Top 5 Cheap Companies To Own For 2014

It turns out that Taseko Mines' loss is silver-and-gold miner Coeur d' Alene Mines' (NYSE: CDE  ) gain, in terms of a CFO.

Earlier this week, Taseko announced that its chief financial officer, Peter C. Mitchell, was leaving for a company it did not identify. On Wednesday, we learned the identity of the company when Coeur d' Alene announced Mitchell will become its own new CFO. Coeur had been without a CFO since Frank Hanagarne was promoted out of the office back in February to take over as the company's chief operating officer.

In a filing with the SEC, Coeur said Mitchell will be paid a base salary of $400,000 with an annual bonus targeting 75% of salary. He will also receive an initial grant of $200,000 worth of restricted stock units, and a targeted long-term equity incentive award of 225% of base salary.

Those dollar amounts might buy more shares of Coeur stock than usual. The company announced disappointing earnings this morning, with the result that its stock price had gotten 5% cheaper, trading as of this writing around $14.43.

Top 5 Information Technology Stocks To Buy For 2015: Lattice Semiconductor Corporation(LSCC)

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets programmable logic products and related software. The company offers field programmable gate array (FPGA) products, including LatticeECP family for deployment in wireless infrastructure and wireline access equipment, as well as in video and imaging applications; and LatticeXP for the security, surveillance, and display markets. It also provides programmable logic device (PLD) products comprising various versions of ispMACH4000 in-system programmable complex programmable logic device family; MachXO family that is designed for a range of low density applications; platform manager, power manager, and ispClock programmable mixed signal devices; and software development tools and intellectual property cores. The company sells its products directly to end customers through a network of independent manufacturers? representatives and indirectly through a network of independent sell-in and sell-through distributors. It primarily serves original equipment manufacturers in the communications, computing, consumer, industrial, military, automotive, and medical end markets. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By kcpl]

  Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) is doing well. It has seen improvements in its operations. The company excels in the manufacture of programmable chips which are sold in various segments such as mobile, communications, automotives, industrial etc. The reason for the company�� strong performance has been its key customers such as China Mobile and Cisco. On the back of a strong client base, Lattice has seen a good 40% growth in its stock price. Let us take a look at its business.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: LSCC) is a top chip stock to buy at Jefferies. The company announced last month three new complete reference designs that will make it easier for electronic OEMs to deliver media-rich experiences to their end users by taking advantage of low-cost, industry-standard MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) camera, application processor and display technologies. The Jefferies price objective for the stock is $6.50, and the consensus is also at $6.50. Lattice closed yesterday at $4.63.

Top 5 Cheap Companies To Own For 2014: Compass Minerals Intl Inc(CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces and markets inorganic mineral products primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company operates in two segments, Salt and Specialty Fertilizer. The Salt segment produces salt and magnesium chloride for use in road deicing and dust control, food processing, water softeners, pool salt, and agricultural and industrial applications. This segment also purchases potassium chloride and sells as a finished product. The Specialty Fertilizer segment produces and markets sulphate of potash crop nutrients and industrial grade sulfate of potash for use in the production of specialty fertilizers for vegetables, fruits, potatoes, nuts, tobacco, and turf grass. The company also produces and markets consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural, and industrial applications. In ad dition, Compass Minerals provides records management services to businesses located in the U.K. The company operates rock salt mines in Goderich, Ontario, Canada; and Winsford, Chesire, the United Kingdom. It primarily serves producers of intermediate chemical products used in the production of vinyls and other chemicals, and pulp and paper, as well as water treatment and other industrial uses. The company markets its products through direct sales personnel, contract personnel, and a network of brokers or manufacturers? representatives. Compass Minerals International, Inc., formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation, was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By cody56]

  Meridian Growth Fund performance

  Compass Minerals�(CMP) is a leading producer of rock salt and specialty potash fertilizer. Its unique collection of resource assets has helped the company generate historically high returns on capital. We invested in Compass as we believed that earnings were due to turn after four years of weak road salt demand driven by mild Northeast winters and production problems at its potash mines. During 2013 the potash industry was rocked by the potential collapse of a European cartel, which led to falling potash prices. Facing significant uncertainty for the future of the potash market, we sold the stock.

