Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014

AP Photo/Burger King Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a Japanese gaming pioneer finally cutting prices on its poor selling devices to a burger chain introducing a burger for a buck, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Walmart (WMT) -- Winner The country's biggest retailer was singled out in this column last week for the way that it's bringing back its layaway plan for the holiday shopping season. And this week it earns another shout out. In a memo to its associates this week, Walmart revealed that its health insurance policies for 2014 will cover "any spouse or domestic partner" regardless of gender. Walmart knows that this is still a polarizing topic. However, by opening up health coverage to domestic partners -- gay or straight -- Walmart is likely to score points with many who have been critical of the company's practices in the past. Sure, we can lament that just half of Walmart's 1.3 million associates have elected health coverage through the company. No one's saying the giant discounter is perfect. However, this move will help improve its image with a lot of its detractors. Burger King (BKW) -- Loser Burger chains are bucking the trend these days, beefing up their dollar menus at a time when the economy is showing signs of life. There's a reason for that. Customers are moving up to higher quality "fast casual" establishments that offer better food at slightly higher price points with the convenience of counter service. Burger King's latest push was announced this week. It will add a French fry-topped hamburger -- for a buck -- to its menu in September. There's nothing inherently wrong with the new sandwich. Who hasn't placed fries inside their burger from time to time? However, this seems like a bad play for franchisees: They may see fry sales slip at the hands of penny-pinching diners believing that they can knock off a sandwich and a side for just a dollar. Nintendo (NTDOY) -- Winner What do you do when your video game console isn't selling and rivals are ready to hit the market with better systems in November? If you're Nintendo, you give the Wii U one final shot by lowering prices and bundling it with a popular release. The Japanese gaming pioneer is slashing the price of its Wii U deluxe console by $50 to $299. That will make it $100 cheaper than the PS4 and $200 cheaper than the Xbox One when they hit stores in less than three months. It will also create a special bundle with a new game from its iconic Zelda franchise. Nintendo isn't stopping there. It's also rolling out a cheaper alternative to its 3DS portable system. The new 2DS will feature a different layout and a price tag of just $129. Nintendo just may have saved its holiday shopping season. LDK Solar (LDK) -- Loser Solar energy has been a tough sector to invest in since the frenzied hype began to fade a couple of years ago. Drawing energy from the sun may seem great in theory, but the products that make it possible aren't cheap. LDK Solar and its peers rely on governments providing subsidies for new installations, but that hasn't been enough these days. LDK had a particularly bad week. It kicked things off by posting another quarterly deficit with revenue falling by roughly half. Then it announced that it would be missing a debt payment. The market doesn't like deadbeats. Zale (ZLC) -- Winner Upscale jeweler Zale saw its shares shoot higher after posting better than expected results. Revenue moved higher, fueled by a 5.6 percent increase in comparable store sales. Yes, it posted a quarterly loss, but even that was better than Wall Street was expecting. Zale's strong performance came during the same week that rival Tiffany (TIF) posted uninspiring quarterly results and was downgraded by Citigroup. Tiffany has historically been the one to get the last laugh on Zale, but not this time.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Natural Alternatives International Inc.(NAII)

Natural Alternatives International, Inc. provides private label contract manufacturing services to companies that market and distribute vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other nutritional supplements, as well as other health care products, to consumers in the United States and internationally. It offers strategic partnering services, including customized product formulation, clinical studies, manufacturing, marketing support, international regulatory and label law compliance, international product registration, packaging in multiple formats, and labeling design. The company also develops, manufactures, and markets its own branded products under the Pathway to Healing product line through print media and the Internet distribution channels. It manufactures products in various forms, including capsules, tablets, chewable wafers, and powders. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in San Marcos, California.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD)

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. supplies networking equipment comprising end-to-end Internet protocol based Ethernet and storage area networking solutions. Its Data Storage segment provides infrastructure products and solutions, including directors, switches, routers, fabric-based software applications, distance/extension products, management applications, and utilities to centralize data management; and host bus adapters, converged network adapters, mezzanine cards, and switch modules for bladed servers. The company?s Ethernet Products segment offers Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI) Layer 2-3 switches and routers, which enable the use of bandwidth-intensive network business applications and digital entertainment on local area networks and wide area networks; and OSI Layer 4?7 switches that allow enterprises and service providers to build network infrastructures to direct the flow of traffic, and file area network products and associated management s olutions. The company?s Global Services segment provides break/fix maintenance, extended warranty, installation, consulting, network management, and related software maintenance and support services; consulting and support services that assist customers in designing, implementing, deploying, and managing networking solutions; and post-contract customer support and extended warranties. It serves various businesses and organizations, which include global enterprises and service providers, such as telecommunication firms, cable operators, and mobile carriers. The company has a strategic partnership with LG-Ericsson. It offers its products and services to end-user customers directly, and through various distribution partners comprising original equipment manufacturers, distributors, systems integrators, and value-added resellers in the United States, western Europe, Japan, and the greater Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, Cali fornia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD) raised its stock buyback program to $1 billion from $308 million, as the company cited confidence in generating greater cash flow as well as its long-term business prospects. Shares rose 3.8% premarket to $8.49.

5 Best Energy Stocks To Buy Right Now: IRIS International Inc.(IRIS)

IRIS International, Inc. manufactures in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products for urinalysis and body fluids. The company?s IVD segment offers iQ analyzer, an automated urine microscopy and body fluids analyzer; iQ Body Fluids Module; Optional iWare Software; iChem VELOCITY and iRICELL, an automated urine chemistry analyzer; 3GEMS Urinalysis and Body Fluids; and 3GEMS Hematology, a blood count analyzer. This segment also provides consumables for microscopy systems, test strips, calibrators, controls, and urine chemistry analyzers. Its Sample Processing segment offers benchtop centrifuges, small instruments, and supplies used for applications in coagulation, cytology, hematology, urinalysis, and DNA processing. This segment provides Express centrifuge line for clinical diagnostic market; ThermoBrite, a DNA workstation for FISH procedures; Cytofuge 2, a centrifuge for layer cell preparation; Cytofuge 12, a 12 placement centrifuge used for thin layer cell preparation; IDEXX Drive and IDEXX whole blood separator for use in IDEXX chemistry analyzers; and OvaTube, an ova and parasite testing for veterinarian market. The company?s Personalized Medicine segment offers oncology and molecular diagnostics services. This segment?s products include Arista Molecular Tests for the diagnosis and prognostication of pathologic entities; Flow cytometry, a cell analysis platform; FISH for the detection of DNA on chromosomes; NADiA ProsVue used in prognostication of patients; NADiA HIV to monitor HIV viral load; and NADiA CECs for the detection of circulating epithelial cells. It serves medical institutions, commercial laboratories, clinics, doctors? offices, veterinary laboratories, and research facilities. IRIS International sells its products through a direct sales and service force in the United States, as well as through distributors internationally. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Chatsworth, California.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: China Ceramics Co. Ltd.(CCCL)

China Ceramics Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of ceramic tiles used for exterior siding, interior flooring, and design in residential and commercial buildings primarily in the People's Republic of China. It offers porcelain tiles, glazed tiles, glazed porcelain tiles, rustic tiles, and ultra-thin tiles under the Hengda, Hengdeli, TOERTO, and WULIQIAO brand names. The company primarily sells its products through a distributor network, as well as directly to property developers. China Ceramics Co., Ltd. is based in Jinjiang City, the People's Republic of China.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc.(RMCF)

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. operates as a franchiser, confectionery manufacturer, and retail operator. It offers a range of chocolate candies and confectionery products. The company?s products include clusters, caramels, creams, mints, and truffles. As of March 31, 2010 it operated 11 owned, 29 franchised/licensed owned, and 305 franchised Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores in 36 states in the United States, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Durango, Colorado.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Black Diamond Inc.(BDE)

Black Diamond, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes outdoor recreation equipment and active lifestyle products in the United States and internationally. It provides climbing products, including belay/rappel devices, bouldering products, carabiners and quickdraws, chalk, chalk bags, climbing packs, crampons, crash pads, dogbones and runners, harnesses, ice axes and piolets, ice and rock protection devices, and various other climbing accessories; and skiing products comprising backpacks, winter packs for skiing and snowboarding, bindings, boots, poles, skis, skins, snow gloves, snow packs, and snow safety devices. The company also offers mountaineering line products, such as backpacks for alpine expeditions, backcountry excursions, overnight trips, and day hikes; and bivy sacks, rain sacks, gaiters, gloves, headlamps, lights, tents, trekking poles, and other hiking and mountaineering accessories. In addition, it provides hydration pac ks for trail running and cycling; travel and lifestyle products, which include duffle bags, messenger bags, and small bags and pouches carry electronics and other accessories; and various apparel and accessory products. The company sells its products to mountain climbers, winter outdoor enthusiasts, backpackers and campers, cyclists, top endurance trail runners, and outdoor-inspired consumers under the Black Diamond and Gregory brands through sporting goods and outdoor recreation stores, retail stores, and consumer catalogs, as well as through blackdiamondequipment.com. Black Diamond, Inc. is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Luna Innovations Incorporated(LUNA)

Luna Innovations Incorporated engages in the research, development, and commercialization of technologies in the areas of sensing and instrumentation products, and health care products primarily in the United States. The company?s Product and Licensing segment offers test and measurement products to monitor the integrity of fiber optic network and sub-assemblies. This segment provides Optical Vector Analyzer platform, a device for single-measurement, all-parameter analysis of fiber optic components and assemblies up to 150 meters in length; Optical Backscatter Reflectometer, a sensitive diagnostic device, for data and telecommunications companies, and service providers who maintain their own fiber optic networks; and Phoenix laser, a MEMs-based external cavity laser, that offers low noise and precise tuning capability over the C-band. It also offers distributed sensing systems, which comprise multiple sensors whose input is integrated through a fiber optic network and soft ware to detect distributed strain, shape, and temperature; and tunable lasers. In addition, this segment provides health care products, including medical devices for minimally invasive diagnostics, surgery, and therapy; non-invasive monitoring and diagnosis medical devices consisting of emboli detection and classification QUANTIFIER, a non-invasive medical device, that uses quantitative ultrasound technology to count emboli in ex-vivo blood circuit; and nanomaterial-based medical products comprising Trimetasphere nanomaterials. The company?s Technology Development segment provides contract research services to universities, government entities, and corporations. Luna Innovations Incorporated offers its services to energy, telecommunications, life sciences, and defense industries .The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia.

Best Penny Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sparton Corporation(SPA)

Sparton Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, offers electronic manufacturing services primarily for medical device, defense and security systems, and electronic manufacturing services industries worldwide. The company?s Medical segment engages in the contract development, design, production, and distribution of medical related electromechanical devices for the medical OEM and ET customers primarily in the vitro diagnostic and therapeutic device areas. Its EMS segment involves in the contract manufacturing, assembly, design, preproduction, prototyping, and/or box building assemblies, such as flight control systems and fuel control systems for the aerospace, medical diagnostics systems, security systems, detection systems, lighting, and defense. The company?s DSS segment engages in the design, development, and production of electromechanical equipment, such as sonobuoys, an anti-submarine warfare device used by the United States Navy and foreign governments; and perf orms an engineering development function for the United States military and prime defense contractors on advanced technologies for defense products, and replacement of current systems. It also offers non-sonobuoy related manufacturing and services. Sparton Corporation was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois.