Top 5 Stocks To Watch For 2014

It doesn't always look like it, but General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) is making progress in its long haul back from bankruptcy.

GM said on Tuesday that its U.S. sales were up 6% in June, with all four of its brands posting retail sales gains. That beat analysts' estimates, which called for an average 2.1% gain, according to Bloomberg.

The all-new 2014 Chevy Silverado has just started to arrive at dealers, and it's selling at a fast pace. Photo credit: General Motors.

Six percent may not sound like a big gain, and it's likely to have trailed the U.S. market's overall growth for the month. (We'll know for sure in a day or so.) But the numbers behind the headline tell a story that suggests that GM is finally on the right track in its home market.

Strong retail sales should drive profit gains
GM pointed out that its retail sales actually grew 14% in June, likely outpacing the overall market. Executives noted that GM's fleet sales were down because of the timing of deliveries of certain large orders -- they happened to have hit earlier this year than in past years.

Best Quality Companies To Watch For 2015: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) was also up, gaining 7.16 percent to $24.11 after a Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced a new product that would not threaten the company as previously thought. Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) were down 16.05 percent to $9.91 after the company lowered its Q3 forecast.

Top 5 Stocks To Watch For 2014: VolitionRX Ltd (VNRX)

VolitionRX Limited, formerly Standard Capital Corporation, incorporated on September 24, 1998, through its wholly owned subsidiary Singapore Volition Pte Limited (Volition), is a life sciences company focused on developing blood-based diagnostic tests. As of October 12, 2011, Volition was developing a range of blood-based epigenetic cancer screening tests, which will be released for research then clinical use in Europe, North America and globally. The tests will enable doctors to screen for the general presence of cancer in the body with a single blood test, and investigate, which cancer is present in many of those cancer positive patients using a panel of tests. On October 6, 2011, the Company announced the closure of the share exchange agreement with the Company. On October 6, 2011, Volition became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

Volition�� HyperGenomics technology will determine specific epigenetic signatures from cancer biopsies. The HyperGenomics range of tests will be used as a second line once cancer has been diagnosed, to determine the specific subtype of disease and to help decide the most appropriate therapy. Volition is developing a non-invasive blood test for endometriosis, based on its Nucleosomics technology.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  At the end of last week, small cap stocks Senesco Technologies, Inc (OTCBB: SNTI), VolitionRX Ltd (OTCMKTS: VNRX) and Micromem Technologies Inc (OTCBB: MMTIF) were all trending upwards ��ending up 13.65%, 8.73% and 7.61%, respectively, on Friday. However, it�� a new trading week with the last two trading days for the year. So what direction will these three small caps head in for the end of this year and into next year? Here is a quick look to help you decide on a trading or investment strategy:

Top 5 Stocks To Watch For 2014: Expedia Inc.(EXPE)

Expedia, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. It provides travel products and services to leisure and corporate travelers, offline retail travel agents, and travel service providers through a portfolio of brands, including Expedia.com, hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Expedia Affiliate Network, Classic Vacations, Expedia Local Expert, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Egencia, eLong, Inc., and Venere Net SpA. The company?s travel offerings consist of airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, destination services, cruises, and package travel provided by various commercial airlines, lodging properties, car rental companies, destination service providers, cruise lines, and other travel product and service companies on a stand-alone and package basis. It also facilitates the booking of hotel rooms, airline seats, car rentals, and destination services from its travel suppliers; and acts as an agent in the transa ction, passing reservations booked by its travelers to the relevant travel provider. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) shares jumped 17.67% to $58.79 in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat quarterly profit. Bank of America upgraded the stock Neutral to Buy and lifted the target price from $60 to $75.

Top 5 Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sanderson Farms Inc.(SAFM)

Sanderson Farms, Inc., an integrated poultry processing company, engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen, processed, and prepared chicken products. The company?s prepared chicken product line includes institutional and consumer packaged partially cooked or marinated chicken items. It sells ice pack, chill pack, bulk pack, and frozen chicken in whole, cut-up, and boneless form under the Sanderson Farms brand name. The company sells its products to retailers, distributors, and casual dining operators in the southeastern, southwestern, northeastern, and western United States, as well as to the United States based customers who resell frozen chicken into export markets. Sanderson Farms, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  As we kick off a long weekend to recognize the achievements of American workers, celebrating our nation�� 110th Labor Day, most of us will be spending the weekend over barbeques and lawn games. But while hamburgers, hot dogs and even steaks have traditionally been menu mainstays, this year we��l probably be eating a lot more chicken.
  
  Severe drought conditions across much of the U.S. in 2012 caused feed prices to skyrocket, forcing many ranchers to sell off my cattle they otherwise would have that year. As a result beef herds are thinner than they have been in years, and the ongoing drought means the herds that are left aren�� growing fast enough to keep up with demand, causing beef prices to soar.
  
  Pork isn�� much cheaper this year, either. A new pig illness, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, began sweeping across farms last December, killing more than 7 million piglets in the past year. That�� caused pork prices to surge as well, and now pig farmers are getting paid more per pound of pork, just like the cattle ranchers.
  
  Data from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that pork and beef prices are up more than 11 percent over the past year. Prices are up 47 percent since 2009 as beef now fetches and average $5.56 per pound in grocery stores, a new record high. Chicken prices have remained relatively stable though, with USDA data showing that chicken is fetching only about $1.50 per pound.
  
  Thanks to high beef and pork prices and the fact that Americans are trying to eat healthier, more chicken was eating in the US last year than any other meat. That�� the first time in more than a century that we ate more chicken than beef. That�� been a boon for Sanderson Farms (NSDQ: SAFM), the third-largest poultry producer in the US.
  
  Fully integrated, producing, processing, marketing and distributing fresh and frozen chicken products, revenue at the company has grown an average 11.7 percent annually over the past three years.