Best Prefered Companies To Invest In 2014

Why try to beat 'em if you can just buy 'em? That's the approach that Questcor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: QCOR  ) is taking. The biotech announced today that it has acquired rights to develop Syncathen and�Synacthen Depot in the U.S. from�Novartis (NYSE: NVS  ) . Questcor is paying $60 million up front and at least $75 million over the next few years, plus potential milestone payments. Shares were up nearly 25% in early trading.

What it means
Questcor appears to be playing both defense and offense with this move. On the defensive front, buying rights to Synacthen makes a lot of sense. Synacthen is a synthetic version of adrenocorticotropic hormone, or ACTH, which is the active ingredient in Acthar.

There's at least one big difference between Acthar and Synacthen, though. Questcor charges $28,000 per vial for Acthar. Synacthen Depot sells for around 3% of the cost of Acthar. You read that right -- Acthar costs 30 times more than the its synthetic rival.

Top 10 Information Technology Companies To Own In Right Now: Officemax Incorporated(OMX)

OfficeMax Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, distributes business-to-business and retail office products. Its Contract segment markets and sells office supplies and paper, technology products and solutions, office furniture, and print and document services directly to large corporate and government offices, as well as to small and medium-sized offices through field salespeople, outbound telesales, catalogs, Internet, and office products stores. As of December 31, 2011, this segment operated 38 distribution centers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; 4 customer service and outbound telesales centers in the United States; and 47 office products stores in Canada, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. The company?s Retail segment markets and sells office supplies and paper, print and document services, technology products and solutions, and office furniture to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers through a network of reta il stores. As of December 31, 2011, this segment operated 978 stores in the United States and Mexico; 3 large distribution centers in the United States; and 1 small distribution center in Mexico. The company, formerly known as Boise Cascade Corporation, was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Tuesday, OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

• [By Mathew Schwartz]

  AlamyA Starbucks coffee shop in downtown Beijing, China. • There are prices to be paid for expanding your economy at a gallop, and China pays plenty of them. Today, anyone looking out across that nation's northern cities can see that winter has arrived there -- or rather, they can't, because the smog is so appallingly bad. In the city of Harbin, for example, visibility dropped to around 11 yards Monday, and small-particle pollution soared to 40 times higher than the international safety standard -- a record, by the way, though one we're sure nobody would want to break. It's a pretty clear case of cause and effect: Harbin's city heating systems were fired up on Sunday, and by Monday, you could barely see your hand in front of your face. • While we're on the subject of the world's rising economic superpower, China has a big complaint with Starbucks (SBUX) -- and it's probably the same one you have: Why does it charge so much for coffee? This may shock those of us in the U.S. who feel we're paying through the nose for our lattes, but Starbucks charges more in China than it does elsewhere -- about a third more than in the United States. • But back in America, the biggest news involving your money today is a no-brainer: the continuing glitches in the Obamacare websites. The administration has called out the computer cavalry, expanding the team that's trying to get the system working properly. And President Obama plans to speak publicly about the problems Monday. But in the meantime, the website is producing far more complaints than anything else. • We all know that taking out a student loan requires filling out a raft of complicated paperwork, but paying it back, at least, ought to be simple. Unfortunately, it's not, the advocates over at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau inform us in a new report. Some loan servicers -- the companies lenders hire to collect payments on private student loans -- make a concerted effort to maximize fee

• [By Eric Volkman]

  OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX  ) is keeping its dividend level. It will hand out a disbursement of $0.02 per share of its common stock on May 31 to shareholders of record as of May 15. This amount matches each of the firm's previous three payouts, the most recent of which was paid in late February.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  The company�� primarily competitors are Office Depot (ODP), United Stationers (USTR) and Office Max (OMX). Staples has the best gross margins of its competitors, at greater than 26%, and the only one to increase its book value per share since 2001.

