Best International Companies To Own For 2014

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Thursday’s session are Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.(GMCR), Pandora Media Inc.(P) and Twitter Inc.(TWTR)

Akamai Technologies Inc.(AKAM) said fourth-quarter earnings rose 18%, helped by a jump in revenue. Shares surged 16% premarket to $55.20.

AOL Inc.(AOL) said its fourth-quarter revenue climbed a bigger-than-expected 13%, driven primarily by stronger global advertising revenue. Shares climbed 6.1% to $50.45 premarket.

Coca-Cola Co. has taken a 10% stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, as the companies unveiled a 10-year agreement to collaborate on the development of a forthcoming Keurig Cold at-home beverage system. The news weighed on shares of at-home beverage carbonation system SodaStream International Ltd.(SODA) Green Mountain shares surged 41% to $113.62 premarket, while SodaStream slipped 6.9% to $38.25.

Best Machinery Companies To Invest In 2015: Intel Corporation(INTC)

Intel Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of integrated circuits for computing and communications industries worldwide. It offers microprocessor products used in notebooks, netbooks, desktops, servers, workstations, storage products, embedded applications, communications products, consumer electronics devices, and handhelds. The company also provides system on chip products that integrate its core processing functionalities with other system components, such as graphics, audio, and video, onto a single chip. In addition, it offers chipset products that send data between the microprocessor and input, display, and storage devices, including keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, and CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drives; motherboards designed for desktop, server, and workstation platforms, and that has connectors for attaching devices to the bus; and wired and wireless connectivity products consisting of network adapters and embedded wireless cards used to translate and transmit data across networks. Further, the company provides NAND flash memory products primarily used in portable memory storage devices, digital camera memory cards, and solid-state drives; software products comprising operating systems, middleware, and tools used to develop, run, and manage various enterprise, consumer, embedded, and handheld devices; and software development tools that enable the creation of applications. Additionally, it develops computing platforms, which are integrated hardware and software computing technologies designed to offer an optimized solution. The company sells its products principally to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, PC components and other products users, and other manufacturers of industrial and communications equipment. It has a strategic alliance with Scientific Conservation Inc. Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Intel is a developer of technology products such as microprocessors, chipsets, and software, and distributes them to companies and consumers around the world. The company’s�CEO Brian Krzanich will speak at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to present the company�� plan to regain relevancy. The stock has not made significant progress in the last several years and is currently pulling back. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been decreasing. However, investors have been optimistic about recent earnings announcements. Relative to its peers and sector, Intel has been an average year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Intel does this quarter.

• [By Muhammad Saeed]

  Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD  ) has been showing improved performance in the last few quarters. It was dominated by Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) in the past, and the declining PC industry was not helping its cause. The company's ongoing recovery is spurred by the transition from conventional PCs to semi-customs, dense servers, and professional graphics. All of these markets allow for future growth and present AMD with an opportunity to capitalize.

• [By Stoyan Bojinov]

  ISI Group announced on Thursday that it was reiterating its “Buy” rating on the Santa Clara-based semiconductor maker Intel Corp. (INTC) after the company revealed a number of exciting products at its annual Developer Forum, which took place on Wednesday.

  At the Developer Conference, the company unveiled the first fanless ultrabook as well as a number of Android and Windows 8 smartphone and tablet devices that will be armed with new Intel chips. Sumit Dhanda, an analyst with ISI Group, added, “Tempering our concern is August notebook ODM production that was at least a little better than feared, along with a somewhat more upbeat tone from management at IDF. With�servers�apparently on track as well, we think the odds now favor Intel landing within the targeted range of its sales guidance.” As such, ISI Group reiterated its “Buy” rating on the stock along with a price target of $26.00 a share.

  Intel shares inched lower on Thursday, shedding 0.79% on the day. The stock is up nearly 10% YTD.

Best International Companies To Own For 2014: Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund (GPM)

Old Mutual/Claymore Long-Short Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund�� primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and current gains. The Fund�� secondary investment objective is to provide long-term capital appreciation. The Fund invests in a portfolio of equity securities and by selling securities short in the S&P 500 Index that it believes will under perform relative to the average stock in the S&P 500. The Fund will also write (sell) call options on equity indexes and, to a lesser extent, on individual securities held in the Fund�� portfolio.

