Hot Electric Utility Stocks For 2014

The southwest is one of the most interesting regions in the U.S. regarding marijuana legalization, with Coloardo providing a great example�of successful policy implementation�to the rest of the country. Further legalization in the southwest would provide a huge market for cannabis companies and a great platform for growth.�

Check out the list of states below that either have pending legislation or a potential 2014 ballot initiative.

Nevada (Recreational): Marijuana advocates are gathering signatures for a petition to legalize recreational marijuana use. The measure requires 102,000 signatures, and if met, would send the bill to the legislature in 2015. If the initiative does not get two-thirds of lawmakers to vote in favor, then it would be passed on to the voters in 2016, where it is projected to get broad support.

Hot Undervalued Stocks To Own For 2015: ASML Holding N.V. (ASML)

ASML Holding N.V., through its subsidiaries, engages in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and servicing semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers a portfolio of lithography systems for manufacturing semiconductors, integrated circuits, or chips. It primarily provides PAS 5500 product family that comprises wafer steppers, and step and scan systems suitable for the i-line, krypton fluoride, and argon fluoride processing of wafers; TWINSCAN for manufacturing environments for which design resolutions down to 38 nanometers are required; TWINSCAN NXT system to support extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) imaging in various system critical areas; and NXE (EUV) system that utilizes reflective mirrors with a numerical aperture of 0.25. The company operates principally in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, rest of Asia, Europe, and the United States. The company was formerly known as ASM Lithography Holding N.V. and chang ed its name to ASML Holding N.V. in 2001. ASML Holding N.V. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) shares jumped 6.40% to $92.75 in pre-market trading following Q4 results. Commerzbank upgraded the stock from Reduce to Hold.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  ASML Holding NV (ASML) climbed 2.5 percent to 52.55 euros. Europe�� largest semiconductor-equipment supplier posted first- quarter sales of 892 million euros, topping the 874 million-euro analyst estimate. The company also announced a share buyback program of as much as 1 billion euros and said Chief Executive Officer Eric Meurice will step down as of July.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top decliners in the sector included ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML), off 5 percent, and ADTRAN (NASDAQ: ADTN), down 6.3 percent.

  Top Headline
  Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported a net loss in the first quarter. Bank of America posted a quarterly net loss of $276 million, or $0.05 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.5 billion, or $0.10 per share. The results include a pretax litigation expense of $6 billion, or around $0.40 per share after tax.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks For 2014: Li & Fung Ltd (LFUGY)

Li & Fung Limited is an investment holding company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in managing the supply chain for retailers and brands worldwide from over 300 offices and distribution centers in more than 40 economies. It operates in three segments: Trading Network, Logistics Network and Distribution Network. Trading Network segment is engaged in the global sourcing business. Logistics Network segment operates both the Company�� international and domestic logistics services networks globally. Distribution Network segment operates the onshore distribution businesses in the US, Pan-European and Asian regions. In September 2011, the Company acquired Midway Enterprises (Guangzhou) Ltd, Wonderful World (HK) Ltd and Wonderful Overseas Limited, as well as True Innovations, LLC. As of December 31, 2011, its subsidiaries included Integrated Distribution Services Group Limited, LF Centennial Limited and others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Li & Fung(LFUGY) will distribute some of Coty Inc.'s(COTY) key brands in China, including Adidas, Rimmel and Playboy, as part of an agreement between the two companies. The move is part of Coty’s efforts to reorganize its business in China and focus on growing its business in the world’s second largest economy, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks For 2014: CGI Group Inc (GIB)

CGI Group Inc. (CGI), incorporated on September 29, 1981, provides information technology (IT) consulting, systems integration, IT outsourcing and business solutions. The Company�� delivery model provides for work to be carried out onsite at client premises, or through its centers located globally. CGI has approximately 72,000 members across the globe. The Company also has a range of business solutions, which support long-term client relationships. Its services include consulting, systems integration, and management of information technology (IT) and business functions (outsourcing). On August 20, 2012, CGI completed its acquisition of Logica plc (Logica).

CGI has a range of business solutions, which include Momentum, CGI Advantage, CACS, CACS-G, Bureaulink and Strata. Momentum is an integrated enterprise resource planning suite in use by over 85 federal organizations across the three branches of the United States federal government, including 16 agencies. CGI�� enterprise resource planning solution, CGI Advantage, include financial management, payroll, budgeting, human resources management, procurement and grants management. The CGI Advantage client organizations include 22 states. CGI�� Credit Services Solutions include CACS, CACS-G and Bureaulink, Strata and other components.

