Top 5 Stocks To Invest In 2014

Source: Instagram.

It was just last April when Facebook (NASDAQ: FB  ) acquired photo-sharing app Instagram for about $1 billion. Back then, Instagram had about 22 million people actively using the app every month. Now, the service boasts 130 million monthly active users. As the service grows, it's important to assess the apps potential and its importance to Facebook.

Protecting its lead in photos
Facebook has always felt that photos were important to the company's strategy. When Facebook acquired instagram, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on his timeline that "providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together."

Though Zuckerberg clearly assured Instagram fans the service would remain a separate brand from Facebook, he also said Facebook planned to learn from the photo-sharing app. A look at the changes to Facebook's newsfeed and its timeline over the past year clearly show that Facebook did in fact focus on bringing photos front and center. In addition to making more room for photos to fill the display on both desktop and mobile versions of Facebook, the company introduced a Photos feed that highlights nothing but photos from your friends and the pages you like.

Top 5 Stocks To Invest In 2014: OraSure Technologies Inc.(OSUR)

OraSure Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and sells oral fluid diagnostic products and specimen collection devices in the United States and internationally. It also manufactures and sells medical devices used for the removal of benign skin lesions by cryosurgery or freezing. The company offers OraQuick ADVANCE HIV-1/2, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and type 2; OraQuick HCV, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus; OraSure QuickFlu Rapid Flu A&B Test, a point-of-care qualitative test for antibodies to influenza Types A and B, including H1N1 infections; OraSure, an oral fluid collection device for the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 in an oral fluid sample in a laboratory setting; and Intercept, an oral fluid collection device for oral fluid drugs of abuse testing in a laboratory setting. In addition, it provides MICRO-PLATE DOA Assays that are used to detect the drugs in an oral fluid sample collected with intercept device; cryosurgical freezing systems for the removal of warts and other benign skin lesions; and cryosurgical systems for the removal of common and plantar warts. Further, OraSure Technologies sells immunoassay tests and reagents for insurance risk assessment, substance abuse testing, and forensic toxicology applications; an oral fluid Western blot HIV-1 confirmatory test for confirming positive HIV-1 test results obtained from the use of OraSure collection device; and Q.E.D., a point-of-care saliva alcohol test. The company sells its products through direct sales, strategic collaborations, and distributors to clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based and other public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, physicians? offices, and commercial and industrial entities. It has collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. OraSure Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is based in Beth lehem, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  OraSure Technologies (Nasdaq: OSUR  ) reported earnings on May 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), OraSure Technologies beat slightly on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Top 5 Stocks To Invest In 2014: JSE Ltd (JSE)

JSE Limited (JSE) is a South Africa-based company is engaged in securities exchange, providing electronic trading, clearing and settlement of equities, equity and commodity derivatives, interest rate products and other associated instruments. It is also a provider of financial information. The Company�� main business includes trading, issuer services, clearing and settlement services, technology and other technology-related services and information product sales. JSE operates in five divisions: equity division, equity and currency derivatives, commodity derivatives, interest rate market and market data. The Equity Market provides trading in equities, warrants and exchange traded products. The Company�� line of products includes Bond Futures, Bond Options, B-Ordinary shares, Can-Do Futures and Options, Carbon Credit Notes, Chicago Corn Futures and Options, Debentures, Krugerrand, Share Instalments, Spot and Forward Bonds, Grain Futures and Options and N-Ordinary Shares.

Hot Safest Companies For 2014: Ecology and Environment Inc.(EEI)

Ecology and Environment, Inc., an environmental consulting firm, provides professional services to the government and private sectors worldwide. It offers a range of environmental consulting services, including critical feature/fatal flaw analyses; environmental impact assessments; feasibility and siting studies; permitting, and due diligence audits. The company evaluates and develops various methods to avoid or mitigate environmental impacts of a proposed project and to ensure that the project complies with regulatory requirements. Ecology and Environment, Inc. also provides logistical support, emergency response/management services, and comprehensive planning to support businesses and state, county, and municipal governments in various phases of incident management, including preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. In addition, the company conducts hazardous waste site evaluations providing site investigation, engineering design, and operation and maintenance s ervices. Further, it conceives and designs environmental restoration projects that restore affected habitat through the integration of biological and engineering solutions. Additionally, the company offers services to address issues of organizations as a result of global pandemic, including pandemic influenza response and preparedness plans, media roundtables, comprehensive emergency plans, all-hazards plans, school crisis plans, crisis communications plans, continuity of operations plans, gap/needs assessments, and client-specific exercises and scenarios. It also offers knowledge-based consulting services to assist its clients establish an environmental focus and incorporate green elements into their organization?s culture. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Lancaster, New York.

Top 5 Stocks To Invest In 2014: Compagnie St.gobain(COD.L)

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures, and distributes building materials worldwide. The company?s Innovative Materials segment offers flat glass, solar energy solutions, special glass for photovoltaic applications, photovoltaic panels and sub-assemblies, and electrochrome glass. This segment also engages in processing glass for the building industry and domestic appliances, and for the automotive and mass transit markets; and provides high-performance materials that comprise ceramics, plastics, abrasives, textile solutions, performance polymers, and glass fabrics, as well as NOVELIO glassfibre wallcoverings and particulate filters. Its Construction Products segment offers interior solutions, such as plasterboard and lightweight construction systems; gypsum plasters, including formulated plasters for building and industrial applications; ceiling systems comprising insulating and acoustic solutions; and other products for interior fittings, as well as glass wool, rock wool, and insulating foams. This segment also provides exterior solutions consisting of asphalt shingle tiles for roofing, poly vinyl chloride clapboard, fiber cement sidings, barriers, balustrades, and terrace materials; external wall rendering, floor-tiling products, technical mortars, and insulation systems; and taps and other plumbing equipment, as well as ductile cast iron piping for drinking water distribution, irrigation, sanitation, and rain-water drainage. The company?s Building Distribution segment distributes building materials; plumbing, heating, and sanitary ware products; and tiles. Its Packaging segment offers glass containers, makes bottles, and jars for foodstuffs and beverages. The company was founded in 1665 and is based in Courbevoie, France.

Top 5 Stocks To Invest In 2014: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

Rent-A-Center, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in leasing household durable goods to customers on a rent-to-own basis. The company?s stores offer durable products, such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, and furniture and accessories under flexible rental purchase agreements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed upon rental period. It also provides merchandise on an installment sales basis in its stores. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 3,008 company-owned stores in the United States, and in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, including 42 retail installment sales stores under the names ?Get It Now? and ?Home Choice?; and 18 rent-to-own stores located in Canada under the ?Rent-A-Centre? name. It also operates 209 franchised rent-to-own stores in 32 states under the ColorTyme trade name; and 384 kiosk locations under the ?RAC Acceptance? model. In addition, the company, th rough its ColorTyme?s franchised stores, offers custom rims and tires for sale or rental under the trade names ?RimTyme? or ?ColorTyme Custom Wheels?. Rent-A-Center, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.