Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014

Online banking is about to get easier at Regions Bank (NYSE: RF  ) .

On Tuesday, the regional banker, which does business in 16 states throughout the American South, Midwest, and Texas, announced it's inked a deal with online banking software Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV  ) to revamp its online banking and bill-pay system to enhance the customer experience.

Fiserv is one of the giants of online banking software, having become so through a series of acquisitions back in the mid-2000s, when CheckFree bought Corillian, and then Fiserv in turn bought CheckFree (a sizable acquisition at the time, at $4.4 billion). The company will be bringing its expertise to Regions by implementing its CheckFree RXP electronic bill payment system, and pairing it with with Regions' Corillian Online�banking service (also from Fiserv) and the bank's existing Popmoney person-to-person payment service.

Regions eBusiness head Christopher Cox described the move as helping to give Regions clients "easy and convenient money movement options, including effective bill pay services."

5 Best Gold Stocks To Invest In 2015: Nikon Corp (NINOF)

NIKON CORPORATION is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of image and video equipment. The Company operates in four business segments. The Precision Equipment segment offers semiconductor exposure apparatus and liquid crystal (LC) exposure apparatus. The Image segment provides digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, compact digital cameras and interchangeable lens. The Instruments segment offers microscopes, measuring machines and semiconductor inspection equipment. The Others segment provides LC photomask substrates and optical components. As of March 31, 2013, the Company has 87 subsidiaries and 10 associated companies. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened lower Thursday, as gains for the yen and losses for Wall Street conspired to drive the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) down 1.2% to 15,333.35, extending Wednesday's 0.6% loss. The Topix fell 0.7%, with the U.S. dollar (USDJPY) slipping to 102.46 yen, down from around 楼102.80 at the start of the previous session, but off its lows in late Wednesday trade. Electronics firms and other techs helped lead the loss, with Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) falling 1.4%, Nikon Corp. (JP:7731) (NINOF) off 2.4%, and Alps Electric Co. (JP:6770) 1.8% lower. The Nikkei Asian Review reported Thursday that Japan looked set to post its first trade deficit for electronics goods this year. Shares of Yahoo Japan Corp. (JP:4689) (YAHOF) lost 1.4%, even as Bloomberg reported the firm was offering its stake in market-research firm Macromill Inc. (JP:3730) to U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital at a premium to its most recent close. Shares of Macromill were untraded. Among gainers, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (JP:9432) (NTT) rose 2.1%, following a 1.1% gain for its U.S.-listed shares.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- With the yen holding on to its gains and investors cautious as earnings season kicks off, Japanese stocks slid lower Friday after closing the previous day with some late-session gains. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) fell 0.9% to 14,358.28, with the Topix down 0.8%, as the dollar bought 97.36 yen, little changed from 24 hours earlier. The relatively strong yen weighed on some names with high global exposure, as Sharp Corp. (JP:6753) (SHCAF) lost 1%, Pioneer Corp. (JP:6773) (PNCOF) dropped 1.6%, and Bridgestone Corp. (JP:5108) (BRDCF) fell 1.2%. An outlook cut from Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) helped send its shares down 1%, while rival Nikon Corp. (JP:7731) (NINOF) lost 1.8%, though Olympus Corp. (JP:7733) (OCPNF) gained 1%. Telecoms were weak, with Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) falling 2.5%, KDDI Corp. (JP:9433) (KDDIF) down 1.7%, and NTT DoCoMo Inc. (JP:9437) (NTDMF)

Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014: ProShares Ultra Dow30 (DDM)

ProShares Ultra Dow30 (the Fund) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The DJIA is a price-weighted index maintained by editors of The Wall Street Journal. The Index includes 30 large-cap, blue-chip United States stocks, excluding utility and transportation companies. Components are selected through a discretionary process with no predetermined criteria except that components should be established United States companies. The DJIA is not limited to traditionally defined industrial stocks, instead, the Index serves as a measure of the entire United States market, covering such diverse industries as financial services, technology, retail, entertainment and consumer goods. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as 200% of the daily return of the Index. Its investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Victor Selva]

  In stock valuation models, dividend discount models (DDM) define cash flow as the dividends to be received by the shareholders. Extending the period indefinitely, the fundamental value of the stock is the present value of an infinite stream of dividends according to John Burr Williams.

Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ALNY)

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi). Its core product programs under clinical or pre-clinical development include ALN-TTR, a Phase I clinical trial program for the treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis; ALN-APC, a Phase I clinical trial program for the treatment of hemophilia; ALN-PCS for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia; ALN-HPN, a pre-clinical development for the treatment of refractory anemia; and ALN-TMP, a pre-clinical development for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies, including beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. The company?s partner-based programs comprise ALN-RSV01, a Phase II clinical trial program for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infection; ALN-VSP, a Phase I clinical trial completed program for the treatment of liver cancers; and ALN-HTT, a pre-clinical development for the treatment of Huntington?s disease. It has strategic alliances with Novartis Pharma AG; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Medtronic Inc.; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.; and Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  On the clinical data front, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY  ) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NYSEMKT: INO  ) both put investors in their happy place.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY) got a boost, shooting up early in the day, but settling on a gain of 40.40 percent to $92.96 after the company reported that it has acquired investigational RNAi Therapeutic assets from Merck (NYSE: MRK). Genzyme and Alnylam expanded their collaboration on rare genetic diseases.

Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014: Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings(AAWW)

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. provides air cargo and outsourced aircraft operating solutions worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance (ACMI); Air Mobility Command (AMC) Charter; Commercial Charter; and Dry Leasing. The ACMI segment offers aircraft that is crewed, maintained, and insured by the company for lease. The AMC Charter segment provides full planeload charter flights to the U.S. military. The Commercial Charter segment provides planeload of capacity charter services to charter brokers, freight forwarders, direct shippers, and airlines. The Dry Leasing segment provides for the leasing of aircraft and/or engines to customers. The company operates a fleet of Boeing 747 freighters. Its customers include airlines, express delivery providers, freight forwarders, the U.S. military, and charter brokers. It operates in Asia, the Middle-East, Australia, Europe, South America, Africa, and North America. As of Decem ber 31, 2009, the company operated a fleet of 747-400 freighter aircraft. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings was founded in 1992 and is based in Purchase, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW) has plunged 21% to $38.63 following its announcement that it would earn less this year than it had previously expected.

  Oshkosh has dropped 12% to $46.25 after it reported a profit of 49 cents a share, missing forecasts for 590 cents, as sales of military vehicles plunged.

Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014: AmeriGas Partners L.P. (APU)

AmeriGas Partners, L.P. operates as a retail and wholesale distributor of propane gas, and related equipment and supplies in the United States. As of November 8, 2012, it served approximately 2 million residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, wholesale, and motor fuel customers in 50 states through approximately 2,000 propane distribution locations. The company also sells, installs, and services propane appliances, including heating systems. It markets propane primarily under the AmeriGas, America's Propane Company, Heritage Propane, Titan Propane, and Relationships Matter trade names and related service marks. Its propane is used for home heating, water heating, and cooking purposes; to fire furnaces, as a cutting gas, and in other process applications; as a supplemental fuel and motor fuel; and for tobacco curing, chicken brooding, and crop drying applications. AmeriGas Propane, Inc. serves as the general partner of the company. AmeriGas Partners, L.P. was foun ded in 1994 and is based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  For retail purposes, though, AmeriGas (NYSE: APU  ) remains the biggest competitor for Ferrellgas, with 2 million customers scattered across the nation. That makes AmeriGas about twice as big as Ferrelgas by customer base, and AmeriGas has also been aggressive in purchasing up small businesses to add to its reach.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU) is the country’s largest retail propane marketer, serving some 2 million customers in all 50 states from approximately 2,100 distribution locations. Units initially dropped about 6 percent last week when an affiliate of Energy Transfer Partners announced a public offering of the 8 million AmeriGas common units that it currently holds. The units yield 7.9 percent, and AmerGas has done a good job of growing distributions over time. The biggest concern is that demand for propane had declined before the recent upswing due to increasing efficiency in buildings and appliances, as well as from customers switching to competing fuels like natural gas. This has led to inconsistent distributable cash flow (DCF), and in 2012 the partnership experienced a shortfall in its distribution coverage.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We expect LKQ to continue their consolidating acquisition strategy, especially overseas, as there is a vacuum of supply for alternative parts in the European Union. Much of this has to do with long-颅��tanding legislation that made it difficult to utilize or even forbade the use of aftermarket collision parts. More expensive, OEM parts have dominated the collision replacement parts market, with European alternative parts utilization (APU) in the single-颅��igit percentages (recall APU is ~1/3rd in the U.S.). However, as the region began overturning restrictive legislation during the middle of the last decade, a healthier supply and demand dynamic for alternative parts has emerged.

Top Regional Bank Companies To Watch For 2014: Wajax Corp (WJX)

Wajax Corporation (Wajax), is engaged in the sale and after-sales parts and service support of equipment, power systems and industrial components. Wajax�� three business divisions include equipment,power systems and industrial components. Its equipment division is engaged in the distribution, rental, modification and servicing of mobile equipment from manufacturers. It Power Systems is engaged in the distribution, rental and servicing of engines, transmissions and generators for on-highway, off-highway and electric power generation applications. Industrial components is engaged in the distribution, servicing, custom design and assembly of industrial components for in-plant customers and original equipment manufacturers. The Company�� products include excavators, lift trucks, mining trucks and shovels, forest harvesting equipment, utility equipment, loader backhoes, container handlers, cranes, diesel and natural gas engines, transmissions and power generators and bearings. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Heinzl]

  For example, BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Bert Powell recently raised his price target on Wajax (WJX) to $41.50 from $35.50 because, as he explained in a note, he believes the company is poised for a recovery. The new target reflects his expectation that the stock will trade at 11 times his 2015 earnings per share estimate of $3.77��ts average P/E multiple historically.