Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now

So long and thanks for all the dishes. J.C. Penney (JCP) has been bumped from the S&P 500 and into the S&P MidCap 400, as part of a string of moves.

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From S&P’s press release:

Allegion plc (ALLE) will replace J. C. Penney Company Inc. in the S&P 500, J. C. Penney will replace A茅ropostale Inc. (ARO) in the S&P MidCap 400, and A茅ropostale will replace Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on Friday, November 29.

S&P 500 constituent Ingersoll-Rand plc (IR) is spinning off Allegion to shareholders in a transaction expected to be effective after the close of trading on that date. Ingersoll-Rand will remain in the S&P 500 after the spin-off. J. C. Penney�� and A茅ropostale�� market capitalizations are now more representative of the mid cap market and small cap market spaces respectively. Corinthian Colleges��low stock price and market capitalization make it no longer suitable for the S&P SmallCap 600.

Best Supermarket Companies To Invest In Right Now: Bell AG (BELL)

Bell AG is a Switzerland-based company that is primarily engaged in the production and distribution of meat. The Company has seven product groups. The Fresh Meat product group is involved in the supply of self-service meat products for the retail trade and products for the restaurant trade, as well as Vaudois specialties. The Charcuterie (own and purchased) product groups offer ready-cooked products, both under the Bell brand and under a number of customers' own brands. The Poultry product group offers various poultry products, as well as specialty meats, such as rabbit, game, ostrich and kangaroo. The Convenience product group offers ready-cooked seasonal convenience products, such as domestic and imported fish. Within the Seafood product group, the Company offers fresh and frozen seafood. Bell AG�� brands include Abraham, Zimbo and Polette, among others. The Company operates subsidiaries in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Hungary and other countries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tannor Pilatzke]

  Investment ideas are scarce and hard to come by at times. People constantly ask me about companies they work for (Bell) or businesses they purchase a lot of product from (P&G or Coca-Cola), and what I think about the prospects/valuation. When it is not the blue chips in the limelight it certainly is the Netflix��,Tesla's, 3-D printing, and other companies I would classify as speculative. It is not that I am a Grinch, but I do not like giving out investment ideas. Rather, I attempt to give lessons. As Maimonides said, ��ive a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.��/p>

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Energy Recovery Inc (ERII)

Energy Recovery, Inc. incorporated in April 1992, is engaged in developing, manufacturing and selling of energy recovery devices and circulation pumps primarily for uses in seawater desalination plants that use reverse osmosis technology. The Company's products are sold under the trademarks AquaBold, AquaSpire, ERITM, PXT, Pressure Exchanger, PX Pressure Exchanger, PEIT, Pump Engineering and Quadribaric. The Company develops and sells two main lines of energy recovery devices: PX pressures Exchanger devices and turbochargers. Each line includes a range of models and sizes to address the breadth of required process flow rates, plant designs and sizes. The company has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Energy Recovery Iberia, S.L. and ERI Energy Recovery Ireland Ltd. During the year ended December 2011, the Company merged three subsidiaries including, Osmotic Power, Inc.; Energy Recovery, Inc. International and Pump Engineering, Inc. into the parent company, Energy Recovery, Inc.

Energy recovery devices

The Company's PX offering includes: the PX-300 and PX-Q300; the 65 series (the PX-260, PX-220 and PX-180); the 4S series (PX-140S, PX-90S, PX-70S, PX-45S and PX-30S) and brackish PX devices (for the desalination of water with a lower concentration of salt than seawater). The Company's turbocharger offering includes: the HTCAT series (HTCAT-1800, HTCAT-2400, HTCAT-3600, HTCAT-4800, HTCAT-7200 and HTCAT-9600); the HALO line (HALO-50, HALO-75, HALO-100, HALO-150, HALO-225, HALO-300, HALO-450, HALO-500, HALO-600, HALO-900 and HALO-1200) and the LPT series for brackish water desalination applications (LPT-63, LPT-125, LPT-250, LPT-500, LPT-1000, LPT-2000 and LPT-3200).

High-pressure and Circulation pumps.

The Company manufactures and sells high-pressure feed, circulation and booster pumps for uses with its energy recovery devices in reverse osmosis desalination plants. The Company's line of pumps includes the AquaBold series (AquaBold 2x3x5, AquaBold 3x4x7 and ! AquaBold 4x6x9); the AquaSpire series (AquaSpire-300, AquaSpire-450, AquaSpire-600, AquaSpire-900, AquaSpire-1200, AquaSpire-1800, AaquaSpire-2400, AquaSpire-3600, AquaSpire-4800, AquaSpire-7200 and AquaSpire-9600) and a line of small circulation pumps.

