5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy For 2014

Consumer confidence is at six-year highs, and investors are feeling pretty good, too. But does that mean there’s a bubble in the stock market?

LPL Financial (LPLA) chief market strategist Jeffrey Kleintop tackles that question in a report released Wednesday. He zooms in on the price-to-earnings ratios of 62 industries today versus 14 years ago, at the top of a bull market.

“The stock market was really ‘bubbly’ in March 2000,” Kleintop writes, “with valuations of many industries floating higher, but now industry valuations are relatively flat.”

In late March 2000 — the tech-bubble era — 16 of 62 industries accounted for about 70% of the S&P 500’s total market value and had P/E ratios that could be called “bubbly,” i.e., more than 30.

10 Best Airline Stocks To Watch Right Now: Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL)

EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. The company�s operations primarily focuses on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shelf on state and federal waters offshore Louisiana. As of December 31, 2012, it had estimated proved reserves of 77.4 million barrels of oil equivalent, as well as interests in 37 producing fields located in the Gulf of Mexico shelf region. The company was formerly known as Energy Partners, Ltd. and changed its name to EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. in September 2012. EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  EPL Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE:EPL) will present at the New Frontiers in Energy Conference 2012 hosted by Westlake Securities on September 25, 2012 at 8:45 a.m. Central time in Austin, Texas. Gary C. Hanna, EPL’s President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide a financial and operational overview on the Company during the presentation.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  Energy XXI (NASDAQ: EXXI) and EPL Oil & Gas (NYSE: EPL) today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Energy XXI will acquire all of EPL's outstanding shares for total consideration of $2.3 billion, including the assumption of debt. To read the full news, click here. Achaogen (NASDAQ: AKAO) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $12.00 per share. To read the full news, click here. Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) announced today that the company has received verbal notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for imetelstat has been placed on full clinical hold, affecting all ongoing company-sponsored clinical trials. To read the full news, click here. VeriFone (NYSE: PAY) jumped 9.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported its first quarter results. The firm reported a Q1 EPS of $0.31 versus the Street estimate of $0.27. To read the full news, click here.

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• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ: EXXI)�announced a deal to acquire�EPL Oil & Gas Inc (NYSE: EPL) to create the largest publicly held independent oil producer on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, meaning it might be a good idea to look at other small cap Gulf oil stocks like W&T Offshore, Inc (NYSE: WTI), Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) and Contango Oil & Gas Company (NYSEMKT: MCF). Energy XXI�� CEO John Schiller has talked about the details of the acquisition�with Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" and he noted that��EPL Oil & Gas offers areas of expertise that EXXI currently lacks. However, investors who missed out on�yesterday�� 29% surge for EPL Oil & Gas�may want to check out these other small cap Gulf Oil stocks:

5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy For 2014: Axxess Pharma Inc (AXXE)

Axxess Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company. It is engaged in marketing of dermatological, therapeutic nutritionals, pain management, and diagnostic products in Canada and abroad. In October 2013, the Company announced that it has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary AllStar HealthBrands Inc.

The Company various products include Britical Tablets, Gravergol Capsules, Lactrase Capsules, Somnol Tablets, Triferexx -150 Polysaccharide-iron complex, Urasal Granules, Axspaz Tablets, Vivol Tablets, Hydraxx Lotion, Kemsol Solution, Soropon shampoo, and Skin care Products. Its distribution network includes physicians, hospitals, Government and defense institutions, and pharmacies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap healthcare and lifestyle stocks Axxess Pharma Inc (OTCMKTS: AXXE), Medefile International Inc (OTCMKTS: MDFI) and Intelligent Living Inc (OTCMKTS: ILIV) have all been getting some extra attention lately thanks in part to a few disclosed paid promotions or investor relations type of activities. But just how healthy are these small cap stocks for investors and traders alike? Here is a quick reality check:

  Axxess Pharma Inc (OTCMKTS: AXXE) Has Been Busy With the Press Releases

  Small cap Axxess Pharma is a specialty Health Care Products Company dedicated to improving health and quality of life by offering select medicines, nutritional supplements and over the counter remedies all across the Americas. On Friday, Axxess Pharma fell 7.52% to $0.295 for a market cap of $12.46 million plus AXXE is down 88.8% over the past year and down 99.8% over the past five years in intermittent trading according to Google Finance.

