Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now

Energy has been one of the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500 during the past year.

While the broader market is up an impressive 13%, the energy sector has gained just 2.5%. That performance looks even worse when compared with the market’s most bullish sectors, with health care up 29% and so-called consumer defensive stocks (which include makers and retailers of food and household and personal goods) up 23%.

But overall weakness in energy stocks is masking a lone group of standouts from the lackluster sector: refineries.

In fact, this group of stocks hasn't just been strong relative to its energy peers -- it has been one of the best-performing industries in the entire market in the past year. Take a look at the chart of two leading companies.

Best Consumer Service Companies For 2015: Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc.(SWM)

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry, as well as specialized paper products for use in various applications. It operates in two segments, Paper and Reconstituted Tobacco. The Paper segment primarily produces cigarette papers, such as lower ignition propensity papers, plug wrap papers, and base tipping papers to cigarette manufacturers that use to wrap various parts of a cigarette. It also offers commercial and industrial products, including lightweight printing and writing papers, battery separator papers, drinking straw wraps, filter papers, and other specialized papers to converters and other end-users or brokers. The Reconstituted Tobacco segment produces and sells reconstituted tobacco leaf, and wrapper and binder products to cigarette and cigar manufacturers. The company sells its products directly to customers in approximately 90 countries. Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Schweitzer-Mauduit International (NYSE: SWM  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Tannor Pilatzke]

  Schweitzer-Mauduit, Cigarette Paper Manufacturer (SWM) ��1995 Spin-off

  This is the big winner of the portfolio of spin-offs and logically makes the most sense. The price has increased by around 500% since 1995, not including dividends. The Company manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry as well as specialized paper products for use in other applications. The primary products in the group include cigarette, plug wrap and tipping papers, or Cigarette Papers, used to wrap various parts of a cigarette and reconstituted tobacco leaf, or RTL, which is used as a blend with virgin tobacco in cigarettes, reconstituted tobacco wrappers and binders for cigars. These products are sold directly to the tobacco companies or their designated converters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Non-tobacco products are a diverse mix of products that includes low volume, high-value engineered papers as well as commodity paper grades produced to maximize machine utilization.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Specialty paper manufacturer and distributor Schweitzer-Mauduit (SWM) raised its quarterly dividend 20% to 36 cents per share, payable on Dec. 26 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 27.
  SWM Dividend Yield: 2.78%
  

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.(HOT)

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. operates as a hotel and leisure company worldwide. The company operates luxury and upscale full service hotels, select-service hotels, extended stay hotels, resorts, retreats, and residences under St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le M�idien, Sheraton, Four Points, Aloft, and Element brand names. It also engages in the development and operation of vacation ownership resorts; marketing and selling vacation ownership interests in the resorts; and provision of financing to customers who purchase such interests. In addition, the company develops, markets, and sells residential units at mixed use hotel projects. As of December 31, 2011, its hotel portfolio included 1,076 owned, managed, or franchised hotels with approximately 315,300 rooms; and 13 stand-alone vacation ownership resorts and residential properties. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwid e Inc. operates independently of ITT Corporation as of December 19, 1995.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) will be presenting during the Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference in New York City on Monday, June 4th at 2:15 p.m. EDT. Vasant Prabhu, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, will be speaking at the conference.

• [By Patricio Kehoe]

  This company is known for its famous midscale brands Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, as well as the upscale hotels InterContinental and Crowne Plaza. The interesting factor, however, is the high rate of franchised and managed hotels among these brands, compared to industry rivals Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) or Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT). With more than 99% franchised or managed hotels in the InterContinental system, this company profits from excessive operating margins of 33.2% (the industry average is 8.70%) and minimal capital expenditures.

