Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014

The stock market can be a wonderful thing, helping you grow your wealth and enjoy a comfortable retirement. But it can also fry your precious nest egg if you're not careful. My colleague Morgan Housel has noted that the financial industry "is dominated by cranks, charlatans, and salesmen" -- but very often, we're the ones who most endanger our portfolios and our financial futures with our reckless investment ideas. Permit me to review just a few.

"Wow, this cheap stock is only $0.13 per share! I can buy 10,000 shares for just $1,300!"
Penny stocks -- those trading for less than about $5 per share -- are usually very bad investment ideas, as they can be easily manipulated and are often tied to shaky, unproven companies. Sure, they entice us with their seemingly cheap prices, and the thought of owning 10,000 shares of something is somehow more exciting than owning far fewer shares. But a low price isn't necessarily a cheap price. A $200 stock can be undervalued and more likely to rise than fall while a $0.13 stock can be worth much less than that and be more likely to fall than rise.

Top 5 Construction Companies To Watch For 2015: Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.(TR)

Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company sells its products under the TOOTSIE ROLL, TOOTSIE ROLL POPS, CHILD?S PLAY, CARAMEL APPLE POPS, CHARMS, BLOW-POP, BLUE RAZZ, ZIP-A-DEE POPS, CELLA?S, MASON DOTS, MASON CROWS, JUNIOR MINT, CHARLESTON CHEW, SUGAR DADDY, SUGAR BABIES, ANDES, FLUFFY STUFF, DUBBLE BUBBLE, RAZZLES, CRY BABY, and NIK-L-NIP. It distributes its products through candy and grocery brokers to the wholesale distributors of candy and groceries, supermarkets, variety stores, dollar stores, chain grocers, drug chains, discount chains, cooperative grocery associations, warehouse and membership club stores, vending machine operators, and the U. S. military and fund-raising charitable organizations. The company was founded in 1896 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  At the same time, tiny Tootsie Roll (NYSE: TR  ) may see its sales grow as little as 13% through 2016. Could it be that in the candy industry, bigger is better? Does Hershey lack the scale to compete effectively against mammoth Mondelez?

• [By Sean Williams]

  Leave the wrapper on
  The returns on confectioner Tootsie Roll Industries (NYSE: TR  ) have certainly been sweet for investors over the past year. You have to go back to the summer of 2010 to find sugar prices that were as low as they are now,�which has played a good part in helping Tootsie Roll keep that aspect of its costs down. But taking a bigger view of what's going on with Tootsie Roll and comparing that to its current valuation creates a sour taste in my mouth.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc.(PGNX)

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutic products to treat the unmet medical needs of patients with debilitating conditions and life-threatening diseases in the United States and internationally. Its primary programs focus on gastroenterology, oncology, and virology. The company offers RELISTOR (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection, a therapy for opioid-induced constipation. It is also conducting a Phase I clinical trial of a human monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate directed against prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein found at high levels on the surface of prostate cancer cells, as well as in blood vessels supplying other solid tumors. In addition, the company is developing PRO 140, a viral-entry inhibitor for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is in Phase II clinical testing; and multiplex PI3-Kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Progenics Pha rmaceuticals, Inc. has license agreement with Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. for the development and commercialization of RELISTOR worldwide other than Japan. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Tarrytown, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  A U.S. Food and Drug Administration office has approved Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.'s(SLXP) appeal to gain approval for expanded usage of a constipation drug it licensed from Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc.(PGNX), the companies said. Shares of Progenics climbed 12% to $4.75 premarket.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: Tutor Perini Corporation(TPC)

Tutor Perini Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides diversified general contracting, construction management, and design-build services to private clients and public agencies worldwide. It operates in three segments: Civil, Building, and Management Services. The Civil segment involves in public works construction, and the repair, replacement, and reconstruction of infrastructure. This segment?s civil contracting services include construction and rehabilitation of highways, bridges, mass transit systems, and wastewater treatment facilities. The Building segment provides services to various specialized building markets for private and public works clients, such as the hospitality and gaming, transportation, healthcare, municipal offices, sports and entertainment, education, correctional facilities, biotech, pharmaceutical, industrial and high-tech markets, electrical and mechanical, plumbing, and HVAC services. The Management Services Segment offers diversifie d construction and design-build services to the United States military and government agencies, surety companies, and multi-national corporations in the United States and internationally. This segment also provides rapid response and contract completion services; and management or general contracting services to fulfill the contractual and financial obligations of the surety on notification from the surety of a contractor bond default. The company was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Sylmar, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Wednesday, civil engineering firm Tutor Perini Corp. (NYSE: TPC  ) said the California High-Speed Rail Authority has identified its $985 million bid to design the initial Madera-to-Fresno segment�of California's high-speed railway as the "apparent best value" of all bids received.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: MEG Energy Corp (MEGEF.PK)

