Formed in 1994, EastWest Bank provides full-service commercial as well as investment banking facilities across U.S. and Greater China. The Bank has acquired a leading position in credit card issuance and auto-loan processing. To maintain its leadership, the Bank had no option but to opt for a competitive information technology infrastructure for managing its operations.
With H-P�� Converged Infrastructure portfolio, EastWest Bank expects to expand its banking services and deliver utmost customer satisfaction. After evaluating the cloud solutions offered by tech giants such as EMC Corp. (EMC) and IBM Corp. (IBM), EastWest Bank chose H-P�� solutions to replace its legacy IT infrastructure and transition swiftly to a private cloud environment.
From the portfolio, the Bank selected 3PAR StoreServ T400 Storage System and ProLiant DL360 Servers. EastWest Bank confirmed that the end-of-day financial closing processing time has been reduced by 40.0%. Also, there has been a remarkable reduction in data recovery time i.e. from 4 hours to merely an hour.
10 Best Casino Stocks To Invest In 2015: Reservoir Minerals Inc (RMC)
Reservoir Minerals Inc. (Minerals) is an international mineral exploration and development company with a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration properties in Serbia. On October 14, 2011 the Company completed the terms of the arrangement, which was regarding the re-organization of Minerals�� business components into two separately listed public corporations by the spin-out of certain Serbian mineral exploration permits (the Mining Assets), which received shareholder approval, on October 11, 2011. The Spin-out Transaction was effected by the transfer to Minerals of three indirectly held subsidiaries of Reservoir that hold such permits. Reservoir Exploration (BVI) Ltd. owns Deli Jovan Exploration and Mining D.o.o., which owns the Deli Jovan exploration permit, Reservoir Consulting (BVI) Inc. owns Balkan Exploration and Mining D.o.o., which owns the Lece, Plavkovo, Stara Planina, Parlozi and Bobija exploration permits. Its subsidiary also includes Rakita (BVI) Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Holly LaFon]
Whitney George is Director of Investments, Managing Director, and a Portfolio Manager of Royce & Associates, LLC, investment advisor to The Royce Funds. He serves as portfolio manager for Royce Premier Fund (RPR), Royce Low-Priced Stock Fund (RLP), Royce Global Value Fund (RGV), Royce SMid-Cap Value Fund (RSV), and Royce Focus Trust (FUND). He also serves as assistant portfolio manager for Royce Micro-Cap Fund (RMC), Royce Value Fund (RVV), Royce Value Plus Fund (RVP), Royce Focus Value Fund (RFV), and Royce Capital Fund ��Micro-Cap Portfolio (RCM). Mr. George's thoughts in this interview concerning the stock market are solely his own and, of course, there can be no assurance with regard to future market movements.
Top Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: Camelot Information Systems Inc (CIS)
Camelot Information Systems Inc. (Camelot), incorporated on November 28, 2000, is a holding company. The Company is a domestic provider of enterprise application services and financial industry information technology (IT) services in China, and the Company focuses on enterprises operating in the Chinese market. The Company�� primary service lines are enterprise application services (EAS), which primarily consist of packaged software services for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software packages, and software development and maintenance services; and financial industry IT services (FIS), which primarily consist of software solutions, system support and maintenance, as well as IT consulting services for the financial industry. The Company provides services to a range of industries, including financial services, resources and energy, manufacturing and automobile, technology, as well as telecommunication, media and education.
Enterprise Application Services
The Company�� service line, enterprise application services consists of two main types of services: packaged software services and software development and maintenance services. The Company provides a range of implementation, customization and support services for packaged software systems to enterprise customers, with a focus on ERP software packages. The Company�� packaged software service has a range of coverage in terms of both industries and applications. The Company has served clients and accumulated domain expertise in resources and energy, technology, manufacturing and automobile, as well as retail, consumer and transportation. The Company provides services for systems ranging from traditional ERP systems, such as those offered by SAP and Oracle, to new dimension applications, such as customer relationship management, business intelligence, supply chain management, integration tools and manufacturing supply execution.
