Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014

Across history, bread has been the reason for many revolts. For example, the price of bread rose to about a month�� pay before the French Revolution of 1789. Before then, Roman emperors used bread to appease the masses and buy their loyalty. Today, a rapidly growing world population is far from a massive revolt, but the phenomena places additional pressure to those involved in the process of delivering the goods. In other words, what value is there in a greater production if the goods never reach the consumer?

It is in that sense that railroad companies have turned into a key link in the wheat production chain. Hence, Canada National Railway (CNI) is under heavy pressure to deliver, under a context aggravated by additional successes. Most importantly, gurus seem to have lost faith on the company, and those with the largest position continue to reduce their holdings.

Growing Through Absorption of Market Trends

The 2013 annual report�� title, ��ecoming a True Supply Chain Enabler: Making Connections,��by Canada National Railway, says a lot about where management is aiming to take the company. The strategy is three-pronged: a fresh approach to the transborder food supply chain, connecting energy partners and suppliers, and intermodal. Such business strategies aim at absorbing current long-term market synergies unleashed by the food and energy industries, and the transportation industry as a whole.

Top 10 Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: MKS Instruments Inc.(MKSI)

MKS Instruments, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides instruments, subsystems, and process control solutions that measure, control, power, monitor, and analyze parameters of manufacturing processes worldwide. It offers instruments and control systems, such as pressure measurement and control, materials delivery, gas composition analysis, and control and information technology products. The company also provides power and reactive gas generation products comprising power delivery, reactive gas generation, processing thin films, and equipment cleaning products; and vacuum technology products, including vacuum containment components, vacuum gauges, vacuum valves, effluent management subsystems and custom stainless steel chambers, vessels, and pharmaceutical process equipment hardware and housings. Its products are used in the semiconductor processing steps, such as depositing thin films of material onto silicon wafer substrates, and etching and cleaning circuit patt erns; manufacture of flat panel displays, light emitting diodes, solar cells, data storage media, and other coatings, including architectural glass; energy generation and environmental monitoring processes, such as nuclear fuel processing, fuel cell research, greenhouse gas monitoring, and chemical agent detection; medical instrument sterilization; consumable medical supply manufacturing; and pharmaceutical applications. The company also offers maintenance and repair, software maintenance, installation, and training services. It serves semiconductor capital equipment and device manufacturers, thin film capital equipment manufacturers, energy generation, environmental monitoring, and manufacturing companies, as well as government, university and industrial research laboratories. The company sells its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as through sales representatives and agents. MKS Instruments, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Axler]

  In the table below, we've listed a sample of small-cap semiconductor capital equipment stocks such as Entegris (ENTG), Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS), ATMI Inc. (ATMI), MKS Instruments (MKSI), Photronics Inc. (PLAB), Rudolph Technologies (RTEC),FormFactor (FORM) and Mattson Technology (MTSN). The peers trade at approximately 1.0x and 15.5x 2014E revenues and EPS, respectively. Furthermore, the average peer trades at 2.1x tangible book value. However, these multiples are based on average 2014E industry revenue and earnings growth of 18% and 119%, respectively. Axcelis is poised to grow at a rate substantially above the industry average.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  What do small cap stocks MKS Instruments, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI), Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE:SKT), and Kaman Corporation (NYSE:KAMN) have in common? Absolutely nothing, on the surface, and no, it's not a setup for painfully bad punchline. There is a common thread among KAMN, SKT, and MKSI right now, however... they're all three going into my mental (though publicly-tracked) portfolio this afternoon.

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: iShares MSCI Philippines ETF (EPHE)

iShares MSCI Philippines ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index (the Underlying Index). The Underlying Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 99% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in the Philippines. Its sectors include financials, industrials, utilities, telecommunication services, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, materials, energy and S-T securities. Black Rock Fund Advisors acts as the Fund�� investment advisor. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Aspray]

  There is no question that it has been a rough few months for the Asian markets as since the October 9 low they have lagged behind the Spyder Trust (SPY), which is now up about 8.8%. Thailand (THD) has done the worst of the group, down over 13%, and the Philippines (EPHE) has also been weak since November.

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB)

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. engages in the development, redevelopment, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities in the United States. As of January 31, 2009, the company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 164 operating apartment communities comprising 45,728 apartment homes in 10 states and the District of Columbia. It also held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 14 communities under construction, as well as held rights to develop an additional 27 communities. The company?s markets are located in New England, the New York/New Jersey metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest, and the Northern and Southern California regions of the United States. AvalonBay Communities has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Susan J. Aluise]

  Like all ETFs, REZ offers the diversification of a mutual fund, with low expenses and the advantages of trading on a major exchange just like a stock. REZ�� top holdings include multifamily REITs like AvalonBay (AVB), Equity Residential (EQR), Essex Property Trust (ESS) as well as Public Storage (PSA) common stock, which also benefits from the rental housing boom.

• [By Sean Williams]

  To get a better idea of how RealPage is doing, it's always best to look at occupancy rates for some of the nation's biggest residential-REITs. In AvalonBay Communities' (NYSE: AVB  ) most recent quarter, the company reported a 5% increase in revenue attributable to a 4.7% boost in prices in established communities, and a 0.3% uptick in occupancy. For Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) it was much of the same, with revenue rising 5.4% in the fourth-quarter as occupancy rates rose 40 basis points to 95.4% from the year-ago period. Finally, Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS  ) delivered some of the strongest occupancy results of all, with 96.9% of its units occupied as of the end of January. The point is that with occupancy rates at their lowest levels in more than a decade, these residential REITs are driving growth by boosting prices because of rent scarcity.

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: PLX Technology Inc.(PLXT)

PLX Technology, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor devices worldwide. It offers semiconductor devices, such as PCI express switches that allow aggregation of multi-channel Ethernet, fiber channel, graphics, and SAS cards to the host; PCI express bridges, which allow devices with other standards to be used in systems that need to interoperate with PCI express; and 10G Ethernet over copper PHY devices that provide a seamless migration from the slower connections to the faster ones. The company?s products also include direct attached storage products, which allow external storage to connect to a PC through USB connection; network attached storage products that provide storage to a local area network; PCI bridges consisting of general purpose bridges that translate and extend the PCI bus; and universal serial bus (USB) interface chips, which are used by computer peripherals and consumer products to interoperate through an external cabled connection. Its semiconductor devices accelerate and manage the transfer of data in microprocessor-based systems, including networking and telecommunications, enterprise storage, servers, personal computers (PCs), PC peripherals, consumer electronics, imaging, and industrial products. The company markets its products through direct and indirect sales force, manufacturers, and distributors to electronics manufacturers. PLX Technology, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  PLX Technology (Nasdaq: PLXT  ) reported earnings on April 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), PLX Technology met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Gordmans Stores Inc.(GMAN)

Gordmans Stores, Inc. operates department stores under the Gordmans name in the United States. Its merchandise selection includes a range of apparel, footwear, home fashions products, and accessories, including fragrances. The company offers apparels, including young men?s, men?s, juniors?, women?s, team, plus sizes, maternity, and children?s clothing comprising offerings for infants, toddlers, boys, and girls; and accessories consisting of designer fragrances, intimate apparel, handbags, sunglasses, fashion jewelry, legwear, and sleepwear. Its home fashions products consist of wall art, photo frames, accent furniture, accent lighting, candles, ceramics, vases, seasonal d�or, floral and garden, gourmet food and candy, toys, luggage, pet accessories, housewares, decorative pillows, fashion rugs, and bedding and bath products. As of January 28, 2012, the company operated 74 stores located in various shopping center developments, including regional enclosed shopping ma lls, lifestyle centers, and power centers in 16 Midwestern states. Gordmans Stores, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  George Soros bought 745,000 shares in the quarter that ended on 09/30/2013, which is 0.072% of the $9.14 billion portfolio of Soros Fund Management LLC. Mario Gabelli owns 15,000 shares as of 09/30/2013, which accounts for 0.0008% of the $17.03 billion portfolio of GAMCO Investors.

