Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now

There is a lot of buzz over recent energy activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) and Eni (NYSE: E  ) making large gas finds off the coast of Mozambique, several majors are now looking to get in the game as well. BP plans to spend $540 million over the next five years to develop a part of this gas field that could hold well over 100 trillion cubic feet.�

Better drilling technology and relative political stability in the region have allowed several companies to start investing money in the region, and if some of these plays hit paydirt, some companies could be in for big paydays. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe talks with Aimee Duffy about some of the hot energy plays on the African continent and what we should expect from this region in the years to come. �

With more than 94% of its capital investments coming in the international markets for 2013, National Oilwell Varco is positioning itself to be the leader in oil services around the world. To help determine whether it could be a good fit for your portfolio, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's premium research report featuring in-depth analysis on whether NOV is a buy today. For instant access to this valuable investor's resource, simply click here now to claim your copy.

Top 5 Construction Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aviva plc (AV)

Aviva plc provides insurance, savings, and fund management products and services worldwide. It offers life insurance and savings products, which comprise pensions products, such as personal and group pensions, stakeholder pensions, and income drawdown; annuities; protection products, including term assurance, mortgage life insurance, flexible whole life, and critical illness cover; bonds and savings comprising single premium investment bonds, regular premium savings plans, mortgage endowment products, and funding agreements; and investment products consisting of unit trusts, individual savings accounts, and open ended investment companies, as well as equity release and structured settlements. The company also provides general and health insurance products that include personal lines of insurance products, such as motor, household, travel, and creditor insurance; commercial lines of insurance products consisting of fleet, liability, and commercial property insurance; health insurance products comprising private health, income protection, personal accident, and corporate healthcare insurance products; and insurance for corporate and specialty risks. In addition, it offers fund management products and services for institutional, pension fund, and retail clients. Aviva plc sells its products through various distribution channels, including direct sales forces, intermediaries, corporate partnerships, bancassurance, and joint ventures, as well as through the telephone and Internet. The company was formerly known as CGNU plc and changed its name to Aviva plc in July 2002. Aviva plc is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  Unfortunately, Prudential only offers a dividend yield of 2.4% at present, below that of its peers, such as Aviva (AV) and Legal & General (LGEN). Moreover, city analysts only expect Prudential to increase its payout by 10% this year and 5% during 2014.

• [By Royston Wild]

  Bubbly activity in developing geographies can create large opportunities for many London-listed firms. Today, I am looking at Aviva (LSE: AV  ) (NYSE: AV  ) and assessing whether its operations in these regions are likely to underpin solid earnings growth.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CVR Partners LP(UAN)

CVR Partners, LP engages in the production of nitrogen fertilizers including ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Partners, LP operates as a subsidiary of CVR Energy, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  To take advantage of UAN's better pricing, CF smartly cut down on urea to scale up UAN production during the last quarter. The capability to flex production mix according to market conditions is among CF's biggest strengths. UAN is a high-margin product, so focusing on it makes sense. In its last quarter, UAN specialist CVR Partners (NYSE: UAN  ) converted 72% of ammonia produced to UAN. If that sounds incredible, there's more. From 80,700 tons of ammonia, CVR churned out a whopping 196,200 tons of UAN.

• [By Susan J. Aluise]

  CVI is structured into two Managed Limited Partnerships (MLPs): CVR Refining (CVRR) and the nitrogen fertilizer unit CVR Partners (UAN). CVR Energy owns 71% of CVR Refining and 53% of CVR Partners. This is an interesting play in the energy sector, given UAN�� lower cost of ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate and CVRR�� edge as an MLP refiner.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, nitrogen fertilizer producer CVR Partners (NYSE: UAN  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Capital Product Partners L.P.(CPLP)

Capital Product Partners L.P., a shipping company, provides seaborne transportation of refined oil products and chemicals. It provides marine transportation services under medium- to long-term time charters or bareboat charters. As of July 13, 2011, the company?s fleet consisted of 22 double-hull tankers, including 18 medium range (MR) tankers, 2 small product tankers, 1 Suezmax crude oil tanker, and 1 Capesize bulk carrier. Its tankers are capable of carrying crude and refined oil products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, including ethanol. Capital GP L.L.C. operates as a general partner of the company. Capital Product Partners L.P. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Piraeus, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Oaktree specializes in distressed assets, high-yield bonds, real estate and equities. The company currently earns an F-score of 6 and yields 7.7%, so the stock is an excellent fit for our active income portfolio. The stock trades at a slight discount to its Graham number valuation of $54. Oaktree is a best-in-class investment manager and has the potential for solid appreciation in addition to the high yield.

