Top 5 US Stocks To Own For 2014

Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) has struck oil again -- this time, and again, the black gold resides off the coast of Newfoundland.

Norway's Statoil ASA announced Wednesday that its Harpoon Prospect, 500 kilometers off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland, and operating in water 1,100 meters deep, has found a deposit of light, high-quality oil in the Flemish Pass Basin.

Commenting on the discovery, Statoil Senior Vice President for�North America Erik Finnstrom observed: "While it is still too early to determine Harpoon's resource potential at this time, this is very encouraging for the area and especially for the�Bay du Nord�well planned for later this year." Finnstrom added that Statoil plans to conduct additional "appraisal drilling" to get a better handle on the size of the oil field it is exploring.

Statoil owns a 65% interest in the Harpoon Prospect, with the remainder owned by Canada's Husky Energy (NASDAQOTH: HUSKF  ) .

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2015: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Stephens]

  Developments at pharmaceutical peers
  Of course, animal health is also a key market for Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) . It announced last week that marketing authorization has been granted by the European Commission for the veterinary medicinal product, Bravecto. This is positive news for Merck, since Bravecto is the first and only treatment that has been shown to quickly and effectively kill fleas and ticks for up to 12 weeks in a single dose.

Top 5 US Stocks To Own For 2014: Skyline Corporation(SKY)

Skyline Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in designing, producing, and marketing manufactured houses, modular homes, and towable recreational vehicles to independent dealers and manufactured housing communities in the United States and Canada. The company?s manufactured homes include two to four bedrooms, kitchen, dining area, living room, one or two bathrooms, kitchen appliances, and central heating and cooling, as well as exterior dormers and windows, interior or exterior accent columns, fireplaces, and whirlpool tubs. Its towable recreational vehicles comprise travel trailers and fifth wheels offered under the Aljo, Bobcat, Koala, Layton, Mountain View, Nomad, Texan, Wagoneer, Walkabout, and Weekender brands; and park models under the Cedar Cove, Cutlass, Cutlass Elite, Deerfield, Forest Brook, Shore Park Homes, and Vacation Villa brands, which consists of sleeping, kitchen, dining, and bath areas. The company markets its manufactured and modular housing to subur ban and rural areas of the continental United States and Canada. Skyline Corporation markets its recreational vehicles to vacationing families, traveling retired couples, and sports enthusiasts pursuing four-season hobbies. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon] rch 12, Third Avenue Management sold 55.7% of its stake in Skyline Corp. for a total value of $3,394,689. It now has 361,805 shares, or 4.31% of the company.

  Third Avenue incurred a loss on Skyline. The firm has had the stock since before the second quarter of 2009 after it had been sliding for several years. That quarter, Third Avenue bought it for roughly $20 per share. Since 2009 its stock price has declined 60% and the firm has been mostly selling its shares since then. The stock closed at $7.98 per share on Friday.

  Third Avenue Management was founded by legendary value investor Martin Whitman and manages mutual funds, separate accounts and hedge funds. Third Avenue managers believe that the current balance sheet rather than projected future figures are the best measure of a company�� value. Companies they invest in are also usually cheap and safe.

  Skyline makes manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. Its revenue per share has been declining at a rate of 13.2% over the last 10 years, and 23.2% in the last 5 years. The company has been operating at a loss since 2008, and EBITDA and free cash flow has been negative since 2007.

  NWQ Managers and PrivateBancorp (PVTB) Bob Evans Farms (BOBE)

  On February 29, NWQ reduced its stake in PrivateBancorp (PVTB) by 28.48%. At $14.50 per share, the total value of the sale was $18.8 million. It now owns 3,253,454 shares or 4.49% of the company. NWQ initiated its holding in PrivateBancorp in the fourth quarter of 2009 with 4,334,692 shares at an average price of $12.15. It sold shares as the price rose during 2010, and added 2,008,454 shares in the third quarter of 2011 when its price dropped to an average of $10 per share. On Friday, the stock is trading near $15 per share.

  PrivateBancorp is a small, regional bank based in Chicago. After its stock fell to a 52-week low of $6.44 in late 2011, its 2011 fourth-quarter and full-year results helped push it up 38% to $15 in 2012. Afte

• [By John Udovich]

  The CEO of recreation vehicle (RV) stock Winnebago Industries, Inc (NYSE: WGO) recently appeared on CNBC to say that the economy is improving for RV makers, meaning its time to take a closer look at the stock plus take a look at the performance of other small cap RV stocks like Drew Industries, Inc (NYSE: DW), Skyline Corporation (NYSEMKT: SKY) and Thor Industries, Inc (NYSE: THO).

Top 5 US Stocks To Own For 2014: NII Holdings Inc.(NIHD)

NII Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides wireless communication services under the Nextel brand name to businesses and individuals in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Its services include mobile telephone service; Nextel Direct Connect service, which allows subscribers to talk to each other on a push-to-talk basis for private one-to-one calls or on group calls. The company also provides value-added services, including text messaging services; mobile Internet services; e-mail services; location-based services, such as the use of global positioning system technologies; digital media services; and a set of applications available via its content management system and the Android open application market. In addition, it offers business solutions, such as security, work force management, logistics support, and other applications to improve productivity; and international roaming services. NII Holdings, Inc. sells its products and services through direct sales representatives, indirect sales agents, retail stores, kiosks, and Website. The company was formerly known as Nextel International, Inc. and changed its name to NII Holdings, Inc. in December 2001. NII Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Reston, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Latin American mobile telecom NII Holdings (NASDAQ: NIHD  ) reported earnings Thursday, featuring revenues down 13%, to $1.41 billion for the first quarter of 2013, and a $208 million consolidated net loss�-- but that wasn't all NII had to report. It's also got itself a new Chief Executive Officer.

Top 5 US Stocks To Own For 2014: Continental Gold Ltd (CGOOF.PK)

Continental Gold Limited is an exploration-stage company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, evaluation and development of principally gold resource properties in Colombia. The Company holds the rights to explore and develop six properties in Colombia totaling approximately 122,317 hectares. The Buritica project encompasses an aggregate area of 57,588 hectares and is located about 75 kilometers northwest of Medellin in the Antioquia Department of north-western Colombia. The Berlin project covers an aggregate area of 25,059 hectares. The project area is located 90 kilometers north of Medellin in the Antioquia Department. The Dominical project encompasses an aggregate area of 24,327 hectares and is located in southern Colombia in the Cauca Department. The project area is consists of four registered concessions totaling 5,590 hectares, five pending registration concessions totaling 3,426 hectares and 10 concession applications covering 15,311 hectares. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).