5 Best Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2014

This is the phase when you can take maximum risks with your investments as you have no dependents or, for that matter, even other financial responsibilities.

Needs: Your immediate and short-term needs are probably to find a partner and get married. That would come with its share of financial decisions, such as expenses to run a home and maybe a dependent spouse if your spouse is not working.

In the medium term, you plan to buy your own home by taking a loan and that would mean saving up for a down payment.

Your longer-term goals could be to provide your children with a good education and also plan out your funds your own retirement.

Choice of investments

Short term (less than 5 years): In the short term, you need to invest in instruments that provide liquidity and carry low risk.Investing in equities is not a good option for the short term since returns in equities are highly volatile and you run the risk of losing your money. Instead, for the short term, liquid mutual funds, bank fixed deposits and short term bonds prove a good option for you. Medium term (5-10 years): In the medium term, you may not require liquidity, but at the same time, you cannot take big risks either. Hence, you can look at debt instruments that offer a slightly higher lock-in and hence, offer higher returns too. For instance, National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), RBI bonds - all make for good investments as they provide returns of 8 per cent and have a lock-in of 6-8 years. You may also look at debt or even balanced mutual funds. Long-term (more than 10 years): Your long term needs are at least 10 years away. That gives you the chance to benefit from equities, which, although risky in the short term, are known to provide great returns in the long term. So equity mutual funds would be a good option to consider here. In addition to these investments, you must also invest in insurance to cover your car loan liability. Buying insurance when you are young will give you the benefit of lower premiums. Hence, consider buying a substantial term insurance cover that will serve your needs for the medium term. You can always consider increasing the cover later on.

Hot Gold Stocks For 2015: Valassis Communications Inc.(VCI)

Valassis Communications, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media and marketing services company primarily in the United States and Europe. Its Shared Mail segment combines the individual print advertisements of various clients into a single shared mail package and distributes the shared mail advertising products to approximately 70 million U.S. households primarily on a weekly basis through the United States Postal Service (USPS). This segment also offers solo mail and other products and services, including list procurement, addressing, processing, and the distribution of brochures and circulars; ancillary services, such as list rentals; and direct mail advertising solutions for local neighborhood businesses. It primarily serves grocers, restaurants, drug stores, discount and department stores, home furnishing stores, and other retailers. The company?s Neighborhood Targeted segment is involved in the print and media placement of traditional free-standing solo insert formats and specialty print promotion products; offers newspaper-delivered or direct-to-door sampling products that give manufacturers the ability to cover approximately 60 million households; and helps clients to run their promotional advertising directly on the pages of newspapers by brokering advertising space. The company?s Free-standing Inserts segment prints and distributes four-color booklets containing promotions, primarily coupons from multiple clients through newspapers and shared mails. Its International, Digital Media, and Services segment provides coupon clearing, analytical promotion information management products, and marketing services for retailers and consumer-packaged goods manufacturers; and promotion security and consulting services, as well as produces direct-mail programs based on multiple data sources, including frequent shopper card data. Valassis Communications, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  What: Shares of Valassis Communications (NYSE: VCI  ) crashed by nearly 15% this morning but have since clawed their way back to a loss of about 8%, on a double whiff on first-quarter earnings and an underwhelming set of forward guidance.

5 Best Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2014: Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA (FME)

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is a Germany-based holding and kidney dialysis company, operating in the fields of dialysis products and dialysis services. Its dialysis business is vertically integrated, providing dialysis treatment at its own dialysis clinics and supplying these clinics with a range of products. In addition, the Company sells dialysis products to other dialysis service providers. The Company operates in two business segments: North America and International. The North America segment consists of Renal Therapy Group and Fresenius Medical Services. The International segment consists of Europe and Latin America and one Asia-Pacific unit. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company's subsidiary, U.S. Vascular Access Holdings, LLC, completed the acquisition of National Vascular Care Inc.; it acquired a total of 168 existing clinics, and acquired Gambro AB�� peritoneal dialysis (PD) business. The Company has a total of 1000 subsidiaries worldwide. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Wayne]

  Fresenius Medical Care AG (FME) fell the most in more than four years in Frankfurt after the U.S. government proposed cutting payments to kidney dialysis center operators by 9.4 percent next year.

5 Best Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2014: Guidance Software Inc.(GUID)

Guidance Software, Inc. provides digital investigative solutions to government agencies and corporations primarily in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia/the Pacific Rim. It offers EnCase platform for organizations to search, collect, and analyze electronically stored information to address human resources matters, litigation matters, allegations of fraud, suspicious network endpoint activity, and defend their data assets. The company?s EnCase Enterprise software provides visibility into laptops, desktops, and file servers to conduct internal investigations and determine the root cause of suspicious network activity; and EnCase eDiscovery solution to automatically perform search, collection, preservation, and processing of electronically stored information from unstructured and semi-structured data stores. Its EnCase Cybersecurity forensic solution to expose, triage, and remediate threats, and to enforce data policy compliance on endpoints; EnCase Fore nsic computer investigation solution allows examiners to acquire data from various devices and unearth potential evidence, and craft reports on their findings; and EnCase Portable solution allows forensic professionals and non-experts to triage and collect digital evidence forensically. The company also offers hardware products, including write blockers, forensic duplicators, and storage devices; professional services, such as eDiscovery, network security incident response, civil/criminal digital investigation, and implementation services; and packaged services. It serves various industries, such as financial and insurance services, technology, defense contracting, telecom, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. The company sells its software products and services primarily through its direct sales force; and hardware products principally through resellers. Guidance Software, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Guidance Software (NASDAQ: GUID  ) got crushed today -- down by 25% at the low -- after the company reported first-quarter results.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Guidance Software (Nasdaq: GUID  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

5 Best Long Term Stocks To Invest In 2014: Eco Depot Inc (ECDP)

Eco Depot, Inc. (Eco Depot), incorporated on November 2, 2004, is a development-stage company. The Company is in the business of developing an Internet e-commerce Website that will sell a range of environmentally friendly goods, energy efficient building and construction materials and sustainable home products. Eco Depot will not manufacture any equipment or goods, but will resell green products from various manufacturers. In July 2010, Eco Depot Inc acquired CS Tech (America).

Eco Depot, Inc. plans to develop and market an e-commerce enabled Website, which would attract prospective industrial clientele, businesses, municipalities and individual customers seeking cleaner technologies and products. The Company plans to market and sell through its Website goods and products that are defined as green. These green products include recycled paper counter tops, environmentally friendly paints, and recycled glass tiles. Eco Depot began the initial development of its Website (www.ecodepotinc.com.) where these products are listed.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap green stocks Eco Depot Inc (OTCMKTS: ECDP), Eco Building Products Inc (OTCMKTS: ECOB) and Profire Energy, Inc (OTCBB: PFIE) has been getting some extra attention lately in various investment newsletters thanks to paid promotions or investor relation campaigns. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions and investor relations campaigns, but small cap green stocks tend to be extra volatile when compared with other stocks. So how in greenbacks will these three small cap green stocks produce for investors? Here is a quick reality check: