Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2014

Want a way to keep your job despite underperformance? Work on a company board with uncontested elections! Without proxy access, there is very little shareholders can do to oust underperforming directors.

At Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR  ) , many shareholders are fed up with this scenario, and are pushing for the right to list alternative director nominees on the company's proxy. A shareholder proposal calling for this change won 56%�shareholder support last year. And while the proposal failed to pass this year, it still gained substantial shareholder support, with 46.7%�of shares voting for the proposal.

Investors should also note that more shares voted for the proposal than against it, and its ultimate defeat was caused by the fact that broker non-votes and abstentions were included in the final voting tally.

Shareholder shutdown
Nabors has shown an unfortunate trend of shutting down shareholders.

For example, the board has developed compensation plans that failed to receive majority shareholder support in�2011, 2012, or 2013. And don't forget that the board further embedded its power by creating a "poison pill" plan last year without shareholder approval.

Best Transportation Stocks To Invest In 2015: Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc.(OPTR)

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing hospital specialty products worldwide. It develops products that treat gastrointestinal infections and related diseases. The company provides two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, including Fidaxomicin, a narrow spectrum antibiotic for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-infection, which completed two Phase 3 trials; and Pruvel, a prodrug in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, has completed two Phase 3 trials for the treatment of infectious diarrhea, including traveler?s diarrhea. It also develops product candidates using its proprietary technology Optimer One-Pot Synthesis, a computer-aided technology that enables the rapid synthesis of various proprietary molecules. In addition, the company?s other pipeline product candidates consist of CEM-101 (OP-1068), a macrolide and ketolide antibiotic, which is in Phase 2 trials for the treatment of upper and lower respiratory tract infections; and OPT-822/821, a novel carbohydrate-based cancer immunotherapy, is in Phase 2/3 trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. It has collaborative agreements with Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd.; Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Nippon Shinyaku, Co., Ltd.; Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and The Scripps Research Institute. Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is based in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  "Bidness" is good (part 2)
  Obagi isn't the only company for which "bidness" is good. Antibiotic maker�Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR  ) shares soared 22% this week on talk of interest by multiple potential buyers.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2014: Universal Display Corporation(PANL)

Universal Display Corporation engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in flat panel display, solid-state lighting, and other product applications. It owns exclusively license or has the sole right to sublicense approximately 1,400 patents issued and pending worldwide. The company licenses and supplies its proprietary UniversalPHOLED phosphorescent OLED technologies and materials to display manufacturers and others. It is also involved in the research, development, and commercialization of other OLED device and manufacturing technologies, including TOLED, which are transparent OLEDs for the fabrication of OLEDs that have transparent cathodes; FOLED that are flexible OLEDs for the fabrication of OLEDs on flexible substrates; OVPD, an organic vapor phase deposition process to deposit the layers of organic material in an OLED; UniversalP2OLED, which are printable phosphorescent OLEDs; OVJP that is an organic vapor jet printing technology; and encapsulation technology for the packaging of flexible OLEDs and other thin-film devices, as well as for use as a barrier film for plastic substrates. In addition, the company provides technology development and support services to third parties for the commercialization of their OLED products. It has strategic relationships with Samsung Mobile Display Co., Ltd.; LG Display Co., Ltd.; AU Optronics Corporation; Sony Corporation; Pioneer Corporation; Panasonic Idemitsu OLED Lighting Co., Ltd.; Tohoku Pioneer Corporation; Moser Baer Technologies, Inc.; Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.; Denko K.K.; LG Chem, Ltd.; Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.; NEC Lighting, Ltd.; Seiko Epson Corporation; and DuPont Displays, Inc. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Ewing, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Universal Display (Nasdaq: PANL  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings on May 9. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

  The 10-second takeaway
  Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Universal Display's revenues will expand 13.7% and EPS will remain in the red.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2014: Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc.(MNTA)

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, specializes in the characterization and process engineering of complex molecules. These complex molecules include proteins; polypeptides; and cell surface polysaccharides, such as heparan-sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). The company applies its technology for the development and commercialization of generic versions of complex drug products, as well as for the discovery and development of novel drugs. It offers Enoxaparin sodium injection, a generic version of Lovenox to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis, and to support the treatment of acute coronary syndromes. The company?s products also include M356, an abbreviated new drug application under FDA review, is a generic version of Copaxone for the reduction of the frequency of relapses in patients with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis; M118, which completed a Phase IIa clinical trial as an anticoagulant for acute coronary syndromes; and M402, a novel HSPG-based product candidate that is in preclinical development as a potential anti-cancer agent. It has collaboration agreements with Sandoz AG and Sandoz Inc. to develop and commercialize Enoxaparin sodium injection. The company was formerly known as Mimeon, Inc. and changed its name to Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in September 2002. Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Brumley]

  Just bear in mind this is largely an all-or-nothing bet on the drug, though PRAN stock could rally nicely leading up to its D-Day approval.

  Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA)

  Like Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) is a generic drugmaker. And also like Sagent, priced at $16.14 per share, MNTA stock is easily put into the cheap stocks category.

Top 5 Performing Stocks To Buy For 2014: Digi International Inc.(DGII)

Digi International Inc. engages in the provision of machine to machine networking products and solutions to connect, monitor, and control of local or remote physical assets by electronic means. It offers a range of embedded products, including modules, single board computers, chips, satellite communication devices, and software and development tools; and non embedded products comprising cellular products, serial servers, console servers, universal serial bus connected products, serial cards, and wireless communication adaptors. The company also provides wireless product design and development services to provide wireless networking products. In addition, it offers iDigi, a cloud-based Internet platform to connect enterprise applications to remote electronic devices. The company sells its products through a network of distributors, systems integrators, and value added resellers for a range of businesses and institutions, as well as to original equipment manufacturers primar ily in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It has strategic alliances with VMware, Ember, Freescale, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Itron, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Bell Mobility, and Rogers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap machine-to-machine (M2M) stock Elecsys Corp (NASDAQ: ESYS) jumped 8.99% yesterday and is up 254% over the past year, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock and its performance verses other small cap M2M stocks like Digi International Inc (NASDAQ: DGII), Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX) and Sierra Wireless, Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR). First of all though, I should mention that machine-to-machine (M2M) broadly refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type and this can be through any type of technology ranging from instruments to networks to applications that create connections between devices.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Basic guidelines
  In this series, I examine inventory using a simple rule of thumb: Inventory increases ought to roughly parallel revenue increases. If inventory bloats more quickly than sales grow, this might be a sign that expected sales haven't materialized. Is the current inventory situation at Digi International (Nasdaq: DGII  ) out of line? To figure that out, start by comparing the company's inventory growth to sales growth. How is Digi International doing by this quick checkup? At first glance, not so great. Trailing-12-month revenue decreased 5.8%, and inventory increased 3.2%. Comparing the latest quarter to the prior-year quarter, the story looks decent. Revenue shrank 1.7%, and inventory grew 3.2%. Over the sequential quarterly period, the trend looks healthy. Revenue grew 2.6%, and inventory grew 1.7%.