  Gordman's Stores, Inc. (GMAN): Dir, Pres, CEO & Secretary Jeffrey J Gordman Bought 15,000 Shares

  Dir, Pres, CEO & Secretary of Gordman's Stores, Inc. (GMAN) Jeffrey J Gordman bought 15,000 shares on 12/20/2013 at an average price of $7.59. Gordmans Stores, Inc., was formed in Delaware in 2008. Gordman's Stores, Inc. has a market cap of $147.595 million; its shares were traded at around $7.59 with a P/E ratio of 11.00 and P/S ratio of 0.23.

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: PriceSmart Inc.(PSMT)

PriceSmart, Inc. owns and operates membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Its warehouse clubs sell perishable foods and consumer goods at low prices to individuals and businesses, as well as offers ancillary services, which include food courts, tire centers, and photo centers. The company operates its warehouse clubs under the brand name of PriceSmart. As of August 31, 2011, it operated 29 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and 1 U.S. territory, including 5 in Costa Rica, 4 each in Panama and Trinidad, 3 each in Guatemala and in the Dominican Republic, 2 each in El Salvador and Honduras, and 1 each in Colombia, Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and the United States Virgin Islands. PriceSmart, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  Decades ago,�PriceSmart� (NASDAQ: PSMT  ) was spun out of�Costco�as a way of bringing the warehouse, membership and of stores to Latin and South America. �Over the past two years, PriceSmart shares have just about doubled.

• [By Chris Hill]

  In this installment, our analysts discuss four stocks making big moves.�CarMax (NYSE: KMX  ) hits an all-time high after fourth-quarter profits rise. PriceSmart (NASDAQ: PSMT  ) jumps after the retailer reports better-than-expected results. Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST  ) falls after it reports weaker-than-expected revenues. And 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD  ) racks up big gains after one of its competitors gets an upgrade.�

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q3 2014 earnings report for PriceSmart, Inc (NASDAQ: PSMT), a Latin America and the Caribbean membership shopping warehouse club like US based Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) and Sam�� Club which is owned by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc (NYSE: WMT), is scheduled for after the market closes on Thursday.�Aside from the PriceSmart, Inc earnings report, it should be said that Costco Wholesale Corporation reported Q3 2014 earnings on May 29nd (revenues and profits rose but the latter still missed expectations) while Wal-Mart Stores, Inc reported Q1 2015 earnings on May 15th (results were a disappointment and the company blamed the weather along with taxes). However, it should be noted that there are rumors that�Costco, with about 650 stores in the�US and overseas, might be interested in buying PriceSmart given the latter�� footprint in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Lastly, shares of PriceSmart (NASDAQ: PSMT  ) are down 2.4%. The retailer posted earnings after the closing bell yesterday, missing expectations for earnings per share but beating on revenue. Analysts had expected revenue of $569 million and EPS of $0.64, but revenue of $572 million and EPS of $0.61 weren't enough to impress investors. Furthermore, the company increased sales on a year-over year basis by more than 12%, but some of those gains were likely due to the increased store count.�

Top 10 Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE)

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe), incorporated on October 5, 1983, is a diversified software company. The Company offers a line of software and services used by professionals, marketers, knowledge workers, application developers, enterprises and consumers for creating, managing, delivering, measuring and engaging with content and experiences across multiple operating systems, devices and media. The Company markets and licenses its software directly to enterprise customers through its sales force and to end users through application stores and its Website at www.adobe.com. Adobe also distributes its products through a network of distributors, value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs), retailers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In addition, Adobe licenses its technology to hardware manufacturers, software developers and service providers for use in their products and solutions. It offers some of its products via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model (also known as a hosted model or cloud-based model), as well as through term subscription and pay-per-use models. The Company�� software runs on personal computers (PCs) and server-based computers, as well as on smartphones, tablets and other devices, depending on the product. It has operations in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. On January 13, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Efficient Frontier. In January 2011, the Company acquired Demdex. In July 2011, the Company acquired EchoSign. In October 2011, the Company acquired Typekit Inc. In November 2011, it acquired Auditude Inc. In January 2012, the Company acquired Efficient Frontier. In December 2012, the Company acquired Behance. In May 2013, Adobe Systems Inc acquired Ideacodes LLC. In July 2013, Adobe Systems Inc announced the completion of acquisition of privately held Neolane.

Digital Media

The Digital Media segment provides tools and solutions that enable individuals, small! businesses and enterprises to create, publish, promote and monetize their content anywhere. Its customers include content creators, Web application developers and digital media professionals, as well as their management in marketing departments and agencies, companies and publishers. The flagship of the Company�� Digital Media business is its Creative Suite family of products. Consisting of 13 individual products and five suites that contain different configurations of these products, the Company focuses on the needs of professional customers, which include graphic designers, production artists, Web designers and developers, user interface designers, writers, videographers, motion graphic artists, prepress professionals, video game developers, mobile application developers, students and administrators. They use and rely on its solutions for publishing, Web design and development, video and animation production, mobile applications and gaming development and, document creation and collaboration. They work in businesses ranging from publishers, media companies and global enterprises, to design agencies, small and medium-sized businesses, and individual freelancers. Its Creative Suite family of products is used by creative professionals to create the printed and online information people see, read and interact with every day, including newspapers, magazines, websites, mobile applications, catalogs, advertisements, brochures, product documentation, books, memos, reports and banners. Its tools are also used to create content, including video, animation and mobile content, that is created by multimedia, film, television, audio and video producers who work in advertising, Web design, music, entertainment, corporate and marketing communications, product design, user interface design, sales training, printing, architecture and fine arts. Knowledge workers, educators and hobbyists also use its creative products to create and deliver content.

Adobe Digital Publishing solution is an online, hosted p! ublishing! solution that enables magazine and newspaper publishers to deliver engaging, reading experiences of their publications to an array of mobile and tablet devices. Its Digital Publishing solution utilizes E-commerce models to sell single issues and subscriptions directly to consumers through mobile marketplaces, and analytics capabilities based on its Adobe Digital Marketing Suite. The Company�� Digital Media-Creative products include Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium, Adobe Creative Suite Design Standard, Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection, Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium, CS Live Services, Adobe Digital Publishing solution, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Edge, Adobe Encore, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InCopy, Adobe InDesign, Adobe InDesign Server, Adobe Muse, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Photoshop Express Mobile, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Extended, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe Premiere Express, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Soundbooth, Adobe Story, Adobe Visual Communicator, Business Catalyst and TypeKit. Its Digital Media-Touch App Products include Adobe Revel, Adobe Collage, Adobe Debut, Adobe Ideas, Adobe Kuler, Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Proto. Its Developer and Platform products include Adobe AIR, Adobe Flash Builder, Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Flash Lite, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Flash Platform Services, Adobe Flex and PhoneGap Build. The Company�� Adobe Media Server products include Adobe Flash Access, Adobe Media Interactive Server, Adobe Media Enterprise Server, Adobe Media Live Encoder, Adobe Media Playback, Adobe Media Streaming Server, Adobe Video Streaming Service, Adobe Pass, Auditude, HTTP Dynamic Streaming, Digital Media, Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe Acrobat Suite, Adobe CreatePDF, Adobe SendNow and EchoSign.

The Company competes with Apple, Aviar! y, Avid, ! Corel, Microsoft, Quark, ACDsee, Mediascape, Xara, Bare Bones Software, FlashDevelop, JetBrains, Panic, MacRabbit, MacroMates, Oracle, Micro Focus, IBM, Amazon, Aquafada, Google, Texterity, Zinio, ACD Systems, AI Soft (Japan), ArcSoft, Corel, i4 (Japan), Kodak, Nova Development, Magix, Microsoft, Rovi, Sony, Canon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Nikon, Phase One, Autodesk, Broderbund and Grass Valley.

