10 Best US Stocks For 2014

Investors in China know that Beijing holds relatively tight controls over commerce in its country, but few understand the extent to which China will help domestic companies succeed. In the following video, Fool contributor Kevin reveals just how important Beijing's blessing is to your investments.�

When looking at the history of Google� (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) and Facebook� (NASDAQ: FB  ) in China, we see what The Economist has called political protectionism. While Google -- in a sense -- voluntarily shut down its service in China, Facebook was blocked. Whatever the political reasons behind these actions, it's clear that the winners have been�Baidu� (NASDAQ: BIDU  ) and Renren (NYSE: RENN  ) .

Even when foreign companies like Yahoo!�have been forthcoming in self-censoring themselves, Beijing seems to put up obstacles to favor its domestic companies like SINA� (NASDAQ: SINA  ) , which ultimate profit.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN)

Amazon.com, Inc. operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It operates retail Web sites, including amazon.com and amazon.ca. The company serves consumers through its retail Web sites and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. It also offers programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its Web sites, and their own branded Web sites. In addition, the company serves developer customers through Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure that developers can use to enable virtually various type of business. Further, it manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader. Additionally, the company provides fulfillment; miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, such as online advertising; and co-branded credit cards. Amazon.com, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dennis Slothower]

  Miller had about $270 Million of Amazon.com shares at the end of December. The stock returned 60.8% during the past 1 year, beating the SPY by a huge margin. The stock holdings were reduced by 30% during the last 3 months of 2010. AMZN returned 5% since then, 0.8 percentage points less than SPY’s return. AMZN is Miller’s best long-term pick. Facebook billionaire Chase Coleman and Roberto Mignone has large AMZN holdings as well.

• [By Robert Holmes]

   Analyst Scott Devitt says that Amazon is the best positioned to lead the continuing secular transition from traditional retail to online ecommerce.

  "On multiple occasions, at different points in the company's life-cycle, Amazon.com has chosen to innovate, oftentimes cannibalizing existing business platforms in order to better position itself to provide its customers the products they will want," Devitt writes.

  Devitt's most optimistic view of Amazon would see shares rise 71% by the end of 2012, while his bearish scenario for the Internet retailer would see shares fall about 21% over the next 12 months.

• [By Jeanine Poggi]

  Amazon's (AMZN_) sales and margins are in focus, as both measures fell short of expectations in the fourth quarter, triggering a massive sell-off in the stock.

  
  

  This marked the third consecutive quarter that Amazon's results were not on par with its tradition of outperformance.

  While some brokerage firms downgraded the stock on the news, for the most part, analysts sentiment remains bullish, urging investors to pick up shares on the downturn.

  During the quarter the e-commerce giant earned $416 million, or 91 cents a share, on revenue of $12.95 billion. Analysts were looking for a profit of 88 cents on revenue of $13.01 billion.

  Margins came in at 3.7%, below Wall Street's forecast of 4.2%, as Amazon amped up its investment in its infrastructure.

• [By Michael]

  Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): On 3/31/11 Viking Global Investors reported holding 416,100 shares with a market value of $74,952,095. This comprised 0.65% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Viking Global Investors held 2,031,800 shares with a market value of $415,482,793. This comprised 3.48% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 1,615,700. About the company: Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products.? The Company’s products include books, music, videotapes, computers, electronics, home and garden, and numerous other products.? Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Broadwind Energy Inc.(BWEN)

Broadwind Energy, Inc. provides products and services to the energy, mining, and infrastructure sector customers, primarily in the United States. The company?s Towers and Weldments segment manufactures towers designed for two megawatt and larger wind turbines. This segment also manufactures specialty fabrications and weldments for mining and other industrial customers. Its Gearing segment engineers, builds, and remanufactures precision gears and gearing systems for wind, oil and gas, mining, and other industrial applications. The company?s Services segment offers a range of services, including non-routine blade and gearbox maintenance services for both kilowatt and megawatt turbines primarily to wind farm developers and operators. It also provides field services to the wind industry; dedicated drivetrain services; and industrial gearboxes precision repair and testing services. The company provides its products and services to various wind energy customers that include wi nd turbine manufacturers, wind farm developers, and wind farm operators, as well as oil and gas, mining, and other industries. It sells its products through its sales force and manufacturers' representatives. The company was formerly known as Tower Tech Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Broadwind Energy, Inc. in 2008. Broadwind Energy, Inc. is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

