Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014

Relevant section begins at 12:05

In this segment of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson tells investors what they should be watching as more banks report second-quarter earnings over the next several weeks.

Matt and David discuss why some regional banks may experience some major balance sheet damage.

Watching for buying opportunities
Many investors are terrified about investing in big banking stocks after the crash, but the sector has one notable standout. In a sea of mismanaged and dangerous peers, it rises above as "The Only Big Bank Built to Last." You can uncover the top pick that one of the world's greatest investor loves in The Motley Fool's�new report. It's free, so�click here to access it now.

To follow the Fool's coverage of financial stocks,�click here!

You can follow�David�and�Matt�on Twitter.

Top 5 Integrated Utility Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Williams-Sonoma Inc.(WSM)

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of home products. It offers culinary and serving equipment, including cookware, cookbooks, cutlery, informal dinnerware, glassware, table linens, specialty foods, and cooking ingredients; and bridal and gift items under the Williams-Sonoma brand name. The company also provides home furnishing categories, including furniture, textiles, decorative accessories, lighting, and tabletop items under the West Elm brand name; bed and bath products under the Pottery Barn brand name; and children?s furnishings and accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand name. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. sells its home products through four retail store concepts, which include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm; six direct-mail catalogs that comprise Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed and Bath, PBteen, and West Elm; and six e-commerce Websites, which consist of williams-sonoma.com, potte rybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com, pbteen.com, westelm.com, and wshome.com. As of January 30, 2011, it operated 592 stores, including 260 Williams-Sonoma, 193 Pottery Barn, 85 Pottery Barn Kids, 36 West Elm, and 18 outlet stores located in 44 states of the United States; Washington, D.C.; Canada; and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  It took four days, but Dow 16,000 finally stuck until the close, with the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) finishing the day up 109 points. Particularly strong showings from the financial contingent of the Dow 30 pushed the average up, but their gains were small compared to the larger jumps that Sprint (NYSE: S  ) , Textura (NYSE: TXTR  ) , and Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM  ) saw. Let's look at why these three companies did so well today, to see if we can draw hints about other potential winners down the road.

• [By Chris Hill]

  In this installment, Motley Fool One analyst Jason Moser explains why he's watching Joy Global (NYSE: JOY  ) . And Motley Fool Asset Management's Tim Hanson explains why he's watching Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM  ) .

• [By Sue Chang]

  After Wednesday�� closing bell, Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM) �reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings of $1.38 a share and announced an increase in quarterly dividend to 33 cents a share from 31 cents a share. Shares of Williams-Sonoma rose more than 6% in after-hours trading.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014: Cannabusiness Group Inc (CBGI)

Cannabusiness Group Inc, formerly Muscle Warfare International Inc, incorporated on June 24, 2005, focuses to research, evaluate, and acquire profitable private firms in the business segments of entertainment, technology, medical, energy, and business services for the benefit of its shareholders. The Company's subsidiaries include American West Baseball League and Elite Representation Associates. In April 2013, it announced acquiring 100% of Muscle Warfare, Inc. In July 2013, the Company announced the acquisition of a company that develops, manufactures, and markets sports nutrition products for athletes around the world in all sports, including both professional and amateur enthusiasts.

Elite Representation Associates is an athlete/coach management and marketing agency. The American West Baseball League is a professional, independent baseball organization located primarily in the Southwest United States. It operates in cities not served by major or minor league baseball team.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Burrows]

  From questions regarding the accuracy of publicly-available information about these companies��operations to potential illegal activity, these marijuana stocks have incurred the wrath of federal regulators for good reason:

  GrowLife (PHOT) FusionPharm (FSPM) CannaBusiness Group (CBGI) Advanced Cannabis Solutions (CANN) Petrotech Oil and Gas (PTOG) Marijuana Stocks Asking for Trouble

  But it doesn’t end there. Investors should run away from all OTC marijuana stocks, including Medical Marijuana (MJNA), Cannabis Science (CBIS), CannaVest (CANV), MediSwipe (MWIP) and GreenGro Technologies (GRNH). As the SEC warns:

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  IAMGOLD (NYSE: IAG  ) might specialize in a precious metal, but it's continuing to pay its dividend in hard currency. The company has declared its latest semi-annual distribution at $0.125 per share of its common stock.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Gilead should gain FDA approval shortly for its all-oral HPV treatment that combines Sovaldi with another drug. While the statement makes it sound like there won't be a price increase, that's not really the case. Currently, many people infected with HPV have to take Sovaldi and either Merck's (NYSE: MRK  ) Pegintron or Roche's Pegasys. The plan seems to be to price the Sovaldi combination at the current price of Sovaldi plus the price of the companion drug.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Pharmaceutical giant Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) is bound to lose a little sleep over this. The FDA sent it a complete response letter regarding its�new drug application for an investigational medicine for the treatment of insomnia,�suvorexant.

• [By John Divine]

  Health care was the worst-performing sector in the markets today, and today's Dow laggards followed that trend quite well. Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) , one of only four blue-chip decliners, lost 0.4% Tuesday, even as one of its subsidiaries won an injunction against an Indian firm. The Delhi High Court has reportedly stopped the sale of two generic diabetes drugs in the country, as the patent for the treatment was ruled to be owned by Merck subsidiary MSD.�

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014: Scorpio Tankers Inc.(STNG)

Scorpio Tankers Inc. provides marine transportation of crude oil and refined petroleum products worldwide. As of April 26, 2011, it owned one LR2 tanker, four LR1 tankers, four Handymax tankers, and one post-Panamax tanker, as well as chartered one LR1 and four Handymax product tankers. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Monaco, Monaco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG  ) reported earnings on July 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Scorpio Tankers missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG  ) reported earnings on April 29. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Scorpio Tankers missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2014: CEPHEID(CPHD)

Cepheid, a molecular diagnostics company, engages in developing, manufacturing, and marketing integrated systems for testing in the clinical market, as well as for application in legacy biothreat, industrial, and partner markets. Its systems enable molecular testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automation. The company offers GeneXpert system that integrates sample preparation in addition to DNA amplification and detection; and SmartCycler system, which integrates DNA amplification and detection to allow rapid analysis of a sample. The GeneXpert system is designed for reference laboratories, hospital central laboratories, and satellite testing locations, such as emergency departments and intensive care units within hospitals and doctors? offices. Cepheid also provides GeneXpert Infinity System for high volume testing. The company offers tests for the GeneXpert and the SmartCycler systems in the areas of healthcare associated infections, critical infectious d isease, genetics, women?s health, and oncology. These tests include U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared products, CE marked products, analyte specific reagents, and research use only tests in the clinical market. In the industrial market, it sells its SmartCycler system along with general use polymerase chain reaction reagents and reaction tubes. Cepheid sells its products its direct sales force and through third-party distributors worldwide. It has collaboration agreements with Novartis, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Life Technologies Corporation, and Northrop Grumman Corporation. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but the firm actually raised its price target to $41 (versus a $39.04 close).

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD  ) , a developer of molecular diagnostic tests for both clinical and non-clinical markets, plunged as much as 11% after the company reported its second-quarter earnings results following the closing bell last night.