Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014

After the financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) was created to determine the root cause of the crisis; as part of that effort, the commission was required to make the ensuing interviews of hedge fund managers, bankers, and economists available to the public. One of the people interviewed was Warren Buffett, and as expected, he didn�� disappoint. During the interview, he was asked to discuss the difference between investment and speculation; here was his response (bold added for emphasis):

��t�� a tricky definition, you know; it�� like pornography, the famous quote and all that, but I look at it in terms of the intent of the person engaging in the transaction. And an investment operation, and that�� not the way Graham defines it in his book, but an investment operation in my view is one where you look to the asset itself to determine your decision to lay out some money now to get some more money back later on. So you look to the apartment house, you look to the stock, you look to the farm in terms of what that will produce. And you don�� really care whether there�� a quote under it all. You are basically committing some funds now to get more funds later on through the operation of the asset. Speculation, I would define, as much more focused on the price action of the stock, particularly that you buy or the indexed future or something of the sort. Because you are not really, you are counting on, for whatever factors, could be quarterly earnings, could be up or it�� going to split or whatever it may be or increase the dividend, but you are not looking to the asset itself. And I say the real test of how you, what you��e doing is whether you care whether the markets are open. When buy a stock, I don�� care whether they close the stock market tomorrow for a couple of years because I�� looking to the business, Coca-Cola or whatever it may be to produce returns for me in the future from the business. Now if I care whether the stock market is open tomorro! w then I say to some extent I�� speculating because I�� thinking about whether the price is going to up tomorrow or not.��/p>

5 Best Transportation Stocks To Watch Right Now: Qualys Inc (QLYS)

Qualys, Inc. (Qualys), incorporated on December 30, 1999, is a provider of clouds security and compliance solutions that enable organizations to identify security risks to their information technology (IT) infrastructures, help protect their IT systems and applications from cyber attacks and achieve compliance with internal policies and external regulations. The Company designed its QualysGuard Cloud Platform to transform the way organizations secure and protect their IT infrastructures and applications. The Company's cloud platform offers an integrated suite of solutions that automates the lifecycle of asset discovery, security assessments, and compliance management for an organization's IT infrastructure and assets, whether they reside inside the organization, on their network perimeter or in the cloud.

The Company provides its solutions through a software-as-a-service model, primarily with renewable annual subscriptions. These subscriptions require customers to pay a fee in order to access the Company's cloud solutions. The Company's QualysGuard Cloud Platform consists of a suite of IT security and compliance solutions that leverage the Company's shared and extensible core services and its scalable multi-tenant cloud infrastructure. The Company's suite of solutions provides security intelligence by automating the life cycle of IT asset discovery, security assessment and compliance management. The Company's cloud platform's infrastructure includes integrated services that deliver a automated and scalable scanning infrastructure capable of scanning IT systems and Web applications, inside and outside corporate firewalls. The Company also provides open application program interfaces (APIs), and other developer tools that allow third parties to embed its technology into their solutions and build applications on its cloud platform.

The Company's suite of solutions, which the Company refers to as the QualysGuard Cloud Suite, includes Vulnerability Management, Web Application Sca! nning, Malware Detection Service, Policy Compliance, PCI Compliance and Qualys SECURE Seal. The Company's customers can subscribe to one or more of the Company's security and compliance solutions based on their initial needs and expand their subscriptions over time to new areas within their organization or to additional QualysGuard solutions. The Company offers two editions of its QualysGuard Cloud Suite, the Enterprise edition for large and medium-sized enterprises and the Express edition for small and medium-sized businesses.

QualysGuard Vulnerability Management (QualysGuard VM), is a solution that automates network auditing and vulnerability management across an organization, including network discovery and mapping, asset management, vulnerability reporting, and remediation tracking. QualysGuard Policy Compliance (QualysGuard PC) allows customers to analyze and collect configuration and access control information from their networked devices and Web applications and automatically maps this information to internal policies and external regulations in order to document compliance.

QualysGuard PCI Compliance (QualysGuard PCI) provides organizations that store cardholder data a automated solution to verify and document compliance with PCI DSS. QualysGuard Web Application Scanning (QualysGuard WAS) uses the scalability of its cloud platform to allow customers to discover, catalog and scan a large number of Web applications. QualysGuard Malware Detection Service (QualysGuard MDS) provides organizations with the ability to scan identify and remove malware infections from their Websites. QualysGuard Web Application Firewall (QualysGuard WAF) delivers enterprise-grade Web application security without associated with appliance-based Web application firewall solutions. QualysGuard SECURE Seal helps organizations demonstrate to their online customers that they maintain a proactive security program.

Core Services include asset tagging and management, reporting and dashboards! , questio! nnaires and collaboration, remediation and workflow, big data correlation and analytics engine, and alerts and notifications. The Company�� infrastructure layer, which it refer to as its Infrastructure, includes the data, data processing capabilities, software and hardware infrastructure and infrastructure management capabilities that provide the foundation for its cloud platform and allow the Company to automatically scale its Infrastructure and Core Services to scan millions of Internet protocols (IPs).

The Company competes with Hewlett-Packard Company, Imperva, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, McAfee, Inc., Symantec Corporation, Barracuda Networks, Inc., BeyondTrust Software, Inc., Lumension Security, Inc., nCircle Network Security, Inc., NetIQ Corporation, Rapid7 LLC, Tenable Network Security, Inc. and Trustwave Holdings, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) shares shot up 10.23 percent to $21.07 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

  Shares of Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) got a boost, shooting up 15.95 percent to $4.84 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings and announced its plans to close at least 400 stores in the US.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading UP
  Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) shares shot up 8.24 percent to $20.68 after the company reported upbeat quarterly results.

  Shares of Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) got a boost, shooting up 15.95 percent to $4.84 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings and announced its plans to close at least 400 stores in the US.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: Cogent Communications Group Inc.(CCOI)

Cogent Communications Group, Inc. provides high-speed Internet access, Internet Protocol, and communications services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers, and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan. It offers on-net services to bandwidth-intensive users, such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, and commercial content providers; and multi-tenant office buildings, including law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms, and other professional services businesses. The company also provides its on-net services in carrier-neutral colocation facilities, Cogent controlled data centers, and single-tenant office buildings. In addition, it offers off-net services to businesses that are connected to its network primarily by means of last mile access service lines obtained from other carriers primarily in the form of p oint-to-point TDM, POS, SDH, and/or carrier ethernet circuits. Further, the company provides voice services; and Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to the company?s network. Additionally, it operates 43 data centers that allow customers to co-locate their equipment and access its network. Cogent Communications Group, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ali Berri]

  In trading on Friday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.01 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), down 4.1 percent, and Cogent Communications Holdings (NASDAQ: CCOI), off 2.4 percent.

• [By James O'Toole]

  Netflix (NFLX) relies heavily on third parties -- primarily Cogent Communications (CCOI) -- to deliver content from its servers to Internet service providers. Traditionally, broadband companies and bandwidth providers like Cogent haven't charged one another, on the assumption that traffic that flows back and forth over their networks will even out over time.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: BlackRock Enhanced Capital And Income Fund Inc (CII)

BlackRock Enhanced Capital and Income Fund, Inc. (the Fund), formerly BlackRock Capital and Income Strategies Fund, Inc., is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund seeks to provide current income and capital appreciation. It invests in a portfolio of equity and debt securities of United States and foreign issuers. The Fund�� portfolio includes common stocks, preferred stocks, foreign government obligations, corporate bonds, trust preferreds and municipal bonds. The Fund employs a strategy of writing (selling) call options on equity indexes in an attempt to generate gains from option premiums (the Index Option Strategy). Under the Index Option Strategy, the Fund will write call options primarily on the S&P 500 Index, but may, from time to time, write call options on other equity indexes as well. The Fund�� investment advisor is BlackRock Advisors, LLC, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.

The Fund invests in various industries, including commercial banks, diversified financial services, electric utilities, food products, gas utilities, insurance, thrifts and mortgage finance, and real estate investment trusts. On September 29, 2006, BlackRock, Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (Merrill Lynch) combined Merrill Lynch�� investment management business, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (MLIM), and its affiliates, including Fund Asset Management, L.P. (FAM), with BlackRock, Inc. to create an independent company. Merrill Lynch has a 49.8% economic interest and a 45% voting interest in the combined company, and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (PNC) has approximately a 34% economic and voting interest. The new company operates under the BlackRock name.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividends4Life]

  According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the fund�� market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 3.46%Bexil Advisers LLC� (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company provides enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: Epazz Inc (EPAZ)

EPAZZ, Inc., incorporated on March 23, 2000, develops a Web portal infrastructure operating system product called BoxesOS v3.0. The Company offers seven primary product lines. The Epazz BoxesOS v3.0 product is offered through Epazz, Inc., the Desk/Flex Software product is offered through Desk Flex, Inc., the Agent Power product is offered through Professional Resource Management, Inc., the AutoHire software is offered through Epazz, Inc., IntelliSys offers the Integrated Plant Management Control (IPMC) software product, K9 Bytes offers a series of Point of Sale software products for pet care, boarding and retail pet stores. In July 2012, the Company acquired K9 Bytes Software. In August 2012, the Company acquired MS Health Software Corporation (MS Health), a cloud-based solution for behavioral healthcare, mental health and social services providers.

