Hot Information Technology Companies To Invest In 2014

With shares of Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) trading around $13, is DELL an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Dell is a global information technology company that offers its customers a range of solutions and services delivered directly by Dell and through other distribution channels. The company operates in four segments: Large Enterprise, Public, Small and Medium Business, and Consumer. Dell serves a wide range of customers: global and national corporate businesses; educational institutions, government, health care, and law enforcement agencies; small and medium-sized businesses; and end users. Through its four segments, Dell is able to provide information technology products to a growing user base around the world. As economies continue to develop, look for a company like Dell to provide important technology products for years to come.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Dell stock has not done so well as rumors that the company may be taken private continue to rise. The stock is currently struggling as it is part of a range extending back to the beginning of the year. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Dell is trading between its key averages which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

Top 10 Cheapest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP)

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index (the Index). The Index includes companies that are primarily involved in the development and production of consumer products that cover food and drug retailing, beverages, food products, tobacco, household products and personal products.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing investment approach to invest in a portfolio of stocks that seek to replicate the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  4. Cyclical stocks outperform defensive stocks – This puts consumer discretionary, energy, financials, industrials, technology and materials all doing better than consumer staples, healthcare, telecom, and utilities. Doll also prefers a free cash flow yield to dividend yield and dividend growth over dividend yield.

  ETF Recommendation(s): Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF), Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK), Market Vectors Oil Services ETF (NYSEArca: OIH)… Avoid Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLP) and Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU).

  5. Dividends, stock buy-backs, capex, and M&A all increase at a double-digit rate – This is led by a lot of cash flow, underleveraged balance sheets, and possible great places to use cash. The argument for higher cap-ex is as follows: “Pent-up demand and aging of plant, equipment and technology argue for increases in those key areas.”

• [By Markos Kaminis]

  Capital flows into equity funds have mostly found safe bets this year, with consumer staples, utilities and healthcare shares doing well. You can see this in the charts of the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU), Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV).

Hot Information Technology Companies To Invest In 2014: Fiserv Inc.(FISV)

Fiserv, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide various financial services technology solutions. Its solutions include electronic commerce systems and services, such as transaction processing, electronic bill payment and presentment, business process outsourcing, document distribution services, and software and systems solutions. The company operates in two segments, Payments and Industry Products, and Financial Institution Services. The Payments and Industry Products segment provides electronic bill payment and presentment services, and debit and other card-based payment products and services to meet the electronic transaction processing needs of the financial services industry. It also offers Internet banking, investment account processing services for separately managed accounts, card and print personalization services, and fraud and risk management products and services. The Financial Institution Services segment provides account processing services, item processing services , loan origination and servicing products, cash management and consulting services, and other products and services that support various types of financial transactions. The company serves banks, thrifts, credit unions, investment management firms, leasing and finance companies, retailers, merchants, and government agencies. It has operations in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, India, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Poland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Fiserv, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jay Jenkins]

  For U.S. Bancorp, a fine of this magnitude is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. However, it is a harbinger for change in how regulators view third-party relationships. Banks will now have to think long and hard about outsourcing, even to reputable companies like Jack Henry and Associates (NASDAQ: JKHY  ) and Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV  ) .�

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is a leading global technology provider serving the financial services industry, driving innovation in payments, processing services, risk and compliance, customer and channel management, and business insights and optimization. The company announced last month a 10 million share buyback, which is almost 8% of the outstanding shares. The consensus price target for the stock is $100.

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Tuesday, the regional banker, which does business in 16 states throughout the American South, Midwest, and Texas, announced it's inked a deal with online banking software Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV  ) to revamp its online banking and bill-pay system to enhance the customer experience.

Hot Information Technology Companies To Invest In 2014: Ishares Trust Dow Jones Select Dividend (DVY)

iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time. The Index stocks are screened by dividend-per-share growth rate, dividend payout percentage and average daily dollar trading volume, and are selected based on dividend yield.