Top 10 Heal Care Stocks To Watch For 2014: Molycorp Inc (MCP)

Molycorp, Inc. (Molycorp) is a rare earth oxide (REO) producer in the Western hemisphere. The Company owns developed rare earth projects outside of China. The Company also owns rare earth oxide and rare metal producer in Europe. The Company is the producer of rare earth alloys in the United States. It has three operating segments: Molycorp Mountain Pass, Molycorp Tolleson and Molycorp Sillamae. On April 1, 2011, the Company acquired 90% interest in AS Silmet located in Sillamae, Estonia. On April 15, 2011, it acquired Santoku America, Inc. On October 24, 2011, it acquired the remaining 9.9% interest in Molycorp Sillamae. On August 22, 2011, Molycorp opened an office in Tokyo, Japan to provide customer support, as well as consulting and technical services to its customers in Japan. In June 2012, the Company acquired Neo Material Technologies Inc.

The Company sells and transports a portion of the REOs it produces at its Molycorp Mountain Pass and Molycorp Sillamae facilities to customers for use in their particular applications. The remainder of the REOs are processed into rare earth metals and rare earth alloys. The Company produces rare earth metals outside of the United States through third-party tolling arrangements and through tolling at its Molycorp Sillamae facility. A portion of these metals is sold to end-users, and it processes the rest into rare earth alloys at its Molycorp Tolleson facility in Arizona. These rare earth alloys can be used in a variety of applications, including but not limited to electrodes for nickel metal hydride battery production; samarium cobalt (SmCo), magnet production, and neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnet production.

Molycorp Sillamae sells products to customers in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Russia, and other former Soviet Union countries. At the Molycorp Mountain Pass facility, the Company owns an open-pit mine containing rare earth deposits outside of China. In addition to the mine, its Molycorp Mountain Pass facility includ! es associated crushing, milling, flotation and separation facilities. Its Molycorp Mountain Pass facility is located approximately 60 miles southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada near Mountain Pass, San Bernardino County, California.

The Company�� Molycorp Sillamae facility consists of various manufacturing, research and administration buildings located on 67 acres of land at 2 Kesk Street, Sillamae, Estonia, 200 kilometers from Tallinn, the Estonian capital. The Company�� Molycorp Tolleson facility includes various manufacturing, research, and administration buildings situated on seven acres of land at 8220 West Harrison Street, Tolleson, Arizona, which is just south of Interstate 10 about 15 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona's Sky Harbor Airport. As of December 31, 2011, its Molycorp Tolleson facility had the installed capacity to produce approximately 1,350 tons of ingot cast alloys and 750 tons of strip cast alloys per year.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Lawson Products Inc.(LAWS)

Lawson Products, Inc. distributes products and services to the industrial, commercial, institutional, and governmental maintenance, repair, and operations marketplace in the United States and Canada. The company also manufactures and distributes production and specialized component parts, fasteners, and fittings to the original equipment marketplace, including the aerospace, off-road equipment, military, and oil and gas exploration industries. In addition, its product categories include specialty chemicals, cutting tools and abrasives, fluid power, aftermarket automotive supplies, electrical, and welding and metal repair. The company also serves customers in the automotive repair, transportation, manufacturing, food processing, distribution, construction, mining, wholesale, and service industries. Lawson Products, Inc. was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Wells Fargo & Company(WFC)

Wells Fargo & Company, through its subsidiaries, provides retail, commercial, and corporate banking services primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Community Banking; Wholesale Banking; and Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement. The Community Banking segment offers deposits, including checking, market rate, and individual retirement accounts; savings and time deposits; and debit cards. Its loan products comprise lines of credit, auto floor plans, equity lines and loans, equipment and transportation loans, education loans, residential mortgage loans, health savings accounts, and credit cards. This segment also provides equipment leases, real estate financing, small business administration financing, venture capital financing, cash management, payroll services, retirement plans, loans secured by autos, and merchant payment processing services; purchases sales finance contracts from retail merchants; and a family of funds, and investment managemen t services. The Wholesale Banking segment offers commercial and corporate banking products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, letters of credit, asset-based lending, equipment leasing, international trade facilities, trade financing, collection services, foreign exchange services, treasury and investment management, institutional fixed-income sales, commodity and equity risk management, insurance, corporate trust fiduciary and agency services, and investment banking services. This segment also provides banking products for commercial real estate market, and real estate and mortgage brokerage services. The Wealth, Brokerage, and Retirement segment offers financial advisory, brokerage, and institutional retirement and trust services. As of December 31, 2010, the company served its customers through approximately 9,000 banking stores in 39 States and the District of Columbia. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1929 and is headquartered in San Franci sco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kathy Kristof]

