Best Stocks To Buy Right Now

Despite wearing multiple hats and dealing with an onslaught of new regulations, compliance officers’ paychecks are dwindling and their budgets are being slashed.

A just-released survey by National Regulatory Services, Moving in the Wrong Direction: Compliance Spending and Compensation in an Era of Enhanced Regulation, which polled 432 compliance professionals working for investment advisory and other financial services firms, found that compliance pros are getting paid less while being tasked with increasing amounts of non-compliance-related work.

The survey results are “quite alarming,” John Gebauer, managing director of NRS, told ThinkAdvisor in an email message. “The compliance officer is charged with very important tasks, such as spotting risk and pursuing the policies and procedures that bring such exposures to acceptable levels as deemed by agency regulations and local and federal laws.”

When asked about their daily duties, 48% of the respondents said they spent less than 50% of their time on actual compliance issues.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: Towers Watson & Co (TW)

Towers Watson & Co. operates as a global professional services company that provides human capital, and financial consulting services worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Benefits, Risk and Financial Services, Talent and Rewards, and Exchange Solutions. The Benefits segment offers benefits consulting and administration services, such as retirement solutions, which support organizations in designing, managing, administering, and communicating retirement plans; and health and group benefits that provides advice on the strategy, design, financing, delivery, ongoing plan management, and communication of health and group benefit programs. This segment also offers its technology and administration solutions to deliver benefit outsourcing solutions; and international consulting services, which provide expertise in dealing with international human capital management and related benefits, and compensation advice. The Risk and Financial Services segment offers risk cons ulting and financial modeling software solutions primarily to the insurance industry; reinsurance and insurance brokerage services; and investment consulting and solutions covering investment strategy risk assessment, asset allocation, and investment manager selection to institutional investors. The Talent and Rewards segment provides executive compensation advisory services; employee rewards, talent management, and communication and change management services; and data, analytics, survey, and technology solutions. The Exchange Solutions segment operates the private Medicare insurance exchange in the United States that enables employers to transition their retirees to individual, defined contribution health plans. The company was formerly known as Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Inc. and changed its name to Towers Watson & Co. in January 2010 as a result of merging with Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. Towers Watson & Co. was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in New York, N ew York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Towers Watson�(TW) has dropped 0.5% to $102.49 after it was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. It was also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: Jefferson Bancshares Inc.(JFBI)

Jefferson Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Jefferson Federal Bank, which provides various financial services to consumers and businesses in Tennessee. It offers various deposits products, which include NOW accounts, money market accounts, regular savings accounts, Christmas club savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and retirement savings plans. The company?s loan portfolio includes one-to four-family residential loans, home equity lines of credit, commercial real estate and multi family loans, construction loans, land loans, and commercial business loans, as well as consumer loans, including loans secured by automobiles and savings accounts, loans on recreational vehicles and boats, debt consolidation loans, and personal unsecured debt. It also offers ATM, insurance, and safe deposit box services. The company operates its business through its main office, nine full-service branch offices, and two limited-service drive-through facilities located i n Hamblen, Knox, Sullivan, and Washington Counties, Tennessee. Jefferson Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Morristown, Tennessee.

10 Best Casino Stocks To Watch For 2014: DCP Midstream Partners LP (DPM)

DCP Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, storing, and selling natural gas in the United States. It also transports, stores, and sells propane in wholesale markets; and produces, fractionates, transports, stores, and sells natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate. The company operates in three segments: Natural Gas Services, Wholesale Propane Logistics, and NGL Logistics. The Natural Gas Services segment operates Northern Louisiana system that gathers, process, and transports natural gas; Southern Oklahoma system; Colorado system; Wyoming system that covers 1,300 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines that cover approximately 4,000 square miles in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming; and Michigan system. It also operates Discovery system, East Texas system, and Southeast Texas system. The Wholesale Propane Logistics segment owns and operates a propane marine import terminal; a leased propane marine terminal; a propane pipeline terminal; and six propane rail terminals, as well as access to several open access pipeline terminals. This segment sells its propane to retail propane distributors. The NGL Logistics segment operates Seabreeze and Wilbreeze NGL transportation pipelines, the Wattenberg NGL transportation pipeline, the Black Lake interstate NGL pipeline, and the NGL storage facility in Marysville, Michigan. DCP Midstream Partners, LP was founded in 2005 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: Cascadia Reso (CCR.V)

Cascadia Resources Inc. focuses on the exploration and development of oil and gas properties in Alberta, Canada. The company was formerly known as Cascadia International Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cascadia Resources Inc. in February 2009. Cascadia Resources Inc. was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY)

Berry Plastics Group, Inc. (Berry), incorporated on November 18, 2005, is a provider of plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials. Berry owns 100% interest of Berry Plastics Corporation. Berry sells its solutions predominantly into end markets, such as food and beverage, healthcare and personal care. The Company operates in three segments: Rigid Packaging, Engineered Materials and Flexible Packaging. As of September 19, 2012, the Company supplied its customers through 82 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States (68 locations) and select international locations (14 locations). In June 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest of Frans Nooren Beheer B.V. and its operating companies (Stopaq). In September 2011, the Company acquired 100% interests of Rexam Closures Kentucky Inc., Rexam Delta Inc., Rexam Closures LLC, Rexam Closure Systems LLC, Rexam de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Rexam Singapore PTE Ltd., Rexam Participacoes Ltda. and Rexam Plasticos do Brasil Ltda. (collectively, Rexam SBC). In August 2011, Berry acquired 100% interest of LINPAC Packaging Filmco, Inc.

Rigid Packaging

The Company�� Rigid Packaging business consists of containers, foodservice items, house wares, closures, over caps, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The end uses for these products are consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverage, retail mass marketers, healthcare, personal care and household chemical. The Company manufactures a collection of container products. The Company produces 32 ounce or thermoformed polypropylene (PP) drink cups and offers a product line with sizes ranging from 12 to 52 ounces. The Company�� products of house wares market is focused on producing semi-disposable plastic home and party and plastic garden products. The Company produces closures and over caps across several of its product lines, including continuous-thread and child-resistant closures, as well as aerosol over caps. The Company also provides a range of custom closure ! solutions including fitments and plugs for medical applications, cups and spouts for liquid laundry detergent, and dropper bulb assemblies for medical and personal care applications.

The Company competes with Airlite, Letica, Polytainers, Silgan, Aptar Group and Reynolds.

Engineered Materials

Berry�� Engineered Materials business primarily consists of pipeline corrosion protection solutions, specialty tapes and adhesives, polyethylene-based film products, and can liners served to a variety of end markets including oil, water and gas infrastructure, industrial and consumer-oriented end markets. The Company produces anti-corrosion products to infrastructure, rehabilitation and pipeline projects throughout the world. Products include heat-shrinkable coatings, single- and multi-layer sleeves, pipeline coating tapes, anode systems for cathodic protection and epoxy coatings. These products are used in oil, gas and water supply and construction applications.

Berry is the manufacturer of cloth and foil tape products. Other tape products include range of splicing and laminating tapes, flame-retardant tapes, vinyl-coated and carton sealing tapes, electrical, double-faced cloth, masking, mounting, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) medical and specialty tapes. These products are sold under the National, Nashua and Polyken brands in the United States. The Company manufactures and sells a portfolio of PE-based film products to end users in the retail markets. These products are sold under brands, such as Ruffies and Film-Gard. Its products include drop cloths and retail trash bags. The Company manufactures customized PP-based, woven and sewn containers for the transportation and storage of raw materials, such as seeds, titanium dioxide, clay and resin pellets.

The Company offers range of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) meat film and agricultural film. Berry�� products are used primarily to wrap fresh meats, poultry and produce for supermarket applic! ations. I! n addition, the Company offers a line of boxed products for food service and retail sales. Berry sells trash-can liners and food bags for offices, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, municipalities and manufacturing facilities. The Company also sells products under the Big City, Hospi-Tuff, Plas-Tuff, Rhino-X and Steel-Flex brands. The Company produces both hand and machine-wrap stretch films, which are used by end users to wrap products and packages for storage and shipping. It sells stretch film products to distributors and retail and industrial end users under the MaxTech and PalleTech brands.

The Company competes with AEP, Sigma and 3M.

Flexible Packaging

The Company�� Flexible Packaging business consists of barrier, multilayer film products, as well as finished flexible packages, such as printed bags and pouches. Berry manufactures and sells a range of film products ranging from mono layer to coextruded films having up to nine layers, lamination films sold primarily to flexible packaging converters and used for peelable lid stock, stand-up pouches, pillow pouches and other flexible packaging formats. The Company also manufactures barrier films used for cereal, cookie, cracker and dry mix packages that are sold directly to food manufacturers like Kraft and Pepsico. It also manufactures films for industrial applications ranging from lamination film for carpet padding to films used in solar panel construction.

