Pentagon Announces $110 Million in Defense Contracts Thursday

Top Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014

The Department of Defense had a slow day Thursday, announcing only five new defense contracts, with a combined value of only $109.5 million. Of these contracts, only two went to publicly traded defense contractors:

AECOM Government Services (NYSE: ACM  ) , whose National Security Programs unit was awarded a $10 million modification to a public relations contract with the U.S. Army. AECOM will provide U.S. Forces-Afghanistan with a capability to passively gather, analyze, and disseminate open source "atmospheric" information throughout the Afghanistan Combined Joint Operating Area. AECOM will assist with monitoring, tracking, and measuring local sentiment toward U.S. Forces-Afghanistan programs and policies, and will also provide professional advice and assistance on local social, religious, political, economic, and tribal matters, and communication strategies, and will finally assist with producing open source "atmospheric" information supporting Afghanistan-related strategic, operational, and tactical decision making. AECOM will provide these services through December 4, 2015. Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC  ) , whose Technology division won an $11.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee task order from the U.S. Navy under a previously awarded General Services Administration Alliant Multiple Award contract for information technology services. Jacobs will be providing various IT services to the Navy involving software development, engineering, and enterprise architectural compliance through January 2015. 

2014: The Year of Cost Controls

With the New Year just two days away, key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are about to kick in. Investors in the health care sector should pay careful heed.

On January 1, private coverage purchased through the state and federal health care exchanges will be taking effect, assuming consumers were able to navigate the bevy of technical glitches that plagued the federal system.

According to the Obama administration, more than 1.1 million people enrolled in coverage through the federal exchange site between October 1 and December 24, the last day that consumers could sign up and still receive coverage effective January 1.

That figure comes just shy of 1.2 million people the administration originally projected would sign up, but it also doesn’t include enrollment numbers from states that run their own exchanges or an estimate of how many Americans signed up for coverage under the expanded Medicaid program. That said, in early December the administration estimated that at least 803,000 people have been deemed eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program because of the ACA.

January 1 will also see the end of coverage restrictions based on pre-existing conditions as well as limiting how much insurers can boost coverage rates based on age, geography or tobacco use. Annual coverage limits will also come to an end.

The New Year also brings the individual mandate with it, though consumers have until March 31 (which is also the day open enrollment in the marketplaces ends) to have coverage in place before the penalties begin. Anyone without insurance by that date will face a fine of $95 or 1 percent of taxable income, whichever is higher, when they file their 2014 taxes. The penalty increases to $325 in 2015 and $695 by 2016.

Minimum coverage requirements, which were the driving factor behind the millions of policy cancellations a few months ago, are a! lso kicking in, forcing insurers to cover services such as hospitalization, pre- and post-natal care, mental health services and a whole host of others.

With the new rules now taking effect, we’ll finally begin seeing the steady ramp up in volume growth as a growing pool of insured patients enter the market with access to more services than before.

Unfortunately, though, some of those volume gains will be offset by cost control features of the ACA such as reimbursement pressures under both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and industry taxes such as those on medical devices and new fees. So the biggest open question in the health care industry for 2014 will be just how big of a boost it will get from the ACA.

As I’ve written on numerous occasions, I look for the deepened patient pool to result in a net gain for most health care companies regardless of cost control pressures. But I suspect those companies that have less exposure will be the top performers at least in the first half of the year.

Express Scripts (NSDQ: ESRX) is one of those companies that is largely immune from cost control measures and will most likely even benefit from them.

It’s the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the US, serving more than 150 million patients and covering more than a third of all the prescriptions written either through local pharmacies or through its own mail-order pharmacy.

Given the bargaining power the company enjoys by virtue of its sheer size, it benefits from keeping prescription costs down and encouraging the shift to greater utilization of generic drugs which widens the company’s profit margins.

Operating margins have already been increasing for the company, up by nearly 2 percent in the company’s most recent quarter alone, while revenue on an adjusted claim basis increased by 6.5 percent. Operating profit shot up 17.3 percent, as more than 80 percent of the prescriptions it handled were higher margin generics.

Despite ! that soli! d performance, shares are currently trading at just 0.6 times trailing 12-month sales while its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is just 13.8 compared to its 30.4 P/E on a trailing basis.

I’ve been covering the company for more than two years now, having first noticed it when it was in a pricing dispute with Walgreen Company (NYSE: WAG) and working to complete a merger with Medco Health Solutions but there were concerns that the government might scuttle the deal. I haven’t seen the company’s shares this cheaply valued since then and it’s entirely due to investor worries over the ACA.

With the ACA set-up to be more of a help than a hindrance to Express Scripts’ business model, the stock is a buy up to 78.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) will be another major beneficiary from both volume increases and cost controls.

It is the second-largest pharmaceutical company in India and a leading manufacturer of generic drugs. While nearly three quarters of the company’s revenues are sourced in India, its revenues here in North America grew by 43 percent in its second fiscal quarter of 2014.

That growth was almost entirely due to increased generics penetration, a trend that will only accelerate in 2014, particularly as Dr Reddy’s pushes into the biosimiliars market.

Biosimiliars are generic versions of biologic drugs such as Humira (a rheumatoid arthritis treatment) which are made from living microorganisms. About 150 biologic drugs are approved for use and many of them have lost patent protection over the past 18 months.

Dr Reddy’s is beginning to push into biosimiliars, taking on a European partner to begin marketing a biosimiliar drug in the region, a generic version of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade.

A successful entry there would bode well for the drug’s entry here in the US market, especially since the ACA created a streamlined process for a! pproving ! biosimiliar drugs shown to be essentially interchangeable with a biologic drug already approved by the FDA. The goal is to control costs in a class of drugs that are experiencing phenomenal growth, but which cost thousands of dollars per year largely due to the more complicated manufacturing processes.

With the ACA tailor made to encourage the growth of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, the stock is a buy up to 43.

Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Stocks Are Where It's At

Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you care about making money, stocks are still the only place to be, Jim Cramer told his"Mad Money" TV show viewers Monday, after another up day on Wall Street. Cramer said the bears are beginning to come out in droves, proclaiming that the top has arrived, but that simply isn't the case.

With the markets up 24% for the year, Cramer said, history remains on investors' side. Historically, markets that are up more than 20% going into November have only added to their gains. Stocks have been a great place to be since the lows of March 2009. Add to that a steaming hot IPO market, and the effectively nonexistent yield from all other forms of investments and it's easy to see why stocks remain the place to be.

There are no real alternatives to stocks, Cramer continued, and with the S&P 500 trading at just 14.7 times forward earnings, stocks really aren't that expensive either. Some sectors, like biotech, continue to rally with names like Celgene (CELG), Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Regeneron (REGN) continuing to shine. Yes, there are some stocks, like the newly minted Twitter (TWTR), that ARE wildly expensive, but that doesn't apply to the market at large. The analysts who are calling for a top in the market are those who never had any conviction in the rally to begin with, Cramer said, but in reality, stocks remain the only game in town. Executive Decision: Dave Melcher In the "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Dave Melcher, president and CEO of Exelis (XLS), the defense contractor that's seen its shares rise 66% since Cramer last checked in back in September 2012. Despite the ongoing sequester, shares of Exelis still offer a 2.6% yield. Melcher started off commenting on Veterans Day, noting that veterans are the fabric of America and offer many talents to the companies who hire them. Nearly 10% of Exelis' workforce are veterans, he said, adding that hiring vets is just "the right thing to do." Turning to the business of Exelis, Melcher said that while his company can't control the top line given the continued budgets cuts, it does have control of the bottom line, which is why it has been cutting costs and reducing head counts where to bolster earnings.

