Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014

Happy Friday! There are more good news articles, commentaries, and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month. Here are eight fascinating ones I read this week.

Your fault
We're inundated with financial information these days. But Shane Parrish of the blog Farnam Street says inflation overload doesn't exist, quoting from the book The Information Diet:

It's not information overload -- it's information overconsumption.

Information overload means somehow managing the intake of vast quantities of information in new and more efficient ways. Information overconsumption means we need to find new ways to be selective about our intake. It is very difficult, for example, to overconsume vegetables.

Crystal balls
Carl Richards writes about our abysmal ability to predict the future:

Forecasts about the future of the market are very likely to be wrong, and we don't know by how much and in which direction. So why would we use these guesses to make incredibly important decisions about our money?

Top 10 Income Companies To Watch In Right Now: Hang Seng Bank Ltd (0011.HK)

Hang Seng Bank Limited and its subsidiaries and associates are engaged in the provision of banking and related financial services. It operates in five segments. The Hong Kong and other business segment includes: Retail Banking and Wealth Management activities, which offer personal banking, consumer lending and wealth management services to individual customers, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans and others; Corporate and Commercial Banking activities, which include the provision of financial services, payments and cash management and others to corporate and commercial customers; Treasury activities, which are mainly the provision of treasury services in credit, interest rates, foreign exchanges and others, and Other, which mainly refers to the management of shareholders' funds. The Mainland China business segment comprises the business of Hang Seng Bank (China) Limited and the Company's share of profit from Mainland associates.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steven Russolillo]

  MARKET SNAP: At 6:05 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures up 0.1%. 10-Year Treasury yield lower at 2.20%. Nymex down 92 cents at $84.82. Gold 0.2% higher at $1233. In Europe, FTSE 100 down 0.5%, DAX down 0.7% and CAC 40 down 0.9%. In Asia, Nikkei 225 down 2.4% and Hang Seng (0011.HK) down 0.4%.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Spdr S&P Semiconductor Etf (XSD)

SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (the Fund) seeks to closely match the returns and characteristics of the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index. The S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index represents the Semiconductor sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Semiconductor Index is a modified equal weight index. SSgA Funds Management, Inc. is the Fund's investment advisor. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for mid cap fabless semiconductor stock Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL) despite the fact that the company has lost a patent infringement battle with Carnegie Mellon University that could cost it $1.54 billion, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of semiconductor ETF benchmarks like SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA: XSD), iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector (NASDAQ: SOXX) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA: SOXL).

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Guggenheim S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG)

Rydex S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the S&P 500/Citigroup Pure Growth Index (the Index). The S Index is narrow in focus, containing only those S&P 500 companies with strong growth characteristics as selected by Standard & Poor��. The Index contains approximately one-third of the equities of the S&P 500 Index.

The Fund uses a passive management strategy to track the performance of the Index. The Fund invests in substantially all of the securities in the Index in approximately the same proportions as in the Index. The Fund's investment advisor is Rydex Investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: UBS AG (UBSN.VX)

UBS AG, incorporated on February 28, 1978, is a client-focused financial services company that offers a combination of wealth management, asset management and investment banking services on a global and regional basis. UBS AG is the parent company of the UBS Group (Group).The operational structure of the Company consists of the Corporate Center and four business divisions: Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, Wealth Management Americas, Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated about 877 business and banking locations worldwide, of which about 42% were in Switzerland, 42% in the Americas, 11% in the rest of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and 5% in Asia-Pacific. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it completed acquisitions in Global Asset Management and in the equities business of the Investment Bank. In November 2011, investment management responsibility for a private equity fund of funds was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank. In October 2011, Global Asset Management acquired ING Investment Management Limited business in Australia. In July 2011, the infrastructure and private equity fund of funds businesses were transferred from its alternative and quantitative investment area to its infrastructure investment area. In January 2011, investment management responsibility for a multi-manager alternative fund was transferred to Global Asset Management from Wealth Management & Swiss Bank.

Wealth Management

Wealth Management provides wealthy private clients with financial advice, products and tools to fit their individual needs. As of December 31, 2011, Wealth Management had presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. During 2011, the Company had CHF 750 billion of invested assets. The Company offers products and services to private! clients, focusing in particular on the ultra-high-net-worth (clients with investable assets of more than CHF 50 million) and high-net-worth client segments (clients with investable assets between CHF 2 million and CHF 50 million). In addition, it also provides wealth management solutions, products and services to financial intermediaries. Wealth Management has a presence in over 40 countries and approximately 200 wealth management and representative offices, half of which are outside Switzerland, mostly in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

The Company�� Global Financial Intermediaries (Global FIM) business serves approximately 1,700 asset managers. It provides its clients with the financial advice, products and tools. The Company�� clients can trade a range of financial instruments from single securities, such as equities and bonds, to various investment funds, structured products and alternative investments. Additionally, it offers structured lending, corporate finance and wealth planning advice on client needs, such as funding for education, inheritance and succession. For its ultra high net worth clients, it offers institutional-like servicing that provides access to its Investment Bank and Global Asset Management offerings. Wealth Management also gives clients access to the knowledge, and product and service offerings from Global Asset Management and the Investment Bank, complemented by an open product platform providing access to an array of products from third-party providers.

The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Julius Bar, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays and Unicredit.

Retail & Corporate

The Company delivers financial products and services to its retail, corporate and institutional clients. The Retail & Corporate unit is a core element of UBS Switzerland�� universal bank delivery model. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a network of around 300 branches, 1,250 automated teller machines! , self-se! rvice terminals and customer service centers, alongside e-banking and mobile banking. The Company�� retail clients have access to offering, including cash accounts, payments, savings and retirement solutions, investment fund products, residential mortgages, as well as life insurance and advisory services. It provides financing solutions to its corporate clients, offering access to capital markets (equity and debt capital), syndicated and structured credit, private placements, leasing and traditional financing. The Company�� transaction banking offers solutions for payments and cash management services, trade and export finance, receivable finance, as well as global custody solutions to institutional clients.

The Company competes with Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen and PostFinance.

Wealth Management Americas

Wealth Management Americas provides advice-based relationships through its financial advisors, who deliver a range of wealth management solutions. On December 31, 2011, the business division had CHF 709 billion in invested assets. Wealth Management Americas consisted of branch networks in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, with 6,967 financial advisors as of 31 December 2011. Most corporate and operational functions of the business division are located in the home office in Weehawken, New Jersey. In the United States and Puerto Rico, Wealth Management Americas operates through direct and indirect subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities and operations activities are conducted primarily through two broker-dealers, UBS Financial Services Inc. and UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico. Its banking services in the United States include those conducted through the UBS AG branches and UBS Bank USA, a federally regulated Utah bank, which provides Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured deposit accounts. It includes the domestic US business, the domestic Canadian business and international business booked in the United States.

Ca! nadian we! alth management and banking operations are conducted through UBS Bank (Canada). The Company�� include wealth accumulation and preservation, income generation and portfolio diversification. The Company�� advisors work closely with internal consultants in areas, such as wealth planning, portfolio strategy, retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income retirement and annuities, alternative investments, managed accounts, structured products, banking and lending, equities, and fixed income. It also offers lending and cash management services, such as securities-backed lending, the resource management account, FDIC-insured deposits, mortgages and credit cards. For corporate and institutional clients, it offers a range of solutions, including equity compensation, administration, investment consulting, defined benefit and contribution programs and cash management services. It offers a range of equity and fixed income instruments.

The Company competes with Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

Global Asset Management

The Company serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. The Company�� fund services unit, a global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal fund set-up, accounting and reporting. Invested assets totaled CHF 574 billion and assets under administration were CHF 375 billion on December 31, 2011. Global Asset Management serves third-party institutional and wholesale clients, and the clients of UBS�� wealth management businesses. Global Asset Management�� business lines include traditional investments (equities, fixed income and global investment solutions); alternative and quantitative investments; global real estate; infrastructure and private equity, and fund services.

Global ! investment solutions offer asset allocation, currency, multi-manager, structured solutions, risk advisory and strategic investment advisory services. Alternative and quantitative investments has two primary business lines-Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) and O��onnor. AIS offers a range of hedge fund solutions and advisory services, including multi-manager strategies. O��onnor is a provider of single-manager global hedge funds. Global real estate manages real estate investments globally and regionally within Asia, Europe, Switzerland and the United States. Infrastructure and private equity manages direct infrastructure investment and multi-manager infrastructure and private equity strategies for both institutional and high net worth investors. Infrastructure asset management manages direct investments in core infrastructure assets worldwide. Fund services, the global fund administration business, provides professional services, including legal set-up, reporting and accounting for retail and institutional investment funds, hedge funds and other alternative products.

The Company competes with Fidelity Investments, AllianceBernstein Investments, BlackRock, JP Morgan Asset Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Investment Bank

The Investment Bank provides a range of products and services in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities to corporate and institutional clients, sovereign and government bodies, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers and UBS�� wealth management clients. The Investment Bank has three business areas: equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC), and the investment banking department. The Company operates through branches and subsidiaries of UBS AG. Securities activities in the United States are conducted through UBS Securities LLC, a broker-dealer. Securities research provides investment analysis across a range of asset classes of more than 3,400 companies worldwide.

The ! Company p! articipates in the primary and secondary markets for cash equity and equity-related products, including listed options, structured products, equity-linked securities, swaps, futures and over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts. Cash equities provide clients with liquidity, investment advisory, trade execution and related consultancy services. It offers trade execution for single stocks and portfolios, including capital commitment, block trading, small-cap execution and commission management services. In addition, it also provides clients with a range of electronic trading algorithms and analytical tools. Derivatives and equity-linked provides a range of flow, structured, synthetic and equity-linked products with worldwide access to primary and secondary markets.

Prime services offer brokerage business, including clearing and custody, capital consultancy, financing, securities lending and equity swaps execution. The FICC business area delivers products and solutions to corporate, institutional and public-sector clients in all markets, as well as to private clients via targeted intermediaries. Macro consists of the foreign exchange, money market and interest rate sales and trading businesses, as well as cash and collateral trading. It provides a range of foreign exchange, precious metals, treasury, and liquidity management solutions to institutional and private clients via targeted intermediaries. Credit sales and trading consists of the origination, underwriting, trading and distribution of cash and synthetic products across the credit spectrum - bonds, derivatives, notes and loans.

The investment banking department provides advice and a range of capital markets execution services to corporate clients, financial institutions, financial sponsors, sovereign clients and hedge funds. The Company also provides liquidity in local markets across foreign exchange, credit, rates and structured products. The advisory group assists in acquisitions and sale processes, and also advises on! reviews ! and corporate restructuring solutions. Global capital markets is a joint venture with the securities business. It offers financing and advisory services that cover all forms of capital raising, as well as risk management solutions. Global leveraged finance provides event-driven (acquisition, leveraged buyout) loans, and bond and mezzanine leveraged finance to corporate clients and financial sponsors.

The Company competes with Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Telis Demos]

  UBS AG(UBSN.VX) has named a new head of its U.S. group that works on complex stock financings and investments for companies and wealthy individuals.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: PCM Fund Inc (PCM)

PCM Fund, Inc. (the Fund), formerly PIMCO Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust, Inc., is a non-diversified, closed-end bond fund. The Fund's primary investment objective is to achieve current income by investing in a portfolio comprising primarily commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). These securities are fixed-income instruments representing an interest in mortgage loans on commercial real estate properties, such as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, apartment buildings, nursing homes and industrial properties.

Capital gains from the disposition of investments are a secondary objective of the Fund. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its net assets plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes in CMBS. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) is the Fund's investment manager.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sally Jones]

  Founded in 1986 by the legendary investor Bill Miller, Private Capital Management (PCM) is now owned by portfolio manager and CEO, Gregg Powers. He is widely-known for his research skill and has been a key driver at PCM since 1988.

