Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) is one of the leaders in the Chinese solar industry, but now it looks like it's following the downward path of Suntech Power and LDK Solar, who have both defaulted on loans. Trina updated first-quarter guidance yesterday and said it shipped between 390 MW and 400 MW versus a previous guidance of 420 MW and 430 MW, another sign that Chinese solar is slowly going out of favor. �

If Chinese manufacturers experience lower shipments it will translate to lower margins, which is their core financial problem right now. Trina Solar expects gross margin to be between 1% and 3%, which is about in line with expectations for low-single digits. But this level of gross margin isn't enough to make a profit or pay for billions of dollars in debt. The debt-fueled expansion of Chinese solar is being squeezed financially and more companies will have to fall if this continues.

Shipment and margin trends aren't usually isolated to one Chinese solar manufacturer so it's easy to assume that other companies will see disappointing numbers in the first quarter. The first two to watch are Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) and Canadian Solar� (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) , who round out the top three Chinese solar module suppliers with Trina. All three have high debt, low margins, and massive losses. �

10 Best Heal Care Stocks To Invest In 2015: Talisman Energy Inc.(TLM)

Talisman Energy Inc., an upstream oil and gas company, engages in the exploration, development, production, transportation, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It primarily operates in North America, the North Sea, and southeast Asia. The company was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  In Pennsylvania, for instance, several hundred wells have been drilled but not completed because the takeaway capacity to get their production to market simply isn't there. Several operators have been forced to drastically reduce their rig counts in the region. For instance, both EXCO Resources (NYSE: XCO  ) and Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM  ) have just one rig each remaining in the Marcellus.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014: Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE)

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), engages in the ownership, operation, management, development, acquisition, and redevelopment of properties for the life sciences industry. Its properties consist of buildings containing scientific research and development laboratories, and other improvements. The company offers its properties for lease primarily to universities and independent not-for-profit institutions; and pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, life science product, service, biodefense, and translational research entities, as well as governmental agencies. As of December 31, 2006, it had 159 properties, including 156 properties located in 9 states in the United States and 3 properties located in Canada. As a REIT, the company is not subject to federal income tax to the extent that it distributes 100% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Pasadena, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Owens Realty Mortgage's competitors include American Assets Trust (AAT), Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) and Boston Properties (BXP). American Assets Trust has seen five insider buy transactions and four insider sell transactions this year. American Assets Trust has a dividend yield of 2.78%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has seen 14 insider sell transactions this year. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a dividend yield of 4.10%. Boston Properties has seen one insider buy transaction and four insider sell transactions this year. Boston Properties has a dividend yield of 2.43%.

• [By Bill Stoller]

  After a banner 2013, the overall market has had a challenging start to 2014. However, these four companies have been crushing it: Alexander Real Estate (NYSE: ARE  ) , BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR  ) , CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH  ) , and Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI  ) early on in 2014 vs. the S&P 500. Their relative out-performance can also be seen when compared to the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ  ) a good yardstick to measure sector performance.

• [By Shauna O'Brien]

  Real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (ARE) announced on Tuesday that its board has approved a 4.6% increase to its quarterly dividend.

  The firm has raised its dividend from 65 cents to 68 cents per share, or $2.72 annually. The dividend will be paid on October 15 to shareholders of record on September 30. The stock will go ex-dividend on September 26.

  Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Tuesday. The stock is down 9% YTD.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014: Silver Wheaton Corp(SLW)

Silver Wheaton Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a silver streaming company worldwide. The company has 14 long-term silver purchase agreements and 2 long-term precious metal purchase agreements whereby it acquires silver and gold production from the counterparties located in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Greece, Sweden, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Portugal. Silver Wheaton Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Gold investors weren't the only ones having a rough year. Other commodities such as silver and copper have been sinking this year as well, sending top stocks such as Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) and Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX  ) down by double digits. Again, looking at the chart, you can see a pretty big correlation between falling commodity prices and the subsequent fall in the price of each stock.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  In the following video, Fool contributor Dan Caplinger explains the basics of the silver streaming business model that Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) uses to contract with partner mining companies.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014: Apollo Gold Corporation(BRD)

Brigus Gold Corp. engages in the extraction, processing, refining, and production of gold and other by-product metals primarily in North America. The company principally produces gold and silver. It primarily owns the Black Fox Complex and Black Fox Mill properties located in the Timmins Mining District in the Province of Ontario, Canada; the Goldfields project located in the Lake Athabasca region of Saskatchewan, Canada; and the Ixhuatan property located in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Brigus Gold Corp., through its joint venture, holds interests in the Ampliacion Pueblo Viejo and Loma El Mate gold exploration projects located in the Dominican Republic. The company was formerly known as Apollo Gold Corporation and changed its name to Brigus Gold Corp. in June 2010. Brigus Gold Corp. was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zacks Investment Research]

  It is hard to find a good play in the Zacks Industry of mining non-ferrous metals, as the industry currently has a rank of 247 out of 261. In fact, in our five mining industries, there are only two No. 1-Ranked stocks: Brigus Gold (BRD) and Impala (IMPUY.PK). Both of these are in struggling industries, but they have proven to be best-in-class thanks to improving earnings estimates. Plus, both have seen their ranks surge from holds (or worse) up to strong buy territory, suggesting either of these names might be better picks than the struggling SCCO at this time.

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014: PerkinElmer Inc.(PKI)

PerkinElmer, Inc. provides technology, services, and solutions to the diagnostics, research, environmental, industrial, and laboratory services markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Human Health and Environmental Health. The Human Health segment develops diagnostics, tools, and applications to help detect diseases earlier, as well as accelerate the discovery and development of critical new therapies. This segment provides early detection for genetic disorders from pre-conception to early childhood, as well as digital x-ray flat panel detectors and infectious disease testing for the diagnostics market. It also provides a suite of solutions, including instrumentation for automation and detection solutions, in vitro and in vivo imaging and analysis hardware and software, and a portfolio of consumable products, such as drug discovery and research reagents that enable researchers to enhance the drug discovery process. The Environmental Health segment offers t echnologies and applications to facilitate the creation of safer food and consumer products, secure surroundings, and efficient energy resources. This segment provides analytical technologies that address the quality of environment, sustainable energy development, and ensure safer food and consumer products; analytical instrumentation for the industrial market, which includes the semiconductor, chemical, petrochemical, lubricant, construction, office equipment, and quality assurance industries; and laboratory services. The company markets its products and services directly through its own sales forces and distributors for customers, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, laboratories, academic and research institutions, public health authorities, private healthcare organizations, doctors, and government agencies. PerkinElmer, Inc. was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Lauchheimer]

  Let us contrast this with TROV's progress. TROV has secured two critical partnerships -- with Illumina (ILMN), and PerkinElmer (PKI). Company filings on the ILMN deal don't provide much detail, but the filings with the PKI deal detail how PKI wants to use TROV's science to develop a new t assay to detect the presence of hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC). While these two partnerships do not guarantee approval in any way, they do provide a solid validation for TROV's technology.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The market erased early-morning losses after strong service-sector data confirmed that the US economy has managed to keep-on keeping-on, no matter what has happened overseas. PerkinElmer (PKI), Boeing (BA), and Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR) have gained, while Plug Power (PLUG) and Tyson Foods (TSN) have dropped.

• [By Rich Smith]

  The Department of Defense awarded a dozen separate contracts Thursday, worth more than $225 million in aggregate. Notable winners (among publicly traded companies) included:

Hot Canadian Stocks To Own For 2014: Research in Motion Limited(RIMM)

Research In Motion Limited (RIM) designs, manufactures, and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. The company, through the development of integrated hardware, software, and services, provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information, including email, phone, short messaging service, and Internet and Intranet-based applications and browsing. Its products and services principally comprise the BlackBerry wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, software development tools, and other software and hardware. The company?s BlackBerry smartphones use wireless, push-based technology that delivers data to mobile users? business and consumer applications. Its BlackBerry smartphone portfolio includes BlackBerry Bold series, the BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Curve series, the BlackBerry Style, BlackBerry Storm series, the BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Pearl series, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. T he company?s BlackBerry enterprise solutions comprise BlackBerry enterprise server, BlackBerry enterprise server express, BlackBerry mobile voice system, and hosted BlackBerry services. Its technology also enables third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services through software development kits, wireless connectivity to data, and third-party support programs. In addition, the company offers BlackBerry technical support services, non-warranty repairs, and nonrecurring engineering services. Further, it provides BlackBerry App World that offers BlackBerry smartphone users an electronic catalogue that aids in the discovery and download/purchase of applications directly from their BlackBerry smartphone. The company markets and sells its BlackBerry wireless solutions primarily through global wireless communications carriers, and third party distribution channels. Research In Motion Limited was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Waterloo, Canad a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Trustamind]

  It pays to distinguish between stocks and productive assets. Some companies, such as Research In Motion (RIMM), generate diminishing returns. They belong to productive assets but certainly not good ones. As a result, their stock prices --- the value of the asset --- kept falling.

• [By GuruFocus] rch-In-Motion is a high-profile case as renowned investor Prem Watsa bought into the company and sits on the company�� board. The stock was traded at above $140 in 2008. It has since lost more than 95%, traded at single digits and still sinking.

  Again let�� take a look at its gross margin:

  While BlackBerry was a must-have in the corporate world, the profit margin of Research-In-Motion has started to decline. This was well before Apple (AAPL) released its first iPhone. Again as pointed by Adib, value investors did not buy into RIMM while it was traded at $140 because the P/E ratio then was 45. Value investors bought into RIMM while it was traded at $30-40 because the P/E ratio was at 10. This was in 2009 and the decline in profit margin had been happening for three years.

  Why You Should Avoid Margin Decliners?

  The reason is simple. The company is losing its price power or it never had price power. Competition is eating into its market.

  Will the profit margin of these companies ever recover sustainably? That is a ��oo-hard��question. We should avoid situations where we have to answer this question.

  Will these companies ever become good investments? They may. But not until they become net-nets.

  The Power of Margin Expansion

  On the other hand, if a company can expand its profit margin, it has a competitive advantage. A good example here is Apple (AAPL), which is the king of all margin-expanding companies:

  We all know what has happened to the stock of Apple.

  What�� Next?

  GuruFocus will release a feature called ��arning Signs��which will warn you about the problems a company may have, including margin declines.

  In the meantime, our new ��ll-In-One Screener��allows you to screen for the companies that can expand profit margins or those with declining margins. Those with expanding profit margins (think Apple) at reasonable prices will mostly likely be rewarding. Those