Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014

As regular readers of StreetAuthority Daily know, I think there is money to be made investing in companies building "America's Natural Gas Highway."

One of my favorites is a company that could help kill the gasoline engine, Westport Innovations (Nasdaq: WPRT). But today I want to tell you about another potential gasoline engine killer that's about to be listed on a major exchange for the first time.

You've probably heard the backstory. Using horizontal drilling and fracking, energy companies have unlocked an ocean of oil and natural gas previously out of reach. And it's happening at a record pace. In fact, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday that "North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world."

10 Best New Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bridgepoint Education Inc (BPI)

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (Bridgepoint), incorporated in May 1999, is a provider of postsecondary education services. The Company�� academic institutions include Ashford University and University of the Rockies. Its institutions deliver programs primarily online, as well as at their traditional campuses. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 86,642 total students enrolled in its institutions. Bridgepoint�� institutions conduct ongoing faculty and student assessment processes and provide a range of student services. The Company is also focused on developing new technologies, such as through Waypoint Outcomes, Constellation, and the development of its institutions' mobile learning platforms. The Company has developed Constellation to replace third party textbooks with digital course materials. Constellation materials are displayed in a browser-based platform. In January 2012, Bridgepoint introduced Thuze.

Ashford University offers associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs online, as well as bachelor's degree programs at its campus in Clinton, Iowa. Ashford University consists of four colleges: the College of Business and Professional Studies, the College of Education, the College of Health, Human Services and Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts. University of the Rockies is a graduate institution that offers master's and doctoral degree programs in the social and behavioral sciences. Classes at University of the Rockies are presented in a progressive online format, as well as at its campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Waypoint Outcomes provides learning and assessment software to K-12 and higher education institutions nationwide.

Constellation provides mobile access to students over the Internet, as well as on a variety of devices, including Web-enabled smartphones and tablet devices. Constellation is a cloud-based and is compatible across operating systems, browsers and mobile technologies. The Company has developed Constellation-enabled courses pri! marily in core classes to reach students. As of December 31, 2011, approximately 76% of Bridgepoint�� institutions' students had taken a Constellation-enabled course. As of December 31, 2011, it had 32 Constellation titles available. Thuze is a cloud-based, multi-platform, collaborative learning environment for students to interact with their course digital materials and with each other. Thuze provides students with the resources to work from both their desktop computers and also from their tablets and smartphones. It launched Thuze as a pilot program with publishers in higher education. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company deployed new mobile application technology at Ashford University. The Company has online students from all 50 states and from the District of Columbia. It has students from 69 different countries. As of December 31, 2011, over 34,400 students have graduated from the Company�� institutions, with approximately 15,200 students graduating from its institutions, during 2011.

Students finance their education at the Company's institutions through Title IV programs and Non-Title IV funding sources. Title IV programs includes The Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Federal Direct Loan Programs. FFEL and Federal Direct Loan Programs consist of two loans: Stafford loans, which are either subsidized or unsubsidized, and PLUS loans, which are made available to graduate and professional students, as well as parents of dependent undergraduate students. Non-Title IV funding sources include other funding sources, which consist of cash, private loans, state grants, corporate reimbursement, military benefits and institutional loans. The Company has engaged Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS) to provide call center and transactional processing services for the online financial aid student populations at its institutions, including services related to disbursement eligibility review and Title IV fund returns. If Bridgepoint�� engagement with ACS were terminate! d, it wou! ld handle these processing services using its own resources or engage another third party vendor.

The Company�� institutions provide student support services, including academic, administrative and technology support. As of December 31, 2011, Bridgepoint�� institutions offered approximately 1,430 courses, 85 degree programs and 140 specializations. Its institutions offer programs and specialization areas through Ashford University's four colleges: the College of Business and Professional Studies; the College of Education; the College of Health, Human Services and Science; and the College of Liberal Arts, and through the University of the Rockies' two schools: the School of Organizational Leadership and the School of Professional Psychology. The Company�� leads are primarily generated from online sources. Its main source of leads is third party online lead aggregators. It also purchases keywords from search providers to generate online leads directly. In addition, the Company has an in-house team focused on generating online leads.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI) shares tumbled 11.37 percent to $14.11 after the company announced a Q1 preliminary loss of $0.10 per share on sales of $160.5 million. The company also reported that it will be unable to file 10Q by May 12th.