  If you're looking for safety in a big-bank stock, your best bet is Wells Fargo (WFC). It's the biggest of those mentioned in this story (market capitalization: $193 billion), it is arguably the best-managed, and it has done best at staying out of trouble. Its stock, now $37.42, is closer to its pre-financial-meltdown high than any other company on this list. As a result, Wells is a bit more expensive than the other big-bank stocks, particularly in relation to future earnings growth, and that's why Oja isn't recommending it. The shares trade at 10 times estimated 2013 earnings of $3.65 per share, and analysts forecast long-term earnings growth of 10% a year. The stock yields 2.7%.

• [By Buffett]

   Buffett loves a fat pitch -- a stock priced so low that buying it almost guarantees a home run. So when worries that a recession would hit Wells Fargo (WFC) and its heavy exposure to real-estate loans hammered the bank's stock in the 1990, Buffett bought.

  There's a similar scenario at play today. So the bank's stock once again looks cheap. Morningstar, a fairly strict value-stock shop, has its highest (five-star) rating on the stock, with a buy limit of $31.50. That means the stock looks like a great buy now, trading at around $28.90.

  Banking is a commodity business -- meaning that it's hard for bankers to distinguish their offerings enough to stand out. Buffett hates these kinds of businesses. So what does he still own Wells Fargo? Several reasons, say Buffett experts. First, Wells Fargo management gets top grades, says Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager of the HighMark Value Momentum Fund (HMVMX). Buffett typically gravitates toward companies with outstanding management teams.

  Evidence of the management strength at Wells Fargo, says Lowenstein, can be seen in its consistently above-average return on assets, a measure of how well a company produces profits. The bank also has lower loan delinquency and foreclosure rates than competitors, another sign of prudence. And Wells Fargo management is frugal, a quality Buffett famously loves. The bank is currently working on reducing expenses by $1.5 billion a quarter. Management showed that it allocates capital wisely, a quality Buffett likes, when it bought Wachovia bank on the cheap during the credit crisis and turned itself into a national bank. Buffett owns 342.6 million shares, making it one of his largest holdings, according to Tickerspy. (All ownership stats in this piece come from Tickerspy.)

• [By Peter Hughes]

   Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) is the fourth-largest bank in the U.S., with over $1.35 trillion in assets. WFC -- our conservative pick for 2013 -- now has a deposit base of $895 billion, important since deposits are banks' lowest-cost source of funds.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: AAON Inc.(AAON)

AAON, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of air conditioning and heating equipment primarily in the United States and Canada. The company offers rooftop units, chillers, air-handling units, make-up air units, heat recovery units, condensing units, commercial self contained units, and coils. It serves the commercial and industrial new construction and replacement markets. AAON, Inc. sells its products through manufacturers representatives and internal sales force. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Ceradyne Inc.(CRDN)

Ceradyne, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and market of technical ceramic products, ceramic powders, and components in the United States and internationally. Its products include lightweight ceramic armor and combat helmets for soldiers and other military applications; ceramic industrial components for erosion and corrosion resistant applications; ceramic powders, including boron carbide, boron nitride, titanium diboride, calcium hexaboride, zirconium diboride, and fused silica, which are used in manufacturing armor and a range of industrial and consumer products; evaporation boats for metallization of materials for food packaging; and ceramic diesel engine components. The company also offers functional and frictional coatings primarily for automotive applications; translucent ceramic orthodontic brackets; ceramic crucibles for melting silicon in the photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing process; ceramic-impregnated dispenser cathodes for microwave tubes, las ers, and cathode ray tubes; specialty glass compositions for solar, electronic, industrial, and health care markets; ceramic missile radomes for the defense industry; and fused silica powders for precision investment casting. In addition, it provides neutron absorbing materials; nuclear chemistry products for use in pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors; boron dopant chemicals for semiconductor silicon manufacturing and ion implanting of silicon wafers; ceramic bearings and bushings for oil drilling and fluid handling pumps; ceramic micro-reactors used to process chemicals; and PetroCeram sand filters for oil and gas recovery. The company serves the United States government; prime government contractors; and solar energy, oil and natural gas exploration, and nuclear energy companies; and industrial, automotive, diesel, and commercial manufacturers. Ceradyne, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is based in Costa Mesa, California.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Toll Brothers Inc.(TOL)

