Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015

With shares of Groupon�(NASDAQ:GRPN) trading around $10, is GRPN an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Groupon offers online retail services. The company provides daily deals on stuff to do, eat, see, and buy in more than 500 markets in 44 countries. It provides an online service that lets groups of people create campaigns to pool resources, including money and personal commitments to take action, and it allows users to sell products and transact business online. Groupon is poised to see rising traffic as it provides consumers with ways to save on common shopping experiences and activities.

Groupon has continued to rise after reporting third-quarter earnings that beat expectations after the bell on Thursday. Up 2.7 percent in premarket trading, the company reported that sales rose 4.7 percent to $595.1 million. Groupon posted a net loss of $2.58 million, much less than analyst expectations of $14.3 million, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Groupon also announced that it�� purchasing South Korean travel deals company Ticket Monster Inc. for $260 million.

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: ASB Bancorp Inc (ASBB)

ASB Bancorp, Inc. (ASB Bancorp), incorporated in May 2011, focuses to become the holding company for Asheville Savings Bank, S.S.B. (Asheville Savings Bank). ASB Bancorp, Inc.�� business activity will be the ownership of the Asheville Savings Bank. Asheville Savings Bank is a chartered savings bank. It operates as a community-oriented financial institution offering traditional financial services to consumers and businesses in its market area. It attracts deposits from the general public and use those funds to originate one-to four-family residential mortgage loans and commercial real estate loans, and home equity loans and lines of credit, consumer loans, construction and land development loans, and commercial and industrial loans. It conducts its lending and deposit activities with individuals and small businesses in its primary market area. Its market area is Asheville, North Carolina and the rest of Buncombe County where it has eight branch offices, as well as Henderson, Madison, McDowell and Transylvania Counties where it has five branch offices.

Lending Activities

Asheville Savings Bank loan portfolio include real estate mortgage loans, including one- to four-family residential mortgage loans and commercial mortgage loans, and revolving mortgage loans, which consist of home equity loans and lines of credit, consumer loans, construction and land development loans, and commercial and industrial loans. As of March 31, 2011, it had $177.8 million in one- to four-family residential loans, which represented 36.7% of its total loan portfolio. Its origination of residential mortgage loans enables borrowers to purchase or refinance existing homes located in its primary market area. It offers a mix of adjustable rate mortgage loans and fixed-rate mortgage loans with terms of up to 30 years.

Asheville Savings Bank offers fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage loans secured by non-residential real estate and multi-family properties. As of March 31, 2011, commercial mort! gage loans totaled $162.7 million, or 33.5% of its total loan portfolio. Its commercial mortgage loans are secured by commercial, industrial and manufacturing, small to moderately-sized office and retail properties, hotels, multi-family properties and hospitals and churches located in its primary market area. As of March 31, 2011, $35.6 million or 21.9% of its commercial real estate loans were secured by owner-occupied properties. It originates fixed-rate and adjustable-rate commercial mortgage loans, generally with terms of three to five years and payments based on an amortization schedule of up to 25 years. It has originated construction and land development loans for commercial properties, such as retail shops and office units, and multi-family properties, and construction and land development loans for one-to four-family homes. As of March 31, 2011, commercial construction and land development loans totaled $27.8 million, which represented 5.7% of its total loan portfolio, and residential construction and land development loans totaled $7.9 million, which represented 1.6% of its total loan portfolio. As of March 31, 2011, it had speculative residential construction loans of $3.1 million and speculative commercial construction loans of $9.6 million.

Asheville Savings Bank offers revolving mortgage loans, which consist of home equity loans and lines of credit, and various consumer loans, including automobile loans and loans secured by deposits. As of March 31, 2011, revolving mortgage loans totaled $52 million, or 10.7% of its total loan portfolio, and consumer loans totaled $41.1 million, or 8.5% of its total loan portfolio. Its revolving mortgage loans consist of both home equity loans with fixed-rate amortizing term loans with terms of up to 15 years and adjustable rate lines of credit with interest rates indexed to the prime rate.

