7 Industry-Leading Stocks to Buy Now - Motley Fool

7 Industry-Leading Stocks to Buy Now (CSCO, EXC, JOE, PFE, PG) Fool.com Fool.co.uk Fool.com.au The Official Website of the Long-Term InvestorWelcome! Premium Advice My Services None Other Services Alpha Big Short Duke Street Global Gains Hidden Gems Income Investor Inside Value MDP Deep Value Million Dollar Portfolio Motley Fool Options Motley Fool Pro Rule Breakers Rule Your Retirement Special Ops Stock Advisor Supernova HelpJoin NoworLogin The Motley Fool Home All Fool Headlines Fool Labs Fool MilitaryAbout The Motley Fool My Fool My Profile My Watchlist My Scorecard My Boards My CAPS My Reports My Settings How To Invest 13 Steps Find a Broker Investing Wiki Personal Finance Investing Commentary Basics ETFs Options Small-Cap Dividends & Income High Growth Value Mutual Funds International CAPS Community CAPS Home CAPS Home My CAPS Stocks Screener Players Blogs Top Tens Tags Contests Contact Us Help Retirement 13 Retirement Steps IRAs 401(k)s, Etc. Asset Allocation Boards Best Of Favorites & Replies Customize Start a New Board Fool Store Stock Advisor Hidden Gems Rule Breakers Million Dollar Portfolio Motley Fool PRO Global Gains Motley Fool Mobile Email Print Tweet

Recs

3 7 Industry-Leading Stocks to Buy Now ByDan Caplinger|More Articles
April 26, 2012|Comments (0)

Watch stocks you care aboutThe single, easiest way to keep track of all the stocks that matter...

Your own personalized stock watchlist!

It's a 100% FREE Motley Fool service...

Click Here Now

Companies that create and maintain a lasting competitive advantage can be some of the best long-term investment opportunities you'll ever find. Although competition usually brings down most companies eventually, a few industry leaders manage to produce outstanding returns for years or even decades as they take full advantage of their business opportunities.

To invest in these market leaders, you've typically had to ferret them out and buy the stocks individually. But a new exchange-traded fund seeks to gather them up in one place for you. Let's take a closer look at the ETF and the stocks it invests in.

Crossing the moat
The brand-new Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF started trading earlier this week. The ETF's methodology relies on what Morningstar calls its Economic Moat Rating, which looks for companies that will both earn outstanding returns on their capital and be able to sustain those high returns even in the face of competitors.

Morningstar identifies several ways that companies establish moats. In some cases, intangible assets like a powerful brand name create big profits. For others, cost advantages that result from either a favored way of doing business or economies of scale that smaller competitors can't achieve produce strong returns. And especially as the Internet has brought increasing attention on building networks of customers, companies that capitalize on network effects and that make it impossible or impractical to switch to other providers capture customers for the long run, building an ever-increasing competitive advantage over would-be disruptors in their industries.

Haves and have-nots
One interesting impact of using that definition to define the ETF's 20-stock portfolio is that some industries have disproportionately large representation in the ETF, while others get left out completely. In particular, technology, financials, and materials stocks get more weight, while consumer staples and telecom stocks have no representation within the fund.

It's hard to argue against some of the biggest companies in the ETF. Google and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO  ) are clear leaders in their respective tech fields, even if Cisco has faced increasing competitive pressure from its smaller rivals in recent years. Amazon.com has built an online-retail empire that seems insurmountable. And even though Exelon (NYSE: EXC  ) is far from the only utility company in existence, its particularly well-diversified generation capacity from sources including nuclear power plants as well as coal- and gas-fired production facilities give it an advantage that could assert itself more clearly once fossil-fuel prices start rising again.

