Kinder Morgan Inc. Takes Another Big Step Forward

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) continued its forward progress in the second quarter. The natural gas pipeline giant reported $1.1 billion ($0.50 per share) in distributable cash flow (DCF), which was 9% ahead of the year-ago quarter. That result was also slightly ahead of the company's guidance that it would haul in about $1.05 billion, or $0.48 per share of DCF during the quarter, which, when combined with its forecast-beating results to start the year, has it on pace to meet or exceed its full-year guidance.

Kinder Morgan Inc. results: The raw numbers

Data source: Kinder Morgan Inc. Chart by author.

What happened with Kinder Morgan this quarter?�

Natural gas pipelines led the charge.

Kinder Morgan's natural gas pipeline segment delivered an "outstanding quarter," according to President Kim Dang. Earnings improved 11% year over year because of increased activity across nearly all its large pipeline systems, with transportation volumes up 12% versus the year-ago quarter. Earnings in its carbon dioxide segment rose slightly, helped by a 4% increase in oil production and higher commodity prices. Product pipeline earnings jumped 10% thanks to increased performance across nearly all its segments, with a 10% uptick in ethanol volumes and a 5% improvement in oil volumes helping lead the way. Earnings in the terminals segment rose 3%, mainly because of contributions from its liquids business. Not only did the company benefit from a 3% increase in storage at its key hubs in Houston and Edmonton, but earnings also got a boost from new tankers delivered in 2017. Contributions from Kinder Morgan Canada Limited's (TSX:KML) Trans Mountain Pipeline rose 7% year over year, mainly because of how the company capitalized costs for that pipeline's expansion project. However, the company did agree to sell that pipeline and the associated expansion project to the Government of Canada during the quarter, which will affect future results.

Image source: Getty Images.

What management had to say�

Founder and Executive Chairman Richard Kinder commented on the quarter:

The board is very pleased with the company's progress during the quarter. We continue to aggressively de-lever even while maintaining our planned substantial dividend increase. We ended the quarter with a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 4.9 times and expect to end the year below our 2018 budgeted leverage metric of approximately 5.1 times, excluding any impact from the use of Trans Mountain sale net proceeds. We also continue to develop very attractive growth projects that build on our extensive North American energy infrastructure network. During the second quarter, we announced the joint development of the Permian Highway Project, which will provide a greatly needed associated-gas takeaway solution for producers.

Aside from posting solid results, Kinder highlighted two key points. First, Kinder Morgan continued to improve its financial profile by de-levering its balance sheet, which is ahead of plan. As he pointed out, the company's leverage ratio was below its forecast during the quarter, which puts the company on pace to exceed its objective for the year. In fact, it could push leverage down to 4.5, according to analysts, if it uses the proceeds from its Trans Mountain sale to pay off debt.

In addition, the company continues to find needle-moving expansion projects, having recently unveiled the development of the Permian Highway Pipeline Project. Kinder Morgan is developing the $2 billion natural gas pipeline with private equity-backed EagleClaw Midstream and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA). It's a follow-up to the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline (CGX), which is a $1.75 billion gas pipeline it's building with two other midstream companies and Apache. Kinder Morgan has already started work on GCX, which should be in service by October 2019, while PHP could follow a year later if the company gives it the green light. These projects will help offset some of the growth it will lose by selling Trans Mountain.

Looking forward�

After a solid showing in the second quarter, Kinder Morgan is on pace to produce at least $4.57 billion, or $2.05 per share, in DCF this year, and push its leverage ratio below 5.1. However, there is a major unknown lurking over the horizon because of the pending sale of Kinder Morgan Canada's Trans Mountain Pipeline, which should close by the early part of the fourth quarter at the latest. Kinder Morgan has a variety of options for the cash it will receive, including using it to take Kinder Morgan Canada private, make acquisitions, pay down debt, or buy back stock.

Why Twilio Inc. Stock Has Soared 159.1% So Far in 2018

What happened

Shares of Twilio Inc.�(NYSE:TWLO) have climbed 159.1% so far in 2018, according to data from�S&P Global Market Intelligence, thanks largely to a pair of exceptional quarterly reports from the digital communications specialist.

More specifically, Twilio soared more than 20% the day after its stellar fourth-quarter 2017 report in mid-February, then continued to drift higher over the next few months before enjoying a�similar pop following its first-quarter 2018 announcement in May.

Image source: Getty Images.�

So what

Twilio stock has continued to rise on the heels of the latter report, in which the company revealed its quarterly revenue had climbed 48% year over year to $129 million, translating to an adjusted net loss of $0.04 per share. For perspective, most investors were modeling a much wider net loss on sales of $116 million.

But apart from simply outpacing expectations, what is making investors so crazy about this yet-to-be-profitable business? For one, revenue growth is handily outpacing Twilio's actual customer growth -- with the latter most recently increasing 33% year over year to just under 54,000. This indicates that not only are new customers realizing the utility of its core cloud-communications products, but existing customers are also proving a lucrative source of incremental growth as they buy into Twilio's other offerings.

Now what

Perhaps most exciting, Twilio stock still trades modestly below its post-IPO highs set in late 2016 -- only now, investors are buying a significantly stronger business with incredible momentum. That's not to say Twilio will continue to skyrocket indefinitely (for better or worse, we'll likely see another big move when it posts second-quarter results next month). But as Twilio works to effectively disrupt the enormous IT communications industry, I think its gains are only the beginning in a much longer story.

Cheapcoin (CHEAP) Market Capitalization Tops $0.00

Cheapcoin (CURRENCY:CHEAP) traded flat against the US dollar during the 1 day period ending at 0:00 AM Eastern on July 11th. Cheapcoin has a market cap of $0.00 and $0.00 worth of Cheapcoin was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. One Cheapcoin coin can currently be bought for $0.0003 or 0.00000004 BTC on major cryptocurrency exchanges. In the last week, Cheapcoin has traded flat against the US dollar.

Here’s how similar cryptocurrencies have performed in the last 24 hours:

Get Cheapcoin alerts: XRP (XRP) traded 0.3% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.45 or 0.00007034 BTC. Stellar (XLM) traded 1.8% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.19 or 0.00002953 BTC. IOTA (MIOTA) traded 1.8% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.98 or 0.00015506 BTC. Tether (USDT) traded down 0.1% against the dollar and now trades at $1.00 or 0.00015791 BTC. TRON (TRX) traded 1.7% lower against the dollar and now trades at $0.0332 or 0.00000524 BTC. NEO (NEO) traded down 0.7% against the dollar and now trades at $33.07 or 0.00521047 BTC. Binance Coin (BNB) traded 0.5% higher against the dollar and now trades at $12.54 or 0.00197668 BTC. VeChain (VET) traded 1.2% lower against the dollar and now trades at $2.19 or 0.00034476 BTC. Ontology (ONT) traded down 2% against the dollar and now trades at $3.40 or 0.00053555 BTC. Zilliqa (ZIL) traded 0.8% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0671 or 0.00001058 BTC.

About Cheapcoin

Cheapcoin’s official Twitter account is @cheapcrypto.

Cheapcoin Coin Trading

Cheapcoin can be traded on the following cryptocurrency exchanges: CoinExchange. It is usually not currently possible to purchase alternative cryptocurrencies such as Cheapcoin directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to acquire Cheapcoin should first purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Gemini, Changelly or Coinbase. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Bitcoin or Ethereum to purchase Cheapcoin using one of the exchanges listed above.

Microsoft Corporation Earnings: 2 Key Areas to Watch

Microsoft�(NASDAQ:MSFT) has been firing on all cylinders. In its third quarter of fiscal 2018, revenue and earnings per share soared 16% and 36%, respectively.�In addition, the company was able to return $6.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the period. Then there's Microsoft's impressive strength in its commercial cloud revenue, which mainly consists of Office 365 commercial, Azure, and Dynamics 365. Commercial cloud revenue in the third quarter soared 58% year over year to $6 billion,�accounting for 22% of Microsoft's total revenue.

With recent performance like this, the bar is high going into Microsoft's fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. Ahead of the earnings release next week, here are two key areas investors will want to watch.

Image source: Microsoft.

Azure revenue growth

Of the three main contributors to Microsoft's commercial cloud revenue categorization, Azure is the fastest-growing product. The enterprise cloud services platform has shown impressive resilience in a market dominated by Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Web Services (AWS). Indeed, Azure is growing much faster than AWS. In Microsoft's most recent quarter, Azure revenue soared 93% year over year. In the same period, AWS revenue climbed 49%.