Asheville Savings Bank offers commercial and industrial loans to small businesses located in its primary market area. As of March 31, 2011, co! mmercial ! and industrial loans totaled $15.8 million, which represented 3.2% of its total loan portfolio. Its commercial and industrial loan portfolio consists of loans, which are secured by equipment, accounts receivable and inventory, but also includes a smaller amount of unsecured loans for purposes of financing expansion or providing working capital for general business purposes.

Investment Activities

As of March 31, 2011, Asheville Savings Bank�� investment portfolio consisted of the United States government and agency securities, mortgage-backed securities and securities issued by government sponsored enterprises, and municipal securities. As of March 31, 2011, its securities portfolio represented 27.2% of total assets. As of March 31, 2011, $198.6 million of its securities portfolio was classified as available for sale and $5.7 million of its securities portfolio was classified as held to maturity. Securities classified as held to maturity are United States government sponsored securities, mortgage-backed securities and state and local government securities. As of March 31, 2011, it had four million dollars of other investments, at cost, which consisted of Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

Sources of Funds

Deposits, borrowings and loan repayments are the sources of Asheville Savings Bank funds for lending and other investment purposes. It uses advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta to supplement its investable funds. The Federal Home Loan Bank functions as a central reserve bank providing credit for member financial institutions. Advances are made under several different programs, each having its own interest rate and range of maturities. It also utilizes securities sold under agreements to repurchase and overnight repurchase agreements to supplement its supply of investable funds and to meet deposit withdrawal requirements.

Subsidiaries

Asheville Savings Bank has two subsidiaries, Appalachian Financial Services,! Inc., wh! ich was formed to engage in investment activities, and Wenoca, Inc., which serves as Asheville Savings Bank�� trustee regarding deeds of trust. Both subsidiaries are organized as North Carolina corporations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  ASB Bancorp (ASBB) is the holding company for Ashville in western North Carolina. The bank has 13 branches and total assets of around $733 million. Nonperforming assets are just 2.1% of total assets and the bank is massively over-reserved for future losses, with loan reserves at 6 times nonperforming loans. The bank bought back 544,494 shares of common stock at an average price of $16.79 per share in 2013. The board just authorized a new 5% buyback in January 2014. The stock is trading around 80% of book value, so management is buying the shares on the cheap — and that should bode well for shareholders in the future.

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: Stillwater Mining Company(SWC)

Stillwater Mining Company engages in developing, extracting, processing, smelting, refining, and marketing palladium, platinum, and platinum group metals (PGMs). The company conducts its mining operations at the Stillwater mine, which is located near Nye, Montana; and at the East Boulder mine located near Big Timber, Montana. It is also involved in developing Marathon, a PGM/copper property, which is located in Ontario, Canada; and exploring Altar, a copper/gold property located in San Juan, Argentina. In addition, the company operates a smelter and base metal refinery located in Columbus, Montana. Further, it recycles spent catalyst material to recover palladium, platinum, and rhodium at its smelter and base metal refinery. As of December 31, 2011, the company had proven and probable ore reserves of approximately 42.5 million tons at its Montana operations; and approximately 91.4 million tones at the Marathon development project. Stillwater Mining Company was founded in 1 992 and is headquartered in Billings, Montana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  The tit-for-tat sniping between platinum group metals miner Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC  ) and activist shareholder Clinton Group continues after the latter rejected a settlement offer and sought to give its own interpretation of statements the miner made.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  4. Platinum-group metals
  Platinum and palladium both fell sharply, losing 5% and 6% of their value, respectively. Those losses weren't as extreme as gold's, but they nevertheless represented a drop to levels not seen since late last year. The two major miners producing the white metals, Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC  ) and North American Palladium (NYSEMKT: PAL  ) , both lost more than 10% on the day.

