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Carole Switzer is the Co-Founder and President of the Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG), a global nonprofit think tank and online community of more than 50,000 individuals in more than 70 countries. OCEG provides standards, guidelines and online resources to help organizations achieve Principled Performance. She is a recognized leader in the concept of integrated governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) and is a principal author of the open source OCEG Red Book GRC Capability Model.

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Most of the time, Americans are only conscious of oil prices when they visit the gas pump.

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In trading on Monday, shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc (NYSE: HE) entered into oversold territory, changing hands as low as $30.06 per share. We define oversold territory using the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which is a technical analysis indicator used to measure momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30.

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In recent trading, shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE: AEP) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $69.85, changing hands for $69.95/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.

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In recent trading, shares of Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $32.90, changing hands for $32.99/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.

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Looking at options trading activity among components of the S&P 500 index, there is noteworthy activity today in Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASD: EA), where a total volume of 21,698 contracts has been traded thus far today, a contract volume which is representative of approximately 2.2 million underlying shares (given that every 1 contract represents 100 underlying shares). That number works out to 82.3% of EA's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 2.6 million shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $75.50 strike put option expiring July 22, 2016, with 11,505 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 1.2 million underlying shares of EA. Below is a chart showing EA's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $75.50 strike highlighted in orange:

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Graphics processor manufacturer Nvidia has seen a 60% increase in its stock price year to date. While we believe in Nvidia's strong growth potential, we feel that the surge in the stock price in the last six months might be a bit overplayed.

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The DividendRank formula at Dividend Channel ranks a coverage universe of thousands of dividend stocks, according to a proprietary formula designed to identify those stocks that combine two important characteristics - strong fundamentals and a valuation that looks inexpensive. Infosys Ltd. (NYSE: INFY) presently has an above average rank, in the top 50% of the coverage universe, which suggests it is among the top most "interesting" ideas that merit further research by investors.

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Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, in trading on Tuesday, shares of Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASD: NWBI) were yielding above the 4% mark based on its quarterly dividend (annualized to $0.60), with the stock changing hands as low as $14.97 on the day. Dividends are particularly important for investors to consider, because historically speaking dividends have provided a considerable share of the stock market's total return. To illustrate, suppose for example you purchased shares of the iShares Russell 3000 ETF (IWV) back on 5/31/2000 — you would have paid $78.27 per share. Fast forward to 5/31/2012 and each share was worth $77.79 on that date, a loss of $0.48 or 0.6% decrease over twelve years. But now consider that you collected a whopping $10.77 per share in dividends over the same period, increasing your return to 13.15%. Even with dividends reinvested, that only amounts to an average annual total return of about 1.0%; so by comparison collecting a yield above 4% would appear considerably attractive if that yield is sustainable. Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASD: NWBI) is a member of the Russell 3000, giving it special status as one of the largest 3000 companies on the U.S. stock markets.

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In recent trading, shares of VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW) have crossed above the average analyst 12-month target price of $66.65, changing hands for $68.23/share. When a stock reaches the target an analyst has set, the analyst logically has two ways to react: downgrade on valuation, or, re-adjust their target price to a higher level. Analyst reaction may also depend on the fundamental business developments that may be responsible for driving the stock price higher — if things are looking up for the company, perhaps it is time for that target price to be raised.

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