Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014

Skechers (NYSE: SKX  ) has is up 65% year-to-date, outperforming Brown Shoe (NYSE: BWS  ) , Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW  ) , Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK  ) , and Nike (NYSE: NKE  ) , which have appreciated 26%, 39%, 62%, and 43%, respectively. Skechers' upside move is justifiable based on the company's recent performance. At the same time, this doesn't mean Skechers will offer the best long-term investment opportunity in this group.

Halftime pep talk
In some cases, a company that's performing well will simply do nothing and expect that strong performance to continue. Fortunately, Skechers doesn't fall into that category. Prior to taking a gander at the company's strategies going forward, let's first take a quick look back at net sales performance by segment for the first half year-over-year:

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% of Net Sales

Net Sales

Hot Information Technology Stocks To Own Right Now: Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC)

Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited is financing by way of loans for the purchase or construction of residential houses, commercial real estate and certain other purposes in India. The Company has a network of approximately 330 offices (which includes 83 offices of its wholly owned distribution company HDFC Sales Private Limited) catering to over 2,400 towns & cities spread across the country. It also has offices in Dubai, London and Singapore and service associates in the Middle East region, to provide housing loans and property advisory services to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs). Its product range includes loans for purchase and construction of a residential unit, purchase of plot, home improvement loans, home extension loans, non-residential premises loans for professionals and loan against property, while its flexible repayment options include Step Up Repayment Facility (SURF) and Flexible Loan Installment Plan (FLIP). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  Vanguard favors India with investments in Infosys Ltd. (NSE: INFY), Reliance Industries Ltd. (NSE: RELIANCE), and Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd. (NSE: HDFC) ranking among its top 20.

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Braskem SA (BRKM5)

Braskem SA is a Brazil-based company primarily engaged in the manufacture of basic petrochemical products. The Company operates in five segments: Basic petrochemicals, Polyolefins, Vinyls, International businesses and Chemical Distribution. The Company�� products portfolio includes ethylene, propylene, butadiene, toluene, xylene, benzene, gasoline, diesel oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as thermoplastic resins, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Additionally, Braskem is also engaged in the import and export of chemicals, petrochemicals and fuels; the production, supply and sale of utilities, such as steam, water, compressed air, industrial gases, as well as the provision of industrial services, and the production, supply and sale of electric energy for its own use and use by other companies. The Company also invests in other companies, either as a partner or shareholder. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harry Suhartono]

  Brazil�� Ibovespa rose for a third day as traders pared bets on higher borrowing costs in Brazil, boosting the outlook for companies that sell in the local market. B2W Cia. Digital led gains among retailers, with Lojas Americanas SA (LAME3) and Natura Cosmeticos SA (NATU3) also trading higher. Petrochemicals producer Braskem SA (BRKM5) was the worst performer on the equity gauge after O Estado de S.Paulo reported Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4) is seeking to raise prices of naphtha sold to the company by 5 percent.

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Entergy Corp (ETR)

Entergy Corporation (Entergy), incorporated on August 19, 1992, is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy operates through two business segments: Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility business segment includes the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power in portions of Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana, including the City of New Orleans; and operates a small natural gas distribution business. The Entergy Wholesale Commodities business segment includes the ownership and operation of six nuclear power plants located in the northern United States and the sale of the electric power produced by those plants to wholesale customers.

Utility

The Utility business segment includes six wholly-owned retail electric utility subsidiaries: Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi, Entergy New Orleans, and Entergy Texas. These companies generate, transmit, distribute and sell electric power to retail and wholesale customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans also provide natural gas utility services to customers in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively. Also included in the Utility is System Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy Corporation that owns or leases 90% of Grand Gulf. System Energy sells its power and capacity from Grand Gulf at wholesale to Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi, and Entergy New Orleans. The electric energy sales of the Utility operating companies are subject to seasonal fluctuations, with t! he peak sales period normally occurring during the third quarter of each year. On July 30, 2012, Entergy reached a 2012 peak demand of 21,866 megawatt hour.

Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana provide both electric power and natural gas to retail customers. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana sold 8,924,256 and 6,104,341 million cubic feet, respectively, of natural gas to retail customers. In 2012, 97% of Entergy Gulf States Louisiana�� operating revenue was derived from the electric utility business, and only 3% from the natural gas distribution business. In 2002, Entergy New Orleans, 86% of operating revenue was derived from the electric utility business and 14% from the natural gas distribution business.

