Best Stocks To Own For 2014

Investors are looking for bargain stocks but also trying to decide which stocks they should get out of, now that interest rates have risen and stocks have slid. These same investors frequently get to see the analyst upgrades and Buy ratings from Wall Street firms. What they often do not get to see is when analyst downgrade stocks to sell or to avoid. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many fresh research calls each and every day to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks, and we have broken out the negative analyst calls today. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst downgrades and cautious research notes from Wall Street.

Agrium�Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive now that shares are over $25 by Susquehanna.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating at UBS.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC.

5 Best New Stocks To Watch For 2015: EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM)

EPAM Systems, Inc. (EPAM), incorporated on December 18, 2002, is a global information technology (IT) services provider focused on software product development services, software engineering and vertically-oriented custom development solutions. EPAM has been serving independent software vendors (ISVs), and technology companies. These companies produce advanced software and technology products that demand software engineering talent, tools, methodologies and infrastructure to deliver solutions. Its service offerings cover the full software development lifecycle from complex software development services through maintenance and support, custom application development, application testing, enterprise application platforms and infrastructure management. Its key service offerings include software product development services, custom application development services, application testing services, enterprise application platforms, application maintenance and support and infrastructure management services. In December 2012, the Company acquired Empathy Lab.

Software Product Development Services

EPAM provides a set of software product development services, including product research, design and prototyping, product development, component design and integration, full lifecycle software testing, product deployment and end-user customization, performance tuning, product support and maintenance, as well as porting and cross-platform migration. The Company focuses on development services for enterprise software products covering a range of business applications, as well as product development for multiple mobile platforms and embedded software product services.

Custom Application Development Services

EPAM offers custom application development services. The Company�� range of services includes business and technical requirements analysis, solution architecture creation and validation, development, component design and integration, quality assurance and testing, d! eployment, performance tuning, support and maintenance, legacy applications re-engineering/refactoring, porting and cross-platform migration and documentation.

Application Testing Services

The Company�� application testing services include software application testing, including test automation tools and frameworks, and testing for enterprise IT, including test management, automation, functional and non-functional testing, as well as defect management. It also includes and consulting services focused on helping clients improve their existing software testing and quality assurance practices.

Enterprise Application Platforms

As a provider of software product development services to ISVs, EPAM has developed industry standard technology and business application platforms and their components in such areas as customer relationship management and sales automation, enterprise resource planning, enterprise content management, business intelligence, e-commerce, mobile, Software-as-a-Service and cloud deployment. The Company offers services around Enterprise Application Platforms, which include requirements analysis and platform selection, deep and complex customization, cross-platform migration, implementation and integration, as well as support and maintenance.

Application Maintenance and Support

EPAM delivers application maintenance and support services. The Company�� application maintenance and support offerings meet rigorous CMMI and SAS 70 Type II requirements. Its services include incident management, fault investigation diagnosis, work-around provision, application bug fixes, release management, application enhancements and third-party maintenance.

Infrastructure Management Services

EPAM service offerings cover infrastructure management services. The Company has implemented large infrastructure monitoring solutions, providing real-time notification and control from the low-level infrastructure up! to and i! ncluding applications. Its solutions cover the lifecycle of infrastructure management, including application, database, network, server, storage and systems operations management, as well as incident notification and resolution.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  EPAM Systems (NYSE: EPAM  ) reported earnings on May 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), EPAM Systems met expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: GP Strategies Corp (GPX)

GP Strategies Corporation (GP Strategies), incorporated in 1966, is a global performance improvement solutions provider of sales and technical training, e-learning solutions, management consulting and engineering services. The Company operates in five segments: Learning Solutions, Professional & Technical Services, Sandy Training & Marketing, RWD and Energy Services. Its clients include companies and governmental and other commercial customers in a variety of industries. It serves companies in the automotive, steel, oil and gas, power, chemical, electronics and technology, manufacturing, software, financial, retail, healthcare and food and beverage industries, as well as government agencies. On December 31, 2011, GP Strategies Corporation merged with and into its operating subsidiary, General Physics Corporation (General Physics). On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired TK Holdings Ltd and its subsidiary Beneast Training Ltd. In September 2012, the Company acquired Rovsing Dynamics. In October 2012, it acquired BlessingWhite. In June 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired Prospero Learning Solutions. In June 2013, GP Strategies Corp announced that it has acquired Lorien Engineering Solutions (LES).

