Top 5 Japanese Companies To Watch For 2014

Ford's hot-selling Fusion Hybrid has stolen lots of sales from Toyota in 2013. But now Ford's factory is struggling to keep up with demand, and that could cost the Blue Oval. Photo credit: Ford Motor.

Ford (NYSE: F  ) has had a solid lead over Toyota (NYSE: TM  ) in the U.S. market for some time now, and it has gained market share at Toyota's expense in 2013. But July's sales numbers included a surprise: Toyota nearly closed the gap for the first time in ages.

How did that happen? There are a few different factors at work, ranging from Toyota's aggressive moves to reverse its decline in U.S. market share to Ford's ongoing struggles to make enough of its hot products to meet demand. So was July a fluke, or is Toyota about to surge past Ford? In this video, Fool contributor John Rosevear digs into the numbers and gives his take on Ford's prospects for staying ahead of its biggest Japanese rival in the coming months.

Best Consumer Service Stocks To Own Right Now: Bellway PLC (BWY)

Bellway p.l.c. is a United Kingdom-based holding company, owning subsidiary undertakings, which is engaged principally in housebuilding in the United Kingdom. The Company�� subsidiaries include Bellway Homes Limited, Bellway Properties Limited, Bellway (Services) Limited, Litrose Investments Limited, Bellway Financial Services Limited, Bellway Housing Trust Limited and The Victoria Dock Company Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Bellway Plc (BWY) added 1.4 percent after the homebuilder said reservations in the past four months rose 31 percent as buyers had greater access to mortgages. Elan (ELN) Corp. jumped to a 10-month high in Dublin after Royalty Pharma increased its offer for the Irish drugmaker to as much as $6.7 billion. BT Group increased 3.7 percent as Barclays Plc recommended investors buy shares of the U.K.�� largest fixed-line company.

Top 5 Japanese Companies To Watch For 2014: SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA)

Diamonds Trust, Series 1 (the Trust) is a unit investment trust. The Trust was created to provide investors with the opportunity to purchase units of beneficial interest in the Trust representing proportionate undivided interests in the portfolio of securities consisting of substantially all of the component common stocks, which comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the DJIA). The Trust�� objective is to provide investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the DJIA.

The Trust's holdings consist of the 30 stocks in the DJIA, which is designed to capture the price performance of 30 United States blue-chip stocks. The Trust ended its fiscal year on October 31, 2007, with a 12-month return of 17.72% on net asset value as compared to the DJIA return of 17.94%. As of October 31, 2007, some of the Trust�� investments included 3M Co., Alcoa, Inc., Altria Group, Inc., American Express Co., American International Group, Inc., AT&T, Inc., Boeing Co., Caterpillar, Inc., Citigroup, Inc. and Coca-Cola Co.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markos Kaminis]

  The government Friday reported that the unemployment rate was 7.6% in May, but I dispute that for two critical reasons. When incorporating underemployed Americans into the count, and when accounting for the 7.26 million Americans I estimate are missing from the labor force count due to their very long-term joblessness, the real unemployment rate could be as high as 17.6%, and is probably at least 11.7%. Thus, the economy is not as healthy as one might hope based on the government's account. It is also greatly dependent on the Federal Reserve's synthetic aid and is highly vulnerable in its current state. So, considering this, I have to wonder if America understood the current state of affairs, would the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) and the PowerShares QQQ (QQQ) each be up in the mid-teens year to date?

• [By Editor , ETFChannel.com]

  According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, CAT makes up 3.78% of the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) which is trading lower by about 0.7% on the day Friday.

• [By Markos Kaminis]

  The Fed Chairman handled the questions well enough, indicating that one theorized future action would not mean that a series of tapering operations would follow. In other words, if the Fed were to stop its purchases in the treasury market, it might not mean it would do the same in the mortgage-backed securities market, and it certainly did not mean the Fed would be raising interest rates anytime soon. After all, deflation is the current issue of concern, not inflation. But the meeting minutes showed some discussion among the members about monetary policy, which is (surprisingly it seems to the market) what they discuss at these meetings. I suppose out of boredom or perhaps the duties of the job, somebody always has to bring up change and the prospect of raising rates. Woe, said the market; we do not want any of that! It drove turbulence in the performance of the broader indexes and the ETFs that mimic them, with the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) and the PowerShares QQQ (QQQ) each turning downward since the May 22nd events.

Top 5 Japanese Companies To Watch For 2014: Bell AG (BELL)

Bell AG is a Switzerland-based company that is primarily engaged in the production and distribution of meat. The Company has seven product groups. The Fresh Meat product group is involved in the supply of self-service meat products for the retail trade and products for the restaurant trade, as well as Vaudois specialties. The Charcuterie (own and purchased) product groups offer ready-cooked products, both under the Bell brand and under a number of customers' own brands. The Poultry product group offers various poultry products, as well as specialty meats, such as rabbit, game, ostrich and kangaroo. The Convenience product group offers ready-cooked seasonal convenience products, such as domestic and imported fish. Within the Seafood product group, the Company offers fresh and frozen seafood. Bell AG�� brands include Abraham, Zimbo and Polette, among others. The Company operates subsidiaries in Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Hungary and other countries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tannor Pilatzke]

  Investment ideas are scarce and hard to come by at times. People constantly ask me about companies they work for (Bell) or businesses they purchase a lot of product from (P&G or Coca-Cola), and what I think about the prospects/valuation. When it is not the blue chips in the limelight it certainly is the Netflix��,Tesla's, 3-D printing, and other companies I would classify as speculative. It is not that I am a Grinch, but I do not like giving out investment ideas. Rather, I attempt to give lessons. As Maimonides said, ��ive a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.��/p>

Top 5 Japanese Companies To Watch For 2014: Digital Realty Trust Inc.(DLR)

Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), through its controlling interest in Digital Realty Trust, L.P., engages in the ownership, acquisition, development, redevelopment, and management of technology-related real estate. It focuses on strategically located properties containing applications and operations critical to the day-to-day operations of technology industry tenants and corporate enterprise datacenter users, including the information technology departments of Fortune 1000 companies, and financial services companies. The company?s property portfolio consists of Internet gateway properties, corporate datacenter properties, technology manufacturing properties, and regional or national offices of technology companies. As of December 31, 2008, Digital Realty?s portfolio consisted of 75 properties, including 62 located in North America and 13 located in Europe. Digital Realty Trust has elected to be treated as a REIT for federal income tax purpo ses and would not be subject to income tax, if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California with additional offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Northern Virginia, and Phoenix, as well as in Dublin, London, and Paris.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Editor , Dividend Growth Investor]

  The following three dividend growth stocks have managed to defy skeptics expectations, and prove them wrong, time and again. The companies are Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) and PepsiCo (PEP).