Elvis Barukcic, AFP/Getty ImagesTourists take a guided tour of medieval defense walls surrounding the historical city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. ZAGREB, Croatia -- The wildly popular "Game of Thrones" TV series has spurred tourists' interest in visiting Croatia, where much of the epic TV fantasy is set. But it could also help re-establish Croatia's reputation from Yugoslav days as a location for film making. "Thanks to 'Game of Thrones,' many people are coming to visit the very old walls in Dubrovnik and Split," Croatia's deputy tourism minister, Ratomir Ivicic told CNBC. "Season five will be made in Sibenik -- also a very beautiful place in Croatia." "Game of Thrones" grew its audience 24 percent last season, delivering viewer tallies on a par with the final episodes of hit series "The Sopranos." Filmed in different spots across Europe, "Game of Thrones" has inspired interest in places like Dubrovnik, an ancient Croat port city and UNESCO World Heritage Site used to represent King's Landing. Special "Game of Thrones" tours are now available in both Dubrovnik and Split for those want to relive the show. 'Winds of War' Several internationally renowned television programs and movies were shot in Croatia during the Yugoslav era. These included television miniseries "Winds of war" and "The pope must die," a comedy film starring Robbie Coltrane that was filmed just before the Croat Independence War erupted in 1991. While some film makers headed to the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, most chose Croatia, the Republic's filming hub. The city of Zagreb appealed because its typically central European appearance meant it could pass for Vienna -- a more expensive place to shoot -- or Prague, which was cheap but trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Zagreb's large film studio remains to this day, but the carnage of the 1990s brought the industry to near-collapse. While some non-war-related filming continued in Zagreb, which was away from the frontline, most camera crews visited only to capture the violence. Croatia's film sector has yet to fully recover 20 years on, but has the chance to use the success of "Game of Thrones" to attract directors back. Local business leader Ivica Mudrinic was sanguine about Croatia's prospects of building on the attention.
Hot Communications Equipment Companies To Watch In Right Now: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)
AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tess Stynes]
AIG confirmed it will sell its stake in International Lease Finance Corp to aircraft-leasing company AerCap Holdings N.V(AER). for $5.4 billion in cash and stock.
Hot European Companies To Own For 2014: BP p.l.c.(BP)
BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Associated Press]
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Cleanup work has ended in three of the states affected by BP's (NYSE: BP ) massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Monday.
- [By Eric Volkman]
A deal conferring a set of BP's (NYSE: BP ) American assets to Tesoro (NYSE: TSO ) has been finalized. The latter is the owner of the petroleum giant's now-former refinery in Carson, near Los Angeles, and a network of more than 800 retail stations. It also gains control of the related logistical and marketing assets in the region. All told, the value of the deal is roughly $2.4 billion.�
Hot European Companies To Own For 2014: Telefonica SA(TEF)
Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Charles Sizemore]
Next Page
European Dividend Stocks to Buy: Telefonica (TEF)Dividend Yield: 6%
And finally, we get to one of my favorite long-term holdings, Spanish telecom giant Telefonica (TEF).
- [By The Investment Doctor]
In this article I'll follow up on my earlier article on Telefonica (TEF) 'Why Telefonica might be a good investment right now', and have a look at the company's H1 financial results which were published last week. I'll first discuss the numbers, have a closer look at the debt level (as it's one of Telefonica's priorities to considerably reduce this debt) and give my updated opinion at the end of this article.
- [By Selena Maranjian]
Other companies didn't do quite as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Spanish telecom concern Telefonica (NYSE: TEF ) gained 5%. The company is saddled with a lot of debt, and some see it as a possible acquisition target. Meanwhile, Telefonica is pushing Windows phones in Europe, and it has sold its Irish subsidiary.
- [By Charles Sizemore]
As was the case with KMI, ARCP insiders have been using the recent weakness as a buying opportunity. In the month of November, four company officers bought a combined 72,500 shares of ARCP stock worth over $950,000, and this followed a steady stream of insider buying throughout the summer.
Dividend Stocks to Buy Now:�Telefonica (TEF)TEF Dividend Yield: 6%
Hot European Companies To Own For 2014: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Louie Grint]
Still unaffected
First, Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS ) is the No. 1 global provider of dialysis equipment. It enjoys leading market share of almost 33% in its home country. - [By Johanna Bennett]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid decided today to cut government payment to dialysis clinics. So why did share prices for DaVita HealthCare Partners (DVA) and rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rise so steeply today?
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