10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014

LONDON -- Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) may open down by 0.76% this morning, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) may open 0.91% lower. CNN's Fear & Greed Index has slipped back to 39, or "fear," after rising into "neutral" territory for a brief period yesterday.

European markets slid lower this morning, echoing the overnight moves of Asian stock markets, which closed lower after the Bank of Japan failed to announce any additional monetary-stimulus measures. The BoJ's official statement said that "Japan's economy has been picking up," but investors were disappointed, and Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down by 1.45% earlier today. At 7:45 a.m. EDT, the FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX were both down by 1.6%. In Germany today, a court case began to determine the legality of the European Central Bank's bond-buying program, which has yet to be used but whose existence is credited with helping to stabilize markets last year.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sonic Corp.(SONC)

Sonic Corp. operates and franchises a chain of quick-service drive-in restaurants in the United States. As of October 03, 2011, the company operated and franchised approximately 3,500 drive-ins. It also leases signs and real estate. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust(RPT)

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, development, acquisition, management, and leasing of community shopping centers, single tenant retail properties, and one regional mall in the Midwestern, Southeastern, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. As of December 31, 2007, the company owned interests in 89 shopping centers, which included 65 community centers, 21 power centers, 2 single tenant retail properties, and 1 enclosed regional mall. Ramco-Gershenson Properties has elected to be a taxable REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes, if it distributes approximately 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan with additional office in Boca Raton, Florida.

10 Best Quality Stocks To Own For 2014: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.(MRVL)

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. designs, develops, and markets analog, mixed-signal, digital signal processing, and embedded and standalone ARM-based microprocessor integrated circuits. It offers mobile and wireless products, including communications processors, applications processors, and standalone wireless products, as well as combination devices, which incorporate wireless, Bluetooth, and FM radio capability. The company also provides storage products comprising tape drive controllers, read channel, hard disk controllers, solid-state drive controllers, hybrid drive controllers, and storage-system products for hard disk drives, tape drive electronics, optical disk drives, solid-state flash drives, hybrid drives, and storage subsystems technology. In addition, it offers networking, such as switching products that enable voice, video, and data traffic to be carried through the network for the enterprise networking, carrier access, and small office/home office/residential n etworking markets; communications controller and embedded processor products; and enterprise transceiver and Ethernet connectivity products. Further, the company provides printing ASIC products; digital video processing products; and power management and green technology products, such as DSP switcher integrated regulators, analog switching regulators, and mixed-signal light-emitting diode drivers. It operates in the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nelson]

  Nomura Equity Research chip analyst Romit Shah today reiterates a Neutral rating on shares of chip maker Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), though he sounds fairly enthusiastic about the company’s prospects for next year based on the company’s newly unveiled cellular modem device for so-called LTE networks for fourth-generation (4G) wireless.

  Marvell yesterday said that its “PXA1801” is the first single semiconductor to support multiple flavors of LTE (frequency division duplexing and time division duplexing) as well as existing “HSPA+” 3G and 4G networking standards, and the “CDMA” standard used by non-GSM carriers, such as Verizon Communications (VZ), not to mention the “TD-SCDMA” standard that was developed by the China for use on its networks.

  Shah writes that, “Marvell is ahead of competition (ST-Ericsson and Broadcom (BRCM)) in bringing an integrated TD LTE modem to the market and seems to have narrowed the gap with Qualcomm (QCOM) in LTE leadership. In addition, we believe, this product launch would help Marvell in maintaining its leadership in the China’s growing TD-SCDMA opportunity.” The LTE baseband market is expected to rise from 8 million or so units this year to 50 million in 2013, notes Shah, citing Gartner data. That market may be worth $1 billion to $1.5 billion by 2014, he thinks.

  Marvell shares are down 12 cents, or 0.9%, today at $13.38.

• [By Dave Friedman]

  On 3/31/11 Maverick Capital reported holding 25,919,357 shares with a market value of $403,046,006. This comprised 4.28% of the total portfolio. On 6/30/11, Maverick Capital held 29,710,907 shares with a market value of $438,830,110. This comprised 4.29% of the total portfolio. The net change in shares for this position over the two quarters is 3,791,550. About the company: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. designs, develops, and markets integrated circuits for communications-related markets. The Company’s products provide the interface between analog signals and the digital information used in computing and communications systems. Marvell’s technology is applied to the broadband data communications market.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: (POSC)

Positron Corporation operates as a molecular imaging company providing nuclear medicine technologies and services that are used in the field of nuclear cardiology. The company, through its proprietary PET imaging systems and radiopharmaceutical solutions, enables healthcare providers to accurately diagnose disease, and improve patient outcomes while practicing cost effective medicine. Its proprietary product lines and services include the Attrius, a dedicated PET imaging system; PosiStar, a clinical, technical, and service customer care plan; and PosiRx, a system that automates the elution, preparation, and dispensing processes for radiopharmaceutical agents used in molecular imaging. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Fishers, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dennis Slothower]

  Positron Corp. (OTC: POSC)is up 2.50% to $0.0410 on volume of over 518K shares. POSC, a molecular imaging company specializing in the field of nuclear cardiology, announced that it will beexhibitingat the European Society of Cardiology International Conference. (OTC:POSC), (POSC)

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: SDL PLC(SDL.L)

SDL plc provides global information management software and services to multinational businesses. Its Web content management, ecommerce, structured content and language technologies, and language services are used for content creation, management, translation, and publishing. The company operates through three segments: Language Services, Language Technologies, and Content Management Technologies. The Language Services segment provides translation services to customer?s multilingual content in multiple languages. The Language Technologies segment engages in the sale of enterprise, desktop, and statistical machine translation technology developed to help automate and manage multilingual assets, as well as provides associated consultancy and other services. The Content Management Technologies segment involves in the sale of content management technologies developed to help automate and manage content to deliver an interactive and personalized customer experience in multiple languages across Websites, documentation, and channels. The company serves aerospace, automotive, chemicals, oil and gas, electronics and high technology, fast moving consumer goods, finance, industrial goods, IT consulting, life science, media and publishing, public sector, services, software, telecoms, travel and tourism, and translation industries. SDL plc has a strategic partnership with Sapient. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Maidenhead, the United Kingdom.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Tower Financial Corporation(TOFC)

Tower Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for Tower Bank & Trust that provides commercial and consumer banking services in the metropolitan areas of Fort Wayne, Allen County, and Warsaw, Indiana. It accepts various deposits, which include checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and direct deposit services. The company?s loan portfolio comprises secured and unsecured commercial loans; commercial real estate loans; fixed rate, long-term residential mortgage loans, and construction loans; and personal loans and lines of credit to consumers for various purposes, such as the purchase of automobiles, boats, and other recreational vehicles, as well as to make home improvements and personal investments. In addition, it offers investment management and trust services, including estate planning and money management; traditional revocable trusts; irrevocable trusts; charitable trusts; estate administration; guardianship admi nistration; IRA administration; personal and institutional investment management; custodial services; and investment brokerage services. Further, the company provides securities and insurance brokerage services. It operates with six Allen County locations and one Warsaw location. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: KB Home (KBH)

KB Home is a homebuilding company. The Company constructs and sells homes through its operating divisions under the name KB Home. The Company operates in nine states and 32 markets, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. The Company organizes its homebuilding operations into four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central and Southeast. In July 2012, it acquired land within the Elworthy Ranch property in the town of Danville. In September 2012, it acquired Mason Ranch, which is a 330-acre land asset in Cedar Park/Leander West, submarkets in metropolitan Austin. In December 2012, the Company acquired 65 lots in Fuquay-Varina, N.C.

Homebuilding

The Company�� homebuilding operations offers a variety of homes designed primarily for first-time, move-up and active adult homebuyers, including attached and detached single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums. It offers homes in development communities, at urban in-fill locations and as part of mixed-use projects. During the fiscal year ended, November 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Company, through its homebuilding segment, delivered 5,812 homes. During fiscal 2011, homebuilding operations accounted for 99.2% of the total revenues.

Financial Services

The financial services segment provides title and insurance services to its homebuyers. This segment also provided mortgage banking services to the Company�� homebuyers indirectly through KBA Mortgage, LLC (KBA Mortgage), a former unconsolidated joint venture of a subsidiary of ours and a subsidiary of Bank of America, N.A., from the venture�� formation until June 30, 2011, when it ceased offering mortgage banking services. Effective June 27, 2011, it entered into a marketing services agreement with MetLife Home Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, N.A. Under the agreement, MetLife Home Loans��personnel, located on site at several of its new home communities, can offer financing options and re! sidential consumer mortgage loan products to its homebuyers, and originate residential consumer mortgage loans for homebuyers who elect to use MetLife Home Loans. The Company�� homebuyers may also elect to use other providers of mortgage banking services. Its financial services operations accounted for 0.8% of the Company�� total revenues in fiscal 2011.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Fowlkes]

  The housing market got hit especially hard during the recession, but we are seeing steady signs of improvement, and as a result homebuilders have been strong in 2012. All of the major homebuilders have been strong this year, and we expect to see this continue into 2013. KB Home stock has posted a very impressive 154% gain thus far in 2012.

  With the Federal Reserve’s plan to keep interest rates near zero through at least 2013, we expect to see the housing market continue to strengthen, and the demographic most likely to try to take advantage of the low interest rates is first-time buyers and those looking for entry level homes. This works to KB Home’s advantage since it caters to entry-level buyers. Its homes are typically cheaper than its competitors, and this has worked out great for the company over the last year. The company announced a surprising profit of 4 cents per sahre for its third quarter, versus estimates for a loss of 16 cents. Analysts are forecasting a profit of 6 cents during its current quarter. Our belief is that the housing market will continue to rebound in 2013, and KB Home will benefit as a result.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Westcore Energy Ltd (WTR.V)

Westcore Energy Ltd., an exploration stage company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of coal properties in western Canada. The company holds a 75% interest in coal prospecting permits in the Hudson Bay North property located in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan; a 75% interest in a quarry exploration permit in the Black Diamond property located in Manitoba; and a 60% interest in the Panther Coal property located in western Manitoba, Canada. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Franklin Electric Co. Inc.(FELE)

Franklin Electric Co., Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and distribution of groundwater and fuel pumping systems. It operates in two segments, Water Systems and Fueling Systems. The Water Systems segment provides motors, pumps, electronic controls, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in groundwater, wastewater, and fuel transfer applications. Its motors and pumps are used principally for pumping fresh water and wastewater in various residential, agricultural, and industrial applications. This segment also offers electronic drives and controls for the motors, which control functionality and provide protection from various hazards, such as electric surges, over-heating, or dry wells and tanks. The Fueling Systems segment provides pumps, pipe, sumps, fittings, vapor recovery components, electronic controls, monitoring devices, and related parts and equipment primarily for use in submersible fueling system applications. It also integrates and sells motors and electronic controls produced by the Water Systems segment. The company sells its products and related equipment to specialty distributors, original equipment manufacturers, industrial and petroleum equipment distributors, and oil and utility companies through its sales force and independent manufacturing representatives primarily in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and China. Franklin Electric Co., Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Bluffton, Indiana.

10 Best Asian Stocks To Watch For 2014: Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc.(PNFP)

Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Pinnacle National Bank that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, small-to medium-sized businesses, and professional entities in Tennessee. It offers various deposit products, including savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company also offers commercial loans comprising equipment loans and working capital loans; commercial and residential real estate loans, and construction and development loans; and loans to individuals for personal, family, investment, and household purposes, including secured and unsecured installment and term loans, residential first mortgage loans, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit. In addition, it provides various investment products, such as mutual funds, variable annuities, money market instruments, the United States treasury securities, bonds, fixed annuities, stocks , financial planning, asset management accounts, and listed options; fiduciary and investment management services for individual and commercial clients, including personal trust, endowments, foundations, individual retirement accounts, pensions, and custody services; investment advisory services; and insurance products primarily in the property and casualty area. Further, the company offers telephone and Internet banking, debit cards, automated teller machines, remote and direct deposit, and cash management services. As of January 17, 2012, it operated 29 offices in 8 Middle Tennessee counties and 3 offices in Knoxville. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.