Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015

A number of securities saw notable increases in short interest during the most recent reporting period, including two retailers that have been technical standouts and could ultimately benefit from this growing skepticism, observes Terri Stridsberg, contributing analyst with Schaeffer Investment Research.

Men's Wearhouse (MW) has been an outperformer, boasting a year-to-date advance of about 65% to trade at $51.41.

In fact, the security reached its own multi-year peak of $52.72 just last week, after the specialty retailer made a bid for rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (JOSB).

Nevertheless, MW saw a 37.1% surge in short interest during the first half of November, and now these shorted shares make up a healthy 7.3% of the security's float.

In other words, should the stock remain northbound, it could end up benefiting from a wave of short-covering activity.

The TJX Companies (TJX) has gained around 49% so far this year, to wink at the $63.28 level, while also tagging a record high of $64.09 on November 21, thanks to a well-received quarterly earnings report.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Insulet Corporation(PODD)

Insulet Corporation, a medical device company, engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of insulin infusion systems for people with insulin-dependent diabetes in the United States. The company offers OmniPod Insulin Management System (OmniPod System), which consists of the OmniPod disposable insulin infusion device and the handheld wireless personal diabetes manager to provide diabetes management solution for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. It is also involved in the distribution of durable medical equipment, including blood glucose testing supplies, insulin pumps, pump supplies, pharmaceuticals, and other products for the management and treatment of diabetes. The company sells its OmniPod System directly to patients through referrals from healthcare professionals and through patient leads, as well as through third-party distributors; and delivers durable medical equipment to endocrinologists, insurers, and clients. Insulet Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature a pair of downgrades for document storage company Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM  ) and insulin treatments-equipment maker Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD  ) . But the headlines aren't all bad, so before we break the bad news to you, let's start off on a bright note about...

• [By James Brumley]

  And just for the record, theme-based buyout speculation doesn’t improve your chances of picking an acquisition target. Back in 2012 after Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) bought Amylin for control of its diabetes pipeline following the purchase of Neighborhood Diabetes by Insulet (PODD), pundits were sure it would spark a wave of other diabetes-driven acquisitions. Those other M&A candidates began getting bid up, but as it turns out, no more meaningful buyouts materialized in the diabetes space.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Dover Saddlery Inc.(DOVR)

Dover Saddlery, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer and multi-channel marketer of equestrian products in the United States, primarily serving the English-style and Western-style riding industry. Its equestrian product line includes various items, such as saddles, tack, specialized apparel, footwear, horse clothing, horse health, and stable products. The company also offers dressage, eventing, and hunter/jumper products. Dover Saddlery, Inc. sells its products through catalogs, Internet, and retail stores located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, and Rhode Island. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 14 stores under the Dover Saddlery and 1 store under the Smith Brothers brand. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Littleton, Massachusetts.

Top 10 Trucking Companies For 2014: Bell Copper Corporation (BCU.V)

Bell Copper Corporation engages in the acquisition and exploration of base metal properties in North America. It primarily explores for copper ores. The company holds 100% interests in the La Balsa project, which encompasses approximately 53 square kilometers of mineral concessions located in the state of Michoac谩n, Mexico; the Kabba porphyry copper project covering an area of approximately 8,031 acres, located in Mohave County in northwestern Arizona; and the Sombrero Butte project, which covers an area of approximately 2,887 acres in the Copper Creek District, Pinal County, Arizona. It also owns interest in the Van Dyke project that covers an area of approximately 1,100 acres in Arizona. The company was formerly known as Bell Resources Corporation and changed its name to Bell Copper Corporation in April 2008. Bell Copper Corporation is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Rodinia Oil Corp (ROZ.V)

Rodinia Oil Corp., a junior oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of onshore petroleum and natural gas assets in Australia. It holds an 85% working interest in approximately 23,000,000 gross acres of exploratory lands in South and Western Australia. The company was formerly known as Officer Basin Energy Inc. and changed its name to Rodinia Oil Corp. in March 2008. Rodinia Oil Corp. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Straits Trading Co. Ltd (S20.SI)

The Straits Trading Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, and smelting of tin concentrates and tin bearing materials. The company produces, sells, and delivers various grades of refined tin metal and its by-products under the MSC brand name, as well as invests in other metals and mineral resources. It also owns, leases, and/or manages 13 hotels under the Rendezvous and the Marque brands; and invests, develops, sells, and leases properties, including residential and commercial properties, such as apartments, retail malls, office buildings, hotels, bungalows, condominiums, resort, and recreation facilities. In addition, the company provides media advertising services; and manages resorts. It primarily has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Singapore. The Straits Trading Company Limited is a subsidiary of The Cairns Private Limited.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Magellan Financial Group (MFG.AX)

Magellan Financial Group Limited engages in funds management business. It provides investment management services for high net worth, retail, and institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand. The company sponsors and manages two unlisted funds, Magellan Global Fund and Magellan Infrastructure Fund. It also plans to invest in various external fund management businesses across the various fund management disciplines. Magellan Financial Group is based in Sydney, Australia.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: (TCS.NS)

