Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015

On this day in economic and business history...

FedEx (NYSE: FDX  ) took off into business legend on April 17, 1973, when 14 Dassault Falcon 20s took off from Memphis International Airport. The successful delivery of 186 packages to 25 different cities was the first step toward realizing FedEx founder Fred W. Smith's ambition to reshape the global air-freight distribution system. However, it was only a first step. The rest of the road would take FedEx to places no delivery company had been before. Before we dive into the FedEx story, let's note that Smith's ambition makes a worthy counterpoint to would-be entrepreneurs who dismiss the value of college: He first developed the idea for FedEx at Yale in the 1960s, compiling his thoughts into a term paper on the inefficiencies of the "modern" air transport system of that day.

Within two months of this first delivery, FedEx (then known as Federal Express) was already growing rapidly. Coverage of the company from June 1973 noted:

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Liuyang Fireworks Limited (FWK.V)

Liuyang Fireworks Limited engages in the development, manufacture, and distribution of fireworks and related products in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company is based in Liuyang City, the People's Republic of China.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: MetroCorp Bancshares Inc.(MCBI)

MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. operates as a holding company for MetroBank, National Association; and Metro United Bank engages in the commercial banking activities in Texas and California. It provides various deposit products and services, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, money market accounts, noninterest-bearing demand deposit transaction accounts, and interest-bearing NOW accounts, as well as time deposits comprising certificates of deposit and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers a range of loan products, such as commercial and industrial loans to wholesalers, manufacturers, and business service companies; commercial mortgage loans to finance the purchase of real property; residential mortgage loans; loans for the construction of residential and non-residential properties; loans for commercial properties, that include multi-family, office, industrial, warehouse, and retail centers; and consumer loans, which comprise automo bile loans, lines of credit, and other personal loans, as well as involves in various government guaranteed lending programs. In addition, it provides trade finance loans and letters of credit to facilitate export and import transactions for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as offers ATM cards, debit cards, and online banking services. The company operates 13 branches in Houston and Dallas, Texas metropolitan areas; and 6 branches in the San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, California metropolitan areas. MetroCorp Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Top 5 Chemical Stocks To Invest In 2015: Ztest Electronics Inc (ZTE.V)

ZTEST Electronics Inc., through its subsidiary, Permatech Electronics Corporation, offers electronic manufacturing services in Canada. The company engages in designing, developing, and assembling printed circuit boards and other electronic equipment. Its services also include materials management, and printed circuit board design and testing. The company serves customers in the medical, power, computer, telecommunication, wireless, industrial, and consumer electronics markets. ZTEST Electronics Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in North York, Canada.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Syntroleum Corporation(SYNM)

Syntroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries engage in commercializing and licensing its Syntroleum technologies to produce synthetic liquid hydrocarbons. Its Syntroleum process involves conversion of carbon containing material into synthesis gas; and conversion of the synthesis gas or coal-derived or biomass-derived syngas into hydrocarbons. The company also develops the Synfining Process technology for the conversion of Fischer-Tropsch wax into various products, including diesel fuels, jet fuels, lubricants, naphtha, and other materials. In addition, it offers the Bio-Synfining technology, a second generation renewable fuels technology that is feedstock flexible, including the use of vegetable oils, fats, fatty acids, and greases. Syntroleum Corporation was founded in 1984 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Tempur-pedic International Inc (TPX)

Tempur-Pedic International Inc. manufactures, markets, and distributes bedding products in North America and internationally. Its products include pillows, mattresses, and adjustable beds, as well as various cushions and other comfort products. The company sells its mattresses and pillows under the TEMPUR and Tempur-Pedic brand names through furniture and bedding, specialty, and department stores; direct response, Internet, and own stores; chiropractors, medical retailers, hospitals, and other healthcare markets; and third party distributors. Tempur-Pedic International Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alexis Xydias]

  Euro-region stocks are cheaper than equities in the U.S. and Asia. After an 11 percent gain in 2013, the Euro Stoxx 50 trades at 13.1 times projected earnings, according to Bloomberg data. The S&P 500 is valued at 15.5 times estimated profit and Japan�� Topix (TPX) trades at 15.1 times income after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to end two decades of deflation.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But Mattress Firm has to deal with competitors that are highly motivated to thwart its growth plans. On one hand, Tempur-Pedic's (NYSE: TPX  ) now-completed acquisition of Sealy has broadened the former high-end mattress specialist's product line to cover more of the lower-end business that Mattress Firm has historically focused on. At the same time, Select Comfort (NASDAQ: SCSS  ) has managed to take over its primary competitor in the air-filled mattress market, giving it sole control of that segment of the overall mattress market.