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing segment provides solutions and services for how digital advertising and marketing are created, managed, executed, measured and optimized. Its customers include digital marketers, advertisers, publishers, merchandisers, Web analysts, chief marketing officers and chief revenue officers. The Company�� Digital Marketing Business unit provides solutions that include Web analytics, online business optimization and Web experience management products, solutions and services. It delivers these capabilities through its Digital Marketing Suite, which includes its Day CQ5 WEM offerings, as well as the offerings gained through its acquisition of Efficient Frontier. The Company�� products include Adobe SearchCenter, Adobe AudienceManager, Context Optional Social Marketing Suite, Adobe CQ, Adobe Merchandising, Adobe Publish, Adobe Recommendations, Adobe Scene7 On-Demand, Adobe Search&Promote, Adobe SiteSearch, Adobe Test&Target, Adobe Discover, Adobe SiteCatalyst, Adobe SocialAnalytics, Adobe Survey, Adobe Tag Manager, Adobe Insight, Adobe Insight for Retail, Adobe CRX, Adobe DataWarehouse and Adobe Genesis.

The Company�� Digital Enterprise Products include Adobe Connect, Adobe LiveCycle Collaboration Service, Adobe LiveCycle Connectors for ECM, Adobe LiveCycle Content Services, Adobe LiveCycle Mosaic, Adobe LiveCycle Data Services, Adobe LiveCycle Forms, Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions, Adobe LiveCycle Output, Adobe LiveCycle PDF Generator, Adobe LiveCycle Production Print, Adobe LiveCycle Digital Signatures, Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management, A! dobe Live! Cycle Process Management, Adobe LiveCycle Business Activity Monitoring, Adobe LiveCycle Managed Services, Adobe Central Pro Output Server, Adobe LiveCycle Designer, Adobe Output Designer, Adobe Output Pak for mySAP.com and Adobe Web Output Pak.

The Company competes with Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, HP, salesforce.com, AdXpose, WebTrends, Infor, Nielsen Company, SAS Institute, Microsoft Advertising, WPP, Truviso, Clickfox, QlikTech, Teradata, Accenture, Acxiom Digital, [x + 1], Celebros, SLI Systems, Nextopia Software, Fredhopper. EMC, OpenText, Alfresco, CoreMedia, Percussion, SDL, Cisco WebEx, IBM Lotus Sametime, Citrix GoToMeeting, PegaSystems, Nuance and Ultimus.

Print and Publishing

The Company�� Print and Publishing business segment contains products and services that address market opportunities, including eLearning solutions, technical document publishing, Web application development and high-end printing. Its ColdFusion offering provides ways to build and deploy Internet applications. Developers can extend or integrate ColdFusion with Java or .NET applications, connect to enterprise data and applications, create and interact via Web services, or interface with short messaging service (SMS) on mobile devices or instant messaging clients. Its Print and Publishing products include Adobe Authorware, Adobe Captivate, Adobe ColdFusion, Adobe Contribute, Adobe Director, Adobe eLearning Suite, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe FrameMaker Server, Adobe Font Folio, Adobe JRun, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe PDF Print Engine, Adobe PostScript, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Shockwave Player, Adobe Technical Communication Suite, Adobe Type Classics for Learning, Adobe Type Sets and FreeHand MX.

The Company competes with Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By tyokunbo]

  Adobe (ADBE) operates as a diversified software company worldwide. Its digital medical segment provides tools and solutions that enable customers monetize their digital content anywhere. The company�� digital marketing segment provides solutions for optimizing the operation of digital advertising businesses. The print and publishing segment provides products that address diverse market opportunities. One of the company�� flagship products is Adobe Creative Cloud. This is a service that enables consumers to download and install the latest version of their creative products.

• [By Ben Rooney]

  On the corporate front, there are few companies reporting quarterly results this week. The highlights are gun maker Smith & Wesson (SWHC), Costco (COST, Fortune 500), software company Adobe (ADBE) and yoga apparel retailer lululemon (LULU).