• [By Jim Royal]

  One of my favorite reasons to reinvest in stocks I already own is when an uncertain, but favorable catalyst occurs, but the stock does little. So my Special Situations portfolio is adding $1,000 to each of the following three stocks: Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB  ) , Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI  ) , and First Financial Northwest (NASDAQ: FFNW  ) . Read on to see why.

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: Seaspan Corporation(SSW)

Seaspan Corporation owns and operates the containerships that are engaged in the deep-sea container transportation business in Hong Kong. The company charters its containerships pursuant to long-term, fixed-rate time charters to various container liner companies. As of December 31, 2009, it owned and operated a fleet of 42 containerships. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Majuro, the Marshall Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Seaspan Corp.(SSW) said it plans to offer 3.5 million Class A common shares, and expects to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding vessel acquisitions. The containership owner recently had about 64.9 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. Shares fell 8% to $21.55 premarket.

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: KKR(KKR)

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and mezzanine investments in large cap companies. The firm will consider investments in all industries globally, with a focus on financial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy. It seeks a board seat in its portfolio companies. The firm holds a controlling interest in its portfolio companies after they go public. It typically holds its investment for a period of five years and more and exits through initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and sales to strategic buyers. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was founded in 1976 and is based at New York, New York with additional offices across United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  The normally sleepy world of senior housing REITs got a shakeup on Wednesday with the announcement that Health Care REIT (HCN) and Revera Inc., a leading provider of senior living facilities in Canada, had partnered to purchase and recapitalize Sunrise Senior Living, LLC from affiliates of private equity firmKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR).

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  KKR Financial Holdings LLC (NYSE: KFN) shot up 28.47 percent to $12.14 after the company agreed to be acquired by KKR & Co (NYSE: KKR) for $2.6 billion.

• [By Jose Pagliery]

  What's going on? The company's still recovering from a bad stretch. It was mired in debt back in 2011, when three private equity firms came to the rescue: KKR & Co. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: Cleco Corporation (CNL)

Cleco Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Louisiana. As of December 31, 2009, it had ownership interest in 3 steam electric generating stations and 1 gas turbine with a combined name plate capacity of 1,359 megawatts, and a combined electric net generating capacity of 1,318 megawatts. The company served approximately 277,000 customers in 107 communities in the central and southeastern Louisiana. It also owns and operates a natural gas-fired merchant power plant, as well as has a 50% interest in another natural gas-fired merchant power plant located in Louisiana. Cleco Corporation was founded in 1934 and is based in Pineville, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Utilities sector was the top gainer in the US market on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included Cleco (NYSE: CNL), Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP), and Regency Energy Partners LP (NYSE: RGP).

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG)

Fortress Investment Group LLC (Fortress) is a global investment management firm. Its offering of alternative investment products includes private equity funds, liquid hedge funds and credit funds. In addition, it offers traditional investment products. As of December 31, 2011, it managed alternative assets in three businesses: Private Equity, Liquid Hedge Funds and Credit Funds. Private Equity is a business, which manages assets under management (AUM) consisted of two business segments: private equity funds, which make investments in debt and equity securities of public or privately held entities in North America and Western Europe, and publicly traded alternative investment vehicles, which it refer to as Castles, which invest in real estate and real estate related debt investments. Liquid Hedge Funds invest globally in fixed income, currency, equity and commodity markets and related derivatives. Credit Funds is a business, which manages AUM consisted of two business segments: credit hedge funds which make investments in assets, opportunistic lending situations and securities, on a global basis and throughout the capital structure, as well as non-Fortress originated funds, for which Fortress has been retained as manager as part of an advisory business, and credit private equity (PE) funds, which are consisted of a family of credit opportunities funds focused on investing in distressed and undervalued assets, a range of long dated value funds focused on investing in undervalued assets with cash flows and long investment horizons, a range of real assets funds focused on investing in tangible and intangible assets in four principal categories (real estate, capital assets and natural resources), a family of Asia funds, including Japan real estate funds and an Asian investor based global opportunities fund, and a range of real estate opportunities funds.

Private Equity Funds

The Company�� private equity business is made up of a series of funds named the Fortress Investment Funds! and organized to make control-oriented investments in cash flow generating, asset-based businesses in North America and Western Europe. Investors in its private equity funds contractually commit capital at the outset of a fund, which is then drawn down as investment opportunities become available, generally over a one to three year investment period. Management fees of 1% to 1.5% are generally charged on committed capital during the investment period of a new fund, and then on invested capital (or net asset value (NAV), if lower). It also earns a 10% to 25% share of the profits on each realized investment in a fund.

