Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015

When's the last time you walked into a store and were talked out of a purchase by a sales rep?

"Just wait," you're told. "It's going to get a lot cheaper soon."

Well, that's pretty much what Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) CEO Paul Otellini said during his company's earnings call on Tuesday afternoon.

"If you look at touch-enabled Intel based notebooks that are ultra-thin and light using non-core processors, those prices are going to be down to as low as $200 probably," he said.

In other words, what are you doing even considering a Windows 8 touch device now? As Intel gets ready to roll out its Bay Trail chip during the latter half of this year -- a quad-core chip that's more powerful than the current Atom processor being used in portable devices -- are prices really going to be heading as low as entry-level Android tablets?

Is a $200 Windows 8 device even possible given Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) steep licensing ransom when pitted against the freely available Android? What about Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) ? Margins have been contracting at the consumer tech titan, but is Apple ready for this kind of price war?

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Whole Foods Market Inc.(WFM)

Whole Foods Market, Inc. engages in the ownership and operation of natural and organic food supermarkets. The company offers produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, coffee and tea, nutritional supplements, and vitamins. It also provides specialty products, such as beer, wine, and cheese; body care and educational products, such as books; and floral, pet, and household products. As of February 9, 2011, the company operated 302 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rex Moore]

  It seems a social media buzz is brewing in the beer industry. Our roving reporter Rex Moore visited the recent Craft Brewers Conference and spoke with some folks who should know, including the director of Whole Foods' (NASDAQ: WFM  ) social media efforts.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Safeway have gained 4.2% to $32.91 at 9:40 a.m., while Kroger�(KR) has ticked up 10.4% to $40.83.�Whole Foods Market�(WFM) has ticked down 0.1% to $59.77, and Supervalu�(SVU) is off 0.6% at $7.96.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Compass Minerals Intl Inc(CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces and markets inorganic mineral products primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company operates in two segments, Salt and Specialty Fertilizer. The Salt segment produces salt and magnesium chloride for use in road deicing and dust control, food processing, water softeners, pool salt, and agricultural and industrial applications. This segment also purchases potassium chloride and sells as a finished product. The Specialty Fertilizer segment produces and markets sulphate of potash crop nutrients and industrial grade sulfate of potash for use in the production of specialty fertilizers for vegetables, fruits, potatoes, nuts, tobacco, and turf grass. The company also produces and markets consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural, and industrial applications. In ad dition, Compass Minerals provides records management services to businesses located in the U.K. The company operates rock salt mines in Goderich, Ontario, Canada; and Winsford, Chesire, the United Kingdom. It primarily serves producers of intermediate chemical products used in the production of vinyls and other chemicals, and pulp and paper, as well as water treatment and other industrial uses. The company markets its products through direct sales personnel, contract personnel, and a network of brokers or manufacturers? representatives. Compass Minerals International, Inc., formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation, was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  PotashCorp's difficulty sustaining its pricing power is underscored by recent reports from sulfate of potash (SOP) producer Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP  ) , which charged a hefty premium of almost $300 per ton against Potash Corp's prices for muriate of potash. Efforts to move away from SOP sales seem to be the right choice -- PotashCorp peer Intrepid Potash's�SOP sales fell by 37%, while the average price received has slumped nearly 14% in the last quarter. Even ore miner BHP Billiton�has recently jumped into the fertilizer industry with a $2.6 billion build-out of a potash mine in Canada, which is all but certain to produce further downward pressure on potash prices.

• [By Brendan Mathews]

  Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP  ) is a sleepy producer of a boring product: rock salt. But it has a strong competitive advantage. It owns the world's largest rock salt mine, which luckily is conveniently located near the major deicing markets of the Great Lakes region. This combination of a great mining resource and ideal location provide the company with a wide, crocodile-filled competitive moat.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Compass Minerals (CMP) is a producer of minerals, including salt, sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer and magnesium chloride. This stock closed up 3.4% at $75.60 in Wednesday's trading session.

  Wednesday's Volume: 913,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 212,481
  
  Volume % Change: 315%

  From a technical perspective, CMP gapped higher here off its recent low of $64.24 with heavy upside volume. This stock recently gapped down sharply from around $90 to $64.24 with heavy downside volume. That move pushed shares of CMP into extremely oversold territory, since the stock's current relative strength index reading is 25.78. Oversold can always get more oversold, but it's also an area where a stock can experience a powerful bounce higher from. Shares of CMP are now starting to move within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if CMP manages to take out its gap down day high of $78.20 and then once it clears its 200-day moving average at $79.14 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CMP as long as it's trending above Wednesday's low of $73.07 or $72.50 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that's near or above 212,481 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then CMP will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap down zone that started near $90.

