Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014

I went out on a limb last week, and now it's time to see how that decision played out.

I predicted that People's United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT  ) would close higher on the week. The regional banker had come up short on the bottom line in its two previous quarters, and the prior week closed with uninspiring earnings news out of the banking behemoths. People's United managed to match expectations on an operating basis, but the market was skeptical of financial services institutions this week. People's United Financial shares closed lower on the week. I was right. I predicted that the tech-heavy Nasdaq would outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) . This has been a tricky call lately, so how did it play out this time? Well, the market was rocked hard this week, and secondary stocks led the way down. The Nasdaq fell 2.7% on the week. The Dow managed to close just 2.1% lower. I was wrong. My final call was for United Rentals (NYSE: URI  ) to beat Wall Street's quarterly profit target. The provider of equipment rentals with 836 outlets across the country has been beating Wall Street estimates consistently over the past year. Why should that end? Analysts were looking for a profit of $0.47 a share during the quarter, and it came through with adjusted net income of $0.58. I was right.

Two out of three? I can do better than that.

Top 10 Bank Companies To Own For 2015: Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc.(QCOR)

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, provides prescription drugs for the treatment of auto-immune diseases. The company?s primary product is H.P. Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection), an injectable drug for the treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis; infantile spasms in infants and children under two years of age; nephrotic syndrome; and Lupus. Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Anaheim, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Biopharmaceutical�Questcor Pharmaceuticals� (NASDAQ: QCOR  ) �announced this morning�its second-quarter dividend of $0.25 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 25%, from $0.20 per share.

• [By EXPstocktrader]

  Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR) is a 2013 high-performing biotech that I first wrote about in November 2012. Year to date, revenue is up about 60% over 2012 and share price is up more than 125%. These impressive numbers are mainly due to prescription growth from its flagship product H.P. Acthar Gel(TM) and it's 19 FDA-approved indications including: infantile spasms, acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome and the newly-marketed therapeutic area, rheumatology disorders including dermatomyositis/polymyositis (DM/PM), psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Korea Electric Power Corp (KEP)

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), incorporated on January 1, 1982, is engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and development of electric power resources in the Republic of Korea. KEPCO�� business operations include nuclear, hydro and thermal generation; transmission and distribution, and resources development. KEPCO consists of power generation companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, and other share-holding companies. On January 5, 2010, KEPCO developed the prototype of next-generation electric vehicle chargers.

KEPCO completed consulting projects in Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Libya, Ukraine and Paraguay, and is working on 12 projects in Western Africa, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. KEPCO is investing in green growth business, which includes implementation of Smart Grid and electric vehicle charging infrastructure and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. KEPCO is engaged in development of renewable energy projects, including photovoltaic, wind and tidal energy to realize low carbon green growth. KEPCO��s overseas renewable energy projects include wind farms in Gansu (99 megawatts) and Inner Mongolia (1,075 megawatts) in China. KEPCO has secured an annual 520,000 tons worth of carbon emission rights. KEPCO has nine CDM projects related to wind generation project in China, out of 18 CDM projects.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Utilities shares rose around 0.45 percent in trading on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (NYSE: EDN), up 4.7 percent, and Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP), up 3.9 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Utilities stocks gained Friday, with Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP), with shares up 1.8 percent, and Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE), with shares up 1.4 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Utilities stocks gained Friday, with Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP) leading advancers. Meanwhile, gainers in the sector included Huaneng Power International (NYSE: HNP), with shares up 2.1 percent, and Pampa Energia SA (NYSE: PAM), with shares up 2.5 percent.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  On Wednesday, the utilities sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP) and Pure Cycle (NASDAQ: PCYO).

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: GrafTech International Ltd (GTI)

GrafTech International Ltd (GTI) incorporated on April 26, 2010, is a manufacturer of graphite electrodes, products essential to the production of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel and various other ferrous and nonferrous metals. The Company also produces needle coke products, which are the primary raw material needed in the manufacture of graphite electrodes. The Company also manufactures carbon, graphite, and semi-graphite refractory products, which protect the walls of blast furnaces and submerged arc furnaces. The Company is manufactures and provides graphite and carbon materials used in the transportation, solar and oil and gas exploration industries. The Company's operating segments include Industrial Materials, which include graphite electrodes, refractory products and needle coke products, and Engineered Solutions, which includes advanced electronics technologies, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials, and advanced materials. The Company has seven product categories: graphite electrodes, refractory products, needle coke products, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials, advanced electronics technologies (formerly referred to as natural graphite products), and advanced materials.