The Company manages two companies: Newcastle Investment Corp. and Eurocastle Investment Limited, which it calls its Castles. It earns management fees from each Castle equal to 1.5% of the company�� equity. In addition, it earns incentive income equal to 25% of the company�� funds from operations (FFO) in excess of specified returns to the Company�� shareholders. In addition to these fees, it also receives from the Castles, for services provided, options to purchase shares of their common stock in connection with each of their common stock offerings.

Liquid Hedge Funds

The Fortress Macro Funds, and Fortress�� legacy macro-strategy funds, the Drawbridge Global Macro Funds, apply an investment process based on macroeconomic fundamental, market momentum and technical analyses. The funds have the flexibility to allocate capital dynamically across a range of global strategies, markets and instruments as opportunities change, and are designed to take advantage of a range of sources of market, economic and pricing data to generate trading ideas. The fund invests in developed markets; they also invest in emerging markets if market conditions present opportunities for attractive returns. The funds pursue global macro directional and relative value strategies. Management fees are charged based on the AUM of the Fortress Macro Funds at a rate between 1.5%! and 2% a! nnually, depending on the investment and liquidity terms elected by investors. It earns incentive income of between 15% and 25% of the fund�� profits, generally payable annually, depending on the investment and liquidity terms elected by investors. In other words, an incentive income payment establishes a high water mark, such that the fund must earn a cumulative positive return from that point forward in order for Fortress to earn incentive income. Investors in the Fortress Macro Funds may invest with the right to redeem without paying any redemption fee either monthly, quarterly, or annually after three years. Investors with three-year liquidity may redeem annually before three years, subject to an early redemption fee payable to the funds.

The Fortress Asia Macro Funds invest in global fixed income, commodities, currency and equity markets, and their related derivatives, thematically related to the Asia-Pacific region through a fundamental macroeconomic strategy, which focuses on liquid investments. The funds��investment program focuses on global trading and capital flows. Management fee rates for these funds range from 1.5% to 2% and it earns incentive income equal to 20% of their profits. Commodities Funds invests across multiple sectors within the commodity asset class ranging from energy to metals to agriculture and within the cyclical, industrial, and commodity equity universe. Management fee rates for these funds range from 1.5% to 2% and it earns incentive income equal to 20% of their profits. The Fortress Partners Fund�� investments are made both in Fortress Funds and in funds managed by other managers, and in direct investments that are sourced either by Fortress personnel or by third parties with whom it has relationships. Management fee rates for these funds range from 1% to 1.5% and it earns incentive income generally equal to 20% of the profits from direct investments only.

Credit Funds

The Company�� credit hedge funds are designed to exploi! t pricing! anomalies, which exist between the public and private finance markets. It has developed a network consisted of internal and external resources to source transactions for the funds. The funds are able to invest in a range of financial instruments, ranging from assets, opportunistic lending situations and securities throughout the capital structure with a value orientation.

The Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds form the core of the Company�� credit hedge fund investing strategy. The funds acquire a portfolio of investments throughout the United States, Western Europe and the Pacific region. Management fees are charged based on the AUM of the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds at a rate generally equal to 2% annually. It earns incentive income of 20% of the fund�� profits, payable annually, and subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment. Investors in the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds may redeem annually on December 31. The Worden Funds invest in a portfolio of undervalued and distressed investments in North America and Western Europe, but also in Australia, Asia and elsewhere on an opportunistic basis. Management fees are charged based on the AUM of the Worden Funds at a rate generally equal to 2% annually. It earns incentive income of 20% of the funds��profits.

The Company�� credit PE funds are of families of funds. They have management fee rates between 1% and 1.5% and generate incentive income of between 10% and 20% of a fund�� profits subject to the fund achieving a minimum return as a whole. Fortress through Fortress Credit Opportunities Funds make opportunistic credit-related investments. In addition to its Fortress Investment Fund family of funds, it has a private equity fund product, the Long Dated Value family of funds, which focuses on making investments with long dated cash flows. Its Real Assets Funds invest in tangible and intangible assets. The investment program of these funds focuses on di! rect inve! stments in four principal investment categories: real estate, capital assets and natural resources, but also may include indirect investments in the form of interests in real estate investment trusts (REITs), master limited partnerships, corporate securities, debt securities and debt obligations, including those that provide equity upside, as well as options, royalties, residuals and other call rights. The investments are located in North America and Western Europe. Fortress Japan Opportunity Funds focus to invest in Japanese real estate-related performing, sub-performing and non-performing loans, securities and similar instruments. Real Estate Opportunities Funds make opportunistic commercial real estate investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dakin Campbell]

  Servicing rights on at least $1 trillion of mortgages will trade in the next two years, Jay Bray, chief executive officer of Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NSM), a servicer majority owned by Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG), said last month. The private-equity firm said in July it raised a $1.1 billion fund to buy the contracts.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  He currently has buy recommendations on private-equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG) and Zions Bancorporation. (ZION)

  Analysts Surveyed

  To compile the ranking, Stamford, Connecticut-based Greenwich Associates surveyed 945 buy-side analysts at 190 investment management firms, mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds and insurers from December to March. The analysts were asked to name the Wall Street research teams they considered their most important sources of advice on investments.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Nonetheless, it�� my job to come up with “cheap” stocks — that is, stocks with a low nominal share price — that are also value plays — meaning they’re trading at a low P/E multiple. I’m limiting my field to stocks trading for less than 10 — it won�� be easy, but here goes.

  Cheap Stocks to Buy: Fortress Investment Group (FIG)

  If you look at the major publicly traded investment managers who invest in private equity ��Blackstone Group (BX), KKR (KKR), Apollo Global Management (APO) and Carlyle Group (CG) ��you��l notice that all but Fortress have stock prices in the $20s and $30s. FIG is one of those cheap stocks that�� traded below $10 since September 2008. It went public at $18.50 in February of that year, hitting its all-time high of $37 in its first day of trading. It�� been downhill ever since.

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: Adecco SA (ADEN)

Adecco SA is a Switzerland-based holding company and provider of human resource services, including temporary staffing, outsourcing, permanent placement, outsourcing, outplacement and career management, training and consulting. The Company divides its activities into two main sectors: General Staffing and Professional Staffing. The General Staffing sector, which is the Company's prime segment, is divided into two business lines: Adecco Office, which includes Adecco Office and Office Angels brands, and Adecco Industrial, including Adecco, Adecco Industrial and Tuja brands. The Professional Staffing sector is divided into four business lines: Information Technology, including Modis and Computer People brands; Engineering & Technical, including Adecco Engineering & Technical, Entegee and euro engineering brands; Finance & Legal, including Badenoch & Clark and Accounting Principals brands, and Medical & Science, including Soliant and Adecco Medical brands. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  ��decco fulfilled expectations on all levels,��Patrick Hasenboehler, an analyst at J. Safra Sarasin in Zurich, wrote in a report to clients. ��he outlook statement is quite promising. Adecco (ADEN)�� strategy of focusing on profitability will continue to pay off.��

Top 10 International Stocks To Watch For 2014: Synnex Corporation(SNX)

SYNNEX Corporation provides distribution and business process outsourcing (BPO) services to resellers, retailers, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Distribution Services and Global Business Services (GBS). The Distribution Services segment distributes information technology (IT) products, including IT systems, peripherals, system components, software, networking equipment, consumer electronics, and complementary products in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Mexico. This segment also offers contract assembly services, such as systems design, build-to-order, configure-to-order, and assembly capabilities; value-added services comprising kitting, reconfiguration, asset tagging, and hard drive imaging for government and healthcare sectors; and specialized services in print management, renewals, and networking. The GBS segment offers a range of BPO services, including customer management, renewals management, back of fice processing, and IT outsourcing on a global platform comprising technical support, demand generation, and marketing and administration services through voice, chat, Web, email, digital print, and social media. SYNNEX Corporation also provides logistics services, such as outsourced fulfillment, virtual distribution and direct ship to end-users; financing services consisting of net terms, third party leasing, floor plan financing, letters of credit backed financing, and arrangements; marketing services comprising direct mail, external media advertising, reseller product training, targeted telemarketing campaigns, national and regional trade shows, database analysis, print on demand services, and Web-based marketing; and online and technical support services. The company was formerly known as SYNNEX Information Technologies, Inc. and changed its name to SYNNEX Corporation in October 2003. SYNNEX Corporation was founded in 1980 is headquartered in Fremont, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Synnex Corp.(SNX) reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal second quarter, boosted by strong growth of its technology solutions segment and its acquisition of International Business Machines Corp.'s(IBM) (IBM) customer-care business.