Exelis has many growth areas, Melcher said, including internationally, where the company derives 10% of its revenues. The demand for Exelis' night vision, radio and networking equipment all remains strong. Additionally, aerospace remains in secular growth mode, and Exelis continues to be a big supplier to Boeing (BA).

Cramer said that companies like Exelis continue to prove that execution matters, even in the face of continuing budget cuts. Priceline.com in Spotlight

Don't freak out over its price tag, shares of Priceline.com (PCLN) are worth every penny, Cramer told viewers, as he highlighted the travel Web site that's given investors a 1,909% return over the past five years, 77% of which came from this year alone.

Cramer called Priceline THE growth stock to own going into the end of the year, as it currently trades for just 19 times earnings despite a 20% growth rate. He reminded viewers that money managers will pay up to twice a company's growth rate, or 40 times earnings, for a stock like Priceline, which is why the stock is incredibly cheap at its current valuation. While its true that Priceline has been rallying for years, Cramer said the company remains the best of breed playing in a secular growth industry. The company has a big exposure to Europe, which is finally taking a turn for the better, and it also derives 75% of its revenues from lucrative hotel bookings and far less from cut-throat airline reservations. Priceline also uses an agency model, acting as a broker between buyers and sellers, taking a 15% to 20% cut of the transaction fee. That makes it a far safer bet than its peers, Cramer said, especially given its scale. Priceline also snapped up Kayak, making it a big player in the fast-growing mobile bookings space. Given the company's huge cash flows, which afford it lots of options for buybacks, dividends and future acquisitions, Cramer said that Priceline should be on everyone's wish list this year. While some fretted over the companies' recent guidance, Cramer reminded viewers that Priceline is renowned for its tepid guidance, which explains the stock's $100 swing from its post-earnings selloff to its close the following day.

Lightning Round

In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Pharmacyclics (PCYC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Cheniere Energy (LNG), Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP), Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT), Columbia Banking System (COLB) and Apple (AAPL).

Cramer was bearish on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA), Windstream (WIN) and Weatherford International (WFT). Executive Decision: Gregg Engles

For his second "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer sat down with Gregg Engles, chairman and CEO of WhiteWave Foods (WWAV), which today delivered a penny-a-share earnings beat on better-than-expected revenues and increased margins, which caused management to raise the low end of their estimates, sending shares to a 52-week high. Shares of WhiteWave are up 10% since Cramer last spoke with Engles just three months ago. Engles said WhiteWave's non-dairy products are increasingly in demand as consumers are looking for healthy nutrition with fewer calories. Such items as almond and soy milks have lots of room to grow given the overall size of the dairy market. Fortunately for WhiteWave, the economics of almond and soy products is far better than that of traditional dairy, affording the company far higher margins. Additionally, Engles noted that WhiteWave is still a small company and is leveraging its cost structure as sales continue to grow, adding to its bottom line. WhiteWave is also in the process of selling one of its larger farms, which produces 5% of its organic milk. Engles explained that the farm is no longer an area of expertise for WhiteWave, so the capital will be better used elsewhere. Cramer said that WhiteWave remains a terrific story. No Huddle Offense In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer weighed in on DineEquity (DIN), purveyors of the Applebee's and IHOP restaurant chains, which continues to only receive a lukewarm reception from Wall Street. Cramer said its clear that the analysts continue to struggle with DineEquity. While the company continues to cut costs, bolster average ticket prices and keep its brands fresh, Wall Street remains unimpressed, raising price targets only when the old targets have been overrun. Cramer said that with a 3.75% yield, it's clear that DineEquity is doing something right, but that just creates an opportunity for investors to get in before the analysts finally wake up and recommend the stick at higher levels.

To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC.

To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here.

-- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C.

To email Scott about this article, click here: Scott Rutt Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottRutt or get updates on Facebook, ScottRuttDC

At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS was long AAPL, JNJ. Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC Universal or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money." None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.

SEC moves toward allowing crowdfunding IPOs

Up until now, crowdfunding has just been a way for consumers to give money to inventors concocting newfangled things ranging from Big Wheel bikes for grown-up and smartphones. But soon, it could become a way to actually invest in those companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to propose rules that, for the first time, would allow investors to buy stock in companies over the Internet using a crowdfunding exchange. These rules could reinvent the way that companies raise money by allowing them to bypass the traditional costs of going public, which usually involved hiring costly investment bankers and accountants.

The SEC's vote on so-called equity crowdfunding is in direct response to Title III of the JOBS Act, passed last year, in which Congress is looking for a loophole to allow smaller companies to get an exemption from the strict rules controlling the sale of securities to individuals. Congress is hoping that by using Internet crowdfunding, small and promising companies could gather capital needed to grow and expand from a wide pool of investors. These companies could, in theory, raise money they need to grow well before they could afford the relatively high costs of a traditional initial public offering.

The rules would create a new financial entity, called a funding portal, which would be a Web site that would electronically connect investors with young companies looking to raise money. The SEC's approval is needed since such sites are banned today in order to protect investors. Currently, such Web sites would need to be registered with the SEC as a broker, giving the SEC power to oversee the entity. Furthermore, such private sales could only be offered to "accredited investors," or wealth investors savvy enough to know the risks.

With the new rules, the SEC is looking to open the concept of crowdfunding to the public, while still offering investor protection. The new elements of the rules would cap any company's ability to raise money through crowdfu! nding to $1 million every 12 months. Investors on the other hand would only be permitted to invest the greater of $2,000 or 5% of their annual income or net worth every 12 months, as long as their net income or annual income is less than $100,000. For investors with net income or annual income of $100,000 or more, investors would be able to invest 10% of that amount every twelve month period in crowdfunding opportunities. Securities bought through portals would have to be held a year before sold.

The companies selling stock through portals would also face restrictions. Companies would have to disclose details on any investors or officers owning 20% or more of the company. Financial statements of the company's operating history plus a tax return, not to mention details about certain financial dealings between officers and outside companies would need to be disclosed.

Even after the SEC vote, equity crowdfunding doesn't become a reality. There will be a 90-day period for the public to issue comments. The SEC will then review those comments and make a final determination.

The process of approving crowdfunding has taken much longer than most expected as the regulator balances the need to help companies raise capital, but protect investors from scams. Crowdfunding today is rife with examples of consumers donating money to entrepreneurs, only for those people to take the money without ever producing the product or service that was pitched.

5 Big Trades to Take Before the New Year

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Three more days -- that's how much time stands in between this morning's open and the final trading session of 2013.

It would take a pretty active three days to derail what's been a spectacular year for stock investors. Since the calendar flipped over to January, the S&P 500 has rallied more than 29%, climbing to new all-time highs in spite of a real lack of participation in among retail investors. And if yesterday's trading is any indication, a Santa Claus rally looks likely to tack on some extra gains before the first trade of 2014.

That's why we're taking a closer technical look at five year-end trades to take this week.

If you're new to technical analysis, here's the executive summary.

Technicals are a study of the market itself. Since the market is ultimately the only mechanism that determines a stock's price, technical analysis is a valuable tool even in the roughest of trading conditions. Technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms, and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And research shows that skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.

Every week, I take an in-depth look at big names that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at five high-volume stocks to trade this week.

Bally Technologies

It may seem like a sort of unlikely choice, but mid-cap gambling device designer Bally Technologies (BYI) is topping off our list today. Bally is capping off a stellar run in 2013, after rallying more than 72% since the start of the year. But don't worry if you missed the move; the technicals point to even higher ground in the short-term.