Top US Companies To Invest In 2015: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Kohl�� (NYSE: KSS), Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) Economic Releases Expected: �US industrial production, US CPI, eurozone GDP, eurozone CPI, German GDP, French GDP

  Friday

• [By Barbara Kollmeyer]

  Among stocks in focus, shares of retailers such as Amazon Inc. (AMZN) � Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) �and Kohl�� Corp. (KSS) �could grab attention as retailers try to compete in post-Christmas sales efforts. Some retailers, such as Amazon, may also be in focus due to a delay in the delivery of Christmas packages by United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) �and FedEx Corp. (FDX) .

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Alliance Holdings GP L.P.(AHGP)

Alliance Holdings GP, L.P., through its subsidiaries, produces and markets coal primarily to utilities and industrial users in the United States. It produces a range of steam coal with varying sulfur and heat contents. The company operates nine underground mining complexes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 697.4 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. In addition, the company leases land; and operates a coal loading terminal, with a capacity of 8.0 million tons with ground storage of approximately 60,000 to 70,000 tons, on the Ohio River at Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Further, it engages in purchasing and selling coal; and providing services, including ash and scrubber sludge removal, coal yard maintenance, and arranging alternate transportation services. Alliance GP, LLC, serves as the general partner of the company. Allian ce Holdings GP, L.P. is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  The National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships (NAPTP) lists five MLPs in the category ��atural Resources – Coal,��although two of the five are Alliance Holdings (NYSE: AHGP) and its operating affiliate, Alliance Resource Partners (NYSE: ARLP). The other three are Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP), Rhino Resource Partners (NYSE: RNO), and Oxford Resource Partners (NYSE: OXF).

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Alliance Holdings GP (Nasdaq: AHGP  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Advance Auto Parts Inc(AAP)

Advance Auto Parts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items. It operates in two segments, Advance Auto Parts (AAP) and Autopart International (AI). The AAP segment operates stores, which primarily offer auto parts, including alternators, batteries, chassis parts, clutches, engines and engine parts, radiators, starters, transmissions, and water pumps; accessories comprising floor mats, mirrors, vent shades, MP3 and cell phone accessories, and seat and steering wheel covers; chemicals consisting of antifreeze, freon, fuel additives, and car washes and waxes; and oil and other automotive petroleum products. This segment also provides battery and wiper installation, battery charging, check engine light reading, electrical system testing, video clinics and project brochures, loaner tool programs, and oil and battery recycling services; and sells its products through online. The AI segm ent operates stores that offer replacement parts for domestic and imported cars, and light trucks to customers in northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, as well as to warehouse distributors and jobbers in North America. As of January 1, 2011, the company operated 3,369 AAP stores, including 3,343 stores located in the northeastern, southeastern, and Midwestern regions of the United States under the Advance Auto Parts and Advance Discount Auto Parts trade names; 26 stores situated in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands under the Advance Auto Parts and Western Auto trade names; and 194 stores under the Autopart International trade name in the United States. It serves do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me, or commercial customers. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in Roanoke, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CanadianValue]

  At the end of 2011, Advance Auto Parts (AAP) and O��eilly Automotive (ORLY) were the fifth- and tenth-largest positions in the Fund, respectively, and together constituted 6.2% of our assets. Auto parts retail is a difficult business for all but the most efficient players. An auto parts retailer must carry literally thousands of hard parts for hundreds of models of cars. Not many people walk in the door needing an alternator for a 1994 Ford, but the person who does is probably experiencing a crisis. The retailer who can manage a substantial investment in slow-turning parts inventory is able to earn a high margin on sales.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Hewlett-Packard Company(HPQ)

Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. Its Personal Systems Group segment offers commercial personal computers (PCs), consumer PCs, workstations, calculators and other related accessories, and software and services for the commercial and consumer markets. The company?s Services segment provides consulting, outsourcing, and technology services to infrastructure, applications, and business process domains. Its Imaging and Printing Group segment provides consumer and commercial printer hardware, supplies, media, and scanning devices, such as inkjet and Web solutions, laser jet and enterprise solutions, managed enterprise solutions, graphics solutions, and printer supplies. The company?s Enterprise Servers, Storage, and Networking segment offers industry standard s ervers, business critical systems, storage platforms, and networking products, including switches, routers, wireless LAN, and TippingPoint network security products. Its HP Software segment provides enterprise IT management software, information management solutions, and security intelligence/risk management solutions. The company?s HP Financial Services segment offers leasing, financing, utility programs, and asset recovery services; and financial asset management services for enterprise customers, as well as specialized financial services to SMBs, and educational and governmental entities. Hewlett-Packard Company also provides business intelligence solutions that enable businesses to standardize on consistent data management schemes, connect and share data across the enterprise, and apply analytics, as well as licenses its specific technology to third parties. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jacob Steinberg]

