Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014

U.S. stocks are moderately lower today following a reported drop in pending home sales: As of 12:45 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is down 53 points, or 0.34%, while the S&P 500 is off by 0.44% and the Nasdaq has lost 0.43%. The National Association of Realtors said sales contracts fell 0.4% during the month of June as interest rates began rising in May and housing prices continued to tick higher. Sales hit a six-year high in May and are still up more than 10% when compared to June of last year.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) is losing out today, likely because of the disappointing pending-home-sales report. Shares are down 1.4% as investors grow concerned about the bank's plan to grow revenue by increasing its mortgage business. Bank of America and the other large financial institutions have been shifting toward the mortgage business, rather than riskier forms of banking such as trading and investing. But these plans will only work if the U.S. housing market continues to improve and provide a large quantity of new home mortgages.

Hot Retail Companies To Own In Right Now: Powershares DB Us Dollar Index Bearish Fund (UDN)

PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish Fund (the Fund) is a separate series of PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Trust (the Trust). The Fund�� subsidiary is DB US Dollar Index Bearish Master Fund (the Master Fund), which is a separate series of DB US Dollar Index Bearish Master Trust (the Master Trust). The Fund offers common units of beneficial interest (the Shares) only to certain eligible financial institutions (the Authorized Participants) in one or more blocks of 200,000 Shares, called a Basket. The proceeds from the offering of Shares are invested in the Master Fund.

The Master Fund invests in futures contracts (the DX Contracts) with a view to tracking the changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the Deutsche Bank US Dollar Index (USDX) Futures Index - Excess Return (Short Index) (referred to as the Short Index or the Index) over time. The Fund earns interest income from the United States Treasury obligations and other high credit quality short-term, fixed-income securities. The Index is calculated to reflect the changes in market value over time, whether positive or negative, of short positions in DX Contracts. DX Contracts are traded through the currency markets of ICE Futures U.S. under the symbol DX. The changes in market value over time, whether positive or negative, of the DX Contracts are related to the changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the U.S. Dollar Index (the USDX). The Index provides a general indication of the international value of the United States dollar relative to the six major world currencies (the Index Currencies), which comprise the USDX, including Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Swedish Krona and Swiss Franc.

The Fund, through its Master Fund, establishes short positions in DX Contracts with a view to tracking the changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the Index. The performance of the Fund also is intended to reflect the excess, if any, of its Master Fund�� interest income f! rom its holdings of the United States Treasury obligations and other high credit quality short-term, fixed-income securities over the expenses of the Fund and the Master Fund. DB Commodity Services LLC serves as the managing owner, commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor of the Fund and the Master Fund. DB Commodity Services LLC is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the administrator of the Fund and the Master Fund.v

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian O'Connell]

  To make a contrarian play, the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish (UDN) works the opposite way: When the dollar declines, the fund fares better.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: Wisdomtree International Energy Sector Fund (GNAT)

WisdomTree International Energy Sector Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Energy Sector Index (The Index). The Fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.

The Index is derived from WisdomTree Index of Europe, Far East Asia and Australasia (DEFA) Fund. It measures the performance of dividend-paying companies in developed markets outside of the United States and Canada within the international energy sector. The companies are weighted in the Index based on regular cash dividends paid. The Index includes companies from oil and gas producers, oil and gas services, pipelines, alternative energy sources, and coal industries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  Unusual volume (at least 5X ADV): Market Vectors Gaming ETF (NYSE: BJK), Guggenheim Timber ETF (NYSE: CUT), WisdomTree Global Natural Resources ETF (NYSE: GNAT), iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners (NYSE: RING) and the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: UniCredit SpA (UCG)

UniCredit SpA is an Italy-based holding company engaged in the financial sector. The Company�� division model is based on four pillars: Customer Centricity, A Multi-Local Approach, Global Product Lines, and Global Service Lines. The Customer Centricity area focuses on the Retail, Corporate & Investment Banking and Private Banking areas. The Centralized Multi-Local Approach takes responsibility for the distribution networks and customer relationships. The Global Products Lines are responsible for developing the products and services across all geographic areas. The Global Service Lines which supply the network coverage functions and product factories with specialized services, including Banking Back Office, Information and Communication Technology, Credit Collection, Procurement Services, Real Estate and Shared Service Centers. On October 28, 2013, the aggregate sale by UniCredit SpA of Fondiaria Sai SpA equal to 6.7% was complied. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Norsk Hydro (NHY) ASA slumped the most in one year after Vale SA sold a stake in the aluminum maker. UniCredit SpA (UCG) and Infineon Technologies AG added at least 1 percent each after posting quarterly profit that beat projections. Henkel AG rose 2.1 percent as third-quarter profit beat analysts��estimates.

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund (ETY)

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund (the Fund) is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's primary investment objective is to provide current income and gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of common stocks. The Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets in a combination of dividend paying common stocks, and common stocks the value of which is subject to covered written index call options. It seeks to generate current earnings in part by writing (selling) stock index call options on the S&P 500 Index and investing in dividend-paying common stock. The Fund invests in sectors, such as financials, energy, information technology, industrials, healthcare, consumer staples, telecommunication services, consumer discretionary, materials and utilities.

The Fund�� investment advisor is Eaton Vance Management (EVM). Its sub-advisor is Rampart Investment Management. The Fund may invest in Cash Management Portfolio, an affiliated investment company managed by Boston Management and Research (BMR), a subsidiary of EVM.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Carlson]

  This recommended fund is Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income (ETY). The options that the fund writes give buyers the right to buy the stocks from the fund at fixed prices by a certain date.