The Index consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts) in the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index, an index representative of the total market for United States equity securities. To be included in the Index, the securities must have had a flat to positive dividend-per-share growth rate for each of the last five years; must have an average five-year dividend payout ratio of 60% or less, and must have a minimum three-month average trading volume of 200,000 shares a day. The Index is reconstituted annually. The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Powell]

  At the minimum, your family trust should hold the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY). I also think you should consider the iShares International Select Dividend Fund (IDV) that invests in foreign companies with good payment histories.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  So if two single people each earned $200,000, they wouldn't be subject to the Obamacare tax at all. But if they got married, then $150,000 of their total income of $400,000 would get taxed, with an additional tax liability of $1,350. Similar situations with investment income could lead to a much larger marriage penalty, as the investment tax rate is more than quadruple the rate for wages.�Investors in dividend-oriented ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) , SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) , and iShares DJ Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) should therefore take care to consider tax-favored investment vehicles for their investments.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Because of low bond yields, many retirees have turned to dividend-paying stocks for yield, but by doing so, they've also increased the risk that the 4% retirement rule won't work. Dividend ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) and iShares Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) both offer yields between 3% and 4%, but the average earnings multiples of the stocks they own have gotten fairly pricey recently, trading at around 16 and 19 times earnings respectively. Even the more conservative dividend ETF Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , which looks more at historical dividend growth rather than current yield in choosing stocks, has a multiple of 16 -- higher than you'd want from the slower-growth companies that often end up being the best dividend payers.

Hot Information Technology Companies To Invest In 2014: Cosi Inc.(COSI)

Cosi, Inc. owns, operates, and franchises premium convenience dining restaurants. It offers squagels, sandwiches, hearth-baked quiches, oatmeal, salads, soups, appetizers, melts, flatbread pizzas, S?mores, fruit parfaits, wraps, and other desserts; coffees and other espresso-based beverages, seasonal fruit smoothies and specialty drinks, soft drinks, and flavored teas, as well as bottled beverages, such as still and sparkling waters. The company also sells alcoholic beverages comprising beer and wine. Its restaurants also offers catering service for the breakfast and lunch day parts, including breakfast baskets, lunch buffets, and dessert platters. As of August 26, 2011, it had 80 company-owned and 58 franchise restaurants in 17 states in the United States, the District of Columbia, and the United Arab Emirates. Cosi, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Deerfield, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Brumley]

  But Sbarro is hardly the only restaurant struggling to make ends meet right now. Indeed, there are several more that may be following in the pizza chain’s bankruptcy footsteps. In no particular order, here are five more restaurants that may be fiscally insolvent in the foreseeable future.

  Cosi (COSI)

  The sandwiches may be delicious, but the menu Cosi Inc. (COSI) offers at its 136 restaurants is increasingly irrelevant, either for price (the average ticket size is about $8.81), convenience, or both.

• [By Anna Prior]

  Cosi Inc.(COSI) named Yum Brands Inc.(YUM) veteran Scott Carlock as the chief financial officer of the struggling sandwich chain.

  Cloud-based software provider E2open Inc.'s(EOPN) loss widened in its fiscal first quarter as operating expenses continued to rise.

• [By John Udovich]

  At the end of last week, small cap sandwich stock Potbelly Corp (NASDAQ: PBPB) had a delicious surge of 120% for its IPO���meaning its probably a good idea to see whether its still worth getting in on the action plus take a look at the performance of peers�Cosi Inc (NASDAQ: COSI), Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ: PNRA) and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc (NASDAQ: BAGL) as Subway remains private. I should mention that competing with Subway in the sandwich business is a tall order as they have 40,229 restaurants in 102 countries and territories as of early September���making them the�largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator globally. However, Potbelly Corp and its peers Cosi Inc, Panera Bread Co and Einstein Noah Restaurant Group aren�� slugging it out directly with Subway.