Best Prefered Companies To Invest In 2014: Kinross Gold Corporation(KGC)

Kinross Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing gold ores. It also involves in the exploration and acquisition of gold bearing properties. The company?s gold production and exploration activities are carried out principally in the Americas, Africa, and the Russian Federation. As of December 31, 2010, its proven and probable mineral reserves were 62.4 million ounces of gold, 90.9 million ounces of silver, and 1.4 billion pounds of copper. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Itinerant]

  Goldcorp, Newmont (NEM) or Agnico-Eagle use similar definitions. The important element here is the so-called 'sustaining capital expenditure', which is the capital required to sustain existing production levels. The table below is taken from the Agnico-Eagle presentation referenced above and provides a comparison of company-wide AISC for some of the major gold miners, including Goldcorp, Barrick Gold, Newmont Mining, Yamana Gold (AUY), Randgold (GOLD), Kinross (KGC), Agnico-Eagle Mines, Eldorado Gold (EGO), Goldfields and Centerra (CAGDF.PK). The difference between cash costs and AISC is significant. It is also important to note that these AISC are still noticeably below the present spot price for gold.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC  ) sank 40%, and yields about 3%. It has some worried, with its rising debt,�and recently negative�free cash flow. Its stock has been setting some multi-year lows�and, while its earnings are in the red, its revenue has been growing�steadily over the past few years. Last year, management committed itself to quality over quantity -- and delayed some mining projects.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Today's high cash-cost of digging through 9.4 tons of dirt in hopes of extracting a golf-ball's weight of pure gold explains why most of the major gold miners -- from low-cost producer Barrick, all the way up through Kinross (NYSE: KGC  ) , Newmont (NYSE: NEM  ) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG  ) -- are currently in a negative free cash flow state. (Well, the high cost plus the relatively lower prices that miners are getting for their gold today).

Best Prefered Companies To Invest In 2014: BYD Co Ltd (BYDDF)

BYD COMPANY LIMITED is principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture and distribution of automobiles, secondary rechargeable batteries and mobile phone components. The Company operates its businesses primarily through secondary rechargeable battery business, which provides lithium-ion batteries and nickel batteries, which are applied in mobile phones, digital cameras, electric tools, electric toys and other portable electronic devices; mobile phone components and assembly businesses, which offers casings, keypads, liquid crystal display (LCD) modules, cameras, flexible circuit boards, chargers, and mobile phone design and assembly services, as well as automobile business, which provides automobiles, including G6, S6 and other series. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Isidore]

  Shares of Tesla (TSLA) shot up as high as $196, before easing off those highs later in the day. That topped the previous record set Sept. 30 Shares of Chinese electric carmaker BYD (BYDDF), in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) has taken a stake, were also higher in trading in China and the United States.

Best Prefered Companies To Invest In 2014: CHS Inc (CHSCP)

CHS Inc. (CHS) is an integrated agricultural company. As a cooperative, the Company is owned by farmers and ranchers and their member cooperatives (members) across the United States. The Company buys commodities from and provide products and services to patrons (including its members and other non-member customers), both domestic and international. It provides a variety of products and services, from initial agricultural inputs, such as fuels, farm supplies, crop nutrients and crop protection products, to agricultural outputs, which include grains and oilseeds, grain and oilseed processing and food products. A portion of its operations are conducted through equity investments and joint ventures. The Company has three segments: Energy, Ag Business, and Corporate and Other. In February 2012, the Company acquired Solbar. In May 2012, the Company acquired a 51% interest in CZL Ltd. In August 2012, it acquired Atman. Effective July 28, 2013, CHS Inc, a unit of Hamilton Farm Bureau Co-Operative Inc, acquired a 50% interest in AgFarm Pty Ltd, from Ruralco Holdings Ltd.

During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Company dissolved its United Harvest joint venture, which operated two grain export facilities in Washington that were leased from the joint venture participants. During fiscal 2011, the Company sold its 45% ownership interest in Multigrain to one of its joint venture partners, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. During fiscal 2011, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, CHS Europe, S.A. acquired Agri Point Ltd.

The Company�� Energy segment derives its revenues through refining, wholesaling and retailing of petroleum products. Its Ag Business segment derives its revenues through the origination and marketing of grain, including service activities conducted at export terminals, through the wholesale sales of crop nutrients, from the sales of soybean meal and soybean refined oil and through the retail sales of petroleum and agronomy products, processed sunflow! ers, feed and farm supplies, and records equity income from investments in its grain export joint ventures and other investments. It includes other business operations in Corporate and Other. These businesses primarily include its financing, insurance, hedging and other service activities related to crop production. In addition, the Company�� wheat milling and packaged food operations are included in Corporate and Other.