  Capital Products Partners (CPLP)

  Capital Products Partners (CPLP) is a Greece-based shipping company that is involved in both petroleum products and the dry goods business. It currently has a fleet of 30 vessels comprised of 22 tankers and 8 dry bulk and container vessels.

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Capital Product Partners LP (NASDAQ: CPLP) shares tumbled 5.1 percent to $10.40 after the company priced 15 million units at $10.53 per unit.

  Ellington Financial LLC (NYSE: EFC) was down, falling 4.4 percent to $23.53 after the company priced 8 million shares at $23.92 per share.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: TAL Education Group(XRS)

TAL Education Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides K-12 after-school tutoring services in the People?s Republic of China. It offers tutoring services to K-12 students covering various academic subjects, including mathematics, English, Chinese, physics, chemistry, and biology. The company provides tutoring services through small classes; personalized premium services, such as one-on-one tutoring; and online course offerings. As of May 31, 2011, it operated a network of 199 physical learning centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Xi?an; and eduu.com, an online education platform for online courses. The company also offers education and management consulting services, as well as sells software. It operates under the Xueersi brand. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  TAL Education Group (NYSE: XRS) shares rose 4.30% to $20.86. The volume of TAL Education Group shares traded was 318% higher than normal. TAL Education's PEG ratio is 1.14.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Education is a top priority in China and competition for the best schools are intense. TAL� Education Group (XRS) benefits form the focus on education by offering tutoring services for kids in grades k-12. They operate a network of 270 learning centers and 247 service centers in China and also have 5 call centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA)

Diamonds Trust, Series 1 (the Trust) is a unit investment trust. The Trust was created to provide investors with the opportunity to purchase units of beneficial interest in the Trust representing proportionate undivided interests in the portfolio of securities consisting of substantially all of the component common stocks, which comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the DJIA). The Trust�� objective is to provide investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the DJIA.

The Trust's holdings consist of the 30 stocks in the DJIA, which is designed to capture the price performance of 30 United States blue-chip stocks. The Trust ended its fiscal year on October 31, 2007, with a 12-month return of 17.72% on net asset value as compared to the DJIA return of 17.94%. As of October 31, 2007, some of the Trust�� investments included 3M Co., Alcoa, Inc., Altria Group, Inc., American Express Co., American International Group, Inc., AT&T, Inc., Boeing Co., Caterpillar, Inc., Citigroup, Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  After hours, Turkey�� central bank hiked overnight rates, causing the Turkish lira to jump and market ETFs to rally. Both the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) �and SPDR S&P 500 Index (SPY) �were up 0.4% following the announcement.

• [By Tom Aspray]

  Both have done significantly better than the Spyder Trust (SPY), which is up 29.32%, and the 26.52% gain in the SPDR Dow Industrials (DIA). But will buy and hold work again in 2014?

• [By Tom Aspray]

  The technical picture last Wednesday allowed for two scenarios and, as of Friday, there is not enough evidence to be confident whether the large-cap Spyder Trust (SPY) and SPDR Dow Industrials (DIA) are going to join the Powershares QQQ Trust (QQQ) on the downside.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: New York Community Bancorp Inc (NYCB)