The Company supplies component and packaging films used for personal care applications. Berry is a converter of printed bags, pouches and roll stock. Its manufacturing base includes integrated extrusion that combines with printing, laminating, bagmaking, Innolok and laser-score converting processes. The Company is a supplier of printed film products for the fresh bakery, tortilla and frozen vegetable markets with brands, such as SteamQuick Film, Freshview bags and Billboard. The Company manufactures specialty coated and laminated produ! cts for a! range of packaging applications. Its products are sold under the MarvelGuard and MarvelSeal brands and are sold to converters who transform them into finished goods.

The Company competes with Printpak, Tredegar and Bemis.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  One of the most famous scenes in the cult classic, the Graduate, was when Mr. McGuire�took Dustin Hoffman�� character aside and said�"Ben, I want to say one word to you, just one word: Plastics"; but what about the Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE: BERY) and its performance verses that of the�iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV), iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: IWR) and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IJR)? I should mention that plastics and the Berry Plastics Group was not the place to be yesterday as the stock took a tumble on reduced guidance.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: eLong Inc.(LONG)

eLong, Inc. operates as an online travel service provider in the People?s Republic of China. The company provides its customers with travel information and the ability to book rooms, air tickets, vacation packages, and other travel related services utilizing call center and Web-based distribution technologies. It facilitates the customers to book rooms in approximately 10,000 hotels in 450 cities across China, and fulfills air ticket reservations in approximately 80 cities across China. In addition, the company offers the ability to book rooms at approximately 100,000 hotels outside of China; and provides the customers informative content relevant to hotel and air travel decisions, including tourist and event site destination information, hotel facility information, and photos. eLong markets its services through online marketing, traditional media advertising, co-marketing with established brands of other companies, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. eLong, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Expedia Asia Pacific Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Shareholders Unite]

  The main on-line competitors are:

  Qunar.com, a travel website owned by Baidu (BIDU) and a few venture fundseLong (LONG), backed by Tencent (TCEHY.PK) and Expedia (EXPE). Analyst expect it to generate $163M in revenue next year

  That is pretty serious competition, needless to say. Having the backing of Baidu or Expedia offers several advantages, but Ctrip is the biggest and most established company. It's quite difficult to compare Qunar.com to Ctrip, for the simple sake that Qunar is a private company. However, there can be little doubt that it constitutes serious competition:

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: RealD Inc(RLD)

RealD Inc., together with its subsidiaries, licenses stereoscopic 3D technologies in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company designs, manufactures, licenses, and markets its RealD Cinema Systems that enable digital cinema projectors to show 3D motion pictures and alternative 3D content to consumers wearing the company?s RealD eyewear. It also offers RealD Display, active and passive eyewear ,and RealD Format technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers, and content producers and distributors to enable the delivery and viewing of 3D content on high definition televisions, laptops, and other displays. In addition, the company sells CrystalEyes eyewear, monitors, digital light processing television kits, polarizer films, emitters, and linear polarizing systems to companies, government agencies, academic institutions, and research and development organizations for applications in piloting the Mars Rover and in theme park installations. RealD Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

Best Stocks To Buy Right Now: Old Second Bancorp Inc.(OSBC)

Old Second Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Old Second National Bank that provides commercial and retail banking services. It offers various consumer and commercial products and services, including demand, NOW, money market, savings, time deposit, individual retirement, and Keogh deposit accounts. The company also provides business loans comprising lines of credit for working capital and operational purposes; term loans for the acquisition of equipment; commercial and residential real estate loans; construction loans; and consumer loans, such as motor vehicle, home improvement, home equity, signature loans, and small personal credit lines. In addition, the company offers installment lending services comprising direct and indirect loans to consumers and commercial customers; and residential mortgages, which include conventional, government, and jumbo loans, as well as provides a range of trust, investment, agency, and custodial services for individual, c orporate, and not-for-profit clients. Further, it offers wealth management services; and additional services, such as the acquisition of the United States treasury notes and bonds, the sale of traveler?s checks, money orders, cashier?s checks and foreign currency, direct deposit, discount brokerage, debit and credit cards, and other special services. Additionally, the company provides electronic banking services that comprise Internet banking; and corporate cash management products consisting of remote deposit capture, investment sweep accounts, zero balance accounts, automated tax payments, ATM access, telephone banking, lockbox, automated clearing house transactions, account reconciliation, controlled disbursement, detail and general information reporting, wire transfers, vault services for currency and coin, and checking accounts. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 27 branches and 1 satellite facility in Illinois. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered i n Aurora, Illinois.

5 Breakout Trades to Take Ahead of the Fed

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- The Federal Reserve is ruling the market's news cycle this week, between speculation over who will take Ben Bernanke's desk in Washington and the possibility that the Fed will announce its plans to taper.

Larry Summers' withdrawal from the process on Sunday gives a seriously dovish bent to where the Fed is likely to end up. In other words, the fire hose of quantitative easy that investors have been drinking from for the last five years isn't likely to get shut off anytime soon, even if it does get turned down to a strong spray.

New frontrunner Janet Yellen has been less eager to pump the brakes – and the market likes that.

Let's face it: We can expect to see a lot of doublespeak and ambiguity in the Fed's words this week. I suspect that the Fed is focused less on tapering QE than it is on tapering investors' expectations. Plausible deniability is going to be the biggest tool in their arsenal, just like it was back in June.

Meanwhile, that doesn't mean that investors should be sitting on their hands -- we're seeing some attractive trading opportunities popping up in individual names right now. Here's a technical look atfive stock trades to take this week.

For the unfamiliar, technical analysis is a way for investors to quantify qualitative factors, such as investor psychology, based on a stock's price action and trends. Once the domain of cloistered trading teams on Wall Street, technicals can help top traders make consistently profitable trades and can aid fundamental investors in better planning their stock execution.

So without further ado, let's take a look at five technical setups worth trading now.

U.S. Steel

Up first is U.S. Steel (X). Hard commodities have largely been taken for a ride in 2013, and U.S. Steel has been no exception. Year-to-date, this $3 billion materials name has slipped more than 16%. But X could be in for a reversal of fortunes thanks to a bullish setup that's been shaping up in this name.

That's because U.S. Steel just broke out of an ascending triangle bottom, a bullish setup that's formed by horizontal resistance to the upside at $19.50 and uptrending support below shares. Basically, as X bounced in between those two technical levels, it was getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above resistance. When that happened last week, it was a buy signal for traders.

X has more or less been consolidating just above that $19.50 level for the last few sessions, giving traders a little more time to plan their entry this week. Momentum adds some extra evidence to continued upside in X; 14-day RSI has been in a long-term uptrend since shares started basing in late April.

Even so, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop in place at the 50-day moving average.

Aaon

We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of small-cap HVAC firm Aaon (AAON). The biggest difference is that in AAON's case, the ascending triangle pattern is coming in at the top of this stock's recent price action, not at the bottom. That makes this a more textbook trade for September.

Another important difference is the fact that AAON hasn't triggered yet. Shares have been coiling below $26 resistance since the middle of the summer; a breakout above that $26 level is the indicator that it's time to buy. Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles and other price pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in this stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That resistance line at $26 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant -- a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

Wait for that to happen before you put your money on this trade.

Home Depot

Home Depot (HD) is enjoying some strong performance in 2013. Shares of the world's largest home improvement retailer have rallied more than 22% since the calendar flipped over to January, besting the broad market's impressive climb higher over the same period. More recently, HD has been tracking sideways, but that doesn't mean that the upside is over in this home improvement stock. Here's how to trade it.

HD is currently forming a rectangle pattern, a setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares at $80 and horizontal support below shares at $72. The setup gets its name because those two lines effectively "box in" shares of Home Depot right now. That makes it an "if/then trade."

An if/then trade is a contingent trade that doesn't have directional bias -- in other words, the ultimate direction of the trade is determined by the direction that HD breaks out of its channel. So, if HD breaks above resistance at $80, then it's time to buy shares. If they slide below $72 support, then it's time to short. There's no trade until one of those conditions is met.

Southwest Airlines

The same kind of setup is pinning down shares of Southwest Airlines (LUV) this week. In the bargain airline's case, resistance comes into play at $14.50, with support down at $12.50. Just like with Home Depot, the high probability trade is to bet in the same direction as the breakout from this rectangle.

