Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014

In the energy world, it's never much of a surprise when an oil company picks up natural gas assets or vice versa. But a coal company getting into the oil business? Now that's a rarity. This week, Natural Resources Partners (NYSE: NRP  ) �did just that. The company announced that it's taking a working interest in some of Abraxas Petroleums (NASDAQ: AXAS  ) assets in the Bakken. While the $35 million purchase was not that large, it's a rare case where a coal company branches out into other natural resources.�

Since Natural Resources doesn't have the access to the export markets like some of the larger players in the coal market, it actually makes sense for this coal company to branch out. In this video, Fool.com contributors Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy discuss why this kind of move could make sense for some domestic coal producers.

For investors looking to capitalize on a rebound in the U.S. coal market, exports are the name of the game. Nearly every major coal company in the US is looking for precious export capacity, and Peabody Energy is no exception. With big holdings in the U.S. as well as Australia, Peabody could be a prime candidate to fuel Asian coal demand. To learn more about Peabody's overseas opportunities, don't miss out on The Motley Fool's report on Peabody -- simply click here now to claim your copy today.

Top 10 Semiconductor Companies To Buy For 2015: Axxess Unlimited Inc (AXXU)

Axxess Unlimited, Inc., incorporated on June 8, 2000, is the holding company for the Axxess family of companies. The Axxess family of companies includes both vertically-integrated operating businesses and horizontally-integrated companies with each supported by a common software technology - the Axxess RISE Platform. The Company provides next-generation business intelligence for a range of businesses and organizations. It provides information-driven business solutions through interactive marketing, interactive technologies, application and product development, customer relationship management, business intelligence, portals and collaboration, and infrastructure solutions. Its companies include Axxess Digital (AxxuD), Axxess Apps (AxxuA) and Axxess Brands (AxxuB).

Axxess Digital

AxxuD is an interactive digital agency company. The Company relies on the core logic of the Axxess Unlimited RISE platform.

Axxess Apps

AxxuA is a software development company. The focus of AxxuA includes: enterprise applications, custom applications, cloud applications and mobile applications. The Company has software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions and custom and mobile products available in the government services, automobile dealership, medical and consumer goods sectors.

Axxess Brands

AxxuB is a marketer and manufacturer of specialty brands in better-for-you and indulgent categories under a variety of Company owned and licensed brand names. AxxuB licenses brands and provides outsource management.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Even if you're one of the few reading this now, odds are good that you'd still never heard of Axxess Unlimited Inc. (OTCMKTS:AXXU) until the beginning of February. Prior to that, trading in AXXU was thin and uneventful. The evidence? Prior to February 4th, the average daily volume was less than 10,000 shares per day, and had been stuck right around the $0.20 mark since the middle of last year. Since February 4th, though, things have changed for the better. Since then, volume has been considerably stronger, and Axxess Unlimited shares have finally woken up and decided to forge ahead.

• [By CRWE]

  Last Friday, WIZD remained (0.00%) +0.000 at $.200 at the close (ref. google finance August 23, 2013 ��Close).

  Axxess Unlimited, Inc. previously reported the second quarter 2013 financial results for the period ending June 30, 2013.

  Second quarter 2013 compared to second quarter 2012 results included:

  Total Revenues up 330% to $272,775 compared to $63,392
  Gross Profit grew 1076% to $193,961 compared to loss of $19,876
  Operating Expenses were up 97% as the company continued to invest in R&D and channel rollout for Axxess products and technology.
  Operating Net Income increased 103% to $3,118 compared to loss of $116,773
  Six-month period 2013 compared to six-month period 2012 results included:

  Total Revenues up 305% to $518,485 compared to $128,161
  Gross Profit grew 1212% to $352,532 compared to $26,868
  Operating Expenses were up 80%
  Operating Net Income increased 96% to a loss of $6,551 compared to a loss of $172,982

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: Noah Holdings Ltd (NOAH)

Noah Holdings Limited, incorporated on June 29, 2007, through its subsidiaries is a service provider focusing on distributing wealth management products to the high net worth population in the People�� Republic of China (PRC). The Company provides direct access to China�� high net worth population. Noah Holdings Limited is a holding company and it operates its business through its PRC subsidiary, Shanghai Noah Rongyao Investment Consulting Co., Ltd (Noah Rongyao), its variable interest entity, Shanghai Noah Investment Management Co., Ltd (Noah Investment), and their respective subsidiaries in China. While Noah Rongyao conducts most of the Company�� businesses, it conducts its insurance brokerage business through Noah Investment and its subsidiaries. Its products choices consist of over-the-counter (OTC) products originated in China and designed to cater to the needs of high net worth population.

With over 300 relationship managers in 28 branch offices, the Company�� coverage network encompasses China�� economically developed regions where high net worth population is concentrated, including the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Rim. Through this coverage network, it serves high net worth individuals, enterprises affiliated with high net worth individuals and wholesale clients, primarily local commercial banks or branches of national commercial banks, which distribute wealth management products to their own clients. Its registered clients were 12,353 as of June 30, 2010. The number of its active clients was 779 as of June 30, 2010. Noah Holdings Limited distributes OTC, wealth management products originated in China. Its product choices primarily include fixed income products, private equity funds and securities investment funds.

Noah Holdings Limited markets and distributes various categories of products supplied by third party product providers, which include fixed income products, mainly including collateralized fixed income products sponso! red by trust companies and other products that provide investors with fixed rates of return; private equity funds products, including investments in private equity funds sponsored by domestic and internal fund management firms; securities investment funds, which are privately raised funds investing in publicly traded stocks, and investment-linked insurance products. It generates revenues primarily from one-time commissions and recurring service fees paid by third-party product providers or, for the majority of fixed income products, by the underlying corporate borrowers. Its one-time commissions accounted for 78.6% of its net revenues during the year ended December 31, 2009, and its recurring service fees accounted for 21.4% of its net revenues in 2009.

The Company competes with China Merchants Bank, China Minsheng Bank and China Everbright Bank.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Belinda Cao]

  Noah Holdings Ltd. (NOAH), a Chinese wealth-management company, jumped to the highest level in more than two years in New York after raising its 2013 profit estimate.

• [By John Udovich]

  While America�� middle class appears to be shrinking with little upward mobility, small cap wealth management stocks Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) and A.F.P Provida SA (NYSE: PVD)�plus larger cap Affiliated Managers Group, Inc (NYSE: AMG) are managing money in places where the ranks of the middle class and the wealthy are still growing strong. Specifically, Noah Holdings Limited is based in China, Chile based A.F.P Provida SA is spreading its footprint into other Latin American countries and the�Affiliated Managers Group is growing�a global footprint. For those reasons, you have probably not heard of these wealth management stocks, but here are some reasons why you might want to consider investing in one:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) is up 5.6% at $123.52 after accepting a $10.4 billion buyout offer from Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN). Chinese wealth management firm Noah Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NOAH) is down 16.6% at $13.76 following an analyst downgrade on worries about the company�� recurring revenues.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Noah (NOAH) is a service provider focusing on distributing wealth management products to the high-net-worth population in the People's Republic of China. This stock closed up 7.7% to $12.64 in Friday's trading session

  Friday's Volume: 357,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 207,430
  
  Volume % Change: 120%

  From a technical perspective, NOAH ripped higher here right above its 50-day moving average of $11.37 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of NOAH within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if NOAH manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $12.77 to $12.98 with high volume. At last check, NOAH hit an intraday high on Friday of $12.98 and volume was well above its three-month average action of 207,430 shares.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NOAH as long as it's trending above its 50-day at $11.37 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 207,430 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then NOAH will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $14.64. Any high-volume move above $14.64 will then push NOAH into new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that move are $18 to $20.

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: Universal Corporation(UVV)

Universal Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a leaf tobacco merchant and processor worldwide. It engages in selecting, procuring, buying, processing, packing, storing, supplying, shipping, and financing leaf tobacco for sale to, or for the account of, manufacturers of consumer tobacco products. The company processes and/or sells flue-cured and burley tobaccos, dark air-cured tobaccos, and oriental tobaccos; and provides value-added services, including blending, chemical and physical testing of tobacco, just-in-time inventory management, and manufacturing reconstituted sheet tobacco. Its flue-cured, burley, and oriental tobaccos are used principally in the manufacture of cigarettes; and dark air-cured tobaccos are used in the manufacture of cigars, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco products. The company was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  This isn�� some massive utility service generation billions. As dividend stocks go, it’s a nice, simple business that makes a few million in free cash flow every year and distributes most of it to shareholders as a 3.7% yield … and has been doing so for 41 years.

  Universal Corporation (UVV)

  Dividend yield: 3.9%

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  Universal Corp (NYSE: UVV  ) has paid out and raised its dividend for 41 consecutive years. This puts the company in an elite club of dividend aristocrats.�Aside from Altria (NYSE: MO  ) , which has been paying and increasing its payout for 43 years, Universal actually has the longest dividend history of any company within the tobacco sector.

• [By Ali Berri]

  In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.09 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Medifast (NYSE: MED), down 9.6 percent, and Universal (NYSE: UVV), off 3.9 percent.

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: Legacy Oil + Gas Inc (LEGPF.PK)

Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. (Legacy) is engaged in exploration, exploitation and development drilling for oil and natural gas reserves. Legacy's wholly owned subsidiary, Legacy Oil & Gas ND, Inc., holds properties and operates in the State of North Dakota. Its Southeast Saskatchewan properties are located in an area ranging from approximately 130 to 290 kilometers southeast of the city of Regina, Saskatchewan. Legacy has an average working interest of approximately 75% in 24,576 gross (18,647 net) acres of undeveloped land at Taylorton. It has an average working interest of approximately 70% in 32,959 gross (22,938 net) acres of undeveloped land in the Viewfield Bakken play with properties at Stoughton, Heward and Star Valley. On January 1, 2011, it amalgamated with its wholly owned subsidiaries Legacy VRI Ltd. and Legacy TV Ltd. In April 2013, it closed the acquisition of Villanova Oil Corp. (Villanova) and the acquisition of light oil assets. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Value Digger]

  To open up new Cardium opportunities, Manitok is also expanding to the Southern Alberta Foothills, where it plans to drill the first well of the farm-in with Legacy Oil & Gas (LEGPF.PK) before year end. Legacy Oil has a 99% average working interest in the Farm-in Lands prior to Manitok earning. Manitok will pay 100% of the cost to drill, complete and equip one horizontal Cardium oil well in order to earn 70% of Legacy's working interest, in a small block of land within the Farm-in Lands. If Manitok drills, completes and equips 3 horizontal Cardium oil wells at 100% of the cost, it will earn the entire 70% of working interest in Legacy's Farm-in Lands.