That's because Bally is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish price setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as BYI bounced between those two technical price levels, it's been getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above resistance. The breakout happened just before Christmas, and it's giving us a buy signal this week.

Momentum adds some extra confidence to the setup in BYI: 14-day RSI has been trending higher since early October, an indication that buyers have been piling in at an increasing rate as the pattern developed. If you decide to jump in here, I'd recommend putting a protective stop at the 50-day moving average.

Stericycle

We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of Stericycle (SRCL), but with one big difference: This stock hasn't broken out yet. Stericycle is another ascending triangle pattern, in this case with a resistance level at $120. A breakout above that $120 price ceiling is the signal that it's time to take this trade.

Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of buyers and sellers. Triangles and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

That $120 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

Don't be early on the SRCL trade.

Ansys

$8 billion engineering simulation software maker Ansys (ANSS) is looking tradable too after spending most of the last five months in a sideways slump. Even though ANSS' price action hasn't exactly shown outstanding momentum, the bias is definitely on the side of sellers right now. Here's why.

Ansys is currently forming a rectangle pattern, a consolidation setup that's formed by a pair of horizontal price levels that basically "box in" shares of the stock. In Ansys, the rectangle is formed by resistance above shares at $90 and support down at $84. The breakout signal works just like the ones in BYI and SRCL – a move through the $90 level is the buy signal for shares of Ansys.

Strictly speaking, a move through $84 support is just as strong of a sell signal as the move through $90 is to buy. But the moves leading up to the rectangle pattern have a lot to say about how these setups typically resolve. Since ANSS started consolidating after a move up, a bullish breakout is the likelier outcome here. Either way, don't try to predict what's going to happen in shares; just be ready to react to it.

Apple

I've been a big fan of Apple (AAPL) for while now -- I own shares too. I'm happy to report that, from a technical standpoint, Apple couldn't look much better than it does now. And you don't have to be some kind of expert technical analyst to see why.

Apple is currently forming an uptrending channel, a setup formed by a pair of parallel trendlines. When it comes to price channels, up is good and down is bad; it's as simple as that. Shares have bounced higher on each of the last four tests of trendline support, and so, with the most recent bounce just a couple sessions ago, now's a pretty good time to be a buyer once again.

Relative strength (not to be confused with RSI, the momentum gauge we looked at earlier) continues to look exemplary for Apple right now. With a market that's teetering on new highs as I write, relative strength remains the single most important technical indicator to add to your toolbox right now. It speaks volumes that Apple's RS line is still in bull mode.

The 50-day moving average has been a pretty good proxy for support for the last few months, so short-term traders may want to consider putting a protective stop just below it.

Honeywell

Last up is Honeywell (HON), another basic channel trade to watch right now.

Honeywell has been forming a picture-perfect uptrending channel since back in February, bouncing higher off of each of the last seven tests of support. More bounces indicate more buying pressure below the trendline, and that's a very good thing for anyone who owns HON right now.

While shares of Honeywell are a fair bit off of trendline support right now, it still makes sense to wait for the next return to the lower bound of the channel. Then, buy the bounce.

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). Remember, all trend lines do eventually break, but by actually waiting for the bounce to happen first, we're ensuring HON can actually still catch a bid along that line.

Hot Energy Companies To Buy Right Now

To see this week's trades in action, check out this week's Must-See Charts portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

 

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>>4 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume

 

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>>5 Dividend Stocks Ready to Pay You More in 2014

 

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

 

At the time of publication, author was long AAPL.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

 

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

 

[video] Quick Take: The Week Ahead

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- This is a an important week with the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. TheStreet's Brittany Umar, Andrew Krill and Lindsey Bell break down what to watch for this week.

On Tuesday, the two-day FOMC meeting begins and the Fed will determine whether it will reduce its $85 billion per month bond-buying stimulus plan. Krill added that he's looking for a small cut to the tune of $5 billion to $10 billion per month.

Also on Tuesday are Adobe's (ADBE) earnings report and analyst meetings for Salesforce.com (CRM) and Cummins (CMI).

On Wednesday morning, housing starts data will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and earnings reports from FedEx (FDX) and General Mills (GIS) will come before the open. Oracle (ORCL) will report earnings after the close and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) has an analyst meeting. Pier 1 Imports (PIR), Rite Aid (RAD) and ConAgra Foods (CAG) all report earnings before the open, and Microsoft (MSFT) has an analyst meeting. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks For 2014

The second largest US telecom provider AT&T (T) posted strong third quarter earnings for the fiscal on October 23. The carrier recorded strong postpaid net additions with improved profitability margins despite increasing competition from smaller national carriers T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S). So what were the revenue and profit figures for the quarter?

A Brief Glance at the Quarter

The revenue of the Dallas-based company increased 2.2% to $32.16 billion for the quarter. The rise in revenue is primarily attributable to the solid 18% boost in the wireless data revenue of the company. The carrier recorded the addition of 363,000 new postpaid customers on its network during the quarter, which is over twice the number of additions it recorded in the last year quarter.

The third quarter revenue of the telecom giant rose 4.9%. The company reported profit of $3.81 billion up from $3.64 billion a year earlier. The average revenue per user also increased 1.5% year over year, thanks to the wide 4G LTE coverage and rising usage of smartphones. Increase in smartphone penetration helped the company increase the ARPU. As smartphone users consume huge data and account twice the revenue of non smartphone subscribers, AT&T greatly benefited as several subscribers shifted to smartphones. About 89% of postpaid sales came from smartphone users during the quarter.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks For 2014: Capstone Therapeutics Corp(CAPS)

Capstone Therapeutics Corp., a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic peptides and other molecules for helping patients with under-served medical conditions. The company focuses on the development and commercialization of two product platforms, AZX100 and Chrysalin. Its product AZX100 includes a novel synthetic 24-amino acid peptide, a class of compounds in the field of smooth muscle relaxation and fibrosis. The company involves in evaluating AZX100 for various medical applications, such as the prevention or reduction of hypertrophic and keloid scarring, treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, and vascular intimal hyperplasia. It also engages in developing Chrysalin, a novel synthetic 23-amino acid peptide for disorders that involve vascular endothelial dysfunction, including acute myocardial infarction and chronic myocardial ischemia. Capstone Therapeutics owns worldwide rights to AZX100 and Chrysalin. The company was formerly known as OrthoLogic Corp. and changed its name to Capstone Therapeutics Corp. in May 2010. Capstone Therapeutics Corp. was founded in 1987 and is based in Tempe, Arizona.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks For 2014: Homeland Enrgy Group Ltd(HEG.TO)

Homeland Energy Group Ltd. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties. The company owns a portfolio of mineral property assets or rights; and engages in mining coal and producing thermal quality coal products for use in the power generation, and cement and brick-end products industries in South Africa, as well as exports to international markets for energy production. It holds a 74% interest in the Kendal Colliery located in the west-central region of the Witbank Coalfield; a 50% interest in the Eloff mineral property located in the province of Mpumalanga; and a 100% interest in the Northfield site reclamation project located in Kwa-Zulu Natal Province in South Africa. The company, through its holdings in Homeland Energy Corp., also engages in the exploration and development of uranium projects in Niger and the United States. Homeland Energy Group Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Top 10 Cheap Companies To Own For 2014: Midland Exploration Inc(MD.V)

Midland Exploration Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and mining of mineral properties in Canada. It primarily explores for gold, zinc, uranium, base metal, and rare earth elements in Quebec. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks For 2014: Helphire Group(HHR.L)

Helphire Group plc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of non-fault accident management assistance and related services in the United Kingdom. It offers replacement hire vehicles, vehicle repair management solutions, full claims handling assistance, uninsured loss recovery, personal injury management, and intervention services, as well as a host of bespoke services. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Bath, the United Kingdom.

Top 5 Heal Care Stocks For 2014: Columbus Energy Limited (CEL.V)

Columbus Energy Limited, an exploration-stage Company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties located in Canada and Italy. The company was formerly known as Golden Dynasty Resources Ltd. and changed its name to Columbus Energy Limited in September 2008. Columbus Energy Limited is based in Vancouver, Canada.

FedEx Profit Miss Doesn’t Mean FDX Stock Is Off Course

Popular Posts: The Top 10 S&P 500 Dividend Stocks for December4 Best Medical Marijuana Stocks to Buy NowMergers and Acquisitions — The 10 Biggest Deals of 2013 Recent Posts: FedEx Profit Miss Doesn’t Mean FDX Stock Is Off Course Buy Icahn Enterprises to Play Apple Stock with Less Risk The 3 Most Exciting Stocks of 2013 View All Posts

FedEx (FDX) ships so much stuff for so many industries in so many countries that the company (and to an extent, FDX stock itself) is rightly seen as a bellwether for the global economy.

Unfortunately, when it comes to telling us what’s going on in the world, quarterly results at FedEx are stuck on repeat.

For a long time now, the message from FDX has been the same: Global economic growth is uneven and sluggish. At best.

FedEx has been dealing with the low-demand landscape through cost cuts and price hikes — and, for the most part, it has done admirably well.

However, with more shippers foregoing FedEx’s premium air-shipping services (they’re literally opting to take the slow boat from China), FDX has had little choice but to take planes out of service and raise some rates.

The result is that management has gained enough credibility in navigating sluggish global growth that even the latest disappointing quarterly report didn’t slam FDX stock.

FedEx: A Stock That Delivers

FedEx earnings for the fiscal second quarter actually missed Wall Street’s estimate by a fairly wide margin. Although FDX earned $500 million, or $1.57 a share, compared with $438 million, or $1.39, in last year’s second quarter, EPS missed analysts’ average forecast by 7 cents.

Slower volume expansion in the ground shipping business was likely to blame, even as last year’s Hurricane Sandy made for easier comparisons.

FedEx stock dived at the open, but soon recovered. And well that it should. The market knows that global growth stinks and that’s going to continue to weigh on FedEx — and cause some volatility for FDX stock — for a while. However, more important is how FedEx and its cost structure is positioned for an eventual pickup in growth. And on that count, management has indeed done its job, setting up FDX stock for outperformance over the longer term.

FedEx’s operating margin — an indicator of cost control — rose significantly for the quarter. And in more evidence that FDX is on the right track, FedEx raised its full-year outlook. Once the market digested that news, FDX stock was essentially unchanged in midday trading.

As we’ve noted before, FedEx management is doing a good job guiding FDX through a prolonged period of anemic global growth. Eventually, you figure Europe, Asia and emerging markets will start to pick up. (We've already seen some improvement in Europe.)

Add in the benefits of a multiyear cost-cutting program and FedEx share repurchases, and FDX stock should continue to deliver market-beating returns in the long run.

As of this writing, Dan Burrows did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014

Jim Fink, editor of Roadrunner Stocks, highlights a trio of small cap favorites; he also explains a conservative income strategy using put spreads.

Steve Halpern: We are here today with Jim Fink, Editor of Roadrunner Stocks. How are you doing, Jim?

Jim Fink: I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Steve Halpern: First, let's start with your stock market outlook. You recently pointed out that the current bull market is now the sixth longest of the past 113 years. Do you expect this trend to continue, or is it time for a correction?

Jim Fink: Well, sixth longest means there are five longer, and so, it definitely can go longer. I think it will go longer in the intermediate term, but in the short-term, I think a correction is becoming more likely.

It just seems that with the troubles in Washington, with the government shutdown, the October 17 deadline for a debt ceiling extension, there's a lot of potential conflict coming down the line over the next two to four weeks.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014: OmniVision Technologies Inc.(OVTI)

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets semiconductor image-sensor devices. The company offers CameraChip image sensors, which are single-chip solutions that integrate various functions, such as image capture, image processing, color processing, signal conversion, and output of a processed image or video stream for use in various consumer and commercial mass-market applications; and CameraCube imaging devices that are image sensors with integrated wafer-level optics. It also provides companion chips used to connect its image sensors to various interfaces, including the universal serial bus and other industry standard interfaces; and companion digital signal processors that perform compression in standardized still photo and digital video formats. In addition, the company designs and develops software drivers for Linux, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows, as well as for embedded operating systems, such as Blackberry OS, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows CE, Windows Embedded, and Windows Mobile. Its products are used in mobile phones, notebooks, Webcams, digital still and video cameras, commercial and security and surveillance, and automotive and medical applications, as well as in entertainment devices. The company sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers, as well as indirectly through distributors worldwide. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of image sensor specialist OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) spiked 19% today after its quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

Best Blue Chip Stocks To Buy For 2014: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul McWilliams]

  Paul McWilliams: Oh, absolutely. Another company that most investors probably have never heard of is a tiny little Israeli semiconductor company named EZChip (EZCH).

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of EZchip (NASDAQ: EZCH  ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $15.3 million, topping the Street's forecast of $15.1 million. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.23, which was right on target with expectations.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) was also up, gaining 7.16 percent to $24.11 after a Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced a new product that would not threaten the company as previously thought. Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) were down 16.05 percent to $9.91 after the company lowered its Q3 forecast.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Invest In 2014: InterDigital Inc.(IDCC)

Interdigital, Inc. engages in the design and development of digital wireless technology solutions. The company offers technology solutions for use in digital cellular and wireless products and networks, including 2G, 3G, 4G, and IEEE 802-related products and networks. It holds patents related to the fundamental technologies that enable wireless communications. The company licenses its patents to equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular and IEEE 802-related products; and licenses or sells mobile broadband modem solutions, including modem IP, know-how, and reference platforms to mobile device manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and other equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular products. InterDigital?s solutions are incorporated in various products comprising mobile devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, notebook computers, and wireless personal digital assistants; wireless infrastructure equipment, such as base stations; and components, dongles, and modules for wireless devices. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  InterDigital (NASDAQ: IDCC  ) is about to raise its global profile following an international patent licensing deal. The company announced that it has entered an agreement with Spain-based Teltronic Unipersonal for the latter to license a set of its 4G technologies. The terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of InterDigital (NASDAQ: IDCC  ) have gotten crushed today by as much as 20% after the company lost a patent suit against several smartphone makers.

