Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014

While credit-rating agencies are applauding the first few utilities to reach the end of their multi-billion dollar capital expenditure programs, there is some debate in the industry as to whether this will be a positive for future earnings growth.

Some have argued that those utilities that finish their programs early will have more cash on hand, which will not only help them endure rising costs such as potentially higher taxes, but will also afford greater financial flexibility to take advantage of mergers and other opportunities for investment once interest rates start to rise.

But others have argued that the expected jump in electric power prices in the coming years will make it difficult for utilities to take on new projects, as regulators will be less willing to approve them as rates come under pressure. So those utilities still in the midst of large capital expenditure programs may have the advantage, since they’ll enjoy higher earnings as they complete each project, while those that finished their programs earlier may not be able to find new projects of similar quality with the same attractive terms.

Top 10 Bank Companies For 2015: Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF)

Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end investment company. The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets in emerging country equity securities. It makes investments in China, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Russia, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Hungary and South Africa. The Fund invests in sectors, such as metals and mining, commercial banks, diversified financial services, semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, wireless telecommunication services, and oil, gas and consumable fuels.

Templeton Asset Management Ltd. (TAML) serves as the Fund�� investment manager. Its administrative manager is Franklin Templeton Services, LLC. The Fund may invest in the Franklin Institutional Fiduciary Trust Money Market Portfolio (the Sweep Money Fund), an open-end investment company managed by Franklin Advisers, Inc. (an affiliate of TAML).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By George Putnam, Editor, New Generation Research, Inc.]

  Templeton Emerging Markets Fund (EMF) is also actively managed. Currently, the fund is Asian-centric with about 71% of assets from Asian markets, mostly China and Thailand.

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: Hewlett-Packard Company(HPQ)

Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. Its Personal Systems Group segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services for the commercial and consumer markets. The company?s Services segment provides consulting, outsourcing, and technology services to infrastructure, applications, and business process domains. Its Imaging and Printing Group segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, and scanning devices, such as inkjet and Web solutions, laser jet and enterprise solutions, managed enterprise solutions, graphics solutions, and printer supplies. The company?s Enterprise Servers, Storage, and Networking segment offers industry standard s ervers, business critical systems, storage platforms, and networking products, including switches, routers, wireless LAN, and TippingPoint network security products. Its HP Software segment provides enterprise IT management software, information management solutions, and security intelligence/risk management solutions. The company?s HP Financial Services segment offers leasing, financing, utility programs, and asset recovery services; and financial asset management services for enterprise customers, as well as specialized financial services to SMBs, and educational and governmental entities. Hewlett-Packard Company also provides business intelligence solutions that enable businesses to standardize on consistent data management schemes, connect and share data across the enterprise, and apply analytics, as well as licenses its specific technology to third parties. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anders Bylund]

  And yes, investors were flabbergasted. Shares of PC giant Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) traded 6.6% lower after these announcements, and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) plunged 5%. You can bet that Dell (NASDAQ: DELL  ) would be in the dumps if the stock weren't insulated from news-powered swings by the ongoing process of going private.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Hewlett-Packard is a software an technology bellwether that provides essential products and services to consumers and companies worldwide. The company�announced its intentions to restructure, projecting savings between $3.0 to $3.5 billion by the end of the 2014 fiscal year. The stock has been moving higher in recent months and is now trading near highs. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been declining. However, investors are pleased with recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Hewlett-Packard has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for Hewlett-Packard to OUTPERFORM.

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: RBC Bearings Incorporated(ROLL)

RBC Bearings Incorporated manufactures and markets engineered precision plain, roller, and ball bearings primarily in North America, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in four segments: Plain Bearings, Roller Bearings, Ball Bearings, and Others. The Plain Bearings segment produces plain bearings with self-lubricating or metal-to-metal designs, including rod end bearings, spherical plain bearings, and journal bearings that are primarily used to rectify misalignments in various mechanical components. The Roller Bearings segment provides tapered roller bearings, needle roller bearings, and needle bearing track rollers and cam followers, which are anti-friction products that utilize cylindrical rolling elements. The Ball Bearings segment specializes in high precision aerospace, airframe control, thin section, and industrial ball bearings that utilize high precision ball elements to reduce friction in high speed applications. The Other segment consists of precision mechanic al components, which are used in various general industrial applications; and machine tool collets that are used for holding circular or rod-like pieces in a lathe or other machine. It serves construction and mining, oil and natural resource extraction, heavy truck, packaging, and semiconductor machinery; and aerospace and defense markets. The company offers its products through direct sales force and a network of industrial and aerospace distributors. RBC Bearings Incorporated is headquartered in Oxford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

  This is a logical deal for SKF on multiple fronts. For starters, Kaydon will meaningfully expand the company's U.S. presence - something it could have done on its own eventually, but certainly not without spending money. With that, there is the possibility of using Kaydon's existing U.S. footprint to sell more SKF products and further trouble rivals like RBC Bearings (ROLL) and ITT (ITT).

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company(RRD)

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company provides pre-media, printing, logistics, and business process outsourcing products and services to private and public sectors worldwide. The company operates primarily in the commercial print portion of the printing industry, with related product and service offerings designed to offer customers solutions for communicating their messages to target audiences. Its products and related service offerings include magazines, catalogs, retail inserts, books, directories, financial print, direct mail, forms, labels, office products, statement printing, pre media, and logistics services. The company also offers business process outsourcing services that comprise transactional print and outsourcing services, statement printing, direct mail, and print management services; and product configuration, customized kitting, and order fulfillment for technology, medical device, and other companies. It distributes its products to end-users through the United Sta tes postal services, retail channels, electronically, or by direct shipment to customer facilities. R.R. Donnelley & Sons was founded in 1864 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  R.R. Donnelley (RRD)

  RRD Price/LFCF: 9.4
  RRD Dividend Yield: 6.7%

  It’s hard to find a more boring company than R.R. Donnelley (RRD). It both prints and creates custom content (e.g., annual reports) for private and public companies.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  R.R. Donnelley & Sons�(RRD) has gained 5.7% to $19.85 after the commercial printing company reported better-than-forecast earnings.

  Aeropostale�(ARO) has jumped 3.6% to $7.19 after�Bloomberg�reported that the struggling retailer was working out its options with Barclays assistance.

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF (IJS)

The iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Standard & Poor�� SmallCap 600/Citigroup Value Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the small-capitalization value sector of the United States equity market. The Index is a subset of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and consists of those companies exhibiting the strongest value characteristics within the S&P SmallCap 600 Index.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA) acts as the investment advisor of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Gary Gordon]

  On behalf of most of my clients in 2013, I chose to overweight tech and health care. However, I did so with areas that are traditionally less volatile. I continue to own Powershares Pharmaceuticals (PJP) and/or SPDR Select Healthcare (XLV). I’ve been a proponent of “old tech” with the attractive prices and dividends; First Trust NASDAQ Tech Dividend (TDIV) fits the bill. Additionally, I have remained faithful to iShares Small Cap Value (IJS) for small-cap exposure, rather than hop on the IWO express.

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: Douglas Dynamics Inc.(PLOW)

Douglas Dynamics, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells snow and ice control equipment for light trucks in North America. It principally offers snowplows, sand and salt spreaders, and related parts and accessories. The company sells its products under the WESTERN, FISHER, and BLIZZARD brands. Douglas Dynamics sells its products through a distributor network primarily to professional snowplowers. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Milwaukee-based Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW  ) is bulking up its snow control business.

  The maker of Western, Fisher, and Blizzard-brand snowplows, sand and salt spreaders, and related accessories announced Monday that it has acquired "substantially all" assets of truck-mounted salt and sand spreader manufacturer TrynEx, which owns the SnowEx brand.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $57.68 million.

  SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ: SIGA) is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.62 per share on revenue of $47.00 million.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Douglas Dynamics Inc. (NYSE: PLOW) was downgraded to Underperform from an already cautious Neutral rating at Credit Suisse, and the target price is $14, versus a current $14.72 share price.

Hot US Stocks To Invest In 2014: Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund Inc (KYE)

Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund, Inc. (the Fund) is a non-diversified closed-end investment company. The Fund�� investment objective is to obtain a high total return with an emphasis on current income. The Fund seeks to achieve this objective by investing primarily in securities of companies engaged in the energy industry, principally including publicly-traded energy-related master limited partnerships and limited liability companies taxed as partnerships (MLPs), MLP affiliates, energy-related United States and Canadian royalty trusts and income trusts and other companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues from operating assets used in, or providing energy-related services for, the exploration, development, production, gathering, transportation, processing, storing, refining, distribution, mining or marketing of natural gas, natural gas liquids (including propane), crude oil, refined petroleum products or coal.

Effective December 31, 2006, Kayne Anderson assigned the Investment Management Agreement to its subsidiary, KA Fund Advisors, LLC (the Adviser). The Fund focuses on investing at least 80% of the aggregate of its net assets and borrowings (total assets) in securities of Energy Companies. The Fund invests in equity securities, such as common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, warrants, depository receipts, and equity interests in MLPs, MLP affiliates, royalty trusts and other Energy Companies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  We got several questions about Kayne Anderson Energy Total Return Fund (NYSE: KYE) during the chat. The main advantage of closed-end MLP funds is the diversification they provide, along with the convenience of a 1099 miscellaneous income tax form instead of having to deal with K-1 forms from each individual MLP. This makes a closed-end MLP fund a more attractive option for an IRA.