BoxesOS provides a Web portal infrastructure operating system designed to satisfaction of key stakeholders (students, faculty, alumni, employees, and clients). BoxesOS creates sources of revenue for Alumni Associations and Non-Profit organizations through utilizing a Web platform to conduct e-commerce and provides e-commerce tools for small businesses to easily create my accounts for their customers. BoxesOS can also link a college or university's resources with the business community by allowing businesses to better train their employees by utilizing courseware development from higher education institutions.

Epazz BoxesOS v3.0

Epazz BoxesOS v3.0 (Web Infrastructure Operating System) is the Company's flagship product. Epazz BoxesOS integrates with each organization's back-end systems and provides a customizable personal information system for each stakeholder. The Company's Services include Single sign-on, which provides a single-sign-on with security procedure to protect users' information and identity; Course Management System, which manages distance, traditional courses and Calendar; Enterprise Website Content Man! agement, which manages public sites with multi contributors; Integration Management Services, which integrated into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Mainframes; E-mail Management, which is an e-mail server and Web client; Instant Messenger Services, which is an instant messaging and alerts; Customer Relationship Management, which includes prospective students and alumni; Calendar/Scheduler Management, which includes event directory, groupware, and personal calendar; Administrative Support Services, which is an online payment services, and Business Services, which includes facility Management and Online Bookstore.

AutoHire Software

The AutoHire system provides a tool to power career centers, post job ads to sites and job boards, and to collect resumes online. One features of the AutoHire system is the interactive question and online screening and ranking system. The interactive question system provides a means for the client to maintain their own library of questions and to attach selected questions to job opportunities posted. Responses obtained can be used to screen and rank candidates to permit hiring managers to focus their attention on only the most suitable candidates.

Desk Flex Software

DFI developed the Desk/Flex Software (Desk/Flex) to enhance the value of businesses' real estate investments and modernize their office space. Desk/Flex lets businesses make better use of office space restrictions by enabling employees to instantly access their workstation tools from multiple areas in and outside of the office. Desk/Flex lets employees reserve space in advance or claim space instantly. It adjusts the telephone switch (Private Branch Exchange (PBX)) so that calls ring at the desk du jour, or go directly to voice mail when a worker is not checked in. Key Features of Desk/Flex include Quick and Easy Check-In, Point-and-Click Floor Maps, PBX Interaction, Web Browser and Local Kiosk Access, Advance Reservations and Occupancy Reports. Desk/Flex i! s respons! ive to office size and needs, servicing small to large businesses. Desk/Flex can be configured to administer a single site or multiple sites locally or remotely. Desk/Flex has full integration capabilities with both Nortel and Avaya, which combined represent the majority of the telecommunications and inbound automatic call distributor (ACD) market.

Agent Power Software

Agent Power Software (Agent Power) is Professional Resource Management, Inc.�� (PRMI's) software line. Agent Power is a suite of six applications. The applications feature workforce management components, which include planning and scheduling; agent adherence; agent performance; automatic call distributor (ACD) group performance; real-time agent status, and info screen. All modules of Agent Power have full integration capabilities with Nortel, Avaya, and ROLM ACDs, and the Planning and Scheduling module works with any modern ACD system.

IntelliSys Software

IntelliSys developed the Integrated Plant Management Control (IPMC) Software, which is a software system design for water and wastewater facility management. IPMC is the technology-based strategy for optimizing operations by automatically collecting, managing, organizing and disseminating information for the operations, management, laboratory, maintenance, and engineering functions.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks IN Media Corp (OTCMKTS: IMDC), Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) and Polaris International Holdings (OTCMKTS: PIHN) have been busy developing new devices/products or making acquisitions. Moreover, at least two of these small cap stocks have been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. Keeping that in mind, will new devices/products or acquisitions help these small caps along with their investors or traders? Here is a closer look:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's probably a pretty safe bet that Epazz Inc. (OTCMKTS:EPAZ) isn't a familiar name to most long-term investors. For that matter, EPAZ isn't even a familiar name to short-term traders. Both groups may want to put the stock on their radar though (for different reasons), as the recent action evident on the chart suggests something is brewing here.