The Fund�� investment adviser is Claymore Advisors, LLC. Analytic Investors, Inc. (Analytic) is the Fund�� sub-adviser. It invests in various sectors, including financials, information technology, industrials, healthcare, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, materials, utilities and telecommunications.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Next, I turned to an evaluation of gross profit margin (gpm), net profit margin (npm), return on assets (roa), return on equity (roe) and return on invested capital (roi). The example below only includes gross and net profit margin, however, I review data on all the metrics stated above.

Best International Companies To Own For 2014: MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd.(MTSL)

Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, markets, and supports a line of telecommunication expense management (TEM), and customer care and billing solutions for business organizations and other enterprises worldwide. Its TEM solutions assist enterprises and organizations in the allocation of costs, budget control, fraud detection, processing of payments, and spending forecasting. The company also offers converged billing solutions, including applications for charging and invoicing customers, interconnect billing, and partner revenue management through pre-pay and post-pay schemes for wireless providers, voice over Internet protocol, Internet protocol television, and content service providers. Its products provide telecommunication and information technology managers with tools to reduce communication costs, recover charges payable by third parties, and to detect and prevent abuse and misuse of telephone networks comprising fault telecommunication usage. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, distributors, and business telephone switching systems manufacturers and vendors. Mer Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Raanana, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  MER Telemanagement Solutions (NASDAQ: MTSL) dropped 14.62% to $2.09 after the company terminated MVNE solution provider agreement with SBC Communications.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Trading can be a quirky game sometimes. Most of the time, news - or at least loudly voiced opinions - tend to result from or be the cause of a fast-moving stock. Every now and then though, as in the case with MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ:MTSL), a stock can build up steam with little to no news linked to that move. That doesn't make that stock a poor pick, however. Indeed, MTSL looks like it's turning into a homerun, and that alone is worth a look.... and maybe even worth a shot.

Best International Companies To Own For 2014: iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI)

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Medical Devices Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Medical Equipment Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the medical equipment sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes medical equipment companies, such as manufacturers and distributors of medical devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, prosthetics, pacemakers, x-ray machines and other non-disposable medical devices.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated. Since all of the securities included in the Index are issued by companies in the medical equipment sector, the Fund will be concentrated in the medical equipment industry. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Thursday, small cap medical device stock Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: IART) jumped 9.90% after the FDA completed its inspection of the company's manufacturing facility which led to positive comments from analysts, meaning it might be time to take a look at its performance verses that of medical device ETFs like iShares Dow Jones US Medical Device ETF (NYSEARCA: IHI) and SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (NYSEARCA: XHE).

• [By John Udovich]

  Overlooked mid cap medical�technology and systems�stock CareFusion Corporation (NYSE: CFN) could offer nice growth in the healthcare space, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential benchmarks like the iShares Dow Jones US Medical Device ETF (NYSEARCA: IHI) and SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (NYSEARCA: XHE). I should mention that we have recently added CareFusion Corporation to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio because the�stock continues to be in a long-term thrusting patter and we believe its also�undervalued based on current valuation.

Best International Companies To Own For 2014: Western Refining Inc.(WNR)

Western Refining, Inc. operates as an independent crude oil refiner and marketer of refined products. The company operates in three segments Refining Group, Wholesale Group, and Retail Group. The Refining Group segment operates two refineries in Texas and Mexico; two stand-alone refined product distribution terminals in New Mexico; and four asphalt terminals in Texas, as well as operates crude oil transportation and gathering pipeline system in New Mexico. It refines various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and other products from crude oil, other feedstocks, and blending components; and acquires refined products through exchange agreements and from various third-party suppliers. This segment sells its products through its wholesale group and service stations, independent wholesalers and retailers, commercial accounts, and sales and exchanges with oil companies. The Wholesale Group segment distributes commercial wholesale petroleum products primarily in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah for retail fuel distributors, as well as for the mining, construction, utility, manufacturing, transportation, aviation, and agricultural industries. The Retail Group segment operates service stations, which include convenience stores or kiosks that sell various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, general merchandise, and beverage and food products to the general public. As of February 24, 2012, it operated 210 service stations with convenience stores or kiosks located in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in El Paso, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Independent crude oil refiner Western Refining (WNR) raised its quarterly dividend 22.2% to 22 cents per share, payable Nov. 14 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 30.
  WNR Dividend Yield: 2.63%

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another stock that's starting to trend within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade is Western Refining (WNR), a crude oil refiner and marketer of refined products. It also operates service stations and convenience stores. This stock is off to a decent start in 2013, with shares up 10.8%.

