Top Asian Stocks To Buy For 2014

Here are 10 things you should know for Friday, Feb. 7:  

1.-- U.S. stock futures were pointing to gain on Wall Street ahead of January nonfarm payrolls data.

European stocks were higher. Asian shares ended the session with gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged 2.2%.

2.-- The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday includes the nonfarm payrolls report for January at 8:30 a.m. EST, and consumer credit for December at 3 p.m.

3.-- U.S. stocks on Thursday rose as jobless claims came in lower than expected, suggesting the labor situation was improving despite recent data weakness in other sectors. The S&P 500 closed up 1.24% to 1,773.43, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.22% -- its first close up 1% this year -- to 15,628.46. The Nasdaq increased 1.14% to 4,057.12.

Top 5 US Companies To Invest In Right Now: Zalicus Inc.(ZLCS)

Zalicus Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of drug candidates focusing on the treatment of pain and inflammation. The company?s clinical and preclinical product candidates for pain and inflammatory diseases include Synavive, a glucocorticoid product candidate, which is in Phase 2b clinical development for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis; Z160, an N-type calcium channel blocker for chronic pain; Z944, a T-type calcium channel blocker to treat acute or chronic inflammatory pain; and N-type and T-type calcium and sodium channel blockers for the treatment of chronic pain. It has a research collaboration and license agreement with the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research; collaboration agreement with Mallinckrodt Inc., Fovea Pharmaceuticals SA, and Amgen Inc; and a cooperative research and development agreement with the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. The company was formerly known as C ombinatoRx, Incorporated and changed its name to Zalicus Inc. in September 2010. Zalicus Inc. was founded in 2000 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's fun to be right, especially when it comes to picking stocks. Sometimes though, you can be a little too right, too fast, forcing a change in the game plan. Well, the good news/bad news is, I was too right, too fast with Zalicus Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLCS). Back on August 30th I pegged ZLCS as a buy-worthy trade, when it was trading at $0.71. It hit a peak of $0.93. That's a move of 31% in just two trading days. Though the gain has since been whittled down to 'only' 17% thanks to the retreat to the current price of $0.834, shares are still overbought, and I still have to advocate selling your short-term trade on the position.

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, shares of small cap pain stock�Zalicus Inc (NASDAQ: ZLCS) caused�recent investors some extreme plain�when shares plunged 72.28% (but�are still up 100% since the start of the year) after drug candidate Z160 failed two mid-stage clinical trials���meaning�its probably time to take an objective look at what to do with this stock (as it intends to�focus on its pain treatment Z944) plus take a look at the performance of biotech industry benchmarks like the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI).

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  To say that Zalicus Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLCS) has been all over the map of late is an understatement. From a low of $0.48 in late July to a high of $0.82 by early August to a low of $0.56 again by the middle of the month, ZLCS has been too erratic for most traders to take a swing it. As they say though, that was then and this is now. All the volatility kinks appear to have been worked out, and now that the dust has settled we can see new bullishness emerging.... and this time, it should last as while.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Against my better judgment, I'm going to go ahead and chime in on Zalicus Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLCS) again today. I say it's against my better judgment, because the last two times I opined about the near-term future of ZLCS, I caught some flack (despite the fact that the two takes were diametrical opposites of one another). So, I'm sure some members of at least one of those groups is still lingering out there, ready to pounce when I suggest something that doesn't jive with their views on Zalicus. That's ok though. Opposing viewpoints are how we broaden our horizon.

Top Asian Stocks To Buy For 2014: Knight Transportation Inc (KNX)

Knight Transportation, Inc. (Knight), incorporated on August 31, 1989, is a provider of multiple truckload transportation services, which generally involve the movement of full trailer or container loads of freight from origin to destination for a single customer. The Company is a provider of multiple truckload transportation services with a nationwide network of service centers through which it operates one of the tractor fleets. In addition to its own fleet, the Company also partners with third-party equipment providers to provide truckload capacity and a broad range of solutions to truckload shippers. The Company has five operating segments comprised of three asset-based operating segments: dry van truckload, temperature-controlled truckload and port services and two non-asset-based operating segments brokerage and intermodal services. Through its asset-based and non-asset-based capabilities the Company is able to transport, or can arrange for the transportation of, general commodities for customers throughout the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico.

