Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014

Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesHubert Joly, president and chief executive officer of Best Buy Co. NEW YORK -- Hubert Joly, CEO of Best Buy, sold some stock in order to help pay for his divorce settlement. In a regulatory filing, Joly said he exercised some 350,467 stock options at $18.02 a share, for a total of about $6.3 million. He then sold those shares, plus other holdings in the consumer electronics chain, for a total of 451,153 shares for $16.7 million. That means he made about $10.4 million from the sale. Best Buy Co. (BBY) said in a statement that Joly sold the stock "due to circumstances related to his marital dissolution." The chain said that he still owns stock that is substantially more than the 140,000 share ownership target that is part of its executive stock ownership guidelines. Last month, Best Buy reported second-quarter results that topped analyst estimates as it slashed costs and worked to make its website more competitive. The retailer has been shuttering underperforming stores and revamping others to offset tough competition from discounters and online retailers. Under Joly, who took the helm of the company a year ago, Best Buy has instituted a price-matching policy, opened more in-store areas for manufacturers such as Apple (AAPL) and Samsung, and invested more to train employees. Shares of Best Buy added 5 cents to $37.97 in afternoon trading. Earlier in the session, the stock hit $38, its highest point since December 2010. The stock has more than tripled since the start of the year.

Forecast store closings: 200 to 250 Number of U.S. stores:1,056 One-year stock performance: -36.8% The holiday season was rough for Best Buy  (BBY). Same-store sales declined by 1.4% year-over-year, with international stores posting a 6.4% decline while U.S. same-store sales were flat. Company-wide, the electronics retailer reported that holiday revenue had declined to $12.8 billion from $12.9 billion the year before. In the most recent completed quarter, during which same-store sales declined 4.3%, the company reported a loss of 4 cents per share. Best Buy has been plagued by the trend of  "showrooming" -- customers using stores to get real-world looks at products, then purchasing them online. Speculation persists that former chairman and founder Richard Schulze may buy the company and take it private. By 24/7 Wall St.

Top 10 European Companies To Buy Right Now: Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP)

Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (Atlas Resource Partners), incorporated on October 13, 2011, is an independent developer and producer of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL), with operations in basins across the United States. The Company is a sponsor and manager of investment partnerships, in which it co-invests, to finance a portion of its natural gas and oil production activities. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its average daily net production was approximately 77.2 million cubic feet equivalent. On December 20, 2012, it completed the acquisition of DTE Gas Resources, LLC from DTE Energy Company. On September 24, 2012, the Company acquired Equal Energy, Ltd.�� (Equal) remaining 50% interest in approximately 8,500 net undeveloped acres included in the joint venture. On July 26, 2012, it completed the acquisition of Titan Operating, L.L.C. On April 30, 2012, it acquired certain oil and natural gas assets from Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. In April 2012, it acquired a 50% interest in approximately 14,500 net undeveloped acres in the oil and NGL area of the Mississippi Lime play in northwestern Oklahoma.

Through December 31, 2012, the Company owned production positions in the areas of the Barnett Shale and Marble Falls play in the Fort Worth Basin in northern Texas; the Appalachia basin, including the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale; the Mississippi Lime and Hunton plays in northwestern Oklahoma, and the Chattanooga Shale in northeastern Tennessee, the Niobrara Shale in northeastern Colorado, the New Albany Shale in southwestern Indiana and the Antrim Shale in Michigan. During 2012, the Company had ownership interests in over 525 wells in the Barnett Shale and Marble Falls play and 569.3 billion cubic feet equivalent of total proved reserves with average daily production of 31.9 million cubic feet equivalent. During 2012, the Company had ownership interests in over 10,200 wells in the Appalachian basin, including approximately 270 wells in the Marcellus Shale and 1! 12.6 billion cubic feet equivalent of total proved reserves with average daily production of 35.6 million cubic feet equivalent. During 2012, it owned 21 billion cubic feet equivalent of total proved reserves with average daily production of 1.9 million cubic feet equivalent in the Mississippi Lime and Hunton plays in northwestern Oklahoma. During 2012, the Company had average daily production of 7.8 million cubic feet equivalent in the Chattanooga Shale in northeastern Tennessee, the Niobrara Shale in northeastern Colorado, the New Albany Shale in southwestern Indiana, and the Antrim Shale in Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joseph Hogue]

  Atlas Resource Partners (NYSE: ARP  ) offers the lowest cost to DCF and the second-highest yield of the group. The company is active in the Barnett Shale, Appalachian Basin, the Raton Basin, the Black Warrior Basin and the Mississippi Lime with an interest in over 12,000 producing natural gas and oil wells. The partnership's coverage ratio just missed a top rank as well, and the units could be a solid addition. May saw insider purchases by four officers for 52,530 units at an average price of $19.73 per unit with no insider selling in the past twelve months.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  The management team at oil and gas company�Atlas Energy (NYSE: ATLS  ) has really taken Warren Buffett's advice to heart. Buffett's old adage to "be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful" seems to be that team's approach. After selling its shale assets to Chevron at the top of the market, the company has been diligently acquiring natural gas assets at the market's low. That blueprint continues to be followed as evidenced by the recently announced acquisition of substantial natural gas assets via its master limited partnership, Atlas Resource Partners (NYSE: ARP  ) .

Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ardonblue Ventures Inc (ARB)

Ardonblue Ventures Inc., formerly August Metal Corporation, is a Canada-based company engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and evaluating mineral resource properties. Las Lajas Project consists of approximately seven contiguous mining concessions and is located in Southern Sonora State, Mexico. The concessions are owned by Minera Goldzone SA de CV a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldzone Exploration Inc. Las Lajas has access and infrastructure as it is located approximately 15 kilometers north of the city of Navojoa. The Thurlow Property occupies the central part of the Doratha Morton gold trend, located on British Columbia�� southwestern coast near Phillips Arm. The Property consists of approximately nine crown granted mineral claims covering a total of approximately 142.61hectares. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  International media and marketing shop Arbitron� (NYSE: ARB  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, the same rate it's always paid since 2005

Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: ModusLink Global Solutions Inc(MLNK)

ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides supply chain business process management solutions worldwide. Its services and solutions cover forward supply chain, aftermarket service requirements, and e-business processes. The company?s services include sourcing and supply base management, manufacturing and product configuration, fulfillment and distribution, e-business, and aftermarket services, such as returns management and asset disposition; and consumer-electronics repair and reverse logistics services. Its clients include hardware manufacturers, software publishers, telecommunications carriers, broadband and wireless service providers, and consumer electronics companies. In addition, the company, through its venture capital business, invests in early-stage technology companies. ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc., formerly known as CMGI, Inc., was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  ModusLink Global Solutions (NASDAQ: MLNK) fell 6.95% to $4.55 in pre-market trading after the company announced a proposed $75 million convertible senior notes offering.

Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.(TOO)

Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. provides marine transportation, oil production, and storage services to the offshore oil industry. It operates shuttle tankers, floating storage and offtake (FSO) units, and conventional crude oil tankers, as well as floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units. As of June 30, 2011, its fleet consisted of 40 shuttle tankers, including 5 chartered-in vessels and 4 committed newbuildings; 2 FPSO units; 5 FSO units; and 10 conventional oil tankers. The company primarily serves energy and oil service companies, and their affiliates. Teekay Offshore GP L.L.C. serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kashafa Investment Research]

  Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (TOO) is the largest owner in the shuttle tanker market with 33 shuttle tankers and one newbuilds on order. Through this, the company owns more than 50% of the world's shuttle tanker fleet based on total tonnage.

Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: J. W. Mays Inc.(MAYS)

J.W. Mays, Inc. owns and operates commercial real estate properties in the United States. Its properties are located in Brooklyn, Jamaica, Levittown, Massapequa, and Fishkill, New York, as well as in Circleville, Ohio. The company was founded in 1924 and is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon] is trading around book value your next step is to figure out how book value is calculated.

  The reason a company trading below book value is interesting has to do with accounting. In the U.S., you don�� mark up the book value of land and many other potentially valuable assets just because you have evidence ��like an appraisal, comparable sale, etc. ��that the market value is now higher than your original cost.

  So, there will be situations where knowing how a company accounts for its assets and knowing the stock trades for less than book value can help direct you to companies selling for less than they are worth.

  DreamWorks is a movie studio. So it is using a rather subjective estimate of the ultimate revenue a movie will produce. It is then amortizing the cost of the movie as revenue comes in to the company in proportion to the percentage of revenue this represents relative to expected total revenue the movie will produce.

  For very old movies, it�� actually a little different. And for flops it�� different. DreamWorks can write off flops. And it can�� expect the ultimate revenue for a movie to be higher to the extent such revenue comes more than 10 years after the film�� release.

  In other words, DreamWorks has to fully amortize a movie within 10 years and disregard the value an 11-year-old movie might have.

  This is explained in a note to the company�� 10-K. It is very important for Ben Graham-type investors to read all these notes carefully ��but especially the notes on depreciation and amortization:

  Once a film, television special/series or live performance is released, capitalized productions costs are amortized and participations and residual costs are accrued on an individual title basis in the proportion that the revenue during the period for each title (��urrent Revenue�� bears to the estimated remaining total revenue to be recognized from all sources for each title (��ltimate Revenue��. The amo

Top Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Compucon Computer Applications SA (COMP)

Compucon Computer Applications SA is a Greek company engaged mainly in the information technology sector. The Company's activities include the manufacture and trade of electronics and software for the embroidery, telematics, laser, Web solutions and medical fields. In the embroidery field it offers album presentation or embroidery designs, lettering with a variety of fonts, frames and specialized features, and realistic three-dimensional views of embroidery designs. The Company also produces laser cutting and engraving devices for the embroidery sector. The range of telematics applications includes automotive positioning systems, fleet management and navigation systems. Its Web solutions offering includes the SiteCosmos, which is an integrated tool for on-line content management and Website design for small and medium enterprises, while the medical applications target the management of patient-oriented information, diet schedules, word processing, prescriptions and other services. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Reklaitis]

  The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) �slid 54.37 points, or 1.3%, to 3,999.73, closing under 4,000 for the first time since Feb. 3. The tech-heavy index fell 3.1% for the week, with its biggest daily loss coming on Thursday, when traders went after biotech and other high-growth stocks with a vengeance. The Nasdaq endured its worst weekly percentage drop since June 2012, and it has fallen for three weeks in a row.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday, turning negative after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested the central bank was looking for ways to exit or at least slow down its bond-buying program fairly soon. The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 6.50 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 1,781.37, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 66.21 points, or 0.4%, to close at 15,900.82. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) shed 10.28 points, or 0.3%, to end at 3,921.27. Stocks erased gains that came after a stronger-than-expected rise in October retail sales.

• [By Rex Crum]

  The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) , which includes many leading tech stocks, fell almost 73 points, or 1.8%, to finish at 4,075 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) �giving up more than 3%.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) �shed 0.2% to 3,811, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) �and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) �were each off a fraction.