Industrial Materials.

The Company's Industrial Materials segment manufactures and delivers graphite electrodes, refractory products and needle coke products. Approximately 70% of the Company's graphite electrodes sold is consumed in the EAF steel melting process. The remaining approximately 30% of the Company's graphite electrodes sold is primarily used in various other ferrous and non-ferrous melting applications, including steel refining ladle furnace operations for both EAF and basic oxygen furnace steel production, fused materials, chemical processing, and alloy metals. The Company is a producer of petroleum needle coke. Needle coke is the raw material in the manufacture of the graphite electrodes used in melting operations. The Company is also a leadi! ng global supplier of carbon, semi-graphitic and graphite refractory hearth linings for blast and submerged arc furnaces used to produce iron and ferro alloys.

The Company competes with SGL Carbon A.G. Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. Showa Denko Carbon K.K. Graphite India Limited, HEG Limited, SEC Corporation Limited, Nippon Carbon Co., Ltd., Energoprom Group, Beijing FangDa Carbon Tech Co. Ltd., Sinosteel Corporation, Phillips 66, Petrocokes Japan Limited , Mitsubishi Chemical Company, Baosteel Group , C-Chem Co., Ltd. Indian Oil Company Limited, Hongte Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. JX Holdings Inc., Petrochina International Jinzhou Co., Ltd. and Sinosteel Anshan Research Institute of Thermo-Energy Co. Ltd.

Engineered Solutions

The Engineered Solutions segment includes advanced electronics technologies, advanced graphite materials, advanced composite materials and advanced materials. Advanced electronics technology products consist of electronic thermal management solutions, fuel cell components, and sealing materials. These products are used in transportation, alternative energy, metallurgical, chemical, oil and gas exploration and various other industries. Advanced composite materials are engineered carbon products that are woven into various shapes to primarily support the aerospace and defense industries. Advanced materials use carbon and graphite powders as components or additives in a variety of industries, including metallurgical processing, battery and fuel cell components, and polymer additives.

SGL Carbon A.G., Mersen S.A., Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd., Toyo Tanso Co., Ltd., SEC Carbon Ltd, Nippon Carbon Co. Ltd, Graphite India Ltd. (India) , Panasonic Corporation , and Kaneka Corporation .

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Rhyu joins the company from IAC's (NASDAQ: IACI  ) Match.com, where he has filled the roles of both CFO and chief administrative officer since 2011. Previous to that, he was a senior vice president at News Corp's (NASDAQ: FOXA  ) Dow Jones & Company. He also served as corporate controller for both Sirius XM Radio and GrafTech International (NYSE: GTI  ) .

Top 5 Regional Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: PDI Inc.(PDII)

PDI, Inc. provides outsourced promotional services to various companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare industries in the United States. The company?s services offer customers a range of both personal and non-personal promotional options for the commercialization of their products throughout the product lifecycles, from development through maturity. It operates in three segments: Sales Services, Marketing Services, and Product Commercialization Services. The Sales Services segment focuses primarily on product detailing, which includes a sales representative meeting face-to-face with targeted physicians and other healthcare decision makers to provide a technical review of the product being promoted; and offers a portfolio of expanded sales services consisting of talent acquisition services, short-term teams, and vacancy coverage services. The Marketing Services segment is involved in the creation, design, and implementation of interactive digital commu nications programs to the healthcare community through the Internet, multimedia, tablet PCs, mobile devices, and dimensional direct mail, as well as DIAGRAM, a proprietary software to deliver non-personal selling solutions via interactive communications exchanges that accommodate the schedules of healthcare providers. This segment also engages in the creation of teledetailing programs executed via tele-representatives. The Product Commercialization Services segment provides product commercialization solutions, including product detailing, full supply chain management, operations, sales, marketing, compliance, and regulatory/medical management to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics clients. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  PDI, Inc. (Nasdaq:PDII) reported the signing of a contract with a new customer to provide promotional services across PDI’s multiple communications channels that will target primary care physicians.