Top 5 Asian Companies To Invest In 2014

Most Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index heading for its first decline in three days, after a preliminary report showed Chinese manufacturing expanded less than economists estimated.

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the nation�� third-largest lender, slid 2.3 percent in Hong Kong. Yamada Denki Co. sank 4.8 percent in Tokyo after the consumer electronics retailer missed its full-year profit forecast. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia�� second-biggest oil producer, jumped 9.7 percent after announcing plans to return cash to shareholders.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) fell 0.04 point, or less than 0.1 percent, to 137.34 as of 7:58 p.m. in Tokyo, after rising 0.3 percent and dropping 0.3 percent. About eight shares retreated for every five that increased on the gauge. The measure climbed 6.2 percent this year through yesterday as Japanese equities rallied on speculation the Bank of Japan will step up efforts to stimulate its economy. China�� manufacturing is expanding at a slower pace this month, according to a preliminary report today.

Hot Clean Energy Stocks To Watch For 2015: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charley Blaine]

  Merck (NYSE: MRK): Tuesday close: $55.75. P/E ratio 36.77.

  The stock had jumped 19 percent for the year through May 1, along with health-care stocks generally. Also, an important heart attack drug Zontivity recently won Food and Drug Administration approval. But the shares have pulled back in the last two weeks in part because of the sell-off in biotech stocks.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Invest In 2014: Etablissements Delhaize Freres et Cie le Lion SA (DEG)

Delhaize Group is Belgium-based food retailer, which operates in six countries and on three continents. The principal activity of the Company is the operation of food supermarkets in the United States, Belgium and Greece, with operations in Romania and Indonesia. The Company�� retail operations are conducted by its consolidated subsidiary, Delhaize America, LLC (Delhaize America); its businesses in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Delhaize Belgium), and the business of Alfa Beta Vassilopoulos S.A. (Alfa Beta) in Greece. On May 12, 2010, Delhaize The Lion Nederland B.V. (Delned) acquired approximately 90.83% interest in Alfa Beta. On July 7, 2009, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mega Image closed the acquisition of four supermarkets in Romania previously operated under the Prodas name. On November 23, 2009, the Company, through Alfa Beta acquired the Greek retailer Koryfi, which operated 11 stores and a distribution center in the Northeast of Greece. On January 2, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Knauf Center Schmett SA and Knauf Center Pommerlach SA.

The store format consists of retail food supermarkets. The sales network also includes other store formats such as proximity stores and specialty stores. In addition to food retailing, the Company is engaged in food wholesaling and non-food retailing of products, such as pet products and prescription drugs. Delhaize Group SA is the parent company of a number of direct and indirect subsidiaries.

United States

The Company is engaged in one line of business in the United States, the operation of food supermarkets in the southeastern, mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions of the United States under the banners Food Lion, Hannaford, Sweetbay Supermarket, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Reid�� and Harveys. During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Company opened 30 new stores in the United States, closed and relocated seven stores, and decided to close 17 other stores. As of De! cember 31, 2009, the Company operated 1,607 supermarkets in 16 states in the eastern United States. In 2009, it re-opened 53 supermarkets in the United States. It included 35 Food Lion renewals in the Columbia, South Carolina market and five in the Daytona Beach, Florida market.

The Company�� United States-based supermarkets sell a range of groceries, produce, meats, dairy products, seafood, frozen food, deli/bakery products and non-food items, such as prescriptions, health and beauty care and other household and personal products. The stores offered nationally and regionally advertised brand name merchandise as well as products manufactured and packaged under private brands. Food Lion offers between 15,000 and 20,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) in its supermarkets, Harveys between 15,000 and 20,000 SKUs, Bloom between 21,000 and 25,000 SKUs, Bottom Dollar Food between 6,500 and 8,000 SKUs, Sweetbay between 28,000 and 40,000 SKUs and Hannaford between 31,000 and 45,000 SKUs.

Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

In Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the sales network consists of several banners, depending on the specialty, the store size and whether the store is company-operated, franchised or affiliated. At December 31, 2009, the sales network consisted of 792 stores in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The network included 369 supermarkets under the Delhaize Le Lion, AD Delhaize and Red Market banners, 287 stores primarily under the Proxy Delhaize, Delhaize City and Shop �� Go banners. It also included 136 pet food and products stores operated under the Tom & Co. banner. At December 31, 2009, the Company operated 41 stores in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In 2009, the Company divested its German operations, which consisted of four stores.

