Hot Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014

The world is expanding, but unfortunately it's not the global economy whose waistline needs to go up a size.

The rate of worldwide obesity has been marching higher at an extraordinary rate for more than three decades now. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, known as the OECD, fewer than one in 10 people were considered obese in 1980. As of 2011, 19 of the 34 OECD countries have a majority of their population that's either overweight (defined as a body mass index above 25) or obese (a BMI of more than 30).

A growing problem
The reason for higher obesity rates is pretty simple among the world's economic powerhouses: living conditions, education, and incomes have been improving. Certainly the diverse eating habits of different cultures has some bearing on this as well, but the trend has been unmistakably higher across all OECD countries.

10 Best Gas Stocks For 2015: United Community Banks Inc. (UCBI)

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank that provides retail and corporate banking services to individuals and small to mid-size businesses. It offers various deposit accounts, such as checking accounts, savings and time deposits, demand deposits, non-interest bearing deposits, NOW accounts, and money market accounts. The company�s loan portfolio comprises commercial loans secured by real estate, commercial and industrial loans, commercial construction loans, residential construction and mortgage loans, and consumer installment loans. It also offers wire transfers, brokerage services, and other financial services; and ATM, telephone, and online banking services. In addition, the company acts as an insurance agency, as well as provides retail brokerage services through an affiliation with a third party broker/dealer. As of March 25, 2013, it operated 103 banking offices in north Georgia, the Atlanta region, coastal Georgi a, western North Carolina, east Tennessee, and northwest South Carolina. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  United Community Banks (UCBI) has 106 branches in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The bank has seen continual credit improvements and a recovering economy drive 100% earnings gains this year. The bank is one of the few seeing strong loan growth, and business is so good that UCBI paid back its TARP obligations without needing to issue new equity. This cheap stock was upgraded to an ����last July and at the current price. The P/E ratio right now is just 5.

Hot Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Triangle Petroleum Corporation (TPLM)

Triangle Petroleum Corporation engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of unconventional shale oil and natural gas resources in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana. As of January 31, 2013, the company held leasehold interests in approximately 86,000 net acres in McKenzie and Williams Counties of North Dakota, and Roosevelt and Sheridan Counties of Montana. It also holds an 87% working interest in approximately 412,924 net acres of oil and natural gas leases in the Windsor Sub-Basin of the Maritimes Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. In addition, the company offers hydraulic pressure pumping and complementary well completion services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana. The company was formerly known as Peloton Resources Inc. and changed its name to Triangle Petroleum Corporation in May 2005. Triangle Petroleum Corporation was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bret Jensen]

  Triangle Petroleum (TPLM) came within pennies of doubling since I profiled it at $5.40 a share back in June on Friday. This was twenty months before my prediction that the fast growing concern could achieve those levels. Triangle shows there can quite a bit a value still left among the smaller Bakken players. I view these small E&P firms almost like biotechs and use the same form of "shotgun investing" I do with that sector. Here are two small Bakken producers which could award aggressive growth investors in the future.

Hot Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Asta Funding Inc.(ASFI)

Asta Funding, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in purchasing, managing, and servicing distressed consumer receivables in the United States. Its principal portfolio includes charged-off receivables consisting of accounts that have been written-off by the originators and might have been previously serviced by collection agencies; semi-performing receivables, including accounts where the debtor is currently making partial or irregular monthly payments, but the accounts might have been written-off by the originators; performing receivables comprising accounts where the debtor is making regular monthly payments that might or might not have been delinquent in the past; and distressed consumer receivables, such as the unpaid debts of individuals to banks, finance companies, and other credit and service providers. The company?s distressed consumer receivables consist of MasterCard, Visa, and other credit card accounts, which were charged-off by the issuers or provide rs for non-payment. Asta Funding, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap debt collection stocks like�Asta Funding, Inc (NASDAQ: ASFI), Encore Capital Group, Inc (NASDAQ: ECPG) and Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc (NASDAQ: PRAA) could be the latest target of a government shakedown or crackdown as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said this week that�before it formally proposes any rules for debt collection, it wants to hear how collectors verify borrowers' information and communicate with consumers. In other words, debt collectors could be restricted from using text messages, social media or other Internet-based tools in their pursuit to collect debts. With about one in 10 Americans coming out of the financial crisis with some debt in collection, investing in small cap�debt collection stocks has been profitable for investors. However, there is no timeline for when any new rules might be released for review or come into effect.

Hot Diversified Bank Companies To Buy For 2014: Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.(PTEN)

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides onshore contract drilling services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States and Canada. The company offers pressure pumping services that consist of well stimulation and cementing for completion of new wells and remedial work on existing wells, as well as hydraulic fracturing, nitrogen, cementing, and acid pumping services in Texas and the Appalachian Basin; and contract drilling services primarily in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and western Canada. It also owns and invests in oil and natural gas assets located primarily in Texas and New Mexico. As of December 31, 2011, it had a drilling fleet of 330 marketable land-based drilling rigs. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) is another name in which the Deutsche Bank team sees tremendous upside. With strong cash flow generation and continued share repurchases to help as activity levels accelerate, the stock has solid potential for investors at this level. Deutsche Bank has a $30 price target and the consensus figure is at $23.50.�Patterson closed Monday at $25.47. Investors are paid a 0.8% dividend.