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap tech stocks Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) and Pulse Network Inc (OTCBB: TPNI) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters. That�� due in part to a few paid for promotions on behalf of both of these stocks. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions, but investors with a long term time horizon need to be more cautious as promotions tend to help traders. With that said, do these two small cap tech stocks have what it takes to succeed? Here is a quick reality check:

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: Applied Materials Inc.(AMAT)

Applied Materials, Inc. provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, flat panel display, solar photovoltaic (PV), and related industries worldwide. The company?s Silicon Systems Group segment offers a range of manufacturing equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits. This segment provides systems that perform primary processes used in chip fabrication, including atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, electrochemical deposition, rapid thermal processing, chemical mechanical planarization, wet cleaning, and wafer metrology and inspection, as well as systems that etch or inspect circuit patterns on masks used in the photolithography process. Its Applied Global Services segment offers products and services designed to enhance the performance and productivity, and reduce the environmental impact of the fab operations of semiconductor, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar P V manufacturers. The company?s Display segment provides products for manufacturing thin film transistor LCDs for televisions, personal computers (PCs), tablet PCs, smartphones, and other consumer-oriented electronic applications. Its Energy and Environmental Solutions segment offers manufacturing systems for the generation and conservation of energy, as well as manufacturing solutions for wafer-based crystalline silicon applications. This segment also provides roll-to-roll vacuum Web coating systems for deposition of a range of films on flexible substrates for functional, aesthetic, or optical properties; and roll-to-roll machine for depositing ultra-thin aluminum films for flexible packaging applications. The company serves manufacturers of semiconductor wafers and chips, flat panel LCDs, solar PV cells and modules, and other electronic devices. Applied Materials, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Axler]

  We also note there has been a healthy pace of M&A consolidation in the semiconductor capital equipment industry in the past few years. For example, ASML Holdings (ASML) recently acquired Cymer and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO: 8038) acquired FSI International. Lastly, we noted previously that Applied Materials (AMAT) acquired Varian Semiconductor in 2011, a close competitor to Axcelis. Our analysis suggests that the minimum valuation for a company in the industry is 1.2x, 11.0x and 2.2x revenues, EPS, and tangible book value, respectively. Furthermore, the average premium paid to the stock price has been a minimum of 35%.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Applied Materials provides valuable products and services to the�semiconductor, flat panel display, solar PV, and related industries worldwide. The stock is currently recovering from an overall decline it has seen over the last several years. Earnings and revenue figures have been decreasing, over the last four quarters, which has satisfied investors. Relative to its peers and sector, Applied Materials has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE what Applied Materials does this coming quarter.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: Endesa SA (ELE.MC)

Endesa SA is a Spain-based holding company engaged in the energy sector. The Company is primarily involved in the generation, distribution and supply of energy from different sources, such as gas, cogeneration and renewables. It also generates, distributes and supplies electricity. The Company is also engaged in real estate operations as well as coal mining. Its business is divided into four lines: Electricity, Gas, Cogeneration and renewables; as well Other activities. The Company operates in such countries as Spain, Portugal, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Morocco and China, among others. The Company operates a number of subsidiaries worldwide. The Company is a member of Enel Group. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Cheniere Energy Inc.(LNG) said Spanish energy company Endesa SA(ELE.MC) agreed to purchase about 1.5 million tons a year of liquified natural gas from the Houston-based company’s planned Corpus Christi export operations. The agreement is for 20 years from the first commercial delivery, which is expected to start as soon as 2018. Shares edged up 2.4% to $58.99 premarket.

Top 10 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2014: Camden Property Trust (CPT)

Camden Property Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is engaged in the ownership, management, development, acquisition, and construction of multi-family apartment communities. As each of its communities has similar economic characteristics, residents, amenities, and services, its operations have been aggregated into one segment.

In April 2011, it sold one of its land parcels to one of the Funds. In June 2011, it sold another land parcel to the Fund. In August 2011, the Company acquired 30.1 acres of land located in Atlanta, Georgia. In December 2011, it acquired 2.2 acres of land in Glendale, California. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it sold two properties consisting of 788 units located in Dallas, Texas. During 2011, the Funds acquired 18 multifamily properties totaling 6,076 units located in the Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Tampa and Atlanta. In January 2012, one of the Funds acquired one multifamily property consisted of 350 units located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned interests in, operated, or were developing 206 multifamily properties comprising 69,794 apartment homes across the United States. Of these 206 properties, 10 properties were under development. In addition, it owns land parcels, which it focuses on developing into multifamily apartment communities.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Lewis]

  Take Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT  ) , for example. The stock is up around 16% over two years -- respectable, but incongruent with the industry trends. Since 2010, operating cash flow has increased more than 30%. The company pays a 3.5% dividend and trades at 16.5 times projected one-year earnings. For comparison, Lennar trades at 18 times earnings, while KB Homes trades at more than 20 times forward earnings.