Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014

It wasn't just the Seattle Seahawks who woke up Monday morning feeling pretty terrific.

Several folks ��regular folks ��who found themselves the unlikely stars of Super Bowl ads did, too.

We talked to three of them. They're still in the clouds ��and not remotely eager to step back on terra firma.

��The woman who quit her job. It's one thing to quit your job. It's another thing entirely to do it in front of 100 million viewers. Gwen Dean chose the latter approach Sunday night in, of all things, a GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial. In the spot, she holds up a hand puppet that she had made ��an important part of her new career ��and mouthed these words to her boss, "Ted: 'I quit.'"

Dean, 36, says she wasn't particularly happy ��or unhappy ��at her job as a highly paid engineer overseeing the air-conditioning cooling systems in Manhattan high-rises. But Dean prefers to earn a living making high-end puppets and performing puppet shows. In the New York City area, where she lives and works, she says she can pull in up to $300 for a 45-minute show. With no strings.

Top 5 Supermarket Stocks To Invest In 2015: Hudson Global Inc (HSON)

Hudson Global, Inc. (Hudson) incorporated on January 1, 2003, provides specialized professional-level recruitment and related talent solutions worldwide. The Company's Core service offerings include Permanent Recruitment, Contract Consulting, Legal eDiscovery, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Talent Management solutions. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated in 20 countries with three geographic business segments: Hudson Americas, Hudson Asia Pacific, and Hudson Europe. The Company's core service offerings include Permanent Recruitment, Contract Consulting, Legal eDiscovery,RPO and Talent Management Solutions.

The Company's Permanent Recruitment services leverage the firm's more than 1,200 consultants, supported by the Company's psychologists and other scientific specialists in the development and delivery of its methods to identify, select and engage the best-fit talent for critical client roles. In Contract Consulting, Hudson provides a range of project management, interim management and professional contract staffing services. Hudson's Legal eDiscovery services consists of eDiscovery solutions, managed document review including logistical deployment, project management, process design and productivity management, and contract attorney staffing. Hudson's RPO delivers outsourced recruitment solutions tailored to the individual needs of mid- to large-cap multinational companies. Hudson RPO services include complete recruitment outsourcing, project-based outsourcing, contingent workforce solutions and recruitment consulting. Hudson's Talent Management Solutions capability encompasses services such as talent assessment, interview training, executive coaching, employee development and outplacement.

The Company's clients include small to large-sized corporations and government agencies. As of December 31, 2012 , there were approximately 460 Hudson Americas clients, 1,200 Hudson Asia Pacific clients and 2,700 Hudson Europe clients.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]
  Staffing 360 Solutions Inc. Having a consolidation strategy that is well suited for the highly fragmented temporary staffing industry, small cap Staffing 360 Solutions is an interesting staffing stock because it intends to become a major international publicly-held staffing organization�through a�targeted accretive acquisition strategy.�The company�has already developed a significant pipeline of acquisition targets in the IT, financial, accounting, healthcare and banking industries while its executive chairman Brendan Flood spent seven years at Hudson Global Inc (NASDAQ: HSON) in various roles in Europe and the United States. His stint at�Hudson Global�culminated with him leading the company's IPO on the Nasdaq in 2003. During 2004 and 2005, Flood was also the CFO/COO for Hudson North America when he returned the business to profitability after several loss-making years (Note:�Before the�IPO, Hudson was part of what is now Monster Worldwide, Inc (NYSE: MWW)). In addition, CEO Matt Briand has 17 years of staffing industry experience from various recruitment, sales, management and executive roles. Back in June,�Staffing 360 Solutions announced revised revenue guidance for the company's fiscal quarter ended May 31, 2014, with revenue now expected to be in excess of $26.8 million, as opposed to the verses a previously forecast amount of $24.1 million for an increase of $2.7 million or 11% over the forecast. The update also noted that Staffing 360 Solutions has�successfully completed five acquisitions over the past year, including operations in the United States and Europe.�Moreover, Staffing 360 Solutions previously reported revenues of approximately $557,000 for the quarter ended May 31, 2013 versus $26.8 million for the quarter ended May 31, 2014 for a year-over-year increase of $26.2 million or 4,711%. On Thursday, Staffing 360 Solutions fell 1.02% to $1.95 (STAF has a 52 week trading range of $0.55 to $2.20 a share) for a market cap of $59.75 mill
• [By John Udovich]