Packaged software services can be divided into implementation services and main! tenance services. The Company�� packaged software implementation services primarily consist of Packaged Software Integration, Solution Design, Technical Configuration and Customization, Training, Project Management and Quality Assurance and Testing. The Company�� packaged software maintenance services primarily consist of maintenance and production support services, and infrastructure management. The Company offers a range of software development, system migration and maintenance services based on technologies that are tailored to meet the specific needs of our customers. The Company�� customers include IT service providers and corporations.
Financial Industry IT Services
The Company provides a range of services and solutions along the IT value chain to our financial industry customers, including software solutions, system support and maintenance, and IT consulting services. The Company�� software solutions service offerings include intermediary business solutions for commercial banks, including teller/counter systems, channel management solutions, payment and settlement solutions, and front end communication exchange middleware; key functional systems for commercial banks, including corporate loan, commercial loan, supply chain financing, cash management, as well as internal collaboration and workflow; check image processing services for commercial banks; core life insurance solutions; risk management and anti-money laundering systems for banks; application localization and customization; data transformation and verification, and help desk support and production support.
The Company provides support and maintenance services of mainframe operating and database systems, such as IBM�� operating system and its sysplexes and subsystems, which are used by our financial industry customers. The Company�� system software support and maintenance service offerings include maintenance of core banking systems, international banking systems, mutual fund systems, and! credit c! ard systems; system installation and customization; system performance health check and investigation of performance issues; system performance tuning; evaluation of longer-term capacity needs and recommendations on the architecture of new applications based on performance expectations; system and application emergency support; installation and maintenance of performance measurement tools, and installation and maintenance of program temporary fix packages.
The Company capitalizes on its domain expertise and knowledge base in the financial services industry to provide consulting services by teaming with international IT service providers, such as IBM and Accenture. The Company�� consulting services seek to provide businesses with the flexibility and capability to respond to their customers��needs on a timely basis. The Company�� consulting service offerings include business process re-engineering; Basel II risk management; customer relationship management; financial services logical data model, and system conversion/cut-over.
The company competes with Neusoft Corporation, Digital China Holdings Limited, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies Ltd and Pactera Technology International Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Reese]
The company's petroleum products are sold in the Russian Federation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Top Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: Oshkosh Truck Corporation(OSK)
Oshkosh Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets a range of specialty vehicles, and vehicle bodies worldwide. Its Defense segment manufactures severe-duty, heavy, and medium-payload tactical trucks for the Department of Defense, including hauling tanks, missile systems, ammunition, fuel, and troops and cargo for combat units. The company?s Access Equipment segment offers aerial work platforms and telehandlers used in a range of construction, agricultural, industrial, institutional, and general maintenance applications. This segment also manufactures towing and recovery equipment and related parts; and leases equipments for short-term to rental companies. The company?s Fire and Emergency segment provides custom and commercial fire apparatus, and emergency vehicles, including pumpers, aerial and ladder trucks, tankers, rescue vehicles, wildland rough terrain response vehicles, mobile command and control centers, bomb squad vehicles, hazardous materials control vehicl es, and other emergency response vehicles. This segment also offers snow removal vehicles in airports; custom ambulances for private and public transporters, and fire departments; mobile medical trailers for medical centers and service providers; mobile command and control centers and simulation units; and vehicles for broadcasters, TV stations, broadcast production, and radio stations. Oshkosh Corporation?s Commercial segment manufactures refuse collection vehicles for the waste services industry; front and rear discharge concrete mixers, and portable and stationary concrete batch plants for the concrete ready-mix industry; and field service vehicles and truck-mounted cranes for the construction, equipment dealer, building supply, utility, tire service, and mining industries. The company was formerly known as Oshkosh Truck Corporation and changed its name to Oshkosh Corporation in February 2008. Oshkosh Corporation was founded in 1917 and is based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Navistar have dropped 4.1% to $31.89 at 2:02 p.m. today, while Oshkosh (OSK) has fallen 0.2% to $57.76 and Cummins (CMI) has gained 1.2% to $144.13.
- [By Neha Chamaria]
In fact, I am expecting Terex's AWP division to report the highest growth in sales among all divisions in the second quarter, since demand for telehandlers and booms remains strong. Robust demand for access equipment even encouraged peer Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK ) , which derives more than 40%�revenue from the AWP business, to upgrade its full-year EPS guidance in its previous quarter. Oshkosh's earnings upgrade is important, because the company relies on the struggling defense industry for the major part of its revenue.
