Best Low Price Stocks To Own For 2014

Family Dollar investors will likely get a pretty penny from competing merger offers. Photo: Mike Mozart via Flickr

The dollar store operator at the center of a takeover bidding battle between two rival chains on Thursday reported fiscal 2015 first quarter earnings that were nearly cut in half as new pricing policies took effect. As Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO  ) continues struggling to turn around its operations, the subpar performance raises a legitimate question: Just what do Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR  ) and Dollar General (NYSE: DG  ) continue see in the chain that makes them think it's so valuable?

Price is what you pay
Family Dollar said transitioning away from a promotional pricing strategy to one featuring everyday low prices caused GAAP net income to plunge 47% to $41 million from the year-ago period. Adjusted for the costs associated with the pending merger offers, they were down only 35%.

Hot Quality Stocks To Invest In 2015: Zhone Technologies Inc.(ZHNE)

Zhone Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and manufactures communications network equipment for telecommunications, wireless, and cable operators worldwide. It offers single line multi-service (SLMS) architecture, which provides support for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and IP entertainment by integrating access, transport, customer premises equipment, and management functions in a standards-based system. Its SLMS products include broadband aggregation and service products that are deployed in central offices, remote offices, points of presence, curbsides, data and co-location centers, and enterprises to aggregate, concentrate, and optimize communications traffic from copper and fiber networks; customer premise equipment, which offers solution for combining analog voice and data services to the subscriber?s premises over a single platform; and Zhone Management System that provides optional software tools to manage aggregation and c ustomer premises network hardware. These products deliver voice, data, and video interface connectivity for broadcast and subscription television, Internet routers, and telephony equipment. The company also offers products that are deployed by service providers to support various voice and data services; and provides technical support, product repair, and education and support services. It sells its products to network service providers that offer voice, data, and video services to businesses, governments, utilities, and residential consumers; and telecommunications carriers through channel partners, which include distributors, resellers, system integrators, and service providers. Zhone Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Oakland, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Zhone Technologies (ZHNE), designs, develops, manufactures, and sells communications network equipment for telecommunications, wireless, and cable operators worldwide. This stock closed up 2.3% to $3.55 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $3.46-$3.58
  52-Week Range: $2.08-$6.62
  Tuesday's Volume: 198,000
  Three-Month Average Volume: 357,117

  From a technical perspective, ZHNE trended notably higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $3.24 with lighter-than-average volume. This stock has been uptrending a bit over the last few weeks, with shares moving higher from its low of $3.03 to its intraday high of $3.58. During that move, shares of ZHNE have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move is now starting to push shares of ZHNE within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if ZHNE manages to take out Tuesday's intraday high of $3.58 and then once it clears more resistance at $3.83 to its 200-day moving average of $3.92 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ZHNE as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $3.24 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 357,117 shares. If that breakout kicks off soon, then ZHNE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.24 to $4.45, or even $4.80 to $5.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Zhone Technologies (NASDAQ: ZHNE) dropped 20.94% to $4.91 on Q4 results.

  Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC) dropped 14.43% to $37.74 after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results and lowered its outlook. The company also announced its restructuring program.

Best Low Price Stocks To Own For 2014: Interactive Leisure Systems Inc (IALS)

InterActive Leisure Systems Inc, formerly Dukeshire Ventures Inc., incorporated on August 2, 1999, is engaged in the development of Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), format known as Versatile Multilayer Disc (VMD). The Company consists of three operating divisions: Optics, Electronics and Media Division. Optics division is responsible for the development of the VMD disc in its entirety, from mastering, replication, printing to packaging besides the VMD replication lines in collaboration with a consortium partners. Electronics division handles development of high definition optical disc players. Media division is responsible for the development of the high definition format for the optical discs themselves together with authoring tools for the media industry to enable them to display their film content on VMD discs. On May 30, 2007, the Company acquired technology and file format to use with VMD players from Semilla Capital Ltd Hong Kong.

The Company is focussed on producing VMD disc in a number of formats including read only, write once, re-writable (RW) and read only/re-writable combined. The VMD drive is very similar to the standard DVD RW drive with modifications to the firmware to instruct the laser to read multiple layers. The modifications in the software re-calibrate the red laser, enabling it to read data on all data layers. The Company has developed its own VMD authoring software.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  What�� the Catch With Bison Petroleum Corp? According to various disclosures, a transaction of $6,500 has or will occur to mention Bison Petroleum Corp in various investment newsletters. Last Wednesday, Bison Petroleum Corp provided a corporate update which also included further details about its Independence Prospect plus the appointment of two seasoned advisors. Back in August, Bison Petroleum Corp had acquired a 100% Working Interest (WI) and 80% Net Revenue Interest (NRI) in the 840-acre Independence Prospect located in the ��rolific�� Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and the company is currently developing an exploration plan for these leases plus they have appointed a Vice-President of Explorations and a Senior Geological Advisor. Back in September, Bison Petroleum Corp also announced the appointment of a new CEO and the launch of its corporate website. A quick look at Bison Petroleum Corp�� financials reveals no revenues; net losses of $340k (most recent reported quarter), $16k, $56k and $30k for the past four quarters; and $30k in cash to cover $36k in current liabilities at the end of last July.

  Interactive Leisure Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: IALS) Announces Acquisitions

  Small cap Interactive Leisure Systems is a technology company specializing in the global travel industry that intends to purchase an enterprise software platform for the marketing, sale and management of travel products. On Friday, Interactive Leisure Systems sank 16% to $0.021 for a market cap of $1.44 million plus IALS is up 10,400% over the past year and up 425% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Best Low Price Stocks To Own For 2014: Vanguard Health Care Etf (VHT)

Vanguard Health Care ETF (the Fund), formerly known as Vanguard Health Care VIPERs, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Health Care Index Fund, which employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) US Investable Market Health Care Index (the Index). The Index is an index of stocks of large, medium and small United States companies in the healthcare sector, as classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). This GICS sector is made up of two main industry groups. The first group includes companies that manufacture healthcare equipment and supplies or provide healthcare-related services (such as distributors of healthcare products, providers of basic healthcare services, and owners and operators of healthcare facilities and organizations). The second group includes companies primarily involved in the research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products.

The Fund attempts to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the Index. It also may sample its target Index by holding stocks that, in the aggregate, are intended to approximate the Index in terms of key characteristics, such as price/earnings ratio, earnings growth and dividend yield.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Thursday, small cap infertility stock OvaScience Inc (NASDAQ: OVAS) surged 23.63% plus shares are up 372.9% since the start of the year���meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of female or reproductive health stocks the Female Health Co (NASDAQ: FHCO) and�Utah Medical Products, Inc (NASDAQ: UTMD)�along with the Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEARCA: VHT).

Best Low Price Stocks To Own For 2014: State Bank Financial Corporation.(STBZ)

State Bank Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for State Bank and Trust Company that provides community banking services to individuals and businesses in the middle Georgia and metropolitan Atlanta areas. It offers deposit products, such as checking accounts, commercial accounts, savings accounts, commercial and consumer demand products, and other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and longer-term certificates of deposit, as well as retirement account services. The company also provides loans to small and medium-sized businesses, residential and commercial construction and development loans, commercial real estate loans, farmland and agricultural production loans, residential mortgage loans, home equity loans, and consumer loans. In addition, it offers online banking and bill payment, online cash management, safe deposit box rental, and debit card and ATM card services. State Bank Financial Corporation operates through 22 branch offices. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vera Yuan]

  We initiated a new position in Aircastle Ltd. (AYR), an aircraft leasing company with a flexible business model and a rational capital allocation philosophy. We took advantage of an opportunity to purchase shares in the heavily capitalized Georgia bank State Bank Financial Corp. (STBZ) as the depressed stock price reflected investors��lack of patience with a slower than expected pace of capital deployment. We like State Bank�� management team led by Georgia banker Joe Evans. This management team has experience successfully building and selling other Georgia banks. We also received shares of transportation infrastructure company XPO Logistics, Inc. (XPO) as a result of its acquisition of holding Pacer International, Inc.