Top Cheap Companies To Watch For 2014

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) has had a rough go of it lately, hovering just over its 52-week low of $78. The stock price is down 10% this year, and about 25% for the last 12 months. That said, Caterpillar finds itself with wide moat of competitive advantages in a cyclical industry. This, to me, is a diamond in the rough, presenting us an opportunity to buy in at a great price and await the global economic rebound to boost the stock price. The short-term headwinds it faces could be already priced into the stock -- it's trading well below its historic P/E ratio of 16 at around 9.5. Let's break it down for both short-term and long-term potential.

Short term
Caterpillar is going to face profitability headwinds in the short term and, if that's something you as an investor can't handle, Caterpillar stock isn't for you. Over the next several quarters, as the mining industry and global economy continues to slow, demand will follow for Caterpillar's equipment orders. We're likely to see the effects of that on the bottom line throughout 2013. I think the long-term potential of the company is great and, if you're a patient investor, this could be a great opportunity to snatch up a global industry leader at a cheap price.

Top 5 Airline Stocks To Own For 2015: Ford Motor Credit Company(F)

Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets cars, trucks, and parts through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. It also sells cars and trucks to dealers for sale to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. In addition, this sector provides retail customers with a range of after-sale vehicle services and products in the areas, such as maintenance and light repair, heavy repair, collision repair, vehicle accessories, and extended service contracts under the Ford Service, Lincoln Service, Ford Custom Accessories, Ford Extended Service Plan, and Motorcraft brand names. The Financial Services sector offers vari ous automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It offers retail financing, which includes retail installment contracts for new and used vehicles; direct financing leases; wholesale financing products that comprise loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; loans to dealers to finance working capital, purchase real estate dealership, and/or make improvements to dealership facilities; and other financing products, as well as provides insurance services. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Miller]

  I've long been a proponent of Ford (NYSE: F  ) , and sales show that the F-Series and its closest competitor -- the Silverado from General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) -- have long dominated sales in the U.S. market. That's a big deal, since both companies derive much of their profits in North America from the full-size pickup segment, and some analysts estimate that profits could be as large as $10,000 per truck.

Top Cheap Companies To Watch For 2014: Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.(FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. engages in the exploration, mining, and production of mineral resources. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and cobalt. It holds interests in various properties, located in North and South America; the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; and the Tenke Fungurume minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As of December 31, 2010, the company?s consolidated recoverable proven and probable reserves totaled 120.5 billion pounds of copper, 35.5 million ounces of gold, 3.39 billion pounds of molybdenum, 325.0 million ounces of silver, and 0.75 billion pounds of cobalt. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Gold and copper miner�Freeport-McMoRan� (NYSE: FCX  ) has completed its acquisition of Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE: PXP  ) and, as previously planned, the board of directors says it will pay investors a supplemental dividend of $1.00 per share that is in addition to the regular quarterly payout of $0.3125 per share.

• [By Dividend]

  Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion. The company employs 34,000 people, generates revenue of $18.010 billion and has a net income of $3.977 billion. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $6.927 billion. The EBITDA margin is 38.46 percent (the operating margin is 31.35 percent and the net profit margin 22.08 percent).

• [By David Smith]

  There's enough going on at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) , the world's biggest publicly traded copper producer, that its management undoubtedly resembles a proverbial cat in a sandbox these days. But the key question regarding the big mining -- and now oil and gas -- company is whether its shares should be bought, sold, or ignored.

Top Cheap Companies To Watch For 2014: Cloud Peak Energy Inc(CLD)

Cloud Peak Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin of the United States. It produces sub-bituminous steam coal with low sulfur content for electric utilities and industrial customers. The company owns and operates Antelope surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; the Cordero Rojo surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; and the Spring Creek surface coal mine located in Montana. It also owns a 50% interest in the Decker surface coal mine located in Montana. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 970 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Gillette, Wyoming.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The price of natural gas, however, has dropped 0.4% today, and wouldn’t you know it, coal stocks are weak. Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) has dropped 4.2% to $16.15, while Peabody Energy (BTU) has fallen 2.9% to $17.27. Arch Coal (ACI) is off 1.3% at $4.45, Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) has declined 1.4% to $5.76 and Consol Energy (CNX) has dipped 0.7% to $31.35.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Consol Energy (CNX), �which also produces natural gas, was up more than 3%, as was Cloud Peak Energy (CLD).

  The Moody’s press release, here. Coal insiders were active earlier this year, we noted here.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  During the past three months, Consol Energy (CNX) has gained 11%, Peabody Energy (BTU) has risen 3.4% and Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) has dropped just 0.8%. (Arch Coal (ACI), it should be noted, has plunged 11% during that time period.) Is this the start of a good thing?

Top Cheap Companies To Watch For 2014: The Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV)

The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Business Insurance; Financial, Professional, and International Insurance; and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers property and casualty products and services, such as commercial multi-peril, property, general liability, commercial auto, and workers? compensation insurance. It operates in six groups: Select Accounts, which serves small businesses; Commercial Accounts that serves mid-sized businesses; National Accounts, which serves large companies; Industry-Focused Underwriting that serves targeted industries; Target Risk Underwriting, which serves commercial businesses requiring specialized product underwriting, claims handling, and risk management services; and Special ized Distribution that offers products to customers through licensed wholesale, general, and program agents. The Financial, Professional, and International Insurance segment provides surety and financial liability coverage, which uses a credit-based underwriting process; and property and casualty products primarily in the United States., the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals. It distributes its products through independent agents, sponsoring organizations, joint marketing arrangements with other insurers, and direct marketing. The company was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  It would be difficult to find a significant negative for Travelers. One could argue that competition is increasing, but competition seems to be increasing in every industry due to unusual economic conditions. It’s difficult�to see the real long-term winners when times are good because everyone is winning. When times are more challenging, the true winners will remain strong. Travelers is likely to fit into that category.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, Travelers (NYSE: TRV  ) has climbed 1.3%. Insurance companies generally cheered the dissipation of Tropical Storm Chantal to a "tropical wave" this week, as the threat of yet another costly hurricane hitting insurers' net income represents the most unpredictable aspect of investing in insurer stocks. More importantly, though, rising bond yields have raised the ability of Travelers and its peers to generate greater income from their investment portfolios without taking on undue risk. The resulting increase in investment proceeds should fall straight to the bottom line as profit, helping Travelers make the most of its premium revenue.