Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014

Almost by stealth, there's a group of stocks that have put up strong numbers in November and for the year -- even while many people profess to, well, hate them. We're talking banks.

Big banks are doing splendidly. Regional banks are doing even better. If interest rates start to rise -- a question of when, not if -- bank and financial services stocks should do even better. Plus, the regional banks are lovely takeover candidates.

In other words, if banks stocks do well in the coming months, they will give support to the stock market rally.

The winners so far include JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), which is the top performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 11.5 percent for the month.

Top Valued Companies For 2015: Trina Solar Limited(TSL)

Trina Solar Limited, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells photovoltaic (PV) modules worldwide. The company offers monocrystalline PV modules ranging from 165 watts to 185 watts in power output; and multicrystalline PV modules ranging from 215 watts to 240 watts in power output that provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and other applications. It also involves in the design and production of various PV modules, such as colored modules for architectural applications and larger sized modules for utility grid applications based on customers? and end-users? specifications. Trina Solar Limited sells and markets its products primarily to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Changzhou, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  The press release from First Solar claims that TetraSun can make 21% efficient cells at costs similar to those of conventional multicrystalline silicon solar cells. If we use Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) as the proxy, that means manufacturing costs of about $0.64 per watt.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Foolish bottom line
  Solar module manufacturers will be the most adversely affected in the near term. Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , for example, makes about half of its own polysilicon but must buy 1.2 GW worth from outside suppliers. Yingli has already said that tariffs will adversely affect costs. The irony of imposing tariffs on U.S. solar exports to China is that China will be the one hurt by them in the long run.�

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Wednesday
  Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) hopes to shine on Wednesday, but that's no easy feat in solar these days. China's slowing economy and slammed European economies have been forced into scaling back solar energy investments, and that has hurt the industry. Wall Street's braced for a widening deficit at Trina Solar. It's probably not a good sign that Trina Solar has reported an even larger loss than Wall Street was projecting every single quarter over the past year.

• [By Chris Hill]

  The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM  ) gains 12% after announcing better-than-expected quarterly earnings. United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI  ) falls 4% on declining profit margins and lowered guidance. Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA  ) loses some electricity after its recent run-up. And Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) cools off on weaker-than-expected earnings. In this installment of Investor Beat, our analysts discuss four stocks making moves.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Commerce Bancshares Inc.(CBSH)

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank, N.A. that provides various general banking services to individuals and businesses. It operates in three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth. The Consumer segment includes the retail branch network, consumer installment lending, personal mortgage banking, consumer debit and credit bank card activities, and student lending. The Commercial segment provides various corporate lending, merchant and commercial bank card products, leasing, and international services, as well as business and government deposit and cash management services. The Wealth segment offers traditional trust and estate tax planning services, brokerage services, and advisory and discretionary investment portfolio management services to personal and institutional corporate customers. This segment also manages a family of proprietary mutual funds, which are available for sale to trust and general retail customers. The comp any, through its other non-banking subsidiaries, involves in underwriting credit life and credit accident, and health insurance; selling property and casualty insurance; private equity investment; securities brokerage; mortgage banking; and leasing activities. It serves customers through a network of branches and ATM machines, online banking, and a central contact center from approximately 370 locations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roland Head]

  Today's earning calendar is fairly quiet ahead of tomorrow's results from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, but Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ: CBSH  ) started off the financial reporting season this morning, reporting earnings of $0.72 per share -- a penny ahead of analyst expectations. The company credited "strong growth in loans, improved net interest income and continued free income growth," as well as "growth in revenues from our trust and corporate card businesses, which grew by 8% and 8.6%, respectively, compared to the second quarter of last year."

• [By BLOGS.BARRONS.COM]

  Commerce Bancshares: Davidson likes the mid-sized bank because of its conservative business model. Commerce Bancshares�(CBSH) has been a�victim of the low interest rate environment according to Davidson. ��heir net interest margin has been under pressure and earnings have been a little light versus expectations.��The stock is down a little more than 2% this year. ��heir conservative asset mix is what led to the shortfall, that�� music to our ears.���/p>

• [By John Maxfield]

  Bank investors got their first glimpse of what first-quarter earnings might look like today when Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ: CBSH  ) reported its results. Shares of the Kansas City-based bank are trading sharply lower after its earnings per share fell by 4.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Radioshack Corporation(RSH)

RadioShack Corporation engages in the retail sale of consumer electronic goods and services through its RadioShack store chain and kiosk operations. Its products include postpaid and prepaid wireless handsets and communication devices, such as scanners and global positioning system (GPS) products; home entertainment, wireless, music, computer, video game, and GPS accessories; media storage, power adapters, digital imaging products, and headphones; home audio and video end-products, personal computing products, residential telephones, and voice over Internet protocol products; digital cameras, digital music players, toys, satellite radios, video gaming hardware, camcorders, and general radios; general and special purpose batteries and battery chargers; and wires and cables, connectivity products, components and tools, and hobby products. The company also provides consumers access to third-party services, such as prepaid wireless airtime and extended service plans in its ser vice platform. In addition, it manufactures various products, including telephones, antennas, wires, and cable products, as well as various hard-to-find parts and accessories for consumer electronics products; and provides repair services. As of March 31, 2011, the company operated 4,467 company-operated retail stores under the RadioShack brand name in the United States; and 1,304 kiosks located in Target and Sam?s Club stores. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 211 company-operated stores under the RadioShack brand, 9 dealers, and 1 distribution center in Mexico; a network of 1,207 RadioShack dealer outlets, including 34 located outside of North America; and 4 distribution centers in the United States. Further, the company sells its products through its Website, radioshack.com. RadioShack Corporation was founded in 1899 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  RadioShack offers a variety of consumer electronics and services to a growing population. A recent earnings release has investors sour about the company. The stock has declined in recent years and is currently trading near the lower-end of its yearly range. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been decreasing which has left investors disappointed with the company. Relative to its peers and sector, RadioShack has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE what RadioShack does this quarter.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of RadioShack (RSH) have jumped 14% to $1.03 today at 11:58, as the beleaguered electronics retailer replaced its CFO amid attempts to restructure its debt. But here’s a reminder of its big problem: Few want what RadioShack is selling. In a note released on Sept. 12, UBS analyst�Michael Lasser explained:

  Getty Images

  2Q results show limited consumer appetite for RSH’s product offerings RSH faces a myriad of challenges in reaching profitability, including difficulty in its mobility business & the need to revamp the retail product assortment. The company announced a comp decline of -20% which was worse than our est. of -9.0% (cons. 11.6%). The comp sales decline was largely due to tepid consumer demand for product offerings in the mobility segment which comp declined -30% during the quarter. Mgmt cited overall softness in the consumer electronics industry as an additional obstacle to the company’s pursuit of profitability. RSH’s gross margin increased by 30 bps to 35.3%, but was flat if excluding the impact of inventory reserves. While the company spoke to some improvement as of late, we think the road ahead is difficult.

  The company is exploring financial alternatives to restructure debt obligations to undergo store closures. Total liquidity went down from $424 mm to $182 mm during 2Q and lenders have put additional pressure on RSH’s ability to tap into its revolver. At its current burn rate, RSH will need further financing in the near term for any strategic turnaround of the business. We are not sure that it will be able to get all of its stakeholders to agree on a plan. Plus, the more time that goes by, the more likely that vendors will become concerned.

  Lasser rates Radioshack a Sell with a 50 cent price target.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  www.hasbro.com There were plenty of winners and losers this week, including a major airline doing something that it hasn't done in 34 years and more toymakers cutting play time short. Here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders. American Apparel (APP) -- Loser Some retailers are struggling more than others. American Apparel is shaking up its board to try to get a new lease on life, and one of the appointments announced this week was adding RadioShack (RSH) CEO Joseph Magnacca. Really? RadioShack is one of the few publicly traded retailers with a lower stock price than American Apparel. It's losing gobs of money and closing down stores. Is that really the kind of vision that American Apparel needs in the boardroom? Perhaps more importantly, should RadioShack's CEO be spreading himself thin this way at a time when his own company is struggling just to survive? American Airlines Group (AAL) -- Winner There were a lot of milestones achieved by the parent company of American Airlines and US Airways on Thursday. The biggest takeaway from its report is that the adjusted profit of $1.5 billion that it reported for its latest quarter is an all-time record for the once-struggling air carrier. The acquisition of US Airways last year and improving industry fundamentals have gone a long way to improving its fiscal viability. However, American Airlines Group also initiated a quarterly dividend of 10 cents a share. That may not seem like much, but it's the first time that the airline has offered a cash distribution since 1980. Wow. That was back when folks could still smoke in the back of the plane, and it didn't cost extra to check your luggage. It's not the only way that American Airlines Group is returning its money to its shareholders. Backed by its healthy profitability, its board cleared the way for a $1 billion stock buyback. Airlines have historically been a wealth destroyer. The cyclical swings in the business can get fierce. However, se

