Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014

Deepwater regions around the world have been a driving force in the oil and natural gas world lately. Every player involved has been touting tremendous growth and even greater opportunity. Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB  ) and Noble�both surprised the market with their results last week, and a few other companies have that same opportunity this week.�

Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII  ) is a pure play on the deepwater space with its remotely operated vehicles and other subsea equipment. Both it and its similarly priced peer, FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI  ) , compete for headlines tomorrow during earnings season. While guidance hasn't changed since last week, the market will almost certainly be looking for results on the high side or even expectation-beating numbers. What do Motley Fool analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman expect from these companies tomorrow?

Deepwater markets are a growing bright spot for this fracking specialist
Domestic oil and gas service companies have taken a hit due to a slowdown in the natural gas drilling boom of the last couple of years. As this market looks to rebound, investors would be wise to consider Halliburton, one of the top companies in the business and one of those most in tune with the domestic market. To access The Motley Fool's new premium research report on this industry stalwart, simply click here now and learn everything you need to know about how Halliburton is positioning itself both at home and abroad.

Best Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF (ECH)

iShares MSCI Chile Index Fund (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund that seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Chile. The Index consists of stocks traded primarily on the Santiago Stock Exchange.

The Fund will seek to track the performance of the Index by investing at least 90% of its assets in component securities and in depositary receipts representing such securities. It may invest up to 10% of its assets in certain futures, options, swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents (including money market funds), and other exchange-traded funds, including other iShares funds. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors. The index provider of the Fund is Morgan Stanley Capital International.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Fabian]

  The iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF (NYSE: ECH) is a portfolio of 42 stocks in South America that has lost more than three percent this year. By contrast, the Market Vectors Egypt ETF (NYSE: EGPT) has gained more than 31 percent and is far surpassing its Middle Eastern peers.� This ETF is primarily made up of mid and small-cap financial stocks, along with select telecommunication and materials companies.�

• [By Jim Powell]

  And at their current prices, the most attractive emerging nations available now are in Latin America. And our latest new recommendation is iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index Fund (ECH).

Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sonoco Products Company(SON)

Sonoco Products Company provides industrial and consumer packaging products, and packaging services worldwide. It offers composite paperboard cans; paperboard packages; fiber cartridges; layered bottles and jars; laminated tubs, cups, and spools; consumer and institutional trays; and aluminum, steel, and peelable membrane easy-open closures, as well as flexible packaging, product design, tool design, fabrication, and manufacturing services. The company also produces paperboard tubes, cores, roll packaging, molded plugs, pallets, pallet components, concrete forms, rotary die boards, recycled paperboard, chipboard, tube board, lightweight corestock, boxboard, linerboard, corrugating medium, specialty grades, and recovered paper products; and steel, nailed wooden, plywood, recycled, and polyfiber reels, as well as recycles old corrugated container, paper, plastic, metal, and glass materials. In addition, it manufactures custom-printed glass covers and coasters; offers custom packing, fulfillment, and primary package filling services, as well as operates scalable service centers; contract packaging, co-packing, and fulfillment services; and temporary, semipermanent, and permanent point-of-purchase displays. Further, the company provides fabricated foam, corrugated paperboard, molded EPS and EPP, antistatic fabricated foam solutions, nesting and stacking trays, molded foam dunnage, totes and tote inserts, energy-absorbing and flotation components, and insulation components, as well as contract package testing service. Additionally, it offers insulated shippers, durable transport chests, gel packs, phase change materials, lab/pharma/diagnostic specimen transport, refrigerant materials, edge and corner protection, and temperature assurance solutions; high-visibility packaging and printed products; and blister packaging machines. The company, formerly known as Southern Novelty Company, was founded in 1899 and is based in Hartsville, South Carolina. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By ovenerio]

  The company has a current ROE of 14.5% which is higher than the industry median. Also, it is higher than the ones exhibit by Sealed Air Corp (SEE) and Sonoco Products Co (SON). In general, analysts consider ROE ratios in the 15-20% range as representing attractive levels for investment. So for investors looking at those levels, MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV) and Packaging Corp of America (PKG) could be the options. It is very important to understand this metric before investing, and it is important to look at the trend in ROE over time.

Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014: Arrow Electronics Inc. (ARW)

Arrow Electronics, Inc. provides products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Global Components and Global Enterprise Computing Solutions. The Global Components segment distributes electronic components and related services to original equipment manufacturers and contract manufacturers. This segment provides online catalogs for electronic components; cloud-based design tools that expedite product development cycles; factory-direct end-of-life product inventory; reverse logistics; and electronics asset disposition solutions to redeploy, remarket, and recycle technology assets. Its products and services include semiconductor products and related services; passive, electro-mechanical, and interconnect products consisting primarily of capacitors, resistors, potentiometers, power supplies, relays, switches, and connectors; computing and memory; and other p roducts and services. The Global Enterprise Computing Solutions segment provides enterprise and midrange computing products, services, and solutions to value-added resellers; and unified communications products and related services, as well as cloud computing, security, and networking services. It also offers a suite of online supply chain tools. The company�s customers include manufacturers of consumer and industrial equipment, telecommunications products, automotive and transportation, aerospace and defense, scientific and medical devices, and computer and office products, as well as value-added resellers of enterprise computing solutions. The company was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Arrow Electronics Inc (ARW)

  FPA Capital's third largest stock holding is in Arrow Electronics. The guru holds on to a total of 1,515,500 shares of Arrow, representing 1.51% of the company�� shares outstanding and 9.2% of his total portfolio.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014: TCW Strategic Income Fund Inc (TSI)

TCW Strategic Income Fund, Inc. (the Fund), formerly TCW Convertible Securities Fund, Inc., incorporated on January 13, 1987, is a diversified closed-end investment management company. The Fund's investment objective is to seek a total return consisting of current income and capital appreciation by investing in convertible securities, marketable equity securities, investment-grade debt securities, high-yield debt securities, options, and securities issued or guaranteed by the United States Government, its agencies and instrumentalities (U.S. Government Securities). The Fund also invests in repurchase agreements, mortgage-related securities, asset-backed securities, money market securities and other securities.

The Fund may invest in repurchase agreements secured by U.S. Government Securities. The Fund invests in sectors, such as financial services, aerospace and defense, airlines, automobiles, banking, commercial services, electric utilities, insurance, media, utilities, biotechnology and chemicals. The Fund�� investment advisor is TCW Investment Management Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer

Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014: (ACS)

ACS Motion Control, Ltd. develops and manufactures multi-axis motion controllers and integrated control modules for customers in Israel and internationally. It offers controllers, drives, interfaces, I/O products, and accessories for use in various applications, such as semiconductors, electronic assembly, FPD, bio medical, medical scanners, digital printing, laser processing, and motion centric. The company also provides support services. Its products are used in packaging, printing, robotics, linear stage control, semiconductor manufacturing and testing, electronic assembly and testing, medical imaging, and digital printing industries. ACS Motion Control, Ltd. was formerly known as ACS-Tech 80 Ltd. and changed its name to ACS Motion Control, Ltd. in March 2006. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Migdal Ha-Emek, Israel. It has sales and support centers in the United States, China, and South Korea.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nicolas73]

  The Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) acquisition

  In September 2009, Xerox announced it would acquire ACS for $6.4 billion. ACS was a leading firm in Business Process Outsourcing (around 80% of 2009 total revenues, 40% of that coming from government contracts).

• [By Victor Selva]

  In February 2010, the company acquired Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) for approximately $6.4 billion in stock and cash. Last year, Xerox acquired WaterWare Internet Services with a view to upgrade its DocuShare enterprise content management (ECM) platform. WaterWare�� services include Web application and software development, integration and customization. It also purchased the U.K.-based Concept Group, increasing its presence in the UK market while working in parallel with other distribution channels in the region.

Top US Stocks To Watch For 2014: Burnham Holdings Inc (BURCA)

Burnham Holdings, Inc., incorporated on December, 2, 2002, is the parent company of the Burnham group of companies. The Company is a manufacturer of boilers, furnaces, radiators, air conditioning systems and related accessories for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The Company has eight brand names, marketed through eight independent sales organizations that are differentiated by product line and markets served. The Burnham Hydronics, New Yorker, Governale, Thermo Pride, and Crown product lines offer a range of cast iron, stainless steel, aluminum, and steel boilers, cast iron and steel heat distribution products, warm air furnaces, heat pumps and central air conditioning systems for the residential heating and cooling market. Typical applications of these products are for all styles and sizes of homes and small buildings. The Burnham Commercial, Bryan Boilers, and Thermal Solutions product lines offer a range of cast iron, firetube, watertube, and copper tube boilers, as well as boiler room accessories for the commercial and industrial markets. Typical uses of these products are for heating large buildings and high-pressure steam generation for process applications.

The Burnham Foundry produces boiler castings for the affiliated manufacturing companies, as well as outside customers. Wendl and Manufacturing is a producer of both pressurized and non-pressurized tanks and vessels for liquid storage applications. Norwood Manufacturing is a manufacturer of painted light gauge metal parts. The Company sells to wholesale distributors who in turn, market to builders, heating contractors, utilities, and fuel dealers for resale to end-use customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Boiler, radiator, air conditioning and furnace manufacturer Burnham Holdings (BURCA) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 21 cents per share, payable March 18 to shareholders of record as of March 11.
  BURCA Dividend Yield: 4.3%