Technical support and Replacement parts

The Company provides engineering and technical support to customers during product installation and plants commissioning. The Company also offers replacement parts and services for its PX devices and turbochargers. The Company's PX devices and turbochargers are also used to retrofit or replace older energy recovery devices in existing desalination plants.

The Company Competes with Flowserve Corporation (Flowserve) based in Irving, Texas and Fluid Equipment Development Company, Clyde Union Ltd., Duchting Pumpen Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co KG, KSB Aktiengesellschaft, Torishima Pump Mfg. Co., Ltd. and Sulzer Pumps, Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ant贸nio Costa]

  Energy Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERII) broke out of a small consolidation area with heavy volume and will likely have the attention of the swing-traders in the next days.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Belo Corp (BLC)

Belo Corp. (Belo), incorporated on October 27, 2000, is a television company. The Company owns 20 television stations, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW and MyNetwork TV (MNTV) affiliates, and their associated websites, in 15 markets across the United States. The Company also has three local and two regional news channels. Belo also has a services agreement with the owner and operator of KFWD-TV, licensed to Fort Worth, Texas. Belo has six stations in the 13 U.S. markets and 13 stations in the 50 U.S. markets. Belo�� stations are concentrated primarily in three regions: Texas, the Northwest and Arizona. Six of the Company�� stations are located in four metropolitan areas in the United States: ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth; CBS affiliate KHOU-TV in Houston; NBC affiliate KING-TV and independent KONG-TV in Seattle/Tacoma, and Independent KTVK and The CW Network (CW) affiliate KASW-TV in Phoenix. Belo�� television stations have been recognized with numerous local, state and national awards for news coverage and community service. The principal source of revenue for Belo�� television stations is the sale of airtime to local, regional and national advertisers. In 2012, 82.0 % of the Company�� total revenues were derived from spot advertising.

The Company has a portfolio of broadcast network-affiliated stations, with four ABC affiliates, five CBS affiliates and four NBC affiliates, and at least one station associated with each network. As such, Belo�� revenue streams are not significantly affected by which broadcast network leads in the primetime ratings. Belo also owns two independent (IND) stations, two CW affiliates, two MNTV affiliates, and one FOX affiliate. Company also has two regional news channels, Texas Cable News (TXCN) in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and Northwest Cable News (NWCN) in Seattle/Tacoma, Washington, and three local news channels, 24/7 NewsChannel in Boise, Idaho, NewsWatch on Channel 15 in New Orleans, Louisiana and the 3TV 24/7 news channel in Pho! enix, Arizona. These operations provide news coverage and certain other programming in a comprehensive 24-hour a day format using the resources of the Company�� television stations in Texas, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Louisiana and Arizona.

Websites of each of the Company�� television stations provide consumers with news and information as well as a variety of other products and services. Belo obtains immediate feedback through online communication with its audience, which allows the Company to tailor the way in which it delivers news and information to serve the needs of its audiences. The Company has network affiliation agreements with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW and MNTV. The Company�� network affiliation agreements generally provide the station with the exclusive right to broadcast over the air in its local service area all programs transmitted by the network with which the station is affiliated. As of September 30, 2012, the Company also operated, through a joint venture, a cable news channel in partnership with Cox Communications and other parties that provided local news coverage in Phoenix, Arizona (Arizona NewsChannel).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon Friedman]

  Editor's note: A previous version of this article referred to A.H. Belo (NYSE: AHC) instead of Belo Corp. (NYSE: BLC). The Fool regrets the error.�

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS)

Sprott Physical Gold Trust (the Trust) is a closed-end mutual fund trust. The Trust was created to invest and hold substantially all of its assets in physical gold bullion. The Trust seeks to provide an exchange-traded investment alternative for investors interested in holding physical gold bullion. The Trust invests primarily in long-term holdings of unencumbered, fully allocated, physical gold bullion and does not speculate with regard to short-term changes in gold prices. Sprott Asset Management LP (the Manager) is the manager and RBC Dexia Investor Services Trust (RBC Dexia), a trust company, is the trustee of the Trust.

The Trust employs two custodians. The Royal Canadian Mint (Mint) acts as custodian for the Trust's physical gold bullion, pursuant to a precious metals storage agreement between the Manager, for and on behalf of the Trust, and the Mint, to which it refers as the precious metals storage agreement. RBC Dexia acts as custodian of the Trust's assets other than physical gold bullion pursuant to the trust agreement. As of December 31, 2010, the Trust held 90% of its total net assets in physical gold bullion in London Good Delivery bar form. The Trust does not invest in gold certificates or other financial instruments that represent gold or that may be exchanged for gold.

