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The following are today's upgrades for Validea's Small-Cap Growth Investor model based on the published strategy of Motley Fool. This strategy looks for small cap growth stocks with solid fundamentals and strong price performance.

FOREIGN TRADE BANK OF LATIN AMERICA INC (BLX) is a small-cap value stock in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 65% to 72% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. (the Bank) is a specialized multinational bank. The Bank is established to support the financing of trade and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Company operates in two segments: Commercial and Treasury. The Bank's Commercial segment incorporates all of the Bank's financial intermediation and fees generated by the commercial portfolio activities, such as origination of bilateral and syndicated credits, short- and medium-term loans, acceptances and contingent credits. The Bank's Treasury segment incorporates deposits in banks and all of the Bank's trading assets, securities available-for-sale and held-to-maturity, and the balance of the investment funds. The Bank serves a range of sectors, including oil and gas, agribusiness, food processing and manufacturing. Its products and services are categorized into three main areas: Financial Intermediation Business, Structuring and Syndications Business and Treasury.

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of FOREIGN TRADE BANK OF LATIN AMERICA INC

BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA SA (ADR) (BBVA) is a large-cap value stock in the Money Center Banks industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Motley Fool changed from 69% to 76% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.

Company Description: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) is a Spain - based bank. It is a diversified financial company engaged in retail banking, wholesale banking, asset management and private banking. Its segments are: Spain, the United States, Turkey, Mexico, South America and Rest of Eurasia. The activities in Spain are banking activity and Insurance. In the United States it offers services through, BBVA USA and the BBVA New York branch. The Turkey segment is represented by the group Garanti BBVA, an integrated financial services group, that also operate in Holland and Romania. The Mexico segment activities include banking and insurance businesses. In South America, it provides banking and insurance businesses. The Rest of Eurasia segment includes business activity in the rest of Europe and Asia

The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.

Detailed Analysis of BANCO BILBAO VIZCAYA ARGENTARIA SA (ADR)

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About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here

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