Top Logistics Stocks For 2014

Poor results for the holiday quarter were supposed to injure Wall St.’s sentiment on Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). On the contrary, it has continued to rise, leaving observers to ask whether the relentless progress of e-commerce has overcome a downturn in Amazon’s fortunes.

Oddly, Amazon may be the beneficiary of a crop of store closings by retailers as diverse as Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) , Macy’s (NYSE: M) and Sears Holdings (NYSE: SHLD). If the problems this represents are primarily a drop in sales and managements’ forecasts, then it would be hard to argue that any company other than Amazon has taken and will take those sales.

The problem with bricks-and-mortar stores apparently has turned to the fact than many retailers have too many locations. Burdened by the costs of rent, logistics, and employees, the industry continues to retreat to its most profitable locations. A vicious cycle gets created. The fewer locations, the few place for customers to visit. The few customers……

Hot Media Stocks To Buy Right Now: Lithia Motors Inc. (LAD)

Lithia Motors, Inc. operates as an automotive franchisee and retailer of new and used vehicles in the United States. The company sells new and used cars, and trucks; offers replacement parts; provides vehicle maintenance, warranty, paint, and repair services; and arranges related financing, service contracts, protection products, and credit insurance. As of February 22, 2013, the company offered 27 brands of new vehicles and various brands of used vehicles in 87 stores, as well as online at Lithia.com. Lithia Motors, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is based in Medford, Oregon.

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 Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Lithia Motors (LAD) fell8.3% to $63.31 despite beating earnings forecasts on lower guidance.

  Monarch Casino & Resort (MCRI) fell 15% to $18.71 after revenue missed forecasts today.

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  Ladbrokes Plc (LAD) sank 8 percent to 190.3 pence after the U.K. gambling company forecast 2013 operating profit at the lower end of analysts��estimates because of weaker-than-projected trading in the first quarter. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey had predicted operating profit of 188 million pounds ($288 million) to 215 million pounds.

• [By ovenerio]

  The company has a current ROE of 14.85% which is higher than the industry median. In general, analysts consider ROE ratios in the 15-20% range as representing attractive levels for investment. So for investors looking those levels or more, AutoNation (AN), CST Brands (CST), Lithia Motors (LAD) and AutoZone (AZO) could be the options. It is very important to understand this metric before investing and it is important to look at the trend in ROE over time.

Top Logistics Stocks For 2014: Larsen & Toubro Ltd (LT)

Larsen & Toubro Limited is a technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing company. It operates in three segments Engineering & Construction Segment, Electrical & Electronics segment, Machinery & Industrial Products, and others. Engineering & construction Segment comprises execution of engineering and construction projects in India. Electrical & electronics Segment comprises manufacture and sale of low and medium voltage Switchgear components, custom-built switchboards, custom built low and medium voltage switchboards, and electronic energy meters/protection (relays) systems. Machinery & industrial Products Segment comprises manufacture and sale of industrial machinery and equipment, manufacture and marketing of industrial valves, construction equipment and welding/industrial products. Others include property development and integrated engineering services. Effective March 28, 2013, the Company acquired Audco India Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ian Sayson]

  India�� S&P BSE Sensex added 0.1 percent as Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT) drove a measure of capital goods producers to its first advance in three days. State Bank of India sank after Moody�� Investors Service cut its credit rating. The rupee fell for a third day, the longest losing streak in almost a month.

• [By Anuchit Nguyen]

  India�� S&P BSE Sensex rose, holding at a three-year high, amid better-than-estimated corporate earnings. Engineering company Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT) rallied to a three-month high and Asian Paints Ltd. (APNT) surged about 6 percent after reporting profit that beat forecasts.

Top Logistics Stocks For 2014: HTC Corp (2498.TW)

HTC Corporation is principally engaged in the research, development and manufacturing of smart handheld devices. The Company provides touch phones, personal digital assistant (PDA) phones, smart phones, Android smart phones, Windows OS smart phones and panel computers, among others. The Company offers its products under the brand name of HTC, including HTC Butterfly series, Desire series, HTC One series, HTC Sensation series, HTC Explorer series, HTC Rhyme series, as well as HTC Radar series, among others. The Company distributes its products within domestic market and to overseas markets. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Rojas var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]

  Audio-equipment maker Monster LLC and its chief executive sued Apple Inc.'s(AAPL) Beats Electronics LLC, its co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, and Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp.(2498.TW) for allegedly conspiring to dupe Monster out of a deal with Beats before the company was sold to Apple for $3.2 billion last year.

Top Logistics Stocks For 2014: Douglas Emmett Inc. (DEI)

Douglas Emmett, Inc., a real estate investment trust, owns and operates office and multifamily properties in California and Hawaii. As of December 31, 2007, the company�s office portfolio consisted of 48 properties and multifamily portfolio consisted of 9 properties. Its properties are located in Brentwood, Olympic Corridor, Century City, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Westwood, Sherman Oaks/Encino, Warner Center/Woodland Hills, and Burbank submarkets of Los Angeles County, California, as well as in Honolulu, Hawaii. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  High-quality office and multi-family real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett (DEI) raised its quarterly dividend 11% to 20 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30.
  DEI Dividend Yield: 3.38%

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and Borsa Istanbul A.S. have today concluded a wide-ranging agreement, which includes the delivery of market-leading technologies and advisory services to Borsa Istanbul, and NASDAQ OMX taking an equity stake in Borsa Istanbul. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Bolt MRI Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into an agreement with Fonar Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR). To read the full news, click here. Douglas Emmett, (NYSE: DEI) announced that William Kamer will be retiring from full time service as its Chief Investment Officer effective January 31, 2014. Mr. Kamer will continue to be employed by Douglas Emmett as a Senior Advisor. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Brandywine Communications Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into a settlement and patent license agreement with Alcatel-Lucent USA (NYSE: ALU). To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Benchmark US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Office and multifamily housing operator�Douglas Emmett� (NYSE: DEI  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.18 per share, the same rate it's paid for the last two quarters after raising the payout 20% from $0.15 per share.