  The government's closely watched jobs report today is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls increased by 218,000 positions and may have finally returned employment to its pre-recession level, but executive search or staffing stocks like Hudson Global Inc (NASDAQ: HSON), Robert Half International Inc (NYSE: RHI) and up and coming Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF) have already made investors winners since the official end of the recession:

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO)

Yahoo! Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses. The company?s communications and communities offerings include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, Flickr, and Connected TV, which provide a range of communication and social services to users and small businesses enabling users to organize into groups and share knowledge, common interests, and photos. Its search products comprise Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Local, available free to users to navigate the Internet and discover content. The company?s marketplaces offerings and services include Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Autos, and Yahoo! Small Business, which allow users to research specific topics, products, services, or areas of interest by review ing and exchanging information, obtaining contact details, or considering offers from providers of goods, services, or parties with similar interests. Its media offerings comprise Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Finance, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! Entertainment & Lifestyles, Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Yahoo! Pulse, which are designed to engage users with online content and services on the Web. The company also offers marketing services, such as display and search advertising, listing-based services, and commerce-based transactions to advertisers. In addition, it provides software and platform offerings for third-party developers, advertisers, and publishers, such as Yahoo! Developer Network, Yahoo! Open Strategy, Yahoo! Application Platform, Yahoo! Updates, Yahoo! Query Language, and Yahoo! Search BOSS. The company has strategic alliances with Nokia and ABC News, Inc. Yahoo! Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Beyers]

  After 18 months on the job, Fred Amoroso won't seek re-election to Yahoo!'s (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) board of directors. He'll continue to serve as a director through the company's annual meeting on June 25 but has resigned as chairman. Former eBay executive Maynard Webb Jr. has assumed the role on an interim basis, Yahoo! said in a press release.

• [By Reuters]

  Richard Drew/AP SAN FRANCISCO -- Retired schoolteacher Donald Hovasse signed up for Twitter about a year ago at the urging of his daughter. He lost interest after trying the service a few times and finding lots of celebrities but few of his friends using the online social network. "I didn't really get the point of it at all," said the Las Vegas resident. "Most of them were people I wasn't interested in hearing what they had to say anyway." He said, however, that he does check Facebook everyday to see what his friends are up to. Hovasse's experience highlights a risk for investors as Twitter marches towards this year's most anticipated initial public offering in the United States, expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange in mid-November. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 36 percent of 1,067 people who have joined Twitter say they don't use it, and 7 percent say they have shut their account. The online survey, conducted Oct. 11-18, has a credibility interval, a measure of its accuracy, of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. In comparison, only 7 percent of 2,449 Facebook members report not using the online social network, and 5 percent say they have shut down their account. The results have a credibility interval of 2.3 percent. People who have given up on Twitter cite a variety of reasons, from lack of friends on the service to difficulty understanding how to use it. Twitter declined to comment for this story, saying it is in a quiet period ahead of its IPO. Twitter's attrition rate highlights a challenge that has dogged the online messaging site over the years: while it has managed to enlist many high-profile and avid users, from the pope to President Barack Obama, Twitter has yet to go truly mainstream in the way Facebook (FB) has. Convincing ordinary people to think of Twitter as an indispensable part of their lives is key to the company's ability to attract advertisers and generate a profit. Twitter reported it had 232 million "a

• [By Associated Press]

  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) has extended a guarantee that provides Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) with financial protection as part of the two companies' Internet search partnership.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Greenlight Capital Re Ltd.(GLRE)

Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, operates in the property and casualty reinsurance business in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and internationally. The company?s frequency business includes contracts containing smaller losses emanating from multiple events and enables the clients to increase their own underwriting capacity; and severity business consists of contracts with the potential for significant losses emanating from one event or multiple events. It offers personal and commercial property, general and marine liability, motor liability, motor physical damage, professional liability, financial, health, medical malpractice, and workers? compensation reinsurance products. Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. sells its products primarily through reinsurance brokers. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  They pitched their research hard to client David Einhorn, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd (Nasdaq: GLRE). Shortly thereafter Einhorn started shorting the stock.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Orbital Sciences Corporation(ORB)

