Top 5 Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014

Japanese shares rose, with the Topix index (TPX) capping its second weekly advance, as financial shares and exporters climbed.

Consumer lenders and brokerages advanced the most among the 33 Topix subsectors, gaining at least 1.3 percent. Electronics makers provided the biggest boost to the gauge. Sharp Corp. surged 8.4 percent on a report it will increase production of liquid-crystal display panels for smartphones. SoftBank (9984) Corp. closed at its highest in more than 13 years after activist investor Daniel Loeb�� hedge fund disclosed a $1 billion stake in the mobile carrier.

The Topix rose 0.2 percent to 1,248.57 at the close in Tokyo, after sliding as much as 0.3 percent and advancing as much as 1 percent. The measure added 0.8 percent over the past five days after climbing 5.3 percent last week. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.1 percent to 15,381.72, 1.6 percent short of its highest close this year on May 22. The yen swung between gains and losses against the dollar.

Hot Promising Stocks To Invest In 2015: Acadia Realty Trust (AKR)

Acadia Realty Trust (the Trust), incorporated on March 04, 1993, is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Trust is focused on the ownership, acquisition, redevelopment, and management of retail properties and urban/infill mixed-use properties with a retail component located primarily in barrier-to-entry, supply constrained, densely-populated metropolitan areas in the United States along the East Coast and in Chicago. Its primary objective is to acquire and manage commercial retail properties. It operates in four segments: Core Portfolio, Opportunity Funds, Notes Receivable and Other. The Trust also has private equity investments in other retail real estate related opportunities, in which it has a minority interest. As of December 31, 2012, the Trust controlled 99% of the Operating Partnership as the sole general partner. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company sold 12 of the 14 self-storage properties with two properties remaining under contract.

The Company owns a 22.2% interest in an approximately one million square foot retail portfolio (the Brandywine Portfolio) located in Wilmington, Delaware, a 49% interest in a 311,000 square foot shopping center located in White Plains, New York (Crossroads) and a 50% interest in an approximately 28,000 square foot retail portfolio located in Georgetown, Washington D.C. (the Georgetown Portfolio). These investments are accounted for under the equity method. Through Mervyns I and Mervyns II, the Company invested in a consortium to acquire Mervyns, consisting of 262 stores (REALCO) and its retail operations (OPCO), from Target Corporation.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 100 properties, which the Company owns or has an ownership interest in, within its Core Portfolio or within its Opportunity Funds. Its Core Portfolio consists of those properties either 100% owned by, or partially owned through joint venture interests by the Operating Partnership, or subsidiaries thereof, not including those properties ow! ned through its Opportunity Funds. These 100 properties primarily consist of urban/street retail, dense suburban neighborhood and community shopping centers and mixed-use properties with a retail component. The properties the Company operates are located primarily in barrier-to-entry, densely-populated metropolitan areas in the United States along the East Coast and in Chicago. There are 72 properties in its Core Portfolio totaling approximately 5.3 million square feet. Fund I has three remaining properties comprising approximately 0.1 million square feet. Fund II has six properties, four of which (representing 0.6 million square feet) are operating, one is under construction, and one is in the design phase. Fund III has 14 properties, nine of which (representing 1.7 million square feet) are operating and five of which are in the design phase. Fund IV has five properties, four of which are operating with one under design. The majority of its operating income is derived from rental revenues from these 100 properties, including recoveries from tenants, offset by operating and overhead expenses.

The Company�� Core Portfolio consists primarily of urban/street retail properties and neighborhood and community shopping centers located in barrier-to-entry supply constrained markets. As of December 31, 2012, there are 72 operating properties in Its Core Portfolio totaling approximately 5.3 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA). The Core Portfolio properties are located in 12 states and the District of Columbia and primarily consist of urban/street retail, dense suburban neighborhood and community shopping centers and mixed-use properties with a retail component. Its shopping centers are predominately anchored by supermarkets or value-oriented retail. The properties are diverse in size, ranging from approximately 3,000 to 875,000 square feet and as of December 31, 2012, were, in total, 94% occupied. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned and operated 20 properties totaling approximat! ely 2.5 m! illion square feet of GLA in its Opportunity Funds, excluding eight properties under redevelopment. In addition to shopping centers, the Opportunity Funds have invested in mixed-use properties, which generally include retail activities. The Opportunity Fund properties are located in eight states and the District of Columbia and as of December 31, 2012, were, in total, 88% occupied.

As of December 31, 2012, within its Core Portfolio and Opportunity Funds, the Company had approximately 650 leases. A majority of its rental revenues were from national retailers and consist of rents received under long-term leases. These leases generally provide for the monthly payment of fixed minimum rent and the tenants' pro-rata share of the real estate taxes, insurance, utilities and common area maintenance of the shopping centers. During the year ended December 31, 2012, certain of its leases also provide for the payment of rent based on a percentage of a tenant's gross sales in excess of a stipulated annual amount, either in addition to, or in place of, minimum rents. Minimum rents, percentage rents and expense reimbursements accounted for approximately 92% of its total revenues.

