Top Canadian Stocks For 2014

Canadian stocks rose, after falling the most in two months yesterday, amid an unexpected increase in U.S. consumer confidence and a decline in U.S. jobless claims.

Novagold Resources Inc. jumped 7.9 percent, pacing gains among raw-materials producers. Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. and Lightstream Resources Ltd., both oil exploration companies, dropped at least 1.4 percent amid a report showing U.S. crude stockpiles continued to increase. Trinidad Drilling Ltd. fell 5.3 percent after reporting its plan to raise C$150 million ($142 million) through a stock sale.

The Standard & Poor��/TSX Composite Index (SPTSX) gained 12.29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,362.06 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The benchmark equity gauge is little changed for the month, and up 7.5 percent so far in 2013. Trading volume today was 21 percent below the 30-day average.

��ny sort of data that points to consumers being more willing to spend is a positive for the markets,��Jeff Young, chief investment officer at NexGen Financial Corp., said in a phone interview. The Toronto-based firm manages about C$950 million. ��f the consumer is more confident and starts to spend more, that translates into higher revenues for companies.��

10 Best Value Stocks To Own For 2015: ENI S.p.A. (E)

Eni SpA, an integrated energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, transformation, and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company also involves 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 operates in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, and the Americas. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Rome, Italy with an additional office in San Donato Milanese, Italy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  There is a lot of buzz over recent energy activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) and Eni (NYSE: E  ) making large gas finds off the coast of Mozambique, several majors are now looking to get in the game as well. BP plans to spend $540 million over the next five years to develop a part of this gas field that could hold well over 100 trillion cubic feet.�

Top Canadian Stocks For 2014: Plains All American Pipeline L.P.(PAA)

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation, storage, terminalling, and marketing of crude oil, refined products, and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in three segments: Transportation, Facilities, and Supply and Logistics. The Transportation segment transports crude oil and refined products on pipelines, gathering systems, trucks, and barges. As of December 31, 2011, this segment owned and leased 16,000 miles of active crude oil and refined products pipelines and gathering systems; 23 million barrels of above-ground tank capacity used primarily to facilitate pipeline throughput; 67 trucks and 382 trailers; and 82 transport and storage barges, and 44 transport tugs. The Facilities segment provides storage, terminalling, and throughput services for crude oil, refined products, and LPG and natural gas, as well as offers LPG fractionation and isomerization, and natural gas processing services. The Supply and Logistics segment purchases crude oil at the wellhead, and pipeline and terminal facilities; waterborne cargoes at their load port and various other locations in transit; and LPG from producers, refiners, and other marketers. This segment also resells or exchanges crude oil and LPG; and transports oil and LPG on trucks, barges, railcars, pipelines, and ocean-going vessels to various delivery points. It has 622 trucks and 731 trailers, and 2,453 railcars. The company also owns and operates natural gas storage facilities. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Still, Enerplus faces several challenges. In the Bakken, EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG  ) still has a huge cost advantage over Enerplus in terms of well costs, spending a third less on its Bakken wells than Enerplus. In addition, although Enbridge (NYSE: ENB  ) and Plains All American (NYSE: PAA  ) have helped increase the availability of rail transport to help get energy products out of the region, the additional costs involved still keep Enerplus from realizing the full value of its oil and gas.

Top Canadian Stocks For 2014: American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (AXL)

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, engineering, design, and validation of driveline and drivetrain systems, and related components and chassis modules for automotive industry in the United States. The company?s driveline and drivetrain systems comprise components that transfer power from the transmission and deliver it to the drive wheels. These products include axles, chassis modules, driveshafts, power transfer units, transfer cases, chassis and steering components, driving heads, crankshafts, transmission parts, and metal-formed products. It offers products for light trucks, sport utility vehicles, passenger cars, crossover vehicles, and commercial vehicles. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  This week we��e awaiting a court decision on whether GM might be ordered to issue a ��ark it��order for recalled vehicles awaiting an ignition fix. A negative ruling would mark another escalation. A more positive headline could emerge in late-Apr/early-May if GM were to take further steps to address impacted customers (i.e. fund). The headlines stemming from GM�� internal investigation are less predictable but also present a risk. Separately, if GM normalizes ATPs, some press reports may report it negatively as we��e seen all year. Tactically, our prior buy-on-weakness approach for GM, Ford and [American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL)] appeared to work last week and this remains our strategy as the situation unfolds.

Top Canadian Stocks For 2014: United States Steel Corporation(X)

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells steel mill products in North America and Central Europe. It operates in three segments: Flat-rolled Products (Flat-rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-rolled segment offers slabs, rounds, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke. This segment serves service center, conversion, transportation, construction, container, and appliance and electrical markets in North America. The USSE segment offers slabs, sheets, strip mill plates, tin mill products, and spiral welded pipes, as well as heating radiators and refractory ceramic materials. This segment serves the European construction, service center, conversion, container, transportation, and appliance and electrical, as well as and oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The Tubular segment offers seamless and electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing; and standard, and line pipe and mechanical tubing. It primarily serves customers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The company also provides transportation services, including railroad and barge operations. In addition, it owns, develops, and manages various real estate assets, which include approximately 200,000 acres of surface rights primarily in Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania; participates in joint ventures that are developing real estate projects in Alabama, Maryland, and Illinois; and owns approximately 4,000 acres of land in Ontario, Canada. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  We're seeing the same price pattern in U.S. Steel (X) -- albeit with a twist.

  Like MMLP, U.S. Steel has been forming an ascending triangle pattern, in this case with resistance at $19 fighting back the uptrending support to the downside. The big difference is that X's triangle has been forming at the bottom of shares' recent price range, not the top. While that makes U.S. Steel non-textbook setup, it doesn't change the trading implications in this stock. It still makes sense to be a buyer on a confirmed move above $19.

  FTK has had its price action bounded by trendline support to the downside, bouncing higher each of the last seven times it's been tested. That uptrending channel provides a high-probability range for JPM's price action on the way up. And while you want to be a buyer in an uptrend, the ideal time to buy comes on a bounce off of support.

  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). While FTK could stand to pull back some before it makes sense to jump in, the strength of this channel makes it worth watching now.

• [By Reuben Brewer]

  The United States government has announced duties on imports of tubular steel from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The levies are as high as 160% in the case of Malaysia. Although tubular steel is a relatively small piece of the steel market, this is a big win for U.S. steel manufacturers like U.S. Steel (NYSE: X  ) and AK Steel (NYSE: AKS  ) .

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  In looking at the ArcelorMittal earnings report, look to see how the company fares in Europe. U.S. Steel (NYSE: X  ) was able to announce a profit in its European business in its earnings announcement this morning, and if ArcelorMittal can find greater strength on its home turf, then it could lead to the turnaround investors have so desperately wanted to see. Otherwise, the recovery for ArcelorMittal could take a while longer.