Orbital Sciences Corporation develops and manufactures small and medium-class rockets and space systems for commercial, military, and civil government customers. The company operates in three segments: Launch Vehicles, Satellites and Space Systems, and Advanced Space Programs. The Launch Vehicles segment develops and produces small-class launch vehicles that place satellites into low-Earth orbit; interceptor launch vehicles for missile defense systems, including interceptor boosters; and target launch vehicles, such as suborbital rockets and their principal subsystems, as well as payloads carried by vehicles used in the development and testing of missile defense systems. The Satellites and Space Systems segment develops and produces communications satellites that provide cable and direct-to-home television distribution, business data network connectivity, regional mobile telephony, and other space-based communications services; and science and remote sensing satellites tha t are used to conduct space-related scientific research, collect imagery and other remotely-sensed data about the Earth, carry out interplanetary and other deep-space exploration missions, and demonstrate new space technologies. This segment also provides space systems and subsystems, including satellite command and data handling, and attitude control and structural subsystems; and a range of space-related technical services, including analytical, engineering, and production services for space-related science and defense programs. The Advanced Space Programs segment develops and produces human-rated systems to be used in earth orbit, planetary exploration, and other space missions; and small and medium-class satellites and related systems used primarily for national security space missions and related technology demonstration programs. It operates in the United States, Europe, Mexico, South America, Australia, and east Asia. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquarter ed in Dulles, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Shares of Orbital Sciences (NYSE: ORB) got a boost, shooting up 15.38 percent to $30.66 after the company and Allian Techsystems' (NYSE: ATK) Aerospace and Defense Groups agreed to combine to create Orbital ATK.

• [By Chris Katje]

  For those unfamiliar with Orbital Sciences (ORB), the company is a leader in space missions and satellite services. The company operates its business in three segments: launch vehicles, satellites and space systems, and advanced space programs. The company's contract with the International Space System, huge backlog, and human space exploration could send shares much higher than current levels.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Nomura Holdings Inc ADR (NMR)

Nomura Holdings, Inc. provides financial services in Japan and internationally. The company operates in three divisions: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale. The Retail division primarily offers investment consultation services to retail clients. It also provides various financial instruments, such as stocks, debt securities, investment trusts, and variable annuity insurance products for the short, medium, and long term. As of March 31, 2011, this division operated a network of approximately 174 branches. The Asset Management division involves in the development and management of investment trusts. This division also offers investment advisory services to public and private pensions, governments and their agencies, central banks, and institutional investors. The Wholesale division engages in the fixed income and equity trading, and asset finance businesses. It provides debt securities, foreign currencies, and stocks, as well as related derivatives; and equities securit ies and equity-linked derivatives; and execution services, such as algorithmic trading and transaction cost analysis. This division also involves in underwriting various types of stocks, convertible and exchangeable securities, investment grade debt, sovereign and emerging market debt, high yield debt, structured securities, and other securities; offers financial advisory services and solutions on business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, capital structuring, corporate defense activities, leveraged buyouts, and risk solutions; and operates private equity investment business. The company primarily serves individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies, as well as retail and asset management clients. Nomura Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks have ended with losses in every session this week, and sure enough, the Nikkei Average (JP:NIK) was down 0.6% in early Friday trade, though off an opening 0.8% defecit, while the Topix carried a 0.7% loss. Overnight losses for the U.S. and further strength in the yen (with the dollar falling to 楼101.28 from 楼101.56 a day earlier) helped drag the market lower, as did results from Fast Retailing Co. (JP:9983) (FRCOF) , the shares of which hold the heaviest weighting on Nikkei Average. Fast Retailing said that while its Uniqlo brand was doing great business, weakness for its J Brand luxury demin label helped send September-May profit down 4% and prompted another cut to Fast's full-year outlook. Consequently, its shares traded 0.7% lower, though rivals Takashimaya Co. (JP:8233) and J. Front Retailing Co. (JP:3086) (JFROF) also saw losses of 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. Among other decliners, Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) lost 0.7%, Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502) (TOSYY) fell 2.1%, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (JP:7012) (KWHIY) fell 1.5%, Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) and Nissan Motor Co. (JP:7201)

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Micrel Incorporated(MCRL)

Micrel Incorporated, doing business as Micrel Semiconductor, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets high-performance analog power, mixed-signal, and digital integrated circuits (ICs) primarily in North America, Europe, and Asia. It offers power management products, including cloud, single-board, and enterprise servers; network switches and routers; storage area networks; and wireless base stations for the networking and communications infrastructure markets. The company also provides power management standard products for industrial, consumer, defense, and automotive electronics markets. In addition, it manufactures custom analog and mixed-signal circuits; and provides wafer foundry services for the customers who produce electronic systems for communications, consumer, and military applications. Further, the company offers general linear parts; power analog circuits; high speed physical media devices and interface ICs; and Ethernet products, which comprise physical l ayer transceivers, media access controllers, switches, and system-on-chip devices. Additionally, it provides radio frequency (RF) data communications products, including QwikRadio family of RF receivers and transmitters, which include garage door openers, lighting and fan controls, automotive keyless entry, and remote controls; and RadioWire transceivers for applications, such as remote metering, security systems, and factory automation. The company?s products address a range of end markets, including cellular handsets, portable computing, enterprise and home networking, wide area and metropolitan area networks, digital televisions, and industrial equipment. Micrel Incorporated sells its products through a network of independent sales representatives, independent distributors, and stocking representative firms, as well as through a direct sales staff. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Micrel (NASDAQ: MCRL  ) jumped temporarily this morning, up by as much as 10% before giving back nearly all of those gains, following first-quarter earnings.

• [By gurujx]

  Micrel (MCRL): CFO/VP Finance/HR Ray Wallin Sold 59,701 Shares

  CFO/VP Finance/HR of Micrel, Inc. (MCRL) Ray Wallin sold 59,701 shares during the past week at an average price of $9.56.

Best Performing Stocks To Watch For 2014: Nash-Finch Company(NAFC)

Nash-Finch Company operates as a wholesale food distributor in the United States. The company?s Military segment distributes grocery products to the United States military commissaries and exchanges in the United States and the District of Columbia, Europe, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Azores, Egypt, and Bahrain. Its Food Distribution segment sells and distributes various branded and private label grocery products and perishable food products to approximately 1,500 independent retail locations through its 14 distribution centers. This segment also provides various services, including promotional, advertising, and merchandising programs; installation of computerized ordering, receiving, and scanning systems; retail equipment procurement assistance; accounting, budgeting, and payroll contract services; consumer and market research; remodeling and store development services; supply chain through Internet services; and securing existing grocery stores. The company?s Retail segment operates corporate-owned grocery stores under the Sun Mart, Econofoods, AVANZA, Family Thrift Center, Pick ?n Save, Family Fresh Market, Prairie Market, Saver?s Choice, Wally?s Supermarkets, and Wholesale Food Outlet banners primarily in the states of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This segment?s conventional grocery stores offer a range of grocery products and services, such as fresh meat counters, delicatessens, bakeries, eat-in cafes, pharmacies, banks, and floral departments, as well as provide check cashing, fax services, and money transfer services. As of December 31, 2011, the company served 93 retail stores operating under the IGA banner and 50 retail stores under the Food Pride banner; and operated 43 conventional supermarkets, 1 AVANZA grocery store, 1 Wholesale Food Outlet grocery store, and 1 Saver?s Choice store. Nash-Finch Company was founded in 1885 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  Sysco has avoided the margin compression suffered by chicken producers Tyson (NYSE: TSN  ) and Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM  ) and which was more deeply felt by smaller food-service operator Nash-Finch (NASDAQ: NAFC  ) . (It is omitted from this chart due to its drop into outright negative operating margin territory (a decline of roughly 250% in two years.) However, fellow food-service company United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI  ) has actually improved its margins, and restaurant chains both large and small (well, mid-size) have done an admirable job of holding the margin line in the face of rising input costs. So it appears that scale alone isn't enough to help Sysco outrun the rising costs of its products.

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Nash-Finch (NASDAQ: NAFC  ) and Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN  ) jumped as much as 16% and 15%, respectively, after Spartan said it would buy Nash-Finch, primarily for its military stores.