Jeffries had asked all of their TMT analysts to present one controversial stock or theme ahead of the conference. They requested stocks or themes where the analysts felt that information or data presented at the conference may have an impact.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was a featured stock. Always volatile, as DRAM chip pricing tends to fluctuate, Jefferies sees capacity restraint translating into long-term pricing stability. The Jefferies price target for this stock is $15. The Thomson/First Call consensus estimate is $12. The stock has traded up since last week and appears to be breaking a triple top at $10.25.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, (NASDAQ: CTSH) was also a focus stock. Cognizant provides information technology (IT), consulting, and business process outsourcing services worldwide. The issue to be discussed was a pending immigration bill proposed in the Senate that could affect work visas for offshore hiring. Jefferies has a price target for this stock of $80. The consensus target is even higher at $86. The stock posted record earnings yesterday.

Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) had a recent and highly successful initial public offering that hit the radar at Jefferies. The interest at the conference was in the corporate switch from old line HR companies like Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) handling HR/payroll outsourcing to new cloud-based competitors. Workday is a stock to buy, with a $76 price target. The consensus target is much lower at $60. Workday has traded up 5% since our story a week ago and was initiated as a stock to buy at Oppenheimer late yesterday with an $80 price target.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) was another stock that was looked at closely. The market fears that Red Hat’s strong growth rate may be slowing. Management was expected to outline the strength of current bookings and how Linux workloads are outperforming Windows workloads. The Jefferies price target for the stock is $65, while the consensus is lower at $59. Red Hat is also up more than 5% since our story last week.

Data networking and wireline equipment stocks were among featured sectors at the conference. Jefferies has three solid stocks to buy, but they did not post their price targets in the report.

Broadsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: BSFT) released earnings on Tuesday and beat expectations on the top and bottom line. The shift by enterprises from premise-based PBX solutions to cloud-based, mobile-centric unified communications is proving to be a significant opportunity for the company. The consensus target price for the stock is $31.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX) impressed the Jefferies analysts in their presentation at the conference. Calix provides broadband communications access systems and software for fiber- and copper-based network architectures. The company has enjoyed a steady increase in gross margin from the low 30s to the high 40s, and believes this trend will continue to the low 50s. The consensus price target for the stock is $9.90.

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) provides optical networking equipment, software and services to communications service providers, Internet content providers, cable operators and subsea network operators worldwide. Their presentation at the conference was very positive on future growth prospects. The consensus price objective for the stock is $8.50, which is below where it is currently trading.

Often the featured stocks at a Wall Street firm’s conference trade higher as new or game-changing data is presented. Investors may want to keep their eyes open for names they like that are presenting at conferences this summer and in the future.

In a new report, the analysts at Deutsche Bank move their exposure on the industrial sector from Overweight to Equal Weight. Banks and technology are upgraded to Overweight and are expected to outperform for the summer and the rest of 2013. Dividend guidance and hikes from technology, as well as earnings strength from the banks, are the main drivers for their rotation.

Here are the technology and banking stocks to buy from Deutsche Bank.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has shown tremendous earnings strength, both domestically and around the world. The Deutsche Bank price target here is $53. The Thomson/First Call estimate is right in line at $53.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) recently received a vote of confidence for CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon from none other than Warren Buffett. The Deutsche Bank target for the stock is $53, while the consensus is at $55.50. Investors receive a solid 3.20% dividend.

U.S Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a Midwest mega-regional bank that makes the list. With its more than 3,000 branches in the Midwest and the West, earnings have been solid. The Deutsche Bank price objective is $38. Consensus is at $37. Investors are paid a 2.40% dividend.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) is another solid regional name to make the list. With shares recently hitting 52-week highs, the bank has seen solid insider purchasing. Deutsche Bank has a $17 target. The consensus estimate is at $18. Investors are paid a 2.60% dividend.

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) rounds out the bank stocks to buy. Led by CNBC regular and Wall Street favorite Jim Rohr, the bank has continued to raise earnings and dividends. Deutsche Bank has a $74 price target, while the consensus is at $72. Investors receive a 2.60% dividend.