Surveying the Latest News from Small Cap Security and Surveillance Stocks (OSIS, VIMC, ALOG, LOCK & VSYM)

Small cap security and surveillance stocks OSI Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: OSIS), Vimicro International Corporation (NASDAQ: VIMC), Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ: ALOG), Lifelock Inc (NYSE: LOCK) and View Systems Inc (OTCBB: VSYM) have been producing a steady flow of news lately that investors might want to take a closer look at. After all, the whole security and surveillance industry is pretty vast as it would include everything from airport scanners to security cameras to software securing everyone's personal or online data. With that in mind, here is a look at the latest news from important small cap security and surveillance stocks:

OSI Systems Looses a Key TSA Contract Over Chinese Made Parts. On Thursday December 5th, small cap OSI Systems, a vertically integrated designer and manufacturer of specialized electronic systems and components, announced that its security division, Rapiscan Systems, was notified by the TSA that a delivery order placed with Rapiscan on September 26, 2013 for Advanced Technology X-Ray (AT-2) based systems was being terminated for default. OSI Systems has since de-booked this order valued at approximately $60 million. According to subsequent media reports, the baggage-screening equipment contained an unapproved part or parts manufactured in China and the TSA is seeking to ban Rapiscan Systems from future TSA contracts. One has to wonder just how that managed to happen – whether it was a screw-up at OSI Systems' end, the TSA's end or at both ends. Its also triggered a number of shareholder lawsuits because OSI Systems' security division, which includes the TSA work, generated 46% of the company's revenue in the last fiscal year. OSI Systems is down 20.9% since the start of the year but up 291.7% over the past five years.

Vimicro International Corporation Announces a Big Order. Earlier this week, small cap Vimicro International Corporation, a leading Chinese video processing IC and surveillance solution provider, announced that its subsidiary Shanxi Zhongtianxin Science and Technology Co., Ltd. had received an order for a SVAC (Surveillance Video and Audio Coding)-based technology solution worth nearly $41 million where Vimicro will receive approximately $16 million. Basically, the Baoding Public Security Bureau will install a city-wide SVAC-based surveillance network project in Baoding city in Hebei province. The network will monitor for security, surveillance and traffic monitoring and consist of several thousand video surveillance stations with deployment beginning in the fourth quarter of 2013. The deal is worth noting because Vimicro International Corporation has reported revenues of $14.865M (3 months ending 2013-09-30), $17.315M (3 months ending 2013-06-30) and $15.888M (3 months ending 2013-03-31) for the first three quarters of this year plus net income of $2.170M (3 months ending 2013-09-30), $2.731M (3 months ending 2013-06-30) and $2.206M (3 months ending 2013-03-31). Vimicro International Corporation is up 49.2% since the start of the year and down 5.2% over the past five years.

Analogic Corporation Presents at an Investment Conference and Reports Earnings. Mike Levitz, senior vice president and CFO of small cap Analogic Corporation, a healthcare and security technology solutions provider, presented at the Imperial Capital Security Investor Conference yesterday at 2:15 pm ET. Investors can listen to the webcast here on Analogic Corporation's investor relations website. In addition and last Monday, Analogic Corporation reported that first quarter revenue fell 8% to $110.1 million as strong double-digit growth in direct Ultrasound and Security was offset by timing in Medical Imaging and planned lower OEM Ultrasound probe sales. The company's GAAP net loss for the first quarter was $3.8 million, or ($0.30) per diluted share, verses net income of $4.4 million, or $0.35 per diluted share. Analogic Corporation is up 15% since the start of the year and up 175% over the past five years.

Lifelock Inc. Yesterday, small cap Lifelock Inc, a leading provider of identity theft protection services for consumers and identity risk and credit worthiness assessment services for enterprises, announced the acquisition of mobile wallet innovator Lemon for approximately $42.6 million in cash plus LifeLock has agreed to issue equity customary for a transaction of this size that will vest over the next three years. Apparently, the Lemon Wallet app which allows consumers to replicate and store a complete digital copy of their personal wallet contents in one location for records backup as well as mobile use of items including credit cards, identification, ATM, insurance and loyalty cards, has been downloaded more than 3.2 million times. Its should also be mentioned that CNBC's Jime Cramer recently described Lifelock Inc as having a broken IPO but not being a broken company as its now up 97.2% since the start of the year and up 119% since October 2012. 

View Systems Inc. A manufacturer and installer of weapons detection identification systems, video management platforms and tele-data communication networks, View Systems' security products are used by correctional facilities, schools, courthouses, government agencies, event and sports venues and commercial businesses. View Systems' most important security products Include: The ViewScan, a walkthrough concealed weapons detector (CWD) that uses advanced magnetics technology to visually locate threat objects like hidden razor blades and cellular phones, but not common objects such as coins, keys and belt buckles so that false alarms that slow down security checkpoints can be eliminated. The Visual First Responder, a first response remote video transmission system that can be utilized in areas where hazardous materials have been exposed plus its small enough to be worn on a belt, helmet or vest (or even by K-9 teams) while it transmits conventional video or infrared imagery to a command post. Its considered ideal for law enforcement SWAT teams, Fire Rescue units and HAZMAT team operations.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own For 2014

Last Summer, View Systems had issued a press release saying they are rapidly regaining traction in foreign markets for security systems and that the company has a partnership with Brazil based Armorin, LLC to penetrate the Brazilian market (along with the rest of South America) as imported electronic security equipment there was worth an estimated $1.5 billion as of 2011 while the value of locally manufactured equipment was estimated to be worth $1.5 billion. Moreover, over a dozen installations made in Bangladesh late last year have apparently been very well received by the government and local security organizations to the point where the company is looking for someone to distribute its products in the South Asia and Middle East regions. View Systems has also recently signed an agreement with a distributor in West Africa. Finally, View Systems has recently received new orders for its ViewScan from the State of Maryland, the Detroit School System Department of Corrections of Connecticut, Milwaukee and the Dodge City Kansas Community College.

Volkswagen replaces U.S. chief after sales dip

After a year of disappointing sales, Volkswagen has replaced the head of its U.S. sales operation.

Jonathan Browning has been replaced as CEO of Volkswagen Group of America with Michael Horn, most recently head of the brand's after-sales division and the former head of VW in Europe, according to the Associated Press.

VW says Browning is leaving "for personal reasons and returning to the U.K." And it's a shame, because Browning has always come across as a nice, smart guy in a tough business.

But the sales numbers this year have been undeniable: Volkwagen Group, comprising VW, Audi and Bentley, has seen its sales dip 0.6% through the first 11 months of the year compared to last year, according to Autodata. That alone might not sound like a terrible record unless it is weighed against overall industry sales in the U.S. that have risen 8.4% over the same period.

The VW brand alone is down more than 5% while its top Japanese rivals are up.

Also, there were VW's lofty predictions. At one point, VW was predicting it would boost its sales volume in the U.S. from 324,400 in 2011 to 800,000 by 2018. As of last month, it had 517,886 for the year, Autodata says.

Last year, Browning told the Detroit Free Press: "We need a core of products to drive our volume."

VW successfully introduced a new Passat sedan that sold at a lower price and was aimed at making the brand a bigger player in the midsize segment.

Can AT&T Break Out Of Its Range?

With shares of AT&T (NYSE:T) trading around $34, is T an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

AT&T is a provider of telecommunications services in the United States and worldwide. Services offered include wireless communications, local exchange services, and long-distance services. AT&T operates in four segments: Wireless, Wireline, Advertising Solutions, and Other. The communications products offered through AT&T's segments reach audiences using just about every widely adopted medium: Internet, voice, television, and mobile. As consumers continue to adopt this technology, providers like AT&T stand to see rising profits.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson complained about the high cost of smartphone subsidies at an investor conference in New York, saying that the days of wireless carriers subsidizing the price of expensive smartphones will soon be over as smartphone penetration inches closer to 100 percent. "When you're growing the business initially, you have to do aggressive device subsidies to get people on the network," Stephen said, according to a report from CNET. "But as you approach 90 percent penetration, you move into maintenance mode. That means more device upgrades. And the model has to change. You can't afford to subsidize devices like that."