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap health care or personal care stocks Axxess Pharma Inc (OTCMKTS: AXXE), Radiant Creations Group Inc (OTCBB: RCGP) and Tauriga Sciences Inc (OTCMKTS: TAUG) have recently been attracting attention in various investment newsletters or in investor alerts. Some of the attention may have to do with paid promotions that two of these small caps have been the subject of. So how healthy are these three small cap health care or personal care orientated stocks? Here is a checkup:

5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy For 2014: Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage Inc (NGVC)

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc., incorporated on April 9, 2012, is a specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries and dietary supplements. The Company operates within the natural products retail industry. The Company offers products and brands, including a selection of natural and organic food, dietary supplements, body care products, pet care products and books.

The Company offers its customers an average of approximately 18,000 store-keeping units (SKUs) of natural and organic products per store, including an average of approximately 7,000 SKU of dietary supplements. As of June 30, 2012, the Company operated 55 stores in 11 states, including Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as a bulk food repackaging facility and distribution center in Colorado. The size of its stores varies from 5,000 selling square feet to 14,500 selling square feet, and a new store averages 9,500 selling square feet.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NYSE: NGVC) and mid cap Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ: SFM) are taking aim at natural and organic foods supermarket giant Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM), but do either of these stocks have what it takes to take on the the king of organic retailing? Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin way back in 1978 by a�twenty-five year old college dropout and a twenty-one year old�at a time when there were only a handful of natural or organic�supermarkets in the country. Today, Whole Foods Market�has 364 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom���which are sometimes referred to as ��hole Wallet��r ��hole Paycheck��given how much it costs to shop there.

• [By John Udovich]

  Large cap natural and organic foods supermarket giant Whole Foods Market, Inc (NASDAQ: WFM), otherwise known as ��hole Wallet��r ��hole Paycheck,��is not the only player in the natural or organics supermarket space for consumers and investors alike as mid cap Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ: SFM) and small caps Fairway Group Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: FWM) and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc (NYSE: NGVC) are also players in the space. It should be mentioned that Whole Foods Market is down 15.7% since the start of the year and has a downward trending technical chart, but�shares are�still up 13% over the past year, up 426.3% over the past five years and up 3,108.6% since January 1992.

• [By David Mamos]

  The Fresh Market Inc. (Nasdaq: TFM), Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. (NYSE: NGVC), and privately held Trader Joe's are others crowding into the field.

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  Much has been made recently about new entrants into the organic/natural food space in America. While Sprouts Farmers Market� (NASDAQ: SFM  ) , The Fresh Market (NASDAQ: TFM  ) , and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage� (NYSE: NGVC  ) attempt to use Whole Foods' blueprint, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) is teaming up with Wild Oats to offer more organic goods in its discount stores.

5 Best Healthcare Technology Stocks To Buy For 2014: Crosstex Energy L.P.(XTEX)

Crosstex Energy, L.P. operates as an independent midstream energy company. The company, through its subsidiary, Crosstex Energy Services, L.P., engages in gathering, transmission, processing, and marketing natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the north Texas Barnett shale area and Louisiana. Its activities include connecting the wells of natural gas producers to its gathering systems; processing natural gas for the removal of NGLs; fractionating NGLs into purity products, such as ethane, propane, isobutene, normal butane, natural gasoline, and stabilized condensate; marketing those NGL products; transporting natural gas; and providing it to various markets. The company also purchases natural gas from natural gas producers and other supply sources, and sells that natural gas to utilities, industrial consumers, and other marketers and pipelines. In addition, it purchases natural gas from producers not connected to its gathering systems for resale. The company operat es approximately 3,300 miles of natural gas gathering and transmission, and NGL pipelines. Crosstex Energy GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Crosstex Energy, L.P. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Crosstex Energy (Nasdaq: XTEX  ) reported earnings on May 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Crosstex Energy missed estimates on revenues and exceeded expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: Crosstex Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: XTXI) is up 71.5% at $35.33 on a merger with Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN). Crosstex Energy LP (NASDAQ: XTEX) is up 33.9% at $27.25 on the same news. Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) is up 22.7% at $35.34. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down 8.4% at $6.42, after posting another record low today.