Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2014

Look beyond the battle to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Front-runner Janet Yellen, vice chairman for the past three years, comes well qualified, but she faces challenges no chairman has ever faced.

Just ahead is a rare wave of new faces joining the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, which consists of the seven governors and the presidents of the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks. The voting members of the FOMC include, in addition to the chairman and vice chairman, the five other governors and five of the regional bank presidents ��the president of the New York Fed and four others who rotate into voting positions each year.

See Also: Kiplinger's Economic Outlook

Top 10 Supermarket Stocks For 2015: Nordic American Tanker Ltd (NAT)

Nordic American Tankers Limited is an international tanker company. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 20 Suezmax tankers. The Company�� vessels include Nordic Harrier, Nordic Hawk, Nordic Hunter, Nordic Voyager, Nordic Freedom, Nordic Fighter, Nordic Discovery, Nordic Saturn, Nordic Jupiter, Nordic Apollo and Nordic Moon. Its vessels also include Nordic Cosmos, Nordic Sprite, Nordic Grace, Nordic Mistral, Nordic Passat, Nordic Vega, Nordic Breeze, Nordic Aurora and Nordic Zenith. In September 2011, the Company acquired the vessel, Nordic Aurora. It chartered all of its vessels in the spot market pursuant to a cooperative arrangement with Gemini Tankers LLC until November 24, 2011. In November 2011, the Orion Tankers pool was established with Orion Tankers Ltd. as pool manager and its vessels were transferred from the Gemini Tankers LLC arrangement to the Orion Tankers pool. On December 17, 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest in Scandic American Shipping Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Taylor Muckerman]

  As for the competition, not many companies have fared much better. For example, another Bermuda-based oil carrier, Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT  ) , has seen its cash from operations fall below sea level the past two years. In Nordic's case, its fleet size of 20 double-hull Suezmax tankers isn't nearly as diverse as Teekay's, but Suezmax tankers are capable of toting up to 1 million barrels of oil per voyage.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Nordic American Tankers (NYSE: NAT) were down 10.08 percent to $7.98 after the company announced the pricing of follow-on offering.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Nordic American Tanker (NYSE: NAT) is a Bermuda-based tanker company that acquires and charters double-hull tankers. Its fleet consists of 20 double-hull Suezmax tankers. Besides the factor you mention about more ships coming onto the market, NAT has underperformed — period. Shares have lost two-thirds of their value over the past five years, and the dividend has been cut multiple times.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Nordic American Tankers (NASDAQ: NAT) was also up, gaining 10.05 percent to $8.87 after the Dow Jones Global Shipping Index showed strength throughout the session on Wednesday.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (CY)

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets mixed-signal programmable solutions, specialized semiconductor memories, and integrated semiconductor solutions. The company�s Memory Products division designs and manufactures static random access memory (SRAM) products and nonvolatile SRAMs used to store and retrieve data in networking, wireless infrastructure and handsets, computation, consumer, automotive, industrial, and other electronic systems, as well as offers general-purpose programmable clocks. Its Data Communications division focuses on universal serial bus (USB) controllers, WirelessUSB peripheral controllers, and module based solutions for trackpads and other user interface applications used in PC and peripheral, industrial automation imaging, security camera, and in consumer devices, such as mobile handsets and set-top boxes. The company�s Programmable Solutions division designs and develops programmable product offerings, inclu ding Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) devices, as well as CapSense and TrueTouch touch-sensing/touch screen products; and automotive products. This segment�s PSoC products are used in various industrial applications, mass storage, household appliances, laptop computers, and toys; TrueTouch touch screen products are used in mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, GPS, automobiles, digital cameras, and other mobile systems; and CapSense devices are used in various applications that employ buttons or sliders, including handsets and various other consumer, industrial, and automotive applications. Its Emerging Technology division provides foundry services, as well as other development stage activities. The company sells its semiconductor products through distributors, manufacturing representative firms, and its sales force to direct original equipment manufacturers and their manufacturers worldwide. Cypress Semiconductor Corporation founded in 1982 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY  ) have plunged today by as much as 10% after the company reported earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the first quarter came in at $172.7 million, topping the consensus estimate of $167.3 million. Cypress posted adjusted net income of $4.6 million, or $0.03 per share. That was also ahead of the $0.01 per share that investors were braced for. Shares responded favorably initially, but then Cypress provided guidance on its conference call and sent investors fleeing.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) was maintained as Buy, but earnings estimates were cut and the price target was cut to $13 from $15, by Sterne Agee. Wedbush downgraded it to Neutral from Buy after the warning.

• [By John Udovich]

  If you are looking for a semiconductor stock that�� focus on an area that�� not so cyclical, mid cap microcontroller (MCU) stock Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) could be a good choice���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with other�microcontroller�players like Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MCHP), STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE: STM) and Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY). Microcontrollers are programmable and�embedded�chips that are increasingly�hidden inside a all sorts of products these days e.g. if you have an appliance�with a�LED or LCD screen and a keypad, it contains some kind of�microcontroller plus all new�automobiles contain at least one�and often several. I should mention that we have also recently added Atmel Corporation to our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio and we are down about 5.6% mostly due to the recent market volatility.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY  ) continues to reward its stockholders. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share of its common stock, to be paid on July 18 to shareholders of record as of June 27. This amount is in line with Cypress Semiconductor's previous five distributions, the most recent of which was handed out in mid-April.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Mazda Motor Corp (MZDAY.PK)

Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japan-based company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of automobiles and automobile parts. The Company provides mini vans, compact vehicles, sports cars, sport-utility vehicles, station wagons, sedans, light cars, commercial vehicles, welfare vehicles and special edition automobiles, as well as automobile accessories, including car navigation systems, automobile audio systems, side monitors, rear seat monitors, electronic toll collection (ETC) in-vehicle equipment, security products, driving support products, bulbs, pet carriers and child seats, among others. As of March 31, 2013, the Company had 56 consolidated subsidiaries and 15 associated companies. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Elliott Gue]

  This so-called One Ford initiative involved the US$2.3 billion sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors (TTM) and the US$1.6 billion divestment of Volvo to Geely Automobile Holdings (GELYF.PK). After selling the majority of its stake in Mazda Motor Corp (MZDAY.PK) and discontinuing Mercury, Ford Motor Company's portfolio consists of its eponymous mass-market brand and the higher-end Lincoln.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Own For 2014: Convergys Corporation (CVG)

Convergys Corporation provides relationship management solutions in North America and internationally. Its Customer Management segment offers agent-assisted, self-service, and intelligent technology care solutions, including customer service, customer retention, sales, technical support, social interaction, collections management, back office, business-to-business, customer experience applied analytics, and intelligent interaction solutions for communications, financial services, technology, retail, healthcare, and government markets. This segment also provides premise-based and hosted automated self-care and technology solutions; speech recognition solutions; and license, professional, consulting and maintenance, and software support services. Convergys Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Convergys (NYSE: CVG) was also up, gaining 12.44 percent to $23.46 after the company announced its plans to acquire Stream Global Services for $820 million in cash. Convergys also reaffirmed its outlook for 2013.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Convergys (CVG) �shares surged 20% to $25 on light volume after the customer management firm announced it will acquire Stream Global Services Inc. for a total enterprise value of $820 million in cash. The acquisition should add about 35 cents a share to Convergys earnings excluding one-time costs, the company said.