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Usually, we’d expect a company’s shares to fall when it warns that it could be heading for bankruptcy, shares fall. Not RadioShack (RSH). Its shares have surged nearly 20% this morning after it warned that it was running out of cash and could be forced to file.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Citadel Capital SAE (CCAP)

Citadel Capital SAE is an Egypt-based company engaged in the private equity investment activities. The Company manages an investment portfolio that consist of 19 Opportunity-Specific Funds (OSFs), which controls entities platform distributed across 12 countries in the Middle Eastern and North African markets, and span 14 industrial sector such as energy, cement manufacturing, solid waste management, real estate, mining, agricultural, glass manufacturing, transportation and metallurgy. Its OSFs entities include Asec Holding, Ascom Geology and Mining SAE, Nile Logistics, Rift Valley Railways, Gozour, Wafra, Nopc / Rally Energy Group, Nile Valley Petroleum Ltd, Egyptian Refining Company, Taqua Arabia, GlassWorks and Finance Unlimited, among others. On December 9, 2012, the Company announced that it has sold 100% of its interest in National Petroleum Company Egypt Limited (NPC Egypt), a wholly owned portfolio company, to Sea Dragon Energy Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Julia Leite]

  Declines provided an opportunity for ��rofit taking��for ��hort term players who bought in the last week or so,��Julian Mayo, who helps manage $2.5 billion in emerging-market assets as the co-chief investment officer at Charlemagne Capital Ltd. (CCAP) in London, said by e-mail. ��fter a 5 to 10 percent gain in some emerging markets in such a short time, some correction is always likely.��

• [By Joshi Madhavi]

  Charlemagne Capital Limited (CCAP) is an established asset management group in the UK with an exclusively emerging markets focus and bottom-up stock picking process. The business is cyclical with fortunes linked to emerging market performance. The company�� strategy is to grow each category within its broad fund range: mutual funds, hedge funds, specialist funds and institutional products.

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Ambarella Inc (AMBA)

Ambarella, Inc., incorporated on January 15, 2004, is a developer of semiconductor processing solutions for video that enable high-definition (HD), video capture, sharing and display. The Company combine its processor design capabilities with its video and image processing, algorithms and software to provide a technology platform. It sells solutions into the camera and infrastructure markets, with approximately 27 million system-on-a-chips (SoCs) shipped since our inception. In the camera market, its solutions enable the creation of video content for wearable sports cameras, automotive aftermarket cameras, Internet Protocol (IP), security cameras, digital still cameras (DSCs), telepresence cameras, camcorders and pocket video cameras. In the infrastructure market, its solutions manage IP video traffic, broadcast encoding and IP video delivery applications. In 2012, the Company released its Wireless Camera Developers Kit. In 2012, it also launched S2 SoC, which enables Ultra High-Definition IP security cameras.

The Company sells its solutions to original design manufacturers (ODMs), and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), globally. In the camera market, its video processing solutions are designed into products from OEMs, including Robert Bosch GmbH and affiliated entities, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Woodman Labs, Inc., doing business as (d/b/a) GoPro, or GoPro, who source its solutions from ODMs, including Ability Enterprise Co., Ltd., Asia Optical Co. Inc., Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd., DXG Technology Corp., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. and Sky Light Digital Ltd. In the infrastructure market, its solutions are designed into products from OEMs, including Harmonic Inc., Motorola Mobility, Inc. (owned by Google, Inc.) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, who source its solutions from ODMs, such as Plexus Corp.

AmbaClear

The Company�� image signal processing architecture, known as AmbaClear, incorporates advanced algorithms to convert raw senso! r data to high-resolution still and high-definition video images concurrently. Image processing algorithms include sensor, lens and color correction, demosaicing, which is a process used to reconstruct a full color image from incomplete color samples, noise filtering, detail enhancement and image format conversion.