  Once Nokia Siemens Networks got spun off, we would be looking at a new Nokia with 39,000 employees (down from 97,000), $20 billion of cash, and $4.5 billion of debt. Basically, the new Nokia would have $15.5 billion in net cash. Now, keep in mind that Nokia's current market value is $13.67 billion. Basically, whoever buys Nokia would be buying the company for free. If Microsoft (MSFT) wanted to buy Nokia, it would spend $13.67 billion and get lots of good assets on top of $15.5 billion of net cash. Is that a bad deal? In the last few years, several companies at least showed interest in building their own phones, including but not limited to Facebook (FB), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Microsoft and even Amazon (AMZN). Most of these companies would need to spend a lot of time, money and other resources to build their own mobile phones, not to mention all the patents they would have to license. If any of these companies were to buy Nokia, not only they would get a lot of valuable patents and technology, but they would get one of the best distribution networks in the world as well. If Nokia were to spin off its Nokia Siemens Networks (which is the first thing it would do if it was truly for sale), many companies would rush to buy the rest of the company (basically for free, after accounting for the company's net cash). Microsoft, in particular, would love to get its hands on Nokia's patents in order to gain competitive advantage over Apple and Google (GOOG). I could even see Apple buying Nokia for its patents. After all, buying Nokia following an NSN spin off would be practically for free.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Last year, Barrick Gold (ABX) lost 48%, Newmont Mining (NEM) fell 48%, Goldcorp (GG) declined 39%. Iron miner Cliff’s Natural Resources (CLF), meanwhile, finished the year down 30%, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) gained 17%.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff's biggest closed positions included ExxonMobil�and BlackRock. Other closed positions of interest include Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI  ) and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) . Sirius is up about 84% over the past year, and trading near a five-year high. The company boasts more than 25 million subscribers, and revenue and earnings have been growing at double-digit rates. Growing auto sales bode well for Sirius, as its radios are embedded in many vehicles. Meanwhile, Sirius faces competition from Pandora, but Pandora is dealing with its own problems, recently posting some shrinking numbers.

• [By Matthew Smith]

  Our bullishness of oil is well documented. The fact that we also like the NGL play in the shales should be no surprise either. These two facts are part of the reason we warmed up to Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) long-term when we did. Admittedly it was not a 'conviction buy' type of call, but we laid out the case for why we liked this diversified miner over other names and ironically the roadmap we laid out for the stock to follow is taking place. Yes, it is taking place much quicker than we anticipated but the fact of the matter is that oil and natural gas prices have remained steady as a whole and the next leg of copper and then gold seems to be taking place. The strength in copper prices has surprised us as we have watched the move over the past few weeks, but the economic data out of China has improved dramatically.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Ford Motor Credit Company(F)

Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets cars, trucks, and parts through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. It also sells cars and trucks to dealers for sale to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. In addition, this sector provides retail customers with a range of after-sale vehicle services and products in the areas, such as maintenance and light repair, heavy repair, collision repair, vehicle accessories, and extended service contracts under the Ford Service, Lincoln Service, Ford Custom Accessories, Ford Extended Service Plan, and Motorcraft brand names. The Financial Services sector offers vari ous automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It offers retail financing, which includes retail installment contracts for new and used vehicles; direct financing leases; wholesale financing products that comprise loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; loans to dealers to finance working capital, purchase real estate dealership, and/or make improvements to dealership facilities; and other financing products, as well as provides insurance services. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Rosevear]

  That doesn't compare too well with the 636 Focus Electric EVs sold by Ford (NYSE: F  ) over that time span, much less the 5,476 Leafs sold by Nissan over the same period (and the likely 6,000-plus sold by Tesla).

• [By John Rosevear]

  GM leads VW in overall sales in China, but about half of GM's China sales are low-margin commercial vans. VW's share of the passenger-vehicle market is bigger: 19.5% to 10% for GM last year. And its profits were substantially bigger, too, in China and elsewhere: VW's pre-tax profit in 2012 was $15 billion, best in the world. GM's? $7.9 billion, less than Ford's (NYSE: F  ) .

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Tesla have gained 19% in December, trumping the 5.6% rise in General Motors (GM) and the 11% drop in Ford Motor (F). And every little bit of news seems to help push Tesla’s shares higher. Today, Tesla’s stock is trading up 2.7% to $155.50 in pre-open trading with the only catalyst being a story in the China Daily News about its strategy in the world’s second largest economy.

