Top 5 Long Term Companies To Own For 2014

Late last year, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) undertook a jawboning campaign designed to push an already declining currency even lower. The central bank believes a lower exchange rate will boost export activity and spur growth for the country�� non-mining sectors.

At the time, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens proceeded from characterizing the level of the exchange rate as ��ncomfortably high��to noting ��hat foreign-exchange intervention can, judiciously used in the right circumstances, be effective and useful.��/p>

That latter observation was particularly noteworthy because, according to The Wall Street Journal, a currency intervention has essentially been verboten in the decades since Australia shifted to a floating exchange rate in 1983.

Of course, this type of rhetoric only works in the short term, as larger factors, such as the actual course of monetary policy, or at least expectations concerning its trajectory, along with commodities prices, will drive the exchange rate in the long term.

Best Industrial Conglomerate Companies For 2015: Unione di Banche Italiane ScpA (BPD)

Unione di Banche Italiane Scpa is an Italy-based holding company engaged in the governance, control, coordination and support of Unione di Banche Italiane Group. The Company�� activities are divided into three business segments. The Banking sector comprises of nine network banks of the Group, including IW Bank SpA, Banque de Depots et de Gestione SA and UBI International SA. The Non-banking financial sector includes Centrobanca SpA, Ubi Leasing SpA, Ubi Factor SpA, Ubi Pramerica SGR SpA, Banca 24-7 SpA, Silf SpA, Prestitalia SpA, Ubi Fiduciaria SpA and UBI Gestioni Fiduciarie SIM SpA. The Corporate Centre segment comprises UBI Banca Scpa and Ubi Sistemi e Servizi Scpa, among others. The Company is engaged in the corporate banking, consumer credit, asset management, factoring, leasing, life and non-life bancassurance sectors, among others. On May 6, 2013, it completed merger of Centrobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario e Mobiliare SpA into the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By April Yee]

  In its annual outlook, released this month, Opec said demand for its crude would dip to between 28 million and 29.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2018, from 30.3 million bpd today.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  US oil production has risen from 5 million barrels per day (BPD) in 2008 to 7.3 million BPD in the most recent quarter. The US is now the fastest-growing oil producing region in the world.

Top 5 Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Israel Corporation Ltd (ILCO)

Israel Corporation Ltd is an Israel-based holding company. The Company operates mainly through its subsidiaries: Israel Chemicals Ltd, operating in the areas of fertilizers and special chemicals; Oil Refineries Ltd, engaged in crude oil refining, production of fuel products, raw materials for the petrochemical industry and materials for the plastics industry; ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd, operating in the shipping lines��industry through use of tankers, offering delegation, Customs clearance, overland transport, distribution, warehousing, insurance, container terminals, marine terminal operation services and logistic services; I.C. Power Ltd, engaged in the production and sale of electricity, as well as in activities intended for the construction and operation of power stations, and Other subsidiaries, engaged in advanced technology, vehicles, infrastructures for electric-powered vehicles, and clean energy. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Claudia Maedler]

  The DFM General Index (DFMGI) climbed 4.8 percent to 2,659.93, the highest close since Aug. 26. The measure had plunged as much as 15 percent since reaching a five-year high on Aug. 25 on concern the U.S. would launch a military strike against Syria. Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR), the stock with the biggest weighting on the index, jumped 4.7 percent, while Deyaar Development (DEYAAR) PJSC surged 9.1 percent. Israel Corp. (ILCO) led gains in Tel Aviv.

Top 5 Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: EZCORP Inc.(EZPW)

EZCORP, Inc. provides specialty consumer financial services. The company offers pawn loans that are non-recourse loans collateralized by tangible personal property, including jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments, as well as sells merchandise consisting of second-hand collateral forfeited from its pawn lending activities or purchased from customers, and new or refurbished merchandise from third party vendors. It also provides a range of financial services, such as signature loans consisting of payday loans, installment loans, and lines of credit; and auto title loans, which include single payment auto title loans, and auto title lines of credit. In addition, the company offers fee-based credit services to customers seeking loans; and advice and assistance to customers in obtaining loans from unaffiliated lenders, as well as provides debit cards. As of September 30, 2011, it operated a total of 1,111 locations consisting of 433 pawn s tores under the EZPAWN or Value Pawn names, and 436 financial services stores under the EZMONEY name in the United States; 178 pawn stores under the Empe� F�il or Empe� Su Oro names in Mexico; 49 financial services stores under the CASHMAX name in Canada; and 15 financial and retail services stores under the Cash Converters name in Canada. Further, the company operates as a franchisor for 13 franchised Cash Converters stores in Canada. EZCORP, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Wells, US Bank, Fifth Third Bancorp, and Regions Finance�all offer payday loans that are many times more insidious than those offered by traditional payday lenders. Unlike First Cash Financial or EZCORP (NASDAQ: EZPW  ) , payday loans by the big banks actually have ready access to your checking account (you need to have one of them first to get a payday loan from them) and they freely dip into it to automatically remove your payment and fees. Payday lenders can't do that.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Ezcorp (EZPW) surged 20% to $11.26 /after the operator of pawn shops said Tuesday its same-store sales jumped 8% in the fiscal first quarter, on the back of a 29% surge in same-store jewelry sales.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Trying to pawn off the opportunities that still lay ahead in the back half of 2013, specialty finance company�EZCORP� (NASDAQ: EZPW  ) �reported second-quarter earnings that came in ahead of bottom-line consensus estimates by Capital IQ analysts, but were light on the top line, even as it affirmed the guidance for the full year that it issued after the first quarter.

• [By John Kell]

  Pawnshop operator EZCorp Inc.(EZPW) reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results as sales in existing stores were strong despite a soft U.S. holiday shopping season. Shares surged 16% to $10.80 premarket.

Top 5 Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Semtech Corporation(SMTC)

Semtech Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and markets analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products. The company?s product lines include protection products comprising filter and termination devices that provide protection for electronic systems from voltage spikes; power management products consisting of switching voltage regulators, combination switching and linear regulators, smart regulators, and charge pumps; and discrete semiconductor products, such as rectifiers, assemblies, and other products. It also offers wired communication, ultra-high speed Serializer/Deserializer, and modulator driver products that perform timing, synchronization, and amplification functions in high-speed networks; chips and transceivers for short reach, metro, and long haul applications; and high performance transceivers for datacenter applications. In addition, the company provides wireless and sensing products that perform radio frequency functions in indust rial, medical, and networking applications; and sensing functions in industrial and consumer applications. It serves original equipment manufacturers and their subcontractors in the computing, communications, consumer, and industrial end-markets directly, and through independent distributors and sales representative firms in North America, the Asia Pacific, and Europe. Semtech Corporation was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Camarillo, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) were down 11.763 percent to $24.77 on lowered forecast. Raymond James downgraded the stock from Strong Buy to Outperform.