On April 15, 2011, the Company acquired the consulting business of RWD Technologies, LLC (RWD). On April 1, 2011, the Company acquired Ultra Training Ltd. On February 1, 2011, through its wholly owned subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the Company acquired the training business and certain related assets of Cathay/Communication Consulting Limited. The Company conducts its business outside of the United States in over 40 countries primarily through its wholly owned subsidiaries located in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Singapore, China and India. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operates in five segments: Learning Solutions, Professional & Technical Services, Sandy Training & Marketing (Sandy), RWD and Energy Services. On October 1, 2011, the C! ompany made two management reporting changes, which resulted in a change to its segments. The Learning Solutions group and the Europe group, which were both formerly part of the Manufacturing & BPO segment are aggregated into a separate segment named Learning Solutions. In addition, the Manufacturing group, which was also part of the Manufacturing & BPO segment, assumed management responsibility for the former Process & Government group and this newly combined group is a separate reportable segment named Professional & Technical Services.

The Company offers a range of training business process outsourcing (BPO) services, including design, delivery and global management of comprehensive learning programs, to national and multinational businesses and government organizations and can deliver its services individually or as a complete, integrated training solution. The Company�� consulting, engineering, and technical support services range from traditional business consulting, which include lean enterprise consulting services, to specialized engineering and technical support services, such as design and evaluation services regarding facilities, processes and systems. The Company�� consulting and engineering customers typically operate in industries, such as oil and gas, power, chemical, aerospace, transportation and manufacturing industries, and include customers, such as Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics Corporation, Rockwell Automation, Luminant Energy, NRG Energy and Ameren Energy.

Learning Solutions

The Learning Solutions segment delivers training, curriculum design and development, e-Learning services, system hosting, training business process outsourcing and consulting services primarily to companies in the electronics and semiconductors, healthcare, software, financial and other industries as well as to government agencies. This segment�� ability to deliver a range of training services on a global basis allows it to take over the entire learning function f! or the cl! ient, including their training personnel.

Professional & Technical Services

The Professional & Technical Services segment is engaged in providing training, consulting, engineering and technical services, including lean consulting, emergency preparedness, safety and regulatory compliance, chemical demilitarization and environmental services primarily to companies in the manufacturing, steel, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries, federal and state government agencies and government contractors. This segment also provides services to users of alternative fuels, including designing and constructing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen fueling stations, as well as supplying fuel and equipment.

Sandy Training & Marketing

The Sandy segment provides custom product sales training and serving manufacturing customers in the United States automotive industry. Sandy provides custom product sales training designed to better educate customer sales forces with respect to new vehicle features and designs, in effect rapidly increasing the sales force knowledge base and enabling them to address detailed customer queries. In addition, Sandy helps its clients assess their customer relationship marketing (CRM) strategy, measure performance against competitors and connect with their customers on a one-to-one basis. This segment also provides technical training services to automotive customers.

RWD

The RWD segment provides human capital management and information technology (IT) consulting services, end user training, change management, knowledge management and operator effectiveness management solutions. The Segment operates in industries, such as manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, life sciences, consumer products, financial, telecommunications, services and higher education, as well as the public sector.

Energy Services

The Energy Services segment provides engineering services, products and training primarily! to elect! ric power utilities. The Company�� EtaProTM Performance Monitoring and Optimization System provides a suite of performance solutions for power generation plants and is installed at approximately 900 power generating units in over 30 countries. In addition to providing custom training solutions, this segment provides Web-based training through its GPiLearn portal to over 30,000 power plant personnel in the United States and in over 40 countries.

The Company provides custom training services and products to support existing, as well as the launch of new, plants, products, equipment, technologies and processes. The range of services includes fundamental analysis of a client�� training needs, curriculum design, instructional material development (in hard copy, electronic/software or other format), information technology service support and delivery of training. Training products include custom instructor and student training manuals, and instructional materials suitable for Web-based and blended learning solutions. The Company�� instructional delivery capabilities include traditional classroom, structured on-the-job training (OJT), just-in-time methods, computer-based, Web-based, video-based and the spectrum of e-Learning technologies.

The Company provides end-to-end business process outsourcing solutions, including the management of its customers training departments, as well as administrative processes, such as tuition assistance program management, vendor management, call center / help desk administration and learning management system (LMS) administration. The Company�� training BPO services encompass a spectrum of learning engagements from transactional multi-week assignments focused on a single aspect of a learning process to multi-year contracts where it manages the learning infrastructure of its customer. In addition, the Company automates a huge amount of its customers tuition reimbursement programs by utilizing its own software.

The consulting servi! ces inclu! de not only training-related consulting services, but also traditional business management, engineering and other disciplines. The Company also provides engineering consulting services to support regulatory and environmental compliance, modification of facilities and processes, plant performance improvement, reliability-centered maintenance practices and plant start-up activities. Consulting services also include IT consulting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation services, operations continuity assessment, planning, training and procedure development. Consulting products include training and reference materials.

The technical support services include procedure writing and configuration control for capital intensive facilities, plant start-up assistance, logistics support (inventory management and control), implementation and engineering assistance for facility or process modifications, facility management for high technology training environments, staff augmentation and help-desk support for standard and customized client desktop applications. Technical support products include the Company�� EtaPRO and Virtual Plant software applications that serve the power generation industry.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [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 GP Strategies (NYSE: GPX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: MyEcheck Inc (MYEC)

MyECheck, Inc. (MyECheck), incorporated on May 18, 2005, is an electronic transaction data processor. The Company provides an alternative payment solution to paper checks, cards or ACH payments. MyECheck utilizes a method of clearing check data for payments. MyECheck offers implemented solutions that enable real-time payments by authorized electronic check. MyECheck�� electronic check service creates and clears checks using only customer account data without the hassle and delays of paper checks. MyECheck's system enables more payers - any authorized signor on any United States checking account, for any amount. MyECheck's transactions can even be payment guaranteed.

Electronic Check Service

Payer check data is collected by the Merchant either at customer registration, or on their Website, through a mobile device, or over the telephone, and is transmitted in real-time, or in batch to MyECheck for processing. MyECheck uses technology to generate electronic checks in accordance with the Federal Reserve Check 21 specification, and transmits the items to clear through the electronic check clearing system to the Merchant's account at one of its partner banks.

Check Authorization Service

MyECheck offers Check Authorization Service that enables merchants to verify consumer provided data, check the status of their customer�� bank account, provide evidence that the consumer has authorized the check and predict the likelihood of a check being returned unpaid. Transactions are immediately and automatically evaluated and approved or declined based upon the real time results of multiple fraud control tools. Businesses that accept MyECheck payments can use this service to provide an automated real time check authorization to mitigate returned items.

Check Guarantee Service

The check guarantee provider warranties all approved checks and reimburses the Payee (Merchant) for financial losses incurred as a result of returned checks. The C! heck Guarantee Provider buys the returned checks that have been warranted from merchants for the full face value of the returned checks. MyECheck merchants utilize Check Guarantee Service so that they can ship products or provide services immediately without having to wait to determine if the check will be returned unpaid. The Check Guarantee Service also eliminates the need for Merchants to collect on returned checks from their customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Rewards Nexus Inc (OTCMKTS: ERNI), MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS: MYEC) and ITonis Inc (OTCMKTS: ITNS) fell 29.6%, 18.92% and 9.09%, respectively, last Friday. Moreover, some of these small cap stocks are already making big moves again this morning - perhaps in part because they have all been the subject of recent paid promotions. So where are these small cap heading this week and for the long term? Here is a quick reality check:

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: Nature's Sunshine Products Inc.(NATR)

Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc., a natural health and wellness company, together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and direct sale of nutritional and personal care products worldwide. The company offers herbal products in the form of capsules or tablets; and single herbs and herb combinations in the form of liquid herbs and extracts under ALJ, Cardio Assurance, Blood Pressurex, LBS II, CleanStart, Mistica, Liquid Chlorophyll, Noni Plus, and Core Greens brands. It also provides vitamins and mineral supplements, including a line containing natural antioxidants in the form of chewable or non-chewable tablets under EverFlex, Super Supplemental, Vitamin B Complex, Probiotic Eleven, Food Enzyme, ProArgi-9 Plus, SyneMax, and Vitazone brands; and personal care products, such as oils and lotions, aloe vera gels, herbal shampoos, herbal skin treatments, toothpastes, and skin cleansers under Tei-Fu, Pau-D Arco, EverFlex, Pro-G Yam, Hydrating Toner, 5 in 1 Shampoo, Repair Complex, and Bright Renewal Serum brands. In addition, the company offers various other products, such as homeopathic products, powders, sales aids, and other miscellaneous products under Lavender Oil, Tei-Fu Oil, Peppermint Oil, Flower Essences, and Massage Oil brands. It sells its products to a sales force of independent distributors and managers, who use the products themselves or resell them to other independent distributors or consumers. Nature?s Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is based in Provo, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a direct marketer of wellness supplements stepping up with healthy financials (we hope) to Olive Garden's parent checking in with a report on the dreary state of casual dining, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Human Nature Nature's Sunshine Products (NATR) distributes natural wellness products through its growing direct sales force of more than 340,000 reps worldwide, and it also happens to be kicking off the new trading week with its latest financials. Analysts expect to see healthy bottom-line growth in Monday morning's quarterly report. They predict a profit of $0.35 a share, well ahead of the $0.28 a share it rang up a year earlier. The rub is that Nature's Sunshine has come up short against Wall Street profit targets in three of the past four quarters. Tuesday -- Photoshop These Financials Adobe Systems (ADBE) reports on Tuesday. The desktop publishing software giant behind Photoshop, Flash, and PDF authoring platform Acrobat has seen better days. The market's bracing for a dip in revenue and profitability in its latest quarter. That probably isn't much of a surprise. There are now free or nearly free Web-based alternatives to many of Adobe's products. The alternatives may not have as many features, but they're more than enough for casual users. Adobe is going to need new products to get back on the growth track. Wednesday -- New Home Sales Brewing One of the economy's biggest turnaround stories is the residential real estate revival. Folks are buying houses again and they're willing to pay more for them, which is making developers a lot of money. After all, their component costs aren't rising at the same clip as home prices. We'll get a great snapshot of the industry this week. KB Home (KBH) reports on Wednesday, and Lennar (LEN) follows a day lat

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: Omega Protein Corporation(OME)

Omega Protein Corporation, a nutritional ingredient company, engages in the processing, marketing, and distribution of fish meal, oil, and soluble products. The company produces and sells various protein and oil products derived from menhaden, a herring-like species of fish found in the U.S. coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Its fish meal products include the Special Select, a premium grade fish meal that is targeted for monogastrics, including baby pigs, pets, shrimps, and fish; SeaLac, a premium grade fish meal that is targeted for the ruminant industry; and Fair Average Quality Meal, a commodity grade fish meal that is used in protein blends for catfish, pets, and other animals. Omega Protein Corporation?s fish oil products comprise crude unrefined fish oil, refined fish oil, and food grade oils. Its oil products are used in food production, feed production, certain industrial applications, and dietary supplements. The company?s fish solubles in clude Neptune fish concentrate that is used as the attractant in commercial baits, as well as in shrimp and finfish diets; OmegaGrow, a liquid soil or foliar-applied fertilizer for plant nutrition; and OmegaGrow Plus, a liquid foliar-applied fertilizer for plant nutrition that also helps to control insect and fungus problems. The company sells its products in the United States Mexico, Europe, Canada, Asia, and South and Central America. Omega Protein Corporation was founded in 1998 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Omega Protein (NYSE: OME) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.32 per share on revenue of $69.47 million.

  Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $57.68 million.

Best Stocks To Own For 2014: Exide Technologies (XIDEQ)

Exide Technologies, incorporated on November 23, 1966, is engaged in stored electrical energy solutions, and is a manufacturer and supplier of lead-acid batteries for transportation and industrial applications in the worldwide. Exide operates in four business segments: Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and ROW, Industrial Energy Americas, and Industrial Energy Europe and ROW. The Company�� operations in the Americas as well as Europe and Rest of World (ROW) represented approximately 42% and 58%, respectively, during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), net sales.

Transportation

The Company�� transportation batteries include starting lighting and ignition (SLI) batteries for cars, trucks, off-road vehicles, agricultural and construction vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, marine, and other applications including Micro-hybrids. The Company�� principal batteries sold in the transportation markets are represented by brands: Exide, Exide Extreme, Exide NASCAR Select, Centra, DETA, Orbital, Fulmen, and Tudor, as well as other brands under various private labels. The market for transportation batteries is divided between sales to aftermarket customers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Transportation segments represented approximately 61% of the Company�� net sales in fiscal 2013. Within the transportation segments, aftermarket and OEM net sales, including original equipment service (OES) represented approximately 72.1% and 27.9% of fiscal 2013 net sales, respectively.

Some of the Company�� aftermarket customers include Pep Boys, Bosch, Tractor Supply, Canadian Tire, ADI, ATR International, and GroupAuto International. In addition, the Company is also a supplier of authorized replacement batteries for OEMs including the BMW Group, Fiat Group, Honda, Iveco, John Deere, PSA Group, Scania, Volvo Trucks, Toyota, Volkswagen Group, Renault-Nissan, PACCAR, and many others. Some of the Company�� OEM customers include t! he BMW Group, Fiat Group, International Truck & Engine, the PSA group (Peugeot S.A./Citroen), Case/New Holland, John Deere, Renault, Nissan, Scania, Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen Group, Chrysler, Toyota, Jaguar, Land Rover, among others.

In the Americas, the Company sells aftermarket transportation products through various distribution channels, including mass merchandisers, auto parts outlets, wholesale distributors, and battery specialists. The Company sells its OEM transportation replacement products principally through dealer networks. The Company�� Americas operations include a network of 74 branches which sell and distribute batteries and other products to the Company�� distributor channel customers, battery specialists, national account customers, retail stores, and OEM dealers. In addition, these branches collect spent batteries for the Company�� recycling facilities. These operations supply recycled lead for approximately 75 to 80% of Exide�� Transportation and Industrial Energy products manufactured in North America. The recycling facilities also recover and recycle battery acid as well as plastic materials that are used to produce new battery covers and cases.

In Europe and ROW, the Company sells OEM batteries to the light vehicle, light commercial vehicle and commercial vehicle industries. The commercial vehicle industry includes truck manufacturers as well as construction and agriculture vehicle manufacturers. Exide supplies its OEM batteries directly to the assembly plants of its customers. The Company also delivers service and replacement batteries into this segment. Those are either distributed by the OEM customers themselves or delivered directly to the service points through the Exide logistics network. The Company also supplies advanced lead-acid batteries for microhybrid vehicles equipped with carbon dioxide reducing technologies such as Start & Stop with and without regenerative braking systems. It sells Europe and ROW aftermarket batteries primarily th! rough aut! omotive parts and battery wholesalers, mass-merchandisers, auto centers, service installers, and oil companies. Battery specialists sell and distribute batteries to a network of automotive parts retailers, service stations, independent retailers, and garages throughout Europe.

The Company competes with Johnson Controls, Inc. and East Penn Manufacturing.

Industrial Energy

The Company�� Industrial Energy segments supply both motive power and network power applications. Motive power batteries are used in the material handling industry for electric forklift trucks, and in other industries, including floor cleaning machinery, powered wheelchairs, railroad locomotives, mining, and the electric road vehicles market. The battery technologies for the motive power markets include flooded flat plate products, tubular plate products, absorbed glass mat (AGM) products, and gel electrolyte products. The Company also offers a complete range of battery chargers and related equipment for the operation and maintenance of battery-powered vehicles. Network power batteries are used to provide back-up power for use with telecommunications systems, computer installations or data centers, hospitals, air traffic control systems, security systems, utilities, railway and military applications. Telecommunications applications include central and local switching systems, satellite stations, wireless base stations and mobile switches, optical fiber repeating boxes, cable television transmission boxes, and radio transmission stations. The Company�� strongest network power battery brands, Absolyte and Sonnenschein, offer customers the choice of AGM or gel electrolyte valve regulated battery technologies and deliver among the highest energy and power densities in their class.

In the Americas, the Company distributes motive power products and services through multiple channels. These include sales and service locations owned by the Company that are augmented by a network of indep! endent ma! nufacturers��representatives. The Company serves a wide range of customers including OEM suppliers of lift trucks, industrial companies, retail distributors, warehousing companies, and manufacturers. Motive power customers in the Americas include Toyota, MCFA, NACCO, Sears, Toyota, Walmart, and Target. The Company distributes network power products and services through sales and service locations owned by the Company augmented by a network of independent manufacturers��representatives. The Company�� primary network power customers in the Americas include AT&T, APC, Emerson Electric, and Verizon Wireless.

The Company distributes motive power products and services in Europe through in-house sales and service organizations and utilizes distributors and agents for the export of products from Europe to ROW countries. Motive power products in Europe are also sold to a wide range of customers in the aftermarket, ranging from industrial companies and retail distributors to small warehousing and manufacturing operations. Motive power batteries are also sold in complete packages, including batteries, chargers, and increasingly through on-site service. The Company�� OEM motive power customers include Toyota Material Handling, the KION Group, and Jungheinrich. The Company distributes network power products and services in Europe and batteries and chargers in Australia and New Zealand through in-house sales and service organizations. In Asia, products are distributed through independent distributors. The Company utilizes distributors, agents, and direct sales to export products from Europe and North America to ROW. The Company�� primary Network Power customers in Europe and ROW include Deutsche Telecom, Alcatel, Emerson Electric, Ericsson and Siemens Nokia Networks.

The Company competes with EnerSys Inc., East Penn Manufacturing, Hoppecke, MIDAC, GS/Yuasa, Shinkobe and C&D Technologies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  A real car wreck on the horizon
  Already crashing and burning was lead-acid battery maker Exide Technologies (NASDAQOTH: XIDEQ  ) , which confirmed it had hired a restructuring specialist to help it cope with is financial situation ahead of some of its debt maturing this fall. It's shares fell almost 48% on the news.