  If you look at the chart for Western Refining, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month and change, with shares soaring higher from its low of $25.47 to its recent high of $32.09 a share. During that uptrend, shares of WNR have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. This stock has also moved back above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. That move has now pushed shares of WNR within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in WNR if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $32.09 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 1.96 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then WNR will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $34 to $36.50 a share. Any high-volume move above $36.50 will then give WNR a chance to tag its 52-week high at $39.42 a share.

  Traders can look to buy WNR off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below either its 200-day at $30.06 a share or its 50-day at $29.30 a share. One can also buy WNR off strength once it takes out that breakout level with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

  This is yet again another name that the bears are in love with, since the current short interest as a percentage of the float for WNR is crazy high at 39.7%. A monster short-squeeze could easily tr

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Tuesday, the Department of Defense awarded some $2.3 billion worth of contracts for "aviation turbine fuel." Most of the major oil and refining companies came away with contracts, including:

  Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) subsidiary Equilon Enterprises, which claimed the largest award at an estimated $474.1 million in maximum value. Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , winner of a nearly as large contract valued at up to $456.4 million. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , winner of a $405.1 million contract. Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) , which won $391.4 million. Western Refining (NYSE: WNR  ) , awarded a $268.7 million supply contract.

  In addition, four other, smaller companies also won contracts. All nine contracts state June 30, 2014, as the deadline for delivery.

• [By Dan Dzombak]

  Third among oil and gas stocks today was Western Refining (NYSE: WNR  ) up 4.14%, to $32.43. During the refiners' drop on Tuesday and Wednesday, Delek dropped 11%. Despite the comeback today, the stock is still down 7.32% from where it was before the plunge. Last month, after crushing its earnings, Western Refining announced they were considering launching a master limited partnership for some of their midstream assets. MLP spinoffs have been a hot topic the past year as more and more companies take advantage of investors' hunt for yield, and the tax savings MLPs offer. Fool senior analyst Jim Mueller added to his holdings of Western Refining in February at prices slightly higher than today --�find out why by reading his pitch here.

Best International Companies To Own For 2014: Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc.(MGAM)

Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, distribution, and maintenance of gaming machines, video lottery terminals, and associated systems and equipment. The company provides a range of networked gaming systems that control and operate Class II gaming machines, video lottery terminals, and bingo terminals at Native American and commercial gaming facilities. It offers various classic 3-reel and 5-reel mechanical reel games, which provide players with a slot gaming experience; Side Action series of slot games; Maximum Lockdown, a hybrid mechanical reel game; Treasure Top series, a range of 3-reel mechanical games that includes LED lights and a video spinning wheel; TournEvent, a slot tournament system, which allow operators to switch from in-revenue gaming to out-of-revenue tournaments; and High Rise Games. The company also offers back-office accounting and slot management systems that are used to manage the floor operations; and server-based centrally-linked player terminals, which are placed and sold in Class II, video lottery terminal, and bingo settings, as well as standalone player terminals that are placed and sold in Class III settings. It provides its gaming systems to Native American and commercial casino operators in North America; domestic and selected international lottery operators; and charity and commercial bingo gaming facility operators. The company was formerly known as Multimedia Games, Inc and changed its name to Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc. in April 2011. Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Brumley]

  The 17% pullback over the first quarter of the year had less to do with the company’s portfolio and more to do with the market’s mood, and now that the broad market is easing up, the market’s mood regarding Hercules Technology Growth Capital looks poised to improve.

  Multimedia Games (MGAM)

  With the stock down more than 13% since early March, it would be easy to assume Multimedia Games Holding Company (MGAM) was headed for a nasty earnings report at the end of April. The market was wrong, however. MGAM posted a 25% increase in revenue for the quarter, and a 28% improvement in earnings … and that was before the acquisition of PokerTek (PTEK). Bringing PokertTek into the fold will almost assure a fourth straight year of revenue and income growth.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of gaming machine manufacturer Multimedia Games (NASDAQ: MGAM  ) surged 19% today after its quarterly results and guidance easily topped Wall Street expectations.