New York Community Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company and a producer of multi-family mortgage loans in New York City, with an emphasis on apartment buildings that feature below-market rents. It has two bank subsidiaries: New York Community Bank (the Community Bank),New York Commercial Bank (the Commercial Bank. The Community Bank has 241 branches and operates through seven divisional banks. The Commercial Bank has 34 branches in Manhattan and operates 17 of its branches under the divisional name Atlantic Bank.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, all of the one-to-four family loans the Company originated was sold to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). In New York, the Company serves its Community Bank customers through Roslyn Savings Bank, with 55 branches on Long Island; Queens County Savings Bank, with 34 branches in the New York City borough of Queens; Richmond County Savings Bank, with 22 branches in the borough of Staten Island, and Roosevelt Savings Bank, with eight branches in the borough of Brooklyn. As of December 31, 2011, in the Bronx and neighboring Westchester County, the Company had four branches that operated directly under the name New York Community Bank.

In New Jersey, the Company serves its Community Bank customers through 51 branches that operate under the name Garden State Community Bank. In Florida and Arizona, where it has 25 and 14 branches, respectively, the Company serves its customers through the AmTrust Bank (AmTrust) division of the Community Bank. In Ohio, the Company serves its Community Bank customers through 28 branches of Ohio Savings Bank. Customers of the Community Bank and the Commercial Bank have access to their accounts through 261 of its 285 automatic teller machines (ATMs) locations in five states. The Company also serves its customers through three Websites, which include www.myNYCB.com, www.NewYorkCommercialBank.com and www.NYCBfamily.com.

Lending Activities

The Company�� principal asset is l! oans. Its loan portfolio consists of three components: covered loans, non-covered loans held for sale and non-covered loans held for investment. As of December 31, 2011, the balance of covered loans was $3.8 billion, of which $3.4 billion were one-to-four family loans. Non-covered loans held for sale consists of the one-to-four family loans that are originated for sale, primarily to GSEs. At December 31, 2011, the held-for-sale loan portfolio totaled $1.0 billion

As of December 31, 2011, loans held for investment consisted of loans that it originates for its own portfolio, and totaled $ 25.5 billion.

In addition to multi-family loans, loans held for investment include commercial real estate loans (CRE); acquisition, development and construction (ADC) loans; commercial and industrial loans (C&I), and one-to-four family loans. As of December 31, 2011, its multi-family loans represented $17.4 billion, or 68.3%, of total loans held for investment, and represented $5.8 billion, or 64.1%, of the total loans that it originated for investment. The multi-family loans it originates are typically secured by non-luxury apartment buildings in New York City. It also makes multi-family loans to property owners who are seeking to expand their real estate holdings by purchasing additional properties.

As of December 31, 2011, CRE loans represented $6.9 billion, or 26.9%, of total held for investment; ADC loans represented $445.7 million, or 1.7%, of total loans held for investment. Its ADC loan portfolio consists of loans that were originated for land acquisition, development, and construction of multi-family and residential tract projects in New York City and Long Island.

C&I loans represented $600.0 million, or 2.4%, of total held for investment. It also offers a range of loans to small and mid-size businesses for working capital (including inventory and receivables), business expansion, and the purchase of equipment and machinery. Non-covered one-to-four family loans totaled $127! .4 millio! n at December 31, 2011.

Investment Activities

The Company�� securities portfolio primarily consists of mortgage-related securities, and debt and equity (other) securities. Its investments include GSE certificates, GSE collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and GSE debentures. The Community Bank and the Commercial Bank are members of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLB-NY), one of 12 regional Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) consisting of the FHLB system. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� securities represented $4.5 billion, or 10.8%, of total assets. As of December 31, 2011, 93.7% of its securities portfolio consisted of GSE obligations; held-to-maturity securities represented $3.8 billion, or 84.0%, of total securities, and its investment in bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) was $769.0 million.

Source of Funds

The Company has four primary funding sources. These include the deposits that it added through its acquisitions or gathered through its branch network, and brokered deposits; wholesale borrowings, primarily in the form of FHLB advances and repurchase agreements with the FHLB and various brokerage firms; cash flows produced by the repayment and sale of loans, and cash flows produced by securities repayments and sales. As of December 31, 2011, deposits totaled $ 22.3 billion, which included certificates of deposit (CDs) of $7.4 billion; negotiable order withdrawal (NOW) and money market accounts of $8.8 billion; savings accounts of $ 4.0 billion, and non-interest-bearing accounts of $2.2 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� borrowed funds totaled $14.0 billion, loan repayments and sales generated cash flows of $15.0 billion, and securities sales and repayments generated cash flows of $4.2 billion.