Southwest has rallied 37.7% in 2013, a fact that isn't hugely surprising. Consolidation patterns are common -- if not necessary -- after such a big price move; they give traders a chance to catch their breath and figure out their next moves in shares of LUV. Look for the breakout as an indicator that they've made up their minds. A breakout in momentum through the 70 level should be a leading indicator that price action is going to follow suit.

I'd suggest putting alerts on both

3M

3M (MMM) is another name that's seen some impressive upside action this year. But it's not showing any signs of letting up at this point. You don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out what's going on in shares of 3M -- shares of the $81 billion Post-It maker are in a textbook uptrending channel right now. That's about as basic as a technical pattern gets.

3M has had its price action bounded by trendline support to the downside, bouncing higher each of the last five times it's been tested. That uptrending channel provides a high-probability range for price action on the way up -- and while you want to be a buyer in an uptrend, the ideal time to buy comes on a bounce off of support.

Buying off a support bounce makes sense for two big reasons: It's the spot where shares have the furthest to move up before they hit resistance, and it's the spot where the risk is the least (because shares have the least room to move lower before you know you're wrong). That means that investors would do well to practice some patience from here.

To see this week's trades in action, check out the Technical Setups for the Week portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

Top 5 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now

Amgen� (NASDAQ: AMGN  ) �is pouring billions of dollars into biosimilar development in an attempt to capture lucrative markets enjoyed by several widely successful biologic drugs that are due to come off patent in the next several years. Ironically, the company knows how it feels to lose out to generic competition, with three successful biologics coming off patent in major markets. There are millions of dollars at stake, so investors need to watch both sides of the biosimilar equation. In the following video, Fool contributor Maxx Chatsko goes over the immediate generic threats facing Amgen's Aranesp, Epogen, and Neupogen.�

Luckily for innovator biologics, generic development is a lengthy and costly process. It can take up to eight years and $250 million to develop a biosimilar, compared to just three years and $3 million for small molecule generics. This limits the number of companies that can get in on the action and also insulates revenue streams of innovator drugs. That hasn't kept an onslaught of competition from taking place, so biotech investors need to become familiar with market development.�

Top 5 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nektar Therapeutics(NKTR)

Nektar Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing a pipeline of drug candidates that utilize its PEGylation and polymer conjugate technology platforms. The company?s product pipeline consists of drug candidates across various therapeutic areas, including oncology, pain, anti-infectives, anti-viral, and immunology. Its research and development activities involve small molecule drugs, peptides, and other potential biologic drug candidates. The company?s proprietary drug candidates in clinical development comprise NKTR-118, a peripheral opioid antagonist, which has completed Phase II clinical trail for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation; BAY41-6551 that has completed Phase II clinical trail to treat gram-negative pneumonias; NKTR-102, a topoisomerase I inhibitor-polymer conjugate, which is in Phase II clinical trail for multiple cancer indications, including breast, ovarian, and colorectal; and NKTR-105 that is in Phase I clinica l trail to treat solid tumors. Its preclinical products consists of NKTR-119 (Opioid/NKTR-118 combinations) for the treatment of pain; NKTR-181 (abuse deterrent, tamper-resistant opioid) to treat pain; NKTR-194 (non-scheduled opioid) for the treatment of mild to moderate pain; NKTR-171 (tricyclic antidepressant) to treat neuropathic pain; and NKTR-140 (protease inhibitor candidate) to treat HIV. The company has collaboration with Bayer Healthcare LLC to develop BAY41-6551 (NKTR-061, Amikacin Inhale), which is an inhaled solution of amikacin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic; and a license agreement with AstraZeneca AB for the development and commercialization of Oral NKTR-118 and NKTR-119. In addition, Nektar Therapeutics has various license, manufacturing, and supply agreements for its technology with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, such as Affymax, Amgen, Baxter, Roche, Merck, Pfizer, and UCB Pharma. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in San Franc isco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jay Silverman]

  Steve Halpern: Another stock you follow closely is Nektar (NKTR). What do you see happening there?

  Jay Silverman: Yes, Nektar is another platform company at the MTSL and they are about to release data on one of their compounds that is a pain reliever-unlike the very severe side effects of OxyContin, the opioid pain relievers that are out there, which have caused severe health and addictive concerns, leading to very, very troublesome side effects and death in some cases.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Nektar Therapeutics sa(NKTR)id its treatment for moderate to severe chronic pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee failed to meet its primary endpoint in a Phase 2 study. Shares fell 22% to $10.78 premarket.

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) were down 23.90 percent to $10.54 after the company reported that the results from Phase 2 trial of NKTR-181 missed primary efficacy endpoint.

Top 5 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Dendreon Corporation(DNDN)

Dendreon Corporation, a biotechnology company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics to enhance cancer treatment options for patients. The company offers active cellular immunotherapy and small molecule product candidates to treat various cancers. Its product candidates comprise Provenge (sipuleucel-T), an active cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer; DN24-02, an investigational active immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with bladder, breast, ovarian, and other solid tumors expressing HER2/neu; and TRPM8, a small molecule agonist to transient receptor potential ion channel, for multiple cancers. The company also has a range of products in preclinical studies, which include Carcinoembryonic antigen for the treatment of lung, colon, and breast cancer; and Carbonic AnhydraseIX for the treatment of kidney cancer. Dendreon Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in S eattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  There's no doubt about it - the "in" thing to do with Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN) lately has been to bash it. The company's one and only drug, Provenge, failed to meet its sales estimates last quarter. And worse, DNDN was forced to announce 2013's top line wouldn't be as strong as first expected. Between that lowered guidance and growing fears that Provenge may not be nearly as marketable as first assumed, the stock plunged 26% on Friday, and has since widened that loss to 30%.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  There are two cancer vaccines on the market: Provenge, a prostate-cancer treatment from Seattle-based Dendreon�(DNDN), and Yervoy, a melanoma treatment from Bristol-Myers Squibb�(BMY), according to Dow Jones Newswires. In May, Roche�Holding (RHHBY) said its experimental cancer vaccine, called MPDL3280A, shrank tumors in 21% of 140 patients participating in a trial. It is now performing tests in lung cancer patients.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is hitting 52-week lows as Deutsche Bank has downgraded the maker of Provenge to Sell from Hold. Shares are down 5% at $3.03, against a prior 52-week range of $3.10 to $7.22.

Top 10 High Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014: Scancell Holdings PLC (SCLP.L)

Scancell Holdings PLC is a United Kingdom-based company. The Company�� principal activity of the consists of the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies and vaccines for the treatment of cancer. In April 2012, the Company completed recruitment to the Phase 1 clinical trial of SCIBI. In May 2012, the Company commenced recruitment and treatment of the first patient in the second part of it Phase 1/2 clinical trial of SCIBI. The Phase 2 part of the trial is conducted in five United Kingdom centers in Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, and Southampton. On August 15, 2012, the Company announced the development of a platform technology, Moditope.

Top 5 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NAVB.A)

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Navidea), formerly Neoprobe Corporation, incorporated in 1983, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precision diagnostic agents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� radiopharmaceutical development programs included Lymphoseek (Lymphoseek, Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection), a radiopharmaceutical agent for lymph node mapping; AZD4694, an imaging agent, and RIGScan, a tumor antigen-specific targeting agent. In January 2012, the Company executed an option agreement with Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Alseres) to license [123I]-E-IACFT Injection, also called Altropane, an Iodine-123 radiolabeled imaging agent, being developed as an aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson�� disease, movement disorders and dementia. In August 2011, the Company sold its gamma detection device line of business (the GDS Business) to Devicor Medical Products, Inc.

Lymphoseek

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Navidea�� pipeline includes clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical agents used to identify the presence and status of disease. Lymphoseek (Kit for the Preparation of Technetium Tc99m for Injection) is a lymph node targeting agent intended for use in intraoperative lymphatic mapping (ILM) procedures and lymphoscintigraphy employed in the overall diagnostic assessment of certain solid tumor cancers. The lymph system is a component of the body�� immune system. The key components of the lymph system are lymph nodes-small anatomic structures that contain disease-fighting lymphocytes, filter lymph of bacteria and cancer cells, and signal infection in response to heightened levels of pathogens. In Navidea�� Phase III clinical studies of Lymphoseek, it detected over 99% of positive nodes identified by vital blue dye (VBD). As of December 31, 2011, Navidea, in co-operation with UC, San Diego affiliate (UCSD), completed or initiated five Phase I clinical trials, one multi-c enter Phase II trial and three multi-center Phase II trial! s ! involving Lymphoseek. Two Phase III studies were completed in subjects with breast cancer and melanoma. During the year ended December 31, 2011, data from NEO3-09 were released, which indicated that all primary and secondary endpoints for the study were met. As of December 31, 2011, third Phase III clinical trial for Lymphoseek in subjects with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (NEO3-06) was in progress.