Tata Consultancy Services Limited provides information technology (IT) services, business solutions, and outsourcing services primarily in the Americas, Europe, and India. The company offers IT services, including custom application development and management, migration and re-engineering, system integration, testing, and performance engineering; and IT infrastructure services comprising IT service desk, data center and end user computing services, application management services, managed security services, converged network services, enterprise system management, IT service management, and transformation solutions. It also provides enterprise solutions consisting of supply chain and customer relationship management, as well as RFID, call management, Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP; and consulting services. In addition, the company offers business process outsourcing services; platform BPO solutions; business intelligence and performance management; engineering and industrial s ervices; assurance services; asset leveraged solutions; and eco-sustainability services, as well as various services to small and medium businesses. Further, it provides various software products, which include financial solutions under TCS BaNCS brand name; technology products; and other products for enterprises in the insurance, health, and life science industries. The company serves banking and financial services, energy, resources, utilities, government, health care and life sciences, high tech, insurance, manufacturing, media and information services, retail and consumer products, telecom, travel, transportation, and hospitality industries. It has strategic partnership with Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, EMC, Google Enterprise, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, NetApp, RIM, and SAP, as well as with JDA Software Group, Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Xerox Corporation. The company was founded in 1968 and is based in Mumbai, India. Tata Consultancy Services Limited is a subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.(WPI)

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and distribution of generic and brand pharmaceutical products in the United States, western Europe, Canada, Australasia, Asia, South America, and South Africa. The company offers its products for therapeutic categories, such as central nervous system, cardiovascular, hormones and synthetic substitutes, anti-infective agents, and urology. It operates in three segments: Global Generics, Global Brands, and Distribution. The Global Generics segment develops, manufactures, and sells generic pharmaceutical products, as well as distributes generic versions of third parties? brand products. This segment offers various dosage forms, such as oral solids, transdermals, injectables, inhalation products, and transmucosals for indications, including pregnancy prevention, pain management, depression, hypertension, and smoking cessation. The Global Brands segment pr omotes and co-promotes Rapaflo, Gelnique, Trelstar, Androderm, Crinone, ella, INFeD, Generess, sodium ferric gluconate, AndroGel, and Femring branded products; and markets its products through sales professionals. It also sells various non-promoted products. The Distribution segment distributes generic and select brand pharmaceutical products, vaccines, injectables, and over-the-counter medicines to independent pharmacies, alternate care providers, pharmacy chains, and physicians? offices. The company sells its generic and brand pharmaceutical products primarily to drug wholesalers, retailers, and distributors, including national retail drug and food store chains, hospitals, clinics, mail order, government agencies, and managed healthcare providers, such as health maintenance organizations and other institutions. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Actavis Plc is one of the world’s largest generic drugmakers. For the past three decades, this company was known as Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI), but the company rebranded itself as Actavis in 2013. With a portfolio of over 190 pharmaceutical product families, Actavis has its name on everything from antibiotics to contraceptives to smoking cessation treatments.

• [By Holly LaFon] n Pharmaceuticals stock has been on a decidedly upward trajectory in the last five years, increasing 108 percent. It became slightly cheaper in 2011, however. Dalio has been trading the stock for years but most recently he bought 314,360 shares at about $65 per share in the fourth quarter of 2011 after the stock had ventured off of its 52-week high of $73.35 it climbed to in the middle of the year.

  Watson has a long-term record of profitability and growth, with an 11.9% 10-year revenue per share growth rate and 14.2% 10-year free cash flow per share growth rate.

  Though the stock price declined in late 2011, the company in November reported double-digit net revenue and earnings growth. The company also announced that month an exclusive agreement with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to launch a generic version of Lipitor, the world�� best-selling drug in the history of pharmaceuticals. It also received approval from the FDA to start producing a generic version of the birth control drug Yaz that month, a drug with sales of $173 million in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2011.

  In February, Watson announced a full-year 2011 net revenue increase of 29 percent and EPS increase of 39 percent, due in large part to the successful launch of a total of 189 generic products globally for the year. Currently it is using its strong cash position to invest in growth markets, Canada and European operations.

  In spite of the good news and increasing its full-year revenue forecast by $100 million to about $5.4 billion, the stock is up just 0.05 percent year to date.

  Dalio�� next largest purchase was Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), and three new buys: BCE Inc. (BCE), The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), and Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU).

  Dalio staking over 32 percent of his fund in emerging markets is tantamount to a forecast that emerging markets will outperform from the macro guru. His other top purchases have clear growth prospects. To see more of what Dalio

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Nyesa Valores Corporacion SA (NYE)

Nyesa Valores Corporacion SA is a Spain-based company primarily engaged in the real estate sector. The Company�� activities include the acquisition and development of land, as well as the promotion and construction of non-residential properties, such as hotels, office buildings, shopping centers, senior residences, as well as logistics and industrial properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned such companies as Gestora Inmobiliaria Besos SA, Edutaimet Sant Adria de Besos SA, Promociones Industriales y Financieras SA, Constructora Inbesos SA, Inbesos Sur SA and Nalcar 2000 SL, among others, and Inversion en Activos Urbanos SL was its majority shareholder with 47.9% of its interest.

Top 5 Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: KeyCorp (KEY)

KeyCorp is a bank holding company for KeyBank National Association (KeyBank). Through KeyBank and certain other subsidiaries, the Company provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate and institutional clients through two business segments: Key Community Bank and Key Corporate Bank. As of December 31, 2011, these services were provided through KeyBank�� 1,058 full-service retail banking branches in 14 states, additional offices, a telephone banking call center services group and a network of 1,579 automated teller machines (ATMs) in 15 states. On January 17, 2012, the Company opened another national bank subsidiary.

In addition to the banking services of accepting deposits and making loans, the Bank and trust company subsidiaries offer personal and corporate trust services, personal financial services, access to mutual funds, cash management services, investment banking and capital markets products, and international banking services. Through its bank, trust company and investment adviser subsidiaries, the Company provides investment management services to clients that include corporate and public retirement plans, foundations and endowments, individuals and trust funds. The Company provides other financial services - both within and outside of its primary banking markets - through various nonbank subsidiaries. These services include community development financing, securities underwriting and brokerage. It is also an equity participant in a joint venture that provides merchant services to businesses.

Lending Activities

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� Commercial, Financial and Agricultural loans, also referred to as Commercial and Industrial, represented 39% of its total loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2011, commercial real estate loans represented approximately 19% of its total loan portfolio. These loans include bo! th owner and nonowner-occupied properties and constitute approximately 27% of its commercial loan portfolio. Its commercial real estate lending business is conducted through two primary sources: its 14-state banking franchise, and Real Estate Capital and Corporate Banking Services. The Company conducts financing arrangements through its equipment finance line of business. Commercial lease financing receivables represented 17% of commercial loans at December 31, 2011. The home equity portfolio is the largest segment of its consumer loan portfolio.

Investment Activities

The Company�� securities portfolio totaled $18 billion at December 31, 2011. Available-for-sale securities were $16 billion at December 31, 2011. Held-to-maturity securities were $2.1 billion at December 31, 2011. At December 31, 2011, it had $2.1 billion in collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) in its held-to-maturity securities portfolio. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $15.9 billion invested in CMOs and other mortgage-backed securities in the available-for-sale portfolio. Federal Agency CMOs constitute most of its held-to-maturity securities along with foreign bonds and preferred equity securities. The investments in equity and mezzanine instruments made by its principal investing unit represented 61% of other investments at December 31, 2011. They include direct investments (investments made in a particular company), as well as indirect investments (investments made through funds that include other investors).

Sources of Funds

Domestic deposits are the Company�� primary source of funding. During the year ended December 31, 2011, these deposits averaged $58.5 billion and represented 80% of the funds it used to support loans and other earning assets. Wholesale funds, consisting of deposits in its foreign office and short-term borrowings, averaged $3.4 billion during 2011. At December 31, 2011, the Company had $4.7 billion in time deposits of $100,000 or more.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Don’t look for big banks to soften the blow today, however. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has fallen 0.5% to $51.84, Wells Fargo (WFC) has declined 0.9% to $42.06 and KeyCorp (KEY) is off 1% at $12.54. Citigroup (C) has gained 0.2% to $48.71.

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson tell investors what they will be watching when PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC  ) , Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) , and KeyCorp� (NYSE: KEY  ) �report earnings this week

• [By John Udovich]

  While the Bakken formation is already on most investor radars,�few American investors may realize that the formation stretches North into the oil and gas rich Canadian province of Saskatchewan where�stocks like Surge Energy Inc (TSE: SGY), Questerre Energy Corp (TSE: QEC), Crescent Point Energy Corp (TSE: CPG), Keyera Corp (TSE: KEY) and Centor Energy Inc (OTCBB: CNTO) have been pumping out a good flow of newsworthy news in recent weeks. I should mention that Canada�� oil reserves are ranked #3 after to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia with over 95% of these reserves being the oil sands of Alberta while the neighboring province of Saskatchewan (which the Bakken formation stretches into from South Dakota and Montana) along with offshore areas of Newfoundland also contain substantial production and reserves (Note:�Excluding oil sands, Alberta would have 39% of Canada�� remaining conventional oil reserves,�followed by�offshore Newfoundland with�28% and Saskatchewan with 27%).

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Mortgages down, but commercial loans are up
  Like its peer Huntington Bancshares� (NASDAQ: HBAN  ) , New York Community saw a slowdown in residential mortgage refinancing�activity due to higher interest rates. But, like Huntington and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY  ) , the bank was able to improve in other areas. New York Community enjoyed higher mortgage servicing income�in the second quarter, for example -- an area in which KeyCorp is also expanding, having recently acquired $110 billion in commercial loan servicing rights�from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) earlier this year.