Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now

There's a fracking research study likely to be unleashed in the next several months on University of Tennessee land about an hour from the main campus in Knoxville.

Several companies, including Pittsburgh-based Atlas Energy (NYSE: ATLS  ) , appear likely to submit proposals to participate in the effort by the August deadline. Atlas has already completed 450 natural gas wells in a four-county area of Tennessee.

Give it some gas
But while the drilling that ultimately occurs in Tennessee will involve fracking, it won't include hydraulic fracturing. That's because, rather than the hundreds of thousands or millions of gallons of water per well normally associated with fracking, the approach in the Chattanooga shale will involve the pumping of nitrogen gas into the rock, a substitution that works especially well in shallow formations.

According to�Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE: APD  ) , while the use of nitrogen is about 15% more expensive than hydraulic fracturing, that difference is largely offset by an 11% increase in the estimated ultimate recovery of natural gas. Further, amid spreading drought conditions across much of the U.S., along with increasing requirements that drillers treat, recycle, and reuse flowback water, the use of nitrogen in fracking is surging.

Best Growth Stocks For 2015: Parker Drilling Co (PAD)

Parker Drilling Company (Parker), incorporated on August 4, 1970, is a provider of contract drilling and drilling-related services. The Company operates in six segments: Rental Tools, U.S. Barge Drilling, U.S. Drilling, International Drilling, Technical Services and Construction Contract. During year ended December 31, 2012, the Company operated in 12 countries. The Company has operated in over 50 foreign countries and the United States. In April 2013, the Company announced the acquisition of International Tubular Services Limited and certain affiliates (ITS), subsidiaries of ITS Tubular Services (Holdings) Limited.

Rental Tools Business

The Company provide premium rental tools for land and offshore oil and natural gas drilling and provide equipment used for drilling, workover and production applications, such as drill pipe, heavy-weight drill pipe, tubing, high-torque connections, blow-out preventers (BOPs) and drill collars. The Company also hold an inventory of rental tools and provide service to its customers from locations in Louisiana, Texas, Wyoming, North Dakota and West Virginia.

U.S. Barge Drilling Business

The Company�� U.S. Gulf of Mexico barge rig fleet is marketed barge fleet in the GOM region, with rigs ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 horsepower with drilling depth capabilities ranging from 13,000 to over 30,000 feet. The Company�� rigs drill for oil, natural gas, and a combination of oil and natural gas in the shallow waters in and along the inland waterways and coasts of Louisiana, Alabama and Texas.

U.S. Drilling Business

The Company�� U.S. Drilling segment primarily consists of two new-design Arctic Alaska Drilling Unit (AADU) land rigs. In addition to the two AADU rigs, the Company has one land rig at its facility in New Iberia, Louisiana.

International Drilling Business

The Company�� international drilling business includes operations related to Parker-owned and operated ri! gs as well as customer-owned rigs. In addition, it perform drilling-related activities for operators who own their drilling rigs and who choose to utilize its drilling experience and technical expertise to perform services on a contracted basis, including Operations and Maintenance (O&M) work, and other project management services (such as labor, maintenance, and logistics).

Technical Services Business

The Company�� technical services business primarily includes its engagement in concept development, pre-FEED (Front End Engineering Design), Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) projects. During the EPCI phase, it focuses primarily on the drilling systems engineering, procurement, commissioning and installation and provide customer support during construction. As of December 31, 2012, it provides these services on the Berkut platform project for Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL).

Construction Contract Business

The Company�� construction contract segment includes only the BP-owned Liberty extended-reach drilling rig construction project. Under the consulting services agreement, it assisted BP in a review of the rig�� design, the creation of a new statement of requirements for the rig, and the transition of documentation and materials to BP.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Oberweis]

  Among our latest small-cap recommendations is a medical device company focused on developing minimally invasive treatment solutions for vascular disease, including peripheral artery disease (PAD) and coronary artery disease (CAD), explains Jim Oberweis, Editor of The Oberweis Report.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: EP Energy Corp (EPE)

EP Energy Corporation, incorporated on August 8, 2013, is an independent exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition and development of unconventional onshore oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The Company is focused on creating shareholder value through the development of its low-risk drilling inventory located in four core areas: the Eagle Ford Shale (South Texas), the Wolfcamp Shale (Permian Basin in West Texas), the Altamont field in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah and the Haynesville Shale (North Louisiana). In its core areas, it has identified approximately 5,200 drilling locations (including 916 drilling locations to which it has attributed proved undeveloped reserves as of September 30, 2013), of which approximately 96% are oil wells. As of September 30, 2013, it had proved reserves of 513 million barrels of oil equivalent (54% oil and 67% liquids) and for the three months ended September 30, 2013, it had average net daily production of 88,149 barrels of oil equivalent per day (45% oil and 54% liquids). During the year ending September 31, 2013, it sold certain of its natural gas properties, including CBM properties located in the Raton, Black Warrior and Arkoma basins, the majority of its Arklatex natural gas properties and its natural gas properties in South Texas. In May 2014, the Company acquired certain producing properties and undeveloped acreage directly offsetting existing Wolfcamp operating areas in Reagan and Crockett Counties in the Southern Midland Basin.

Eagle Ford Shale

The Eagle Ford Shale, located in South Texas, is the unconventional oil plays in the United States. The Eagle Ford formation in La Salle County has up to 125 feet of net thickness, making it some of the prolific acreage in the area. Due to its high carbonate content, the Eagle Ford is also brittle, and delivers high productivity when fractured, with initial 30-day oil equivalent production rates up to 1,100 barrels of oil equivalent! per day.. The Company as of september 30, 2013, has 97,689 net acres in the Eagle Ford, where it has identified 983 drilling locations. As of September 30, 2013, it had six rigs running and it plan to drill 126 wells in 2013 (of which 100 have been drilled through September 30, 2013), representing 58% of its total wells planned in 2013.

Wolfcamp Shale

The Wolfcamp Shale is located in the Permian Basin, which has produced more than 29 billion barrels of oil and 75 trillion cubic feet of gas over the past 90 years and is estimated by industry experts to contain recoverable oil and natural gas reserves exceeding what has already been produced. With oil production of over 880 one thousand barrels per day from over 80,000 wells during the six months ended June 30, 2013, the Permian Basin represented 51% of the crude oil produced in the State of Texas and approximately 17% of the crude oil and condensate produced onshore in the lower 48 United States. As of September 30, 2013, it had three rigs running and it plans to drill 65 wells in 2013 (of which 48 have been drilled through September 30, 2013), representing 30% of its total wells planned in 2013.

Altamont

The Altamont field is located in the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah. Its operations are primarily focused on developing the Altamont Field Complex (comprised of the Altamont, Bluebell and Cedar Rim fields). It owns 170,523 net (315,272 gross) acres in Duchesne and Uinta Counties, making it the ease owner in the Altamont Field Complex. Its activity is mainly focused on the development of its vertical inventory on 160-acre spacing. The Company has identified an inventory of 1,135 drilling locations (781 vertical and 354 horizontal). The industry is piloting 80-acre vertical downspacing programs in the Wasatch and Green River formations and horizontal development programs in the multiple shale and tight sand intervals. As of September 30, 2013, it had two rigs running and it plans to drill 26 wells in ! 2013 (of w! hich 20 have been drilled through September 30, 2013), representing 12% of its total wells planned in 2013.

Haynesville Shale

Haynesville Shale is located in East Texas and Northern Louisiana. its operations are concentrated primarily in Desoto Parish, Louisiana in the Holly Field. This area is within the core of the Haynesville Shale with net thickness of 114 feet (210 feet gross), resulting in initial 30-day gas equivalent production rates up to 18 million cubic feet per day. As of September 30, 2013, it has identified 190 drilling locations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Jarzemsky var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Rice Energy Inc.(RICE) has rallied 44% since its $1.1 billion January IPO through Thursday. RSP Permian Inc.(RSPP) has gained 42% since debuting the same month. This year�� other E&P IPO, EP Energy Corp.(EPE), is off 1.9% since it went public in January.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: GasLog Ltd (GLOG)

GasLog Ltd. (GasLog), incorporated on July 16, 2003, is an owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The Company is a holding company. Its subsidiaries conduct all of its operations and own all of its operating assets, including its ships. The Company operates in two segments: vessel ownership and vessel management. In the vessel ownership segment, the services provided primarily consist of chartering out company-owned LNG carriers, and in the vessel management segment the services provided consist of LNG carrier technical management services, as well as LNG carrier construction supervision services and other vessel management services provided to the Company�� vessel ownership segment and to external third parties.