AZD4694

AZD4694 is a Fluorine-18 labeled precision radiopharmaceutical candidate for use in the imaging and evaluation of patients with signs or symptoms of cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). It binds to beta-amyloid deposits in the brain that can then be imaged in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Amyloid plaque pathology is a required feature of AD and the presence of amyloid pathology is a supportive feature for diagnosis of probable AD. Patients who are negative for amyloid pathology do not have AD. AZD4694 has b een studied in several clinical trials. Clinical studies through Phase IIa have included more than 80 patients to date, both suspected AD patients and healthy volunteers. No significant adverse events have been observed. Results suggest that AZD4694 has the ability to image patients quickly and safely with high sensitivity.

RadioImmunoGuided Surgery

As of December 31, 2011, RIGScan had been studied in a number of clinical trials, including Phase III studies. Navidea has conducted two Phase III studies, NEO2-13 and NEO2-14, of RIGScan in patients with primary and metastatic colorectal cancer, respectively. Both studies were multi-institutional involving cancer treatment institutions in the United States, Israel, and the European Union.

The Company competes with Pharmalucence, Eli Lilly, Bayer Schering, General Electric and GE Healthcare.

Top 5 Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ARIA)

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small-molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer. The company?s lead cancer product, ridaforolimus is being studied in multiple clinical trials in patients with various types of cancers, including metastatic sarcomas, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Its product pipeline also includes ponatinib, a pan BCR-ABL inhibitor in phase 2 clinical trial for applications in various hematological cancers and solid tumors; and AP26113, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor in preclinical studies for the treatment of various cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, lymphoma, and neuroblastoma. In addition, the company focuses on a drug discovery program centered on small-molecule therapies that are molecularly targeted to cell-signaling pathways implicated in cancer. Further, it licenses its ARGENT cell-sign aling regulation technologies to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop and commercialize therapeutic products, and to conduct drug discovery research. The company has collaboration and license agreements with Merck & Co., Inc. for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of ridaforolimus; and license agreements with Medinol Ltd. and ICON Medical Corp. to develop and commercialize stents and other medical devices to deliver ridaforolimus to prevent restenosis of injured vessels. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) reported the initiation of the randomized Phase 3 trial of ponatinib, its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor, in adult patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Home Sales Fell, But the Dow Keeps Rising

Pending home sales in the U.S. fell for a third month. Still, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged on promising jobs and economic reports.

The Dow tacked on more than 42 points, or 0.28% to 15,318 in late morning market action, after earlier surging more than 86 points on news that unemployment claims fell to a six-year low and data showed that economic growth accelerated during the second quarter.

The S&P 500 index climbed four points, or 0.2% to 1,696.7 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20 points, or 0.55% to 3,781.7.

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales contracts on homes fell 1.6% in August due to higher interest rates and rising prices fueled by a tight inventory.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to a seasonally adjusted 305,000 from 310,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Steady declines in applications signal that fewer companies are layingoff workers.

Labor officials also estimated it will add 345,000 to the level of payrolls in the year to March 2013.

Economic growth during the second quarter accelerated to a 2.5%, the Commerce department said today. The economy grew 1.1% in the January-March quarter.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note climbed to 2.66 percent from 2.63 percent Wednesday.

The price of oil rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $102.85 a barrel. Gold fell $3.60, or 0.3%, to $1,322.50 an ounce.

This Beverage Giant Looks Potentially Lucrative

Soft drinks have always been a hit among people of all ages, until recently. This trend has taken a dip as weight gain, poor dental health, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are on the rise. People are now much more health conscious as the rate of obesity is accelerating at a great pace. Sugar, being the most important ingredient of soft drinks, is the main contributor to obesity. PepsiCo (PEP), being one of the largest beverage and food companies, is also facing this heat since there has been a decline in the sales of soft drinks in the U.S. Despite this decline, the cola company has managed to grow its revenues by 2%. PepsiCo owns 200 brands, 22 of which do over $1 billion in annual sales.

Competition Faced

PepsiCo's largest competitors include The Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS). There is an intense competition between the two companies. They not only compete in soft drinks, but also have branched out to other beverages including coffee, juice drinks, and even water. If Pepsi were to offer a new product it wouldn't be surprising to see Coca-Cola follow suit.

Coca-Cola entered foreign markets differently than Pepsi, providing it an edge over Pepsi. While Pepsi invested heavily in foreign markets, Coca-Cola's appointed bottlers with significant experience easily neutralized any threat PepsiCo could pose. Coca-Cola sees declining demand for sparkling beverages. PepsiCo is in a better position than Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper Snapple because it has already diversified into the salty snacks market. It also offers a strong dividend.

On the other hand, Dr Pepper Snapple Group has 4.9% decline in its sales of its diet brands, despite a 2.3% increase in units sold on promotion. The company's flagship brand, Dr Pepper's sales volume declined 4% followed by the company's main brands; 7-Up, A&W, Sunkist, and Canada Dry, which were down 1%. Only, Snapple and Mott's sales volume increased 4% and 2%, respectively.

What to Expect

As I said earl! ier, people now are much more health conscious, and so to survive in this industry PepsiCo has to constantly keep on innovating. In order to cut costs by $3 billion through 2014, PepsiCo is also undergoing a strategic initiative. The company has a high return on equity which has remained above 30%, with the exception of a brief decrease in 2005 and 2012.

[ Enlarge Image ] Chart from wikinvest.com

The company is expecting to grow its earnings per share by 7% over the next year. This indicates that the company will keep its history of consistently increasing dividends. Every year, PepsiCo has consistently managed to repurchase 1.10% of its outstanding shares. The company boasts successful innovation with the introduction of Aquafina, Gatorade and Propel, Lipton teas and Tropicana. PepsiCo acquired the leading Russian food and beverage company Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) in 2011, building its nutrition business.

When it comes to the profitability of PepsiCo, its gross profit margin in the last five years has been around 53.04%, which is quite encouraging. It is making good money since net profit margins are around 11.13%. Next year's estimated earnings will be $4.72 per share. Pepsi boasts a dividend of 2.85% with a payout ratio of 50.1%. The company's return on equity is quite healthy at around 27%, which means that shareholders can expect good returns on their investments.

The company could do better by cutting down on its operating expenses. The price/earnings ratio of PepsiCo is around $20, which is quite a bit lower than its competitors, which again goes in favor of this company. It has entered into a partnership with Jamba, thereby deciding to give a miss to the boring breakfast by giving something new. A merger of PepsiCo's salty snacks with Mondelez's sweet treats would create a company with nearly $70 billion in annual revenue. The merger could yield an implied value of $175 per share for PepsiCo by the e! nd of 201! 5.

On a Concluding Note

The company has a consistent dividend track record, as a global food and beverage company with brands that stand for quality, and are respected household names — Pepsi-Cola, Lay's, Quaker Oats, Tropicana and Gatorade, to name a few. It has a portfolio of enjoyable and wholesome foods and beverages. PepsiCo is committed to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for the investors with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales.

PepsiCo is focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth and strong cash returns to shareholders. With this momentum, PepsiCo is expected to quench the thirst of its consumers in the recent times to come.

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014

WikiMedia Commons.

The 2002 book Bringing Down the House told the true story of how six MIT math geniuses mastered blackjack card counting and took Las Vegas for millions. It had money, sex, drugs, and power. People loved it.

But part of the story often went misunderstood. The card-counters didn't win every hand of blackjack, or anything close to it. The casino normally has a slight edge over players. The MIT crew's strategy tipped those odds just barely in their favor. That meant they still lost a lot of bets. "Even the most complex systems seemed to aim at an overall edge of around 2 percent," author Ben Mezrich wrote.