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: Gruppa LSR OAO (LSRG)

Gruppa LSR OAO (LSR Group OJSC) is a Russia-based company involved in the real estate development and construction. It is also engaged in the production of various building materials, such as ceramic bricks, crushed granite, concrete and reinforced concrete products, ready-mix concrete and aerated concrete segments. The Company�� services comprise the development of residential, office and commercial buildings, as well as tower cranes and hoisting machinery services for use in real estate construction. It is also involved in the investment operations. Gruppa LSR OAO acts as a general and sub-contractor for the Russian Federation Government, Saint Petersburg Government, and as a general and sub-contractor for other developers, among pile-driving services. The Company operates through numerous subsidiaries located domestically, as well as one representative office in Moscow. In December 2013, it acquired a 100 % stake in OOO Gazstroy, an owner of Ryabovsky brick plant. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zahra Hankir]

  Russian stocks declined to the lowest level in a month as builder LSR Group (LSRG) and power company OAO Inter RAO UES dropped after MSCI Inc. cut them from an index tracked by investors. The Borsa Istanbul National 100 Index tumbled 2.5 percent, the most in two months, as Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS led losses in lenders. Benchmark gauges in the Czech Republic and Poland retreated at least 0.7 percent.

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: Susser Holdings Corporation(SUSS)

Susser Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company operates in two segments, Retail and Wholesale. The Retail segment operates convenience stores that offer merchandise, food service, and motor fuel, as well as provides other services, including car washes, lottery, ATM, money orders, prepaid phone cards and wireless services, and movie rentals. As of January 1, 2012, it operated 541 convenience stores under the Stripes brand name. The Wholesale segment distributes motor fuel to its retail convenience stores, contracted independent operators of convenience stores, unbranded convenience stores, unattended fueling facilities, and other end users in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The company also offers environmental, maintenance, and construction management services to the petroleum industry; and sells and installs motor fuel dispensers and tanks, as well as provides a range of environmental consulting services, such as hydrocarbon remediation, and Phase I and II site assessments for its stores and outside customers. Susser Holdings Corporation is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Susser Holdings (NYSE: SUSS) shares rose 36.54% to $77.87. The volume of Susser Holdings shares traded was 1198% higher than normal. Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) announced its plans to acquire Susser Holdings in a deal valued at around $1.8 billion.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Susser Holdings (NYSE: SUSS) shares shot up 36.36 percent to $77.76 after Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) announced its plans to acquire Susser Holdings in a deal valued at around $1.8 billion.

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  For one thing, I can�� tell a great oil company from a not so great oil company. I can�� evaluate the company�� culture, management, etc. There was no way I was ever going to answer questions like that. But I can easily split Murphy�� U.S. retail business from its other operations. And I can compare that part of the company to other public companies like Pantry (PTRY) and Susser (SUSS). I can also ��this is much harder ��look at Murphy�� reserves and compare them to other oil companies��reserves. The SEC now requires a standardized way of reporting discounted net cash flows for all oil companies. So, there�� certainly a specific number available for every company. Whether it�� a very good number or not depends on the assumptions the method uses.

Top 10 Asian Companies To Watch For 2014: HTC Corp (HTCCY)

HTC Corporation is principally engaged in the research, development and manufacturing of smart handheld devices. The Company provides touch phones, personal digital assistant (PDA) phones, smart phones, Android smart phones, Windows OS smart phones and panel computers, among others. The Company offers its products under the brand name of HTC, including HTC Butterfly series, Desire series, HTC One series, HTC Sensation series, HTC Explorer series, HTC Rhyme series, as well as HTC Radar series, among others. The Company distributes its products within domestic market and to overseas markets. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Sun]

  In response,�Xiaomi president Bin Lin told China News Service that "one can only judge Xiaomi's gadgets after he or she has used them." Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's VP of international markets, added that the "iPhone 6 is using design language that HTC (NASDAQOTH: HTCCY  ) has had for five years" in an interview with the Economic Times. Barra also stated that Apple and Ive could not "claim full ownership" to design languages used across the smartphone industry.

• [By Leo Sun]

  Those problems are commonly attributed to sluggish demand in developed markets and aggressive competition from cheaper Chinese companies, but many investors don't notice another huge problem Samsung, Sony (NYSE: SNE  ) , and HTC (NASDAQOTH: HTCCY  ) �all face:�in-house fragmentation. These three companies have launched so many versions of their respective Galaxy, Xperia, and One phones that it becomes difficult�to track them all.