5 Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now

5 Best European Stocks To Watch Right Now: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Outside the defense sector, Chevron's (NYSE: CVX  ) among the only Dow stocks making any headway today: The oil giant's shares are up about 0.2%. Chevron agreed to sell its retail network in Egypt to French competitor Total (NYSE: TOT  ) in a deal announced by the latter today. With more than 1.4 million tons of annual sales in a network consis! tingof 66 service stations and other assorted infrastructure, it's a big move for Total as it looks to develop its reach outside of Europe.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But another reason for the rise is that so many Europe-based companies have global exposure that never truly justified a big European discount. France's Total (NYSE: TOT  ) and Norway's Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) both found themselves trading at discounts to other global energy players, despite the fact that both Total and Statoil have massive exposure to international projects in the same areas around the world as U.S. and other global energy players. Similarly, in the pharmaceutical industry, Switzerland's Novartis (NYSE: NVS  ) didn't do as well as some of its U.S. rivals. Yet Novartis hasn't really faced any tougher a road than its global counterparts in fighting against the industrywide patent cliff and coming up with new promising treatments.

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  For instance, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported a 3.5% first-quarter decline in its total oil and natural gas productionfrom the same quarter a year ago, while French oil major Total SA (NYSE: TOT  ) said its production fell 2% in thefirst quarter from year-ago levels.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/5-best-european-stocks-to-watch-right-now-2.html