Entergy Wholesale Commodities

Entergy Wholesale Commodities includes the ownership and operation of six nuclear power plants, five of which are located in the Northeast United States, with the sixth located in Michigan, and is primarily focused on selling electric power produced by those plants to wholesale customers. Entergy Wholesale Commodities��revenues are primarily derived from sales of energy and generation capacity from these plants. Entergy Wholesale Commodities also provides operations and management services, including decommissioning services, to nuclear power plants owned by other utilities in the United States. Entergy Wholesale Commodities also includes the ownership of two non-operating nuclear facilities, Big Rock Point in Michigan and Indian Point 1 in New York that were acquired when Entergy purchased the Palisades and Indian Point 2 nuclear plants, respectively. The Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee and Rhode Island plants fall under the authority of the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England and the FitzPatrick and Indian Point plants fall under the authority of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). The Palisades plant falls under the authority of ! the MISO.! The primary purpose of ISO New England, NYISO, and MISO is to direct the operations of the major generation and transmission facilities in their respective regions; ensure grid reliability; administer and monitor wholesale electricity markets; and plan for their respective region�� energy needs.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Stavros]

  In fact, investment opportunities in this niche could soon be on the rise. Several utilities have been considering creating standalone transmission companies this year, including Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE: XEL). But whether it’s a standalone company or the sale of transmission assets to a transmission company, regulatory approval will still be key. For instance, regulators declined Entergy Corp’s (NYSE: ETR) sale of its transmission assets to transmission company ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC) in 2013.

• [By Richard Stavros]

  Created with YCharts

  
  In addition to beating the market since the beginning of the year, diversified energy utilities, such as MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE: MDU), Dominion Resources Inc (NYSE: D) and Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), significantly outperformed pure-play or predominantly all-electric utilities, such as Duke Energy Corp (NYSE: DUK) and Entergy Corp (NYSE: ETR), by as much as several percentage points (See Chart B).
  
  Interestingly, among top performers, there was no dominant strategy for exploiting natural gas demand, as these firms were involved in all aspects of the value chain–from exploration and production to distribution and storage. These companies have not only been benefiting from a natural gas surplus, but also from the pressing need to expand US energy infrastructure to deliver this newfound bounty to businesses and households.
  
  

  Chart B: Diversified Energy Utilities Outperformed Electric-Only Peers

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) is also a stock to Sell at UBS and hit its list recently. The company has decided to stay the course with its nuclear power plants, and that does not sit that well with the UBS team. Possible litigation risks and the always possible nuclear accident risks are outweighing the positive dividend and demand for energy. Investors are paid a 5.3% dividend. Merrill Lynch raised its price objective from $60 to $62. The consensus target is $63.13. Entergy closed Friday at $64.49.

• [By Richard Stavros]

  Top Utilities
  The electric utility industry typically does well in a deflationary environment, because these firms provide relative certainty of cash flows and high dividends. Here are our favorites now:
  
  Duke Energy Corp�(NYSE: DUK) is a well-run, regulated energy utility in an accommodative regulatory environment. The firm expects earnings per share (EPS) to grow 4 percent to 6 percent annually in the coming years. Management has narrowed its full-year 2013 adjusted diluted EPS guidance range to $4.25 per share to $4.45 per share. However, the company has yet to provide its 2014 earnings guidance range, or capital expenditure and cost-savings estimates for 2015 and beyond.
  
  Duke remains committed to investing in the expansion of its generational capacity in South Carolina and Florida, as well as improving the efficiency of its generational fleet in Indiana. Moreover, management hopes to improve profitability by focusing on the company�� international business operations and renewable energy sources.�
  
  NextEra Energy Inc�(NYSE: NEE) has produced one of the strongest records of earnings growth among US electric utilities, driven by its large and expanding portfolio of renewable generation at its unregulated unit, as well as load growth at regulated utility FP&L. The latter�� favorable regulatory environment and the highly hedged, clean and well-positioned wholesale generation portfolio establish a solid platform for continued earnings outperformance versus NextEra�� peers.
  
