Top Stocks To Buy For 2014

A big earnings hit from United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) has helped the markets climb higher today, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) has gained more than 40 points as of 2:20 p.m. EDT. UTC's not the only blue-chip stock to have reported quarterly results today, but it's the best member of the Dow today, leading a group of modest risers on the index. Let's go around the Dow to catch up on the earnings action you need to know about.

UTC hits the mark
Industrial conglomerate United Technologies' acquisition of aerospace parts maker Goodrich last year helped the company's sales climb 16% year over year for the most recent quarter -- part of a strong report that has propelled the stock higher by 3.3% so far today. Earnings per share grew by more than 27% to $1.70, smashing average analyst projections of $1.58.

The success was enough to push UTC to raise its expectations for 2013: The firm announced that full-year EPS could climb between 12% and 15%. High demand in the aerospace sector has made the company's acquisition of Goodrich a well-timed buy, and UTC's CEO is confident that the economy's ongoing recovery will only strengthen that momentum. It's not just the U.S. providing growth, however: Sales from the company's Otis elevator unit in China grew by 39% for the quarter.

Top 5 Beverage Companies To Invest In Right Now: Calwest Bancorp (CALW)

CalWest Bancorp owns South County Bank, National Association. The Company is the holding company for South County Bank N.A. South County Bank operates in four divisions: business solutions, professional division, personal services and online banking. Business solutions are engaged in deposit services, cash management solutions and loan services. Professional division is engaged in physicians, dentists, veterinarians, attorneys and certified public accountants. Personal services include deposit services and loan services. Online banking includes personal login, cash management login, cash management demos and user resources.

Business solutions

Deposit services include analysis checking, unlimited checking, interest checking, money market savings, sweep accounts, zero balance accounting, payroll services and merchant card processing. Cash management services include eCorp online banking, remote deposit, electronic payments, positive pay, mobile banking, cash vault and armored transport. Its loan services include business lines of credit, commercial term loans, commercial real estate loans, equipment loans, SBA financing, construction loans and accounts receivable financing.

Professional division

Veterinarians provide deposit services, cash management services and lending services. Attorneys and certified public accountants also include deposit services, cash management services and lending services

Personal services

Deposit services include online banking, checking, saving, money market, certified deposit and retirement accounts. Its loan services include overdraft protection, home equity lines and vehicle financing.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, CALW remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.370 thus far (ref. google finance 10:58AM EDT July 24, 2013).

  CalWest Bancorp previously reported the consolidated financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2013. Significant items for the period ending June 30, 2013 include:

  Quarterly net income of $50,000, compared to the previous quarter profit of $12,000;
  No additional loan loss provision required; resulting in the allowance for loan loss (ALL) ratio decreasing slightly from 6.20% to 5.95%;
  Total assets were flat at $144 million, with new business offsetting run-off;
  Non-performing loans reduced significantly in 2013 by 41% quarter-over-quarter; and are down $1.9 million from a year ago;
  Non-interest bearing deposits maintained at 35% of total deposits, helping reduce the Bank�� cost-of-deposits to 0.40% from 0.48% a year ago;
  The increase in Net Interest Income offset the reduction in Non-Interest Income as increased focus is placed on core earnings;
  Non-interest expenses continue to improve, decreasing 2% quarter-over-quartee

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014: National Australia Bank Ltd (NAUBF)

National Australia Bank Limited is a financial services organization providing products, advice and services through its major Australian franchise and businesses. The Company�� segment includes Business Banking, Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, UK Banking and NZ Banking, MLC and NAB, Great Western Bank (GWB), the Corporate Functions and Other segment. MLC is the wealth management division of the National Australia Bank (NAB). In January 2014, Sandfire Resources NL announced that National Australia Bank Limited and its associated entities have ceased to be the substantial holder of the Company. In January 2014, Commonwealth Property Office Fund announced that National Australia Bank Ltd and its associated entities have ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Commonwealth Property Office Fund. In February 2014, Fairfax Media Ltd announced that National Australia Bank Ltd and its associated entities ceased holding interest in the capital of the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks started Monday trade higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) up 0.8% at 5,206.40 after a strong finish for Wall Street at the end of last week. Resource shares got a lift from gains for commodities prices since the previous trading session, with strong advances for gold and copper and a more than 2% rise for New York-traded crude-oil futures. Among the leading gainers, Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) added 1.2%, Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH) (OISHF) climbed 1.3%, and gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) and Evolution Mining Ltd. (AU:EVN) (CAHPF) improved by 3.9% and 6.4%, respectively. The heavily weighted banking sector also enjoyed solid gains, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) up 1%, Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) trading 1.3% higher, and National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) rising 1.1% as the U.K.'s Sunday Times reported the lender is considering a 拢2 billion ($3.3 billion) float of its British operations, which the report said had dragged on NAB's results in recent years.

• [By Daniel Inman]

  National Australia Bank (AU:NAB) � (NAUBF) �fell 1.8% in Sydney after the lender posted full-year earnings in line with market forecasts, though costs were ahead of expectations.