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

AT&T stock has been range-bound over the past couple of years. The stock s currently trading sideways and looks set to continue. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, AT&T is trading beow its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of AT&T options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
AT&T options	20.35%	96%	94%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
December Options	Steep	Average
January Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on AT&T’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for AT&T look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	7.58%	11.67%	-39.59%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	N/A	1.58%	-1.46%	0.23%
Earnings Reaction	-1.84%	-1.14%	-5.02%	0.80%

AT&T has seen increasing earnings and revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been pleased with AT&T’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has AT&T stock done relative to its peers, Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Sprint (NYSE:S), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), and sector?

	AT&T	Verizon	Sprint	T-Mobile US	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-8.06%	-7.49%	44.32%	48.47%	20.31%

AT&T has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

AT&T is a communications and entertainment company that operates around the world. The company’s CEO Randall Stephenson complained about the high cost of smartphone subsidies at an investor conference in New York, saying that the days of wireless carriers subsidizing the price of expensive smartphones will soon be over as smartphone penetration inches closer to 100 percent. The stock has been consolidating in recent years and is now trading sideways. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been increasing, which has left investors pleased with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, AT&T has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what AT&T does next.

Top Dow Stocks of the Day

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

After a number of economic data points were released this morning, the major indexes had a wonderful day and gained back the majority of what they had lost during the first four trading days this past week. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) closed higher by 198 points, or 1.26%, while the S&P 500 finished the session up 1.12% and the Nasdaq increased by 0.73% and actually managed to be the only one of the three to finish the first week of December in the green.

The major economic reports that caused those moves were the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index, which rose from 75.1 in November to a preliminary December reading of 82.5; the unemployment rate, which fell to 7% in November from 7.3% in October; and the big one that caused the unemployment rate to fall, the jobs report for November, which indicated that 203,000 new positions were created in November, up from the 200,000 in October and much higher than the 180,000 economist had predicted. Furthermore, while these numbers were good, they weren't quite great, causing many investors to speculate that the Federal Reserve would not yet begin tapering at its December 17-18 meeting. Hence, good news all around and stocks rallied while bonds remained rather flat for the session.

With all the positive feelings floating around not a single one of the Dow's 30 components ended today's session in the red, which is not something that happens very often. Let's take a moment to look at the big winners of the day and why they outshined the competition.

Shares of Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) soared by 1.85% after Reuters reported that Air Canada was close to deciding whether to buy 60 of Boeings 737 Max's or the same number of planes from Airbus. Additionally, this week we have seen a number of different states begin to offer the company incentives to open a new factory inside their borders. These offers are certainly very enticing and could help it better control its costs for years to come.  

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) , which was the Dow's biggest gainer of the day, rose 2.31%. The move came after shares were upgraded at Citigroup from neutral to buy. The analyst believes that PC demand will stabilize in 2014 and that when it does, Intel's share price will benefit. The company gave guidance based on weakening demand for PCs in 2014, so if computer sales simply stop declining, the company will do better than expected. But as a number of my Foolish colleagues have pointed out today, Intel investors should be focusing more on what the company is doing in the mobile market, not how PCs are performing because that is where the real growth will be coming from in the future.  

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014

Another big Dow technology stock that realized large gains today was Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) . The stock rose 1.77% and, despite being one of the worst Dow performers of the year, was one of its best stocks today. Shares of the tech company are only up 8.3% year to date while the Dow itself has risen 22.25% in 2013. Furthermore, or perhaps because of the poor performance in 2013, analysts at Merrill Lynch put the stock on their list of top 10 stocks for 2014. The firm believes that although Cisco gave poor guidance for the coming year, it is a solid dividend grower in addition to its current 3.2% dividend yield and it has the ability to increase its global sales in the future.  

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This Year’s Best Performing Small Cap Specialty Retail Stocks? UNTD, TA & HZO

As we head towards Black Friday, small cap specialty retail stocks United Online, Inc (NASDAQ: UNTD), TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) and MarineMax, Inc (NYSE: HZO) have the distinction of being the best performing small cap specialty retail stocks for this year (according to Finviz.com) with gains of 181.2%, 123.8% and 71.8%, respectively. With those returns in mind, what are these small cap specialty retail stocks doing right and will the performance last through the all important holiday season? Here is what new and existing investors and traders alike need to know or consider:

United Online, Inc. A provider of consumer products and services over the Internet, United Online's Content & Media segment services are online nostalgia (Memory Lane) and online loyalty marketing (MyPoints) while its primary Communications segment services are Internet access and email (NetZero and Juno). The reason United Online is among the best performing specialty retail stocks for this year in various stock screening tools like Finviz.com is actually misleading as the company has just completed the spin off of subsidiary FTD Companies, a floral and gifts products company acquired in August 2008 for $441 million, as FTD Companies Inc (NASDAQ: FTD) where United Online shareholders received one share of FTD common stock for every five shares of United Online common stock they hold. In addition, United Online completed a one-for-seven reverse stock split of United Online shares. On Tuesday, small cap United Online, Inc fell 1.01% to $15.72 (UNTD has a 52 week trading range of $11.65 to $62.30 a share) for a market cap of $207.79 million plus the stock is up 181.2% since the start of the year and up 182.2% over the past five years. Meanwhile, the FTD Companies Inc now has a market cap of $611.60 and the stock is up almost 6% since October.

TravelCenters of America LLC. A leading travel center business in 42 states and Canada operating under the TA® and Petro Stopping Centers® brands, TravelCenters of America LLC has 248 full-service locations off interstate highway exits that offer diesel and gasoline fueling services, more than 500 full- and quick-service restaurants, 24-hour convenience stores, heavy truck maintenance services, RoadSquad Connect™ (24/7/365 emergency roadside service), Reserve-It™ (truck parking reservations) and many other services. Meaning if you are planning a road trip for Thanksgiving and other upcoming holidays, you might be stopping by one of their locations. About two weeks ago, TravelCenters of America LLC announced it had agreed to acquire 31 convenience stores with retail gasoline stations for $67 million with 28 of the locations being in Kentucky and 3 in Tennessee. In addition and earlier in the month, TravelCenters of America LLC jumped as much as 18% after a good earnings report where it reported a 1.4% revenue increase to $2.06 billion while net income decreased approximately 16.8% to $15.8 million mainly due to an increase in depreciation and amortization expense attributable to acquisitions and other capital investments (as in improvements to existing properties) plus related acquisition and financing costs. It was also noted that competitors had aggressively cut fuel prices to try and gain market share, but this tactic had abated somewhat in the third quarter verses the second. In addition, it was noted that an acquired travel center will reach stabilization in the third year of an acquisition, but this figure can vary widely between locations. On Tuesday, small cap TravelCenters of America LLC fell 0.85% to $10.52 (TA has a 52 week trading range of $4.18 to $12.50 a share) for a market cap of $311.07 million plus the stock is up 123.8% since the start of the year and up 709.2% over the past five years.

