2014 Top Stocks Market, Best Stocks Investment In 2014, Top Stocks For 2014: Great Stocks 2012

Here’s nothing magical about the turning of a calendar page. Economies, businesses and markets just keep on doing what they were doing yesterday or last week, oblivious to our journey around the sun. In that sense, January 1 is no different to April 16 or September 23.

That said, each new year brings hopes of a new start. It represents the opportunity to reassess, to reset – and to make new year’s resolutions.

Fitness and weight loss often top the list, but investors should take the chance to reassess their portfolio to make sure they are holding the shares that present the best opportunities.

Here are best shares to hold that I think represent good value for investors at the beginning of 2012:

Great Stocks 2012:EarthLink Inc. (ELNK)

EarthLink, Inc. provides communications services to individual and business customers in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Services and Business Services. The Consumer Services segment offers Internet access and related value-added services. It provides dial-up Internet and narrowband access, broadband access, and voice-over-Internet-protocol services, as well as value-added services that include products for protection, communication, and performance, such as security products, premium email only, home networking, email storage, and Internet call waiting. This segment offer its products and services primarily through its call centers, search engine marketing, affinity marketing partners, resellers, and marketing alliances. The Business Services segment offers integrated communications services, such as secure IP-based networks, virtual private networks, Internet access, local telephone and long distance services, enhanced services, access trunks, private line services, asynchronous transfer mode/frame relay services, and mobile data and voice services, as well as installation, managed network, remote access, and disaster recovery services. It also provides wholesale services comprising broadband transport services, including private line, Ethernet private line, and wavelength services; local communications and local dial tone communications services; live and automated operator, and directory assistance services; and dedicated Internet access services and direct connectivity. In addition, this segment leases server space and provides Web hosting services that enable customers to build and maintain an online presence, including domain names, storage, mailboxes, software tools to build Web sites, e-commerce applications, and 24/7 customer support. This segment offers its services through direct sales, and independent dealers and sales agents. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Vatalyst At 2! 011-10-2 2
Shares are trading at $6.50 at the time of writing, as against their 52-week trading range of $6.04 to $9.29. Earnings per share for the last year were $0.45, and it paid a dividend of $0.20, yielding 3.10%.

Earthlink has shown tremendous growth in its internet and telephonic connectivity markets lately. But is this growth soon to blow out? In a market that is dominated by the larger companies, At&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and even AOL (AOL), it is hard to see that these three will allow too much trampling on their markets by the far smaller Earthlink. Gross margins at At&T, Verizon, and Earthlink are similar at around 58%, and there is not much difference in the resultant operating margins, either (15.5%, 17.5%, and 18.5%, respectively). Dividends are twice covered by earnings at AT& T and Earthlink, and marginally covered by earnings at Verizon. If the sector develops into a price war, AT&T’s dividend of yield of 6%, and undemanding price to earnings ratio of 8.39 will be more attractive to investors, and easier to achieve. Switch from Earthlink into AT&T.

Great Stocks 2012:Union Pacific Corporation (UNP)

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, provides rail transportation services in North America. It has approximately 31,953 route miles linking Pacific Coast and Gulf Coast ports with the Midwest and eastern United States gateways, and provides several corridors to Mexican gateways. The company offers freight transportation services for agricultural products, including whole grains and related commodities, food, beverage products, corn for ethanol products and its by-products, animal feeds, fruits and vegetables, frozen meat, and poultry products; and automotive products, such as imported and finished vehicles, and automotive parts and materials. It also provides transportation services for chemicals, such as industrial chemicals, plastics, and liquid petroleum products; energy products comprising coal and coke; industrial products, including lumber products, paper and consumer goods, furniture and appliances, and nonferrous and industrial minerals, as well as steel and construction products, such as rock, cement, and roofing materials; and intermodal containers. Union Pacific Corporation was founded in 1862 and is based in Omaha, Nebraska.

Advisors' Opinion:

By Richard Young At 2012-2-22
Click to EnlargeUnion Pacific (NYSE:UNP) has paid a dividend on its shares every year for 112 years. On Nov. 17, Union Pacific’s board announced a dividend increase of 26%. That was the second dividend increase of 2011, raising the quarterly dividend to 60 cents a share, up from 38 cents at the beginning of the year. Union Pacific is aiming to pay out more.

Take a look at the long record of outperformance on my relative strength chart for UNP. Over the last five years, UNP has outperformed the S&P by over 150%.

Great Stocks 2012:Provident Energy Ltd. (PVX)

Provident Energy Ltd. engages in the natural gas liquids (NGLs) infrastructure and marketing business in Canada and the United States. The company involves in the extraction, processing, storage, transportation, and marketing of NGLs, as well as offers these services to third party customers. It also provides fractionation, storage, NGL terminalling, loading, and offloading services. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Great Stocks 2012:Allete Inc. (ALE)

ALLETE, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Regulated Operations, and Investments and Other. The Regulated Operations segment engages in the retail and wholesale of rate-regulated electric, natural gas, and water services in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. As of December 31, 2009, this segment served approximately 144,000 retail customers and 16 municipalities in northeastern Minnesota; and 15,000 electric customers, 12,000 natural gas customers, and 10,000 water customers in northwestern Wisconsin. The Investments and Other segment engages in the coal mining operations in North Dakota; and real estate investment in Florida. Its developmental projects primarily include Town Center and Palm Coast Park located in the city of Palm Coast. This segment also holds 7,000 acres of land in Minnesota. ALLETE primarily serves the taconite, paper, pulp, wood products, and pipeline industries. The company was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota.

Great Stocks 2012:Avon Products Inc. (AVP)

Avon Products Inc. manufactures and markets beauty and related products worldwide. Its product categories include color cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, and personal care; fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, and accessories; and gift and decorative products, housewares, entertainment and leisure, and children?s and nutritional products. Avon Products Inc. markets its products through direct selling and independent representatives, as well as through distributorships. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New York, New York.

Great Stocks 2012:Express Inc. (EXPR)

Express, Inc. operates specialty retail stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer apparel and accessories for women and men between 20 and 30 years old across various aspects of the lifestyles comprising work, casual, jeanswear, and going-out occasions. It also sells gift cards. As of January 29, 2011, the company operated 591 stores, including 547 dual-gender stores, 25 women?s stores, and 19 men?s stores located primarily in high-traffic shopping malls, lifestyle centers, and street locations in 47 states throughout the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. In addition, it operates seven Express stores in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates through its Development Agreement with Alshaya Trading Co.; and sells its products through e-commerce Website, express.com. The company was formerly known as Express Parent LLC and changed its name to Express, Inc. in May 2010. Express, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Great Stocks 2012:Donaldson Company Inc. (DCI)

Donaldson Company, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Engine Products and Industrial Products. The Engine Products segment offers air filtration systems, exhaust and emissions systems, liquid filtration systems, and replacement filters. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the construction, mining, agriculture, aerospace, defense, and truck markets, as well as to OEM dealer networks, independent distributors, private label accounts, and equipment fleets. The Industrial Products segment provides dust, fume, and mist collectors; compressed air purification systems; liquid filtration systems; air filtration systems for gas turbines; PTFE membranes and laminates; and specialized air filtration systems for various applications, such as computer hard disk drives. This segment sells its products to various industrial end-users, OEMs of gas-fired turbines, and OEMs and end-users requiring clean air and liquids. Donaldson Company, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Great Stocks 2012:Dreyfus Strategic Municipal Bond Fund Inc. (DSM)

Dreyfus Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. operates as a diversified, closed-end management investment company in the United States. It primarily invests in long-term municipal investments. The Dreyfus Corporation serves as the investment advisor of the fund. Dreyfus Strategic Municipal Bond Fund was founded in 1989 and is based in New York City.

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