The Company's asset-based businesses generally include dry van truckload, refrigerated truckload, dedicated truckload, and drayage services. Its non-asset-based services generally include rail intermodal and truckload brokerage services. However, within its asset-based services, the use of independent contractors to provide tractors lowers the capital investment in its dry van and refrigerated operations. In addition, drayage operations generally involve less expensive tractors with longer lives and do not require a investment in trailering equipment. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 3,627 company-owned tractors with an average age of 1.9 years. It also had under contract 507 tractors owned and operated by independent contractors. Its trailer fleet consisted of 9,564 53-foot long trailers with an average age of 5.5 years and includes 1,092 temperature-controlled trailers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Swift Transportation (NYSE: SWFT  ) , for example, delivered a 4% increase in revenue this past quarter in spite of having fewer trucks in service. The company was able to realize better utilization of its existing fleet and actually saw fuel prices fall from the previous year. The results were even more robust for Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX  ) , whose shareholders saw revenue rise by 7% as the company grew from the year-ago quarter for the 14th straight time and delivered growth from each of its business segments.

• [By Victor Nguyen]

  A report released Thursday morning, Citigroup analyst Christian Wetherbee upgrades Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) to BUY from NEUTRAL, increasing price target from $17 to $22.

Top Asian Stocks To Buy For 2014: Winning Brands Corp (WNBD)

Winning Brands Corporation is a manufacturer of cleaning solutions. The Company offers products in three markets: Consumer, Industrial and Commercial. Its Consumer products include 1000+ Stain Remover; KIND Laundry Detergent; KIND Fabric Softener; KIND Laundry Stain Remover, and CLEAN1 All Purpose. Its Industrial products include TrackMoist Dust Suppressant, and ReGuard-4 Equipment Cleaning for Emergency Responders. Its Commercial products include Professional Wet Cleaning Solutions. The Company owns 100% interests in Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd.

The consumer products are offered for sale through stores in various sectors, such as hardware, paint, convenience, and grocery. The industrial products are targeted for sale through professional property maintenance personnel in the case of TrackMoist and distributors to fire-fighting organizations in the case of ReGuard-4. The commercial products are for use by businesses in their line of work to generate a finished product, with an emphasis on the dry-cleaning sector, such as on cruise ships to perform cleaning of Dry Clean Only garments in substitution of the solvent perchloroethylene (Perc).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Beamz Interactive Inc (OTCBB: BZIC), EHouse Global (OTCBB: EHOS) and Winning Brands Corporation (OTCMKTS: WNBD) were all heading in different directions at the end of last week with the first small cap surging 49.94% while the other two sank 31.28% and 25.32%, respectively, on Friday. Moreover, all three small cap stocks are already heading in different directions again this morning. So where should investors and traders place their bets? Here is a closer look at all three small cap stocks:

Top Asian Stocks To Buy For 2014: Spdr S&P Pharmaceuticals Etf (XPH)

SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals Exchange Traded Fund (The Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before expenses, the performance of an index derived from the pharmaceuticals segment of a United States total market composite index. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index (the Pharmaceuticals Index).

The Pharmaceuticals Index represents the pharmaceuticals sub-industry portion of the S&P TMI. The S&P TMI tracks all the United States common stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDAQ) National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some pharmaceutical stocks to your portfolio, the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (NYSEMKT: XPH  ) could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.
  
  The basics
  ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The SPDR ETF's expense ratio -- its annual fee -- is a relatively low 0.35%.
  
  This ETF has trounced the world markets over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can't expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.