Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014

kurhan/Shutterstock The maker of a line of diet supplements sold at the nation's largest pharmacies with the false promise that the pills would magically make users slender (they didn't) was banned -- at least, for now -- from selling weight loss products under a just-finalized agreement, the Federal Trade Commission said on Friday. HealthyLife Sciences and its principal sold Healthe Trim supplements with the claim you could "get high school skinny." Apparently, it only worked as advertised if its users had never gained weight after graduation. John Matthew Dwyer III (aka Matthew Dyer), the co-founder of the Atlanta-based company, agreed to stay out of the weight-loss industry under the terms of the settlement of deceptive advertising charges. Dwyer claimed the pills had ingredients that combined to burn fat, speed up the metabolism and suppress appetite. No Penalty, No Restitution The FTC said the company took in about $76 million between 2009 and 2013. Healthe Trim supplements were sold at CVS (CVS), Walgreens (WAG) and at GNC (GNC) stores. It cost consumers who bought into the spiel $50 to $65 for a month's supply, the FTC said. The key to the sales were customer testimonials featuring claims that, for example, using the pills helped one user to drop 54 pounds and go from a size 12 dress to a size 2. "Losing weight is rarely easy, and it would be a miracle if a pill made it so," Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "Consumers should be skeptical when a product like this one claims to make weight loss easy." The company itself (if it continues to operate without Dwyer) is barred from making a host of what the FTC describes as "scientifically infeasible" claims about its supplements. And it can no longer make any weight-loss-related claims at all about them until it has in hand two legitimate, scientifically rigorous human clinical-trial studies to support its statements. Unlike many settlements of this type, there is no financial penalty and no provision for consumer restitution. More from Mitch Lipka
•Texting Scammers to Pay $10 Million to Settle FTC Suit •The Plague of Ebola-Related Scams Is Spreading Like a Virus •Costco Flat Screen Wall Mounts Recalled Because TVs Can Fall

Hot Cheap Companies To Watch For 2015: Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs ships primarily for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. It offers nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines; and non-nuclear ships, including surface combatants, expeditionary warfare/amphibious assault, coastal defense surface ships, and national security cutters, as well as engages in the refueling and overhaul, and inactivation of nuclear-powered ships. The company also operates as a full-service systems provider for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major programs for surface ships; and a provider of fleet support and maintenance services for the U.S. Navy. In addition, it provides a range of support services, including fabrication, construction, equipment, and technical services, as well as product sales to commercial nuclear power plants, fossil power plants, and other industrial facilities, as well as government customers. The company is based in Newport News, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  The contracts in question awarded to major martial shipbuilders Huntington Ingalls (NYSE: HII  ) and Bath Iron Works (the General Dynamics (NYSE: GD  ) subsidiary), respectively, are worth a combined $6.2 billion and commission the two defense contractors to build a total of nine Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyers.

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: Korian SA (KORI)

Korian SA is a France-based company that operates healthcare facilities and medical establishments. The Company's holdings include residential centers for the elderly (EHPAD), offering permanent social care and medical support; follow-up care and rehabilitation centers, including general and specialized centers. Korian SA's establishments are located in France, Italy and Germany via its subsidiaries, Segesta S.p.A., Phonix GmBH, Reacti Malt SAS, Sas La Normandie, Sa La Bastide de la tourne, Sas Mapadex La Roseraie, among others. In March 8, 2013, it finalized the acquisition of Curanum AG by Korian SA's Korian Deutschland AG. In February 2014, it announced the acquisition of a clinic in Florence and the sale of the psychiatry division in France comprising seven clinics and two nursing homes. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Korian (KORI) declined 3.8 percent to 24.35 euros. The merger with Medica will create the largest French operator of nursing homes. Medica holders will receive Korian stock valued at about 23.01 euros a share, the companies said in a statement today. That�� 15 percent above Medica�� closing price on Nov. 15. Medica shares added 2.4 percent to 20.50 euros.

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: PolyOne Corp (POL)

PolyOne Corporation (PolyOne), incorporated on August 31, 2000, is a provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, polymer distribution and specialty vinyl resins. The Company is a specialized developer and manufacturer of additives, liquid colorants, and fluoropolymer and silicone colorants. The Company offers approximately 52,000 polymer solutions to approximately 14,000 customers across the globe. The Company has 60 manufacturing sites and nine distribution facilities in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. The Company operates in four segments: Global Specialty Engineered Materials; Global Color, Additives and Inks; Performance Products and Solutions, and PolyOne Distribution. On January 3, 2011, the Company acquired Uniplen Industria de Polimeros Ltda. (Uniplen). In February 2011, the Company sold its 50% interest in SunBelt Chlor Alkali Partnership (SunBelt). On December 21, 2011, the Company acquired ColorMatrix Group, Inc. In December 2012, the Company acquired Glasforms Inc. Effective March 13, 2013, the Company acquired the interest of Spartech Corporation.

Global Specialty Engineered Materials

Global Specialty Engineered Materials is a provider of custom plastic formulations, services and solutions for designers, assemblers and processors of thermoplastic materials across a range of markets and end-use applications. Its product portfolio includes standard and custom formulated high-performance polymer compounds that are manufactured using thermoplastic compounds and elastomers, which are then combined with advanced polymer additive, reinforcement, filler, colorant and/or biomaterial technologies. The segment includes GLS Corporation (GLS). Global Specialty Engineered Materials has plants, sales and service facilities located throughout North America, Europe and Asia and South America.

Global Color, Additives and Inks

Global Color! , Additives and Inks is a provider of specialized color and additive concentrates, as well as inks and latexes. Its additive masterbatches encompass a range of performance enhancing characteristics and are commonly categorized by the function that they perform, such as ultra violet (UV) stabilization, anti-static, chemical blowing, antioxidant and lubricant, and processing enhancement. Its colorant and additives masterbatches are used in a range of plastics, including those used in food and medical packaging, transportation, building products, pipe and wire and cable markets. The Company also provides custom-formulated liquid systems that meet a variety of customer needs and chemistries, including vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane and silicone. Products include inks and latexes for diversified markets, including recreational and athletic apparel, construction and filtration, outdoor furniture and healthcare. Global Color, Additives and Inks has plants, sales and service facilities located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and North America.

Performance Products and Solutions

Performance Products and Solutions offers an array of products and services for vinyl coating, molding and extrusion processors principally in North America. Its product offerings include vinyl compounds, vinyl resins, and specialty coating materials based on vinyl. These products are sold to manufacturers of plastic parts and consumer-oriented products. The Company also offers a range of services, including materials testing and component analysis, custom compound development, colorant and additive services, design assistance, structural analyses, process simulations and extruder screw design. Vinyl is utilized across a range of applications in building and construction, wire and cable, consumer and recreation markets, transportation, packaging and healthcare. The segment also includes Producer Services, which offers custom compounding services to resin producers and processors that desig! n and dev! elop their own compound and masterbatch recipes.

PolyOne Distribution

The Company�� PolyOne Distribution business distributes approximately 3,500 grades of engineering and commodity grade resins, including PolyOne-produced compounds, to the North American market. These products are sold to approximately 5,700 custom injection molders and extruders who, in turn, convert them into plastic parts that are sold to end-users in a range of industries. Representing approximately 20 major suppliers, the Company offers its customers a product portfolio, just-in-time delivery from multiple stocking locations and local technical support. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company extended its distribution operations to Asia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Specialized polymer materials manufacturer and distributor PolyOne (POL) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 8 cents per share, payable on Jan. 9, 2014 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 17.
  POL Dividend Yield: 0.97%

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of PolyOne (NYSE: POL  ) jumped 10% today after the company reported earnings.