  We continue to remain focused on individual stock selection and portfolio construction that identifies quality companies that we believe are experiencing temporary disruptions to their businesses. These disruptions enable us to buy the businesses at attractive prices and provide the portfolio with what we believe is an attractive risk-reward profile for our shareholders.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Compass Minerals (CMP) is a producer of minerals, including salt, sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer and magnesium chloride. This stock closed up 3.4% at $75.60 in Wednesday's trading session.

  Wednesday's Volume: 913,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 212,481
  
  Volume % Change: 315%

  From a technical perspective, CMP gapped higher here off its recent low of $64.24 with heavy upside volume. This stock recently gapped down sharply from around $90 to $64.24 with heavy downside volume. That move pushed shares of CMP into extremely oversold territory, since the stock's current relative strength index reading is 25.78. Oversold can always get more oversold, but it's also an area where a stock can experience a powerful bounce higher from. Shares of CMP are now starting to move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if CMP manages to take out its gap down day high of $78.20 and then once it clears its 200-day moving average at $79.14 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CMP as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $73.07 or $72.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 212,481 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CMP will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started near $90.

• [By Brendan Mathews]

  Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP  ) is a sleepy producer of a boring product: rock salt. But it has a strong competitive advantage. It owns the world's largest rock salt mine, which luckily is conveniently located near the major deicing markets of the Great Lakes region. This combination of a great mining resource and ideal location provide the company with a wide, crocodile-filled competitive moat.

Top 5 Cheap Companies To Own For 2014: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Neiger]

  While consumer tech devices often focus on incremental changes -- think Apple's upcoming larger iPhone --�IBM� (NYSE: IBM  ) �has been busy working on a new chip that processes information like a human brain.

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  Big tech seems to get smaller and smaller, both in terms of sales and number of employees. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) said it would rebalance its workforce. Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) announced it would cut 1,100 people. These announcements come shortly after Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) said it would fire 5,000 people. While job cuts from the recession may have ended, old tech cannot afford to hold on to its workers.

Top 5 Cheap Companies To Own For 2014: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  I'm not sure Galxo could even get that many doctors to prescribe the drug. They've moved on to Merck's (NYSE: MRK  ) Januvia. Sales of Januvia and combo drugs that contain it jumped from $2.4 billion in 2010, the year the restrictions started, to $5.7 billion last year.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Talk about a blast from the past. After waiting for years, U.S. drug giant Merck & Co. (MRK) set loose clinical trial results at today�� session of the American Heart Association�� annual meeting showing that the cholesterol-lowering medication Vytorin, which combines the drug Zocor and Zetia into one pill, helped prevent heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.

  Bloomberg News

  The study results showed a modest benefit ��a 6.4% reduction in cardiovascular events ��n high-risk patients compared to those being treated with Zocor alone. But the data is regarded as a big deal for Zetia.

  Unlike Zocor, which is a member of the blockbuster statin class of cholesterol drugs, Zetia fights cholesterol by preventing its absorption from food. The data released today marks the first time a drug outside the statin family was shown to help lower the risk of serious cardiovascular problems.

  Sales of Vytorin and Zetia have suffered over the year amid patent expirations and questions about whether the drugs lowered LDL without improving cardiovascular outcomes.

  Share of Merck have gained rose 1% to $59.57 at 1:39 p.m.

  As Mark Schoenebaum, the pharmaceutical analyst at Evercore ISI, wrote in a note out today:

  The trial hit��he results today are positive for Merck’s Zetia and Vytorin but go beyond by suggesting that LDL lowering with drugs other than statins provides a cardiovascular benefit (a reaffirming of the LDL hypothesis that was beginning to be questioned) and that LDL levels should possibly be driven lower than guidelines have recommended (below 70 mg/dl).� Today’s results add the first real data point to our understanding of the relationship between LDL reduction and outcomes at very low LDL levels��/p>

  Schoenebaum also writes that today�� study results bode well for other typed of cholesterol-lowering drugs now in R&D pipelines, namely the PCKSK9 inhibitors being developed b

• [By anandjha89]

  Large pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer (PFE) and Merck (MRK) are often celebrated for their marketing acumen. But, when compared with really successful marketing companies like the Internet giant Google (GOOG), their performance is less than stellar. True marketing leaders must innovate continuously to stay ahead of the market, by creating needs, rather than only responding to them. To them, marketing begins with choosing which products to develop and ends with the sales process. That is what Google has accomplished with Google Glass.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  Monday will be a busy day for earnings releases, though not from any of the Dow's components. Things will heat up for the index on Tuesday, with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) and Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) both set to report earnings before the opening bell on Tuesday.