In February 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. In March 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-seven Ltd. and GAS-eight Ltd. In June 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two additional vessel-owning companies, GAS-nine Ltd. and GAS-ten Ltd. In June 2011, Ceres Shipping Ltd. (Ceres Shipping) transferred its interest in GasLog Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings Ltd. (Blenheim Holdings). In June 2011, an entity jointly owned by the Livanos and Radziwill families (Joint Venture Partner) sold its 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Ceres Shipping. Ceres Shipping contributed the 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings, who in turn contributed the 49% interest in these four vessel-owning companies to GasLog Ltd., which contributed the same to GasLog Carriers Ltd. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 100% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. On July 11, 2011 and September 5, 2011, the Company transferred its interest of two dormant subsidiaries, GasLog Holdings Limited and GasLog Services Limited, respectively, to Ceres Shi! pping.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� owned fleet consisted of 10 wholly owned LNG carriers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company managed and operated 14 LNG carriers, which included its owned ships, as well as 11 ships owned or leased by BG Group plc (BG Group), a participant in the worldwide energy and natural gas markets, and one additional LNG carrier in which it had a 25% interest. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 25% interest in Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd. (Egypt LNG), whose principal asset is the LNG carrier Methane Nile Eagle. The Company�� owned fleet includes the GasLog Savannah, the GasLog Singapore, four LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Samsung Heavy Industries) in South Korea, two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, and two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., (GasLog LNG Services) handles the technical management of its fleet. Through GasLog LNG Services, it provides technical ship management services for 12 LNG carriers owned by third parties in addition to management of the two LNG carriers operating in its owned fleet. The Company provides the services of its owned ships under time charters. The Company�� subsidiaries include GasLog Investments Ltd., GasLog Monaco S.A.M., Ceres LNG Employee Incentive Scheme Ltd., GasLog Carriers Ltd., GAS-one Ltd., GAS-two Ltd., GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GasLog Shipping Company Ltd., GasLog Shipping Limited and Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  GasLog (NYSE: GLOG) owns 15 LNG carriers, with eight ships on the water and seven more to be delivered by 2016. The company is one that we have liked and recommended, and it performed well in 2013, up 33 percent for the year. It has long been thought that the company might drop down assets into an MLP, but last week’s news that this will indeed be the case helped propel the stock up nearly 20 percent for the week.

• [By Heather Ingrassia]

  On Thursday, August 15, GasLog (GLOG) announced that it had ordered two new 174K cbm Tri-Fuel Diesel Electric LNG carriers from Samsung Heavy Industries. These carriers are expected to be delivered in 2016 which is the same year the company will begin seven-year charters with BG Group (BRGYY.PK) (BRGXF.PK).

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Energold Drilling Corp (EGDFF.PK)

Energold Drilling Corp. provides, directly and through its subsidiaries, contract diamond drilling services for parties principally in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Africa and Asia. The Company, through its subsidiary, designs and manufactures specialty/customized drilling rigs and associated equipment for water well, mineral exploration and geotechnical drilling companies. It, through its subsidiary, also provides drilling and other services to the energy sector in Canada and the United States. It has five segments: Drilling Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America; Drilling South America; Drilling Africa, Asia and Other; Drilling Canada (Corporate); Manufacturing, and Energy. On January 14, 2011 the Company acquired Dando Drilling International Ltd. In April 2013, the Company�� Dando International Drilling Ltd announced that it has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Dando Drilling Services Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Itinerant]

  Following a period of rampant growth in 2010 and 2011 Energold Drilling Corp (EGDFF.PK) has struggled to remain profitable throughout 2012 and into 2013. The general decline in the resource sector has left its mark on margins and contract volume. The company has maintained a robust balance sheet and can survive further hardship if necessary.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.B)

Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), incorporated on February 5, 2002, is an independent oil and gas company. The Company owns, directly or indirectly, investments in the numerous companies constituting Shell. Shell is engaged worldwide in the principal aspects of the oil and gas industry and also has interests in chemicals and other energy-related businesses. The Company operates in three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Corporate. Upstream combines the operating segments Upstream International and Upstream Americas, which are engaged in searching for and recovering crude oil and natural gas; the liquefaction and transportation of gas; the extraction of bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil, and wind energy. Downstream is engaged in manufacturing; distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals, in alternative energy (excluding wind), and carbon dioxide (CO2) management. Corporate represents the key support functions, comprising holdings and treasury, headquarters, central functions and Shell�� self-insurance activities. In October 2011, the Company bought a marine terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast as a possible site for a liquefied natural gas export terminal. In January 2012, the Company's 50% owned, Australia Arrow Energy Holdings Pty Ltd acquired all of the shares in Bow Energy Ltd. In January 2014, Royal Dutch Shell plc completed the acquisition of Repsol S.A.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio outside North America.

Upstream International manages the Upstream businesses outside the Americas. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, liquefies and transports gas, and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream International also manages Shell�� entire liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) business, gas to liquids (GTL) and the wind business in Europe. Its activities are organized primarily within geographical units, although there are some activities that are mana! ged across the businesses or provided through support units.

