Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014

Ron Johnson has become the Mark Sanchez of retail. The disgraced ex-CEO of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) was hailed as a strong-armed savior two years ago, but his reign proved disastrous.�

Sanchez's time with the New York Jets may be coming to a close. Clips of last season's iconic play where the rear end of his own lineman caused a Sanchez fumble will haunt him until he gets another chance at redemption. A change of scenery may be necessary. Doesn't Johnson deserve another shot at redemption too? His success at Target (NYSE: TGT  ) at a time when it still wasn't socially acceptable to go cheap-chic and his legendary arrival at Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) just as the consumer tech company was breaking into retail weren't flukes.�

Some have been speculating that Johnson will wind up at Best Buy (NYSE: BBY  ) . He obviously wouldn't be running the company. CEO Hubert Joly has fared well since being brought in last year. However, Johnson's appeal as an executive to usher in new store designs that make the most of Best Buy's cavernous selling space sounds like a perfect solution.

Hot Low Price Stocks To Buy Right Now: Boewe Systec AG (BSY)

BOEWE SYSTEC AG is a Germany-based provider of paper management systems. The Company is primarily engaged in the production of inserting systems, for the secure distribution of printed documents and plastic cards. Its product portfolio also includes plastic card personalization and mailing solutions, software for the monitoring and interconnection of various mailroom systems, paper processing solutions, sorting and mail verification systems, and scanners. The Company developed reading technologies used for cutters, cut sheet feeders, enclosure feeders and inserting systems, which are integrated into its software solutions. BOEWE SYSTEC AG�� products are modular, allowing machinery from different manufacturers to be connected into a production line, offering solutions for the automated mailroom. In addition, the Company provides installation, commissioning and maintenance services, as well as spare parts for its products. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  U.K. stocks erased losses in the last half hour of trading, leaving the FTSE 100 Index (UKX) little changed, as a rally in British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY) and SABMiller Plc (SAB) offset Dagong Global Credit Rating Co.�� downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  BSkyB (BSY) sank 3.3 percent to 822 pence, the biggest slide since May 16, even as the U.K.�� largest pay-TV broadcaster reported sales that topped estimates. The company unveiled a box to link televisions to the Internet and said it will buy back 500 million pounds of shares.

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: Douglas Emmett Inc. (DEI)

Douglas Emmett, Inc., a real estate investment trust, owns and operates office and multifamily properties in California and Hawaii. As of December 31, 2007, the company�s office portfolio consisted of 48 properties and multifamily portfolio consisted of 9 properties. Its properties are located in Brentwood, Olympic Corridor, Century City, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Westwood, Sherman Oaks/Encino, Warner Center/Woodland Hills, and Burbank submarkets of Los Angeles County, California, as well as in Honolulu, Hawaii. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and Borsa Istanbul A.S. have today concluded a wide-ranging agreement, which includes the delivery of market-leading technologies and advisory services to Borsa Istanbul, and NASDAQ OMX taking an equity stake in Borsa Istanbul. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Bolt MRI Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into an agreement with Fonar Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR). To read the full news, click here. Douglas Emmett, (NYSE: DEI) announced that William Kamer will be retiring from full time service as its Chief Investment Officer effective January 31, 2014. Mr. Kamer will continue to be employed by Douglas Emmett as a Senior Advisor. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Brandywine Communications Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into a settlement and patent license agreement with Alcatel-Lucent USA (NYSE: ALU). To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Benchmark US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By Marc Bastow]

  High-quality office and multi-family real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett (DEI) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30.
  DEI Dividend Yield: 3.38%

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: Strayer Education Inc (STRA)

Strayer Education, Inc. provides post-secondary education services. The Company offers a range of academic programs through its wholly owned subsidiary Strayer University, Inc. (the University), both in classroom courses and online via the Internet. Strayer University is an institution of higher learning that offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, information technology, education, health care, public administration and criminal justice at 92 physical campuses in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., and online. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had opened 78 of its campuses. The Company has also developed a robust online education program.

Strayer University offers business, information technology and professional-oriented curricula to equip students with specialized and practical knowledge and skills for careers in business, industry and Government. Its Academic School Deans and Program Curriculum Committees regularly review and revise the University�� course offerings to improve the educational programs and respond to changes in job markets. Strayer University offers graduate programs in Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.); Jack Welch Executive Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) Degree; Master of Education (M.Ed.) Degree;Master of Health Services Administration (M.H.S.A.) Degree; Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) Degree; Master of Science (M.S.) Degree (Information Systems, Accounting, Human Resource Management and Management), and Executive Graduate Certificate Programs (Business Administration, Information Systems and Accounting).

Strayer University�� undergraduate programs include Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Degree (Accounting, Information Systems, Economics and Criminal Justice! ); Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) Degree;Associate in Arts (A.A.) Degree (Accounting, Acquisition and Contract Management, Business Administration, Information Systems, Economics, Marketing and Criminal Justice); Diploma Programs (Accounting, Acquisition and Contract Management, and Information System), and Undergraduate Certificate Programs (Accounting, Business Administration and Information Systems). Each undergraduate degree program includes courses in oral and written communication skills, as well as mathematics and a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to its degree, diploma and certificate programs, it offers classes to non-degree and non-program students wishing to take courses for personal or professional enrichment. Strayer University students may enroll in courses at more than one campus and take courses online.

Students can take classes online using either a synchronous (real time) or asynchronous (on demand) format. Students may take all of their courses online or may take online courses as a supplement to traditional, classroom-based courses. Tuition for online courses is the same as for campus courses. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Strayer University had over 32,000 students who took classes solely online.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bill Smith]

  Competition
  ESI competes with many other for-profit ventures, including:
  Other for-profit educators, such as: Strayer (STRA), Apollo (APOL), DeVry (DV), Capella (CPLA), Corinthian Colleges (COCO), and Career Education Corporation (CECO)Traditional colleges/universitiesCommunity colleges
  Sales, EBITDA and Earnings
  ESI has steadily increased revenue and earnings. In the last decade they've grown revenue at 20.8%; EBITDA at 34.4%; FCF at 22.5%, and Book Value at 8.5%.
  

• [By Mark Hulbert]

  The stocks are C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) �, a freight-transportation company; chip maker Cirrus Logic (CRUS) �; independent oil company Forest Oil (FST) �; investment bank Greenhill & Co. (GHL) �; Intrepid Potash (IPI) �, a fertilizer company; retailer J.C. Penney (JCP) �; Quest Diagnostics (DGX) �, a medical diagnostic company; Strayer Education (STRA) �, a for-profit college; Tower Group International (TWGP) �, an insurance company; and Windstream Holdings (WIN) �, a rural telecommunications firm.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Strayer Education (NASDAQ: STRA) shares touched a new 52-week low of $37.61 after the company reported a 17% drop in its Q3 net income. The company also announced its plans to lower its workforce by 20% and close 20 campuses.

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: Pinnacle Foods Inc (PF)

Pinnacle Foods Inc., incorporated on July 28, 2003, is a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded food products in North America. The Company operates in three segments: the Birds Eye Frozen Division, the Duncan Hines Grocery Division and the Specialty Foods Division. The Birds Eye Frozen Division and the Duncan Hines Grocery Division, which collectively represent its North America Retail operations, include the brands. Its brand portfolio enjoys household penetration in the United States, where its products can be found in approximately 85% of U.S. households. Its products are sold through supermarkets, grocery wholesalers and distributors, mass merchandisers, super centers, convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores and warehouse clubs in the United States and Canada, as well as in military channels and foodservice locations. On June 24, 2011, the Company completed the sale of its Watsonville, California facility which had been recorded as an asset held for sale.

Birds Eye Frozen Division

The Company�� Birds Eye Frozen Division includes its steamed and non-steamed product offerings, with a 27.0% market share, making Birds Eye the recognized frozen vegetables brand in the United States. Birds Eye was the Company to capture a nationwide market share with a product that enables consumers to conveniently steam vegetables in microwaveable packaging.

Duncan Hines Grocery Division

Duncan Hines is the division�� brand and includes cake mixes, ready-to-serve frostings, brownie mixes, muffin mixes, and cookie mixes. During the fiscal year ended September 23, 2012, the Company added two additional items to the line. In February 2012, the Company introduced a line of frosting products, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, which uses a patent pending frosting system to allow consumers to customize their frosting into one of 12 different flavors. The Company also offers a complete line of shelf-stable pickle products that we market and distribute n! ationally, primarily under the Vlasic brand, and regionally under the Milwaukee�� and Wiejske Wyroby brands. In 2012, the Company introduced Vlasic Farmers Garden, artisan-quality pickle line.

Specialty Foods Division

The Company�� snack products primarily consist of Tim�� Cascade, Snyder of Berlin and Husman��. These direct store delivery brands have local awareness and hold market share positions in their regional markets. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain products, mainly in the frozen breakfast, canned meat, and pie and pastry fruit filling categories, through food service channels. The Company also manufactures and distributes certain private label products in the canned meat, shelf-stable pickles and frozen seafood. As part of its ongoing strategic focus over the last several years, the Company has deemphasized the food service and private label businesses for the benefit of its higher margin branded food products.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tyson’s bid came just a couple of days after Hillshire Brands received a bid from Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC), and while it seems like ancient history now, Hillshire made its own bid for Pinnacle Foods (PF) earlier this month. Pilgrim’s Pride dropped 1.1% to $25.09 today, while poor jilted Pinnacle Foods gained 1% to $31.68.

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (SDT)

SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (The Trust) is a statutory trust. The Trust was created to acquire and hold the Royalty Interests for the benefit of Trust unitholders. SandRidge conveyed to the Trust the Royalty Interests in specified oil and natural gas properties in the Mississippian formation in Alfalfa, Garfield, Grant, Major and Woods counties in Oklahoma (the Underlying Properties). These Royalty Interests were derived from SandRidge�� interests in a 36 wells and the equivalent of 123 horizontal development wells to be drilled in the Mississippian formation (Trust Development Wells) within an area of mutual interest (AMI), consisting of approximately 49,600 gross acres (42,000 net acres) in the counties where the Underlying Properties are located.

Effective January 1, 2011, the Royalty Interests entitle the Trust to receive 90% of the proceeds from the sale of oil and natural gas production attributable to its net revenue interest in the Initial Wells and 50% of the proceeds from the sale of oil and natural gas production attributable to SandRidge�� net revenue interest in the Trust Development Wells. As of December 31, 2011, the Trust�� properties consisted of Royalty Interests in the Initial Wells, 48 wells (equivalent to approximately 53 Trust Development Wells under the development agreement) and the equivalent of approximately 70 Trust Development Wells to be drilled in the Mississippian formation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and Trust II (NYSE: SDR  )
  These trusts were created by SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD  ) , with the first Mississippian Trust formed in 2010 and the second formed one year later. Both trusts own royalty interests in oil and gas properties targeting the Mississippian formation and have future upside as SandRidge drills wells as part of the areas of mutual interest.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  SandRidge has made a huge bet on the Mississippian Lime shale play, especially after selling off its Permian Basin assets late last year. Unfortunately, that bet hasn't paid off well for shareholders, as the company saw its spun-off royalty trusts SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR  ) fail to meet their projections for distribution amounts during the first quarter. The main problem has been that wells in the Mississippian Lime have produced more natural gas than expected, and even with a slight rebound in gas prices, it still doesn't produce adequate margins compared to oil and natural-gas liquids.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  The problem here is that SandRidge has been�dependent�on asset sales and its running out of assets to sell. In addition to the Permian sale, SandRidge has now taken three royalty trusts public. One consisting of Permian Basin assets, SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER  ) and two consisting of Mississippian assets, SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR  ) . While SandRidge still owns a portion of each trust, it likely will continue to sell off its ownership stake in each trust as well as other assets it still owns. At some point SandRidge will need to live within its oil and gas cash flows, otherwise, its not worth owning.�

• [By Adam Galas]

  As the chart illustrates, SandRidge's other royalty trust,�SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) , which has already had its final wells drilled, has been experiencing a severe decline in distributions, a result of its massive quarterly production declines of 26%, 21%, and 22% immediately after the last well was drilled.�

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: CVS Corporation(CVS)

CVS Caremark Corporation operates as a pharmacy services company in the United States. The company?s Pharmacy Services segment provides a range of pharmacy benefit management services, including mail order pharmacy services, specialty pharmacy services, plan design and administration, formulary management, and claims processing; and drug benefits to eligible beneficiaries under the Federal Government?s Medicare Part D program. This segment primarily serves employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, managed care organizations and other sponsors of health benefit plans, and individuals. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 44 retail specialty pharmacy stores, 18 specialty mail order pharmacies, and 4 mail service pharmacies located in 25 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. This segment operates business under the CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services, Caremark, CVS Caremark, CarePlus CVS/pharmacy, CarePlus, RxAmerica, Accordant, and TheraCom names. The company?s Retail Pharmacy segment sells prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, beauty products and cosmetics, seasonal merchandise, greeting cards, and convenience foods through its pharmacy retail stores and online, as well as offers film and photo finishing, and health care services. This segment operated 7,182 retail drugstores located in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and 560 retail health care clinics in 26 states and the District of Columbia under the MinuteClinic name. It has a strategic alliance with Alere, L.L.C. for the management of disease management program offerings that cover chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease. CVS Caremark Corporation was founded in 1892 and is based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  David Tulis/AP It's beginning to look a lot like ... the day after Christmas? On the day before Christmas, retailers turned shoppers' attention to the day after the holiday. Amazon.com (AMZN) already is offering "after Christmas" deals of up to 70 percent off clothes and 60 percent off some electronics. Old Navy (GPS) is running TV ads that its "after-holiday sale starts early" with discounts of up to 75 percent off. And CVS (CVS) was selling a wine cabinet for $10 off at $39.99 and three fleece throws for $9.99 on Christmas Eve. Heather Nadler, 38, stopped by the CVS in Decatur, Ga., on Tuesday, searching for stuffed animals for her children. But she still plans to hit up sales after Christmas. "I'll probably start shopping for me at that point," she said. Stores usually wait until after Christmas to offer discounts of up to 70 percent or more on holiday merchandise that didn't sell. But Americans who are still worried about the economy have held tightly to their purse strings this year, and store sales have fallen for the past three consecutive weeks. The pre-Christmas deals come as retailers are feeling pressure to attract Americans into stores during the final week of what's typically the busiest shopping period of the year. The two-month stretch that begins on Nov. 1 is important because retailers can make up to 40 percent of their annual sales during that time. Sales at U.S. stores dropped 3.1 percent to $42.7 billion for the week that ended on Sunday compared with the same week last year, according to ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 40,000 locations. That follows a decline of 2.9 percent and 0.8 percent during the first and second weeks of the month, respectively. Stores had a problem even getting Americans into stores, let alone getting them to spend. The number of shoppers fell 21.2 percent during the week that ended on Sunday, according to ShopperTrak. Karen McDonald, a spokeswoman at Taubman Centers, which owns or operates 28 malls, estima

Top 10 Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: tw telecom inc.(TWTC)

tw telecom inc. engages in the provision of managed network services in the United States. The company offers data networking, converged, Internet protocol based virtual private network (IP VPN), and Internet access services. The company?s data services include switched native local area network (NLAN), point-to-point elite NLAN, E-Line, extended NLAN, regional ethernet, and IP VPN and managed IP VPN services; and converged and integrated services. It also provides high capacity Internet service with bandwidth speeds ranging from 1.5 Mbps to 10 Gbps to access the Internet and other external networks; and managed services comprising enhanced management services, managed security services, collocation services, and distributed denial of service mitigation. In addition, the company offers network access services for voice, data, image, and video transmission, such as private line, special access, transport arrangements, and metropolitan and regional connectivity; and voice s ervices that provide customers with local and long distance calling capabilities consisting of access trunk, long distance, local toll, local telephone, business access line, and IP trunk services. Further, it offers intercarrier services, such as switched access and local traffic termination services. As of December 31, 2011, the company?s fiber network spanned approximately 27,000 route miles connecting to 15,438 buildings. Its customers include enterprise organizations in the distribution, health care, finance, service, and manufacturing industries; state, local, and federal government entities; system integrators; and communication service providers, such as incumbent local exchange carriers, competitive local exchange carriers, wireless communications, and cable companies. The company was formerly known as Time Warner Telecom Inc. and changed its name to tw telecom inc. in March 2008. tw telecom inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) jumped 7.04% to $38.90 after the company agreed to be acquired by Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $40.86 per share.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) jumped 8.5 percent to $38.43 after the company agreed to be acquired by Level 3 Communications (NYSE: LVLT) in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $40.86 per share.

• [By Jesse Solomon]

  The latest deals include medical device maker Medtronic's (MDT) $42.9 billion acquisition of rival Coviden (COV), telecom giant Level 3 Communications' (LVLT) $5.7 billion purchase of tw telecom (TWTC), Williams Companies (WMB)' $6 billion controlling stake in natural gas driller Access Midstream Partners (ACMP), and SanDisk's (SNDK) $1.1 billion takeover of flash technology company Fusion-io (FIO).