In making investments on behalf of the Trust, the Manager is subject to certain investment and operating restrictions, to which the Trust refers to as the Investment and Operating Restrictions. The Investment and Operating Restrictions provide that the Trust will invest in and hold a minimum of 90% of the total net assets of the Trust in physical gold bullion in London Good Delivery bar form and hold no more than 10% of the total net assets of the Trust, at the discretion of the Manager, in physical gold bullion (in London Good Delivery bar form or otherwise), gold coins, debt obligations of or guaranteed by the Government of Canada or a province of Canada or by the Government of the United St! ates or a state thereof.

The Trust will invest in short-term commercial paper obligations of a corporation or other person whose short-term commercial paper is rated R-1 (or its equivalent, or higher) by Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited or its successors, or assigns or F1 (or its equivalent, or higher) by Fitch Ratings or its successors, or assigns or A-1 (or its equivalent, or higher) by Standard & Poor's or its successors, or assigns or P-1 (or its equivalent, or higher) by Moody's Investor Service or its successors, or assigns, interest-bearing accounts and short-term certificates of deposit issued or guaranteed by a Canadian chartered bank or trust company, money market mutual funds, short-term government debt or short-term investment grade corporate debt, or other short-term debt obligations approved by the Manager from time to time. The Trust will not purchase, sell or hold derivatives.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Cook]

  If you are partial to Canadians, or just a little nervous about securing your gold, Sprott Physical Gold Trust (NYSEMKT: PHYS  ) is another viable option. Gold is stored at the Royal Canadian Mint, and I think monthly dusting and shining of the bars is included in Sprott's 0.42% management fee.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc.(PPHM)

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research and development of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and viral infections. Its products under development include bavituximab, a phosphatidylserine-targeting antibody, which is in Phase II trials for the treatment of front-line and second-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and pancreatic cancer; and Cotara, a DNA/histone-targeting antibody that is in Phase II trial for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. The company is also developing bavituximab in combination with ribavirin, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with genotype-1 hepatitis C virus infection. In addition, it has investigator-sponsored trial programs that evaluate bavituximab for the treatment of patients with liver cancer, second-line castration resistant prostate cancer, HER-2 negative metastatic breast cancer, and locally advanced or metasta tic NSCLC. Further, the company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Avid Bioservices, Inc., provides integrated current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) commercial and clinical manufacturing services in the United States, including contract manufacturing of antibodies, recombinant proteins, and enzymes; cell culture development; process development; and testing of biologics for biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies under cGMP. It has licensing agreements with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Merck KGaA; SuperGen, Inc.; and Affitech A/S. Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. intends to sell its products in the United States and internationally in collaboration with marketing partners or through a direct sales force. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Tustin, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Also gaining double digits on the week was the highly embattled Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PPHM  ) which rallied after the FDA approved its late-stage trial design for its second-line non-small-cell lung cancer immunotherapy, Bavituximab. While trial design approvals are rarely big news, it is in this case because mid-stage results for Bavituximab have been all over the place. At first Bavituximab demonstrated a better than doubling in progression-free survival followed weeks later by management's insistence that investors were not to trust the data. A few months later, following a review, we were told to trust the data again. This filing helps relieve some of the confusion surrounding Peregrine's mid-stage results, and hopefully its phase 3 study will be black-and-white obvious as to whether Bavituximab provides a statistically significant benefit.

• [By Tom Bemis]

  Few major companies are reporting after Monday�� bell. Results are expected from Destiny Media Technologies (DSNY) �, Stanley Furniture Co. (STLY) � and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals. (PPHM) �.

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: Webster Financial Corp (WBS)

Webster Financial Corporation (Webster), incorporated on September 10, 1986, is a bank holding company and financial holding company. Webster�� principal asset as of December 31, 2012, was Webster Bank, National Association (Webster Bank). Webster, through Webster Bank and various subsidiaries, delivers financial services to individuals, families and businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York. Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage lending, financial planning, trust and investment services through 167 banking offices, 293 automated teller machines (ATMs), telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet Website www.websterbank.com. Webster also offers equipment financing, commercial real estate lending and asset-based lending across the Northeast. Webster Bank offers health savings accounts on a nationwide basis, through its HSA Bank division and its Internet Website www.hsabank.com. Webster�� operations are managed along four business segments: Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Consumer Finance and Other. Other includes Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Private Banking (including Webster Financial Advisors (WFA)).

Commercial Banking

The Commercial Banking segment includes middle market, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, equipment finance, and Government and not-for-profit banking. Webster�� Commercial Banking group provides lending, deposit and cash management services to middle market companies in its franchise territory. Additionally, it serves as a primary referral source to Wealth Management and Retail Banking.

Retail Banking

Retail Banking serves consumers and small businesses primarily throughout southern New England and into Westchester County, New York, with a distribution network of 167 banking offices and 293 owned ATMs, and a full range of Internet and mobile banking services. Retail Banking includes Webster�� branch network, Consumer deposits, Busin! ess and Professional Banking (BPB), Webster Investment Services (WIS) and the Customer Care Center.

Consumer Finance

Consumer Finance offers lending solutions for consumers primarily in southern New England and Westchester County, New York. Products include: residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans as well as credit card options.

Other

Other includes HSA Bank (HSA) and Private Banking. HSA Bank is a bank custodian of health savings accounts. These accounts are provided for high deductible health plans offered by employers or directly to consumers. Private Banking provides local full relationship banking that serves high net worth clients, not-for-profit organizations and business clients for asset management, trust, loan and deposit products and financial planning services.

Subsidiaries of Webster Financial Corporation

Webster�� direct subsidiaries as of December 31, 2012 included Webster Bank, Fleming, Perry & Cox, Inc., and Webster Licensing, LLC. Webster also owns all of the outstanding common stock of Webster Statutory Trust, an unconsolidated financial vehicle that has issued or may in the future issue trust preferred securities. On July 18, 2012, the Company completed the redemption at par of all the outstanding principal amount of Webster Capital Trust IV fixed to floating-rate trust preferred securities. Webster Bank's direct subsidiaries include Webster Mortgage Investment Corporation, Webster Business Credit Corporation (WBCC) and Webster Capital Finance, Inc. (WCF). Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated Company. Webster Bank is the primary source of retail activity within the consolidated group. Webster Bank provides banking services through 167 banking offices, 293 owned ATMs, telephone banking, mobile banking and its Internet websites. Residential mortgage origination activity is conducted through Webster Bank. Webster Mortgage! Investme! nt Corporation is a passive investment subsidiary whose primary function is to provide servicing on passive investments, such as residential real estate and commercial mortgage real estate loans transferred from Webster Bank. Various commercial lending products are provided through Webster Bank and its subsidiaries to clients within the region from Westchester County, NY to Boston, MA. WBCC provides asset-based lending services. WCF provides equipment financing for end users of equipment. Additionally, Webster Bank has various other subsidiaries that are not significant to the consolidated Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Bank holding and financial company Webster Bank (WBS) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 20 cents per share payable June 16 to shareholders of record June 2.
  WBS Dividend Yield: 2.63%

Top 10 Mid Cap Companies To Buy Right Now: The Andersons Inc.(ANDE)

The Andersons, Inc. engages in the grain, ethanol, plant nutrient, railcar leasing and repair, turf products production, and general merchandise retailing businesses. It operates in six segments: Grain, Ethanol, Rail, Plant Nutrient, Turf & Specialty, and Retail. The Grain segment operates grain elevators; and is involved in the storage, merchandising, and trading of grains, as well as offers marketing, risk management, and corn origination services to its customers. The Ethanol segment operates three ethanol production facilities; and provides facility operations, risk management, and ethanol and distillers dried grains marketing to the ethanol plants. The Rail segment buys, sells, leases, rebuilds, and repairs a fleet of approximately 23,000 railcars and locomotives; offers fleet management services to private railcar owners; engages in metal fabrication business; and invests in short-line railroad. The Plant Nutrient segment manufactures, distributes, and retails dry an d liquid agricultural nutrients, and pelleted lime and gypsum products to agricultural farm supply dealers; and essential crop nutrients, crop protection chemicals, and seed products, as well as provides application and agronomic services to commercial and family farmers. This segment also offers warehousing, packaging, and manufacturing services to manufacturers and other distributors; and various industrial products, including nitrogen reagents for air pollution control systems. The Turf & Specialty segment produces granular fertilizer and control products for the turf and ornamental markets; and fertilizer and control products, and corncob-based animal bedding and cat litter for the consumer markets. The Retail segment operates The Andersons retail stores; The Andersons Market, a specialty food market; a distribution center; and a lawn and garden equipment sales and service shop. The Andersons, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Maumee, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Ethanol producers and farmers are the losers and the RFA is steaming mad. The group claims that the ��PA is proposing to place the nation�� renewable energy policy in the hands of the oil companies.��Producers like Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), and The Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE) don�� have an oil refining business to offset the proposed cuts to ethanol volumes.