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q1 2014 Potbelly Corp (NASDAQ: PBPB) earnings report is scheduled for after the market closes on Tuesday, May 6th, with investors and traders alike who follow either the sandwich restaurant chain stock (which debuted last October and is down some 44% for retail investors)�or who are into potential small cap peers like Cosi Inc (NASDAQ: COSI), Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc (NASDAQ: BAGL) and Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ: PNRA) should be paying attention. Aside from the Potbelly Corp earnings report, it should be said that the Q1 2014 Panera Bread Co earnings report was last Tuesday while the�Q1 2014 Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc earnings report came last Thursday and the the Q1 2014 Cosi Inc�earnings report is likely scheduled for Monday, May 12. However, Potbelly Corp has attracted a bit of attention for its potential growth trajectory as well as its�vision to be the ��eighborhood Sandwich Shop.��/p>

Hot Information Technology Companies To Invest In 2014: Lakeland Industries Inc (LAKE)

Lakeland Industries, Inc. (Lakeland), incorporated on April 30, 1986, manufactures and sells a line of safety garments and accessories for the industrial protective clothing markets. Lakeland�� product categories include limited use/disposable protective clothing, chemical protective suits, fire fighting and heat protective apparel, fire fighting and heat protective apparel, reusable woven garments, high visibility clothing and glove and sleeves. The Company�� industrial customers include integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, utilities, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, munition plants, janitorial, pharmaceutical, mortuaries and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific and medical laboratories. In addition, Lakeland supplies federal, state and local governmental agencies and departments, such as fire and law enforcement, airport crash rescue units, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control.

Limited Use/Disposable Protective Clothing

Lakeland manufactures a line of limited use/disposable protective garments, including coveralls, laboratory coats, shirts, pants, hoods, aprons, sleeves, arm guards, caps and smocks. Limited use garments can also be coated or laminated to splash protection against harmful inorganic acids, bases and other hazardous liquid and dry chemicals. Limited use garments are made from several nonwoven fabrics, which are made of spunlaced polyester, polypropylene, laminates, micropourous films and derivatives. Lakeland incorporates many seaming, heat sealing and taping techniques depending on the level of protection needed in the end uses application.

The users of these garments include integrated oil/petrochemical refineries, chemical plants and related installations, automotive manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, construction companies, coal, gas and oil power generation utilities and telephone utility companies, laboratories, mortuarie! s and governmental entities. The Company warehouses and sells its limited use/disposable garments primarily at its Decatur, Alabama and China manufacturing facilities and secondarily from warehouses in Hull, United Kingdom; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Toronto, Canada; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Moscow, Russia; Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan; Las Vegas, Nevada, and Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.

High-End Chemical Protective Suits

Lakeland manufactures and sells protective chemical suits and protective apparels from its CRFR, ChemMax 3, 4, Interceptor and other fabrics. These suits are worn by individuals on hazardous material teams and within general industry to provide protection from concentrated and lethal chemical and biological toxins, such as toxic wastes at super fund sites, toxic chemical spills or biological discharges, chemical or biological warfare weapons and chemicals and petro-chemicals present during the cleaning of refineries and nuclear facilities.

Lakeland has also introduced two garments approved by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) for varying levels of protection, which include Interceptor, two multilayer films laminated on either side of durable nonwoven substrate, and ChemMax 4 is a multilayer barrier film laminated to a durable nonwoven substrate. Lakeland manufactures chemical protective clothing at its facilities in Decatur, Alabama, Mexico and China. Using fabrics, such as ChemMax 1, ChemMax 2, ChemMax 3, ChemMax 4 and Interceptor, Lakeland designs, cut, glue and /or sews the materials to meet customer purchase orders.

Fire Fighting and Heat Protective Apparel

The Company manufactures a line of products to protect individuals who work in heat environments. Lakeland's heat protective aluminized fire suit product lines include kiln entry suit, proximity suits and approach suits. Lakeland manufactures fire fighter protective apparel for domestic and foreign fires departments. Lakeland developed the 32-! inch coat! high back bib style (Battalion) bunker gear.

Gloves and Sleeve Products

The Company manufactures and sell glove and sleeve protective products made from Kevlar, a cut and heats resistant fiber produced by DuPont; Spectra, a cut resistant fiber made by Honeywell and its engineered yarns. Lakeland manufactures these string knit gloves primarily at its Mexican facility.