• [By Daniel Inman]

  Australia�� S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) �rose 0.6%, as Sydney bounced back from a Monday selloff after a profit warning from QBE Insurance (AU:QBE) � (QBEIF) �surprised the market and gave broader sentiment a hit. The insurer fell another 6.4% Tuesday, but a number of banks staged a healthy recovery. National Australia Bank (AU:NAB) � (NAUBF) �rose 1.2% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) � (ANEWF) �added 0.9%.

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia shares nudged lower early Friday, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) down 0.2% to erase the previous session's 0.2% gain, dragged by losses for European and U.S. equities on the back of a Portuguese financial crisis. Financials fell (Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) each down 0.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) down 0.4%, and Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) (MCQEF) down 0.7%), and the top miners fared especially poorly (Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) down 1.2%, Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) down 1.1%, though BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) off just 0.1%). And while Atlas Iron Ltd. (AU:AGO) beat its production guidance, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) missed its production guidance, both saw losses, with Atlas stock off 2.9% and Fortescue trading 1.6% lower. Among the gainers, Scentre Group

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014: ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR)

ING Prime Rate Trust (the Trust) is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The Trust seeks to provide a high a level of current income together with the preservation of capital. It invests least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in United States dollar-denominated, floating-rate secured senior loans. It also invests a substantial portion of its assets in below investment-grade senior loans and other below investment-grade assets.

The Trust invests in sectors, such as healthcare, education and childcare; cable; chemicals, plastics and rubber; utilities; printing and publishing; leisure, amusement and entertainment; oil and gas; retail stores; data and Internet services, and beverage, food and tobacco. The Trust�� investment advisor is ING Investments, LLC. ING Prime Rate Trust�� sub-advisor is ING Investment Management Co. and its administrator is ING Funds Services, LLC. ING Investments, LLC, ING Investment Management Co. and ING Funds Services, LLC are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of ING Groep N.V.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Dowdee]

  The following 10 funds satisfied all of these conditions:

  BlackRock Float Rate Strategies (FRA). This CEF sells at a discount of 3%, which is low compared to an average premium of 2% over the past year. The distribution has been managed at 6.1% and a small amount (less than 10%) has been return of capital (ROC). However, this has not negatively affected net asset value (NAV) so has not been destructive. The fund holds 447 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. FRA utilizes 27% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.7%, including interest payments. Eaton Vance Floating Rate (EFR). This CEF sells at a 1% premium, which is low compared to an average premium of 5% over the past year. The distribution is 6.2%, none of which was ROC. The fund holds 800 securities, with 90% in floating rate loans. About 85% of the securities are from U.S. companies. EFR utilizes 35% leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.8% including interest payments. ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR). This CEF sells for a premium of 2%, which is below the average premium of 5%. It has a distribution of 6.8%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 350 holdings, virtually all in senior loans and from US companies. PPR utilizes 29% leverage and has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Dynamic Credit Opportunities (VTA). This CEF sells for a discount of 5%, which is below the average discount of 1%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has 495 holdings, with 76% in floating rate loans. About 25% of the loans are from non-US companies. VTA utilizes a relatively low 20% leverage but still has a high expense ratio of 2.1%, including interest payments. Invesco VK Senior Income (VVR). This CEF sells for a discount of 1%, which is below the average premium of 3%. It has a distribution of 7.1%, none of which was ROC. The fund has over 500 holdings, with 89% in floating rate loans. Almost all (95%) securities are from US companies. VVR ut
• [By Aaron Levitt]

  The main reason why investors fled bounds during the taper tantrum is that bond prices have a negative correlation with rising interest rates. The ING Prime Rate Trust (PPR) avoids some of those problems.

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014: SofTech Inc (SOFT)

SofTech, Inc., incorporated on June 11, 1969,is a provider of engineering software solutions with its ProductCenter PLM (product lifecycle management) technology and its computer-aided design product CADRA offering. On May 24, 2011, the Company sold its Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) product line. In October 2013, SofTech, Inc announced that it has completed the sale of substantially all of the assets of its CADRA product line.

ProductCente

The Company's ProductCenter technology manages the engineering data and electronic files of discrete parts designed in third party design technologies offered primarily by Solidworks, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and Autodesk. ProductCenter is an enterprise, collaborative PLM solution delivering a combination of document management, design integration, configuration control, change management, bill of materials management and integration capability with other enterprise systems. ProductCenter is designed to help companies optimize the product development process. ProductCenter provides for the secure management of product information and allows engineers and the entire design chain to manage, share, modify and track product data and documents throughout the product development lifecycle.

The Company�� ProductCenter supports engineering change management and bill of materials management for automating business processes. ProductCenter also enables integration with other business applications, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) for continuous data exchange across the product lifecycle.

