5 Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014

Beleaguered retailer J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) is all set to announce first-quarter earnings Thursday, and expectations couldn't get much lower.

On average, analysts are hoping for a loss per share of $0.86, or significantly worse than the $0.25 per share deficit the company posted during the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the market also expects revenue to fall by nearly 14% year over year to $2.72 billion.

Then again, keep in mind that J.C. Penney did�touch base�last week to warn investors that revenue will likely fall 16.4% year over year on a 16.6% decline in comparable sales, and the market rewarded its honesty by pushing the stock up 12% since then.

However, with the stock up more than 28% over the past month, could J.C. Penney possibly have more gains in store?

Source: J.C. Penney.

It could've been worse
To be sure, it seems hard to imagine J.C. Penney could disappoint investors more than it did last quarter, when the stock fell 15% after comparable-store sales plummeted by nearly a third. Of course, as I noted at the time, it didn't help when former CEO Ron Johnson remained unwilling to provide guidance to give us an idea of when sales might actually stabilize. Instead, he reiterated that the company was still less than two years into the planned four-year turnaround.

Hot Media Stocks For 2015: Golden Minerals Co (AUM)

Golden Minerals Company (Golden Minerals), incorporated March 6, 2009, is a mining company. The Company owns and operates the Velardena and Chicago precious metals mining operations (the Velardena Operations) in the State of Durango, Mexico, the El Quevar advanced exploration property in the province of Salta, Argentina, and a diversified portfolio of precious metals and other mineral exploration properties located in the regions of Mexico and South America.

Velardena Operations

The Velardena Operations consists of two underground mines and two processing plants within the Velardena mining district, which is located in the municipality of Cuencame, in the northeast quadrant of the State of Durango, Mexico, approximately 65 kilometers southwest of the city of Torreon, Coahuila and approximately 140 kilometers northeast of the city of Durango, the capital of the State of Durango. Of the two underground mines consisting the Velardena Operations, the Velardena mine includes three different vein systems, including the Santa Juana, San Juanes and San Mateo systems. The second mine, the Chicago mine, is a producing mine located on the Chicago property approximately two kilometers south of the Velardena property.

The Company owns a 300 ton-per-day flotation sulfide mill situated near the town of Velardena. The mill has fully operational lead, zinc, and pyrite flotation circuits which produce lead, zinc and pyrite concentrates from the sulfide ore. The Company also own a conventional 550 ton-per-day cyanide leach oxide mill with a Merrill Crowe precipitation circuit and new installed flotation circuit, which is located adjacent to its Chicago mine. The mill is used to process oxide and mixed sulfide/oxide material from the Velardena Operations.

El Quevar

The Company's El Quevar silver project is located in the San Antonio de los Cobres municipality, Salta Province, in the altiplano region of northwestern Argentina, approximately 300 kilometers by! road northwest of the city of Salta, the capital city of the province. The El Quevar project is located near Nevado Peak with altitudes at the concessions ranging from 3,800 to 6,130 meters above sea level. The El Quevar project is consists of 32 exploitation concessions. The Company holds 31 of the concessions directly, and the Company controls the Nevado I concession, located approximately four kilometers from the Yaxtche target.

Zacatecas (Mexico)

The Zacatecas Mining District is located in the central part of Mexico, in the Faja de Plata mineral belt. The Company's Zacatecas project surrounds the municipalities of Zacatecas, Veta Grande, Guadalupe, Panuco, and Morelos in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. The Company owns approximately 195 concessions totaling approximately 8,600 hectares in the Zacatecas project.

San Diego (Mexico)

The San Diego property, located in the State of Durango, Mexico, is situated approximately nine kilometers northeast of the Velardena property and contains the La Cruz-La Rata and El Trovador mines as well as a number of other shallower shafts which were sunk on narrower veins such as the Cantarranas, Montanez and El Jal. During the year ended December 31, 2012, a Phase VI drilling program was completed, which included five drill holes totaling 5,500 meters.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Joshi Madhavi]

  The company gets its revenues from two types of fees: management fees which are linked to the assets under management (AUM) and performance fees which can be quite volatile. Over the last five years AUM have increased by around 4% per annum from the low at the end of 2008. However, revenues have decreased by around 7% per annum. Performance fees have held up okay since 2008, but management fees have taken a big hit. Since revenues are dependent on the average AUM over the whole year, let�� look at revenues from 2009 ��they have grown by around 6.5% per annum in this case. Institutional clients are more sticky and stable compared to retail, but the company has not managed to increase AUM from this source substantially over the last five years.