- [By BLOGS.BARRONS.COM]
You don�� have to be an income investor to like dividend stocks, especially when they’ve been beaten down like Baker Hughes (BHI) and Oshkosh (OSK) have.
- [By Rich Smith]
The Department of Defense announced 24 new defense contracts Monday, with a combined value of $1.66 billion. One of the larger contracts awarded went to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK ) .
Top Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: TGC Industries Inc.(TGE)
TGC Industries, Inc. provides geophysical services for clients in the oil and gas business in the United States and Canada. It conducts three-D surveys and seismic data acquisition services primarily to onshore oil and natural gas exploration and development companies for use in the onshore drilling and production of oil and natural gas. The company also owns a data bank that contains gravity data and magnetic data from oil and natural gas producing areas located in the United States. It operates 8 seismic crews in the lower 48 states in the United States, as well as 2 crews in Canada. The company was formerly known as Tidelands Geophysical Co., Inc. and changed its name to TGC Industries, Inc. in July 1986. TGC Industries, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Roberto Pedone]
TGC Industries (TGE) provides geophysical services to companies in the oil and gas industry in the U.S. and Canada. This stock closed up 1.8% to $3.86 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $3.76-$3.89
52-Week Range: $3.69-$8.53
Tuesday's Volume: 382,000
Three-Month Average Volume: 114,667From a technical perspective, TGE jumped modestly higher here right above some near-term support at $3.69 with above-average volume flows. This stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $3.72 to $3.69. Following that bottom, shares of TGE have now started to spike higher and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if TGE manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.95 to $4 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TGE as long as it's trending above those double bottom support levels and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 114,667 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then TGE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.25 to its 50-day moving average of $4.52, or even $4.75 to $5.
Top Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc.(BCRX)
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, designs, optimizes, and develops small-molecule pharmaceuticals that block key enzymes involved in infectious diseases, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. It uses structure-based drug design, which incorporates multiple scientific disciplines, including biology, crystallography, medicinal chemistry, and computer to develop new therapeutic candidates. The company has three novel late-stage compounds in development, which include Peramivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor for the potential treatment of influenza; BCX4208, a purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor for gout; and Forodesine, a PNP inhibitor for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Peramivir is being developed under a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Forodesine has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA for thr ee indications, which include T-cell non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma, including CTCL; CLL and related leukemias, including T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia, adult T-cell leukemia, and hairy cell leukemia; and for treatment of B-ALL. The FDA has also granted fast track status to the development of forodesine for the treatment of relapsed or refractory T-cell leukemia, and special protocol assessment from the FDA for forodesine to conduct a pivotal clinical trial in CTCL with an oral formulation. The company announced the initiation of a Phase 2b study of BCX4208 as add-on therapy in gout patients who have not responded to allopurinol therapy alone. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals utilizes crystallography and structure-based drug design to discover additional compounds and to progress others through pre-clinical and early development to address the unmet medical needs of patients and physicians. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Monica Gerson]
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX) shares gained 5.98% to $6.91 in the pre-market session after the company has been awarded contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop BCX4430 for the treatment of Marburg virus disease.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
BioCryst�Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) was started as Outperform with a $7 to $9 price target range at Wells Fargo.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $144 from $139 at Credit Suisse.
- [By GuruFocus]
George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) just reported his first quarter portfolio. He buys Citrix Systems Inc, Baker Hughes Inc, Comcast Corp, Spansion Inc, etc during the 3-months ended 03/31/2014, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Soros Fund Management LLC. As of 03/31/2014, Soros Fund Management LLC owns 305 stocks with a total value of $10.1 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.New Purchases: BHI, CODE, CTRP, CLI, AVB, COMM, CNQ, AGO, AUY, ATML, ASH, BXMT, CSTM, AEM, CMA, ARE, CHKP, AUQ, BEAV, CX, ADSK, AALCP, BLK, AIG, BIIB, ADEP, AMRI, ARWR, ATHX, BALT, BCRX, BEAT, CFX, CLFD, CUR, CODE,Added Positions: CTXS, CMCSA, CNP, ALTR, BRCD, CBS, CRM, CHTR, CCJ, CIEN, BIDU, ALLE, ABT, CDNS, ACT,Reduced Positions: AAPL, CCI, AMT, ABBV, AAL, BITA, AL, ANGI, ARIA, CBST, BA, BIRT, EXAR,Sold Out: C, BAC, CRI, AMZN, AGN, CF, BRCM, COTY, BMY, AMCX, CAR, A, ADBE, AFL,For the details of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)'s stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=George+SorosThis is the sector weightings of his portfolio:Technology18.9%Energy14%Healthcare8.3%Consumer Defensive8.2%Communication Services8.1%Consumer Cyclical5.4%Industrials5.1%Basic Materials4.9%Financial Services2.5%Real Estate1.9%Utilities0.5%These are the top 5 holdings of George Soros (Trades, Portfolio)1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA) - 10,310,041 shares, 5.4% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 10.67%2. Herbalife Ltd (HLF) - 4,901,337 shares, 2.8% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 52.9%3. EQT Corp (EQT) - 2,573,814 shares, 2.5% of the total portfolio. Shares added by 3.27%4. Adecoagro SA (AGRO) - 25,915,076 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio.5. Halliburton Co (HAL) - 3,596,353 shares, 2.1% of the total portfolio. Shares reduced by 20.73%New Purchase: Baker Hughes Inc (BHI)George Soros (Trades, Portfolio) initiated holdings in Baker Hughes Inc. His purchase prices were between $51.82 and $65.27, with an estimated
- [By John Udovich]
While the Twitter IPO has been grabing everyone�� attention, biotech IPOs continue to dominate both biotech and IPO news with Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: KPTI) going public yesterday and�Relypsa (NASDAQ: RLYP), TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TLOG), Vital Therapies (NASDAQ: VTL) and Xencor (NASDAQ: XNCR) filing to go public in the near future�(despite the sector producing some�ugly charts�for the month of October) plus�another small cap called TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) has also been producing a steady flow of news:
Karyopharm Therapeutics Debuts. Yesterday, small cap Karyopharm Therapeutics, which is working on a drug that aids the body�� natural tumor-suppressing proteins,�debuted at the top of�its range to raise $109 million in an upsized�offering of 6.8 million shares at $16 apiece with shares closing at $16.81. It should be noted that Karyopharm Therapeutics��lead drug candidate (Selinexor) is in early-stage clinical trials�and the company lost�lost nearly $12.5 million on revenue of $366,000 during the first six months of this year. Biotech IPOs by Region. On an interesting note, Luke Timmerman, the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, has written a�good�article tracking biotech or life sciences IPOs by region. By his count, Boston is home to eight of the 45 (18%) of the life sciences IPOs this year (its companies have also�raised the most money - about $770 million)�plus�the New York/northern New Jersey region is also home to�eight. San Diego�came in third with six IPOs followed by San Francisco with five while only five of the 45 biotech IPOs�came from outside the�US (Three from Israel and two from Europe). However, the above figures may change as by his account, there are 15 additional biotech companies in line to go public. More Biotechs Set IPO Terms. The small cap biotech space is about to be joined by a few new additions as a couple of biotechs file to go public�over the past�week or so: Relypsa, which is d
Top Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: Phillips 66 (PSX)
Phillips 66 is a holding company. The Company is engaged in producing natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemicals. The Company operates in three segments: the Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment, the Midstream segment and the Chemicals segment. The Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets and transports crude oil and petroleum products, mainly in the United States, Europe and Asia, and also engages in power generation activities. The Midstream segment gathers, processes, transports and markets natural gas, and fractionates and markets NGL, predominantly in the United States. The Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics on a worldwide basis. The Company�� operations encompass 15 refineries with a gross crude oil capacity of 2.8 million barrels per day, 10,000 branded marketing outlets and 7.2 billion cubic feet per day of gross natural gas processing capacity.
R&M
The Company�� R&M segment primarily refines crude oil and other feedstocks into petroleum products (such as gasolines, distillates and aviation fuels); buys, sells and transports crude oil; and buys, transports, distributes and markets petroleum products. This segment also engages in power generation activities. R&M has operations in the United States, Europe and Asia.