Toll Brothers, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, and arranges finance for single-family detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities. It is also involved in building or converting existing rental apartment buildings into high-, mid-, and low-rise luxury homes. In addition, the company develops, owns, and operates golf courses and country clubs associated with various planned communities, as well as individual communities. It serves move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, age-qualified, and second-home buyers in 19 states in the United States. Toll Brothers, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James K. Glassman]

   Housing has turned the corner, and that’s pushed up homebuilder stocks. Shares of Toll Brothers (symbol: TOL), which bills itself as the nation's biggest builder of luxury homes, rose 62% in 2012, and the Horsham, Pa., company has plenty of momentum going into the new year. Toll Brothers recently reported that the backlog of homes under construction had climbed 59% from the year before. The company is diversified. Single-family homes account for 53% of sales; high-rises, senior communities and multifamily homes make up the rest. Analysts see profits rising 65% in the current fiscal year.

• [By James K. Glassman]

  Housing has turned the corner, and that’s pushed up homebuilder stocks. Shares of Toll Brothers (symbol: TOL), which bills itself as the nation's biggest builder of luxury homes, rose 62% in 2012, and the Horsham, Pa., company has plenty of momentum going into the new year. Toll Brothers recently reported that the backlog of homes under construction had climbed 59% from the year before. The company is diversified. Single-family homes account for 53% of sales; high-rises, senior communities and multifamily homes make up the rest. Analysts see profits rising 65% in the current fiscal year.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: PPL Corporation(PPL)

PPL Corporation, an energy and utility holding company, generates and sells electricity; and delivers natural gas to approximately 5.3 million utility customers primarily in the northeastern and northwestern U.S. The company operates in four segments: Kentucky Regulated, International Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Supply. The Kentucky Regulated segment engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity; and the distribution and sale of natural gas to approximately 1.3 million customers in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. The International Regulated segment owns and operates electricity distribution businesses in the United Kingdom that deliver electricity to 7.7 million customers. The Pennsylvania Regulated segment delivers electricity to approximately 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania. The Supply segment owns and operates power plants to generate electricity using coal, uranium, natural gas, oil, and water res ources; markets and trades electricity and other purchased power to wholesale and retail markets; and acquires and develops domestic generation projects. It controls or owns a portfolio of generation assets of approximately 11,000 megawatts in Montana and Pennsylvania. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s distribution system included 649 substations with a capacity of 25 million kVA, 28,838 circuit miles of overhead lines, and 24,131 cable miles of underground conductors in the United Kingdom. It also operated 377 substations with a capacity of 31 million kVA, 33,122 circuit miles of overhead lines, and 7,368 cable miles of underground conductors in Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  You can't build a dividend portfolio without looking at utility stocks—which brings us to PPL.

  PPL is a utility stock that owns 11,200 megawatts of generation capacity, and provides regulated utility service to electricity customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and the UK. PPL also distributes natural gas to Kentucky. Just a few years ago PPL was primarily a generation firm, earning three-fourths of its profits by selling power on the open market. Today, though, the firm has shifted its strategy towards the stable income of the regulated utility business.

  Stable, predictable income is the hallmark of a stellar dividend stock, and PPL has managed to pick up its regulated exposure while still keeping its uniqueness. A big differentiator for PPL is its energy distribution unit in the UK—that expertise in a foreign market should open the door to other overseas utility operations if attractive opportunities present themselves down the road.

  Dividend growth at PPL is likely to cool in the next couple of years as the firm dumps considerable CapEx into upgrading its infrastructure. That's actually a good thing for dividend investors because it means that PPL's dividend prospects are going to be artificially held down in the near-term. With the firm's payout already at 4.87 percent, investors shouldn't have any trouble waiting a while for the next hike.

10 Best US Stocks For 2014: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthews]

  Real Goods Solar, Inc.(NASDAQ: RSOL) closing price in the stock market Tuesday, Jan. 3, was $1.50. RSOL is trading 8.97% above its 50 day moving average and -25.21% below its 200 day moving average. RSOL is -50.98% below its 52-week high of $3.06 and 51.52% above its 52-week low of $0.99. RSOL‘s PE ratio is N/A and its market cap is $26.93M.

  Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado.