Best International Companies For 2014

It's been a long road for American International Group (NYSE: AIG  ) since the financial crisis, but the insurer seems to finally be back on its feet and ready to move forward. Though there are still challenges ahead, AIG is taking steps to position itself for greatness and is on its way to realizing some big goals. Here are the top three reasons AIG is poised for greatness, and how you can cash in on its progress.

Reason 1: Focus
The financial crisis not only took the wind out of AIG's once-billowing sails, but it added heavy burdens to the company as it made its way through the storm. With the final traces of governmental ownership shed in late last year, the weight has mostly been lifted, and AIG has refocused its energy on long-term goals.

Not only has the insurer dropped its ownership matters, it's also shed a number of non-core businesses that put a drag on its traditional operations. Though there is a new hiccup with the sale of its aircraft leasing operations, AIG has largely focused on renewed vigor in its insurance operations, expansion, and reductions in non-essential programs.

Top 5 Defensive Companies To Invest In Right Now: Media General Inc. (MEG)

Media General, Inc. operates as a television broadcasting and digital media company in the United States. The company provides news, information, and entertainment for consumers and advertisers. It owns and operates 31 network-affiliated broadcast television stations and their associated digital media and mobile platforms in 28 markets that reach 16.5 million households. The company was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Shares of LIN Media LLC (NYSE: LIN) got a boost, shooting up 30.67 percent to $28.08 after Media General (NYSE: MEG) announced its plans to buy Lin Media LLC for $1.6 billion.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One newspaper player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Media General (MEG), which is a provider of news, information and entertainment across 18 network-affiliated television stations, digital media and mobile platforms, serving consumers and advertisers in strong local markets, primarily in the Southeastern U.S. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up a whopping 253%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Media General, you'll notice that this stock is spiking higher right above its 50-day moving average of $13.57 a share. That 50-day for MEG has held as support for the last five months. This spike is quickly pushing shares of MEG within range of entering breakout and new 52-week-high territory.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MEG if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $15.39 to its 52-week high at $15.67 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 188,023 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then MEG will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $20 to $23 a share.

  Traders can look to buy MEG off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day at $13.57 a share. One can also buy MEG off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Best International Companies For 2014: Universal Forest Products Inc (UFPI)

Universal Forest Products, Inc., incorporated on February 9, 1955, is a holding company that provides capital, management and administrative resources to c and market wood and wood-alternative products for retail building home centers and other retailers, structural lumber and other products for the manufactured housing industry, engineered wood components for the residential construction market, and specialty wood packaging and components and packing materials for various industries. Its operating segments consist of the Eastern, Western, Site-Built, Consumer Products and Distribution divisions. The Company�� subsidiaries also provide framing services for the residential market and forming products for concrete construction. The Company's consumer products operations offer a portfolio of outdoor living products, including wood composite decking, decorative balusters, post caps and plastic lattice. Its lawn and garden group offers an array of products, such as trellises and arches, to retailers nationwide. In January 2013, the Company�� subsidiary acquired Custom Caseworks, Inc.

In Retail Building Materials Market the Company offers composite wood and plastic products. The Company also sells engineered wood products to this market, which include roof trusses, wall panels and engineered floor systems. In Residential and Commercial Construction Markets, the Company supplies builders engaged in multi-family and commercial construction. It supplies wood forms and related products to set or form concrete for various structures, including garages, stadiums and bridges. The Company also provides framing services. In Manufactured Housing Market the Company distributes certain products, such as siding, electrical and plumbing to manufactured housing and RV customers. The Company define its industrial market as industrial manufacturers and agricultural customers who use pallets, specialty crates and wooden boxes for packaging, shipping and material handling purposes.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Universal Forest Products (NASDAQ: UFPI  ) jumped as much as 10% today after reporting earnings.

  So what: Revenue rose 24% to $738.4 million and was well ahead of the $714.8 million analysts expected. Earnings per share fell 10% from a year ago, but at $0.79 was still $0.12 ahead of expectations. �

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Universal Forest Products (NASDAQ: UFPI) is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.54 per share on revenue of $625.77 million.

  Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.38 per share on revenue of $2.82 billion.

• [By Victor Selva]

  Universal Forest Products Inc. (UFPI) is a holding company that provides capital, management and administrative resources to subsidiaries that design, manufacture and market wood and wood-alternative products. It currently consumes about 7 percent of North American softwood lumber production per year.

Best International Companies For 2014: Companhia de saneamento Basico Do Estado De Sao Paulo - Sabesp (SBS)

Companhia de Saneamento B sico do Estado de Sao Paulo - SABESP provides water and sewage services to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in the State of Sao Paulo. Its services comprise water supply, sanitary sewage services, urban rainwater management and drainage services, urban cleaning services, and solid waste management services, as well as related activities, including the planning, operation, maintenance, and commercialization of energy. As of December 31, 2010, it provided water services through 7.3 million water connections to approximately 23.6 million people; and sewage services through 5.7 million sewage connections to approximately 20 million people. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Friday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.06 percent. Top losers in the sector included CPFL Energia S.A. (NYSE: CPL), down 3.3 percent, and Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS), off 2.4 percent.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Utilities sector was the top decliner in the US market on Wednesday. Top losers in the sector included Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP), Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS), and Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A. (NYSE: EOC).

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  In trading on Wednesday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.25 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Companhia Energ茅tica de Minas Gerais SA (NYSE: CIG), off 5.3 percent, and Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo (NYSE: SBS), down 3.3 percent.

Best International Companies For 2014: Fossil Inc.(FOSL)

Fossil, Inc. designs, develops, markets, and distributes fashion accessories worldwide. It offers a line of fashion watches under its proprietary brands, such as FOSSIL, MICHELE, RELIC, and ZODIAC; and through licensed brands, including ADIDAS, BURBERRY, DIESEL, DKNY, EMPORIO ARMANI, MARC BY MARC JACOBS, and MICHAEL KORS. The company designs, markets, and arranges for the manufacture of watches and accessories on behalf of certain mass market retailers, companies, and organizations as private label products or as premium and incentive items for use in various corporate events. It also provides various fashion accessories for men and women, including handbags, belts, small leather goods, jewelry, and sunglasses through company owned retail stores, department stores, and specialty retail stores, as well as over the Internet and through catalogs. In addition, the company sells a line of soft accessories, such as hats, gloves, and scarves, as well as a handbag collection. Furt her, it offers apparel comprising jeans, outerwear, fashion tops and bottoms, and tee shirts for men and women through company-owned stores, as well as over the Internet and through catalogs. Additionally, the company provides footwear products, including sport court sneakers, authentic casuals, dress classics, and boots for men, as well as fashionable flats, heels, wedges, and boots for women. Fossil, Inc., through a license agreement with the Safilo Group, manufactures, markets, and sells optical frames under the FOSSIL and RELIC brand names in the United States and Canada. As of August 9, 2011, it had approximately 360 company-owned and operated retail stores. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  Falling back after hours today was watchmaker�Fossil� (NASDAQ: FOSL  ) , which dropped 5% after posting underwhelming guidance in its quarterly report. First-quarter results were better than expected for the fashion-accessory brand, as earnings came in at $1.22 per share, above estimates at $1.17, and revenue grew 14.1%, in part because of an extra week in the calendar, to $777 million, beating the consensus at $770.69 million. Sales grew across the board in the company's wholesale segment, and were particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific region and in jewelry sales. CEO Kosta Kartsotis noted progress in the company's international expansion, with "significant increases in both Europe and Asia." Shares dipped, however, as management saw current-quarter EPS of just $0.90-$0.97 against estimates of $1.16. The sell-off seems overdone, however, as the company's full-year earnings guidance of $6.90-$7.30 was in range of estimates of $7.20. With multiple growth channels and a consistent record of beating earnings estimates, Fossil still looks like a solid long-term bet going forward.

• [By Monica Gerson] Related FOSL Stocks To Watch For May 13, 2014 Will Fossil Inc. (FOSL) Beat Earnings Estimates? - Analyst Blog

  CST Brands (NYSE: CST) is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.19 per share on revenue of $3.07 billion.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top decliners in the sector included Fossil Group (NASDAQ: FOSL), down 8.2 percent, and Kandi Technolgies Group (NASDAQ: KNDI), off 4.4 percent.

  Top Headline
  Macy's (NYSE: M) reported a rise in its first-quarter earnings. Macy's reaffirmed its outlook for the full year. It also increased its share-buyback plan by $1.5 billion and lifted its dividend by 25% to 31.25 cents per share. Macy's posted a quarterly profit of $224 million, or $0.60 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $217 million, or $0.55 per share. Its revenue slipped 1.7% to $6.28 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.59 per share on revenue of $6.46 billion. Its revenue at stores open at least a year dropped 0.8%.

Best International Companies For 2014: Stone Energy Corporation(SGY)

Stone Energy Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and operation of oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico and the Appalachia region. As of December 31, 2010, it had estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves of approximately 473.9 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana with additional offices in New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; and Morgantown, West Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ: EXXI)�announced a deal to acquire�EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE: EPL) to create the largest publicly held independent oil producer on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, meaning it might be a good idea to look at other small cap Gulf oil stocks like W&T Offshore, Inc (NYSE: WTI), Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) and Contango Oil & Gas Company (NYSEMKT: MCF). Energy XXI�� CEO John Schiller has talked about the details of the acquisition�with Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" and he noted that��EPL Oil & Gas offers areas of expertise that EXXI currently lacks. However, investors who missed out on�yesterday�� 29% surge for EPL Oil & Gas�may want to check out these other small cap Gulf Oil stocks:

• [By John Udovich]

  While the Bakken formation is already on most investor radars,�few American investors may realize that the formation stretches North into the oil and gas rich Canadian province of Saskatchewan where�stocks like Surge Energy Inc (TSE: SGY), Questerre Energy Corp (TSE: QEC), Crescent Point Energy Corp (TSE: CPG), Keyera Corp (TSE: KEY) and Centor Energy Inc (OTCBB: CNTO) have been pumping out a good flow of newsworthy news in recent weeks. I should mention that Canada�� oil reserves are ranked #3 after to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia with over 95% of these reserves being the oil sands of Alberta while the neighboring province of Saskatchewan (which the Bakken formation stretches into from South Dakota and Montana) along with offshore areas of Newfoundland also contain substantial production and reserves (Note:�Excluding oil sands, Alberta would have 39% of Canada�� remaining conventional oil reserves,�followed by�offshore Newfoundland with�28% and Saskatchewan with 27%).

Best International Companies For 2014: Hannover House Inc (HHSE)

Hannover House, Inc., formerly Target Development Group, Inc., is the parent company of Hannover House. Hannover House is a full service media company, specializing in the production and distribution of feature films onto the digital versatile disc (DVD) format for the North American retail marketplace. As of December 31, 2010, the Company had over 70 DVD titles in active distribution. In June 2012, the Company acquired nine feature films for video release in North America.

Retailers carrying Hannover House products include independently owned and operated retail video stores and book stores, including Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Blockbuster Video, Borders Group, Fred Meyer Group, Hastings, SAM�� Club, Transworld Group and Wal-Mart. It also includes Internet retailers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap tech or media stocks Thinspace Technology Inc (OTCMKTS: THNS), Beamz Interactive Inc (OTCBB: BZIC) and Hannover House Inc (OTCMKTS: HHSE) have been getting some extra attention lately, but it appears that only one of these stocks has been the subject of a paid promotion. Nevertheless, all three stocks have been busy with press releases trying to get the attention of investors or traders. So are these three small cap tech or media stocks worth your attention? Here is a closer look along with a reality check:

Best International Companies For 2014: iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG)

iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (the Trust), formerly iShares GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust, issues units of beneficial interest, called Shares, representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. Substantially all of the assets of the Trust consist of interests in the iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Investing Pool LLC (the Investing Pool). The investment objective of the Trust is to seek investment results, through its investment in the Investing Pool, which correspond generally to the performance of the S&P GSCI Total Return Index (the Index). The Investing Pool is a limited liability company. The Investing Pool holds long positions in CERFs, which are futures contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which have a term of approximately five years after listing and whose settlement at expiration is based on the value of the S&P GSCI Excess Return Index, or S&P GSCI-ER, at that time.

The Index is intended to reflect the performance of a diversified group of commodities. The Index reflects the value of an investment in the S&P GSCI-ER together with a Treasury bill return. The S&P GSCI-ER reflects the returns that are potentially available through a rolling uncollateralized investment in the contracts comprising the S&P GSCI. Barclays Global Investors International, Inc. is the sponsor of the Trust and the manager of the Investing Pool. Barclays Global Investors, N.A. is the trustee of the Trust.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam J. Wiederman]

  Getty Images Bitcoin made headlines last year when the value of all outstanding pieces of the electronic currency reached nearly $10 billion. It's not just speculators drawn to the new currency. Many businesses are also attempting to cash in on this growth: Several public companies, including Zynga (ZNGA) and Overstock.com (OSTK), accept Bitcoins as a form of payment. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen's firm has invested nearly $50 million in Bitcoin-related ventures, and it is looking to invest even more. And the Winklevoss twins -- who notoriously accused Facebook's (FB) Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea -- have been "in dialogue" with the SEC about opening the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, according to Bloomberg. Yet a new survey from TheStreet.com (TST) reveals that 76 percent of consumers are not familiar with Bitcoin -- and 79 percent would never consider owning a currency like it. Does this signal opportunity for savvy investors? Or is this a fad you'd be wise to avoid? The Basics of Bitcoin Bitcoin is a completely unregulated form of currency developed by an anonymous Japanese programmer (according to some apocryphal claims) as a completely digital, peer-to-peer payment system that is independent of national currencies (which, Bitcoin users argue, are all subject to the riskiness of the underlying country). Bitcoins are rewarded throughout the day to a "Bitcoin miner" whose computer solves a series of algorithms quicker than other miners. The puzzles become more difficult over time, so the calculations take longer and the computations require more computing power. There will eventually be a total of 21 million Bitcoins (12.4 million are in circulation today) and we won't reach the point that they are effectively "mined out" until 2040. The value of a Bitcoin is supposed to be market-driven, meaning they're worth whatever the two parties in a transaction value them as. For example, in one of the original Bitcoin transactions, a "mi

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  But things have changed over the past decade; correlations between commodities have increased. As commodity mutual funds and ETFs such as the PIMCO Commodity Real Return Fund (PCRDX) and iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG) have become popular, commodities that once traded largely independently of each other now get lumped together and bought and sold as a group. Also, the financialization of commodities has caused their correlation to stocks to rise as well.