Subsidiary Activities

As of December 31, 2011, Community Bank had 34 subsidiary corporations. Of these, 22 are direct subsidiaries of the Community Bank and 12 are subsidiaries of Community Bank! -owned en! tities. The 22 direct subsidiaries of the Community Bank include DHB Real Estate, LLC, Mt. Sinai Ventures, LLC, NYCB Community Development Corp., NYCB Mortgage Company, LLC, Eagle Rock Investment Corp., Pacific Urban Renewal, Inc., Somerset Manor Holding Corp., Synergy Capital Investments, Inc., 1400 Corp., BSR 1400 Corp., Bellingham Corp., Blizzard Realty Corp., CFS Investments, Inc., Main Omni Realty Corp., NYB Realty Holding Company, LLC, O.B. Ventures, LLC, RCBK Mortgage Corp., RCSB Corporation, RSB Agency, Inc., Richmond Enterprises, Inc. and Roslyn National Mortgage Corporation.

The 12 subsidiaries of Community Bank-owned entities include Bronx Realty Funding Company, LLC, Columbia Preferred Capital Corporation, Ferry Development Holding Company, Peter B. Cannell & Co., Inc., Roslyn Real Estate Asset Corp., Walnut Realty Funding Company, LLC, Woodhaven Investments Inc, Your New REO, LLC, Ironbound Investment Company, Inc.,The Hamlet at Olde Oyster Bay, LLC, The Hamlet at Willow Creek, LLC and Richmond County Capital Corporation.

The two direct subsidiaries of the Commercial Bank include Beta Investments, Inc., and Gramercy Leasing Services, Inc. The two subsidiaries of Commercial Bank-owned entities include Omega Commercial Mortgage Corp. and Long Island Commercial Capital Corp.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Though New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYCB  ) saw a drop in its share price after releasing earnings yesterday, there is little doubt that investors are pleased with the bank's second-quarter results. The bank beat earnings per share estimates easily, aided by its largest ever jump in multi-family refinance-prepayment activity, which added 20 basis points to its net interest margin.

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  Earnings announcements
  Looking ahead, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU  ) and New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYCB  ) will unveil their own earnings reports today. Baidu may be halfway around the world from the Dow, but as with many Dow components, the Chinese search engine's results are tied to emerging-economy growth. Shares are up 33% in the past three months despite signs of a slowing Chinese economy, and analysts have high expectations for 39% sales growth (although they're willing to let profit edge down 2%).�

• [By Tim Melvin]

  Khan was not incredibly active in the quarter, which isn�� surprising — he follows strict buying criteria related to book value and margin of safety, and tends to hold for much longer than most investors. Khan Brothers did take a stake in embattled smart phone company Blackberry (BBRY), which has gone on the auction block. The firm also upped its stake in BP (BP) by more than 500% during the third quarter and bought more shares of New York Community Bank (NYCB).

• [By Motley Fool Staff]

  Eric Volkman: I think one of the best banks in 2015 will be New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYCB  ) , a slightly under-the-radar lender because of its limited regional focus.

Top 10 Oil Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Covanta Holding Corp (CVA)

Covanta Holding Corporation (Covanta), incorporated in April 16, 1992, is a holding company. The Company is a owner and operator of infrastructure for the conversion of waste to energy ( energy-from-waste or EfW), as well as other waste disposal and renewable energy production businesses. Covanta conduct all of its operations through subsidiaries which are engaged predominantly in the businesses of waste and energy services. The Company has one segment which is Americas and consists of waste and energy services operations primarily in the United States and Canada. The Company owns and holds interests in energy-from-waste facilities in China and Italy. The Company also has investments in subsidiaries engaged in insurance operations in California, primarily in property and casualty insurance. In 2011, it sold two landfill gas projects located in California. In May 2011, it acquired a metals processing facility located on its Dade energy-from-waste facility site.