CADRA

The Company�� CADRA offering is a drafting and design software package for the professional mechanical engineer. The CADRA family of CAD/CAM products includes CADRA Design Drafting, a mechanical design documentation tool, CADRA NC, a 2 through 5 axis NC programming application, and CADRAWorks with SolidWorks p! roviding for an integrated drawing production system and three dimensional (3D)solid modeler. The CADRA family of products includes a collection of translators and software options.

The Company competes with Autodesk, Dassault, Siemens, and PTC

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks New China Global (OTCMKTS: NCGI), RealBiz Media Group Inc (OTCMKTS: RBIZ) and SofTech, Inc (OTCMKTS: SOFT) sank 21.11%, 14.81% and 10.89%, respectively, last Friday. Moreover, two of these three small caps have been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations activities, but this week is the start of a new trading week and anything can happen. So will these three small cap stocks keep sinking? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap tech, mobile or cloud computing stocks SofTech, Inc (OTCMKTS: SOFT), Firstin Wireless Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: FINW) and Izea Inc (OTCMKTS: IZEA) have been getting some extra attention lately in various investment newsletters or alerts. That�� because at least one of these stocks appears to be the subject of paid third party promotions while another is the focus of an apparent investor relations campaign. Keeping that in mind, are these three tech orientated stocks going to bring profits to investors and traders or bring out the luddite in them? Here is a closer look:

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014: Sangamo BioSciences Inc.(SGMO)

Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. engages in the research, development, and commercialization of zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs) for gene regulation and gene modification in the United States. Its ZFPs could be engineered to make ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TFs), proteins that could be used to turn genes on or off; and ZFP nucleases (ZFNs), proteins that enable to modify DNA sequences in various ways. The company?s principal ZFP therapeutic include SB-509, a plasmid formulation of a ZFP TF activator of the vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) gene that is in a Phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of severe diabetic neuropathy; and in a Phase 2 clinical trial in for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as in preclinical animal studies for spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. It is also developing SB-728-T, a ZFN-modified T-cell product, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trial and two Phase 1 trials for the treatment of HI V/AIDS. In addition, the company develops SB-313xTZ, a ZFN-based therapeutic that is in Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer. Further, it has preclinical development programs of ZFP therapeutics in the areas of Parkinson?s disease, hemophilia B, and neuropathic pain; and neuroregenerative programs in spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. Additionally, the company has research stage programs in the areas of monogenic diseases and genetic conditions that result from a defect in a single gene, including hemophilia and other hemoglobinopathies, and immunodeficiencies. It has collaboration agreements with Sigma-Aldrich Corporation; Dow AgroSciences LLC; Pfizer Inc.; Genentech, Inc.; Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc.; and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Richmond, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ant贸nio Costa]

  Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) looks good here for further upside. The next buy point is when the stock price crosses 13.2 on heavy volume.

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  One biotech I recommended to my BioScience Millionaire subscribers last July, Sangamo Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), has developed a technology from naturally occurring molecules, called zinc finger proteins (ZFPs), that scientists can engineer to edit specific genes in the human genome. It can cut them out, replace them, or add new ones - in other words, it plays with the basic building blocks of life as if they were Lego pieces!

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014: First Trust Exchange Traded Fund (FVL)

First Trust Value Line 100 Fund (the Fund) is a diversified closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index (the S&P 500 Index) by adhering to a strategy of investing in a diversified portfolio of the 100 common stocks ranked number 1 in Value Line's Timeliness Ranking System. The Fund invests 80% of its net assets in the stocks that are ranked number one in the Value Line Timeliness Ranking System. As of March 31, 2006, the Fund had invested in sectors, such as household durables, metals and mining, specialty retail, oil and gas, software, machinery, hotels, restaurants and leisure, computers and peripherals, biotechnology, information technology services, and textiles, apparel and luxury goods.

As of March 31, 2006, the Fund's top 10 holdings were Palm, Inc., United INDL Corp., AAR Corp., Accenture LTD, Citrix Systems, Inc., Cymer Inc., Guess, Inc., Henry Jack & Assoc., Inc., Micrel Inc. and Molecular Devices Corp. The Fund had a large capitalization orientation to its portfolio holdings as of December 31, 2005. As of December 31, 2005, the 100 stocks in the portfolio consisted of large-cap stocks (34), mid-cap stocks (35) and small-cap stocks (31). During the year ended December 31, 2005, the Fund posted a net asset value (NAV) total return of 11.9% and a market value total return of 7.5%. This compared to a gain of 4.8% for the S&P 500 Index. The Fund's investment advisor is First Trust Advisors, L.P.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Trainer]

  First Trust Value Line 100 ETF (FVL) is in the Danger Zone this week. FVL is another example of a supposedly "passive" ETF that purportedly tracks an index but actually resembles an actively managed portfolio. FVL's methodology tracks an index, but it is an index in name only.

• [By David Trainer]

  First Trust Value Line 100 ETF (FVL) is my worst-rated All Cap Blend ETF and Clarity Fund (CLRTX) is my worst-rated All Cap Blend mutual fund. FVL earns my Dangerous rating, while CLRTX gets my Very Dangerous rating.