MarineMax, Inc. The nation's largest recreational boat and yacht retailer, MarineMax sells new and used recreational boats and related marine products and services as well as provides yacht brokerage and charter services at 54 retail locations around the country. I doubt many consumers will be buying a recreational boat or yacht for Black Friday or as a holiday stocking stuffer, but Bloomberg noted back in September that more Americans took to the water in new boats during the summer after buying smaller and less expensive models. In fact, purchases of powerboats (as in yachts, pontoons and fishing vessels) rose 18.9% in July from a year earlier while year-to-date sales were up 3.1%. Nevertheless, total expenditures on all new and used watercraft were still 23% below their 2007 peak according to the latest data available back in September. In addition and earlier this month, MarineMax reported a 9% fiscal fourth quarter revenue increase to $149.7 million while net income came in at  $5.2 million or $490,000 excluding income from the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Program verses a net loss of $1.6 million. Fiscal 2013 revenue increased 11% to $584.5 million while net income was $15.0 million or $3.3 million excluding income from the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Program verses net income of $1.1 million for fiscal 2012. The CEO also noted that "despite the uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment and a weaker than expected first half of the fiscal year, we ended the year with greater assurance that the boating industry is recovering." On Tuesday, small cap MarineMax rose 2.4% to $15.36 (HZO has a 52 week trading range of $7.46 to $16.95 a share) for a market cap of $372.59 million plus the stock is up 71.8% since the start of the year and up 497.7% over the past five years.

Finally, here is a look at the long term performance of all three small cap specialty retail stocks:

As you can see from the above chart, its been a bumpy performance for investors since the end of the financial crisis but those investors or traders who got in or out at the right time would have still made some money from these small cap specialty retail stocks.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014

Getting stuff from point A to point B has been going on for a long time; there's nothing really new to the concept here. Global shipping goliath United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS  ) has been doing a bang-up job of it for years -- since 1907, in fact, when the company was founded. Today, it's the world's largest package delivery company and in 2012 it was responsible for delivering 4.1 billion packages (16.3 million pieces per day) and brought in more than $54 billion in sales.

The chart below shows how UPS has performed over the last five years:

UPS Total Return Price�data by�YCharts.

Moat-ilicious
We often hear the word "moat" thrown around when we're looking at companies as potential investments. It was Warren Buffett who said: "In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable 'moats.'" Simply put, a moat is a company's competitive advantage and the wider and deeper it is, the tougher it is for other competitors to infringe upon it.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: United Silver Corp (USC)

United Silver Corp. (United Silver), formerly United Mining Group, Inc., is engaged primarily in providing mining and contracting services and the exploration and development of the Crescent Silver Mine (Crescent Mine). The Crescent Mine Project consists of 365 hectares (902 acres) and is located in northern Idaho. The Mine Services Division provides various mine services to mine owners, including underground and surface development and rehabilitation, contract mining, claim staking, and property reclamation. The Contracting Services Division provides construction and general contracting services to both public and private customers, including excavation, demolition, road construction, property remediation and reclamation, stream restoration, pond and dike construction, custom home building, and masonry. The Fabrication & Machine Services Division provides custom welding, machining, and fabrication services to mine owners, mine suppliers, and local customers.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: China Distance Education Holdings Ltd (DL)

China Distance Education Holdings Limited (CDEL), incorporated on January 11, 2008, offers a range of online education and test preparation courses and other related services and products. The Company operates and manages its business in the provision of online and offline education services and selling of related products. The Company�� online courses are designed to help professionals and other course participants obtain and maintain the skills, licenses and certifications necessary to pursue careers in China in the areas of accounting, law, healthcare, construction engineering and other industries. In addition, the Company also offers online foreign language courses. As of September 30, 2012, the Company operated 17 websites, including its main Website www.cdeledu.com and 16 other websites. The Company�� online courses feature audio-video lectures delivered through the Internet using streaming media and other Internet-based technologies, and are supplemented by textbooks, tutoring, online assignments and exercises, mock examinations, and other forms of learning activities and course-related support.

The Company sell books and reference materials through third-party bookstores and distributors across China, and, to a lesser extent, through its online bookstore and its offices in Beijing. In addition, it also offers offline business start-up training courses and in-person accounting and healthcare professional training to accounting firms and the general public. The Company provides course production services and platform production services for certain customers at their request.

Online Education Services

The Company offers online courses through its websites designed to help course participants obtain and maintain the skills, licenses and certifications necessary to pursue their careers and professions in China. Its online professional education courses cover a range of industries, including accounting, law, healthcare, construction engineering and! others. It also offers online test preparation courses to self-taught learners pursuing higher education diplomas or degrees and to secondary school and college students for various academic and entrance exams. Additionally, the Company offers online foreign language courses.

The Company�� courses feature audio-video lectures by experienced lecturers or practitioners within their respective fields delivered through a multimedia and interactive Web interface using streaming media and other Internet-based technologies. Its online lectures are supplemented by textbooks, tutoring, online assignments, exercises, mock examinations, and other forms of learning activities and course-related support. Course participants using different platforms, including smart phones, tablets or regular computers, are able to access its courses through the Internet at times and places convenient for them.

The Web page also provides hyperlinks allowing course participants to access other useful functions during the lecture. It also provides its course lectures in the form of downloadable media files that allow course participants to save copies of the lectures onto their own personal computers and to play them offline. The Company utilizes digital rights management, or digital rights management (DRM), technology to restrict the transfer and viewing of downloadable media files.

Professional Course Offerings

The Company�� professional course offerings include accounting Courses, legal courses, healthcare courses, construction engineering courses, online information technology courses and other professional education courses. The Company offer courses relating to China�� important nationwide legal examination, the National Judicial Examination. It offers courses relating to three nationwide healthcare exams: the National Practicing Medical Doctor Qualification Examination, the Healthcare Professional Technical Qualification Examination jointly administered by the Ministry! of Healt! h and the MOP and the National Pharmacist Qualification Examination administered by the MOP and the State Administration of Drug Supervision. It offers courses mainly relating to exams: Associate Constructor and Constructor Qualification Examinations, Construction Supervisor Qualification Examination, Construction Pricing Engineer Qualification Examination, Certified Safety Engineer Qualification Examination, Consulting Engineer Qualification Examination and Real Estate Appraiser Qualification Examination. The Company provides professional education courses in the areas of information technology, securities and various civil service positions.

Higher Education for Self-Taught Learners

The Company through its Website www.zikao365.com offers courses targeted at self-taught learners pursuing associate diplomas or bachelor�� degrees in various academic areas. They complete their self study and obtain government accredited diplomas or degrees by passing the Higher Education Examination for Self-Taught Learners administered by the MOE without having to enroll in and physically attend a traditional college or university. It offer test preparatory courses to help self-taught learners pass the requisite exams.

Academic Exam Preparation and Foreign Language Courses Study Courses

The Company through its Website www.cnedu.cn Website, the Company offer test preparation courses targeted at university students intending to take nationwide graduate school entrance exams in various disciplines administered by the MOE. It also operates websites focused on the secondary and college education market, foreign language study and other subjects. Its secondary education courses are designed to provide an online resource for secondary school course participants to prepare for these exams.

Other Products and Services

The Company sells books and reference materials relating to various professional courses and exam s! ubjects. ! To promote the use of its online courses, the Company also sells books and reference materials related to its courses such as the Elementary Level and Intermediate Level Accounting Professional Qualification Examination, the CPA Qualification Examination, the Registered Tax Agent Qualification Examination, the Certified Asset Appraiser Qualification Examination, the Accounting Professional Qualification Examination, accounting continuing education, the National Judicial Examination, the National Practicing Medical Doctor Qualification Examination, the Construction Supervisor Qualification Examination, the Constructor Qualification Examination, the Construction Pricing Engineer Qualification Examination, and the Intermediate Economist Qualification Examination.

The Company provides primary and secondary school supplementary tutoring services to students in a range of subject areas, such as Chinese, math and science. Students may attend offline courses taught by its in-person lecturers or view pre-recorded video courses on its Website at www.g12e.com. Its offline classes are available in Beijing and are subscribed during winter and summer breaks. It also provides course production services to certain customers on a contractual basis.

