Top Companies For 2014

Seven months from today, you'll be required by law to carry health insurance -- that's a fact. But, as we lead up into the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, on Jan. 1, 2014, many aspects of the bill still remain unknown, daunting, or even intimidating to many Americans. From how much more (or less) health insurance may cost individuals and their families, to whether or not their current coverage is good enough to pass the bill's beefed-up minimum coverage standards, the PPACA has created just as many questions as answers.

Source: White House on Flickr.�

I've already examined the�benefits�and�weaknesses�of the bill, so let's�take a step back and look toward public opinion to tell the tale of Obamacare. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then these six poll numbers certainly paint a picture of the trials and tribulations yet to come in the health care sector.

Top Canadian Companies To Buy For 2015: Allstate Corp (ALL)

The Allstate Corporation (Allstate), November 5, 1992, is a holding company for Allstate Insurance Company. The Company�� business is conducted principally through Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Life Insurance Company and their affiliates. It is engaged, principally in the United States, in the property-liability insurance, life insurance, retirement and investment product business. Allstate's primary business is the sale of private passenger auto and homeowners insurance. The Company also sells several other personal property and casualty insurance products, select commercial property and casualty coverages, life insurance, annuities, voluntary accident and health insurance and funding agreements. Allstate primarily distributes its products through exclusive agencies, financial specialists, independent agencies, call centers and the Internet. It conducts its business primarily in the United States. Allstate has four business segments: Allstate Protection, Allstate Financial, Discontinued Lines and Coverages and Corporate and Other. The Company is a personal lines insurer in the United States. Customers can access Allstate products and services, such as auto insurance and homeowners insurance through nearly 12,000 exclusive Allstate agencies and financial representatives in the United States and Canada. In October 2011, the Company acquired Esurance and Answer Financial from White Mountains Insurance Group.

ALLSTATE PROTECTION SEGMENT

In this segment, the Company principally sells private passenger auto and homeowners insurance through agencies and directly through call centers and the Internet. These products are marketed under the Allstate, Encompass and Esurance brand names. The Allstate Protection segment also includes a separate organization called Emerging Businesses, which comprises Business Insurance (commercial products for small business owners), Consumer Household (specialty products including motorcycle, boat, renters and condominium insurance policies), A! llstate Dealer Services (insurance and non-insurance products sold primarily to auto dealers), Allstate Roadside Services (retail and wholesale roadside assistance products) and Ivantage (insurance agency). The Company also participates in the involuntary or shared private passenger auto insurance business in order to maintain its licenses to do business in many states. In some states, Allstate exclusive agencies offer non-proprietary property insurance products. Allstate brand auto and homeowners insurance products are sold primarily through Allstate exclusive agencies and serve customers who prefer local personal advice and service and are brand-sensitive. In most states, customers can also purchase certain Allstate brand personal insurance products, and obtain service, directly through call centers and the Internet.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, total Allstate Protection premiums written were $25.98 billion. Its broad-based network of approximately 10,000 Allstate exclusive agencies in approximately 9,700 locations in the United States produced approximately 86% of the Allstate Protection segment's written premiums in 2011. It provides personal property and casualty insurance products through independent agencies in the United States. Additionally, Allstate distribution, through brokering arrangements, offers non-proprietary products to consumers when an Allstate product is not available.

ALLSTATE FINANCIAL SEGMENT

Allstate Financial segment provides life insurance, retirement and investment products, and voluntary accident and health insurance products. Its principal products are interest-sensitive, traditional and variable life insurance; fixed annuities, including deferred and immediate; and voluntary accident and health insurance. Its institutional products consist of funding agreements sold to unaffiliated trusts that use them to back medium-term notes issued to institutional and individual investors. Banking products and services were offered to! customer! s through the Allstate Bank through September 2011. In 2011, after receiving regulatory approval to voluntarily dissolve, Allstate Bank ceased operations.

The Company sells Allstate Financial products to individuals through multiple intermediary distribution channels, including Allstate exclusive agencies and exclusive financial specialists, independent agents, specialized structured settlement brokers and directly through call centers and the Internet. The Company sells products through independent agents affiliated with approximately 125 master brokerage agencies. Independent workplace enrolling agents and Allstate exclusive agencies also sell its voluntary accident and health insurance products primarily to employees of unaffiliated businesses. Its mortgage loan portfolio, which is primarily held in the Allstate Financial portfolio, totaled $7.14 billion as of December 31, 2011

Allstate Financial, through several companies, is authorized to sell life insurance and retirement products in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States, Virgin Islands and Guam. Allstate Financial distributes its products to individuals through multiple distribution channels, including Allstate exclusive agencies and exclusive financial specialists, independent agents (including master brokerage agencies and workplace enrolling agents), specialized structured settlement brokers and directly through call centers and the Internet.

OTHER BUSINESS SEGMENTS

The Company�� Corporate and Other segment consistsof holding company activities and certain non-insurance operations. It�� Discontinued Lines and Coverages segment includes results from insurance coverage that it no longer writes and results for certain commercial and other businesses in run-off. Its exposure to asbestos, environmental and other discontinued lines claims is presented in the segment. The segment also includes the historical results of the commercial and reinsurance businesses ! sold in 1! 996.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Insurers such as Aflac Inc. (AFL) ,�Allstate Corp. (ALL) , Aetna Inc. (AET) , Cigna Corp. (CI) �and Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) �will also report, along with exchange operators Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) �and CME Group Inc. (CME) .�

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Insurance operating income jumped 28% compared to 2012, while investment income was relatively flat. The company has been working on both its underwriting practices and risk selection. And though the flat nature of its investment income may seem disappointing, all of the players in the insurance market have been dealing with pressure from the low interest rates. So the investment income generated by AIG is sign of strength in a difficult environment, with both positive returns from higher securities values and alternative investments. Competitor Allstate (NYSE: ALL  ) noted in its earnings report Wednesday that it was moving into more cash-generating investments that would ultimately lead to lower investment income in the future. AIG hasn't made the same move, and may end up benefiting from the decision to hold firm.

Top Companies For 2014: Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc (WAIR)

Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc., formerly Wesco Holdings, Inc., incorporated on July 21, 2006, a holding company for Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp. The Company is a distributor and provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace industry. Its services range from traditional distribution to the management of supplier relationships, quality assurance, kitting, just-in-time (JIT), delivery and point-of-use inventory management. The Company operated principally in three geographic areas, North America, Europe and markets, such as Asia, Pacific Rim and the Middle East. Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp, its wholly owned, primary domestic operating subsidiary, Wesco Aircraft Europe, Ltd., its primary foreign operating subsidiary, and certain other foreign operating subsidiaries, in connection with the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding stock of Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp., Wesco Aircraft Israel and the European entities of Flintbrook Ltd., Wesco Aircraft France and Wesco Aircraft Germany by Wesco Aircraft. In July 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Interfast Inc. In March 2014, Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc completed the acquisition of Haas Group Inc from certain investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company, L.P.

Kitting involves the packaging of an entire bill of materials or a complete ship-set of parts, which reduces the amount of time workers spend retrieving parts from storage locations. Kits can be customized in varying configurations and sizes and can contain up to several hundred different parts. JIT supply chain management involves the delivery of parts on an as-needed basis to the point-of-use at a customer's manufacturing line. The Company supplies approximately 450,000 different stock keeping units (SKUs), including hardware, bearings, tools, electronic components and machined parts. During the fiscal year ended September 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), sales of hardware represented 80% of its net sales, with highly engineered fasteners constituting 83% o! f that amount. The Company serves its customers under three types of arrangements: JIT contracts, which govern outsourced supply chain management services; long term agreements (LTAs), which set prices for specific parts; and ad hoc sales. JIT contracts and LTAs, together consists of approximately 63% of its fiscal 2010 net sales. The Company supplies products to approximately every Western aircraft in production, including the B-787, B-737, B-747, A-320, JSF and V-22.

Hardware

Sales of C class aerospace hardware represented approximately 80% of its fiscal 2010 product sales. Fasteners are its product category, consisting of approximately 83% of its hardware sales in fiscal 2010. Fasteners include a range of engineered aerospace parts that are designed to hold together two or more components, such as rivets (both blind and solid), bolts (including blind bolts), screws, nuts and washers. Many of these fasteners are designed for use in specific aircraft platforms and others can be used across multiple platforms.

Bearings

The Company offers aerospace bearings. Its product offering includes a variety of standard anti-friction products designed to both commercial and military aircraft specifications, such as airframe control bearings, rod ends, spherical bearings, ball bearing rod ends, roller bearings and bushings.

Electronic Components

The Company offers interconnect and electro-mechanical products, including connectors, relays, switches, circuit breakers and lighted products. The Company also offers value-added assembled products, including mil-circular and rack and panel connectors and illuminated push button switches. The Company maintains connector components in inventory, which allows the Company to respond to customer orders. In addition, its lighted switch assembly operation affords customers same day service, including engraving capabilities in multiple languages.

Machined Parts and Other

Machined par! ts are de! signed for a specific customer and are assigned original product manufacturers (OEM)-specific SKUs. The machined parts, the Company distributes include laser cut or stamped brackets, milled parts, shims, stampings, turned parts and welded assemblies made of materials ranging from high-grade steel or titanium to nickel based alloys. The Company stock a range of tools needed for the installation of its products, including air and hydraulic tools, as well as drill motors, and the Company also offers factory authorized maintenance and repair services for these tools. In addition to selling these tools, the Company also rents or leases these tools to its customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stallard sees KEYW Holding (KEYW) and Textron (TXT) potentially missing earnings, while Honeywell (HON),� Alliant Techsystems (ATK),�Lockheed Martin (LMT),�Raytheon (RTN) and�Wesco Aircraft (WAIR) could beat.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We initiated a small position in Wesco Aircraft Holdings (WAIR) during the quarter. Wesco is a distributor and supply chain manager to the commercial and military aerospace markets. The company should benefit from the multi-year commercial aerospace build-out that is underway. We expect this tailwind to provide visible growth through at least 2017. Wesco also has an opportunity to provide more services to large defense contractors as funding pressures force the industry to become more efficient. If the company can improve margins along the way, we think the resulting earnings growth could provide reasonable-to-good return potential for the stock.From Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio)'s first quarter 2014 report.Also check out: Wallace Weitz Undervalued Stocks Wallace Weitz Top Growth Companies Wallace Weitz High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Wallace Weitz keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345

  Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

• [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 Wesco Aircraft Holdings (NYSE: WAIR  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top Companies For 2014: Nintendo Co Ltd (NTDOF)

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is mainly engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of entertainment products in home entertainment field. The Company's main products include leisure machines such as portable and console game machines and software, as well as trump and Carta (Japanese-style playing cards). As of March 31, 2013, the Company had 29 subsidiaries and five associated companies. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks weakened in early Thursday trading as the yen rose and Wall Street ended mixed, with the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) falling 1.2% to 15,929.74 after a 1.9% advance a day earlier. With the yen (USDJPY) slightly firmer than in the previous session, some investors sold currency-sensitive exporters, with Fanuc Corp. (JP:6954) (FANUF) down 2%, Kyocera Corp. (JP:6971) (KYOCF) off 1.9%, and Fujitsu Ltd. (JP:6702) (FJTSY) losing 2.3%. News that China would lift a ban on some sales of videogame consoles had sent shares of Nintendo Co. (JP:7974) (NTDOF) shooting 11% higher on Wednesday, but apparent profit-taking sent the stock down 4.2% in early Thursday action. Shares of rival Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) , however, followed with a 4% rise, also possibly buoyed by a Nikkei Asian Review report that it was planning a "smartphone offensive" in the U.S. and China. Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) fell 2% on a separate Nikkei report that the company's 2013 operating profit would miss forecasts. Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502) (TOSYY)

Top Companies For 2014: New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.(EDU)

New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. provides private educational services primarily in the People?s Republic of China. It offers a range of educational programs, services, and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training; test preparation courses for admissions and assessment tests; primary and secondary school education; development and distribution of educational content; software and other technology; and online education. The company?s language training courses primarily consist of various types of English language training courses, and other foreign languages, including German, Japanese, French, Korean, and Spanish. It offers test preparation courses for language and entrance exams used by educational institutions in the United States, the People?s Republic of China, and commonwealth countries. The company also operates primary and secondary schools in Yangzhou. In addition, New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. deve lops and edits content for educational materials for language training and test preparation, such as books, software, CD-ROMs, magazines, and other periodicals. It distributes these materials through various distribution channels consisting of own classrooms and bookstores, as well as third-party distributors. Further, the company offers various online education programs on its Web site, koolearn.com. Additionally, it provides consulting services to help students through the application and admission process for overseas educational institutions, as well as post-secondary educational programs to help students seek career opportunities; and operates two pre-schools. The company offers educational services under the ?New Oriental? brand name. As of May 31, 2010, it offered education programs, services, and products through a network of 48 schools, 319 learning centers, and 25 bookstores. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE: EDU) were 9.62 percent to $23.48 after the company reported FQ3 results. New Oriental's quarterly net income surged 50.2% y/y to US$42.1 million versus US$28.0 million.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  New Oriental Education & Technology Group (NYSE: EDU  ) reported earnings on April 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended Feb. 28 (Q3), New Oriental Education & Technology Group met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Top Companies For 2014: Dutch Gold Resources Inc (DGRI)

Dutch Gold Resources, Inc. (Dutch Gold), incorporated on May 14, 2002, is a precious metals exploration-stage company engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing mineral properties in North America. The Company holds an interest in properties in Nevada, Montana and Oregon.

The Company holds a leasehold interest in a property near Philipsburg, Montana which consists of 217 acres of patented land and approximately 900 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, referred to as Basin Gulch. The Jungo gold exploration project is located approximately 50 miles northwest of the town of Winnemucca in Humboldt County, Nevada. The property is on BLM land and is held by 95 unpatented lode mining claims. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company has not generated revenue from operations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Next Generation Energy Corp (OTCMKTS: NGMC) and Dutch Gold Resources, Inc (OTCMKTS: DGRI) are the latest small cap stocks to announce their entry into the marijuana business while peer Endocan Corp (OTCMKTS: ENDO) sees some paid promotions or investor relations activities, but otherwise remains quiet. So will investors and traders alike achieve a high with any of these small cap marijuana stocks? Here is a quick reality check:

Top Companies For 2014: ANADIGICS Inc.(ANAD)

ANADIGICS, Inc. provides semiconductor solutions to the broadband wireless and wireline communications markets. Its products include radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs), tuner integrated circuits, active splitters, line amplifiers, and other components. The company?s RF power amplifier products enable mobile handsets, datacards, and other devices to access third generation (3G) wireless networks utilizing international standards, including wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA), code division multiple access (CDMA), and evolution data optimized (EVDO). In addition, the company provides RF power amplifiers for the fourth generation (4G) wireless services, including long term evolution (LTE) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX). ANADIGICS?s WiFi products enable connectivity for wireless mobile devices and other computing devices and its cable television (CATV) products enable fixed-point, wireline broa dband communications over cable modem and set-top box products, CATV infrastructure, and fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP). The company sells its products through direct sales, as well as through independent manufacturers? representatives and distributors. ANADIGICS, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Warren, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  CTL stock has lagged the overall market for the past year — down 9% vs. 20% gains for the S&P 500 — and it seems that those running the show do not expect that to change anytime soon.

  Stocks to Sell: Anadigics (ANAD)

  Anadigics (ANAD) is another company that has not kept up with the market and is seeing selling near the lows. Five insiders, including the chairman, the CEO and the CFO, have been selling stock this month. All together, they have combined to sell more than 72,000 shares of the company at very low prices.