Vivendi. After the deal closes, Vivendi's interest in Activision will plummet from more than 60% to just 12%. The investor group that includes Activision's CEO and co-chairman will own about 24.9% of the company.

So what?
Vivendi's reduced stake means that Activision has removed some major risk factors from its operation. Among the negatives to being controlled by Vivendi, Activision listed the following in its latest 10-K:

"The interests of Vivendi and its subsidiaries may conflict with the interests of our other shareholders." "Vivendi has the ability to nominate a majority of our board of directors and determine the outcome of certain matters submitted to our stockholders, such as the approval of significant transactions and the declaration of dividends on our common stock." "Vivendi's ownership may affect the liquidity in the market for our common stock." "Our common stock may trade at prices that do not reflect a 'control premium' to the same extent as do the stocks of similarly situated companies that do not have a stockholder with an ownership interest as large as Vivendi's ownership interest."

Today's deal takes care of all these issues, giving public shareholders the full focus and attention of Activision's management. In fact, the agreement aligns management's interests even more with the company's investors, as CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chair Brian Kelly are putting up $100 million of their own money in the purchase.

Now what?
Activision's new capital structure will have a positive effect on its reported earnings per share this year. The company expects EPS to now grow between 18% and 29% in 2013. But notwithstanding the deal, Activision sees revenue clocking in at $4.31 billion, or a bit below the $5 billion it logged last year. And investors won't have to wait long for the deal to be finalized. It's expected to close by the end of this September.

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Can Home Improvement Retailers Improve Your Portfolio?

The Home Improvement Research Institute, or HIRI, publishes an annual Home Improvement Products Market Forecast. In September the group made an upward revision to the forecast they released in March, predicting that total home improvement product sales will increase 5.4% in 2013. The forecast for 2014-2015 is even more encouraging: a projected increase averaging 6.9% for those two years.

Further good news was HIRI's opinion that they do not expect higher interest rates to put the brakes on the housing market rebound. They anticipate rates easing somewhat by the end of the year, and not rising appreciably through 2014.

Where "Never Stop Improving" is more than a marketing tag line
Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW  ) occupies the second place position among home improvement retailers. It has 1,758 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as of Aug. 2.

Sales for the second quarter ended Aug. 2 jumped 10.3% from the same quarter of 2012. Comparable store sales for the quarter showed an excellent 9.6% increase. CEO Robert A. Niblock described the company's performance as being driven by "a healthy balance of ticket and transaction growth."

Margins were healthy, too. On a percentage of sales basis, the gross margin improved 42 basis points. This may not sound like much, but on a sales tally of $15.7 billion, the percentage gain accounted for $66 million of the total $563 million increase in gross margin dollars. Lowe's also efficiently managed selling, general, and administrative expenses, which were down 53 basis points. Meanwhile, net earnings soared 26% to $941 million.   

A core strategy of Lowe's is to increase the interaction between the company and customers as they plan home improvement projects. The company's online tool, MyLowes, helps homeowners design and manage these projects.

The benefits of remodeling your operations model
The Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) is the giant of the home improvement retailing industry. It had sales of $22.5 billion in the second quarter of 2013, which was an increase of 9.5% from the second quarter of 2012. As with Lowe's, comparable store sales registered an impressive gain, with a 10.7% increase.

Home Depot CEO Frank Blake said these robust sales results exceeded management's expectations.

Gross profit as a percentage of sales held steady at just over 34%. Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales dropped 70 basis points in comparison with the same quarter last year.

The result was a 17.2% increase in net earnings, to nearly $1.8 billion. In regard to the outlook for the remainder of 2013, Home Depot raised both its sales guidance and earnings per share guidance.

The company has made strides in becoming more customer-focused in terms of providing know-how and expertise, as well as products at good prices.

Home Depot found that 60% of in-store staff time were devoted to operational tasks and only 40% to helping customers. The company made a goal of reversing those percentages by introducing operational efficiencies to free up staff time. The positive results of this refined operations model are showing up in higher sales.

Definitely not hard times in hardwood
Home Depot and Lowe's both strive to provide everything the homeowner needs to complete a wide range of home projects.  Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL  ) has a different but equally effective approach: to be the largest specialty retailer of hardwood flooring.

For the second quarter, the company announced that net sales surged 22.2% in comparison with the same quarter last year. Comparable store sales were outstanding, up nearly 15% as the number of customers invoiced rose 9.1%, and they spent on average 5.4% more per transaction.

Gross margin percentage can be very difficult to significantly increase. This number increased a full four percentage points to 41.3% because of lower product costs, increased unit prices, and operational efficiencies that took hold across the organization.

Although selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales increased 50 basis points compared to the second quarter of 2012, the net result was a 350 basis points increase in operating margin to 12.9%, which was a record performance for the company.

Lumber Liquidators' formula for success includes offering 340 varieties of flooring at its 300 locations. The company competes with the much larger home improvement stores by the combination of price, selection, quality, availability and expertise.

The company has a well-designed online and mobile application called "Floor Finder" that helps the customer choose the flooring product that best meets their needs and budget. Customers can be armed with product knowledge before they set foot in the store, increasing their confidence in making a purchase.

Lumber Liquidators has introduced a new store format that appeals to a broader base of customers, according to management.

What we learned
Each of these companies is riding the wave of an upward-trending demand curve as a result of consumers feeling confident enough to undertake the home improvement projects they postponed during the recession.

Lowe's and Home Depot are employing technological innovations that make it easier to learn about products and make product selections. Both are also focused on providing the valuable information needed to make home improvement projects more successful. This creates the kind of retail experience we hope for from all the stores we do business with, but we don't always receive. The outlook for both of these companies is excellent, particularly if the cheery HIRI forecast turns out to be true.

My favorite of the three -- by a narrow margin, call it a 50 basis points endorsement -- is Lumber Liquidators. Installing new hardwood flooring can dramatically improve the aesthetics of a home for a relatively reasonable cost. Because the company purchases directly from a host of lumber mills, it can pass cost savings along to customers.     

Will these home improvement retailers rule the market?
The retail space is in the midst of the biggest paradigm shift since mail order took off at the turn of last century. Only those most forward-looking and capable companies will survive, and they'll handsomely reward those investors who understand the landscape. You can read about the 3 Companies Ready to Rule Retail in The Motley Fool's special report. Uncovering these top picks is free today; just click here to read more.

Top Stocks To Buy 2019

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