But some of the other stocks in the ETF may raise some eyebrows. St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE  ) owns a unique set of business assets, with huge tracts of Florida land that could eventually represent prime opportunities for development. Yet the real estate bust let the air out of the company's shares, and a year and a half ago, it found itself the subject of a major debate between institutional investors David Einhorn and Bruce Berkowitz. Similarly, both Merck and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) appear on the list, despite the presence of numerous competitors in the pharmaceutical field that seem to have at least as promising pipelines for future development.

Moreover, the absence of other companies is also hard to explain. To produce more balance across industry sectors, consumer giants Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) seem like logical choices. Morningstar even uses Coca-Cola in its explanatory materials as an example of a wide-moat company, while P&G's billion-dollar brand dominance demonstrates the value of its intangibles as well as the economies of scale that allow it to serve customers around the world.

A good idea
Regardless of whether you agree with the Market Vectors ETF's particular choices, searching out companies with lasting competitive advantages can produce great results. Even if you don't invest in the ETF, you can use its picks as a great starting point for further research for your individual-stock portfolio.

The best stocks can serve you well for years. Get some great ideas from The Motley Fool's special report on retirement investing, where you'll learn three stock names that could help you reach your financial goals. It's free, so get your free report today and start preparing for a richer retirement.

.eCapForUnregisteredUsersTestCell_eCapReplacement { background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #FFFFFF !important; border: medium none !important; }#content div.ecap, #content div.ecapReplacement { background: none repeat scroll 0 0 #FFFFFF !important; border: medium none !important; }#smalltext { font-size:11px;color:#666666;margin-top:0px;} Are You the ONE?
Motley Fool co-founder and CEO, Tom Gardner,is about to embark on an unprecedented wealth-building journey he calls, "the greatest work of my life as an investor." And he's looking for a small group of our most dedicated Fools to step up and join him. Thousands will apply but only roughly one percent of Fools will be able to take part. Are you the 1-in-100 investor Tom Gardner is looking for? Simply enter your e-mail address in the box below to find out. Fool contributor Dan Caplinger was a natural at playing follow the leader. He doesn't own shares of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Coca-Cola, Google, Cisco Systems, and Amazon.com. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Exelon, Amazon.com, and Google, as well as writing a covered straddle position in Exelon. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy is the tops.
Read/Post Comments (0) | Recommend This Article (3)

EmailPrintFeedbackDiggDeliciousRSS Comments from our Foolish ReadersHelp us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Be the first one to comment on this article.Your Fool username will be displayed with your comment.

Please be respectful with your comments. Review our Fool's Rules.

Your comment may be delayed up to 15 minutes

Compare BrokersFool DisclosureDocumentId: 1871743, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 4/26/2012 11:36:30 AM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report... Today's Market updated Moments agoSponsored by:DOW13,145.1754.45 0.42%S&P 5001,393.062.37 0.17%NASD3,036.466.83 0.23%Create My WatchlistGo to My Watchlist

You don't seem to be following any stocks yet!Better investing starts with a watchlist. Now you can create a personalized watchlist and get immediate access to the personalized information you need to make successful investing decisions.

Data delayed up to 5 minutes

Most Popular Articles This Move Could Rescue Your Retirement What Penny Stock Spam Looks Like It's a Wonderful Time to Be Alive 3 Stocks Making All the Right Moves Rising Star Portfolios Related Tickers4/26/2012 11:09 AMPFE$22.97+0.09+0.39%Pfizer, Inc.CAPS Rating: PG$66.79-0.10-0.15%The Procter & Gamb…CAPS Rating: JOE$17.85-0.09-0.50%The St. Joe Compan…CAPS Rating: CSCO$19.47-0.02-0.10%Cisco Systems, Inc…CAPS Rating: EXC$38.38+0.22+0.57%Exelon CorpCAPS Rating:
Home About The Motley Fool Fool Disclosure Radio Show Work at The Fool Member Services Advertise with The Fool Privacy Policy Email Subscriptions RSS Headlines Help Site Map Fool UK Fool Friends: Yahoo Finance MSN Money AOL Business News Mint Personal Finance Software lovemoney.com Copyright, Trademark and Patent Information Terms of Use© 1995 -2012The Motley Fool. All rights reserved.
BATS data provided in real-time. NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX data delayed 15 minutes.
Real-Time prices provided by BATS. Market data provided by Interactive Data.
Company fundamental data provided by Morningstar. Earnings Estimates and Analyst Ratings provided by Zacks.
SEC Filings and Insider Transactions provided by Edgar Online.
Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Terms & Conditions