"We have made the right investment decisions and they are having an impact, increasing our overall share in an expanding market," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in the company's third-quarter conference call when discussing Azure's rapid growth.

Highlighting the strength in the broader enterprise cloud services segment, not only has Azure managed to consistently grow at 90%-plus rates recently, but AWS has seen accelerating year-over-year growth rates for two quarters in the row.

For Azure, this is the tip of this iceberg. Investors should look for strong revenue growth to persist in Q4.

Office 365

Despite rapid growth across a range of Microsoft products, Office remains the company's bread and butter. Accounted for in Microsoft's largest business segment -- productivity and business processes -- office commercial products and cloud services rose 14% year over year in Q3 and Office consumer products and cloud services increased 12% year over year.

But it's Office 365 -- the cloud-based subscription version of Microsoft Office -- that investors should be watching closely. As part of the company's transition to a cloud-centered business model, Microsoft has been executing on its Office 365 expansion exceptionally well.

Investors should look for Office 365 revenue and users to continue growing rapidly in Q4. In Q3, Office 365 commercial revenue rose 42% year over year and Office 365 consumer subscribers increased to 30.6 million -- up from 26.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Office 365 commercial monthly active users increased to over 135 million,�up from about 100 million monthly active users in the year-ago quarter.�

While these metrics will undoubtedly help give investors some useful insight into the company's performance, they should take the time to look over Microsoft's overall financial results. Other metrics beyond these three that investors may want to check on are revenue and earnings per share, commercial cloud revenue growth, and Surface revenue.

Microsoft reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results after market close on Thursday, July 19. The company will host a conference call to discuss the results on the same day at 5:30 p.m. EDT.�

15,368 Shares in Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C (LILAK) Acquired by YHB Investment Advisors Inc.

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C (NASDAQ:LILAK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 15,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LILAK. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 221,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,411,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,193,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,631,000 after purchasing an additional 26,392 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C in the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C in the 4th quarter valued at $1,960,000. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C in the 4th quarter valued at $476,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.01% of the company’s stock.

Get Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C alerts:

LILAK stock opened at $20.64 on Tuesday. Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C has a 12 month low of $17.90 and a 12 month high of $27.53.

Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C (NASDAQ:LILAK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $909.90 million for the quarter.

Several analysts recently commented on LILAK shares. Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C in a research report on Tuesday, April 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 7th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.00.

Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C Profile

Liberty Latin America Ltd. provides various telecommunications services. Its services primarily include video, broadband Internet, fixed-line telephony, and mobile services. The company offers communications and entertainment services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LILAK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Liberty Latin America Ltd Class C (NASDAQ:LILAK).

Surprisingly, Wells Fargo Has Been Good To Investors This Month Amid A Financials Meltdown

Wells Fargo (WFC) is still in the middle of its long-journey amid government-supervised restructuring and has seen little interesting activity as of late. However for investors, as the financial services sector (XLF) this past month has seen a significant downturn, Wells Fargo surprisingly has been at the topic of the pack in terms of return.

I believe Wells Fargo still has major risks involved as it moves to cleaning up its company to government expectations, particularly given how long it took for them to just evade and deflect for years after initial scandal revelations. Furthermore, real growth remains restricted by direct federal regulatory law.

Nonetheless, their lack of upside also shows that in certain situations their downside is limited as well, as they did not experience the growth in expectations and valuation multiples that, when it turned around amid economic and tariff worries, hurt a lot of its peer bulge brackets.

With massive shareholder buybacks and a dividend increase on the horizon too, amid its strong valuation multiple, it actually may serve some purpose in the portfolio as a very unusual-behavior financial stock that provides a slightly less volatile, but more dividend-paying, block.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Though Still Leaving Investors Burned In The Medium And Long Run, Wells Fargo Has Sheltered This Month's Financials Downturn

Wells Fargo has had a strange month. Though still in the middle of the pack among bulge bracket banks YTD and year-on-year, let alone significantly lagging behind on broader timelines, it is actually in fact well above the herd compared to other financials these past few weeks.