The Company�� Bayway Refinery is located on the New York Harbor in Linden, New Jersey. The refinery produces a high percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as petrochemical feedstocks, residual fuel oil and home heating oil. Its Trainer Refinery is located on the Delaware River in Trainer, Pennsylvania. Refinery facilities include fluid catalytic cracking units, hydrodesulfurization units, a reformer and a hydrocracker. The Alliance Refinery is located on the Mississippi River in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The single-train facility includes fluid catalytic cracking units, hydrodesulfurization units and a reformer and aromatics unit. Alli! ance produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Other products include petrochemical feedstocks, home heating oil and anode petroleum coke.
The Lake Charles Refinery is located in Westlake, Louisiana. Its facilities include crude distillation, fluid catalytic cracker, hydrocracker, delayed coker and hydrodesulfurization units. The refinery produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline, off-road diesel and jet fuel, along with home heating oil. It owns a 50% interest in Excel Paralubes, a joint venture which owns a hydrocracked lubricant base oil manufacturing plant located adjacent to the Lake Charles Refinery. The Sweeny Refinery is located in Old Ocean, Texas, approximately 65 miles southwest of Houston. Refinery facilities include fluid catalytic cracking, delayed coking, alkylation, a continuous regeneration reformer and hydrodesulfurization units. It produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Other products include petrochemical feedstocks, home heating oil and coke.
The Company�� Merey Sweeny, L.P. (MSLP) owns a delayed coker and related facilities at the Sweeny Refinery. Fuel-grade petroleum coke is produced as a by-product and becomes the property of MSLP. The Company owns 50% operating interest in Sweeny Cogeneration, a joint venture, which owns a simple cycle, cogeneration power plant located adjacent to the Sweeny Refinery. The plant generates electricity and provides process steam to the refinery, and it also provides merchant power into the Texas market.
The Company�� Wood River Refinery is located in Roxana, Illinois, about 15 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri, at the convergence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Operations include three distilling units, two fluid catalytic cracking units, hydrocracking, coking, reforming, hydrotreating and sulfur recovery. The refinery produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline,! diesel a! nd jet fuel. Other products include petrochemical feedstocks, asphalt and coke. Its Borger Refinery is located in Borger, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle, approximately 50 miles north of Amarillo. The refinery facilities consist of coking, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrodesulfurization and naphtha reforming, in addition to a 45,000-barrels-per-day NGL fractionation facility. It produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as coke, NGL and solvents.
The Ponca City Refinery is located in Ponca City, Oklahoma. It is a high-conversion facility, which includes fluid catalytic cracking, delayed coking and hydrodesulfurization units. It produces a range of products, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and anode-grade petroleum coke. The Billings Refinery is located in Billings, Montana. Its facilities include fluid catalytic cracking and hydrodesulfurization units. The Ferndale Refinery is located on Puget Sound in Ferndale, Washington, approximately 20 miles south of the United States-Canada border. Facilities include a fluid catalytic cracker, an alkylation unit, a diesel hydrotreater and an S-Zorb unit. The Los Angeles Refinery consists of two linked facilities located about five miles apart in Carson and Wilmington, California. The San Francisco Refinery consists of two facilities linked by a 200-mile pipeline. The Santa Maria facility is located in Arroyo Grande, California, about 200 miles south of San Francisco.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company marketed gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel through approximately 8,250 marketer-owned or -supplied outlets in 49 states. At December 31, 2011, its wholesale operations utilized a network of marketers operating approximately 6,875 outlets that provided refined product offtake from its refineries. In addition to automotive gasoline and diesel, it produces and markets aviation gasoline, which is used by smaller piston engine aircrafts. As December 31, 2011,! aviation! gasoline and jet fuel were sold through dealers and independent marketers at approximately 875 Phillips 66-branded locations in the United States.