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: First Capital Bancorp Inc.(VA)

First Capital Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Capital Bank that offers a range of banking and related financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, professionals, and individuals in Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. The company?s deposit products include checking, individual retirement, negotiable order of withdrawal, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits of various types, ranging from daily money market accounts to longer-term certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio comprises short-to-medium term commercial loans, such as secured and unsecured loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchase of equipment and machinery; and consumer loans comprising secured and unsecured loans for financing automobiles, home improvements, education, and personal investments. The company also originates fixed and floating-rate mortgage, and real estate construction and acquisition loans. In addition, it offers safe deposi t boxes, cash management services, traveler?s checks, direct deposit of payroll and social security checks, automatic drafts for various accounts, online banking services, small and medium-sized businesses courier services, and automated teller machine services. As of May 10, 2011, the company operated seven branches. First Capital Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tiernan Ray]

  Shares of hip carrier�Virgin America (VA) are flying, up $4.15, or almost 12%, at $39.96, after underwriters of its November 14th�initial public offering were freed up to initiate coverage and responded with mostly positive notes.

  Of the eight underwriters — Barclays, Deutsche, Merrill, Cowen, Goldman, Imperial Capital, Loyal3 Securities, and Raymond James — I see five Buy-equivalent ratings today, and one Hold, from Raymond James.

  Virgin, which began its U.S. operations in 2007, generated $56 million in net income off $1.12 billion in revenue in the first nine months of this year, according to its IPO prospects. That was up from a $4 million loss last year on revenue of $1.06 billion in the same nine-month period. As of September, the company had amassed a deficit of $334 million.

  The shares have a heavy concentration of top stockholders, with the biggest chunk owned by Cyrus Aviation Holdings, at 39.9% before the IPO and an expected 33% following it; VX Holdings, with 22% pre-IPO and 25% post-IPO; and PAR Investments with 6.5%.

  Cyrus, which as recently as 2010 held as much as 55.5% of the stock, is held by�Cyrus Capital Partners, a distressed-debt fund manager. VX is the employee holding company for employee share interests in the stock.

  Imperial Capital‘s Bob McAdoo starts coverage with an Outperform rating, and a $52 price target, writing that after losing money its first six years in business, because of startup costs and the need to grab market share, Virgin changed focus last year to making money:

  The company has since�reduced or even suspended service in various underperforming markets. More recently, five of the�past six quarters have produced net profits, a trend we expect to continue given management���current focus and with recent significantly lower jet fuel prices. Later in this report, we provide more�detail regarding some of the specific steps taken to improve profitabilit

Hot Financial Stocks To Watch For 2014: Vanguard Idx Fund (VTI)

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (the Fund), formerly known as Vanguard Total Stock Market VIPERs, seeks to track the performance of an index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market. The Fund seeks to track the performance of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) US Broad Market Index (the Index), which includes large, mid and small-cap equity stocks diversified across growth and value styles.

The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach in seeking to track the Index. The Index represents 99.5% or more of the capitalization of the United States common stocks regularly traded on the New York and American Stock Exchanges, and the NASDAQ over-the-counter market. The Fund invests all, or substantially all, of its assets in a representative sample of the stocks that make up the Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Vanguard Total Stock Market (NYSEMKT: VTI  )
  In addition to having its own separate S&P 500-tracking ETF that uses the same approach as the SPDR ETF yet charges just half the expenses, Vanguard also offers its Total Stock Market ETF, which owns not just the 500 stocks in the S&P but also 2,700 more stocks that make up the MSCI US Broad Market index. The result is a small amount of exposure to small- and mid-cap stocks in addition to its core large-cap holdings. When smaller companies perform better, that gives the Vanguard ETF an advantage over SPDRs and other S&P-tracking funds, and its rock-bottom 0.05% expense ratio is about as cheap as you can get.

• [By Mark Hulbert]

  Even if you get smarter at selling, though, you can�� overcome a bad buying decision. As Odean points out, there is no evidence the average individual can pick stocks that outperform the market. That is why he recommends investing in a broad-based index fund. One of the very cheapest and most diversified is the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) �, with an expense ratio of 0.05%, or $5 per $10,000 invested.