But that tiny edge was all the crew needed to succeed, provided they played long enough.�When the odds are even slightly in your favor, you will win over time,�even if you lose often in between.�

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014: MGM Resorts International(MGM)

MGM Resorts International, through its subsidiaries, primarily owns and operates casino resorts in the United States. The company?s resorts offer gaming, hotel, dining, entertainment, retail, and other resort amenities. It also owns and operates golf courses and a golf club. As of December 31, 2010, the company owned and operated 15 properties located in Nevada, Mississippi, and Michigan; and has 50% investments in 4 other casino resorts in Nevada, Illinois, and Macau. In addition, MGM Resorts International has an agreement with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns and operates a casino resort in Connecticut, to carry the ?MGM Grand? brand name. The company was formerly known as MGM MIRAGE and changed its name to MGM Resorts International in June 2010. MGM Resorts International was founded in 1986 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  MGM Resorts International (MGM)

  Paulson�� fifth largest position is in MGM Resorts International. The guru holds on to 34 million shares of the company�� stock, representing 3.5% of his total portfolio and 6.94% of the company�� shares outstanding.

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014: (XTRN)

Las Vegas Railway Express Inc. focuses to re-establish a conventional passenger train service between the Las Vegas and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. It plans to establish a ?Vegas-style? passenger train service. The company is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Best Undervalued Companies To Buy For 2014: Boyd Gaming Corporation(BYD)

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 1,042,787 square feet of casino space, containing approximately 25,973 slot machines, 655 table games, and 11,418 hotel rooms. It also owned and operated 16 gaming entertainment properties located in Nevada, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and New Jersey. In addition, the company owns and operates a pari-mutuel jai-alai facility located in Dania Beach, Florida, as well as a travel agency in Hawaii. Further, it holds a 50% controlling interest in the limited liability company that operates Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Boyd Gaming Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One gaming player that's rapidly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Boyd Gaming (BYD), which owns and operates gaming entertainment facilities located in Nevada, Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana and Indiana. This stock has been blazing a trail to the upside so far in 2013, with shares up sharply by 115%.

  If you look at the chart for Boyd Gaming, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong over the last month and change, with shares moving sharply higher from its low of $11.27 to its intraday high of $14.38 a share. During that move, shares of BYD have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of BYD into breakout territory above resistance at $13.79 a share, and it's quickly pushing the stock within range of another big breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in BYD if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at $14.50 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 2.34 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then BYD will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $18 to $20 a share.

  Traders can look to buy BYD off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some near-term support at $13 a share. One can also buy BYD off strength once it takes out $14.50 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014: Penn National Gaming Inc.(PENN)

Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries own and manage gaming and pari-mutuel properties in the United States. It operates approximately 27,000 gaming machines; 500 table games; and 2,000 hotel rooms in 23 facilities in 16 jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. The company was formerly known as PNRC Corp. and changed its name to Penn National Gaming, Inc. in 1994. Penn National Gaming, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is based in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014: Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.(PNK)

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns, develops, and operates casinos, and related hospitality and entertainment facilities in the United States. It operates casinos, such as L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana; River City Casino and Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Missouri; Boomtown New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana; Belterra Casino Resort in Vevay, Indiana; Boomtown Bossier City in Bossier City, Louisiana; and Boomtown Reno in Reno, Nevada. The company also operates River Downs racetrack in southeast Cincinnati, Ohio. As of May 26, 2011, it operated seven casinos and one racetrack. The company was formerly known as Hollywood Park, Inc. and changed its name to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. in February 2000. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) has gained 56% this year; Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has climbed 38%. And Deutsche Bank has nice things to say about both today.

  Bloomberg

  First Pinnacle. Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli ponders the stock’s big move and comes away still seeing value in its shares. He writes:

  When we upgraded PNK in April, our thesis centered on the FCF strength of the combined entities [Pinnacle completed its acquisition of Ameristar Casinos on Aug. 14], a handful of favorable catalysts, easing regional gaming comps, & an inexpensive relative valuation. Given the shares’ sizeable move since then, we believe it is worth revisiting the investment case. Post the announcement of several asset sales and the closing of the transaction, we are adjusting our estimates, raising our PT to $30 from $24, and maintaining our bullish view at current levels given what we still believe to be an attractive free cash flow valuation, meaningful potential synergy realization beyond the $40 mm of announced benefits, and a free option on a lagging regional recovery.

  Santarelli also revisited Las Vegas Sands and there too, he likes what he sees. He writes:

  With…LVS at [a share price level] that have been challenging to break from over the last year plus, we believe this time is different and hence we see continued upward momentum…In the case of LVS, we see; 1) meaningful mass market strength continuing through year end, setting the stage for upward company and market estimate revisions for 2014, 2) continued cash flow appreciation and capital returns serving as downside protection and positive catalysts, and 3) continued shared gains, largely driven by table optimization and mass market strength, driving both estimates and sentiment.

  He also likes Wynn Resorts (WYNN), despite its 34% gain.�Santarelli writes:

  As for WYNN, we believe near-term estimates continue to take a back seat to capital return

10 Best Casino Stocks For 2014: Wynn Resorts Limited(WYNN)

Wynn Resorts, Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, ownership, and operation of destination casino resorts. The company owns and operates Wynn Las Vegas casino resort in Las Vegas, which includes approximately 22 food and beverage outlets comprising 5 dining restaurants; 2 nightclubs; 1 spa and salon; 1 Ferrari and Maserati automobile dealership; wedding chapels; an 18-hole golf course; meeting space; and foot retail promenade featuring boutiques. Wynn Las Vegas casino resort also features approximately 147 table games, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, 1 poker room, 1,842 slot machines, and 1 race and sports book. It also owns and operates an Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resort, a destination casino resort located adjacent to Wynn Las Vegas that features a 2,034 all-suite hotel, as well as a casino with 95 table games, 1 sky casino, 1 baccarat salon, private VIP gaming rooms, and 778 slot machines. In addition, the company operates Wyn n Macau casino resort located in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People?s Republic of China. Wynn Macau casino resort features approximately 595 hotel rooms and suites, 410 table games, 935 slot machines, 1 poker room, 1 sky casino, 6 restaurants, 1 spa and salon, lounges, meeting facilities, and retail space featuring boutiques. Further, it operates Encore at Wynn Macau resort located adjacent to Wynn Macau. Encore at Wynn Macau resort features approximately 410 luxury suites and 4 villas, as well as casino gaming space, including a sky casino consisting of 60 table games and 80 slot machines, 2 restaurants, 1 luxury spa, and retail space. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  U.S.-based casino operators Las Vegas Sands Inc. (NYSE: LVS), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN), and MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) already operate resorts and casinos in Macau and these companies would be much smaller without them.

• [By Daniela Pylypczak]

  Wynn Resorts (WYNN) announced on Tuesday that it plans to run its online gaming business in Caesars Entertainment Corp’s hotel in New Jersey.

  Wynn, which does not have any casinos in New Jersey, will run its online gaming business through computers at Caesars hotel in Atlantic city. Both Caesars and Wynn will be working with 888 Holdings Plc, one of Europe’s largest online gambling operators.

  Currently, Wynn owns two destination casinos:�Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau. The two casinos feature roughly 186,000 and 275,000 square feet of casino gaming space, respectively.

  Wynn shares gained 0.70% during Tuesday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock is up 31.30%.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  While gamblers in Las Vegas are focused on the payouts on the casino floor at Wynn Resorts (WYNN), I'm more interested in this stock's dividend payout -- there's no gamble there. The $14 billion casino resort operator currently pays out a $1 per share dividend each quarter, adding up to a 2.8% dividend yield at current price levels.

  Wynn has benefitted from a rebounding economy in Las Vegas. The firm's Wynn and Encore resorts are two of the newer properties on the strip, and their high-end positioning keeps VIP business coming into the door. Vegas, though, isn't Wynn's cash cow anymore. China is. Today, around 70% of revenues actually come from Macau, the high-end Chinese gambling district. Macau is Wynn's crown jewel in large part because the firm is one of the few that's been granted a gaming license from the government: Wynn has two properties in Macau, with a third on the way.

  Healthy levels of profitability have translated into a $2.2 billion cash position for WYNN -- enough to pay for around 15% of the firm's market capitalization. Concentrated ownership from founder Steve Wynn should align management's incentives with investors, and increase the likelihood of a dividend hike.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  He also likes Wynn Resorts (WYNN), despite its 34% gain.�Santarelli writes:

  As for WYNN, we believe near-term estimates continue to take a back seat to capital returns and the discounting of Cotai, though we do find near term numbers to be beatable in Macau given QTD trends, most notably on the VIP side. Net-net, we find WYNN to be the most compelling longer-term story in our coverage universe and given the scope of the Cotai development and its impact on valuation, we anticipate value attribution for the project will come well in advance of the historical rule of thumb for new openings in the space, which has generally been about one year.