• [By Kana Nishizawa]

  Japan�� Topix (TPX) index declined 0.4 percent, its first drop in four days, after the yen gained 0.2 percent to 99.81 per dollar. Australia�� S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand�� NZX 50 Index both lost 0.6 percent. Singapore�� Straits Times Index fell 0.4 percent.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Qualstar Corporation(QBAK)

Qualstar Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells automated magnetic tape libraries used to store, retrieve, and manage electronic data primarily in network computing environments worldwide. Its tape libraries consists of cartridge tape drives, tape cartridges, and robotics to move the cartridges from their storage locations to the tape drives under software control. The tape libraries also provide data storage solutions for organizations requiring backup, recovery, and archival storage of critical electronic information. The company also offers ancillary products related to its tape libraries, such as tape media, tape magazines, cables, bar code labels, and fiber channel adapters. In addition, it designs, develops, and sells switching power supplies that are used to convert alternate current line voltage to direct current voltages for use in electronic equipment, such as telecommunications equipment, servers, routers, switches, lighting, and gaming devices. Qualstar Corporation sells its tape drive products primarily to value added resellers and original equipment manufacturers, as well as switching power supplies primarily to original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and distributors. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Simi Valley, California.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Bruker Corporation(BRKR)

Bruker Corporation designs, manufactures, services, and sells proprietary life science and materials research systems worldwide. The company?s Scientific Instruments segment offers advanced instrumentation and automated solutions based on magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, X-ray, spark-optical emission spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, stylus and optical metrology, and infrared and Raman molecular spectroscopy technologies. This segment serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and molecular diagnostic companies; academic institutions, medical schools, and other non-profit organizations; clinical microbiology laboratories; government departments and agencies; nanotechnology, semiconductor, chemical, cement, metals, and petroleum companies; and food, beverage, and agricultural analysis companies and laboratories. Its Energy & Supercon Technologies segment provides superconducting materials, including metallic low temperature superconductors for use in magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance, fusion energy research, and other applications; and ceramic high temperature superconductors primarily for fusion energy research applications, as well as non-superconducting Cuponal materials and wires based on co-extruded copper and aluminum, and non-superconducting high technology tools. Its customers include companies in the medical industry; private and public research and development laboratories in the fields of fundamental and applied sciences, and energy research; academic institutions; and government agencies. This segment is also involved in the development of superconductors and superconducting-enabled devices for applications in power and energy, as well as industrial processing industries. The company markets its products through direct sales force; and distributors, independent sales representatives, and other representatives. Bruker Corporation was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Billerica, M assachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Bruker (NASDAQ: BRKR) was down, falling 8.85 percent to $18.65 on Q3 results.

  Commodities
  In commodity news, oil traded down 0.93 percent to $95.48, while gold traded down 0.62 percent to $1,315.50.

Top 10 Freight Companies To Buy For 2015: Cole Real Estate Investments Inc (COLE)

NA

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  In the world of triple-net REITs, most of the attention in the past week has been on the planned merger of American Capital Realty Properties (ARCP) and Cole Real Estate Investments (COLE). I recently wrote about ARCP, noting that the REIT had seen heavy insider buying over the summer ��at prices higher than today��. I also recommended the stock based on its growth prospects within a sector I love and its high dividend yield — 6.7% at today�� prices.

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  I call ARCP an “upstart” due to its short trading history (it�� only been trading since 2011).� But the truth is, after its merger with Cole Properties (COLE), ARCP will be the largest triple-net REIT by market cap, and its total square footage will be nearly double that of Realty Income. And while ARCP stock has a short history, its executive team has an average of 20 years experience in the industry.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  American Realty Capital Properties Inc.(ARCP) agreed to buy Cole Real Estate Investments Inc.(COLE) for about $7 billion, joining together two real-estate investment trusts. The expanded company will include a combined portfolio of more than 3,700 properties with over 100 million square feet in 49 states and Puerto Rico. Cole shares surged 16% to $14.91 premarket, while American Realty climbed 5.8% to $14.12.

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  ARCP has a shorter trading history than some of its peers, such as Realty Income (O) and National Retail Properties (NNN), which largely explains why its yield is higher. As a relatively new REIT, ARCP stock is largely unfollowed by investors. But once its merger with Cole Properties (COLE) is completed, ARCP will be the largest trip-net REIT by market cap and total square footage, and it will no longer be flying under Wall Street�� radar.