The supermarkets operated by the Company in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg carry the Delhaize Le Lion banner. At December 31, 2009, there were 144 company-operated supermarket! s of whic! h 14 supermarkets were remodeled. The AD Delhaize supermarkets have an average size of 1,142 square meters and offer approximately 12,000 SKUs.

In 2009, the Company opened the first two Red Market stores. At December 31, 2009, the Company�� network of proximity stores in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg consisted of 287 stores under the Delhaize City, Proxy Delhaize and Shop �� Go banners. Proxy Delhaize stores have an average selling area of approximately 500 square meters and offer approximately 6,500 SKUs.

Caddy-Home, the food products home delivery banner in Belgium, sells food products to customers for which orders can be placed by the Internet, telephone or fax. As of December 31, 2009, Caddy-Home delivered in 17 cities throughout Belgium, offering approximately 5,500 SKUs to customers. In 2009, Delhaize Belgium launched Delhaize Direct, allowing customers to order their groceries through the Internet and pick them up at their local store.

Tom & Co. is a specialty chain focusing on food and accessories for pets. At December 31, 2009, the stores were operated under franchise agreements with independent operators.

The supermarkets in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg sell a range of groceries, produce, meats, dairy products, seafood, frozen food, deli/bakery products and nonfood items, such as health and beauty care and other household and personal products. Delhaize Belgium is also selling a basic offering of lottery and postal products in part of its network.

Greece

In 2009, the Company operated a total of 216 stores in Greece. As of December 31, 2009, Alfa Beta directly operated 142 supermarkets under the Alfa Beta banner, 10 cash and carry stores under the ENA banner, 13 AB City stores and served 39 affiliated stores operated under the AB Food Market and AB Shop & Go banners and 10 Koryfi stores.

Rest of the World

As of December 31, 2009, Mega Image operated 51 super! markets i! n Romania. The stores offer private brand ranges, including 365, Care and the house brands available at Delhaize Belgium and Alfa Beta. In 2009, Mega Image introduced a private brand for Romanian products called Gusturi Romanesti. As of December 31, 2009, the Company operated 66 stores in Indonesia.

The Company competes with Wal-Mart, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Bi-Lo, Lowes Food, Save-A-Lot, Supervalu, Price Chopper, DeMoulas, Royal Ahold, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Carrefour, Louis Delhaize-Cora, Aldi, Makro-Metro, Lidl, Intermarche, Colruyt and Mestdagh.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  What: Shares of Brussels-based supermarket operator Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG  ) climbed 10% today after its preliminary quarterly results and outlook topped Wall Street expectations.

• [By patokehoe]

  Traditional grocers such as Kroger Co (KR) and Delhaize Group SA (DEG) are having an increasingly hard time dealing with competition from nontraditional grocers. Both of these firms have tried to adapt to the pressure stemming from rival discounters, with varying degrees of success. Whereas Kroger has been able to utilize its scale to leverage fixed costs, Delhaize has struggled to maintain margins, and is being forced to lower prices.
  Fending off competitors Investment gurus John Hussman of Hussman Economtrics Advisors and Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Capital own considerable positions in Kroger, one of the largest retailers in the U.S. The firm currently operates over 2,400 supermarkets, 750 convenience stores, and 325 jewellery stores across 31 states. Shareholders have reason to be optimistic, as the company recently acquired Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc (HTSI). The $2.44 billion deal means Kroger will be looking at an 8% increase in its store base and a 4% boost in revenue.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Invest In 2014: adidas AG (ADDDF)

adidas AG is a Germany-based holding company for the adidas Group, which is engaged in sports footwear, apparel and accessories. The Company diversifies its activities into three operating segments: Wholesale Business; Retail Business, and Other Businesses. The Wholesale Business segment comprises the adidas and Reebok business activities with retailers. The Retail Business segment comprises the own-retail and e-Commerce activities of the adidas and Rebook brands. The Other Businesses segment comprises the brands TaylorMade-adidas Golf, Rockport, Reebok-CCM Hockey and other centrally managed brands. Furthermore, the Company diversifies its activities by geographical regions into Western Europe, European Emerging Markets, North America, Greater China, Other Asian Markets and Latin America. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated a total of 177 subsidiaries and affiliated companies located in Germany and abroad. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Rooney]

  Shares of Adidas (ADDDF), which trade in Frankfurt and also have a small listing in the U.S., are down 7% since the World Cup started on June 12, though they were bouncing back Friday. Nike shares are up more than 5% over the same period of time.

• [By Mark Thompson]

  World Cup winner Germany, and runner-up Argentina, both wore Adidas (ADDDF) in Sunday's final in Rio de Janeiro.

  Adidas also sponsored the three players who took top honors for individual performances during the tournament in Brazil.

Top 5 Asian Companies To Invest In 2014: EnerNOC Inc (ENOC)

EnerNOC, Inc. (EnerNOC), incorporated on June 5, 2003, is a provider of energy management applications, services and products for the smart grid, which include demand response, data-driven energy efficiency, and energy price and risk management applications, services and products. The Company�� energy management applications, services and products enable energy management strategies for commercial, institutional and industrial end-users of energy, which it refers to as its C&I customers, and its electric power grid operator and utility customers by reducing real-time demand for electricity, increasing energy efficiency and improving energy supply transparency. The Company�� energy management applications, services and products include its EnerNOC EfficiencySMART and SupplySMART applications and services, and certain wireless energy management products.

DemandSMART

The Company�� demand response capacity provides an alternative to building conventional supply-side resources, such as natural gas-fired peaking power plants, to meet periods of peak electricity demand. The Company is in the development, implementation and broader adoption of technology-enabled demand response services for the smart grid. The Company�� DemandSMART application enables us to send control signals to, and receive bi-directional communications from, an Internet-enabled network of dispersed C&I customer sites in order to initiate, monitor and complete demand response activity. The Company�� technology and operational processes have the ability to automate demand response and simplify C&I customer participation by remotely reducing electricity usage in a matter of minutes, or send curtailment instructions to its C&I customers to be manually implemented on site. The devices that it installs at its C&I customer sites transmit to us through the cellular network and Internet near real-time electrical consumption data on a 1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute or hourly basis. The Company�� DemandSMART app! lication analyzes the data from individual sites and aggregates data for specific regions. When a demand response event occurs, its network operations center (NOC) automatically processes the notification coming from the electric power grid operator or utility. The Company�� NOC operators then begin activating procedures to curtail demand from the grid at its C&I customer sites.

The Company provides its demand response services to electric power grid operators and utilities under long-term contracts and pursuant to open market bidding programs. The Company�� long-term contracts generally have terms of 3-10 years and predetermined capacity commitment and payment levels. Within these contracts and open market programs, it offers the services to address the needs of electric power grid operators and utilities: reliability-based demand response, price-based demand response, and short-term reserve resources referred to in the electric power industry as ancillary services.

EfficiencySMART

EfficiencySMART is the Company�� data-driven energy efficiency suite that includes energy efficiency planning, audits, assessments, commissioning and retro-commissioning authority services, and a cloud-based energy analytics application used for managing energy across a C&I customer�� portfolio of sites. The cloud-based energy analytics application also includes the ability to integrate with a C&I customer�� existing energy management system, provide utility bill management and tools for measurement, tracking, analysis, reporting and management of greenhouse gas emissions. The Company offers the EfficiencySMART applications and services, which include EfficiencySMART Plan, EfficiencySMART Audit, EfficiencySMART Assessment, EfficiencySMART Commissioning and EfficiencySMART Insight.

EfficiencySMART Plan provides its C&I customers with a multi-year profile of projected energy demand, consumption and costs, including a lifecycle financial analysis of potential energy! strategi! es and a roadmap for implementation. EfficiencySMART Audit provides its C&I customers with energy efficiency recommendations in compliance with the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (ASHRAE) standards for conditioned space, and tactical energy surveys for industrial facilities. EfficiencySMART Assessment provides detailed recommendations for energy savings, demand reductions, reductions in energy intensity through operation and maintenance activities, equipment retrofits, behavioral changes, or the use of new technologies. EfficiencySMART Commissioning includes traditional and/or new building commissioning services, such as investigation, testing and verification of energy efficiency strategies, and data analytics over a specified period of time. EfficiencySMART Insight provides its large, multi-site C&I customers with a Software-as-a-Service enterprise energy management solution that provides persistent commissioning with the ability to visualize near real-time energy usage, identify savings opportunities, and prioritize energy-related investments across a portfolio of meters and buildings across a C&I customer�� organization.