Jefferies Says Software Stocks May Continue to Outperform the S&P 500

Many of the firms that we cover around Wall Street have become more positive on the prospects for improved capital expenditure (capex) spending by corporate America as the year progresses and into next year. Declining U.S political and tax policy uncertainty, combined with a capex figure that is low compared to gross domestic product (GDP), has the software analysts at Jefferies bullish on software spending. With software stocks outperforming the S&P 500 since early July, but only inline with the index for the year, the Jefferies team thinks the sector can lead the way in the latter half of this year and into 2014. Here are their top stocks to buy.

Citrix Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) is a name that is showing up on top lists around Wall Street. The company has seen extremely strong cloud software sales growth and recently expanded its strategic alliance with Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) to support data centers. The Thomson/First Call price target for the stock is $80.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is not a software company. Yet the majority ownership position its has in VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) makes it is a dual threat. Owning the stock gives investors a top storage name in enterprise hardware, as well as the cloud computing software from its majority stake. The consensus price target for this top tech name is $31. Investors also receive a 1.5% dividend.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) is one of the top names to buy in cyber security. After a slow start to the year, the company delivered solid second-quarter numbers, and the order backlog for the rest looks very promising. The consensus price target stands at $24.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) posted inline earnings and raised its dividend after the close Tuesday. The company provides business and financial management solutions for small businesses, consumers, accounting professionals and financial institutions, primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and Singapore. Its Quickbooks product is a top seller. The consensus price objective for the stock is posted at $67.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) provides open source software solutions primarily to enterprise customers worldwide. With 15.4% earnings growth reported in its fiscal first quarter, sales are booming as its Jboss middleware business drives revenue. The consensus price target for this fast growing company is $58.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) has not only dominated the customer relationship management (CRM) software business, it has absolutely blown away the short sellers who have doubted the stock for years. This stock also has become a darling of CNBC pundit Jim Cramer, which may or may not be a good thing. The consensus price target for the stock is $50.

Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) held an initial public offering (IPO) less than a year ago and has been a monster success. The company provides enterprise cloud-based applications for enterprises in the United States and internationally. It offers applications for customers to manage critical business functions that enable them to optimize their financial and human capital resources. The consensus price target is at $70, which is below current trading levels.

Investors looking to buy the software sector as a whole may want to consider the iShares North American Tech-Software ETF  (IGV). Another route that focuses more exclusively on the cloud computing stocks is to buy the First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index Fund (SKYY).

Cloud computing, cyber security, CRM data management are all software areas that are not only here to stay, they are growing exponentially. Tech investing often requires investor patience. That patience can pay off big time, if Jefferies is right and corporate capital expenditures grow this year and into 2014.

Why Vodafone is Perfect for the Novice Investor

Should novice investors buy Vodafone Group stock? Alan Oscroft of The Motley Fool UK, thinks that perhaps they should.

In my perusal of the FTSE 100 in search of shares that I think are suitable for novice investors, I've already taken a look at ARM Holdings (LSS:ARM) and decided it's one for beginners to steer clear of.

In fact, I generally think it's a bad idea to start with technology shares—they can be very attractive if you look at the possible gains, but they've lured many an inexperienced investor to early losses. But it's not always the case, and today I'm going to tell you why I think the FTSE's biggest telecoms company (by far) is a good one.

It's Vodafone (LSS:VOD) (NS:VOD), of course, the operator of one of the UK's first 4G networks.

The tech firm that isn't

And Vodafone is a technology share, right? Well, yes and no.

Sure, high-broadband mobile computing technology is leading-edge stuff. But in many ways, it's becoming a commodity on par with water, iron, and rice, and people are consuming it in increasing quantity. Vodafone is also selling huge amounts of plain old phone services around the globe—and that's a market that still has enough untapped capacity to keep demand going for years.

In fact, for the year ending March 31, 2013, Vodafone got 30% of its service revenues from the Asia, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific region. Emerging markets is one of Vodafone's key targets—snag them when they just want to talk, and you might still have them when they want to play Grand Theft Auto.

Maturity counts

If you looked at some of Vodafone's key fundamentals without knowing which company it was, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a dull and boring firm, like a utilities supplier. There's single-digit earnings growth forecast, the 209p shares are on a lower-than-average P/E of 13, and the company has been paying out dividends of around 5%—with 4.8% forecast for this year.

And to me that's nice—it's a company clearly in a high-tech business, but not valued as a growth share with a high P/E and no dividend to speak of. I'm not necessarily saying it's on a good short-term valuation, and I'm not saying it isn't, but in the long-term, Vodafone shareholders are not going to be shocked by a less-than-sky-high set of growth figures.

The Verizon thing

The sale of Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless brought to an end a period of uncertainty, and in a pretty good way, that gave Vodafone's shares a boost. But there is certainly more uncertainty to come—that's a known unknown.

Will there be more mergers, disposals, acquisitions in the industry? For sure. Will there be attempt to take over Vodafone itself? I expect there will. Will there be share price volatility as a result? Most likely.

But what we've seen is that Vodafone has the clout, and the ability, to get a good deal for its shareholders—and I have no hesitation in my opinion that the Verizon deal was a great one. And with the shares being valued more in line with steady mature companies, I just don't see the same potential downside that afflicts more growth-oriented technology firms. So there you have it—Vodafone, the tech share...that isn't. You could do worse than give it some consideration.

Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has recommended shares in Vodafone.

Read more from The Motley Fool UK here...

United Builds Its Credibility Account

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - When I was in journalism school, 35 years ago, we talked a lot about credibility.

Credibility is something you build brick by brick, day by day. But it can all come tumbling down with a single mistake.

I've seen that throughout my career. An attention deficit can be a huge burden to a journalist, because although I may have written more interesting copy than my co-workers, I also made mistakes. I paid for them with my jobs, and lost my credibility.

Which I then proceeded to build back, brick by brick and day by day. In the age of social media, we're all journalists. And we all have credibility accounts that can be quickly depleted, based not just on our actions but on how we react to things. When we screw up, it's better to take the hit than to deny the stupid things we do. [Read: 5 Stocks Ready for Breakouts] That's an important lesson for California schoolchildren, but also for the school district claiming that, in monitoring their social media use, it's "protecting them." It's an important lesson for countries like Turkey and China, too. Credibility doesn't mean control, it means honesty and respect for opponents. This is an important lesson for any business, especially one marketing consultants like to describe as "customer-facing." An airline, for instance. United Continental Holdings' (UAL) United Airlines faced a test of credibility last week. For 15 minutes, it accidentally gave away some tickets booked at its Web site. Purchasers paid only the 9/11 security fee, totaling $5 or $10. The airline decided, after some consideration, to honor the tickets. The result was stories such as this one, on a Patch site near the company's Chicago headquarters. It was about a family getting a Disneyland vacation for just $60. The goodwill from stories like that, United concluded, was worth the financial hit. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates there are 643 million passengers booked each year on U.S. airlines. That's about 1.76 million per day. Given United's 15.8% market share, we can figure it got about 278,000 of them. [Read: Larry Summers: Social Media's Whipping Boy] But if the glitch lasted only 15 minutes, one-ninety sixth of a day, perhaps only 3,000 tickets were given away. At an average cost of $300, the loss may have come to $900,000. When you have sales of more than $37 billion in a year you can afford that, far more than you can afford rescinding the tickets in full view of everyone.

That's the business point here. We're all in full view of everyone, every day.

AMR's (AMR) American Airlines and US Airways (LCC) need to keep this point in mind as they try to merge through bankruptcy. Handing the CEO a $20 million severance package, when he's due $15.3 million if the merger goes through -- is the PR hit really worth the $4.7 million? [Read: Harshest Critics Don't Understand Apple]

That's a point I was trying to make last week, in this article about United rival Delta Air Lines (DAL). Focusing on credibility, linking the present with the past, helped Delta CEO Richard Anderson turn that company around.

Want to know why so many fliers love Southwest Air (LUV)? Credibility. Relatively transparent pricing, a sense of humor about things -- let's get through these few uncomfortable hours together and everything will be all right. It works more often than it doesn't. Companies, and countries, aren't accustomed to making these kinds of calculations. Obviously, neither are some politicians. Nor high school districts. But it's just this kind of calculation you have to make in a socially connected age. What I was taught, back in the 1970s, was that I should live as though my every move was on TV, and this has been good advice. When I screw up I tend to admit it, and I take my medicine, no matter how bitter that might be. We're all journalists now. Whether we're private citizens or public companies, we all have our credibility accounts, and we need to nurture those accounts by being as good as our word, confessing our errors, and making ourselves appear worthy of trust. How are the credibility accounts of your investments? At the time of publication, the author had no positions in stocks mentioned. Follow @DanaBlankenhor This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and a tech reporter since 1982. His specialty has been getting to the future ahead of the crowd, then leaving before success arrived. That meant covering the Internet in 1985, e-commerce in 1994, the Internet of Things in 2005, open source in 2005 and, since 2010, renewable energy. He has written for every medium from newspapers and magazines to Web sites, from books to blogs. He still seeks tomorrow from his Craftsman home in Atlanta.

