Top US Companies To Watch In Right Now

Just two years ago, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) vied with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for the title of the world�� most valuable company. Apple has surpassed Exxon in terms of market capitalization, but Exxon remains a corporate powerhouse. It has the second highest market capitalization in the world at $407.51 billion. With that being said, we will use our CHEAT SHEET framework to decide whether Exxon is an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY. Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

Catalysts

There is no time like the present for American oil and gas companies. As of May 31, the United States is producing more oil than it imports��n occurrence that it has not experienced in sixteen years. The big guns in the oil and gas industry stand poised to gain from America�� burgeoning energy independence.

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Exxon Mobil is the largest publicly traded oil and gas company. It is an international powerhouse for oil production and distribution, manufacturing 3 percent of the world�� oil. Quarterly revenues have been mostly positive over the past three years. Exxon has benefitted from rising oil prices and new technological developments in oil production: fracking and horizontal drilling. Two key decisions coming from Washington in the coming months could provide a surge in company profits if they go Exxon�� way. Shareholders and potential investors should keep a close eye on developments concerning the Keystone XL pipeline and the decision as to whether US oil companies will be able to export natural gas. If both of these decisions play out in Exxon�� favor the company should see unprecedented growth in profits.

Top 10 International Companies To Invest In Right Now: Guardian 8 Holdings (GRDH)

Guardian 8 Holdings (G8), formerly Global Risk Management & Investigative Solutions, is a development-stage company. G8 focuses on the commercialization and sale of its Personal Security Guardian device. The Personal Security Guardian device is a personal security device that incorporates countermeasures to help defend against personal attacks, including alarms to frighten and video the attacker and/or alert others, latest technology utilizing light emitting diode (LED) lights to momentarily visually impair a would be attacker at night, as well as global positioning system (GPS), audio/visual communications and Bluetooth technology advising security or law enforcement of the incident. On November 30, 2010, the Company merged with Guardian 8 Corporation.

Prior to the reverse merger with Guardian 8 Corporation, the Company focused on the provision of investigative, technical information technology (IT), background, document verification and data banks of security information. As of December 31, 2010, the Company completed the initial design and tooling for the first product under development. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had not generated any revenue.

The Company competes with Taser International, Armor Holdings, Inc., TigerLight, PepperBall Technologies and FN Herstal.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Banjo & Matilda, Inc (OTCMKTS: BANJ), Amazonica Corp (OTCBB: AMZZ) and Guardian 8 Holdings (OTCMKTS: GRDH) have been getting some extra attention in various investment newsletters or email alerts. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotion or investor relations type of activities but they can cause problems for unwary investors and traders alike. So how hot are these three small cap stocks? Here is a closer look and a reality check:

Top US Companies To Watch In Right Now: Tennant Company(TNC)

Tennant Company engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing cleaning solutions worldwide. The company offers floor maintenance and outdoor cleaning equipment; chemical-free cleaning technologies; and specialty surface coatings and related products for protecting, repairing, and upgrading floors. Its products are used to clean and coat surfaces in factories, office buildings, parking lots and streets, airports, hospitals, schools, warehouses, shopping centers, and other retail environments. The company also provides parts, consumables, and service maintenance and repair; business solutions, such as pay-for-use offerings, and rental and leasing programs; and cleaning technologies that enhance the performance of its cleaning equipment. In addition, it offers Green Machine 500ze, an electric vacuum street sweeper to clean crowded urban areas. The company serves building service contract cleaners, end-user businesses, healthcare facilities, and schools, as well as local, state, and federal governments through its direct sales and service organization, and authorized distributors. Tennant Company was founded in 1870 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Floor maintenance and cleaning service company Tennant (TNC) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share payable June 6 to shareholders of record May 30.
  TNC Dividend Yield: 1.29%

Top US Companies To Watch In Right Now: Toro Co (TTC)

The Toro Company (Toro), incorporated on November 7, 1983, designs, manufactures, and markets professional turf maintenance equipment and services, turf irrigation systems, agricultural micro-irrigation systems, landscaping equipment and lighting, and residential yard and snow removal products. The Company operates in three business segments: Professional, Residential, and Distribution. Its products are advertised and sold at the retail level under the names of Toro, Exmark, Irritrol, Hayter, Pope, Lawn-Boy and Lawn Genie. In October 2013, the Company acquired Xiamen Xiangfeng Water Saving Equipment Co., Ltd.