As of December 31, 2011, it owned 85% interest of Taixing Covanta Yanjiang Cogeneration Co., Ltd. It operates and maintains the energy-from-waste facility located in and owned by the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii. In December 2011, the Company amended the waste disposal agreement with the Union County Utilities Authority to extend their terms from 2023 to 2031 and to increase the Union County Utilities Authority�� waste disposal commitment. The Company�� EfW facilities earn revenue from both the disposal of waste and the generation of electricity, generally under long-term contracts, as well as from the sale of metal recovered during the energy-from-waste process. In the Americas, it processes approximately 19 million tons of solid waste annually. In total, these assets produce over 10 million megawatt hours of baseload electricity annually. The Company operates and/or has ownership positions in 46 energy-from-waste facilities, which are primarily located in North America, and 15 additional energy generation facilities, i! ncluding other renewable energy production facilities in North America (wood biomass and hydroelectric). The Company also operates a waste management infrastructure that is complementary to its core EfW business.

Energy-From-Waste Projects

Energy-from-waste projects have two purposes: to provide waste disposal services, typically to municipal clients who sponsor the projects, and to use that waste as a fuel source to generate renewable energy. The electricity or steam generated by the projects is generally sold to local utilities or industrial customers. The projects are capable of providing waste disposal services and generating electricity or steam. The Company provides these waste disposal services and sell the electricity and steam generated under contracts, which expire on various dates between 2012 and 2034. Many of its service contracts may be renewed for varying periods of time, at the option of the municipal client.

Tehe Company�� energy-from-waste projects generate revenue from three main sources: fees charged for operating projects or processing waste received; the sale of electricity and/or steam, and the sale of ferrous and non-ferrous metals that are recycled as part of the energy-from-waste process. Its customers for waste disposal or facility operations are principally municipal entities, though it also markets disposal capacity at certain facilities to commercial and special waste customers. Its facilities sell energy primarily to utilities at contracted rates or, in situations where a contract is not in place, at prevailing market rates in regional markets (primarily PJM, NEPOOL and NYISO in the Northeastern United States).

The Company operates, and in some cases has ownership interests in, transfer stations and landfills, which generate revenue from ash disposal fees or operating fees. In addition, it owns, and in some cases operates, other renewable energy projects in the Americas segment, which generate electricity from wood wast! e (biomas! s) and hydroelectric resources. The electricity from these other renewable energy projects is sold to utilities under contracts or into the regional power pool at short-term rates. For these projects, it receives revenue from sales of energy, capacity and/or cash from equity distributions and additional value from the sale of renewable energy credits.

The Company operates energy-from-waste projects in 16 states and one Canadian province, and are constructing an energy-from-waste project in a second Canadian province. Most of its energy-from-waste projects were developed and structured contractually as part of competitive procurement processes conducted by municipal entities. Its EfW projects can generally be divided into three categories, based on the applicable contract structure at a project: Tip Fee projects, Service Fee projects that the Company owns, and Service Fee projects that it do not own but operate on behalf of a municipal owner. At Tip Fee projects, it receives a per-ton fee for processing waste, and it typically retain all of the revenue generated from energy and recycled metal sales. The Company generally owns or leases the Tip Fee facilities. At Service Fee projects, it typically charge a fixed fee for operating the facility, and the facility capacity is dedicated either primarily or exclusively to the host community client, which also retains the majority of any revenue generated from energy and recycled metal sales. The Company also owns and/or operates 13 transfer stations and four ash landfills in the northeast United States, which it utilizes to supplement and manage more efficiently the fuel and ash disposal requirements at its energy-from-waste operations. The Company provides waste procurement services to its waste disposal and transfer facilities which have available capacity to receive waste.