31ms USEQ\WEB03

View the original article here

Elite Agents and Financial Professionals Gather for Industry-Leading Networking Conference Hosted By Creative Marketing - PRWeb

Leawood, Kan. (PRWEB) April 07, 2012

More than 50 of the country’s most successful agents and advisors joined host Creative Marketing for the sixth annual Tailor Made Networking Conference held in Miami, Fla. Attendees were able to enjoy the outdoors and maximize their opportunity for sharing ideas, information and success strategies with other high-caliber producers throughout the three-day event. Additionally, Creative Marketing’s home office personnel presented timely industry news and sales tips for helping these professionals continue to build their businesses and differentiate themselves from their competition.

Creative’s Tailor Made group welcomes elite-level life and annuity producers who meet a $5 million minimum of premium submitted annually. The Tailor Made services include one-on-one business consulting, strategic marketing and communications support, and a multitude of training opportunities and resources customized specifically for agents with an exceptional business track record. Each year, Creative brings these agents and advisors together to network and hear from their peers regarding strategies for generating referrals, developing more qualified leads and closing business more effectively.

“At each Tailor Made Networking Conference, we want to recognize our outstanding producers and provide extraordinary ways to thank them for their continued partnership with us,” said Creative Marketing’s Senior Vice President of Tailor Made Chip Anderson. “This year’s event in Miami was no exception. During two days of sharing innovative solutions for growing their practices, our guests were able to build relationships with colleagues who understand the challenges elite-level agents face in their day-to-day business.”

Event highlights included a keynote speech by innovative leader and corporate consultant Steve Harvill. He shared insights into the benefits of getting back to basics and keeping the sales process simple for agents and clients alike. Producers picked up tips from top agents, and then shared “one great idea” with one another that they could put to use immediately after the conference. Attendees also learned about specifics of newly offered agent programs available and how to prepare themselves and their business owner clients for business succession.

“All of the events were great, and the farewell party was incredible. I had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with some of the most successful agents and advisors in the business and learn how they do what they do. On my first day back in the office, I am already starting to implement suggestions and improve my own success. I can’t wait until the next Networking Conference,” said one Tailor Made attendee on the post-event survey.

Creative Marketing is known throughout the industry for its best-in-class agent incentive trips, in addition to providing unparalleled service and support. The Tailor Made Networking Conference is just one example of how Creative combines these qualities to afford producers with opportunities throughout the year to spend time learning from their peers.

“This year’s Networking Conference was packed full of information our agents can modify and implement for great results. We heard from many attendees that the Miami event was the best yet, and we intend to continue exceeding expectations in the years to come,” said Anderson.

ABOUT CREATIVE MARKETING INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
Creative Marketing, a leading national marketing organization for annuities and life insurance, has been assisting insurance and financial professionals with building a successful practice since 1984. Providing affiliated agents and advisors with hundreds of product options from a variety of carriers, the company delivers superior agent education, advanced marketing training, substantial back-office support, and considerable industry expertise by more than 150 talented and knowledgeable employees. Creative Marketing sets an industry standard for its commitment to excellence, ethics and integrity in business, and agent-client satisfaction. Located in Leawood, Kan., Creative Marketing is making a difference in the lives of its affiliated insurance agents and financial professionals, as well as the clients they serve. To learn more about Creative Marketing, visit us on the web at http://www.creativemarketing.net

View the original article here