Upstream Americas manages the Upstream businesses in North and South America. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, transports gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream Americas also extracts bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil. Additionally, it manages the United States-based wind business. It comprises operations organized into business-wide managed activities and supporting activities.

Downstream manages Shell�� manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals. These activities are organized into globally managed classes of business, although some are managed regionally or provided through support units. Manufacturing and supply includes refining, supply and shipping of crude oil. Marketing sells a range of products including fuels, lubricants, bitumen and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for home, transport and industrial use. Chemicals produces and markets petrochemicals for industrial customers, including the raw materials for plastics, coatings and detergents. Downstream also trades Shell�� flow of hydrocarbons and other energy-related products, supplies the Downstream businesses, markets gas and power and provides shipping services. Downstream additionally oversees Shell�� interests in alternative energy (including biofuels, and excluding wind) and CO2 management.

Projects and Technology manages the delivery of Shell�� major projects and drives the research and innovation to create technology solutions. It provides technical services and technology capability covering both Upstream and Downstream activities. It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Cash Flow Investor]

  Using this alternative payout ratio has saved me from a few situations in which the traditional payout ratio indicated that the dividend was covered - only for the company to later declare a dividend freeze or cut when the free cash flow ran out. One specific example is Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), the global oil behemoth.

• [By Tim McAleenan Jr.]

  I do not mention these things to discourage you from international stocks. I have been purchasing BP (BP) between $39-$43, and I will eventually purchase Anheuser-Busch (BUD), Nestle (NSRGY.PK), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.B), and two or three other international companies when the stars line up. My point is that you should not feel an obligation to own international stocks simply for diversification's sake. If you find a good international stock with a business model you understand and it trades at an attractive price, then great. You should buy it. But owning international stocks does not have to be a necessary part of your strategy. Despite what Mankiw advises in the New York Times, you can build a diversified collection of "global stocks" simply by investigating where certain American multinationals generate the bulk of their sales and earnings.

• [By Sara Sjolin]

  Oil prices were also lower, weighing on the U.K. oil firms. Shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (UK:RDSB) � (RDS.B) �gave up 0.9%, BG Group PLC (UK:BG) �shed 0.4% and BP PLC (UK:BP) � (BP) �lost 0.2%.

Best Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Dresser-Rand Group Inc (DRC)

Dresser-Rand Group Inc., incorporated on October 1,2004, is a global supplier of of custom-engineered rotating equipment solutions for long-life, critical applications in the oil, gas, chemical, petrochemical, process, power generation, military and other industries worldwide. Its rotating equipment is also supplied to the environmental solutions market space within energy infrastructure. It designs, manufactures and markets engineered rotating equipment and provide services to the worldwide oil, gas, petrochemical, power generation, environmental solutions and industrial process industries. In July 2012, the Company acquired compressed air energy storage property.

The Company has two segments: new units and aftermarket parts. New units are predominately engineered solutions to new requests from clients. New units also include standardized equipment such as engines and single stage steam turbines. The segment includes engineering, manufacturing, packaging, testing, sales and administrative support. Aftermarket parts and services consist of support solutions for the existing population of installed equipment and the operation and maintenance of several types of energy plants. The segment includes engineering, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, start-up and other field services, repairs, overhauls, refurbishment, sales and administrative support.

The Company's products and services are used in oil and gas applications that include hydrogen recycle, make-up, wet gas and other applications for the refining industry; cracked gas, propylene and ethylene compression for petrochemical facilities; ammonia syngas, refrigeration, and carbon dioxide compression for fertilizer production; a number of compression duties for chemical plants; gas gathering, export, lift and re-injection of natural gas or carbon dioxide (CO2) to meet regulatory requirements or for oil field enhanced recovery in the upstream market; gas processing, main refrigeration compression and a variety of other! duties required in the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG); gas processing duties, storage and pipeline transmission compression for the midstream market; synthetic fuels; and steam turbine power generation for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels as well as power generation or mechanical drive duties for a variety of compression and pumping applications in the oil and gas market. It is also a supplier of diesel and gas engines that provides customized energy solutions across worldwide energy infrastructure markets based upon reciprocating engine power systems technologies.

The Company's custom-engineered products are also used in other advanced applications in the environmental markets it serves. These applications use renewable energy sources, reduce carbon footprint, recover energy and/or energy efficiency. These products include, among others, compression technologies for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS); hot gas turbo-expanders for energy recovery in refineries and certain chemical facilities; co- and tri-generation combined heat and power (CHP) packages for institutional and other clients; and a number of steam turbine applications to generate power using steam produced by recovering exhaust heat from the main engines in ships, recovering heat from mining and metals production facilities and exhaust heat recovery from gas turbines in on-shore and off-shore sites.