WFC data by YCharts WFC data by YCharts

For a bank that has been subject to historic and unprecedented sanctioning over the course of the past few months, the question undoubtedly is in a lot of investors minds over why this unexpected divergence seemingly has taken place.

I believe it is because other banks have recently taken a downturn due to changed growth expectations, as their P/E multiples have shrunk over time separate from earnings report price adjustments.

In contrast, Wells Fargo's sanctioning has placed a firm upper limit on its profitability, which means it never made, or held on to, the massive rally in the winter and spring of this year that many other financial institutions did and therefore had little to room to fall.

WFC data by YCharts

As shown below, Wells Fargo has remained at a relatively steady P/E over the past few months since its initial Federal Reserve sanctioning in late January and early February while the P/Es of other peer bulge brackets have gone down significantly.

Wells Fargo is still among the most lowest P/E multiples right now, as growth expectations remain dim due to the Federal Reserve's sanctions and various other regulatory concerns precisely limiting, sometimes explicitly, the amount of growth possible.

WFC PE Ratio (NYSE:TTM) data by YCharts

There nonetheless are actually some positive signs for Wells Fargo, or more particularly Wells Fargo shareholders, in the upcoming months. Wells Fargo has gained no-objection approval from the Federal Reserve for a historic $32.8 billion capital return plan to shareholders over the upcoming year. The capital return plan is split between a quarterly dividend increase of 4 cents a share to 43 cents compared to the current 39 cents, as well as $22 billion in shareholder buybacks.

The buyback plan is so large amidst Wells Fargo's highly-restricted situation because the consent orders in place do not permit Wells Fargo to use its still high-earning capabilities to re-invest in growth in the business, thereby making shareholder capital return the only viable avenue for the money.

At a currently $269.1 billion in market capitalization, the shareholder buyback authorization would amount to almost 8.2% of current outstanding market capitalization. At $55.24 a share, the increase to 43 cents a quarter raises its forward dividend yield to 3.11% from its current 2.82%.

Compared to other financial institutions, the dividend yield actually looks decent even before its increase.

WFC Dividend Yield (TTM) data by YCharts

I've previously discussed how, depending on the way Wells Fargo's restructuring goes, it could be in for a long period of uncertainty and potential downturns as its business is reorganized. Nonetheless, it still has a lot of capital to work with as still the third-largest bank in the United States, whether in terms of market capitalization or total assets.

Based on its current unusual financial regulatory situation it seems to have to pay a lot of that out to shareholders, turning it less from having growth characteristics to rather having, ironically, mature dividend-paying characteristics.

WFC Market Cap data by YCharts

Conclusion

Wells Fargo still has real downside risk amid a broad market downturn, which would also hurt its real earnings on every segment from trading to corporate and consumer services, in addition to its restructuring risks.

But it still offers a perhaps less volatile option beyond those situations, as it is required to shell out capital back to shareholders amid its restructuring. It is also at such a low-valuation multiple, amid seemingly stable business and profit lines, that it likely would have difficulty dropping further in price unless those actual financials were affected.

Wells Fargo's valuation behavior is unlike that of many stocks out there either presently or in recent years due to the unusual regulatory factors controlling it, but that doesn't mean its completely of no use as an investment. As a relatively potentially non-volatile, but high-dividend, company it seems like it still has some chance at worth, return, and portfolio design while it goes through its restructuring.

WFC data by YCharts

At Tech Investment Insights I discuss specific companies and investment products that I believe are especially poised to gain in the market, as well as the one to avoid.

Focusing on technology in particular, I provide you updated risk-reward ratings of dozens of companies, price targets on potential worthwhile investments, portfolio strategies, and alluring risks to avoid. I hope you will give it a look.

Disclosure: I am/we are long KBE.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Top Biotech Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:SBGL,NSP,VGT,

Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) fights the sell-off

This CEO performance shows that CELG has my sort of management team. That's in contrast to the CEO of a different biotech company with a similar long-term stock chart who closed the Q4 conference call by responding to a question about when growth would resume beyond 2017 this way:

But at this point, I'm not going to give you a point in time when that's going to happen.

That inspired no confidence amongst investors.

Whereas, CELG has sold off from the high $120s to the $114 range on some issues, and it has responded with some new news. No guarantees - it's biotech! - but in my humble opinion, the parrying of the bears was well done, appropriate, and very well-timed.