MEG Energy Corp. is a Canada-based oil sands company focused on in situ development and production in the southern Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta. The Company has identified two steam assisted gravity drainage projects, the Christina Lake project and the Surmont project. The Company owns a 100% interest in over 900 sections of oil sands leases in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta and is primarily engaged in a steam assisted gravity drainage oil sands development at its 80 section Christina Lake Regional Project (Christina Lake Project). The development includes co-ownership of Access Pipeline, a dual pipeline to transport diluent north from the Edmonton area to the Athabasca oil sands area and a blend of bitumen and diluent south from the Christina Lake Project into the Edmonton area. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

  Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

  An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: SPDR S&P Midcap 400 ETF (MDY)

MidCap SPDRS, Standard & Poor's Depository Receipts, represent ownership interests in the MidCap SPDR Trust, Series 1 (the Trust), which is a unit investment trust that seeks to match the total return of the Standard & Poor's Midcap 400 Composite Price Index (the S&P MidCap Index). To accomplish this, the Trust utilizes a full replication approach.

The Trust's holdings comprise 400 stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 Index, which is designed to capture the price performance of the middle capitalization segment of the United States publicly traded stock market. All 400 securities of the S&P MidCap 400 Index are owned by the Trust in their approximate market capitalization weight.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Similarly, diversification within stocks didn't work well. The performance of iShares Russell 2000 (NYSEMKT: IWM  ) and SPDR S&P MidCap 400 (NYSEMKT: MDY  ) showed that there wasn't shelter available in small- and mid-cap stocks. International stocks often help protect against losses, but massive capital flight from emerging markets socked popular ETFs Vanguard Emerging Market (NYSEMKT: VWO  ) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSEMKT: EEM  ) for single-day percentage losses that were nearly double the Dow's decline. Even developed markets suffered more than the U.S., as iShares MSCI EAFE (NYSEMKT: EFA  ) posted losses 50% greater than the U.S. market's.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Where the best gains are
  In fact, when you compare returns across stocks of various sizes, you'll get some surprising results:

  The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPY  ) weighs in with 20% gains with its exposure to 500 of the largest companies in the U.S. market. When you step down to mid-cap stocks, though, you'll get even better returns, with the SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEMKT: MDY  ) posting returns of 21% so far in 2013, based on the performance of 400 mid-sized companies domestically. The smallest companies in the market have done better still, as the SPDR S&P SmallCap 600 ETF (NYSEMKT: SLY  ) has given investors impressive 24% returns since Jan. 1.

  Why are smaller companies outperforming the largest stocks in the market? Historically, smaller stocks have posted better long-term returns than their larger counterparts, with theoreticians pointing to the greater risk involved in small-cap stocks as justifying the higher risk premium that investors should demand in order to hold them over the long run.

• [By BENZINGA]

  So, for those who pay attention to such things, imagine the excitement coming into Monday's session as the DJIA was flirting with 16,000, the S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) was closing in on 1,800, the NASDAQ (NYSE: QQQ) was flirting with 4,000 (something it hasn't done in at least a decade) and while, considerably less important, the S&P Midcap (NYSE: MDY) was just above 1,300. In short, if a big, round number is important, then four of them must be monumental, right?

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: Ion Geophysical Corporation (IO)

ION Geophysical Corporation provides planning and seismic processing services, software, and acquisition equipment to the energy industry worldwide. Its Solutions segment provides seismic data processing services for marine and land environments, reservoir solutions, onboard processing and quality control, and seismic data libraries, as well as services to manage the seismic process that comprise survey planning and design, data acquisition and management, pre-processing, and final subsurface imaging. The company�s Systems segment offers DigiSTREAMER system, a towed streamer; redeployable ocean bottom cable seismic data acquisition systems; shipboard recorders; DigiCOURSE, a marine streamer positioning system; DigiFIN streamer control systems; source and source control systems, such as air guns; and analog geophone sensors. Its Software segment provides software systems and services comprising Orca, a command and control software for towed streamer acquisition; Gator, an integrated navigation and data management software system for multi-vessel ocean bottom cable and transition zone operations; and post-survey tools, including Reflex software for seismic coverage and attribute analysis, as well as Optimiser, a technology planning tool. This segment also offers consulting services for planning, designing, and supervising surveys, including 4D and WATS survey operations. ION Geophysical Corporation also offers cable-based, cable less, and radio-controlled seismic data acquisition systems; digital sensors; vibroseis vehicles, such as vibrator trucks; and source controllers for detonator and energy sources. The company was formerly known as Input/Output, Inc. ION Geophysical Corporation was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  ION Geophysical (IO) is a technology-focused seismic solutions company that provides advanced seismic data acquisition equipment, seismic software and seismic planning, processing and interpretation services to the global energy industry. This stock closed up 1.7% to $5.35 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $5.22-$5.38
  
  52-Week Range: $4.59-$7.70
  
  Thursday's Volume: 1.14 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 1.12 million

  From a technical perspective, IO rose modestly higher here right of some near-term support at $5.20 with above-average volume. This stock recently gapped up sharply from around $4.80 to $5.52 with strong upside volume. Following that move, shares of IO pulled back to $5.20 and the stock has now started to trend into its 50-day moving average of $5.36. That move is quickly pushing shares of IO within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if IO manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at Tuesday's high of $5.38 to more resistance at $5.52 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IO as long as it's trending above $5.20 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.12 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then IO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6 to its 200-day moving average at $6.20. Any high-volume move above $6.20 will then put $6.50 to $6.70 into range for shares of IO.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  ION Geophysical (IO) is a technology-focused seismic solutions company that provides advanced seismic data acquisition equipment, seismic software and seismic planning, processing and interpretation services to the global energy industry. This stock closed up 3.7% to $6.38 in Thursday's trading session.

  Thursday's Range: $6.25-$6.43
  
  52-Week Range: $5.52-$7.87
  
  Thursday's Volume: 1.38 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 945,989

  From a technical perspective, IO gapped higher here back above its 50-day moving average at $6.14 with above-average volume. This stock has been trending sideways for the last four months, with shares moving between $6.90 on the upside and $5.55 on the downside. This move today is now starting to push shares of IO within range of triggering a breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern. That trade will hit if IO manages to take out some key overhead resistance levels at $6.45 to $6.70 and then once it clears more resistance at $6.90 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in IO as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $6.14 or above more support at $5.95 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 945,989 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then IO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $7.25 to $7.70. Any high-volume move above those levels will then put its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to $8.79 into range for shares of IO.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Industrials sector surged 0.85 percent, saw Arrowhead Research (NASDAQ: ARWR) as the top gainer. Meanwhile, other gainers in the sector included ION Geophysical (NYSE: IO), with shares up 6.1 percent, and China Distance Education Holdings (NYSE: DL), with shares up 5 percent. In trading on Wednesday, technology shares gained by just 0.28 percent.

Top 10 Low Price Stocks To Watch For 2014: Essex Property Trust Inc. (ESS)

Essex Property Trust, Inc. operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of apartment communities, as well as commercial properties. As of March 31, 2012, the company owned or had interests in 158 apartment communities; and 5 commercial buildings, as well as 5 development projects. Its communities are located in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties in southern California; and the San Francisco Bay area in northern California, as well as in the Seattle metropolitan area. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. Essex Property Trust, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Bloomberg reported�Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) has made an offer to acquire BRE Properties for about $5 billion.

  BRE Properties Chief Executive Office Constance B. Moore had publicly hinted earlier this year that the company would consider ��ny legitimate proposal��after an investment firm Land & Buildings had made a $4.6 billion offer valued at $60 a share.

• [By Sean Williams]

  To get a better idea of how RealPage is doing, it's always best to look at occupancy rates for some of the nation's biggest residential-REITs. In AvalonBay Communities' (NYSE: AVB  ) most recent quarter, the company reported a 5% increase in revenue attributable to a 4.7% boost in prices in established communities, and a 0.3% uptick in occupancy. For Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) it was much of the same, with revenue rising 5.4% in the fourth-quarter as occupancy rates rose 40 basis points to 95.4% from the year-ago period. Finally, Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS  ) delivered some of the strongest occupancy results of all, with 96.9% of its units occupied as of the end of January. The point is that with occupancy rates at their lowest levels in more than a decade, these residential REITs are driving growth by boosting prices because of rent scarcity.