Professional

The Company designs professional turf, landscape, and agricultural products and markets them worldwide through a network of distributors and dealers, as well as directly to Government customers, rental companies, and retailers. These channel partners then sell its products to professional users engaged in creating and renovating landscapes, irrigating turf and agricultural fields, and maintaining turf, such as golf courses, sports fields, municipal properties, and residential and commercial landscapes.

Landscape Contractor Market

The Company market products to landscape contractors under the Toro and Exmark brands. Products for the landscape contractor market include zero-turn radius riding mowers, heavy-duty walk behind mowers, mid-size walk behind mowers, stand-on mowers, and turf renovation and tree care equipment. It also offers some products with electronic fuel injection engine options. In fiscal 2013, it enhanced its line of Toro Z Master Commercial 3000 Series mowers, featuring its TURBO FORCE cutting deck, integrated pump, and wheel motors designed for professional results, performance, and dependability. In addition, in fiscal 2013, it introduced the new Exmark Vantage X-Series stand-on mower.

Sports Fields and Grounds Market

Products for the sports fields and grounds market include riding rotar! y mowers and attachments, aerators, and debris management products, which include versatile debris vacuums, blowers, and sweepers. Other products include multipurpose vehicles, such as the Toro Workman, that can be used for turf maintenance, towing, and industrial hauling. These products are sold through distributors, who then sell to owners and/or managers of sports fields, Governmental properties, and residential and commercial landscapes.

Golf Course Market

The Company�� products for the golf course market include large reel and rotary riding products for fairway, rough and trim cutting; riding and walking mowers for putting greens and specialty areas; greens rollers; turf sprayer equipment; utility vehicles; aeration equipment; and bunker maintenance equipment. In fiscal 2013, it introduced the Reelmaster 3550-D, which features a productive 82 inch cutting width, enhanced ground-following capability with turf-friendly tires, and three-wheel drive system designed for traction in hilly and wet conditions. In addition, in fiscal 2013, it began offering versions of its golf products which are compliant with Tier 4 diesel engine emission requirements. It also manufacture and market underground irrigation systems for the golf course market, including sprinkler heads, controllers, turf sensors, and electric, battery-operated, and hydraulic valves. Its 835S/855S Series golf sprinklers are equipped with a unique TruJectory feature that provides enhanced water distribution control. Its Turf Guard wireless soil monitoring systems are designed to measure soil moisture, salinity, and temperature through buried wireless sensors that communicate through an Internet server for processing and presentation to a user through the Web.

Residential/Commercial Irrigation and Lighting Market

Turf irrigation products marketed under the Toro and Irritrol brands include rotors; sprinkler bodies and nozzles; plastic and brass valves; drip tubing and subsurface irrigation; ! electric ! and hydraulic control devices; and wired and wireless rain, freeze, and climate sensors. These products are designed to be used in residential and commercial turf irrigation systems that are installed into new systems or used to replace or retrofit existing systems. Most of the product lines are designed for underground automatic irrigation. Electric and hydraulic controllers activate valves and sprinkler bodies and nozzles in a typical irrigation system. Its retail irrigation products are marketed under the Toro and Lawn Genie brand names. These products are designed for homeowner installation and include sprinkler heads, valves, timers, and drip irrigation systems. Its ECXTRA sprinkler timers can be used with a home computer and its Scheduling Advisor recommends the proper watering schedule based on the local weather, plant type, and sprinkler. It manufactures and market lighting products under the Unique Lighting Systems brand name.

Micro-Irrigation Market

Products for the micro-irrigation market include products that regulate the flow of water for drip irrigation, including Aqua-Traxx PBX drip tape, Aqua-Traxx PC (pressure-compensating) drip tape, Blue Stripe polyethylene tubing, BlueLine drip line, and NGE emitters, all used in agriculture, mining, and landscape applications. In addition to these products, it offers control devices and connection options. These products are sold primarily through dealers and distributors who then sell to end users for use primarily in vegetable fields, fruit and nut orchards, vineyards, landscapes, and mines. In fiscal 2013, it expanded its product offering of the Neptune thinwall dripline into the North America market, featuring a medium-durability dripline that enables growers to install a subsurface drip irrigation system designed to last for up to ten years and to allow growers of medium-length crops to adopt drip irrigation. In addition, in fiscal 2013, it introduced AquaFlow 3.2 Drip Irrigation Design Software, a new software packag! e used to! help design drip irrigation systems.