Here's the background of what I see having weighed on CELG the past couple of months, followed by CEO Mark Alles taking the sellers on with facts and informed projections. As you know, CELG is a strong cash flow company, iconic to many investors, and it's a very large cap name. It could take the passive approach to its stock price, but I think that it wants to nip in the bud the image that the nattering nabobs of negativism have been painting on the company.

Top Biotech Stocks To Own For 2019: Sibanye Gold Limited(SBGL)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Tuesday saw a quieter session on Wall Street than Monday, with most major benchmarks modestly increasing to recover some of the ground lost in yesterday's sell-off. Bullish investors are focusing on the likelihood of continued sharp gains when companies report their second-quarter earning in the next month, believing that those results could spur another push higher for stocks. Yet some companies had bad news that sent their shares lower. Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE:HTZ), Sibanye-Stillwater�(NYSE:SBGL), and Achaogen (NASDAQ:AKAO) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Shares of Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE:SBGL), formerly Sibanye Gold Limited, fell over 11% today after news that a worker died at its Driefontein mining operation in South Africa. As reported by News24, over 20 workers have died at mines owned by the company this year, which is nearly half of all mining industry deaths in the country.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Sibanye Gold Ltd. (NYSE: SBGL) traded down about 1.6% Thursday and posted a new 52-week low of $3.75 after closing Wednesday at $3.81. The stock’s 52-week high is $10.60. Volume totaled around 3 million, about 15% below the daily average. The company had no specific news. Another stock that has turned it around today and looks to close about 1% higher.

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Here are some of the news headlines that may have impacted Accern’s rankings:

  Get Just Energy Group alerts: Zacks: Analysts Anticipate Just Energy Group Inc (JE) Will Post Quarterly Sales of $708.65 Million (americanbankingnews.com) Brokerages Expect Just Energy Group Inc (JE) Will Post Earnings of $0.08 Per Share (americanbankingnews.com) 200 days simple moving average (SMA200) Indicator under Review: TrovaGene, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROV), Just Energy … (stocksnewspoint.com) Now Are The Time To Reconsider Sibanye Gold Limited (NYSE:SBGL), Histogenics Corporation (NASDAQ:HSGX … (journalfinance.net)

  JE traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, hitting $3.65. The company had a trading volume of 188,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,492. Just Energy Group has a 1-year low of $3.53 and a 1-year high of $5.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $549.06 million, a P/E ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.75.

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  Gold prices have been all over the place in the past one year, but some gold stocks have moved in only one direction: south. As of this writing, Canada-based gold miner Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) is down a whopping 66% in one year. South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater�(NYSE:SBGL) is swiftly closing in, having shed as much as half its value with the bulk of the decline coming in just the past couple of months. Among the larger gold miners, Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is down about 11% in one year, or 15% year to date.

Top Biotech Stocks To Own For 2019: Insperity, Inc.(NSP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Insperity (NSP)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd (CVE:NSP) insider Sead Hamzagic sold 141,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$0.21, for a total value of C$29,715.00.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Atlantic Trust Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,491 shares during the period. Atlantic Trust Group LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Insperity worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  Shares of Insperity Inc (NYSE:NSP) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.75.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  Insperity (NYSE: NSP) and ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) are both mid-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Top Biotech Stocks To Own For 2019: Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Timothy Green, Nicholas Rossolillo, and Todd Campbell]

  Luckily, three of our Motley Fool investors are here to help cut through the noise. If you're looking to beat the market, the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEMKT:VGT) and Vanguard Healthcare ETF (NYSEMKT:VHT) give you the potential to do just that. If instead you just want to match the market's performance, the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT:VTI) is your best bet. Here's what you need to know about these three options.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Dubuque Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEARCA:VGT) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,740 shares of the exchange traded fund’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the quarter. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Vanguard Information Technology ETF were worth $3,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos, George Budwell, and Dan Caplinger]

  With those attractive characteristics in mind, we asked Motley Fool investors to highlight a few of the most attractive index funds. Read on to find out why Vanguard Information Technology (NYSEMKT:VGT), Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (NYSEMKT:VTI), and Vanguard Health Care Fund (NASDAQMUTFUND:VGHCX)�all made the list.