It provides an array of products and services to its worldwide client base in over 150 countries from its global locations in 18 United States and 32 countries (over 76 sales offices, 49 service and support centers, including six engineering and research and development centers, and 13 manufacturing locations). Its clients include, among others, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil, Gazprom, LUKOIL, Marathon Petroleum Company, PDVSA, Pemex, Petrobras, PetroChina, Petronas, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, SBM, Saudi Aramco, Statoil, Total and Turkmengaz.

!

New Units

The Company is a manufacturer of engineered turbo and reciprocating compression equipment and steam turbines. It is also a manufacture power turbines; special-purpose gas turbines; hot gas expanders; gas and diesel engines; trip, trip throttle and non-return valves; magnetic bearings and control systems. Its new unit products are built to client specifications for long-life, critical applications. It is a supplier of turbo machinery for the energy infrastructure markets worldwide. Applications for its turbo products include gas gathering, lift, export and injection; CO2 compression for enhanced oil recovery; storage and transmission; synthetic fuels; ethylene and fertilizer production; refineries and chemical production; CCS and CAES. In addition, it offers a variety of gas and power turbines covering a power range from approximately 1.5 megawatts to more than 50 MW, which support driver needs for various centrifugal compressor product lines, as well as for power generation applications. It also offers control systems for its centrifugal compressors.

It is a supplier of reciprocating compressors, offering products ranging from medium to high-speed separable units driven by engines or electric motors, to slow speed motor driven process reciprocating compressors. It is a supplier of standard and engineered mechanical drive steam turbines and turbine generator sets. Its steam turbine models cover a power range from a few kilowatts up to 75MW, are available for high inlet steam pressure and temperature conditions, with or without induction and/or extraction sections and in condensing or back-pressure designs. These units are used primarily to drive pumps, fans, blowers, generators and compressors. It is a supplier of diesel, gas and dual fuel internal combustion reciprocating engines. Its Guascor engines cover a power range of up to 1.5 megawatts. Guascor engines are used in 1) industrial applications and power generation, 2) marine propulsion and auxiliary genera! tion, and! 3) environmental solutions, CHP and bioenergy (waste water treatment plant, landfill and biogas generation).

Aftermarket Parts and Services

Aftermarket parts and services segment provides them with long-term growth opportunities. Aftermarket parts and services are generally less sensitive to business cycles than the new units segment, although revenues and bookings tend to be higher in the second half of the year. With a typical operating life of 30 years or more, rotating equipment requires substantial aftermarket parts and services over its operating life. Parts and services activities realize higher margins than new unit sales. Additionally, the cumulative revenues from these aftermarket activities often exceed the initial purchase price of the unit. Its aftermarket parts and services business offers a range of services designed to enable clients to maximize their return on assets by optimizing the performance of their mission-critical rotating equipment. It offers a broad range of aftermarket parts and services, including: replacement parts, field service turnaround, service and repair, operation and maintenance contracts, rotor / spare parts storage, condition monitoring, controls retrofit, site / reliability audits, remote area energy solutions, equipment repair and rerates, equipment installation, applied technology, long-term service agreements, special coatings / weldings, product training, turnkey installation / project management and energy asset management.

The Company competes with GE Oil & Gas, Solar Turbines, Inc., MAN Diesel & Turbo, Siemens, Rolls-Royce Energy, Elliott Company, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Burckhardt Compression, Neuman & Esser Group, Ariel Corp., Howden Thomassen Compressors BV and Mitsui & Co., Ltd, Elliott Company, Shin Nippon Machinery Co. Ltd, GE/Jenbacher, Caterpillar and Cummins.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Energy shares declined by just 0.08 percent in Monday's trading. However, top gainers in the sector included PrimeEnergy (NASDAQ: PNRG) and Dresser-Rand Group (NYSE: DRC). In trading on Monday, financial shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.07 percent.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Dresser-Rand Group (NYSE: DRC) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.29 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion.

  Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) is expected to post a Q4 loss at $0.01 per share on revenue of $295.02 million.

• [By Sally Jones]

  Anglogold Ashanti Limited is a gold exploration, mining and marketing company with a portfolio of operations and projects on four continents. The company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has 21 operations in 10 countries. Major development projects include: Tropicana located in Australia; Kibali in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and La Colosa in Colombia. The company's exploration programs extend to 12 countries, in both established and new gold-producing regions.