Reusable Woven Garments

Lakeland manufactures and markets a line of reusable and washable woven garments. The Company's product lines include electrostatic dissipative apparel, clean room apparel, flame resistant Nomex/FR Cotton coveralls/pants/jackets and cotton and polycotton coveralls, lab coats, pants and shirts. Lakeland manufactures and sells woven cloth garments at its facilities in China, Mexico and Decatur, Alabama.

High Visibility Clothing

Lakeland Reflective manufactures and markets a line of reflective apparel. The line includes vests, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, coats, raingear, jumpsuits, hats and gloves. Lakeland's domestic vest production occurs at Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. Much of the manufacturing at this facility is focused on custom vest requirements. In addition to ANSI Reflective items, Lakeland Hi-Visibility manufactures Nomex and FR cotton garments which have reflective trim as a part of their design criteria. These garments are used in rescue operations, such as those encountered with a vehicular crash.

The Company competes with DuPont, Kimberly Clark, Ansell Edmont and Honeywell.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon] ADDvantage (AEY). How you feel about how those companies use working capital has a lot to do with whether or not you like those stocks long-term.

  Then there are companies that have increased working capital very, very fast over the last decade or so ��but they��e also increased sales at a startling clip.

  That�� Carbo.

  Let�� look at where the difference between EBITDA and operating cash flow is coming from.

  Cash flow from others as shown on GuruFocus�� 10-year financials page for Carbo ��I��l use this as a proxy for working capital changes ��was positive in only two years. And not by much. Usually, it�� been negative. Over the 10 years, that single line has added up to a negative $173 million. Wow.

  Okay. Then there�� the difference between free cash flow and owner earnings. Owner earnings as you��l remember is Warren Buffett�� calculation of what a business could pay out to owners in cash at the end of the year ��if it stopped growing. But didn�� shrink. More on that later. For now, let�� look at the difference between Carbo�� depreciation and Carbo�� spending on property, plant and equipment.

  Over the last 10 years, cap-ex has been: $546 million (or $425 million if you allow cap-ex to provide cash flow in certain years, this is a weird issue I don�� want to touch right now)

  And over the last 10 years, depreciation has been: $201.52 million

  That�� a big gap. We��e got some combination of Carbo underreporting economic depreciation by anywhere from $225 million to $350 million or so ��or we��e got Carbo investing something like $225 million to $350 million in growth.

  Which is it?

  Let�� check the growth angle first.

  Over the last 10 years, Carbo has grown total sales by just under 18% a year. Now, I happen to know their new product development record had not been so hot during the 1990s or earlier part of the 2000s. For about 15 years they spent on R&D without

• [By Heather Long]

  On the flip side, Lakeland Industries (LAKE), a maker of hazmat suits -- soared nearly 50%.

  But the tension is the market seems deeper than just Ebola or even ISIS. There's ongoing worry about how unhealthy Europe's economy is. There was little data out Monday, but more members of the Federal Reserve are starting to voice concern about what's going on around the globe.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  What is Lakeland Industries (LAKE)?

  Lakeland Industries

  I’m glad you asked. Lakeland gets more than 90% of its revenue from the manufacture and sale safety garments, and on Sept. 12, it reminded the world that it makes hazmat suits that can be used to stave off Ebola.

  With the deadly virus having finally made its way to US shores, investors are paying attention again today, sending Lakeland’s shares soaring on high volume.

  Shares of Lakeland have gained 8.6% to $7.55, well above its Sept. 12 closing price of $6.85 (though below its high of $9.40 touched on that day).

  Lakeland joins Tekmira (TKMR) and other biotech stocks as those benefiting from the Ebola scare. Let’s hope it doesn’t last.

• [By Matt Egan]

  Shares of Lakeland Industries (LAKE) popped 8% on Wednesday. The company makes protective clothing, including Hazmat suits.

  "$TKMR traders $LAKE has a product to monetize right now," Stocktwits user aaoomomo wrote.