The Company manufactures and sells automotive, commercial and industrial lubricants, which are marketed worldwide under the Phillips 66, Conoco, 76 and Kendall brands, as well as other private label brands. It also manufactures Group II and import Group III base oils and market both globally under the respective brand names Pure Performance and Ultra-S. It manufactures and markets graphite and anode-grade petroleum cokes in the United States and Europe for use in the global steel and aluminum industries. It also manufacture and market polypropylene to North America under the COPYLENE brand name. Its ThruPlus Delayed Coker Technology, a process for upgrading heavy oil into higher value, light hydrocarbon liquids, was sold in June 2011. In October 2011, it sold Seaway Products Pipeline Company to DCP Midstream. In December 2011, the Company sold its 16.55% interest in Colonial Pipeline Company and its 50% interest in Seaway Crude Pipeline Company. The Company manufactures and sells a variety of specialty products, including pipeline flow improvers and anode material for high-power lithium-ion batteries. Its specialty products are marketed under the LiquidPower and CPreme brand names.
The Company owns four refineries outside the United States: the Humber Refinery, Whitegate Refinery, Melaka Refinery and Wilhelmshaven Refinery. The Humber Refinery is located on the east coast of England in North Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It is an integrated refinery, which produces a high percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. Humber�� facilities encompass fluid catalytic cracking, thermal cracking and coking. The refinery has two coking units with associated calcining plants, which upgrade the heaviest part of the crude barrel and imported feedstocks into light oil products and graphite and anode petroleum cokes.
!
Th! e Whitegate Refinery is located in Cork, Ireland. The refinery primarily produces transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel and fuel oil, which are distributed to the inland market, as well as being exported to Europe and the United States. It also operate a crude oil and products storage complex consisting of 7.5 million barrels of storage capacity and an offshore mooring buoy, located in Bantry Bay, about 80 miles southwest of the refinery in southern Cork County.
The Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein GmbH (MiRO) Refinery, located on the Rhine River in Karlsruhe in southwest Germany, is a joint venture in which it owns an 18.75% interest. Facilities include three crude unit trains, fluid catalytic cracking, petroleum coking and calcining, hydrodesulfurization units, reformers, isomerization and aromatics recovery units, ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE) and alkylation units. MiRO produces a percentage of transportation fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. Other products include petrochemical feedstocks, home heating oil, bitumen, and anode- and fuel-grade petroleum coke. The Wilhelmshaven Refinery is located in the northern state of Lower Saxony in Germany, and has a 260,000 barrels-per-day crude oil processing capacity.
As of December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 1,430 marketing outlets in its European operations, of which approximately 900 were Company-owned and 330 were dealer-owned. It also held brand-licensing agreements with approximately 200 sites. Through its joint venture operations in Switzerland, it also has interests in 250 additional sites.
Midstream
The Midstream segment purchases raw natural gas from producers, including ConocoPhillips, and gathers natural gas through pipeline gathering systems. Its Midstream segment is primarily conducted through its 50% investment in DCP Midstream. DCP Midstream also owns or operates 12 NGL fractionation plants, along with propane terminal facilities and NGL pipeline assets. It has a 25% inte! rest in R! ockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX).
Chemicals
The Chemicals segment consists of its 50% investment in CPChem. As of December 31, 2011, CPChem owned or had joint-venture interests in 38 manufacturing facilities. CPChem�� business is structured around two primary operating segments: Olefins & Polyolefins (O&P) and Specialties, Aromatics & Styrenics (SA&S). The O&P segment produces and markets ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products, which are primarily consumed within CPChem for the production of polyethylene, normal alpha olefins, polypropylene and polyethylene pipe. The SA&S segment manufactures and markets aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Joel South and Taylor Muckerman]
In the video below, Fool energy analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman discuss Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX ) . The company, like many U.S. refiners, has had strong performance recently due to high margins from an abundance of cheap feedstock. The company beat on its earnings report and was able to maintain the strong margins investors were hoping for. Joel tells investors what Phillips 66's plans are for the near future, and what the company's distributions to shareholders will look like over the coming year.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Big Earnings Movers: LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) is down 9.4% at $223.90 after beating estimates but offering cautious guidance. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up 3.3% at $37.24 after beating estimates. Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is down 1.3% at $47.09 probably due to a loss of cable subscribers. Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is up 1.7% at $65.22 after disappointing earnings. The Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is down 12.5% at $16.84 on a poor profit outlook for next year.
- [By Dividend Growth Investor]
In May 2012, ConocoPhillips split into two separately traded companies: ConocoPhillips (COP), which focused on Exploration and Production for Oil and Natural gas and Phillips 66 (PSX), which focused on Refining and Marketing for crude and natural gas. The legacy ConocoPhillips company was paying a quarterly dividend of 66 cents/share, and had raised dividends since 2002. On the surface, through June 2013 it seemed that the company had not raised distributions since the 20% boost payable in March 2011. Shareholders as of April 30, 2012 received one share of the new upstream focused ConocoPhillips (COP) as well as half a share of the downstream focused Phillips 66 (PSX). However, although the new ConocoPhillips maintained its quarterly dividend of 66 cents/share, this was technically a dividend increase, since it was coming from a lower base. Some dividend investors didn't see it that way however, and worried about the perceived "lack of dividend increase". Most recently however, ConocoPhillipsraised quarterly distributions to 69 cents/share.
Getty ImagesThree of the nations largest banks have hiked their out-of-network ATM fees by 50 cents in the past six months. Rising ATM fees are making it more expensive for consumers who regularly use an out-of-network ATM to withdraw cash. The trend may be the push that some consumers need to find a better checking account or bank. In the past six months, three of the nation's largest banks -- Bank of America (BAC), Citibank (C) and SunTrust Bank (STI) -- have each hiked their out-of-network ATM fee from $2 to $2.50. At the top 10 U.S. banks, the average out-of-network ATM fee is $2.45, up from $2.25 in November. Then, don't forget that ATM operator also has the right to slap on a surcharge, usually around $3 to $5. If ATM fees are becoming a costly expense for you, here are some ways to avoid them: Find your bank's ATMs on your smartphone. The biggest reason we resort to using an out-of-network ATM is because ATM machines from our banks are nowhere to be found when we're in a rush. In many cases, your bank's ATM could just be around the corner, but you're in a hurry, so you don't care to check. Instead, you're willing to get hit with the ATM cash withdrawal fee, plus any ATM surcharge. However, with easy access to the Internet through smartphones, it would be wise to search for nearby ATMs. Many mobile banking applications feature a locator tool that will help you find an ATM based on your GPS location. Remember to use affiliated ATM networks. There are financial institutions -- usually community banks and credit unions -- that partner with other financial companies to expand ATM availability without imposing surcharges. For instance, some smaller banks and online banks work with the Allpoint or STAR ATM networks to provide more surcharge-free access to ATMs. Some credit unions also partner with the CO-OP ATM network, which doesn't impose surcharges for members of partnered credit unions. Additionally, financial institutions may work with retailers to place branded ATMs within their stores. For instance, Chase (JPM) has ATMs in Duane Reade and CVS/pharmacy (CVS) stores, while Citibank has ATMs in 7-Eleven convenience stores. Get debit card cash back. When swiped at certain types of retailers, usually grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores, your debit card can be used to get cash from a store clerk when you make a purchase. For example, you can buy a candy bar for $1 and ask for $20 in cash back. The cashier will charge $21 to your debit card and will give you $20 in cash plus your purchase. There is no fee to use this cash back option. (Keep in mind the store may restrict how much cash back you can pull out, and you are subject to your card's daily debit card purchase limits.) In the end, this method is likely to cost less than paying an out-of-network ATM fee. Find a no-ATM-fee checking account. One big move to minimize out-of-network ATM fees may be to look for a new checking account that doesn't charge any ATM fees. Most brick-and-mortar banks are unable to waive ATM fees because the fees go toward the operational costs of their ATM networks. No-ATM-fee checking accounts are more common at online banks and brokerages. Ally Bank and Schwab Bank, for example, have free checking accounts that offer unlimited ATM fee reimbursements. If you are thinking about opening a new checking account, remember that you don't necessarily have to ditch your old one. Since there is no monthly fee, you can just designate your no-ATM-fee checking account for out-of-network ATM cash withdrawals. Switch to a better big bank. When you notice you're paying too much in out-of-network ATM fees, it may not be because you are using a big bank that charges such fees. It may be because you aren't using the right big bank with the most convenient ATM network located near you. Switching from one big bank to another big bank with more accessible ATMs could help mitigate hefty ATM fees. Be sure to take notice of bank branches and ATMs near places you visit frequently such as your workplace, grocery stores and restaurants.