  So what: First quarter revenue was up 7.5% to $801.1 million and adjusted earnings per share rose 29% to $0.31. Analysts expected higher revenue of $817.1 million but only $0.26 in earnings per share so the bottom line is what investors are excited about today. �

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: Avnet Inc. (AVT)

Avnet, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes electronic components, enterprise computer and storage products, and embedded subsystems in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates in two segments, Electronics Marketing (EM) and Technology Solutions (TS). The EM segment markets and sells semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical devices; and embedded products and embedded computing solutions, including technical design, integration, and assembly services to developers of application-specific computing solutions in the non-PC market. It also provides engineers with a host of technical design solutions in support of the sales process of complex products and technologies; engineering and technical resources to support product design, bill of materials development, design services, and technical education and training; and supply chain services focused on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), el ectronic manufacturing services providers, and electronic component manufacturers. This segment primarily serves electronic component manufacturers in various markets, including automotive, communications, computer hardware and peripheral, industrial and manufacturing, medical equipment, military and aerospace, telecommunications, industrial, and digital editing. The TS segment markets and sells mid-to high-end servers, data storage, and software, as well as provides services required to implement such products and solutions to the value-added reseller channel. It also focuses on the worldwide OEM market for computing technology, system integrators, independent software vendors, and non-PC OEMs that require embedded systems and solutions, including engineering, product prototyping, integration, and other value-added services. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

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 Avnet (NYSE: AVT  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One electronics wholesales player that insiders are active in here is Avnet (AVT), which distributes electronic components, enterprise computer and storage products, IT solutions and services, and embedded subsystems in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia/Pacific. Insiders are buying this stock into modest weakness, since shares are down by 4.3% so far in 2014.

  Avnet has a market cap of $5.8 billion and an enterprise value of $6.9 billion. This stock trades at a reasonable valuation, with a trailing price-to-earnings of 12 and a forward price-to-earnings of 8.4. Its estimated growth rate for this year is 9.4%, and for next year it's pegged at 8.2%. This is not a cash-rich company, since the total cash position on its balance sheet is $928.97 million and its total debt is $2.08 billion. This stock currently sports a dividend yield of 1.4%.

  A director just bought 191,000 shares, or about $7.91 million worth of stock, at $41.43 per share.

  From a technical perspective, AVT is currently trending below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bearish. This stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $40.90 to $40.77 a share. Following that bottom, shares of AVT have started to rip higher with strong upside volume flows.

  If you're bullish on AVT, then I would look for long-biased trades as long as this stock is trending above that recent low of $40.77 and then once it breaks out above its 200-day at $42.71 and its 50-day at $43.59 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 661,673 shares. If that breakout begins soon, then AVT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $43.95 to $45.24 a share, or $45.53 a share. Any high-volume move above $45.53 will then give AVT a chance to re-fill its previous gap-down-day zone from April that started at

• [By Monica Wolfe]

  Avnet Inc (AVT)

  FPA Capital�� fourth largest holding is in the company Avnet. The fund holds on to 1,722,400 shares of the company�� stock, representing 1.29% of their shares outstanding and 9.2% of his total portfolio.

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: Entergy Corp (ETR)

Entergy Corporation (Entergy), incorporated on August 19, 1992, is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy operates through two business segments: Utility and Entergy Wholesale Commodities. The Utility business segment includes the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric power in portions of Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana, including the City of New Orleans; and operates a small natural gas distribution business. The Entergy Wholesale Commodities business segment includes the ownership and operation of six nuclear power plants located in the northern United States and the sale of the electric power produced by those plants to wholesale customers.

Utility

The Utility business segment includes six wholly-owned retail electric utility subsidiaries: Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi, Entergy New Orleans, and Entergy Texas. These companies generate, transmit, distribute and sell electric power to retail and wholesale customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans also provide natural gas utility services to customers in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana, respectively. Also included in the Utility is System Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy Corporation that owns or leases 90% of Grand Gulf. System Energy sells its power and capacity from Grand Gulf at wholesale to Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi, and Entergy New Orleans. The electric energy sales of the Utility operating companies are subject to seasonal fluctuations, with t! he peak sales period normally occurring during the third quarter of each year. On July 30, 2012, Entergy reached a 2012 peak demand of 21,866 megawatt hour.

Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana provide both electric power and natural gas to retail customers. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Entergy New Orleans and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana sold 8,924,256 and 6,104,341 million cubic feet, respectively, of natural gas to retail customers. In 2012, 97% of Entergy Gulf States Louisiana�� operating revenue was derived from the electric utility business, and only 3% from the natural gas distribution business. In 2002, Entergy New Orleans, 86% of operating revenue was derived from the electric utility business and 14% from the natural gas distribution business.

Entergy Wholesale Commodities

Entergy Wholesale Commodities includes the ownership and operation of six nuclear power plants, five of which are located in the Northeast United States, with the sixth located in Michigan, and is primarily focused on selling electric power produced by those plants to wholesale customers. Entergy Wholesale Commodities��revenues are primarily derived from sales of energy and generation capacity from these plants. Entergy Wholesale Commodities also provides operations and management services, including decommissioning services, to nuclear power plants owned by other utilities in the United States. Entergy Wholesale Commodities also includes the ownership of two non-operating nuclear facilities, Big Rock Point in Michigan and Indian Point 1 in New York that were acquired when Entergy purchased the Palisades and Indian Point 2 nuclear plants, respectively. The Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee and Rhode Island plants fall under the authority of the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England and the FitzPatrick and Indian Point plants fall under the authority of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). The Palisades plant falls under the authority of ! the MISO.! The primary purpose of ISO New England, NYISO, and MISO is to direct the operations of the major generation and transmission facilities in their respective regions; ensure grid reliability; administer and monitor wholesale electricity markets; and plan for their respective region�� energy needs.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) was started as Neutral with a $62 price target at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed at $62.83 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $60.22 to $72.60.

• [By David Dittman]

  Question: Any comments on Entergy Corp (NYSE: ETR)?

  Answer: Management boosted its first-quarter operating EPS guidance to $2.28, up from $0.94 on colder weather and pipeline constraints, and actually reported $2.29. Electricity sales were up 15 percent. Full-year guidance was lifted to $5.55 to $6.75.
  
  I like it up to 75.

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  Entergy (NYSE: ETR  ) announced today that its Gulf States Louisiana business has successfully won a contract with Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE  ) to power its proposed LNG export facility.

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: Ishares Trust Dow Jones United States Financial (IYG)

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the financial services sector of the United States equity market and is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. The Index includes companies in sectors, such as banks and investment management/brokers.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mary Anne & Pamela Aden]

  So, for now, the US stock market is the best overall market. So continue holding the stocks you have, which are mostly doing very well. If you want to buy new positions and increase your stock allocation, the following ETFs are among the strongest ETFs, and we recommend them for purchase: SPDR KBW Bank (KBE)
  
  Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY)
  
  Merrill Lynch Retail HOLDRS (RTH)
  
  iShares Dow Jones US Financial Service (IYG)
  
  PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment (PEJ)
  
  

  Subscribe to The Aden Forecast here��/P>

Best Life Sciences Stocks To Invest In 2014: COCA COLA HELLENIC BOTTLING CO (CCH)

Coca-Cola HBC AG operates as a bottler of products of The Coca-Cola Company in Switzerland and internationally. It offers a range of ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverages in the sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, tea, and coffee categories. The company has operations in 28 countries serving approximately 581 million people. Coca-Cola HBC AG is based in Zug, Switzerland. As of April 22, 2013, Coca-Cola HBC AG operates as a subsidiary of Kar-Tess Holding S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Berkshire’s ownership position in�Coca-Cola may set the stage for something similar to Duracell��ith Berkshire’s 400 million�Coca-Cola shares currently worth $17.8 billion, and an estimated value for CCR (Coca-Cola’s North American bottling assets) of $12.8 billion (based on 8x estimated EBITDA of $1.6 billion), this would not be a large enough transaction for Berkshire to completely transfer its�Coca-Cola stake. Of course, we do not think�Coca-Cola needs to capitalize the business with $5 billion in cash, as Procter & Gamble did for Duracell to “plug the gap” between the valuation of the business and Berkshire’s stake, but that may be a possibility in this instance as well. However��all us crazy��e think Berkshire could also take a look at CCEAG, Coca-Cola’s German bottling business. We valued this at $2.75 billion three years ago6, based on $3.8b of revenue, a 10.4% EBITDA margin and a 7.0x multiple. We think there is upward bias to a current valuation given likely cost rationalization that has occurred in the intervening years. If we wanted to get even more creative, we could even envision Berkshire taking a look more broadly at European bottlers like Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and Coca-Cola HBC (CCH), which have similar industry dynamics to the U.S. bottlers. We note that some type of swap transaction, � la Duracell, could save Berkshire Hathaway nearly $5 billion in income taxes.