DOW Led by Energy and Materials Stocks

Stocks climbed Tuesday, led by materials and energy companies after a rally in commodity prices.
The advance carried the Dow Jones industrial average to a record close of 14,673.26, up 59.98 points, or 0.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index flirted with a record, rising 5.54 points, or 0.35%, to 1,568.61, just short of its all-time high of 1,570.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 15.61 points, or 0.5%, to 3,237.86.
The prices of metals like copper, gold and silver have rebounded this week after slumping for the first three months of the year on waning demand. Oil is also rising following a sharp decline last week.
"You're seeing some pretty decent action in the overall market, with today's leadership coming from the basic materials sector," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners. "It's an area of the market that does represent some value because it's underperformed."
Material companies were the biggest gainers of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500, rising 1.2%. Energy companies posted the second best return, advancing 1%.
Cliff's Natural Resources, an iron ore mining company, rose $1.65, or 8.7%, to $20.44. The company's stock is still down 47% this year. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, another mining company, was up $1.34, or 4.%, at $33.76.
The stock of First Solar soared after the solar panel maker issued a better-than-expected outlook for 2013 and solid predictions for the following two years, helped by continued growth in shipments. The stock price rose nearly $12.31, or 45%, to $39.35.
Tuesday's advances suggested that a three week period of indecisiveness for traders and investors may be over.
The stock market has mostly moved sideways since the middle of March. The Dow has alternated between small gains and losses, after starting the year on a tear. Signs of slowing growth and concerns about the outlook for Europe had checked investors' confidence.
Alcoa, traditionally the first company in the Dow to report results, was little changed at $8.39 after the company posted its earnings late Monday. The aluminum producer's earnings beat Wall Street's expectations but the company was still weighed down by depressed aluminum prices, which offset strong demand from auto and plane makers.
As the first major company to report quarterly earnings, Alcoa is closely watched.
TRACK YOUR STOCKS: Get real-time quotes with our free Portfolio Tracker
Online auto retailer CarMax, home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond and banks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are among companies that will report earnings later this week.
While stocks are struggling to extend their gains from the start of the year, bonds have rallied.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 1.75%. But the benchmark rate has fallen from a high of 2.06% reached March 11 as demand for low-risk assets increases.
Benchmark oil for May delivery rose 79 cents to $94.15 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 66 cents to finish at $93.36 a barrel on Monday.79
Investors will be looking to see whether companies are feeling an impact from government spending cuts that kicked in recently, said Jim Russell, investment director at U.S. Bank. They will also want to know what impact, if any, there will be from the ongoing debt crisis in Europe.
"The market is looking for companies to fill in those blanks," said Russell.
J.C. Penney plunged $1.94, or 12%, to $13.93 following its ouster of CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. J.C. Penney announced late Monday that it had rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman, who was CEO of the department store operator for seven years until November 2011.
Analysts and investors are questioning whether Ullman has what it takes to turn around the retailer's fortunes after sales plummeted under Johnson's reign.
Wall Street ended higher Monday. The Dow rose 0.3% to 14,613.48. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 1,563.07. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 3,222.25.
Japan's benchmark stock index failed to secure a fifth straight day of gains on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 index ended flat at 3,192.35. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.11% to 1,920.74 as tension brewed on the Korean peninsula.
In Europe, the region's Stoxx Europe 600 index saw modest gains -- up around 0.4% to 288.92.

Because Robert Kiyosaki said so......

The Top 25 Network Marketing Companies
by The Staff at Nexera™ LLC

Who are the Top 25 Network Marketing Companies? Well, it really depends on how you define "The Top 25..." As you might imagine, the truth can be a bit subjective. For example...

The best-selling car in the World is the Toyota Corolla. Apparently it's a great car, and yet at the same time is probably not the car of your dreams. Which begs the question, "Does an MLM company deserve a higher ranking simply because more people are involved?" It's a fair question. Here's what we know for sure: Popularity is definitely one of the best ways to determine what's going on in the marketplace. It plays a part in the movies we see, the music we download, and sometimes even where we invest our money.

So is "The Top 25..." just an online popularity contest? Not exactly. To make a fair assessment we gave consideration to things that really don't matter; for instance, 24 of the 25 companies are members of the DSA. And to things that really do matter; like Time In Business!

In short, we wanted you to know the exact criteria we used in order to select, and then to rank, "The Top 25..." You may agree with our findings, or you may not; we welcome your thoughts and opinions either way. Here's the Nexera Five-Factor Formula we used to make our selections:

1) The company must be a self-described Network Marketing, Multi Level, or MLM company.
2) The company must be in business for at least 10 years as of December 31, 2012.*
3) The company must have a Google Page Rank - GPR. A scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best.
4) The company must have an Alexa Rank - AR. Here the smaller the number the better.
5) The company must show up in Google Trends - GT. All Regions. Last 12 months.**

The five factors above are taken into account at the end of each quarter, and then a ranking decision is made. As of September 30, 2012, The Top 25 Network Marketing Companies are:

Company	Time In Business	GPR  -  AR  -  GT
1. Amway	1959 - 53 Years	6 -     8,556 - 2.18
2. Melaleuca	1985 - 27 Years	5 -   10,797 - 0.44
3. USANA	1992 - 20 Years	6 -   12,424 - 0.44
4. Nu Skin	1984 - 28 Years	6 -   12,527 - 0.20
5. Isagenix	2002 - 10 Years	3 -   15,591 - 0.20
6. Forever Living	1978 - 34 Years	5 -   17,178 - 0.42
7. Legal Shield	1972 - 40 Years	4 -   18,855 - 0.20
8. ACN	1993 - 19 Years	6 -   27,301 - 1.12
9. Herbalife	1980 - 32 Years	5 -   29,151 - 2.24
10. 4Life	1998 - 14 Years	4 -   32,924 - 0.14
11. Advocare	1993 - 19 Years	5 -   32,943 - 0.14
12. 5LINX	2001 - 11 Years	4 -   34,372 - 0.03
13. Synergy WorldWide	1999 - 13 Years	3 -   39,323 - 0.01
14. Arbonne	1980 - 32 Years	5 -   57,636 - 0.66
15. Xango	2002 - 10 Years	4 -   57,841 - 0.38
16. Nature's Sunshine	1972 - 40 Years	4 -   62,661 - 0.01
17. Morinda	1994 - 18 Years	4 -   70,897 - 0.14
18. Mannatech	1994 - 18 Years	4 -   75,855 - 0.16
19. Shaklee	1956 - 56 Years	5 -   83,234 - 0.20
20. Nikken	1975 - 37 Years	4 -   93,145 - 0.29
21. Sunrider	1982 - 30 Years	4 - 108,784 - 0.07
22. Freelife	1995 - 17 Years	4 - 139,510 - 0.03
23. Neways	1992 - 20 Years	4 - 166,079 - 0.17
24. Juice Plus (NSA)	1970 - 42 Years	5 - 172,897 - 0.26
25. GNLD	1958 - 54 Years	4 - 213,549 - 0.07

*Why 10 years? Because that amount of time really seems to matter. For example, according to research, since 1956 thousands of different MLM, Multi Level, or Network Marketing companies have opened their doors; and to date only +/- 50 MLM companies have found a way to celebrate their 10th anniversary and still remain in business today. Now, to be completely fair, we should also point out that each and every company on our list was at one time a start-up company too.

**For purposes of comparing Internet search term interest using Google Trends (GT), all 25 companies were compared to the term, MLM. A score of 1.00 would indicate the same level of Internet search interest; anything above 1.00 more interest, anything below 1.00 less interest.

A few noteworthy points on this list... The only companies considered for this list are U.S.A. based; and if you click on each and every company linked above, what you will not find should be as interesting to you (and as revealing) as what you will find. There are no travel companies, only two technology companies (ACN and 5LINX), just one service company (Legal Shield), and 22 health and wellness companies. Even Amway, whose core product line still includes soap, really got started by way of the wellness revolution! Read this book by Paul Zane Pilzer and you'll understand why nutrition, weight management, and skincare products continue to drive the trends in the Network Marketing industry to this day.

Lastly, if the company is publicly traded, and six of The Top 25... are, we have linked their year in business above, in red, over to MarketWatch for a real time stock quote and other financial information.

All the best,

The Staff at Nexera™ LLC

P.S. Network Marketing continues to gain in popularity throughout the world. According to, Future Choice: Why Network Marketing May Be Your Best Career Move, "This week, 175,000 people will find a new way to increase their financial security and personal freedom. They will join more than 57 million others who are earning a living, full- or part-time, through Network Marketing." To learn more about Network Marketing, download Future Choice today!

And if you would like to actually build your own successful Network Marketing business, then get The Ultimate Success Pack. This complete MLM Training Program will teach you: 1) How to find all the hot prospects you need. 2) How to present your MLM business opportunity so more people say, "Yes!" AND 3) How to find, coach, and then promote more leaders in your organization faster than you ever thought possible! Get Yours Here!