SupplySMART

SupplySMART is the Company�� energy price and risk management application that provides its C&I customers located in restructured or deregulated markets throughout the United States with the ability to more effectively manage the energy supplier selection process, including energy supply product procurement and implementation. SupplySMART provides a framework for developing and implementing risk management strategies and executing purchasing strategies that provides maximum price transparency and structural savings on an ongoing basis for its C&I customers.

Technology and Operations

The Company�� technology has been developed provides a platform on which to design, customize, and implement its energy management applications, services and products. The Company�� technology infrast! ructure i! s built on Linux, Java and Oracle, and supports open Web services architecture. The Company�� enterprise energy management application platform enables the Company to efficiently scale its DemandSMART, EfficiencySMART, and SupplySMART applications and services, as well as certain wireless energy management products, in new geographic regions and rapidly grow the number of C&I customers in its network. The Company�� energy management application platform leverages Web services and wireless technologies that connect applications directly with other applications through a form of loose coupling, which allows connections to be established across applications without customization.

Network Operations Center

The Company�� technology enables its NOC to automatically respond to signals sent by electric power grid operators and utilities to deliver demand reductions within targeted geographic regions. The Company can customize its technology to receive and interpret many types of dispatch signals sent directly from an electric power grid operator or utility customer to its NOC. Following the receipt of such a signal, its NOC automatically notifies specified C&I customer personnel of the demand response event. After relaying this notification to its C&I customers, it initiate processes that reduce their electricity consumption from the electric power grid. These processes may include dimming lights, shifting equipment to power save mode, adjusting heating and cooling set points and activating a back-up generator. Demand reduction is monitored remotely with near real-time data feeds, the results of which are displayed in its NOC through various data presentment screens.

Energy Management Platform

The Company�� energy management platform is consists of its cloud-based enterprise software platform used for DemandSMART, EfficiencySMART and SupplySMART, as well as wireless energy management products and technology, and is the underlying system that runs its ! NOC. It u! tilizes a modular Web services architecture that is designed to allow application modules to be easily integrated into the platform. The Company use its energy management platform to measure, manage, benchmark and optimize C&I customers��energy consumption and facility operations. The Company use this data to help C&I customers analyze consumption patterns, forecast demand, measure real-time performance during demand response events, continuously monitor building management equipment to optimize system operation, model rates and tariffs and create energy scorecards to benchmark similar facilities. In addition, its energy management application platform has the ability to track its C&I customers��greenhouse gas emissions by mapping their energy consumption with the fuel mix used for generation in their location, such as the proportion of coal, nuclear, natural gas, fuel oil and other sources used.

The EnerNOC Site Server

The Company designs and installs a small device, called an EnerNOC Site Server, or ESS, at each C&I customer site to collect and communicate to its platform near real-time electricity consumption data and, in certain cases, enable remote control of a C&I customer�� electricity consumption. The ESS communicates to its NOC through the C&I customer�� LAN or secure Internet connection. The ESS is an open, integrated system consisting of a central hardware device residing inside a standard electrical box. The ESS allows its C&I customers to, among other things, respond quickly and completely to instructions from us to reduce electricity consumption. The Company also supports OpenADR protocol on its most recent ESS devices, an emerging standard for automated demand response communications.

The Company competes with Comverge, Inc., Exelon Corporation, Energy Curtailment Specialists and Hess, Inc., as well as energy technology providers Lucid Design Group, Inc., Building IQ, SCIEnergy, Inc. and McKinstry Co., LLC.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alyce Lomax]

  Along those lines, I'm thinking of one company I follow, EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC  ) , which works on energy demand response. However, it's increasingly involved in irrigation systems. That seems to be a sign of the times -- and the future.

• [By Alyce Lomax]

  Apparently EnerNOC's (NASDAQ: ENOC  ) first-quarter results didn't do much for investors. The stock sagged after it reported its financial results several days ago. Still, trader-centric investors are likely missing a lot about this disruptive company's story and long-term prognosis.