Hot Airline Companies To Invest In Right Now: MEG Energy Corp (MEGEF.PK)

MEG Energy Corp. is a Canada-based oil sands company focused on in situ development and production in the southern Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta. The Company has identified two steam assisted gravity drainage projects, the Christina Lake project and the Surmont project. The Company owns a 100% interest in over 900 sections of oil sands leases in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta and is primarily engaged in a steam assisted gravity drainage oil sands development at its 80 section Christina Lake Regional Project (Christina Lake Project). The development includes co-ownership of Access Pipeline, a dual pipeline to transport diluent north from the Edmonton area to the Athabasca oil sands area and a blend of bitumen and diluent south from the Christina Lake Project into the Edmonton area. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

  Suncor Energy (SU) (Part 1), see article here.Suncor Energy (Part 2), see article here.Athabasca Oil (ATHOF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources, see article here.Imperial Oil, see article here.Cenovus Energy (CVE), see article here.MEG Energy (MEGEF.PK), see article here.Devon Energy, see article here.Royal Dutch Shell, see article here.Ivanhoe Energy (IVAN), see article here.Nexen (CNOOC) (CEO), see article here.

  An analysis of the current operations of the company will be examined with the objective to provide the most complete information available to potential investors before deciding to seize the opportunity that the 54,132 square miles of the Carbonate Triangle has to offer. Let's start by introducing Athabasca, a famous and most prolific region in the Canadian oil sands as well as one of the largest reserve in the world.

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: Huntsman Corporation(HUN)

Huntsman Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of differentiated organic and inorganic chemical products worldwide. The company offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, propylene oxide, polyols, propylene glycol, thermoplastic polyurethane, aniline, and methyl tertiary-butyl ether products, which are used to produce rigid and flexible foams, as well as coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers; and performance products, such as amines, carbonates, surfactants, linear alkyl benzene, maleic anhydride, performance chemicals, ethylene glycol, olefins, and technology licenses. It also provides advanced materials comprising epoxy resin compounds and formulations; cross-linking, matting agents, and curing agents; and epoxy, acrylic and polyurethane-based adhesives, and tooling resin formulations. In addition, Huntsman Corporation offers textile chemicals, dyes, and titanium dioxide. The company?s products are used in various applicatio ns, including adhesives, aerospace, automotive, construction products, durable and non-durable consumer products, electronics, medical, packaging, paints and coatings, power generation, refining, synthetic fiber, textile chemicals, and dye industries. Huntsman Corporation was founded in 1970 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday’s session are Cummins Inc.(CMI), Actavis(ACT) PLC and Huntsman Corp.(HUN)

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Huntsman (HUN) has gained 2.5% to $19.75 after the chemical company’s shares were raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

  Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) has advanced 1.9% to $44.37 after the pharmaceutical company’s shares were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral by JPMorgan.

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: Celldex Therapeutics Inc(CLDX)

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of novel therapeutics for human health care primarily in the United States. The company markets Rotarix to treat rotavirus infection. Its lead drug candidate, rindopepimut (CDX-110), is an immunotherapeutic vaccine in Phase III clinical trial to target the tumor-specific molecule, epidermal growth factor receptor variant III, as well as in Phase II clinical trial for the indication of recurrent glioblastoma. The company?s other lead drug candidates comprise CDX-011, an antibody-drug conjugate in Phase IIb clinical trial for metastatic breast cancer and melanoma indication; and CDX-1127, a human monoclonal antibody in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of lymphoma/leukemia and solid tumors. Its additional clinical and preclinical programs consist of CDX-1401, an Antigen Presenting Cells Targeting Technology program in Phase I/II clinical trial to tr eat multiple solid tumors; and CDX-301, an immune cell mobilizing agent and dendritic cell growth factor in Phase I clinical for treating cancer, autoimmune disease, and transplant. The company?s preclinical products include CDX-1135, a molecule for treating renal disease; and CDX-014, a human monoclonal antibody-drug conjugate for the treatment of ovarian and renal cancer. It has research collaboration and license agreements with Medarex, Inc.; Rockefeller University; Duke University Brain Tumor Cancer Center; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Alteris Therapeutics, Inc.; Thomas Jefferson University; 3M Company; University of Southampton; Amgen Inc.; Amgen Fremont; and Seattle Genetics, Inc. Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another stock that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX), which is focused on the development and commercialization of several immunotherapy technologies for the treatment of cancer and other difficult-to-treat diseases. This stock has been red hot so far in 2013, with shares up 222%.

  If you look at the chart for Celldex Therapeutics, you'll notice that this stock has recently formed a perfect double bottom chart pattern at $19.20 a share. Following that bottom, shares of CLDX have started to uptrend and move within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will trigger if CLDX manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels with strong upside volume flows.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CLDX if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $21.88 to its 52-week high at $21.98 a share volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.79 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then CLDX will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $30 a share.

  Traders can look to buy CLDX off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below $19.20 a share, or below more support at $18 a share. One can also buy CLDX off strength once it takes out those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

  The short-sellers love to target this stock, since the current short interest as a percentage of the float for CLDX is pretty high at 10.5%. A decent short-squeeze could materialize for CLDX if it breaks out soon with volume, so keep an eye on this name.

• [By John Udovich]

  Biotech stocks and especially anything related to cancer has been a hot sector this year with plenty of good news with small cap cancer stocks like Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: CLVS), Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.(NASDAQ: CLDX) and MetaStat Inc (OTCBB: MTST). also recently reporting their share of good news. I should point out that one reason biotech or rather cancer is a hot area right now is because�big pharma companies who are loosing their�patent protection are looking for acquisitions with cancer in particular being a hot area. In addition and�thanks to a series of breakthroughs that have helped researchers understand the genetic basis of the disease, more investment or R&D dollars are flowing into cancer therapies or small cap biotechs in the cancer space.�With that in mind, here is the latest news about cancer or the cancer stocks or drug companies involved with finding new cancer treatments:

Best Diversified Bank Stocks To Invest In 2015: National Australia Bank Ltd (NAUBF)

National Australia Bank Limited is a financial services organization providing products, advice and services through its major Australian franchise and businesses. The Company�� segment includes Business Banking, Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, UK Banking and NZ Banking, MLC and NAB, Great Western Bank (GWB), the Corporate Functions and Other segment. MLC is the wealth management division of the National Australia Bank (NAB). In January 2014, Sandfire Resources NL announced that National Australia Bank Limited and its associated entities have ceased to be the substantial holder of the Company. In January 2014, Commonwealth Property Office Fund announced that National Australia Bank Ltd and its associated entities have ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Commonwealth Property Office Fund. In February 2014, Fairfax Media Ltd announced that National Australia Bank Ltd and its associated entities ceased holding interest in the capital of the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australia stocks enjoyed early Monday gains after an advance for commodities and U.S. stocks since the last session, with a relatively good reception for earnings. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) improved by 0.4% to 5,376.30, with miners tracking gains in gold and copper. Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) added 1.3%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) traded 1.1% higher, while gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. (AU:KCN) (KSKGF) rallied 2.2% and 4.7%, respectively. Banks rose after Wall Street shares climbed on Friday, with National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) up 1% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) adding 0.9%, though Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) dropped 2.4% as it traded without rights to its latest dividend. Coal transport firm Aurizon Holdings Ltd. (AU:AZJ) (QRNNF) tacked on 2.1% as its fiscal first-half underlying profit increased 18%, though net profit f

• [By Daniel Inman]

  Australia�� S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) �rose 0.6%, as Sydney bounced back from a Monday selloff after a profit warning from QBE Insurance (AU:QBE) � (QBEIF) �surprised the market and gave broader sentiment a hit. The insurer fell another 6.4% Tuesday, but a number of banks staged a healthy recovery. National Australia Bank (AU:NAB) � (NAUBF) �rose 1.2% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) � (ANEWF) �added 0.9%.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks edged lower Thursday, as a mostly soft lead from the U.S. markets helped weigh on the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) , which lost 0.2% to 5,306.40. Mining stocks moved mostly lower as a rising dollar depressed some key commodity prices overnight, with Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) down 1%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) off 1.5%, and Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) 1.1% lower. The big four banks all started lower as well, with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (AU:CBA) (CBAUF) down 0.2% each, while National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) lost 0.4%, and Westpac Banking Corp. (AU:WBC) (WEBNF) fell 0.5%. Retailers were mixed ahead of retail-sales data due out later in the day, as Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. (AU:HVN) (HNORY) fell 0.5% and Myer Holdings Ltd. (AU:MYR) lost 0.7%, while David Jones Ltd.