AmbaCast

The Company�� HD video processing architecture, known as AmbaCast, incorporates advanced algorithms for motion estimation, motion-compensated temporal filtering, mode decision and rate control. It supports all three compression profilesbaseline, main and highas specified in the H.264 standard. Its solutions for the broadcast infrastructure market allow OEMs to offer both the H.264 and MPEG-2 encoding formats.

Design Methodology

The Company test and verify its algorithms on its architectural model prior to implementing algorithms in hardware. Its advanced verification methodology validates its approach through simultaneous modeling of architecture, algorithms and the hardware itself.

SoC Solution

The Company�� SoC designs integrate HD video processing, image processing, applications processing and system functions onto a single chip, delivering video and image quality with features, including advanced wireless connectivity. In addition, its SoCs integrate mixed signal (analog/digital) functionality and high speed interfaces required for interfacing to advanced high-speed CMOS sensors and industry standard interfaces, such as USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.4. Its A7L SoC, which it introduced in September 2011, is fabricated in edge 32 nanometer (nm) process technology and integrates AmbaClear and AmbaCast technology.

Software Development Kit for Connectivity

The Company�� video streaming technology enables the camera�� image to be previewed on a smartphone. To enable this functionality, end customers deploy its Wireless Camera Developer�� Kit, or the Kit, which enables the design of ca! meras tha! t combine still photography and Full HD video with wireless video streaming to smartphones. The Kit is available for its A7L SoC product family, providing full 1080p60 HD video with photography and low power consumption.

The Company competes with CSR Plc, Fujitsu Limited, HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Canon Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Sony Corporation, Novatek Microelectronics Corp., Sunplus Technology Co. Ltd., Intel Corporation, Magnum Semiconductor, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Broadcom Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated and Samsung.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  120% on Ambarella Inc. (Nasdaq: AMBA), recommended on Aug. 8 at $16.60. The stock is still up 60% from where we recommended it, and we believe it could get a nice boost from the looming IPO of extreme sports camera maker GoPro Inc.

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  We're talking about the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Ambarella Inc. (Nasdaq: AMBA), whose video-chip technology is finding its way into security cameras, automotive cameras, and the "wearable" video cams the "extreme sports" crowd uses to record their often-breathtaking exploits.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA) is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.28 per share on revenue of $44.67 million.

  Shiloh Industries (NASDAQ: SHLO) is projected to report its Q3 earnings.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  I've suggested that investors buy Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA  ) instead of GoPro. It's the lone provider of�video compression and image processing semiconductors for GoPro's cameras, but Ambarella isn't hogtied to GoPro's popularity. Ambarella's presence in Dropcam surveillance cameras and a recent deal for Google Helpouts provide diversification in high-def cameras.�

Hot Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Omega Protein Corporation(OME)

Omega Protein Corporation, a nutritional ingredient company, engages in the processing, marketing, and distribution of fish meal, oil, and soluble products. The company produces and sells various protein and oil products derived from menhaden, a herring-like species of fish found in the U.S. coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Its fish meal products include the Special Select, a premium grade fish meal that is targeted for monogastrics, including baby pigs, pets, shrimps, and fish; SeaLac, a premium grade fish meal that is targeted for the ruminant industry; and Fair Average Quality Meal, a commodity grade fish meal that is used in protein blends for catfish, pets, and other animals. Omega Protein Corporation?s fish oil products comprise crude unrefined fish oil, refined fish oil, and food grade oils. Its oil products are used in food production, feed production, certain industrial applications, and dietary supplements. The company?s fish solubles in clude Neptune fish concentrate that is used as the attractant in commercial baits, as well as in shrimp and finfish diets; OmegaGrow, a liquid soil or foliar-applied fertilizer for plant nutrition; and OmegaGrow Plus, a liquid foliar-applied fertilizer for plant nutrition that also helps to control insect and fungus problems. The company sells its products in the United States Mexico, Europe, Canada, Asia, and South and Central America. Omega Protein Corporation was founded in 1998 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.76 percent on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND), down 4.2 percent, and Omega Protein (NYSE: OME), off 3.6 percent.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Omega Protein (NYSE: OME) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.32 per share on revenue of $69.47 million.

  Douglas Dynamics (NYSE: PLOW) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.25 per share on revenue of $57.68 million.