Qualcom Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) leads off the technology stocks to buy. Qualcomm is a major force in the high-mobility business, selling the smarts in smartphones and the intelligence in tablets. Deutsche Bank has a $78 price target. The consensus for the name is $76. Investors are paid a 2.20% dividend.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is the leader in storage and also a majority owner of cloud software company VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW). Deutsche Bank has a $28 price target. The consensus target for the stock is higher at $29.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) makes the list. With everything from Internet search domination to Google Glass to YouTube, this may be the leading technology stock to own for years to come. Deutsche Bank has a $930 price target. The consensus is at $900.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) provides information technology (IT), consulting and business process outsourcing services worldwide. Deutsche Bank has a $92 price target, while the consensus is at $86.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) completes the list of tech stocks to buy. Big Blue has become the preeminent technology services company in the world. The Deutsche Bank price objective is $225. The consensus is right in line at $225. Investors are paid a 1.90% dividend.

Clearly the Deutsche Bank list is dominated by mega-cap stocks that are the leaders in their respective sectors. Investors, especially those with a long-term objective, can feel comfortable buying these stocks at this level. It may be wise to buy half positions now, and see if we do indeed experience the 5% pullback that Deutsche Bank expects.

With keynote speakers ranging from Ajay Banga, the CEO of MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) to Bill Smith, president of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Network Operations, every aspect of technology, media and telecom will be open for discussion.

Jeffries has asked all of its TMT analysts to present one controversial stock or theme ahead of the conference. It requested stocks or themes where the analysts felt that information or data presented at the conference may have an impact. It makes sense to keep an eye on the stocks mentioned during next week’s conference, as any catalyst may move the stocks one way or another.

We present the stocks from the Jefferies analysts by sector.

Semiconductors: Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) will be the featured stock. It is always volatile, as DRAM chip pricing tends to fluctuate, and Jefferies sees capacity restraint translating into long-term pricing stability. The Jefferies price target for this stock to buy is $15. The Thomson/First Call consensus estimate is $12.

Computer Services and IT Consulting: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) is one of the focus stocks in this category. Cognizant provides information technology (IT), consulting and business process outsourcing services worldwide. The issue to be discussed will be an immigration bill proposed in the Senate that could affect work visas for offshore hiring. The Jefferies price target for this stock to buy is $80. The consensus target is even higher at $86.

Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) had a recent and highly successful initial public offering, and it is on the radar at Jefferies. The interest at the conference will be in the corporate switch from old line HR companies like Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) handling HR/payroll outsourcing to new cloud-based competitors like Workday. Jefferies has an Underperform rating on ADP and a $55 price target. The consensus is $63. Workday is a stock to buy, with a $76 price target. The consensus is much lower at $60. This could be an interesting pair trade.

Technology Software: Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is another stock that will be looked at closely. The market fears that Red Hat’s strong growth rate may be slowing. Look for management to outline the strength of current bookings and discuss how Linux workloads are outperforming Windows workloads. The Jefferies price target for the stock is $65. The consensus target is lower at $59.

Technology Communication Equipment: Investors are concerned about the current pace of carrier capital spending, particularly in North America. Jefferies expects a relatively positive backdrop for communication infrastructure as carriers globally (particularly in North America, China and Germany) increase their spending on routing, optical and wireless infrastructure. Expected to benefit are JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU), Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN). All three are stocks to buy at Jefferies, but we did not have price targets.

Other Wall Street firms have been known to stake out observers at competitors’ conferences to gain access to information. You can be sure also that there will be lots of media coverage via CNBC and financial websites. Stocks in the past have shown movement either up and down over conference commentary, so investors may want to keep an eye on these stocks and see if they react.

In a new report, one firm on Wall St. is not only forecasting the beginning of a new secular bull market, but it is raising the bar for all-around equity performance in 2013.

The U.S. equity strategy team at Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) has not only raised their target for the S&P 500, but they have substantially raised their first quarter gross domestic product forecast from 1.7% to 2.3%. Stronger U.S. growth, and particularly the upturn in business spending, underlies their boost to 2013 estimated S&P earnings per share to $109 from $108.

In addition, they expect the S&P 500 to make secular bull market advances this spring and boldly go where it has never gone before. Their target for 2013 is now 1,625, almost 70 points higher than Friday’s 1,556.89 close, or an additional 4.5% on top of this years 8.39% gain. They acknowledge their tactical call is difficult, but they think the S&P 500 climbs higher this spring before suffering a 5% or more dip. It could be a “sell in May and go away” (for a while) situation.

