10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014

Japanese stocks moved lower on Monday as concerns over Iraq resulted in a stronger yen, while mining shares weighed on the Australian market.

The escalating conflict in Iraq continued to pressure market sentiment, pushing the cost of oil higher and sending investors toward the yen ��Asia�� safe-haven currency. A radical Sunni militia on Sunday claimed it had executed hundreds of Shiite Iraqi soldiers, while it appeared that the U.S. administration could open direct talks with Iran on how to counter the insurgents.

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Front Month Nymex crude oil for July (CLN4) �gained 0.5% to $107.39 a barrel, adding to a 4.1% surge over the course of last week. The yen also edged a touch higher in Asian trade, with the dollar (USDJPY) �last at 楼101.84, compared with 楼102.04 late Friday in New York.

Top 10 Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Quicksilver Resources Inc. (KWK)

Quicksilver Resources Inc., an independent oil and gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of onshore oil and gas in North America. The company focuses primarily on unconventional reservoirs, such as fractured shales, coal beds, and tight sands. It owns producing oil and natural gas properties principally in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, as well as in Alberta and British Columbia. The company primarily holds interests in assets covering an area of approximately 140,000 net acres located in the Barnett Shale, Fort Worth basin, north Texas; exploratory licenses covering an area of approximately 130,000 net acres located in the Horn River basin of northeast British Columbia; and assets covering an area of approximately 36,929 net undeveloped acres located in the Horseshoe Canyon, southern and central Alberta. As of December 31, 2011, it had total proved reserves of approximately 2.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivale nts. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanina Egea]

  Backed by the successful performance registered for fiscal year 2013, Southwestern Energy announced the acquisition of approximately 312,000 net acres in northwest Colorado targeting crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas contained in the Niobrara formation from Quicksilver Resources (KWK) and SWEPI LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) for approximately $180 million. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Not for everyone
  Even in these MLP-friendly times, some companies ultimately decide not to take their business to the Street. Quicksilver Resources (NYSE: KWK  ) planned to spin off its subsidiary, Quicksilver Production Partners, into an oil and gas MLP this year, but withdrew its plans in May after recording quarter after quarter of dismal results.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Atlatsa Resources Corp (ATL)

Atlatsa Resources Corporation is engaged in mining, exploration and development of mineral deposits located in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC), South Africa. The principal business activity is the mining and exploration of platinum group metals (PGM), through its mineral property interests. The Company�� subsidiaries include N1C Resources Incorporation, Anooraq Minera Mexicana, N2C Resources Incorporation, Plateau Resources Proprietary Limited, Bokoni Holdings Proprietary Limited, Bokoni Mines Proprietary Limited, Boikgantsho Proprietary Limited, Kwanda Proprietary Limited, Ga-Phasha Proprietary Limited, Middlepunt Hill Management Services (Proprietary) Limited and Lebowa Platinum Mine Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Atlatsa Resources (ATL), which engages in the mining, exploration and development of platinum group metals properties located in the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up a whopping 198%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Atlatsa Resources, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last two months and change, with shares soaring higher from its low of 28 cents per share to its intraday high of 46 cents per share. During that uptrend, shares of ATL have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. Shares of ATL have now started to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at 43 cents to 44 cents per share. That move is quickly pushing shares of ATL within range of triggering another big breakout trade.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in ATL if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at 50 cents per share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 170,178 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ATL will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are its next major overhead resistance levels at 63 cents to 73 cents per share, or even 80 cents per share.

  Traders can look to buy ATL off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average of 39 cents per share, or near more support at 37 cents per share. One can also buy ATL off strength once it clears its 52-week high at 50 cents with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: ExlService Holdings Inc.(EXLS)

Exlservice Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides outsourcing and transformation services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its outsourcing services include claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business processing, policy servicing, trades/sub-account transactions, add-on processing, premium audit, billing and collection, and customer services in insurance and healthcare sector; back-office processing for customer operations, metering-related services and billing, debt recovery operations, imbalance management, and account management services in utilities sector; and servicing and processing various banking products, including residential mortgage lending, retail banking, credit cards, consumer finance, commercial lending, and investment management in banking and financial services sector. The company?s outsourcing services also co mprise processing transactions, including supply chain management, warehousing, transloading, transportation management, and international logistics services in transportation and logistics sector; managing and improving operational, financial, and analytical functions for travel management companies; and finance and accounting services, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, inter-company reconciliations, financial and statutory reporting, treasury management, and tax compliance. In addition, it offers transformation services consisting of decision analytics services, including data filtering, organization and synthesis, management information system reporting, trend and variance analysis, statistical and econometric modeling, and economic and financial markets research; finance transformation services; and operations and process excellence services. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Exlservice Holdings (Nasdaq: EXLS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Exlservice Holdings (Nasdaq: EXLS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc.(ARCI)

Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, sells new household appliances through a chain of its factory outlet stores under the name ApplianceSmart. Its stores offer new special-buy appliances, including prior-year models, close-outs, factory overruns, and scratch-and-dent units, as well as byproduct materials, such as metals of recycled appliances. As of April 2, 2011, the company operated 19 factory outlet stores in Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, and Texas. The company also provides turnkey appliance recycling and replacement services for electric utilities and other sponsors of energy efficiency programs. It operated 10 processing and recycling centers in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington; and Ontario, Canada. In addition, the company has a joint venture agreement with ARCA Advanced Processing, LLC, which recycles appliances in the northeastern United States for General Ele ctric Company. The company was founded in 1976 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Appliances: This industry fell 1.07% by 10:35 am ET. Appliance Recycling Centers of America (NASDAQ: ARCI) shares dropped 1.3% in today's trading. Appliance Recycling Centers of America's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 3.11%.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Exterran Partners L.P.(EXLP)

Exterran Partners, L.P. provides natural gas contract operations services to customers in the United States. Its contract operations services include designing, sourcing, owning, installing, operating, servicing, repairing, and maintaining equipment to provide natural gas compression to its customers. The company also owns and operates a natural gas processing plant with a capacity of 10 million cubic feet per day, which is used to provide processing services. It serves companies engaged in various aspects of the oil and natural gas industry, including natural gas producers, processors, gatherers, transporters, and storage providers. The company markets its services through sales and field service personnel. Exterran General Partner, L.P. serves as the general partner of Exterran Partners, L.P. The company was formerly known as Universal Compression Partners, L.P. and changed its name to Exterran Partners, L.P. in August 2007. Exterran Partners, L.P. was founded in 2006 an d is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Exterran Partners L.P (EXLP). will acquire natural-gas compression assets from MidCon Compression L.L.C., a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corp.(CHK), for about $135 million.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Utilities shares fell by 0.86 percent on Thursday. Top losers in the sector included The AES (NYSE: AES), down 5.7 percent, and Exterran Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: EXLP), off 2.6 percent.

• [By Jason Shubnell]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Friday, with Parametric Sound (NASDAQ: PAMT) leading advancers after the company provided post merger update and outlook. Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from 21Vianet Group (NASDAQ: VNET), BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY), Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ), and Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ: VECO).
  In trading on Friday, utilities shares rose by just 0.06 percent. Among the sector stocks, Exterran Partners LP (NASDAQ: EXLP) was down more than 4.8 percent, while PG&E (NYSE: PCG) tumbled around 3.75 percent.
  Top Headline
  BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) posted a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
  BlackBerry posted a quarterly net loss of $423 million, or $0.80 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $98 million, or $0.19 per share. Its loss from continuing operations came in at $423 million, or $0.80 per share, compared to a year-ago profit of $94 million, or $0.18 per share. BlackBerry�� adjusted loss from continuing operations came in at $0.08 per share.
  Its revenue slipped 64% to $976 million. However, analysts were estimating a loss of $0.56 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion. BlackBerry sold around 3.4 million smartphones in the quarter.
  Equities Trading UP
  Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) shares shot up 3.64 percent to $27.44 after the company posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: New York & Company Inc.(NWY)

New York & Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of women's fashion apparel and accessories in the United States. The company offers a range of wear-to-work, and casual apparel and accessories, including pants, jackets, knit tops, blouses, sweaters, denim, T-shirts, activewear, handbags, and jewelry. It sells its products under the New York & Company, Lerner, Lerner New York, New York Style, City Stretch, City Style, and NY&C brand names. The company sells its branded merchandise through its network of retail stores and E-commerce store at nyandcompany.com. As of March 15, 2012, it operated 532 stores in 43 states. The company, formerly known as NY & Co. Group, Inc., was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  New York & Co(NWY).’s fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed as the women’s apparel retailer recorded comparable-store-sales growth and benefited from lower costs.

• [By Sue Chang]

  New York & Co. (NWY) �is likely to post earnings of 10 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of New York & Company (NYSE: NWY  ) were looking sharp, gaining as much as 10% two market days after reporting earnings, as Janney Montgomery Scott today reaffirmed its buy rating and upped its price target by 50% to $6.

10 Best Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Mastercard Incorporated(MA)

MasterCard Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, provides transaction processing and related services to customers principally in support of their credit, deposit access, electronic cash and automated teller machine payment card programs, and travelers? cheque programs. Its payment solutions include payment programs, marketing, product development, technology, processing, and consulting and information services. The company provides transaction processing services comprising transaction switching, which include authorization, clearing, and settlement; connectivity services, such as network access, equipment, and the transmission of authorization and settlement messages; and other payment-related services consisting of products used to prevent or detect fraudulent transactions, cardholder services, professional consulting and research services, compliance and penalty, account and transaction enhancement services, holograms, and publication services. MasterCard Incor porated manages and licenses payment card brands, including MasterCard, MasterCard Electronic, Maestro, and Cirrus. The company?s payment programs, which are facilitated through its brands, include consumer credit, debit and prepaid programs, commercial payment solutions, and contactless payment solutions. It serves approximately 22,000 financial institutions. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  The comparative advantage
  First, what makes Visa, and its closest competitor MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) , two genius plays in the payment processing sector is their absolution from doubtful accounts. Visa and MasterCard are payment processing facilitators. Period! Peers Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS  ) and American Express (NYSE: AXP  ) serve as both payment processors and lenders, giving them the unique ability to double-dip on profits. However, this also exposes these two companies to doubtful collections for those who don't pay their debts. During the recession, these doubtful accounts crushed the share prices of Discover and American Express. As for Visa and MasterCard, no lending ability means they'll never worry about doubtful account provisions.