5 Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014: Fluidigm Corporation(FLDM)

Fluidigm Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of microfluidic systems for growth markets in the life science and agricultural biotechnology (Ag-Bio) industries. The company?s proprietary microfluidic systems consist of instruments and consumables, including chips (integrated fluidic circuits) and reagents. Its technology enables customers to perform and measure various biochemical reactions on samples smaller than the content of a single cell by utilizing minute volumes of reagents and samples; and rapid preparation of multiple samples in parallel for next generation DNA sequencing. The company?s products include the BioMark HD system, which performs high-throughput gene expression analysis using real-time and end point PCR, SNP genotyping, single-cell analysis, and digital PCR using TaqMan, EvaGreen dye, and other chemistries; The EP1 System that performs end point PCR and is commonly used in production settings for Ag-Bio, digital PCR, and copy number variation experiments using TaqMan, EvaGreen dye, and other chemistries; and the Access Array system that enables automated sample preparation and tagging for next generation DNA sequencers. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, diagnostic laboratories, and Ag-Bio companies. Fluidigm Corporation distributes its instruments and supplies through direct field sales and support organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan; and through distributors or sales agents in parts of Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. The company was formerly known as Mycometrix Corporation and changed its name to Fluidigm Corporation in April 2001. Fluidigm Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Fluidigm (FLDM) develops, manufactures and markets microfluidic systems for growth markets, such as single-cell genomics, applied genotyping and sample preparation for targeted sequencing and agricultural biotechnology industries. This stock closed up 9.8% at $19.55 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 430,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 96,902
  
  Volume % Change: 375%

  From a technical perspective, FLDM gapped up sharply here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance at $18.54 with heavy upside volume. This move also pushed shares of FLDM into new 52-week-high territory, since the stock took out $19.96 before closing at $19.55. Shares of FLDM are now trending within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if FLDM manages to take out Friday's high of $20.04 and then once it clears its all-time high of $20.20 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FLDM as long as it's trending above Friday's low of $18.52 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 96,902 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then FLDM will set up to enter new 52-week- and all-time-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $30.

5 Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014: Pan American Silver Corp.(PAAS)

Pan American Silver Corp. engages in the exploration, development, extraction, processing, production, refining, reclamation, and operation of silver properties. The company also produces and sells gold, zinc, lead, and copper. As of April 27, 2011, it had seven silver mining operations in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  In terms of individual companies, there are several good choices, but these can behave very differently. Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) , for example, missed revenue expectations and beat earnings expectations in its last earnings release. But despite the beat, EPS shrank considerably from a year earlier on a GAAP basis. The stock has been fairly flat ever since. Conversely, First Majestic (NYSE: AG  ) reported strong revenue growth and a small bump in profits, sending the stock higher since the announcement. First Majestic reported increased cash costs and tightening margins, largely driven by lower silver prices. Each of these companies faces pressure from increasing production costs and environmental concerns.

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  A great example was when Minefinders was taken over by Pan American Silver Corp. (Nasdaq: PAAS) in 2012. We earned 56.54% on the sale of a first tranche (before the takeover offer), then 42.12% on the balance of the position once PAAS announced the takeover.

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  The recent sell-off in precious metals has boosted the dividend yield on various silver companies, including Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) . Current conditions give investors the chance to own this best-in-class silver streaming company with both a strong income element and plenty of upside. Unlike miners Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS  ) and Silvercorp Metals (NYSE: SVM  ) , which offer higher dividend yields, Silver Wheaton has important advantages.

5 Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014: Premier Exhibitions Inc.(PRXI)

Premier Exhibitions, Inc. provides museum quality touring exhibitions worldwide. It develops, deploys, and operates exhibition products; sells apparel, posters, and Titanic-related jewelry; publishes exhibition catalogs; and provides ancillary services, such as audio tours and photographs for public in the exhibition centers, museums, and non-traditional venues. The company operates and promotes various exhibitions, including Bodies Revealed and Bodies, The Exhibition, that display multiple human anatomy sets, which contain a collection of whole human body specimens, single human organs, and body parts; Titanic, the artifact exhibition, which features the artifacts recovered from the wreck site; and Dialog in the Dark that is intended to provide insight and experience to the paradox of learning to see without the use of sight. Premier Exhibitions, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) is projected to post its Q2 earnings.

  Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.72 per share on revenue of $292.15 million.