Energy

The Company is the nation�� cooperative energy company based on revenues and identifiable assets. The Company�� operations include petroleum refining and pipelines; the supply, marketing (including ethanol and biodiesel) and distribution of refined fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel and other energy products); the blending, sale and distribution of lubricants; and the wholesale supply of propane. The Energy segment processes crude oil into refined petroleum products at refineries in Laurel, Montana (wholly owned) and McPherson, Kansas (an entity in which the Company has an approximate 74.5% ownership interest) and sells those products under the Cenex brand to member cooperatives and others through a network of approximately 1,400 independent retail sites, of which 57% are convenience stores marketing Cenex branded fuels.

The Company�� Laurel, Montana refinery processes medium and high sulfur crude oil into refined petroleum products that primarily include gasoline, diesel fuel, petroleum coke and asphalt. Its Laurel refinery sources approximately 85% of its crude oil supply from Canada, with the balance obtained from domestic sources, and the Company has access to Canadian and northwest Montana crude through its wholly owned Front Range Pipeline, LLC and other common carrier pipelines. Its Laurel refinery also has access to Wyoming crude via common carrier pipelines from the south. The Laurel facility processes approximately 55,000 barrels of crude oil per day to produce refined products that consist of approximately 43% gasoline, 37% die! sel fuel ! and other distillates, 5% petroleum coke, and 15% asphalt and other products. Refined fuels produced at Laurel are available via the Yellowstone Pipeline to western Montana terminals and to Spokane and Moses Lake, Washington, south via common carrier pipelines to Wyoming terminals and Denver, Colorado, and east via its wholly owned Cenex Pipeline, LLC to Glendive, Montana, and Minot and Fargo, North Dakota.

The McPherson, Kansas refinery is owned and operated by National Cooperative Refinery Association (NCRA), of which the Company owns approximately 74.5%. The McPherson refinery processes approximately 85% low and medium sulfur crude oil and 15% heavy sulfur crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel and other distillates, propane and other products. NCRA sources its crude oil through its own pipelines as well as common carrier pipelines. The low and medium sulfur crude oil is sourced from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and the heavy sulfur crude oil is sourced from Canada. The McPherson refinery processes approximately 85,000 barrels of crude oil per day to produce refined products that consist of approximately 49% gasoline, 45% diesel fuel and other distillates, and 6% propane and other products. Approximately 32% of the refined fuels are loaded into trucks at the McPherson refinery or shipped via NCRA�� products pipeline to its terminal in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The remaining refined fuel products are shipped to other markets via common carrier pipelines.

The Company�� renewable fuels marketing business markets and distributes ethanol and biodiesel products throughout the United States and overseas by contracting with ethanol and biodiesel production plants to market and distribute their finished products. It owns and operates a propane terminal, four asphalt terminals, seven refined product terminals and three lubricants blending and packaging facilities. The Company also owns and leases a fleet of liquid and pressure trailers and tractors, which are used to transport refined fu! els, prop! ane, anhydrous ammonia and other products.

The Company�� Energy segment produces and sells (primarily wholesale) gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, asphalt, lubricants and other related products and provides transportation services. It obtains the petroleum products that it sells from its Laurel and McPherson refineries, and from third parties. In fiscal 2011, the Company obtained approximately 55% of the refined products it sold from its Laurel and McPherson refineries, and approximately 45% from third parties.

Ag Business

The Company�� Ag Business segment includes crop nutrients, country operations, grain marketing and oilseed processing. The revenues in its Ag Business segment primarily include grain sales. Its wholesale crop nutrients business sells approximately 5.6 million tons of fertilizer annually. Primary suppliers for the Company�� wholesale crop nutrients business include CF Industries, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Company, Koch Industries, Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) in Kuwait and Belrusian Potash Company. The Company�� wholesale crop nutrients business sells nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfate based products. During fiscal 2011, the primary crop nutrients products the Company purchased were urea, potash, UAN, phosphates and ammonia. The wholesale crop nutrients business sells product to approximately 2,000 local retailers from New York to the west coast and from the Canadian border to Texas. Its largest customer is its own country operations business, which is also included in its Ag Business segment.

The Company�� country operations business purchases a variety of grains from its producer members and other third parties, and provides cooperative members and customers with access to a range of products, programs and services for production agriculture. Country operations operates 401 locations through 67 business units, the majority of which have local producer boards dispersed throughout Colorado, ! Idaho, Il! linois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas and Washington. Most of these locations purchase grain from farmers and sell agronomy, energy, feed and seed products to those same producers and others, although not all locations provide every product and service.

The Company is one of the country elevator operators in North America based on revenues. Through a majority of the Company�� locations, its country operations business units purchase grain from member and non-member producers and other elevators and grain dealers. Most of the grain purchased is sold through its grain marketing operations, used for livestock feed production or sold to other processing companies. For the year ended August 31, 2011, country operations purchased approximately 582 million bushels of grain, primarily wheat, corn and soybeans. Of these bushels, 558 million were purchased from members and 417 million were sold through its grain marketing operations. Its country operations business units manufacture and sell other products, both directly and through ownership interests in other entities. These include seed, crop nutrients, crop protection products, energy products, animal feed, animal health products and processed sunflower products.

The Company is the cooperative marketer of grain and oilseed based on grain storage capacity and grain sales, handling over 2.1 billion bushels annually. During fiscal 2011, it purchased approximately 60% of its total grain volumes from individual and cooperative association members and its country operations business, with the balance purchased from third parties. The Company arranges for the transportation of the grains either directly to customers or to its owned or leased grain terminals and elevators awaiting delivery to domestic and foreign purchasers. It primarily conducts its grain marketing operations directly, but do conduct some of its business through joint ventures.

The Company��! grain ma! rketing operations purchases grain directly and indirectly from agricultural producers primarily in the midwestern and western United States. The purchased grain is contracted for sale for future delivery at a specified location, and it is responsible for handling the grain and arranging for its transportation to that location. The Company owns and operates export terminals, river terminals and elevators involved in the handling and transport of grain. Its river terminals are used to load grain onto barges for shipment to both domestic and export customers via the Mississippi River system. These river terminals are located at Savage and Winona, Minnesota and Davenport, Iowa, as well as terminals in which it has put-through agreements located at St. Louis, Missouri and Beardstown and Havana, Illinois.

The Company�� export terminal at Superior, Wisconsin provides access to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, and its export terminal at Myrtle Grove, Louisiana serves the Gulf of Mexico market. In the Pacific Northwest, it conducts its grain marketing operations through TEMCO, LLC (a 50% joint venture with Cargill) which operates an export terminal in Tacoma, Washington, and primarily exports corn and soybeans. The Company owns two 110-car shuttle-receiving elevator facilities in Friona, Texas and Collins, Mississippi that serve large-scale feeder cattle, dairy and poultry producers in those regions.

For sourcing and marketing grains and oilseeds through the Black Sea and Mediterranean Basin regions to customers worldwide it has offices in Geneva, Switzerland; Barcelona, Spain; Kiev, Ukraine; and Vostok, Russia. In addition, it opened grain merchandising offices in fiscal 2011 in Budapest, Hungary; Novi Sad, Serbia; Bucharest, Romania; Sofia, Bulgaria; and a marketing office in Amman, Jordan. The Company has a deep water port in Constanta, Romania, a barge loading facility on the Danube River in Giurgiu, Romania, and an inland grain terminal at Oroshaza, Hungary. In addition! , it has ! an investment in a port facility in Odessa, Ukraine. In the Pacific Rim area, it has offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China that serve customers receiving grains and oilseeds from its origination points in North and South America. In South America, the Company has a grain merchandising offices to source grains in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It sells and markets crop nutrients from its Geneva, Switzerland; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina offices.

The Company�� grain marketing operations purchased approximately 2.1 billion bushels of grain during fiscal 2011, which primarily included corn, soybeans, wheat and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Of the total grains purchased by its grain marketing operations, 866 million bushels were from its individual and cooperative association members, 417 million bushels were from its country operations business and the remainder was from third parties. The Company�� oilseed processing operations convert soybeans into soybean meal, soyflour, crude soybean oil, refined soybean oil and associated by-products. These operations are conducted at a facility in Mankato, Minnesota that can crush approximately 40 million bushels of soybeans on an annual basis, producing approximately 960 thousand short tons of soybean meal and 460 million pounds of crude soybean oil. The same facility is able to process approximately 1.1 billion pounds of refined soybean oil annually. Another crushing facility in Fairmont, Minnesota has a crushing capacity of over 50 million bushels of soybeans on an annual basis, producing approximately 1.2 million short tons of soybean meal and 575 million pounds of crude soybean oil.

The Company�� oilseed processing operations produce three primary products: refined oils, soybean meal and soyflour. Refined oils are used in processed foods, such as margarine, shortening, salad dressings and baked goods, as well as methyl ester/biodiesel production, and for certain industrial uses, ! such as p! lastics, inks and paints. Soybean meal has high protein content and is used for feeding livestock. Soyflour is used in the baking industry, as a milk replacement in animal feed and in industrial applications. It produces approximately 60 thousand tons of soyflour annually, and approximately 20% is further processed at its manufacturing facility in Hutchinson, Kansas. This facility manufactures unflavored and flavored textured soy proteins used in human and pet food products, and accounted for approximately 2% of its oilseed processing annual sales in fiscal 2011.

The Company�� soy processing facilities are located in areas with a strong production base of soybeans and end-user market for the meal and soyflour. It purchases virtually all of its soybeans from members. The Company�� oilseed crushing operations produce approximately 95% of the crude soybean oil that it refines, and purchases the balance from outside suppliers. Its customers for refined oil are principally large food product companies located throughout the United States. However, over 50% of its customers are located in the midwest. Its largest customer for refined oil products is Ventura Foods, LLC (Ventura Foods), in which it holds a 50% ownership interest. The Company�� sales to Ventura Foods accounted for 27% of its soybean oil sold during fiscal 2011. The Company also sells soymeal to approximately 325 customers, primarily feed lots and feed mills in southern Minnesota. In fiscal 2011, Interstate Commodities accounted for 12% of its soymeal sold. It sells soyflour to customers in the baking industry both domestically and for export.

Corporate and Other

The Company has provided open account financing to approximately 100 of its members that are cooperatives (cooperative association members). These arrangements involve the discretionary extension of credit in the form of a clearing account for settlement of grain purchases and as a cash management tool. CHS Capital, LLC makes seasonal and term! loans to! member cooperatives and individual producers. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, Country Hedging, Inc., is a registered Futures Commission Merchant and a clearing member of both the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and the Kansas City Board of Trade. Country Hedging provides full-service commodity risk management brokerage and consulting services to its customers, primarily in the areas of agriculture and energy.

The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, Ag States Agency, LLC, is a full-service independent insurance agency. It sells insurance, including all lines of insurance including property and casualty, group benefits and surety bonds. Its approximately 2,000 customers are primarily agribusinesses, including cooperatives and independent elevators, energy, agronomy, feed and seed plants, implement dealers and food processors. Impact Risk Solutions, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ag States Agency, LLC, conducts the insurance brokerage business of Ag States Group.

The Company�� primary focus in the foods area is Ventura Foods, LLC (Ventura Foods) which produces and distributes vegetable oil-based products, such as margarine, salad dressing and other food products. Ventura Foods is 50% owned by the Company. Ventura Foods manufactures, packages, distributes and markets bulk margarine, salad dressings, mayonnaise, salad oils, syrups, soup bases and sauces, many of which utilize soybean oil as a primary ingredient. Ventura Foods has 11 manufacturing and distribution locations across the United States. Ventura Foods sources its raw materials, which consist primarily of soybean oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil and other ingredients and supplies, from various national suppliers, including its oilseed processing operations. Agriliance LLC (Agriliance) is owned and governed by CHS (50%) and Land O��akes, Inc. (50%).

The Company competes with ConocoPhillips, Valero, BP Amoco, Flint Hills Resources, CVR Energy, Western Petroleum Company, Marathon, ExxonMo! bil, Citg! o, Flint Hills Resources, U.S. Oil, Delek US Holdings, HollyFrontier Corporation, Sinclair Oil Corporation, Tesoro, Chevron, Koch Industries, Agrium, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill, Incorporated (Cargill), Simplot, Helena, Wilbur Ellis, Land O��akes Purina Feed, Hubbard Milling, Columbia Grain, Gavilon, Bunge, Louis Dreyfus, Ag Processing Inc., Unilever, ConAgra, ACH Food Companies, Smuckers, Kraft and CF Sauer, Ken��, Marzetti and Nestle.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  ConAgra said on Wednesday that it will close two plants in New York by early 2015, cutting more than 400 employees. The company also expects to close its $4 billion flour mill merger in the second calendar quarter of 2014. Privately held Cargill and CHS Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSCP) will hold 44% and 12%, respectively, of Ardent Mills, while ConAgra will hold the other 44%. Combined sales of what will be the country’s largest milling operation total $4.3 billion.

Best Prefered Companies To Invest In 2014: Daimler AG (DAI)

Daimler AG (Daimler), incorporated on May 6, 1998, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells a range of automotive products, mainly passenger cars, trucks, vans and buses. It also provides financial and other services relating to its automotive businesses. The Company offers its automotive products and related financial services primarily in Western Europe and in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, which consists of the United States, Canada and Mexico. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company derived approximately 46% of its revenue from sales in Western Europe and 21% from sales in the United States. It operates in five segments: Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services. Its other business interests consist primarily of its equity investments in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (EADS) and in Tognum AG. In October 2009, Deutsche Bank AG completed the disposal of its interest in the Company. In June 2011, Daimler AG and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC had secured around 94% interest in Tognum AG-DJ.

Mercedes-Benz Cars

Mercedes-Benz Cars designs, produces and sells Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, Maybach luxury sedans and smart micro compact passenger cars. During 2009, Mercedes-Benz Cars contributed approximately 51% of the Company�� revenue. The Company offers Mercedes-Benz passenger cars with a range of diesel and gasoline engines. Under the AMG brand, it offers versions of Mercedes-Benz vehicles with V8 or V12 engines in all classes, except in the A-, B-, R-, GL- and GLK-Classes. The Mercedes-Benz passenger car product range consists of S-Class, E-Class, C-Class, A-/B-Classes and ML-/R-/G-/GL-/GLK-Classes.

The S-Class is a line of luxury sedans, which are available in short and long wheelbase versions. In June 2009, the Company introduced a new generation of the S-Class sedans, including a hybrid version, the new S 400 BlueHYBRID. The S-Class sed! ans are complemented by the CL, a top-of-the-line two-door coupe, and the SL, a luxury roadster. The E-Class is a line of luxury sedans, coupes, convertibles and station wagons. It also offers the CLS, a four-door coupe based on the E-Class. The C-Class is a line of compact luxury sedans and station wagons. The CLC Sports Coupe and the SLK, a two-seat roadster, complement the C-Class product family.

The A-Class is a front wheel drive compact and the B-Class is a front wheel drive 4-door Compact Sports Tourer (CST). The Company does not offer the A- and B-Classes in the United States. The ML-Class is a line of sport utility vehicles with permanent all-wheel drive. The R-Class is a line of SUV Tourers, which is available in a short and a long wheelbase version. The GL-Class is a line of seven seat luxury sport utility vehicles. The GLK-Class is a line of compact sport utility vehicles. The G-Class is a line of cross country vehicles with permanent four-wheel drive that come in a short and a long wheelbase version, and as a convertible. Under the Maybach brand, the Company offers a line of luxury sedans with outstanding luxury, comfort, and individuality. Maybach sedans are available in a short and a long wheelbase version, including the Maybach 57S and 62S as sportier variations. The smart brand represents a micro compact car concept. It offers two models, the smart fortwo coupe and the smart fortwo cabrio.

Daimler Trucks

Daimler Trucks manufactures and sells trucks and specialty vehicles under the brand names Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses and Fuso. During 2009, Daimler Trucks contributed approximately 21% of its revenue. During 2009, the Company ceased production of trucks under the Sterling brand name. The Company�� European Mercedes-Benz truck lines consist of the Actros and the Axor in the heavy-duty category, the Atego in the medium-duty category, and the specialty vehicles Econic and Zetros. The Unimog, a four-wheel drive ve! hicle for! special purpose applications, complements the line-up. In Turkey and Brazil, it manufactures heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks for the respective local and certain export markets. Its Mercedes-Benz trucks range from 6 metric tons gross vehicle weight (GVW) to 41 metric tons GVW.

The Company�� United States subsidiary, Daimler Trucks North America LLC, manufactures trucks and buses (based on truck chassis) in Classes 3 through 8 (from 9,000 lbs. GVW to 160,000 lbs. GVW) and sells them under the Freightliner, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses brand names, primarily in the NAFTA region. It also manufactures chassis for trucks, buses, walk-in vans and motor homes in Classes 3 through 7 (from 10,000 lbs. GVW to 33,000 lbs. GVW). During 2009, Freightliner introduced a new version of the Coronado, an on-highway truck. It Japan-based subsidiary, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), offers a truck portfolio and several bus lines, primarily for the Japanese and other Asian markets. The line-up includes the Canter trucks (light-duty), the Fighter trucks (medium-duty) and the Super Great trucks (heavy-duty) and also certain bus models (Rosa and Aero). MFTBC also sells trucks in Africa, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Mercedes-Benz Vans

Mercedes-Benz Vans designs, manufactures and sells vans under the brand names Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner. During 2009, Mercedes-Benz Vans contributed approximately 8% of its revenue. The Company offers three lines of Mercedes-Benz vans between 1.9 metric tons (t) and 7.5t gross vehicle weight (GVW): the Vario, the Vito/Viano and the Sprinter. In the NAFTA region it sells the Sprinter under the Freightliner brand name and, since January 1, 2010, also under the Mercedes-Benz brand name. As of December 31, 2009, subsidiaries of Chrysler Holding LLC sold the Sprinter in the United States under the Dodge and Freightliner brand names, and in Canada under the Dodge brand name.

Daimler Buse! s

!

Daimler Buses is a global supplier in the worldwide bus market. During 2009, Daimler Buses contributed approximately 5% of the Company�� revenue. Its product portfolio includes city buses, coaches, intercity buses, midi buses and bus chassis. It sells complete buses under the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands in Europe, under the Mercedes-Benz brand name in Mexico, and under the Setra and Orion brand names in the United States and Canada. In addition, Daimler Buses produces and sells worldwide a range of bus chassis under the brand name Mercedes-Benz.

Daimler Financial Services

The Company�� financial services activities contributed approximately 15% of its revenue during 2009. It consists principally of financing and leasing services supporting its Mercedes-Benz and other vehicle businesses. The financial services the Company offers consist mainly of customized financing and leasing packages for its retail and wholesale customers in the automotive sector. It also provides financing to its dealers for vehicle inventory and property, plant and equipment purchases, and it offers insurance brokerage and fleet management services, including dealer property and casualty insurance. In Germany, the Company operates a licensed bank, the Mercedes-Benz Bank. The Mercedes-Benz Bank offers financial services to its customers and employees in Germany. These services include leasing and sales financing services, car savings plans, credit cards and demand deposit accounts. In addition, the Mercedes-Benz Bank operates branches in Great Britain and Spain to refinance the local dealer portfolios.

The Company competes with BMW, Volkswagen, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, PSA, Renault, Tata Motors, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Scania, Iveco, Volvo, DAF, Navistar International, Paccar, Hino, Isuzu, MAN Commercial Vehicles, Irisbus and Agrale.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  Herro�� fund has beaten 96 percent of its peers in the last five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. He owns shares in Daimler AG (DAI), the Stuttgart, Germany-based maker of luxury cars, and Fiat Industrial SpA (FI), the maker of commercial and agriculture vehicles spun off from Fiat SpA in 2011.

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Daimler AG (DAI), the world�� third-largest maker of luxury cars, lost 1.4 percent to 49.65 euros, falling for the first time in seven days. Volkswagen AG (VOW), Europe�� biggest automaker, slipped 1.3 percent to 171.60 euros.

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  BMW fell 1.6 percent to 71.29 euros. Daimler AG (DAI), the world�� third-largest maker of luxury vehicles, slipped 1.6 percent to 51.92 euros. Preferred shares of Volkswagen AG (VOW) fell 1.2 percent to 172.10 euros. Continental AG, Europe�� second-largest auto-parts supplier, lost 1.9 percent to 114.20 euros. A gauge of automakers was the worst performer among the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

• [By Dorothee Tschampa]

  Peugeot dropped as much as 55 cents to 6.83 euros and traded 5.9 percent lower as of 11:20 a.m. in Paris. Renault was down 4.3 percent and VW was 3.5 percent lower. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) was down 3.5 percent and Daimler AG (DAI) was 4.7 percent lower.