Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now

HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI  ) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maidenform Brands (NYSE: MFB  ) , Hanes and Maidenform� announced today.

Hanes is to pay $23.50 per share in cash, a 30% premium over the last 30 days' average closing price. The enterprise value of the transaction, according to Hanes, is approximately $575 million.

Hanes expects the synergies produced by combining the two intimate apparel companies to approach full value within three years and provide more than $500 million more in annual sales, and earnings per share of $0.60.

Hanes said the combination of Maidenform's bra business and Hanes' panty business will presents long-term growth opportunities. The deal would add brands like Maidenform, Flexees, and Self Expressions to the HanesBrands roster that includes Playtex, Bali, Champion, Wonderbra, and its namesake Hanes. HanesBrands anticipates being able to potentially lower the costs of Maidenform products for retailers and consumers. Currently Maidenform sources its products from third-party manufacturers. With the acquisition, HanesBrands said Maidenform will now be able to take advantage of HanesBrands' company-owned manufacturing, which is supplemented by third-party manufacturers.

Top Healthcare Equipment Companies To Watch In Right Now: Woolworths Ltd (WOW)

Woolworths Limited is an Australia-based company. The Company operates in five segments: Australian Food and Liquor, New Zealand Supermarkets, Petrol, BIG W and Hotels. Australian Food and Liquor segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in Australia. New Zealand Supermarkets segment is engaged in the procurement of food and liquor and products for resale to customers in New Zealand. Petrol segment is engaged in the procurement of petroleum products for resale to customers in Australia. BIG W segment is engaged procurement of discount general merchandise products for resale to customers in Australia. Hotels segment is engaged in the provision of leisure and hospitality services, including food and alcohol, accommodation, entertainment and gaming. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Burgos]

  Woolworths Ltd. (WOW) dropped 1.6 percent to A$33.22 after Australia�� largest retailer said challenging economic condition were evident in the second quarter.

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: STR Holdings Inc(STRI)

STR Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells encapsulants for the solar industry worldwide. Its encapsulants protect the embedded semiconductor circuits of solar panels. The company sells its products to crystalline silicon and thin-film solar module manufacturers. STR Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Enfield, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Solar stocks have not exactly given buy and hold investors a smooth ride, but small cap�GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: GTAT) could be an interesting materials play on the solar sector���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with potential peers like Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: ASTI) and STR Holdings, Inc (NYSE: STRI) plus solar ETF Guggenheim Solar ETF (NYSEARCA: TAN). I should mention that just last week, we added GT Advanced Technologies to our�SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio for both�fundamentals and technical reasons and we are already up almost 9%.

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (SSNLF.PK)

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. mainly engaged in the production of consumer electronic products. It operates in two divisions: DMC division, which is divided into consumer electronics (CE) and information technology & mobile communications (IM) businesses, as well as DS division, which is divided into semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) businesses. Its CE business engages in the production of color televisions (CTVs), monitors, air conditioners, refrigerators and others. Its IM business engages in the production of printers, computers, handhold phones (HHPs) such as feature phones, smart phones and others, and network systems, among others. Its semiconductor business engages in the production of semiconductors, such as memories, system large scale integrated circuits (LSIs) and others. Its LCD business engages in the production of thin film transistor (TFT) LCDs and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), among others.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Yasir Idrees]

  Nokia (NOK), one of the biggest names in the smartphones industry, has been struggling for quite some time now in getting back its position as the leader in mobile phones. The company lost out to the rapid technological changes and the shift from traditional mobile phones to touchscreen smartphones. Apple (AAPL), along with BlackBerry (BBRY) and Samsung (SSNLF.PK), did most of the damage to Nokia's position since 2007. Since then, Nokia has never looked like the company that it used to be.

Top 5 Consumer Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Unilever NV (UNA)

Unilever N.V. (NV) is a supplier of fast moving consumer goods. The two parent companies, NV and Unilever PLC (PLC), together with their group companies, operate as the Unilever Group (Unilever). The Company�� four product areas are Personal Care, Foods, Refreshment and Home Care. The Company's personal care, which includes sales of skincare and haircare products, deodorants and oral care products; foods, which includes sales of soups, bouillons, sauces, snacks, mayonnaise, salad dressings, margarines and spreads; refreshment, which includes sales of ice cream, tea-based beverages, weight-management products and nutritionally enhanced staples sold in developing markets and home care, which includes sales of home care products, such as laundry tablets, powders and liquids, soap bars and a range of cleaning products. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adi Narayan]

  Unilever (UNA) fell short on its public offer to raise its majority holding in Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUVR) to 75 percent, ending up with about a two-thirds stake after some shareholders of the Mumbai-based company opted not to sell.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Unilever (UNA) slipped 2.8 percent to 27.94 euros after saying sales growth slowed as trading in emerging markets deteriorated at a faster rate. Underlying group sales for the three months will rise 3 percent to 3.5 percent, the maker of Lipton tea and Dove soap said late yesterday in a statement. That compares with 5 percent growth in both the first half and second quarter.