5 Best Sliver Stocks To Watch For 2014

Don't look now, but Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT  ) is about to buy itself a bit of growth.

On Monday, the Abbott Park, Ill.-based medical products giant announced that it has agreed to buy privately held medical device-maker IDEV Technologies for $310 million, net of cash and debt. In return, it will gain IDEV's portfolio of products that include, importantly, the SUPERA Veritas self-expanding nitinol stent system, used for opening blocked blood vessels. Approved for use in Europe, SUPERA Veritas has only limited approval for use in the U.S. but is in the process of seeking FDA approval for expanded usage.

Chuck Foltz, Abbott senior vice president for vascular products, said in a statement that "the acquisition of�IDEV Technologies�will expand and complement�Abbott's existing peripheral technology portfolio of guidewires, balloon dilatation catheters, and stents, making it one of the most comprehensive and competitive portfolios in the industry."

A private company that is not required to disclose its financials, as of late last year, IDEV was not believed to be profitable. The company is on record, however, as saying it is experiencing "accelerated revenue growth." As for Abbott, IDEV's soon-to-be new parent earned $6.1 billion last year and is expected to grow earnings at close to 12% annually over the next five years.

10 Best Stocks To Buy For 2015: TASER International Inc.(TASR)

TASER International, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells electronic control devices (ECD) for use in the law enforcement, military, corrections, private security, and personal defense markets. ECDs transmit electrical pulses along the wires and into the body affecting the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system. Its products for the law enforcement, military, corrections, and professional security market include the TASER X26 product line, which consists of TASER X26, various cartridges, a digital power magazine, data download software and equipment, extended warranties, and a range of holstering options and accessories; TASER X3, a multi-shot ECD that would engage three separate targets; and ADVANCED TASER M26 product line comprising the ADVANCED TASER M26, various cartridges, rechargeable batteries, a battery charging system, data download software and equipment, extended warranties, and various holstering options and accessories. The company also provides TASER XREP, a self-contained, wireless ECD that deploys from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun; and TASER Shockwave security system for safety and stand-off capability during hostile situations. In addition, it manufactures TASER C2, TASER X26C, and ADVANCED TASER M26C devices for the personal defense market, as well as provides various cartridges and other accessories. The company sells its products worldwide through its direct sales force, distribution partners, online store, and third-party resellers. TASER International, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  On the surface, the press release in and of itself may seem benign ... almost innocuous. When you start to proverbially put two and two together, however, this morning's news from View Systems Inc. (OTCBB:VSYM) could actually be early notice that things are about to change for the young, small company. By digging deeper into the details, it becomes clear that VSYM could become in Brazil what TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ:TASR) and OSI Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSIS) have become in the United States - security icons. View Systems shareholders could be on the same bullish receiving end of things that OSIS and TASR shareholders were on when each of those companies were experiencing a growth spurt a few years back.

• [By Rich Smith]

  In its latest update on stun-gun sales, TASER International (NASDAQ: TASR  ) reported Thursday that it's booked several new orders for its eponymous stun guns.

5 Best Sliver Stocks To Watch For 2014: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  URS Corp, which competes with the likes of Fluor (FLR), Jacobs Engineering (JEC) and Tetra Tech (TTEK), said it would earn between $3.20 and $3.30 a share in 2013–the previous range had been between $4.10 and $4.25 a share–and also offered guidance for 2014 that was well below analyst forecasts. On the plus side, URS said it would buy its shares back at a faster pace than previously announced.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  If we look at the sector using Portfolio Grader, we see that many of the big names in the group like Flour (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA) and KBR incorporated (KBR) are rated ��ell.��The anticipated spending for both government and private industry simply hasn�� materialized, and the companies are not seeing revenue or profit growth.

5 Best Sliver Stocks To Watch For 2014: BMC Software Inc. (BMC)

BMC Software, Inc. develops software that provides system and service management solutions for enterprises in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Enterprise Service Management and Mainframe Service Management. The Enterprise Service Management segment offers service assurance solutions that manage availability and performance management, event management, service impact management, and capacity management; service automation solutions managing provisioning, configuration change, and compliance automation for servers, networks, applications, and databases; service support solutions, which manages service desk, incident management, service request management, problem management, asset management, service level management, change and release management, and identity management; and BMC Atrium that provides shared technologies that unify information and processes from disparate management tools, and assigns priorities to business servic es. It also offers consulting, implementation, integration, IT process design and re-engineering, and educational services related to its software products. The Mainframe Service Management segment provides mainframe data and performance management solutions that ensure the availability and reliability of the business critical data, applications, and systems; and enterprise workload automation solutions comprising CONTROL-M product line, a set of features enabling data centers to automate their complex workloads and critical business processes. The company serves manufacturers, telecommunication companies, educational institutions, retailers, distributors, hospitals, and other industries, as well as channel partners, including resellers, distributors and systems integrators directly. BMC Software, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  The next best growth by any of the top five ITOM vendors last year? BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC  ) was up a paltry 0�.9% year over year. Even IBM, the undisputed king of ITOM, grew a mere 0.8% in 2012. Granted, IBM's $3.28 billion in ITOM revenue in 2012 handily beats Microsoft's $1.48 billion, as does BMC's $1.92 billion, but the trend is clear: Microsoft is leveraging its enterprise and cloud computing customers better than its ITOM competitors.

5 Best Sliver Stocks To Watch For 2014: Viasystems Group Inc.(VIAS)

Viasystems Group, Inc. provides multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electro-mechanical solutions worldwide. The company?s products and services are used in a range of applications, including, automotive engine controls, data networking equipment, telecommunications switching equipment, complex medical, technical and industrial instruments, and flight control systems. Its PCBs products include circuitry and mounting surfaces to interconnect discrete electronic components, such as integrated circuits, capacitors, and resistors. The company?s electro-mechanical solutions comprise assembly of backplanes, assembly of printed circuit boards, fabrication of custom and standard metal enclosures, cabinets, racks, sub-racks and bus bars; systems integration; final assembly; and product testing and fulfillment. It also offers various manufacturing services consisting of design and prototyping, PCB and backpanel fabrication, backpanel assembly, PCB assembly, custom metal e nclosure fabrication, full system assembly and test, packaging and global distribution, after-sales support, and supply chain management. The company markets its products and services to original equipment manufacturers and contract electronic manufacturers in automotive, industrial and instrumentation, telecommunications, computer and data communications, and military and aerospace markets through its own sales and marketing organization, and through relationships with independent sales agents. The company was formerly known as Circo Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to Viasystems Group, Inc. in January 1997. Viasystems Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Shares of Viasystems Group (NASDAQ: VIAS) got a boost, shooting up 35.81 percent to $15.89 after TTM Technologies (NASDAQ: TTMI) announced its plans to buy Viasystems for a total value of $16.46 per share.

• [By Luke Jacobi]

  Shares of Viasystems Group (NASDAQ: VIAS) got a boost, shooting up 35 percent to $15.80 after TTM Technologies (NASDAQ: TTMI) announced its plans to buy Viasystems for a total value of $16.46 per share.

• [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 Viasystems Group (Nasdaq: VIAS  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.