This is all great news for stock investors. The question is where to best place the capital in a portfolio to take advantage of a secular bull market? The Deutsche Bank team has a plan. Their advice is to participate in the likely grind higher over the next couple of months with overweights in financials, tech and industrials. They see the best reward/risk at the large enterprise spending exposed tech stocks.

Also Read: Enduring Eight Tech Stocks to Buy.

To play the secular bull market, the Deutsche Bank analysts stress five specific areas to invest in:

1. Global Growth — stocks with high foreign and export sales. The names from their list of stocks to buy that may fit this best are Honeywell International Inc, (NYSE: HON), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM).

2. Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) — stocks with high exposure to investment spending. Investors may want to consider United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) and Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN).

3. Dividend Growth — stocks with ability to raise dividend payout ratios. In this category the Deutsche Bank list of stocks to buy suggests Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Amphenol Corp. (NYSE: APH).

4. Debt Capacity — stocks that can issue cheap debt for acquisitions or buybacks. Investors should consider Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK), Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

5. Economic Profit Growth — above average PE stocks justified by value added growth. In this category the Deutsche Bank list of stocks to buy has solid names like Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH).

The past 13 years have provided investors with gut-wrenching bear market sell offs that have challenged even the staunchest equity advocates to throw in the towel. History tells us that the average length of the three previous secular bear markets was 18 years. Nobody can say for sure if the current secular bear market has come to an end. One thing investors need to keep a very close eye on is a substantial breakout above the old 2007 highs. Even if we do experience an expected 5% decline, that may be the chance to buy the stocks to add for the new secular bull market run.

24/7 Wall St. has tracked many of the large transactions which have been seen since Thanksgiving and since the election and some of the dollar sums are amazing. The risk of not selling to lock in gains now is also not just one of taxes: if the fiscal cliff is not resolved these insiders might have to wait through another recession for much higher prices.

These are just some of the insider sales we have seen of late in the $1 million and higher range in total per company since Thanksgiving and into December. Many of these are options exercised and are under planned executive share sales, so they are not solely intended to be signaling any reason for panic.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) has seen more than $20 million worth of stock sold by insiders and founders since Thanksgiving. That being said, it is important to remember that this is still a controlled company under the founders.

Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TAST) has seen key holder Jefferies Capital Partners LLC clean out its position on December 7. The sale was for 4.08 million shares a face value sale of almost $23.7 million.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) has seen multiple officers sell since Thanksgiving through December 10. The tally was more than $33.5 million worth of stock via option exercises.

Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCK) has seen John Conway (Chair, Pres, CEO) sell more than $9 million worth of shares after exercising options in December alone, but he sold almost $20 million after the election prior to the latest selling.

DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) has seen different sales from insiders after options were exercised to the tune of about $15 million worth of stock at face value.

Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) has seen various officers sell about $18 million worth of shares from options exercised since Thanksgiving.

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) has seen more than $3.3 million worth of shares sold after options were exercised by its President of the Americas, CIO, and its VP of Global Customs.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) has seen CEO Min Kao sell off a considerable portion of his shares. He has sold some $70 million or so in stock sales in the month of December alone. Kao has been an aggressive seller since September, but many of these share were after the inclusion announcement for the S&P 500 Index.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) had one incredible year and Chairman and CEO John Martin has sold more than $12 million worth of shares sold after options exercises. Other insiders have sold close to $8 million worth of stock after exercising options since Thanksgiving.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) sees routine insider selling by insiders and founders. That being said, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and others have all been selling even in December after we noted Eric Schmidt and insider selling around Thanksgiving. The total is about $115 million so far in the month of December via share sales.

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) has seen the Kellogg Foundation Trust sell more than $19 million worth of stock since Thanksgiving, but we would note that the trust still holds more than 75 million shares so this would be considered ongoing as the trust has only sold about 5% or 6% of its holdings in the last year.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) has seen some $26 million from Thanksgiving through December 10 via options exercised by many different insiders.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) has seen the Mastercard Foundation make 5 different sales for more than $22 million in September, but the group still lists its share count up many times higher in dollar terms because its holdings were listed as over 12.55 million shares.

NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR) saw Chairman, CEO, and President William Nuti conduct an option exercise worth about $24.3 million and he turned around and sold these for more than $38.4 million on December 7.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) has seen ABRY Broadcast Partners (under Royce Yudroff) sell more than $70 million worth of stock in the broadcast company during the first full week of December.

Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) has seen about $5 million worth of shares sold in insider sales transactions since Thanksgiving in options exercise sales by the Senior VP of International Operations, the head of Exploration, and from its President & COO David Stover.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has seen two sales coming to about $1.7 million from the head of communications and from the general counsel in the first half of December.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII) saw one director make two sales coming to more than $6.4 million worth of stock in December.

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) has seen multiple sales of about $3 million since Thanksgiving from officers such as the President/COO, SVP-Finance, and two others from option exercises.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) has seen various insiders selling, but one really stands out. Director David Landau sold some $233 million worth of stock on December 5.

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) has seen insider selling pick up from the Lauren Family, LLC, something we would only expect to see more of as the lowest tax rates are set to expire. This has been more than $30 million worth of shares in December alone.

Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) has seen very large numbers of insider selling. It looks like the floodgates opened up after the middle of November. Without being exact, the sum looks to be about $30 million worth of stock sold.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) has seen founder Howard Schultz sell more than $74 million worth of stock alone so far in the month of December. Other officers have sold as well, but this is the biggest sale seen of the lot.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NYSE: AMTD) has seen Joe Ricketts sell some $24.3 million worth of stock. Keep in mind that he is still in possession of more than 48 million shares.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) has seen President & Chief Exec Officer Stephen Hemsley conduct two option exercises worth more than $19.7 million to be turned around and sold for more than $32 million in December. He still holds shares worth more than $150 million.

YUM! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) has seen Chairman, CEO, and President David Novak exercise options worth $10 million and sold for more than $35.7 million in December alone. Other officers have sold about $6 million worth of stock after exercising options in December alone.

Again, these are just some of the sales seen and we tried to focus on the millionaire-making transactions and the empire-building transactions. Data taken from FinViz.com and from SEC filings.

JON C. OGG

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) raised to Outperform at William Blair ad raised to Buy at Stern Agee.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated Outperform with $750 target at Credit Suisse, with near-term risk-reward prices of $520 and $630.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) reiterated Buy with $63 target at Argus.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) raised to Buy at CLSA.

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) reiterated Buy with $19 target at Argus.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) raised to Buy at CLSA.

Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR) started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) reiterated Buy with $27 target at Argus.

IAMGold Corp. (NYSE: IAG) cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.

MoneyGram International Inc. (NYSE: MGI) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) raised to Outperform at Raymond James.

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE: SB) reiterated Underperform at BofA/ML.

Solazyme Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) maintained Buy but lowered target to $10 at Canaccord Genuity.

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) reiterated Buy with $14 target at Argus.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Here are the changes made in the Argus Model Portfolios as well. And speaking of model portfolios, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) made a huge number of changes from their equity portfolio holdings.

JON C. OGG

Read: Companies with the Least Valuable Employees

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is an almost perfect model of a public company with a high revenue yield per employee. Although it employs a small percentage of retail workers, many of its workers are engineers who create hardware and high-end software for consumers and businesses. The premium price Apple gets for these products, measured against the relatively modest number of employees, places it among the public corporations with the highest revenue per worker.

Apple’s revenue in its current fiscal year will be well over $100 billion with a headcount of about 60,000. At the other end of the spectrum is Royal Caribbean, which has nearly 61,000 workers but will only have revenue of $7.7 billion in its current fiscal year. The cruise line needs more people to sell and operate its cruises than Apple needs to make and sell its products. Apple’s revenue per employee is $2.4 million. Royal Caribbean’s is $128,000.

The great majority of the corporations on this list serve a very large number of individual customers through a large number of stores or locations. Most of these companies’ employees make low wages because most of the tasks they perform do not require high-level skills. The low wages allow the companies to hire armies of people. Several fast-food operations, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, are on the list. Several hospitality businesses, including Starwood Hotels, which owns the Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin and several other hotels brands, and Caesars Entertainment, which primarily operates casinos, are on the list. Some of the companies are also relatively low-end retailers like JCPenney and Gap.

24/7 Wall St. examined the large American companies that have the lowest yield per employee. We started with all public corporations that had annual sales of more than $5 billion in their most recent fiscal years. From this universe of about 450 corporations, we excluded companies that had significant merger and acquisition activity in the past year because business consolidation can temporarily affect employee efficiency. Revenue per employee figures were derived by dividing total annual sales by total workers. We also looked at the revenue growth of these companies over the past year, as well as their profit margins. We particularly focused on the industries in which each company operates to look for common factors among those with the lowest revenue per employee. 24/7 Wall St. examined SEC filings for much of the data, and Capital IQ provided data that allowed us to rank the 450 companies by worker productivity.

These are the companies with the least valuable employees.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE: CAB) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) reiterated Buy and raised target to $48 at Canaccord Genuity.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) reiterated Buy and raised target to $250 at Jefferies and reiterated Buy and raised target to $225 at Canaccord Genuity.

Lab Corporation of America (NYSE: LH) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) cut to Underperform at Raymond James.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) started as Buy at BofA/ML.

Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) maintained Hold but raised estimates at Argus.

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) started as Neutral and removed from U.S. Focus List at Credit Suisse.

SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) named value stock of the day at Zacks and raised to Strong Buy at Raymond James.

State Auto Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: STFC) reiterated Buy with $18 target at Argus.

Triumph Group Inc. (NYSE: TGI) added to U.S. Focus List and raised target to $79 at Credit Suisse.

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) cut to Underperform at Raymond James.

Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN) has seen downgrades after its warning: cut to Neutral at Citigroup, to Market Perform at Wells Fargo, to Market Perform at Raymond James and to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

It was about two weeks ago that we saw RAMAKRISHNAN CHANDRASEKARAN exercise options for 30,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) at $11.44 per share, and then there was an automatic share sale at $64.00 to yield some $1.92 million.  Now today we are seeing a much larger transaction: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN exercised options on August 16 for 100,000 shares at $5.06 per share with a sale price listed as $65.00 per share.  This generated proceeds of $6.5 million.

This does not appear to be any panic selling as far as we can tell based on insider selling history here at Cognizant Technology Solutions.  We would note that this director also exercised many other options for millions of more dollars in 2012 and 2011.  We also Again, insiders sell shares and exercise options for a myriad of reasons which are often no different than if those shares were granted to you.

Cognizant Technology shares are currently down 0.9% at $63.90 against a 52-week range of $53.92 to $78.00.

JON C. OGG

Read: U.S. Companies Hiring the World’s Geniuses

Since 1990, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued visas for these workers through the H-1B program. These visas permit 85,000 workers — 20,000 of whom are required to have graduated with an advanced degree from an American institution — to work in the United States for three years, with an optional renewal for another three years.

Recently, the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy organization, released a report on the demand for highly skilled immigrants in the United States. These requests are measured by the number of Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) that companies file with the Department of Labor. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the report to compile a list of the top 10 public American companies requesting the most H-1B visas.

The number of applications has exceeded the number of visas since the program began, except from 2001 to 2003 when the cap was raised to 195,000. Academic and research institutions are not subject to this cap and typically account for 10% of the LCAs submitted.

Because for-profit positions are the only ones subject to the cap, the rate at which the cap is reached is a good indication of the overall strength of the economy. If the recent trend is at all an indicator, the American economy appears to be improving. According to Neil Ruiz, one of three authors of the study, the annual H-1B visa cap was filled in 10 weeks this year, as opposed to 10 months last year.

While 24/7 Wall St. examined only public American companies, it is interesting to note that in a comprehensive list of the top 25 companies, including private and foreign companies requesting visas, 50% are foreign. And four of the top 10 companies on that list are Indian. An average of 70,000 employers filed applications in 2010 and 2011.

India has by far the most recipients of H-1B visas, with 58% of all acceptances. China and Canada follow with 8.8% and 3.5%, respectively. Two thirds of the LCAs are for positions in science, technology, engineering and math, while only 5.4% of jobs in America are in these fields, based on 2010 data.

Also Read: States with The Least Full-time Work

24/7 Wall St. reviewed LCAs in 2011 by American companies, based on the Brookings Institution report. From their list, we excluded foreign and private companies to identify the top 10 public American companies that apply to hire the most foreigners on H-1B visas. We also reviewed additional company and visa figures from Myvisajobs.com, which compiles U.S. Department of Labor data.

These are the 10 companies that are hiring in the world’s geniuses.