Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In 2014

LONDON -- For a country that is said to have lost its industrial base, there are plenty of flourishing engineering companies in the FTSE 100, such as 拢5.2 billion�Smiths Group� (LSE: SMIN  ) . This is more than an engineer, it's a global technology business whose five divisions cover everything from contraband detection to medical devices, energy and communications. Should I buy it?

Smiths Group has just published a market-pleasing interim management statement, showing rising underlying revenue across all five of its divisions in the nine months to May 4. Underlying headline operating profit also rose, as did headline operating margin, with the exception of Smiths Medical, where profits have been knocked by a new U.S. medical device tax, and substantial investment in sales and marketing.

Cautious investment
Investor enthusiasm has been tempered by recent management caution, which has been warning of tough trading conditions to come, and loss of revenues due to government spending cuts. Yet the share price has had a solid 12 months, rising 32% against 24% for the FTSE 100 as a whole. Over three years it has slightly underperformed, rising 28% against 32% for the index. Investors can't complain, but they won't be breaking out the bubbly either.

Top 5 International Stocks To Invest In 2015: U.S. Geothermal Inc. (HTM)

U.S. Geothermal, Inc. engages in the acquisition, development, and utilization of geothermal resources in the western region of the United States. It constructs and manages power plants that utilize geothermal resources to produce energy. The company operates two power plants, including the Raft River geothermal power project located in the Raft River area of southern Idaho; and a 3.6 MW operating geothermal power plant and approximately 30,734.21 acres of geothermal energy leases and certain ground water rights located north of Reno, Nevada. It also holds interests in the Neal Hot Springs project located in eastern Oregon, which is under construction; Raft River project with 10 parcels comprising 783.93 acres of fee land and 4,736.79 acres of contiguous leased geothermal rights located on private property in Cassia County, Idaho; and lease contracts for approximately 21,905 acres of land and geothermal rights located in the San Emidio Desert, Nevada. In addition, the comp any has a geothermal lease contract for Granite Creek assets comprising approximately 2,443 acres of land and geothermal water rights located in the northwestern Nevada; and owns a geothermal concession consisting of 24,710 acres located southwest of Guatemala City, the Republic of Guatemala. Further, it has a joint venture agreement for geothermal rights for 3,615 acres located in northwestern Nevada. U.S. Geothermal, Inc. was founded in 2002 and is based in Boise, Idaho.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's fun to be right, particularly when it has to do with stock-picking. Sometimes though, being right can be a real pain in the @#$%. Case in point? U.S. Geothermal Inc. (NYSEMKT:HTM). It was only two days ago that yours truly deemed HTM was a good-looking "buy" for true long-termers. Then today happens... a 27% rally that should have wise investors - even those who stepped into U.S. Geothermal with a long-term mindset - at least thinking about locking in their profits and walking away with a quick score. After all, you can always buy HTM back later.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  By most accounts, it's an all-American dream come true. U.S. Geothermal Inc. (NYSEMKT:HTM), working hard - for years - to make something out of nothing can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. HTM has swung to a profit, and is strong enough now that it's probably going to remain in the black in perpetuity. Shareholders who got into U.S. Geothermal anytime during or after 2012 have finally been handsomely rewarded, with most of that reward materializing in just the past three weeks. Regardless of when an investor got into a position in HTM though, there's just one thing left to do at this point.... get out. Lock in your gain and walk away, at least for a little while.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If traders are leery of wading into a U.S. Geothermal Inc. (NYSEMKT:HTM) position, that's understandable. HTM has been touted repeatedly for years, sometimes paying off for a while, but usually imploding before any rally has a chance to get going. That may be about to change, however. In fact, it may have already changed, of a would-be owner is willing to take a step back and look at U.S. Geothermal for what it is rather than what it isn't.

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In 2014: Daktronics Inc.(DAKT)

Daktronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells various electronic display systems and related products, as well as provides related maintenance and professional services worldwide. The company offers scoring and timing products, such as indoor and outdoor scoreboards, digit displays, scoring and timing controllers, statistics software, and other related products; timing systems for sports events, primarily aquatics and track competitions; and audio systems integrated into a solution that include scoring, timing, message display, and/or video capability for sports venues, as well as related control systems. It also provides automated rigging and hoist products, which comprise of arena center-hung scoreboard/display systems for small and large sporting facilities; automated rigging for theatre applications, including high schools; and video display systems, such as displays to show various levels of video, graphics, and animation, as well as controllers to manage the operation of the display. In addition, the company provides architectural lighting and display products, which include freeform video elements; message display systems for commercial applications; digital billboards that offer digital display solutions for the outdoor advertising industry; Visiconn system, a primary software application for controlling content and playback loops for digital billboard applications; and digit and price displays consisting of outdoor time and temperature displays, as well as Fuelight digit displays designed for the petroleum industry. Further, it offers transportation products comprising various light emitting diodes-based displays for road management, parking, mass transit, and aviation applications; and rents its display equipment. The company sells its products through its direct sales force, as well as through resellers. Daktronics, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is based in Brookings, South Dakota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT  ) also knows the score. The largest supplier of electronic scoreboards and other gargantuan displays boosted its semi-annual dividend by 4%. Investors will be getting $0.12 a share every six months. Daktronics was able to return more money to its stakeholders after posting a slight increase in quarterly revenue as it reversed a year-ago loss with a small profit.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap flat panel display stock�Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: OLED) was hit by bearish news in late November and the trend lines on its technical�charts appear to be confused as to what direction the stock will head, meaning its probably time to take a closer look at the situation along with the stock�� performance verses that of flat panel display peers like large cap Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW)�and small cap players like Daktronics, Inc (NASDAQ: DAKT) and SGOCO Group Ltd (NASDAQ: SGOC)