Three of its Core Portfolio properties and five of its Opportunity Fund properties are subject to long-term ground leases in which a third party owns and has leased the underlying land to the Company. The Company pays rent for the use of the land and is responsible for all costs and expenses associated with the building and improvements at all eight locations. During 2012, no individual property contributed in excess of 10% of its total revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Retail properties real estate investment trust Acadia (AKR) raised its quarterly dividend 9.5% to 23 cents per share, payable on Jan. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15.
  AKR Dividend Yield: 3.51%
  

Top 5 Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Sapient Corporation(SAPE)

Sapient Corporation helps clients to leverage marketing and technology to transform their businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: SapientNitro, Sapient Global Markets, and Sapient Government Services. The SapientNitro segment offers Web and interactive development, traditional advertising, media planning and buying, strategic planning and marketing analytics, and multi-channel commerce strategy and solutions, including a focus on mobile, and content and asset management strategies and solutions. This segment also provides integrated marketing and creative services, such as visual concept, design, and implementation through multiple media; brand building and direct response programs, audience segmentation, and profiling strategies; customer loyalty strategies; customer relationship strategy and implementation; customer lead generation and management; and integrated advertising campaigns. The Sapient Global Markets segment offers i ntegrated advisory, program management, analytics, technology, and operations services to capital and commodity markets. This segment also provides business and information technology strategy, process and system design, program management, custom development and package implementation, systems integration, and outsourced services to financial services and energy services markets. The Sapient Government Services segment offers digital marketing strategy and execution, program management, solution delivery, strategy, and communications and outreach services, as well as provides consulting, technology, and marketing services to the United States governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. The company serves financial services, technology and communications, consumer, travel, automotive, energy services, government, health, and education sectors. Sapient Corporation was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Sapient (NASDAQ:SAPE) reportedthat Alan J. Herrick, president and chief executive officer, and Joseph S. Tibbetts, Jr., senior vice president and chief financial officer, will present at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference at The Waldorf Astoria in New York on Thursday, May 31, 2012 from 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Sapient (Nasdaq: SAPE  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 5 Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: PetroChina Company Limited(PTR)

PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and tradi ng businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks inched lower early Friday, with mainland Chinese banks and energy shares among the weak spots. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) lost 0.1% to 22,824.44, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index down 0.4%, even as the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.1%. Concerns about the fiscal health of the top mainland lenders loomed again over the shares, with Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988) (BACHY) down 0.9%, Bank of Communications Co. (HK:3328) (BKFCF) 1.3% lower, and China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) off 0.7%. In the energy sector, Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883) (CEO) gave up 0.9% after posting a 17% gain in third-quarter revenue but not reporting its profit for the period. Its peers also lost ground, as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (HK:386) (SNP) and PetroChina Co. (HK:857) (PTR) fell 1% apiece. On the upside, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. (HK:762) (CHU) added 1.6% after announcing a gain of more than 50% for its quarterly profit compared to a year earlier. Rival China Mobile Ltd. (HK:941

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  2. Russia: 6041.28 quadrillion BTU
  Russia is a giant of natural gas, the national gas company Gazprom and Norway's Statoil (NYSE: STO  ) represent 40% of total natural gas imports in Europe, and that is just half of it. Back in March, Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PetroChina's (NYSE: PTR  ) �state-owned parent company to deliver 1.34 trillion cubic feet per year starting in 2018. The MOU is a long time coming -- the two countries have been working on this deal for more 15 years.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  First up is Chinese oil and gas giant PetroChina (PTR). Saying PetroChina has seen a rough 2013 is an understatement. Year-to-date, shares of the $203 billion firm have slipped more than 22% at the same time that the S&P 500 has been in rally mode. But shareholders could be in store for a reprieve this winter thanks to a bullish setup that's been forming in shares of late.

  PetroChina is currently forming an ascending triangle bottom, a trading setup that's formed by a horizontal resistance level to the upside at $118 and uptrending support below shares. Basically, as PTR bounces between those two levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above the $118 price ceiling. When that breakout happens, it's time to be a buyer.

  Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Triangles and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That $28 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers had been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers were to buy. That's what makes this week's breakout above it so significant. The move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

  If you decide to take the Pandora trade, I'd recommend keeping a protective stop at the 50-day moving average.

• [By Chris Mydlo]

  PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR) is trading at its 10-year low P/S ratio of 0.60. The company produces and sells oil and gas in China. It is held by eight gurus we follow.

Top 5 Japanese Stocks To Invest In 2014: Mint Corp (MIT)

The Mint Corporation is a vertically integrated prepaid card and payroll services provider with its own ATM network, payment processing platform and branded card product, including microcredit, mobile top up and money remittance services delivered seamlessly to workers globally. The Company operates through Mint Middle East LLC (MME), Mint Capital LLC (MCO), Mint Global Processing LLC (MGP) and Mint Electronic Payment Services LLC (MEPS). MME is a payroll card services provider facilitating an automated and secure payroll system to employers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). MGP is an integrated third party processing platform and operates as a third party transaction processor to be based in the UAE. MCO manages the microfinance product in collaboration with Mawarid Finance PJSC. MEPS was formed to operate the business assets acquired from ePAY, a division of Global Business Systems for Multimedia. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rahul Chattaraj]

  Ford Motor (F) announced on Wednesday that it would start working with two U.S. universities to initiate research for driverless cars. The carmaker has teamed up with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to work out ways to overcome ��echnical challenges��surrounding this segment.