Regular, Premium and Elite Classes

The Company offer regular, premium and elite classes, which include foundation classes, intensified focus classes, exam Questions analysis classes and crash-course classes. It offers elite classes to legal practitioners, self-taught learners pursuing higher education diplomas or degrees, and professionals in the healthcare, construction engineering and other industries. Its foundation classes contain detailed instructions and content to provide course participants with a broad and comprehensive knowledge base relating to a specific subject area. Its intensified focus classes are designed to provide more intensive instructions focused on important topics in a specific subject area at a more! advanced! pace to course participants who already have basic knowledge of the subject area. Its exam questions analysis classes contain materials and instructions tailored specifically to preparation for the actual exams and the types of questions and topics that come up in each exam. Its crash-course classes are designed to provide a quick review of critical topic areas for specific exam subjects to enable course participants to make final preparations in the weeks prior to an exam. Its exam simulation system offers a wealth of mock test questions developed based on real tests, closely conforms to the syllabus and test requirements, and fully covers various key examination points.

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Watch Right Now: Rainmaker Mining Corp (RMG.V)

Rainmaker Mining Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration, development, and exploitation of mineral and energy related resource properties primarily in Canada. It holds interests in 7 uranium claims covering an area of 21,291 hectares located along the southern margin of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan; and 100% interest in the Pilot Harbour Property comprising 42 claims located in the Sault St. Marie Mining Division of Ontario. The company was formerly known as Thunder Sword Resources Inc. and changed its name to Rainmaker Mining Corp. on November 20, 2009. Rainmaker Mining Corp. was founded in 1979 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: Nortec Ventures Corp. (NVT.V)

Nortec Minerals Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in Canada, Ecuador, and Finland. The company explores for gold, copper, silver, platinum, palladium, nickel, lithium, tin, tantalum, and cobalt ores. It owns interest in the Tammela project in south-west Finland; the Kaukua and Haukiaho projects in north-central Finland; the TL property in Northern Labrador, Canada.The company was formerly known as Nortec Ventures Corp. and changed its name to Nortec Minerals Corp. in January 2010. Nortec Minerals Corp. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: RUUKKI GROUP OYJ NPV(RKKI.L)

Ruukki Group Plc operates as a natural resources company with mining and minerals business in southern Europe and southern Africa. It engages in the production and sale of ferrochrome and other metal alloys that are used as raw material in the steel industry. The company also involves in mining, beneficiation, smelting, and processing chrome ore and concentrate, silico manganese, and chromium-iron-nickel alloys in Turkey, Malta, Germany, and South Africa. Ruukki Group Plc was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: Citigroup Inc.(C)

Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Financials: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has seen risk materially reduced, its balance sheet strengthened and profitability improving. The Credit Suisse team thinks the risk/reward is compelling when based against the true book value of the company. Its international business is red hot, and it is not suffering from the headline risk that some of the competition is enduring. The price target is placed at $60, the same as the consensus target. Investors are paid a tiny 0.1% dividend. A trade to the target would be a 23.5% gain. Citigroup closed Tuesday at $48.60.

• [By Roland Head]

  Earnings season picks up speed today. Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) started things off this morning, reporting a 26% rise in adjusted quarterly profit to $3.89 billion, or $1.25 per share, on revenue of $20.5 billion. This handily beat the consensus forecast of $1.18 in EPS and $19.75 billion in revenue. Citigroup's shares were up 1.8% in premarket trading. Other companies due to report earnings today include Wynn Resorts, Brown & Brown, Cintas Corp, Gardner Denver, and JB Hunt Transport Services.

• [By Fede Zaldua]

  Though sluggish, the U.S. economy is going through a sustained recovery phase. Besides, most U.S. government officials and intellectuals who have direct influence on U.S. economic policy - such as Larry Summers - are convinced about the need for continued monetary and fiscal stimulus. Hence, investing in banks with a broad presence in the U.S. should not be a bad idea, above all when valuations still remain under pressure. Among the so-called ��oo big to fail��U.S. banks, Citigroup (C), which is held by Leon Cooperman and Lee Ainslie, is my favorite one.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: Textron Inc.(TXT)

Textron Inc. operates in the aircraft, defense, automobile, industrial, and finance businesses worldwide. It operates in five segments: Cessna, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, and Finance. The Cessna segment manufactures business jets, single engine turboprops, and single engine piston aircraft, as well as provides aftermarket services. The Bell segment manufactures and supplies military and commercial helicopters, tiltrotor aircraft, and related spare parts and services. The Textron Systems segment produces armored security vehicles, marine craft, precision weapons, airborne and ground-based surveillance systems and services, the unmanned aircraft system, training and simulation systems and countersniper devices, and intelligence and situational awareness software. The Industrial segment offers blow-molded plastic fuel systems, windshield and headlamp washer systems, engine camshafts, plastic bottles, and containers; powered equipment, electrical test and measurement i nstruments, hand and hydraulic powered tools, and electrical and fiber optic assemblies principally used in the electrical construction and maintenance, plumbing, wiring, telecommunications, and data communications industries; and golf cars, professional turf-maintenance equipment, and off-road, multipurpose utility, and specialized turf-care vehicles that are marketed to golf courses, resort communities, municipalities, sporting venues, and commercial and industrial users. The Finance segment provides finance for aircraft, helicopters, and golf and turf-care equipment. The company sells its products through a network of sales representatives, distributors, and authorized independent sales representatives, as well as directly to end users, home improvement retailers, and original equipment manufacturers. Textron Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Providence, the Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  Boeing is also continuing to scoop up defense contracts left and right. The Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, a joint venture between Boeing and the Textron (NYSE: TXT  ) subsidiary, was awarded a $100 million contract from the Department of Defense to produce 17 to 21 V-22 Ospreys for the U.S. Navy, and one MV-22 for the U.S. Marine Corps by November 2016. Last month, the company also bagged two multi-billion dollar orders of $4.8 billion and $3.4 billion to build a total of 177 CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters for the Army. Boeing's dominant position seems assured for the time being, giving investors good reason to ponder adding its shares to their portfolio in spite of a less-than-perfect performance on our analysis today.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Textron (NYSE: TXT  ) earnings came out Wednesday, and as you can probably tell from the "green" ticker, investors received them warmly. Despite revenues being down, and earnings along with them, Textron earnings still came in at $0.40 per share, and that was enough to beat estimates by a couple of pennies.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Armaments destined for the Iraqi military include Textron (NYSE: TXT  ) Bell 412 EP transport helicopters -- a dozen of them. Also, 50 M1135 Stryker wheeled armored personnel carriers from General Dynamics (NYSE: GD  ) , outfitted for survivability in a chemical warfare environment. And finally, a shipment of spare parts to be used in maintaining everything from Humvees to howitzers to heavy equipment for salvaging damaged tanks from the battlefield.

Top Warren Buffett Stocks For 2014: Eni(ENI.MI)

Eni SpA, an integrated energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, transformation, and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company is also involved in the production and sale of electricity; refining and marketing of petroleum products; and production and sale of petrochemical products and hydrocarbons. In addition, it engages in the offshore and onshore hydrocarbon field construction. Further, the company offers offshore and onshore drilling, and offshore design and engineering services for oil and gas companies. It has a strategic partnership with Gazprom for the joint development of projects in the upstream oil and gas markets. Eni SpA has operations primarily in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy.