5 Best Chemical Stocks To Watch For 2014

The debate over natural gas exportation has created some unfamiliar enemies and even more unfamiliar friends. While it's pretty obvious who the supporters are, some of the largest opponents are not who you would expect: manufacturers. Leading the charge is a group known as America's Energy Advantage, and they have a wide range of supporters including stalwarts of�manufacturing.�The largest and most vocal opponent being�Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW  ) .

Let's look at why Dow Chemical wants to keep natural gas on U.S. shores and what it's doing to keep it here:

Keep the gas, keep the profits
The one simple reason that Dow and its partners in America's Energy Advantage are advocating for not exporting LNG is to keep the gas here to power energy-intensive manufacturing. Industries like steel and chemicals demand large amounts of energy, and cheap gas in the U.S. gives these companies incentive to produce here.

Steel giant Nucor (NYSE: NUE  ) will be opening a direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Louisiana. This plant was built in large part because of favorable energy prices due to cheap natural gas and will be the only one of its kind in the U.S.�Alcoa (NYSE: AA  ) �is another proponent of keeping the energy source within our borders. The aluminum giant has joined up with America's Energy Advantage group to protect a cheap source of energy. �In the case of Dow, though, there is so much more than energy behind this move.

Hot Restaurant Stocks To Buy Right Now: National Oxygen Ltd (NOL)

National Oxygen Limited (NOL) is an India-based company, which is a producer and supplier of industrial gases both in liquid and gaseous forms to industries and hospitals. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen and acetylene. The Company operates in two segments: Industrial Gases, which is engaged in the manufacture of industrial gases, and Windmill, which is engaged in the generation of windmill energy. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company produced 51,07,981 cubic meters of oxygen, 52,138 cubic meters of dissolved acetylene, 30,69,610 cubic meters of nitrogen and 26,86,762 kilowatt hours of windmill energy. It has two industrial gas plants in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, and one windmill in Maharashtra. During fiscal 2012, NOL had an installed capacity to produce 2,50,00,000 cubic meters of oxygen, 2,00,000 cubic meters of dissolved acetylene and 44,00,000 kilowatt hours of windmill energy. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Emerson]

  Another huge benefit which was imbedded in the value of RTEC was the tens of millions of net operating losses (NOL) that the company had accrued as a result of the massive accrual losses it would sustain during the credit crisis. These benefits were not reflected on the balance sheet but they would translate into tens of millions of dollars in income tax savings when the company eventually returned to profitability.

5 Best Chemical Stocks To Watch For 2014: Syngenta AG (SYNN)

Syngenta AG is a Switzerland-based company engaged in production of products for crop productivity. The Company's businesses include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides for crop protection, field crops, vegetables and flower seeds, seed care products and turf, garden, home care and public health products. The Company diversifies its operations into four geographical segments (Europe, Africa and Middle East; North America; Latin America and Asia Pacific), which represent the integrated Crop Protection and Seeds business areas, as well as a separate global segment Lawn and Garden. The Crop Protection business is active in herbicides, insecticides and fungicides manufacture. The Seeds business produces and sells seeds for growing corn, soybeans, sunflower, and sugar beet, among others. The Lawn and Garden business offers a range of products for use in the flower genetics, ornamentals, consumer lawn and garden, and Turf and landscape markets. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Volvo AB (VOLVB) advanced the most in 10 months after the world�� second-largest truckmaker reported second-quarter earnings that beat forecasts. EasyJet climbed 3.7 percent after saying quarterly sales rose 11 percent on higher capacity utilization and revenue per seat. Syngenta (SYNN) AG fell 4 percent after posting first-half profit and revenue that trailed forecasts.

5 Best Chemical Stocks To Watch For 2014: PPG Industries Inc.(PPG)

PPG Industries, Inc. manufactures and supplies protective and decorative coatings. The company offers coatings products for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, specialty coatings for signs, and light industrial coatings; and sealants, coatings, and technical cleaners/transparencies for commercial, military, regional jet, general aviation aircraft, and transparent armor for military land vehicles. It also provides coatings and finishes for the protection of metals and structures to metal fabricators, heavy duty maintenance contractors, and manufacturers of ships, bridges, rail cars, and shipping containers; and coatings to painting and maintenance contractors. In addition, PPG sells industrial and automotive coatings to manufacturing companies; adhesives and sealants for the automotive industry; metal pretreatments and related chemicals; and coatings and inks for aerosol, food, and beverage containers. Further, it supplies lenses, sunlenses, a nd optical lens materials; amorphous precipitated silicas for tire and battery separator markets; and Teslin substrate used in radio frequency identification tags and labels, e-passports, drivers? licenses, and identification cards applications. Additionally, PPG offers chlor-alkali and derivative products, such as chlorine, caustic soda, vinyl chloride monomer, chlorinated solvents, calcium hypochlorite, ethylene dichloride, hydrochloric acid, and phosgene derivatives to chemical processing, rubber and plastics, paper, minerals, metals, and water treatment industries. It also produces flat glass and continuous-strand fiber glass for commercial and residential construction, wind energy, energy infrastructure, transportation, and electronics industries. PPG sells its products through company-owned stores, home centers, paint dealers, and independent distributors, as well as directly to customers worldwide. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pe nnsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass.

  In this article, I'll take a look at this company and try to explain to investors the reasons this is an apparently appealing investment.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  VAL stock trades at about 18�timesFY14 estimates of $4.08. Even accounting for the 1.4% yield, it�� a tad bit pricey at 14% long-term EPS growth. But let�� look at competitors. PPG Industries (PPG) trades at 21�times�earnings on 11% long-term growth. Sherwin-Williams (SHW) trades at 24x earnings on 14.6% long-term growth. Akzo Nobel (AKZOY) trades at 16 times earnings on 11% growth.

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG) announced on Monday morning that it has agreed to acquire Consorcio Comex, S.A. de C.V.

  PPG will acquire architectural and industrial coatings company Consorcio Comex for approximately $2.3 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. PPG reported that it plans to fund the deal with currently held cash and short term investments.

  Comex is Mexico-based coatings manufacturer that sells its products in 3,600 stores in Mexico and Central America. The company is a privately held company and�was founded in 1952.

  PPG Dividend Snapshot

  As market close on June 27, 2014

  Click here to see the complete history of PPG dividends.

  PPG Industries shares were up $5.97, or 2.93% during pre-market trading Monday. The stock is up 7.59% YTD.

5 Best Chemical Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals (FERC)

Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals is an Egypt-based company engaged in the establishment and operation of a factory for mixing and packaging of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and hormones, as well as other agricultural related activities. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Cheniere also has received other good news on Corpus Christi. To get a permit for the unrestricted export of liquefied natural gas, a facility has to win approval from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). DOE has accelerated its permit process, but FERC approval has become a major bottleneck, since the commission needs to coordinate studies from several other agencies before it can complete its review. Cheniere has recently received a scheduling notice from FERC, which looks to put that facility on track for a permit ruling by the end of 2014 or early 2015.