New Jersey Resources Raises Dividend 5% (NJR)

New Jersey Resources Corp.(NJR) announced on Tuesday that it will raise its quarterly dividend rate by 5%.

The new quarterly dividend rate will be 42 cents per share, up 2 cents from the prior 40 cents per share rate. Annually, the dividend rate will now be $1.68 per share. The new rate will be effective with the dividend payable October 1, 2013 to shareholders of record on September 23, 2013.

Commenting on the increase, Chairman and CEO Laurence M. Downes noted “Our shareowners look to us year after year for consistent financial performance and a competitive return on their investment. he action taken today by our board of directors allows us to increase our dividend for the 20th time in the last 18 years. This is an acknowledgement of our team’s unwavering focus to provide exceptional value for our customers and shareowners.”

New Jersey Resources shares traded 0.06% lower during Tuesday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock is up 5.90%.

These Momentum Stocks Were Laggards Not All That Long Ago

Wall Street is a very fickle mistress. Analysts that work on Wall Street often cannot see the forest for the trees. They are more concerned about defending their reputation than actually doing the heavy lifting that can really help an investor find top stocks to buy before they make their move.

UBS regularly puts out a research report on overwriting options on specific stocks. The most recent edition did not hold any great surprises, as the analysts are reluctant to be too aggressive with the volatility index (VIX) running low, but were inline with the average for the year. However they did point out some names that specifically they suggested not to overwrite. They also made some interesting comments on laggards that had turned into momentum stocks.

Momentum stocks are typically the ones people buy strictly on the notion that, even if they buy high, shares will go higher. This works great in a bull market like we are in, not so great if the market turns down. Here is an interesting list of names from UBS that were lagging the field and turned hot.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) was an old time big-box retailer thought to be left for dead. The founder was trying to make waves, electronics stores as a whole, like Circuit City, were in the Wall Street graveyard. Best Buy revamped its inventory and sales focus, opened up the online sales effort and has totally blown away the short sellers. The Thomson/First Call estimate for the stock is $39, and investors are paid a 1.8% dividend.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) was buried as light emitting diode (LED) sales had stumbled due to overcapacity. The company also overproduced some radio frequency (RF) semiconductor parts and had to slow production at one point to almost a standstill. A resilient housing and automobile market turned the market around and the stock went on a tear. The consensus price target is posted at a stunning $70.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is the epitome of the Wall Street research Titanic voyage. Beloved as the hottest stock ever before a botched IPO, analysts could not stand the stock as it sunk to its high teen lows. Now, at 52-week highs, everybody is a buyer. UBS concedes that despite the hot run, Facebook probably is still under-owned by institutions. The consensus target for the social media giant is $45.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was totally left for dead, despite the fact that it dominated and innovated the entire online coupon industry. Many a struggling business resurrected their models by using Groupon to get consumers in the door. The stock has been off the charts hot. Up 10% in September and 120% over the past year, can it continue the hot streak? The consensus price target for the stock is at $11.50, close to yesterday’s close.

Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) was busy going nowhere until Virident was bought by disc drive giant Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC). Then all eyes on Wall Street started to focus on which company may be the next acquisition target. Many think the odds are good that Fusion-io is that candidate. The consensus price target is posted at $15. The high target on Wall Street is a staggering $29.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) got absolutely crushed as the potash market went into a tailspin this year. The stock was down almost 50% and totally left for dead as the short sellers circled. The potash market has stabilized and the stock has rebounded solidly. The consensus target for this top name is $85, and investors are paid a 2.2% dividend. A move to the target from today’s trading level would be an almost 100% gain for investors.

Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the company that brought you the Siri application that you can talk to on your iPhone. The stock also got crushed after an earnings miss this year. Mega-investor Carl Icahn has accumulated a 16.9% share of the company and may be looking for more. The consensus target for the stock sits at $22.

As September began, there were plenty of reasons to be careful about stocks, heading into what is typically the most challenging month of the year. Today will bring some resolution to the beginning of the Federal Reserves tapering program. All of the laggards turned momentum stocks are the least affected by the macro events, as many of them may have a binary event to drive them higher. That could prove big for investors.

Top Analyst Upgrades and Stocks to Buy: E*Trade, KeyCorp, Ericsson and More

Investors and traders alike often look for new research ideas that can lead to higher income and profits. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of new analyst research calls each morning. Some turn out to be stocks to buy and others end up being stocks to sell. We have broken out the positive analyst calls, and these are some of Friday’s top analyst upgrades, initiations and positive analyst research calls seen from Wall Street.

Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Diageo PLC (NYSE: DEO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a new $19 price target at Goldman Sachs; Credit Suisse also raised its price target to $14.50.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $55 price target at Deutsche Bank and was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $53 price target at SunTrust.

QEP Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: QEPM) was started as Buy at Janney Capital, and note that four other firms started coverage earlier this week.

ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Buy with a $55 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) was raised Buy from Hold in overseas coverage by Societe Generale.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was started as Buy with a $62 price target at Canaccord Genuity.

Stryker Corp. (NYSE: SYK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.

SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) was raised to Buy from Hold with a new $39 price target at Deutsche Bank.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.

Donald Trump Franchise Adds IRS Apprentice---You're Fired IRS!

It's hard to miss the string of IRS video hits to surface over the past year.  You don't even have to read, just watch them. After the stink over IRS Tax Dollars Spent Making Star Trek Video, then there was Step Up IRS? IRS Dance Video Even Worse Than Star Trek. Sure, they are clunky, but it's the price tag that most annoyed Congress and the public.

Now it's Donald Trump's turn with a not very convincing dark-toupee donning Trump type repeating his favorite, "You're fired!" This film effort also won't win any awards, and at $10,000, did earn criticism. Still, $10,000 for a poor Trump Apprentice parody seems so much better than the $60,000 for the "Star Trek" and "Gilligan's Island" movies, you have to say the IRS is practically svelte now.

Here's the new Trump offering:

Of course, the IRS was quick to point out that even the Trump movie was old, a product of a different era. IRS Apprentice would never have been made today, the IRS said. The beleaguered tax agency said the line dancing was a team building exercise, but the Trump film is more about leadership. The IRS probably needs both after scandals forced out one IRS Chief and caused the Head of its Exempt Organization Division to take the Fifth. See IRS Takes The Fifth, But You Can't.

IRS Dance Party cost about $1,600, and was made for a 2010 training and leadership conference in Anaheim. By comparison, the Trekkie movie was more like a David Cameron picture. It, together with its Gilligan's Island double feature, cost taxpayers around $60,000. Still, silly videos and conference expenses are an embarrassment.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014

LONDON --�The shares of�Standard Life� (LSE: SL  ) advanced 6% to 373 pence during early London trade this morning after the group's investment division revealed assets under management had grown 7% to a record 179 billion pounds during the first quarter.

Group assets under administration also advanced 7% to reach 233 billion pounds, underpinned by the new system of 'automatic enrolment' for U.K. pension schemes, which helped boost sales of long-term savings products by 24% to 6.3 billion pounds.

Standard Life said it had continued to see growth within its Canadian division, where the company "remains well placed in the growing pension market." Sales of corporate pensions in the region grew an impressive 94%.

David Nish, Standard Life's chief executive, said:

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Christopher Barker]

  Although I have not shed my long-standing contention that Yamana Gold offers one of the more deeply discounted vehicles for long-term gold exposure, lately my outlook for IAMGOLD has turned particularly bullish. With a looming spin-off of a 10% to 20% stake in the company's reliably profitable Niobec niobium mine, and the recent sale of its interest in a pair of high-cost gold operations in Ghana for $667 million, IAMGOLD finds itself in terrific financial shape to execute an aggressive $1.2 billion expansion imitative at existing operations.

  Considering the $1.6 billion net asset value (after tax) that IAMGOLD recently assessed for the Niobec mine alone, and a presumed hoard of more than $1.2 billion (in cash, cash equivalents, and gold bullion held for investment), at a market capitalization of $6.9 billion I find extreme comfort in the market's resulting valuation for IAMGOLD's 15.2 million ounces of attributable gold reserves.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: KBR Inc. (KBR)

KBR, Inc. operates as an engineering, construction, and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power, and industrial sectors worldwide. Its Downstream business unit provides front end engineering design; detailed engineering; engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC); EPC management; and program management services to petrochemical, refining, coal gasification, and syngas markets. The company?s Government and Infrastructure business unit provides program and project management, contingency logistics, operations and maintenance, construction management, engineering, and other services to military and civilian branches of governments and private clients. Its Services business unit delivers engineering, construction, construction management, fabrication, maintenance, and turnaround services. It also offers maintenance, construction, and drilling support services for offshore oil and gas producing facili ties using semisubmersible vessels. This segment serves oil, gas, petrochemicals, and hydrocarbon processing industries, as well as power, alternate energy, pulp and paper, industrial and manufacturing, and pharmaceutical industries. The company?s Technology business unit offers various process technologies, including value-added technologies in the coal monetization, petrochemical, refining, and syngas markets. Its Upstream business unit constructs liquefied natural gas, gas-to-liquids, onshore oil and gas production facilities, offshore oil and gas production facilities, and onshore and offshore pipelines. The company?s Ventures business unit invests in and manages projects, where the company provides engineering, construction, construction management or operations, and maintenance services. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Best Companies To Watch In Right Now: Grupo TMM S.A.(TMM)

Grupo TMM, S.A.B., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated logistics and transportation company in Mexico. The company offers maritime transportation services, including offshore vessels, which offer transportation and other services to the Mexican offshore oil industry; tankers that transport petroleum products in Mexican waters; parcel tankers, which transport liquid chemical and vegetable oil cargos from and to the United States and Mexico; and tugboats that provide towing services at the port of Manzanillo, Mexico. It operates a fleet of 46 vessels, which comprise product and chemical tankers, harbor tugs, and various offshore supply vessels. The company also operates two Mexican port facilities, Tuxpan and Acapulco, as well as provides port agent services to vessel owners and operators in the Mexican ports. Its logistics business provides trucking services to manufacturers consisting of automobile plants, and retailers, as well as offers logistical f acilities in industrial cities and railroad hubs in Aguascalientes, Toluca, Puebla, Veracruz, Nuevo Laredo, Cuernavaca, Mexico City, Monterrey, Manzanillo, Ensenada, and Altamira. The company's logistics services include consulting, analytical, and logistics outsourcing; logistics network analysis; logistics information process design; trucking, intermodal transport, and auto haulage services; warehousing and bonded warehousing facility management; supply chain and logistics management; product handling and repackaging; local pre-assembly; maintaining and repairing containers; and inbound and outbound distribution using truck transport. Grupo TMM was founded in 1955 and in headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: Assisted Living Concepts Inc. New (ALC)

Assisted Living Concepts, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates senior living residences in the United States. It offers general services, such as meals, activities, laundry, and housekeeping; support services, including assistance with medication, monitoring health status, co-ordination of transportation, and co-ordination with physician offices; and personal care services, such as dressing, grooming, and bathing. The company also arranges access to additional services from third-party providers, including physical, occupational, and respiratory therapy; home health; hospice; and pharmacy services. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 211 senior living residences comprising 9,325 units in 20 states. Assisted Living Concepts, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: ConocoPhillips(COP)

ConocoPhillips operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company?s Exploration and Production (E&P) segment explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its Midstream segment gathers, processes, and markets natural gas; and fractionates and markets natural gas liquids in the United States and Trinidad. The company?s Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets, and transports crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels. Its Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. This segment offers olefins and polyolefins, including ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products; aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene, and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers; and various specialty chemical products comprising organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalyst s, drilling chemicals, mining chemicals, and engineering plastics and compounds. The company?s Emerging Businesses segment develops new technologies and businesses. It focuses on power generation; and technologies related to conventional and nonconventional hydrocarbon recovery, refining, alternative energy, biofuels, and the environment. This segment also offers E-Gas, a gasification technology producing high-value synthetic gas. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Moskowitz]

  ConocoPhillips is trading at 10.5 times earnings, costs are being cut, and the stock has been a long-term winner. On the other hand, if you cut out all the noise and simply look at supply and demand, this doesn�� seem to be the best time to invest in ConocoPhillips. Despite Exxon Mobil yielding 2.80 percent and ConocoPhillips yielding 4.20 percent, Exxon Mobil still looks to be the better option.

• [By Fabian]

  ConocoPhilips(COP) is a close second. This is a Warren Buffett darling that will benefit from its spinoff of refining assets some time in 2012.

  Conoco also continues to pay a consistent and reliable 3.75%. Note that COP has underperformed the rest of the sector recently. Correlations are normally so close that such an underperformance by one stock can point the way to value.

• [By Victor Mora]

  ConocoPhillips provides essential crude oil and natural gas products and services to companies and consumers worldwide. The stock has been steadily trending higher and is now trading slightly below all-time high prices. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenue figures have decreased, which has produced mixed feelings among investors. Relative to its peers and sector, ConocoPhillips has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE what ConocoPhillips does this coming quarter.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: Stantec Inc(STN)

Stantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics in the areas of infrastructure and facilities for public and private sector clients in North America and internationally. The company involves in the design of healthcare, education, science and technology, airport, retail and commercial, and sports and recreation facilities. Its environmental solutions include water supply, treatment, storage, and distribution; wastewater collection, pumping, treatment, and disposal; watershed management; environmental assessment, documentation, and permitting; ecosystem restoration planning and design; environmental site management and remediation; subsurface investigation and characterization; and geotechnical engineering services. Stantec Inc. also provides industrial planning, functional programming, engineering, project mana gement, and construction support services in oil and gas, fossil and renewable energy, underground mining, linear infrastructure, power transmission and distribution, automotive, forest products, food and beverage, and general manufacturing sectors. In addition, the company prepares transportation master plans for communities; conduct transportation investment studies; plans and designs airport, transit, rail, and highway facilities; and provides administration and support services for the construction of specific projects, and ongoing management planning for the upkeep of transportation facilities, as well as simulation modeling services. Further, it offers urban land solutions for the land development, real estate, and retail and commercial industries, as well as professional services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canad a.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S.A. (BLX)

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. provides trade financing to commercial banks, middle-market companies, and corporations primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates in three segments: Commercial, Treasury, and Asset Management. The Commercial segment offers deposits and loans for foreign trade transactions. This segment also provides various products, services, and solutions relating to foreign trade, which include co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing, asset-based financing in the form of factoring, vendor financing and leasing, and other fee-based services, such as electronic clearing services. The Treasury segment offers liquidity management and investment securities activities, including management of interest rate, liquidity, price, and currency risks. The Asset Management segment provides asset management services, including investment advisory services for funds and managed accounts. This division is involved in trading foreign exchange, interest rate swaps, and derivative products. The company was formerly known as Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. and changed its name to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. in June 2009. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama.

Hot Canadian Companies To Invest In 2014: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Konrad]

  The only household name in this year's list, Waste Management is coming back for an encore performance in 2013.  WM is the North American leader in recycling and renewable biogas among waste and environmental services companies.  The industry has been in a cyclical downturn, and WM's well-covered 4.2% dividend makes it a solid anchor for this portfolio of small and micro-cap clean energy stocks.

• [By Sam Collins]

  Houston-based Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) is the largest trash hauling/disposal company in the United States. This company is a model for steady growth with earnings increasing steadily over many years.?

  S&P has a “four-star buy” on WM with a 12-month target of $42. WM pays an annual dividend of $1.36 for a yield of 3.7%.?

  Technically, the stock is in a powerful bull channel with support at $36 and resistance at $39. Buy WM as a long-term growth opportunity.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Investors think Waste Management (WM) is a garbage stock right now. Why else would WM's short interest ratio hover around 12.6? Of course, Waste Management is in fact a garbage stock of sorts -- it is the largest waste management service provider in the country. The firm boasts more than 270 landfills and a massive fleet of trash collection vehicles that spans the U.S.

  When I think garbage firms, the first thing that comes to mind is dividends: WM and its peers historically have generous, recession-resistant dividend payouts. Currently, Waste Management's yield adds up to 3.36% annually. Don't forget, dividends are like kryptonite to short sellers.

  WM's willingness to embrace innovation has big potential in the years ahead. Right now, the firm's portfolio includes 22 waste-to-energy plants that are designed to turn the waste that WM literally gets paid to collect into renewable energy that the firm gets paid for again. At this point, the firm's energy plants make up a very small part of its total business, but waste-to-energy projects and the recent acquisition of small oil service firms should look attractive to investors right now.

  Earnings in two months look like the next big catalyst for a short squeeze in WM.