Best US Companies To Invest In 2014

Where there�� money to be made, you��l find investors��k, hedge funds.

Jeff Hoffman keys on startup success (Photo credit: TechCocktail)

Leena Rao�� TechCrunch article yesterday on the return of hedge funds to startup investing identifies a trend that we all felt was happening but didn�� necessarily have the high-profile example to jog us. When Snapchat, the hot social app reportedly rebuffed a $3 billion dollar buyout offer from Facebook and instead, turned to go it alone by raising a $50 million round, it did so not by turning to venture capitalists.

Snapchat raised its money from a hedge fund (from Coatue Management, to be exact).

And there are other examples of hedge funds leaving the world of public market investing to place their bets on startups:

Top 5 India Stocks For 2015: BlackRock Muniyield Michigan Quality Fund II Inc (MYM)

BlackRock MuniYield Michigan Quality Fund II, Inc. (the Fund), formerly BlackRock MuniYield Michigan Insured Fund II, Inc., is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to provide shareholders with as high a level of current income exempt from federal and Michigan income taxes as is consistent with its investment policies and prudent investment management by investing primarily in a portfolio of long-term municipal obligations the interest on which, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuer, is exempt from federal and Michigan income taxes.

The Fund�� allocation in long-term investments include transportation, hospital, lease revenue, sales tax, education and housing. BlackRock Advisors, LLC is the manager of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But now that markets have had time to react, a number of different opinions are surfacing about how important Detroit's bankruptcy is:

  Investment manager BlackRock said early this week that its analysts "anticipate the impact of the event will be much smaller than its size might indicate," calling Detroit "an idiosyncratic situation" and saying that therefore its analysts "do not anticipate a widespread systemic effect." UBS noted that "precedents that do exist would appear to favor holders of [general-obligation municipal] bonds backed by an unlimited property tax" in its argument that the bankruptcy shouldn't create big problems, also noting that muni-bond insurance companies cover almost 90% of Detroit's debt. Citigroup notes that "the magnitude of Detroit's economic and financial problems dwarfs those of any other large local government in the U.S. by a wide amount" in arguing that muni-bond yields aren't likely to rise too far. Taking the other side of the argument, muni-bond specialist Nuveen Asset Management believes that "municipal investors should now view all Michigan general-obligation bonds as having no greater standing than any other form of municipal obligations," reversing the general understanding that general-obligation bonds backed by broad powers to tax are inherently more secure than bonds with more limited sources of revenue backing them. Indeed, Michigan-specific muni-bond funds took much more serious hits over the week than the broad muni-bond market, with BlackRock MuniYield Michigan (NYSE: MYM  ) falling almost 5% since last Thursday and Nuveen Michigan Quality Income (NYSE: NUM  ) posting about a 4% loss. Analyst Meredith Whitney went a step further, predicting a wave of municipal bankruptcies resulting from Detroit's action. Yet after having cried wolf in late 2010 and having proven to be wrong in her expected 12-month timeline for massive defaults, Whitney has had her credibility questioned by many ex

Best US Companies To Invest In 2014: Exone Co (XONE)

The ExOne Company, incorporated on December 21, 2012, is engaged in manufacturing and selling three-dimensional (3D) printing machines and printing products to specification for its customers using its in-house 3D printing machines. The Company provides 3D printing machines, 3D printed products and related services to industrial customers in the aerospace, automotive, heavy equipment, energy/oil/gas and other industries. It offers pre-production collaboration and print products for customers through its production service centers (PSCs), which are located in the United States, Germany and Japan. On January 1, 2013, the Company merged its predecessor company, The Ex One Company, LLC, with and into EXO Acquisitions Inc., which changed its name to The ExOne Company.

The Company produces an array of materialization systems to support a range of customer needs and facility requirements. It offers two printers on the world market for 3D printing of sand and metal materials, offering build sizes as large as 1800 x 1000 x 700 mm (70 x 39 x 27 in.) for sand and 780 x 400 x 400 mm (30.7 x 15.75 x 15.75 in.) for metal. It also offers Orion short pulse laser systems, utilizing a five-axis machine tool with four additional axes available on the trepanning head. The Company builds 3D printing machines at its facilities in the United States and Germany. The Company also supplies the associated products, including consumables and replacement parts, and services, including training and technical support, necessary for purchasers of its machines to print products. The Company�� 3D printing machines are able to manufacture casting molds and cores from specialty silica sand and ceramics, which are the traditional materials for these casting products.

The Company competes with 3D Systems Corporation, Stratasys Inc., Solidscape, Inc. and Objet Ltd., EOS Optronics GmbH, EnvisionTEC GmbH, and Solid Model Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Zeiler]

  4. The ExOne Co. (Nasdaq: XONE): ExOne makes 3D printers and 3D printing products, and anyone who follows tech knows the enormous potential of 3D printing. The company went public February 7 at $18 a share and rose 47.3% on its first day. XONE currently trades at about $51.83, for a total gain of 187.94%.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  The ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE) was also up, gaining 2.04 percent to $45.00 as 3D printing stocks once again were spotlighted for today's trading session.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Tomorrow, ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  3D printing is supposed to be the next big thing. We have noted earlier that it has been called the next bubble� by some investors. Unfortunately, two 3D printing outfits have issued cautious guidance in the last twenty-four hours. The first was Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), and now we have a warning from The ExOne Company (NASDAQ: XONE). 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) managed to escape the carnage on Tuesday during the day, but that appears to no longer be the case.

Best US Companies To Invest In 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Why Altria?
  The company is what's left after international operations were spun off in the form of Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM  ) in 2008. While Philip Morris is favored by many because of lower tobacco taxes and regulations in many parts of the world, as well as the fact that many economies are growing more rapidly than ours, Altria still manages the very valuable Marlboro brand domestically, where it recently held a commanding 43% market share.

Best US Companies To Invest In 2014: Bravo Enterprises Ltd (OGNG)

Bravo Enterprises Ltd., formerly Organa Gardens International Inc., incorporated on November 29, 1983, is a development-stage company. The Company holds an undivided 85% working interest and an undivided 68% net revenue interest in 13,189 acres located in Wasatch County, Utah, known as the Uinta Basin and a 0.7% gross overriding royalty interest on 6,360 acres of oil and natural gas rights located in the Powder River Basin of eastern Wyoming. The Company has a vertical hydroponics farming system. The Company owns a 2% royalty interest in the Harvester Property. The LAK Ranch field covers approximately 7,500 acres in the Powder River basin. In September 2011, the Company completed its merger agreement with Integrated Green Technologies LLC.

The Organa Garden Systems (OGS) provide a means for food production and consumption change to global and ecological through vertical hydroponics rotary farming. There are two OGS models; the Discovery (OGS-D) and the Enterprise (OGS-E). Its specially designed waterwheel technology allows the fully automated system to recycle and reuse 95% of the water used while requiring a negligible amount of energy to run.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap green stocks Vision Industries Corp (OTCMKTS: VIIC), Bravo Enterprises Ltd (OTCMKTS: OGNG) and Kleangas Energy Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS: KGET) have reported recent news and/or they are being promoted. Of course, it goes without saying that small cap green stocks tend to be more volatile that other types of investments. So will investors and traders alike see some greenbacks from these green stocks? Here is a quick reality check:

Best US Companies To Invest In 2014: Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYA)

Ryanair Holdings plc (Ryanair Holdings), is a holding company for Ryanair Limited (Ryanair). Ryanair operates a low-cost, scheduled-passenger airline serving short-haul, point-to-point routes between Ireland, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and Morocco. As of June 30, 2012, the Company offered approximately over 1,500 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving approximately 160 airports largely throughout Europe with an operating fleet of 294 aircraft flying approximately 1,500 routes. Ryanair sells seats on a one-way basis. The Company also holds a 29.8% interest in Aer Lingus Group plc. As of June 30, 2012, Ryanair�� operating fleet was composed of 294 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, each having 189 seats. Ryanair�� fleet totaled 294 Boeing 737-800s at March 31, 2012. As of June 30, 2012, Ryanair owned and operated four Boeing 737-800 full flight simulators for pilot training. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA), the discount airline operator that�� the second-biggest stock in Ireland�� ISEQ index, declined 1.7 percent to 7.23 euros in Dublin. Kerry Group, a supplier of food ingredients, sank 1.4 percent to 45.24 euros.

Best US Companies To Invest In 2014: Ishares Ftse Kld 400 Social Index Fund (DSI)

iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares FTSE KLD 400 Social Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the equity performance of the United States companies. The Index consists of approximately 400 companies identified by MSCI from the universe of companies included in the MSCI USA IMI Index, which consists of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ Stock Market LLC listed United States equities. The Fund�� investment advisor is BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Efficiency measures at Schlumberger have included faster maintenance, better transportation set ups, and increases in asset turns. The company reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)—a measure of how long it takes to get paid after a sale—to 91 in the quarter, from 96 in the first quarter of 2013. Days Sales of Inventory (DSI)—a measure of how much inventory a company carries to support its sales activities—fell to 55 days from 57 days. That helped produce operating cash flow of $10 billion for Schlumberger in 2013, a record for the company.