Top 5 Penny Stocks To Own For 2014

It was an ugly day from the get-go, and we have none other than Japan to thank for today's sizable swoon in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) .

Many investors had expected the Bank of Japan to provide further easing measures, but outside of announcing a $1.4 trillion stimulus program two months ago, it�didn't offer any additional assurances to investors. That didn't sit particularly well with U.S. investors, who are already concerned that the Federal Reserve is going to roll back its $85 billion in bond purchases sooner rather than later and slow the U.S. economy to a crawl.

By the time roll call was done at the end of the day, the optimists were notably absent, with the S&P 500 falling by 16.68 points (-1.02%), to close at 1,626.13. In spite of today's negativity, three stocks decisively bucked the trend to the upside.

Video game and gaming accessories retailer GameStop (NYSE: GME  ) once again topped the list, up 7.8%, after an official announcement from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) that it will not charge users a fee to play used games on its next-generation console, the Xbox One. This news comes on the heels of Sony�also announcing that it would allow users to play used games on its new PlayStation 4. This is a key win for GameStop which generates a vast portion of its profits from the purchasing and reselling of used games. In addition, it also clears the way for next-generation console sales -- such as the Xbox One -- to soar as penny-pinching gamers will no longer have to worry as much about paying top dollar for new games.

Top 5 Clean Energy Stocks To Watch For 2015: Safe Bulkers Inc(SB)

Safe Bulkers, Inc. provides marine drybulk transportation services worldwide. The company transports various bulk cargoes, primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. As of July 15, 2011, it had a fleet of 16 drybulk vessels, with an aggregate carrying capacity of 1,443,800 deadweight tons. The company?s fleet consists of Panamax, Kamsarmax, Post-Panamax, and Capesize class vessels, as well as 11 further contracted additional drybulk new build vessels to be delivered at various times through 2014. Safe Bulkers, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Athens, Greece.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Safe Bulkers Inc.(SB) plans to offer 5 million shares and also unveiled plans to sell 1 million shares in a private placement to an entity associated with its chief executive at the public offering price. The drybulk shipping company has about 77 million shares outstanding. Shares dropped.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's certainly no Safe Bulkers, Inc. (NYSE:SB) or Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK), in terms or market cap or revenue. In fact, even with the drybulk shipping industry it's a somewhat obscure name. Yet, FreeSeas Inc. (NASDAQ:FREE) may well be the stock with the most near-term potential upside, now that it's gotten over a key technical hump.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Wednesday, Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Top 5 Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc.(KLIC)

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and expendable tools used to assemble semiconductor devices, including integrated circuits, high and low powered discrete devices, light-emitting diodes, and power modules. It also services, maintains, repairs, and upgrades its equipment. The company operates in two segments, Equipment and Expendable Tools. The Equipment segment manufactures and sells a line of ball bonders, heavy wire wedge bonders, stud bumpers, and die bonders. Its Ball bonders are used to connect very fine wires, primarily made of gold or copper, between the bond pads of the semiconductor device or die, and the leads on its package; Heavy wire wedge bonders are used in the power semiconductor and automotive power module markets; and Die bonders are used to attach a die to the substrate or lead frame, which will house the semiconductor device. This segment?s Stud bumpers mechanically apply bumps to die, while still in the wafer format, for some variants of the flip chip assembly process. The Expendable Tools segment manufactures and sells various expendable tools for a range of semiconductor packaging applications. Its products include capillaries, bonding wedges, and saw blades. The company?s customers primarily comprise semiconductor device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers, other electronics manufacturers, and automotive electronics suppliers in the United States and the Asia/Pacific region. Kulicke and Soffa Industries sells its products through manufacturers? representatives and distributors. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Singapore.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC) shares shot up 8.95 percent to $13.76 after the company reported upbeat Q2 earnings and issued a strong Q3 revenue forecast.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chip equipment maker Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Top 5 Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: The Cushing MLP Total Return Fund(SRV)

Cushing MLP Total Return Fund is a closed-end mutual fund launched by Swank Capital, LLC. The fund is managed by Swank Energy Income Advisors L.P. It invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe with a focus in United States. The fund typically invests in MLPs, Other Natural Resource Companies, and global commodities. It primarily invests in the securities of MLPs, other equity securities, debt securities, and securities of non-U.S. issuers employing a fundamental analysis. Cushing MLP Total Return Fund was formed on May 23, 2007 and is domiciled in Dallas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  As I write this, Tortoise Pipeline and Energy (NYSE: TTP) trades at a discount of 15.1 percent to its underlying assets, while at the other end of the spectrum Cushing MLP Total Return Fund (NYSE: SRV) trades at a 17.4 percent premium. The average MLP closed-end fund listed trades at a 4.9 percent discount, which is perhaps reasonable given the loss of certain tax advantages and the fact that management fees will eat into returns.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  As I write this, Tortoise Pipeline and Energy (NYSE: TTP) trades at a discount of 15.1 percent to its underlying assets, while at the other end of the spectrum Cushing MLP Total Return Fund (NYSE: SRV) trades at a 17.4 percent premium. The average MLP closed-end fund listed trades at a 4.9 percent discount, which is perhaps reasonable given the loss of certain tax advantages and the fact that management fees will eat into returns.

Top 5 Penny Stocks To Own For 2014: New York Mortgage Trust Inc.(NYMT)

New York Mortgage Trust, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. The company engages in acquiring, investing, financing, and managing mortgage-related assets. It primarily invests in agency residential adjustable-rate, hybrid adjustable-rate, and fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities (RMBS); non-Agency RMBS; prime adjustable-rate residential mortgage loans held in securitization trusts; commercial mortgage-backed securities; commercial mortgage loans; and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT and will not be subject to federal income tax if it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Investors are being rewarded for putting their trust in New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ: NYMT  ) . The REIT has declared a common stock dividend for its current quarter of $0.27 per share, to be paid on July 25 to shareholders of record as of June 28. That amount matches each of the company's preceding four distributions, the most recent of which was doled out at the end of April. Before that, it paid $0.25 per share.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

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  Preferred Stocks: New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT)

  Dividend Yield: 8.2%

  New York Mortgage Trust (NYMT) is a mortgage real estate investment trust, or mREIT, that acquires, invests in, finances and manages mortgage related securities. These mREITs are very much tied to interest rates, so while rates are low, the stocks will do well. NYMT common stock, in fact, yields more than 14%. Yet that�� why I would choose the New York Mortgage Trust 7.75% Preferred Series B (NYMTP).

• [By Susan J. Aluise]

  LEN stock is only up about 3% in 2014, but it’s clearly a growth play. With a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.6 and a forward P/E of a little more than�12, LEN stock looks undervalued now. LEN pays a nominal dividend with a 0.4% current yield, but the company knows its market and is positioning its new properties well, so LEN promises to be a solid buy-and-hold stock.

  REIT:�New York Mortgage�(NYMT)

  There are two basic types of REITs –�those that hold real property and those that hold mortgages on property (mortgage or mREITs). Among mREITs, New York Mortgage�(NYMT)�is a so-called ��ybrid mREIT�� meaning that it holds a combination of federally guaranteed (agency) and non-agency debt, like commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).