Biomass Projects

The Company owns and operates seven wood-fired generation facilities and have a 55% interest in a partnership which owns another w! ood-fired! generation facility. The Company�� six facilities are located in California, and two are located in Maine. The combined gross energy output from these facilities is 191 megawatts. The Company generates income from its biomass facilities from sales of electricity, capacity, and where available, additional value from the sale of renewable energy credits. These facilities sell their energy output into local power pools or to local utilities at rates that are either fixed or float with the market.

Hydroelectric

The Company owns a 50% interest in two small run-of-river hydroelectric facilities located in the State of Washington, which sells energy and capacity to Puget Sound Energy under long-term energy contracts. The Company has a nominal investment in two hydroelectric facilities in Costa Rica.

Energy-From-Waste

The Company and Chongqing Iron & Steel Company (Group) Ltd. entered into an agreement to build, own, and operate a 1,800 metric ton per day energy-from-waste facility for Chengdu Municipality in Sichuan Province, People�� Republic of China. The Company also executed a 25 year waste concession agreement for this project. In connection with this project, it acquired a 49% interest in the project company. Construction commenced in 2009 and the facility began processing waste during the year ended December 31, 2011. The electrical output from these projects is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under short-term arrangements with local power bureaus. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 85% of Taixing Covanta Yanjiang Cogeneration Co., Ltd. which, in 2009, entered into a 25 year concession agreement and waste supply agreements to build, own and operate a 350 metric tons per day energy-from-waste facility for Taixing Municipality, in Jiangsu Province, People�� Republic of China. The Company will continue to operate its coal-fired facility.

The Company owns a 40% interest in Chongqing Sanfeng Covanta Environ! mental In! dustry Co., Ltd. (Sanfeng), a company located in Chongqing Municipality, People�� Republic of China. Sanfeng is engaged in the business of owning and operating energy-from-waste projects, providing design and engineering, procurement, construction services and equipment sales for energy-from-waste facilities in China. Sanfeng owns minority interests in two 1,200 metric tons per day, 24 megawatts mass-burn energy-from-waste projects (Fuzhou project and Tongqing project), and has a contract to operate the Chengdu project. Chongqing Iron & Steel Group Environmental Investment Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chongqing Iron & Steel Company (Group) Ltd., holds the remaining 60% interest in Sanfeng. The solid waste supply for the projects comes from municipalities under long-term contracts. The municipalities also have the obligation to coordinate the purchase of power from the facilities as part of the long-term contracts for waste disposal. The electrical output from these projects is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under short-term arrangements with local power bureaus.

The Company owns a 13% interest in a 500 metric tons per day, 18 megawatts mass-burn energy-from-waste project at Trezzo sull��dda in the Lombardy Region of Italy. The project is operated by Ambiente 2000 S.r.l., in which the Company owns 40%. The solid waste supply for the project comes from municipalities and privately-owned waste haulers under long-term contracts. The electrical output from the Trezzo project is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under a long-term purchase contract to Italy�� state-owned electricity grid operator, Gestore della Rete di Trasmissione Nazionale S.p.A.

Independent Power Projects

The Company has a majority interest in a 24 megawatts (gross) coal-fired cogeneration facility in Taixing City, Jiangsu Province, People�� Republic of China. The project entity, in which it holds a majority interest, operates this project. T! he party ! holding a minority position in the project is an affiliate of the local municipal government. While the steam produced at this project is focused to be sold under a long-term contract to its industrial host, in practice, steam has been sold on a short-term basis to either local industries or the industrial host, in each case at varying rates and quantities. The electric power is sold at an average grid rate to a subsidiary of the provincial power bureau.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  More recently, Waste Management has looked for further innovations in its business. Its landfills give it two potential energy sources, one from the gases that landfills produce, and a second from incinerating garbage to produce electricity. Rival Covanta (NYSE: CVA  ) pioneered the waste-to-energy movement and is the leading company in the space, but both Waste Management and No. 2 landfill operator Republic Services (NYSE: RSG  ) have pressed hard at building up their own renewable energy businesses. Moreover, Waste Management's partnership with Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE  ) to convert its hauling trucks to use natural gas brings the trash giant's renewable energy efforts full-circle.