  NextEra�� third-quarter 2013 operating EPS of $1.43, up 13.5 percent from a year ago, beat analyst estimates. The results were due to the company�� effective execution of development projects, continual customer additions, and service start-up of renewable contracted projects.�
  
  Entergy Corp�(NYSE: ETR) is another steady player that has delivered consistent shareholder value over the years. The utility recently posted third-quarter 2013 oper

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Gladstone Land Corp (LAND)

Gladstone Land Corporation, incorporated on March 24, 2011, is an externally-managed real estate company formed to invest in farmland located in agricultural markets throughout the United States. The Company�� farmland is concentrated in locations where tenants are able to grow annual row crops, such as berries, lettuce and melons, among others, which are planted and harvested annually or more frequently. The Company also leases a small parcel on its Oxnard farm to an oil company. In January 2014, the Company acquired a 1,895-acre farm in the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest. On December 27, 2013, the Company acquired a 1,760-acre farm in Willcox, Cochise County, Arizona. Effective January 2, 2014, Gladstone Land Corp acquired an undisclosed farmland located in Oregon.

As of December 27, 2012, the Company�� portfolio of properties consisted of the San Andreas Farm in Watsonville, California; West Gonzales Farm in Oxnard, California; West Beach Farms in Watsonville, California; Dalton Lane Farm in Watsonville, California; Keysville Road Farms in Plant City, Florida; Colding Loop Farm in Wimauma, Florida, and Trapnell Road Farms in Plant City, Florida. As of December 27, 2012, the Company extended the Dalton Lane Farm lease for three years. As of December 27, 2012, the Company in addition to acquiring properties, planned to acquire farmland in exchange for limited partnership units, or units, of Gladstone Land Limited Partnership.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Last Friday, small cap Farmland Partners Inc (NYSEMKT: FPI) had an IPO to join Gladstone Land Corp (NASDAQ: LAND), Alico, Inc (NASDAQ: ALCO) and Limoneira Company (NASDAQ: LMNR) as the latest option for retail investors seeking a way to invest in American farmland. After all, there is that old quote attributed to Mark Twain: "Buy land, they're not making it anymore." Moreover, February Wall Street Journal article noted that From 2009 to mid-2013, average prices for agricultural land in the�US rose by half while in Iowa, Nebraska and some other Midwest farm states, prices more than doubled. However, the same article noted that there is mounting evidence that the farmland�boom is fizzling out as�farmland prices in Iowa fell 3% over the second half of last year and those in Nebraska fell 1%. The good news though is that today's agricultural sector looks markedly different than it did during the last farmland bust back in�the early 1980s while Greyson Colvin, the managing partner at investment manager Colvin & Co. (which owns about 7,000 acres of farmland), was quoted as saying: "We think this next 12 months is going to be the best window we've had in the past five years [to invest in farmland].��/p>

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Land Securities (LAND) Group Plc, Britain�� largest real estate investment trust, and Persimmon Plc both climbed at least 1.5 percent. Glencore Xstrata Plc led a rally in commodity producers as base metals climbed. HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) led declining shares, falling 1.5 percent.

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Medifirst Solutions Inc (MFST)

Medifirst Solutions, Inc. (MSI), incorporated in November 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in business planning activities, including researching the industry, identifying target markets for its products, developing its Medifirst Solutions, Inc. models and financial forecasts. The Company has diverse product line, including both consumer products and digital media. The Company intends to launch Florida Health Community as an on-line healthcare directory and social media site geared towards both professionals and consumers. MSI also intends to produce a tabloid size newsletter with healthcare industry related news and events. Its products include Miracle-cig and Florida Health Community Website and newsletter. In February 2014, the Company announced that it has acquired Consumer Resources Consultants Inc., a provider of online remote technical support to PC users.

The Florida Health Community Website is designed to be a medical directory with a social media component for users. The Miracle-cig is a name for its brand of disposable electronic cigarette. It is sold online at www.miraclecig.com. It intends to offer the Miracle-cig through retail outlets and convenience stores throughout the United States. It intends to add an electronic cigarette that is packaged and marketed to consumers 21 to 25 years old. The Miracle-cig will be sold at a suggested retail price of $9.95 per unit. It purchases the Miracle-cig directly from the manufacturer in China. Florida Health Community.com (FHC) is a Website currently under construction.

The Company competes with Green Smoke, NJOY. Eco and Blu.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  The marijuana field keeps sprouting small cap marijuana stocks like Primco Management Inc (OTCBB: PMCM), Medifirst Solutions Inc (OTCMKTS: MFST) and Modern Mobility Aids, Inc (OTCMKTS: MDRM) which are all trying to seek a high by playing up their connections (no matter how tenuous�� to what many consider to be the next high flying sector. But are these small cap marijuana stocks just blowing smoke at investors? Here is a quick reality check:

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Textura Corp (TXTR)

Textura Corporation, incorporated on September 27, 2007, is a provider of on-demand business collaboration software to the commercial construction industry. The Company�� solutions are focused on facilitating collaboration between owners/developers, general contractors and subcontractors. The Company offers PlanSwift, a take-off and estimating solution used in preparing construction bids, and Contractor Default Claims Management, which supports the process of documenting a subcontractor default insurance claim. Each of its collaboration solutions was designed from inception as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with on-demand architecture. The Company collaboration solutions each use a single code base and it do not customize its solutions for any of the Company�� clients. In December 2013, Textura Corp closed its acquisition of LATISTA Technologies Inc, the provider of mobile-enabled solutions for construction project collaboration.

The Company�� collaboration solutions offer functionality, data sharing and exchange capabilities, and workflow tools that support several business processes at various stages of the construction project lifecycle, which include Construction Payment Management (CPM) enables the generation, collection, review and routing of invoices and the necessary supporting documentation and legal documents, and initiation of payment of invoices; Submittal Exchange enables the collection, review and routing of project documents; GradeBeam supports the process of obtaining construction bids, including identifying potential bidders, issuing invitations-to-bid and tracking bidding intent; Pre-Qualification Management (PQM) supports contractor risk assessment and qualification, and Greengrade facilitates the management of environmental certification processes. The Company�� on-demand business collaboration software solutions address the several challenges associated with the traditional paper-based and personnel-intensive manual approaches or with technology solut! ions not designed for collaborative processes, and support many of the trends occurring within the commercial construction industry.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap construction software stock Textura Corp (NYSE: TXTR) has been all over the place lately, meaning it might be time to take a look at it along with other small cap or mid cap construction, design or real estate software stocks like RealPage, Inc (NASDAQ: RP) and more well known Autodesk, Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK). After all, enterprise software stocks like these would offer a more indirect way to bet on a housing or construction ��ecovery,���ust like building materials stocks; plus earlier this summer,�a benchmark global study (sponsored by Textura Corp) called Global Construction 2025 predicted that the global construction market will grow by more than 70% to reach $15 trillion by 2025.�

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Textura Corp. (NYSE: TXTR) was reiterated as Outperform along with a $50 price target at Credit Suisse. The firm said that a negative report from Citron on the company last week that knocked about 20% of its value off has created as buying opportunity. Credit Suisse believes the report is untrue. It said the report was full of profanity and that it sees no merits to any of the work, with the report alluding to incorrect innuendos and false assumptions that suggested management misled investors. After shares saw a more than a 5% gain to $29.54 on Friday, the post-IPO range is $19.68 to $47.25.

Top 10 Sliver Companies For 2014: Endeavour International Corp (END)

Endeavour International Corporation (Endeavour), incorporated on January 13, 2000, is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and acquisition of energy reserves in the United States and United Kingdom. The Company has three producing fields in the United Kingdom, including Alba, Bacchus and Bittern, as well as a number of development projects including Rochelle and Columbus. In the United States, the Company has production in the Haynesville and Marcellus, as well as two oil frontier plays in Colorado and Montana. As of December 31, 2012, Endeavour had proved reserves of 71,591 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas and 13,739 thousands of barrels (Mbbls) of crude oil for a combined 25.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE).

The North Sea is a resource area where it has a development project, producing properties and additional exploration licenses. During 2012, Alba production volumes were impacted by water handling issues. As of December 31, 2012, it held a 30% working interest in its Bacchus field asset, which is operated by Apache Corporation, who owns a 50% working interest. In April and July 2012, it achieved production from the first and second development wells, respectively, on the Bacchus field. The Company�� working interest in the Rochelle area is 44% and it is the operator of the field, which is comprised of Blocks 15/26b, 15/26c and 15/27. Its United States activity has targeted reserve and production growth in shale gas plays, including the Louisiana Haynesville and Pennsylvania Marcellus areas.

The Company is also targeting emerging oil-prone and liquids-rich plays, including the Montana Heath oil play and its new interests in the Colorado Niobrara area. The Company operates and controls the Marcellus assets while retaining a 50% position in its remaining producing Haynesville acreage. The Company has 19 Haynesville Units which held by production with an estimated over 80 remaining gross locations to be developed, dep! ending on development well spacing. The Company has interests in approximately 88,900 net acres in the emerging Heath Shale oil play in Montana, primarily in Rosebud and Garfield Counties.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Energy shares dropped by 0.26 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Endeavour International (NYSE: END) was down more than 5.6 percent, while Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) tumbled around 2.2 percent.