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Daktronics Inc.'s(DAKT) fiscal second-quarter earnings climbed 2.1% as a higher volume of product orders offset lower margins. Results beat expectations, sending shares up 9.1% to $13.73 premarket.

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In 2014: Officemax Incorporated(OMX)

OfficeMax Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, distributes business-to-business and retail office products. Its Contract segment markets and sells office supplies and paper, technology products and solutions, office furniture, and print and document services directly to large corporate and government offices, as well as to small and medium-sized offices through field salespeople, outbound telesales, catalogs, Internet, and office products stores. As of December 31, 2011, this segment operated 38 distribution centers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; 4 customer service and outbound telesales centers in the United States; and 47 office products stores in Canada, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. The company?s Retail segment markets and sells office supplies and paper, print and document services, technology products and solutions, and office furniture to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers through a network of reta il stores. As of December 31, 2011, this segment operated 978 stores in the United States and Mexico; 3 large distribution centers in the United States; and 1 small distribution center in Mexico. The company, formerly known as Boise Cascade Corporation, was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  As the merger between office products suppliers OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX  ) and Office Depot (NYSE: ODP  ) wends its way through the regulatory process, they've hired�global talent management consultancy Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY  ) to begin the process of finding a CEO to lead the combined companies once the deal is completed.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX  ) is keeping its dividend level. It will hand out a disbursement of $0.02 per share of its common stock on May 31 to shareholders of record as of May 15. This amount matches each of the firm's previous three payouts, the most recent of which was paid in late February.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  We still have many key oil and energy companies reporting in the week ahead but we have now seen the sector leaders report earnings. Earnings previews have been prepared for the following stocks:

  CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) and OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) American Water Works Company Inc. (NYSE: AWK) Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) The Wendy’s Company (NYSE: WEN)

  CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) reports earnings on Monday morning. With all of the exchange mergers of the last decade this remains one of the dominant exchanges. Estimates are $0.73 EPS and $713.3 million in revenue. Keep in mind that this exchange is now worth $25 billion. At $74.70, the consensus analyst price target is only just barely higher at almost $75.50.

Top 5 Managed Healthcare Companies To Invest In 2014: Ishares Msci Korea (EWY)

iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the South Korean market. The Fund's performance is measured by the MSCI Korea Index (the Index).

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Of course, Samsung�� massive presence has weighed on the region lately. In the last 12 months, the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (EWY) has declined about 4%, pretty much the same performance as Samsung�� stock.

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) seems to have halted its slide.� The index bottomed out year-to-date on February 3, when it was down 11.2 percent. Since then, it has gained 1.5 percent, but bargains in the emerging markets still abound.
  
  As I discussed in �� Plan, Not a Panic��two weeks ago, emerging markets are in much better economic shape today than they were even just a few years ago, much less during the currency crisis that peaked in 1998. Foreign exchange reserves are generally much more robust, budget deficits are narrower if they exist at all and, so far at least, the full-blown currency war that many were predicting last year isn�� likely to breakout.
  
  With rationality finally setting in, this is a terrific time to do a little bargain hunting in the emerging markets.
  
  The most obvious play here is the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index itself. Covering China (18.8 percent of assets), South Korea (16 percent), Taiwan (12 percent) and Brazil (10.2 percent) with smaller positions spanning Asia and Europe, the fund is most exposed to any shift in sentiment.
  
  The fund is currently trading at just 10.2 times forward one-year earnings, well below its average of about 18 times over the past two decades. On a price-to-sales basis it is even more attractive valued at just 1.03 times; the last time the index was this cheap on a sales basis was early 2009.
  
  So while there are always dangers in trying to call a bottom to any market move, valuations alone are attractive enough to start pulling bargain hunters back in.
  
  A broadly diversified play on an emerging market turnaround, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a great buy up to 45, which leaves plenty of room to run back to the average.
  
  For those who can tolerate a bit more risk, you can also drill down and make more country-specific bets.
  
  At this point my favorite would be iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSE: EWY).
  
  Sout