Management of IT and Business Functions - Outsourcing

Clients delegate entire or partial responsibility for their IT or business functions to CGI. It implements its processes to improve the client�� operations. It also integrates clients��operations into its technology network. Services provided as part of an outsourcing contract may include development and integration of new projects and applications; applications maintenance and support; technology management (enterprise and end-user computing and network services); transaction and business processing, such as payroll, insurance processing and document management services. Outsourcing contracts have terms of up to 10 years.

Consulting and Systems Integration

CGI provides a full range of IT and business consulting services, including business transformation, IT strategic planning, business process engineering and systems architecture. CGI integrates and customizes technologies and software applications.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Things are a little simpler in shares of CGI Group (GIB), an $11 billion Canadian IT services firm. You don't have to be an expert technical analyst to figure out what's going on in this stock. In fact, a quick glance at the chart will do.

  That's because GIB is currently forming an uptrending channel. The pattern is just about as basic as it gets: a pair of parallel trendlines have been reigning in GIB's price action for all of 2013, bouncing shares higher all the way up. Those two price levels give traders a high-probability price range for shares of GIB, and as you might imagine, it makes sense to jump in close to trendline support.

  Since GIB is currently in the middle of the price channel, it's still got a little downside room to push into before it becomes buyable. But shares are on their way down now, so it makes sense to keep this name on your radar. When the time comes to buy, keep a protective stopjust below the most recent swing low at $33.

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  For instance, take a look at CGI Federal Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian IT solutions company CGI Group Inc. (NYSE: GIB).

  CGI Federal is the largest recipient of Obamacare contract awards. The firm collected $149.9 million from April through the end of September - an impressive 35.5% of the total $421.8 million it has received since March 2010.�

• [By Reuters]

  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/AP WASHINGTON -- The federal government will end its contract with CGI Federal for the error-plagued HealthCare.gov website, instead signing a contract with Accenture, The Washington Post reported Friday in its online edition. U.S.-listed shares of CGI Group (GIB), the parent of CGI Federal, were down 3.5 percent at $31.36 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange. HealthCare.gov's technology failures in the weeks after its Oct. 1 launch created a political crisis for President Barack Obama, threatening the rollout of his signature health care law to consumers and emboldening its foes among Republican lawmakers to call for its delay. CGI has been immersed in the effort to repair the site, which began working more smoothly for hundreds of thousands of consumers in December, allowing them to enroll in new health insurance plans offered under Obama's Affordable Care Act. But the government's dissatisfaction over the website's early crash, as well as aspects of the site that still do not work, are behind plans to sign a one-year contract with Accenture (ACN) instead, the Post report said, quoting a person familiar with the matter. CGI's current contract for the work ends in late February, and the new 12-month agreement with Accenture is valued at about $90 million, the Post said. In an emailed statement, an Accenture spokesman said, "We are in discussions with clients and prospective clients all the time -- but it is not appropriate to discuss new business opportunities we may or may not be pursuing." Officials at CGI weren't immediately available for comment. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency overseeing the health-reform law's rollout, wouldn't confirm or deny that it planned to end its contract with CGI. "We are working with our contract partners to make a mutually agreed upon transition to ensure that HealthCare.gov continues to operate smoothly for consumers," a CMS s

• [By Keith Speights]

  Some don't blame technology vendors such as�CGI Group (NYSE: GIB  ) �a major contractor for the delayed federally operated system. Insurance companies suggest that the administration itself is partly at fault because details on the exchanges weren't provided until last month, according to The New York Times.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks For 2014: American Residential Properties Inc (ARPI)

American Residential Properties, Inc., incorporated on March 30, 2012, is a fully integrated and internally managed real estate investment company, which is organized as a real estate investment trust. The Company acquires, renovates, leases and manages single-family properties in select communities nationally. The Company is operating in ten states. American Residential Properties OP, L.P. acts as its operating partnership. American Residential GP, LLC is the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and the sole general partner of its operating partnership. American Residential Leasing Company, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of its operating partnership. American Residential Properties TRS, LLC (TRS), that is a wholly owned subsidiary of its operating partnership. As of March 31, 2013, it owned 2,531 properties in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas , and it managed an additional 608 properties for Phoenix Fund in Arizona and Nevada. For the period from April 1, 2013 to April 12, 2013, the Company acquired or have contracted to acquire 785 single-family homes, of which 43 homes are in Arizona, four homes are in California, 66 homes are in Florida, 25 homes are in Georgia, 35 homes are in Illinois, 114 homes are in Indiana, 214 homes are in North Carolina, nine homes are in South Carolina and 275 homes are in Texas.

In addition to the Company�� primary business strategy of acquiring, restoring, leasing and managing single-family homes, it has a private mortgage financing strategy. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� total portfolio of single family homes included 1,045 homes in phoenix, 304 homes in Chicago, 209 homes in Inland Empire, 136 homes in Winston-Salem, 265 homes in Indianapolis, 78 homes in Dallas-Fort Worth, 169 homes in Atlanta, 82 homes in other-California, 63 homes in Las Vegas, 138 homes in Fort Myers, 24 homes in Houston, 6 homes in Raleigh-Cary, 11 homes in Charlotte and one home in Charleston. As! of March 31, 2013, the Company�� portfolio of self-managed single-family homes included 1,521 homes. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� portfolio of preferred operator program single-family homes included 1,010 homes.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Holder]

  After an initial bump in Silver Bay, the stock has had a horrible 2013, now trading close to all-time lows. Recently, a couple of other IPOs in the sector have come to market with weak receptions. Both American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH  ) and American Residential Properties (NYSE: ARPI  ) offer different twists to the general thesis of investing in single-family rental properties to take advantage of the weakness in housing prices and the increased demand for rentals.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  This spring, however, signs of a slowdown began to appear. The number of distressed properties began to diminish, prices began ticking upward, and interest rates started a slow rise. However, two snippets of good news may help float the boats of private equity firm Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) , and single-family REITs Silver Bay (NYSE: SBY  ) and American Residential Properties (NYSE: ARPI  ) : easier credit, and higher foreclosure rates.

Hot Electric Utility Stocks For 2014: WhiteWave Foods Co (WWAV)

WWF Operating Company, incorporated on March 14, 1988, is a consumer packaged food and beverage company. The Company manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages, and dairy products throughout North America and Europe. The Company operates in two segments: North America and Europe. The North America segment offers products in the plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages, and dairy product categories throughout North America. Europe segment offers plant-based food and beverage products throughout Europe. The Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dean Foods Company (Dean Foods).

The Company�� brands distributed in North America include Silk plant-based foods and beverages, International Delight and LAND O LAKES coffee creamers and beverages, and Horizon Organic dairy products, while its European brands of plant-based foods and beverages include Alpro and Provamel. The Company sell its products to a variety of customers, including grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, and convenience stores, as well as various away-from-home channels, including restaurants and foodservice outlets, across North America and Europe. The Company sells its products in North America and Europe primarily through its direct sales force and independent brokers. The Company utilizes five manufacturing plants, two distribution centers, and three co-packers across the United States. Additionally, it has four plants across Europe in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, each supported by an integrated supply chain.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  So this isn't a case like that of�WhiteWave Foods (NYSE: WWAV  ) , which tried to snooker consumers by calling the sugar in its milk the creatively contrived name "evaporated cane juice." Rather, this is a company saying sugar's sugar and telling consumers how much the drink contains -- as the FDA requires it to do -- but it is still facing financial loss regardless.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  WhiteWave Foods (NYSE: WWAV  ) , the Dean Foods spinoff whose organic products go out of their way to certify that they avoid being tainted with GMO ingredients, still sells Land o' Lakes products that contain sucralose.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Hain have gained 2.2% to $79.91 today at 11:13 a.m–and trumping other health-food stocks today.� Annie’s Homegrown (BNNY) has ticked up 0.4% to $49.61, Boulder Brands (BDBD) has risen 0.6% to $15.96 and Whitewave Foods (WWAV) has dropped 1.3% to� $18.93.

• [By FinanceGuru]

  In response to this shift in consumer preferences, Dean Foods (DF) was quick to spin off its fast-growing WhiteWave division, which makes Horizon Organic Milk and Silk soy products, into WhiteWave Foods (WWAV). WhiteWave Foods competes with the likes of Hain Celestial (HAIN) and Blue Diamond Growers in the plant-based beverages market, but is it a good buy?