Rental and Construction Market

The Company offers over 35 attachments for our compact utility loaders, including trenchers, augers, vibratory plows, and backhoes. In fiscal 2013, it launched the STX-38 Stump Grinder featuring high maneuverability and hydraulic sweep control. Products for the rental market include compact utility loaders, walk-behind trenchers, stump grinders, and turf renovation products, many of which are also sold to landscape contractors. Its presence in the construction market is driven by an equipment line of vibratory plows, trenchers, and horizontal directional drills, all of which are used in the installation, repair, and replacement of underground utilities with minimal impact on surrounding landscapes or structures. In fiscal 2013, it introduced the Toro Pro Sneak Vibratory Plow that delivers consistent and powerful plowing in a compact, maneuverable package.

Residential

The Company markets its residential products to homeowners through a variety of distribution channels, including outdoor power equipment dealers, hardware retailers, home centers, mass retailers, and over the Internet. These products are sold mainly in North America, Europe, and Australia, with the exception of snow removal products that are sold primarily in North America and Europe.

Walk Power Mower Products

The Company manufactures and markets a number of walk power mower models under its Toro and Lawn-Boy brand names, as well as the Pope brand in Australia and the Hayter brand in the United Kingdom. Toro also offers a line of rear-roller walk power mowers, a design that provides a striped finish, for the United Kingdom market.

Riding Products

The Company manufactures and markets riding products under the Toro brand name worldwide and under the Hayter brand name in the United Kingdom. Riding products primarily consist of zero-turn radius mowers. Lawn and garden tra! ctor mode! ls are sold worldwide. In addition, its rear engine and direct-collect riding mowers are manufactured and sold in the European market. A number of models are available with a variety of engines, decks, transmissions, and accessories.

Home Solutions Products

Toro designs and markets home solutions products under the Toro and Pope brand names, including electric and battery-operated grass trimmers, electric blower-vacuums, electric blowers, and electric snow throwers. In Australia, the Company also designs and markets underground and hose-end retail irrigation products under the Pope brand name.

Gas Snow Removal Products

The Company manufactures and markets a range of gas-powered single-stage and two-stage snow thrower models. Single-stage snow throwers are walk behind units with lightweight two- and four-cycle gasoline engines. Its two-stage snow throwers are designed for large areas of deep, heavy snow and use four-cycle engines. The Company�� two-stage snow throwers include a line of models featuring the Power Max auger system and the Quick Stick chute control technology.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Consumer landscape equipment maker�Toro� (NYSE: TTC  ) �announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.14 per share, the same rate it paid the past two quarters after raising the payout 27% from $0.11 per share.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  There's no foolproof way to know the future for Toro (NYSE: TTC  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Deere have dropped 0.7% to $93.65 at 3:49 p.m. today, while Agco (AGCO) has dipped 0.1% to $55.12, Toro (TTC) has gained 1% to $65.17 and Caterpillar (CAT) has risen 1.2% to $106.27.

Top US Companies To Watch In Right Now: iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

iShares Lehman Short Treasury Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the short-term sector of the United States Treasury market as defined by the Lehman Brothers Short U.S. Treasury Index (the Index). The Index includes all publicly issued United States Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of between 1 and 12 months, and have more than $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in United States dollars, and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible securities. Excluded from the Index are certain special issues, such as flower bonds, targeted investor notes, and state and local government series bonds (SLG5), and coupon issues that have been stripped from assets that are already included in the Index.

The Index is a market capitalization-weighted index. The Fund generally will invest at least 95% of its assets in the United States Government bonds. The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisor.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Donald van Deventer]

  Shorter-duration Treasury Exchange-Traded Funds: (SHY), (SHV), (IEI), (BIL), (TUZ), (FIVZ), (DTUL), (VGSH), (DTUS), (DFVS), (DFVL), (SST), (ISTB), (TBZ).