• [By Achilles Research]

  Challenges practically relate to industry competition, emission regulation and political demands to produce a higher efficiency car fleet. Rivalry in the industry is fairly intense, regular promotional activities linked to serious rebates are margin eroding and unfavorable for shareholders. However, aggressive pricing is a key characteristic of free markets and affect other automobile manufacturers such as Ford (F), Chrysler and Toyota (TM) just as well. Top-line and bottom-line growth over the last few years has shown that GM can price and sell its fleet in competitive markets.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Progress Software Corporation(PRGS)

Progress Software Corporation operates as an enterprise software company worldwide. Its products include Progress OpenEdge platform, which offers development tools, application servers, application management tools, and an embedded database; Progress Orbix to address enterprise integration problems with standards-based solutions; and Progress ObjectStore, an object data management system to store data faster than relational database management system or file-based storage system. The company?s products also comprise Progress Responsiveness Process Management suite for business users; Progress Control Tower, an interactive business control panel; Progress Sonic, which comprises an enterprise messaging system and the enterprise service buses; Progress Actional that provides operational and business visibility, root cause analysis, and policy-based security and control of services; Progress Apama, which offers tools for creating, testing, and deploying strategies for applicat ions, including algorithmic trading, market aggregation, smart order routing, market surveillance and monitoring, and risk management; Progress Savvion BusinessManager, a business process management software; and Fuse products that provide customers with access to professional open source integration and messaging software. In addition, it offers Progress DataDirect Connect products, which provide data connectivity components; Progress DataDirect Shadow to provide foundation architecture for standards-based mainframe integration; and Progress Data Services product set that offers data integration for distributed applications. Further, the company provides maintenance, consulting, training, and customer support services. Progress Software Corporation sells its products to independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, and system integrators through direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Bedford, Massac husetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS  ) moved higher after posting better-than-expected quarterly results this week. The provider of developer tools software saw revenue rise by a better-than-expected 10%, and its adjusted net income of $0.27 a share blew past the $0.22 a share that the market was forecasting.�

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) shares tumbled 11.15 percent to $22.82 after the company issued a weak Q1 forecast.

  FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) was also down, falling 9.35 percent to $81.20 after the company's secondary offering lead to fear on the street.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) shares tumbled 10.11 percent to $22.82 after the company issued a weak Q1 forecast.

  21Vianet Group (NASDAQ: VNET) was down, falling 6.18 percent to $25.94 on Q4 results.

Top 10 Cheap Companies For 2015: Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.(WEN)

The Wendy's Company operates as a quick-service hamburger company in the United States. The company, through its subsidiary, Wendy's International, Inc., operates as a franchisor of the Wendy's restaurant system. As of December 26, 2011, the Wendy's system comprised approximately 6,500 franchise and company restaurants in the United States and the United States territories, as well as in 26 other countries worldwide. The company was formerly known as Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. and changed its name to The Wendy's Company in July 2011. The Wendy's Company was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Deane]

  Before the opening bell on Monday, fast food chain Wendy’s (WEN) released its preliminary Q4 earnings. The company also announced that its board has approved a $275 million stock repurchase. The company is releasing its official results on February 27.

  WEN Preliminary Unaudited Earnings

  In North America, Wendy’s saw a 3.1% increase in same restaurant sales, which is up from a 0.2 percent decrease in last year’s Q4. Consolidated quarterly earnings fell despite the company’s improving restaurant sales, due to Wendy’s having less company operated restaurants. The earnings came in at $592.2 million, down from $629.9 million in last year’s same quarter. The company’s operating profit was also down, coming in at $24.1 million compared to $32.3 million in last year’s Q4. WEN adjusted earnings per share were between 10 cents and 11 cents (the company does not have a hard number due to the company not completed its tax closing procedures). For the full year, Wendy’s revenues came in at $2.487 billion, down from $2.505 billion last year. Operating profit for the full year was up to $130.3 million from $122.7 million last year.

  CEO Commentary

  Wendy’s president and CEO, Emil Brolick, had the following comments about the company’s earnings release:�”Wendy’s庐 made tremendous strategic and financial progress in 2013. We gained significant traction with consumers through ‘A Cut Above’ brand positioning, accelerated Wendy’s brand transformation with Image Activation and refined our Company-operated restaurant portfolio through System Optimization. These efforts contributed to improving metrics and solid financial performance, highlighted by 2013 North America Company-operated same-restaurant sales growth of 1.9 percent, record average annual sales of $1.51 million at North America Company-operated restaurants, and overall Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Earnings P