• [By Matt Thalman]

  In the following video, Fool contributor Matt Thalman discusses a few metrics and areas investors should focus their attention on when looking at Starwood's (NYSE: HOT  ) upcoming earnings report.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE: HOT) reported a gain in its third-quarter core earnings and lifted its full-year earnings forecast. To read the full news, click here. Procera Networks (NASDAQ: PKT) and Skyfire, a fully-owned subsidiary of Opera Software, today announced a joint solution and partnership to tackle the rapid growth of video traffic on global mobile networks, based on an open, scalable ICAP architecture. To read the full news, click here. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company (NASDAQ: RRD) and Consolidated Graphics (NYSE: CGX) jointly announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement by which RR Donnelley will acquire Consolidated Graphics, a provider of digital and commercial printing, fulfillment services, print management and proprietary Internet-based technology solutions. To read the full news, click here. Dunkin' Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) reported a 36% rise in its third-quarter income. To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Jobless Claims JP Morgan US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA)

iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI EAFE Index (the Index). The Index has been developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International, Inc. as an equity benchmark for international stock performance. The Index includes stocks from Europe, Australasia and the Far East. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  That last option can actually work well with a diversified portfolio. For instance, Vanguard Total Stock (NYSEMKT: VTI  ) , iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEMKT: EFA  ) , and other high-growth-potential investments can produce the most tax savings in a Roth, while iShares Core Bond (NYSEMKT: AGG  ) , Vanguard Total Bond (NYSEMKT: BND  ) , and other taxable income-oriented investments can fit well in a traditional retirement account.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Many of Fidelity's�core offerings have extremely low bid-ask spreads of just a penny per share. But especially among funds where iShares replaced former offerings with similar new funds, bid-ask spreads are uncomfortably high in some cases. For instance, the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has a much lower expense ratio of 0.14% than the 0.34% of the $41 billion iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (NYSEMKT: EFA  ) , but the newly commission-free fund has an average bid-ask spread of 0.1%, equating to a typical spread of more than a nickel per share. You'll find a similar phenomenon comparing the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF with the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEMKT: EEM  ) , with lower costs for the former offsetting greater liquidity for the latter. The tiny iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF has the highest average bid-ask spread of the lot, at a whopping 1.5%. With a dozen funds sporting bid-ask spreads of more than a quarter-percent, you'll pay a high price for the lack of liquidity in some of the funds iShares and Fidelity have made available.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  How to invest in stocks without risking everything
  With stocks near all-time highs, being prudent about which stocks to invest in makes plenty of sense. As you explore opportunities right now, focus on a few key ideas:

  Use index funds or exchange-traded funds to get easy diversification with modest investments. Broad-market ETF Vanguard Total Stock Market� (NYSEMKT: VTI  ) makes a good starting point for many investors because it provides a mix of U.S. companies of all sizes, avoiding the need to have separate funds to add stocks of small and mid-size companies. Adding other ETFs can further diversify into stocks outside the U.S., with iShares MSCI EAFE (NYSEMKT: EFA  ) providing broad-based exposure to stocks in some of the largest economies in the world. Look for short-term crisis situations with likely positive outcomes. For instance, Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) took a big hit after its Dreamliner aircraft's battery safety was compromised. For a few months, the aircraft was grounded, leading to intense investor fear. Yet the company rapidly resolved the problem, and investors have once again focused on the multitrillion-dollar potential for future orders over the next 20 years, rewarding value investors. Be careful with high-priced, high-growth stocks. They can be the best performers in your portfolio, but you'll suffer gut-wrenching moves along the way. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) , for instance, soared to nearly $300 per share in 2011 before plunging 75% in the face of its ill-advised attempt to break up its DVD and streaming businesses into two separate companies. Just a couple of years later, though, Netflix has gotten its growth back, with higher prices having provided greater revenue and international expansion giving the company plenty of potential for future growth. The shares have more than quadrupled from their 2012 lows.

  Step into stocks
  Investing in stocks involves taking on more risk than

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: AllianceBernstein Global High Income Fund Inc (AWF)

AllianceBernstein Global High Income Fund, Inc., (the Fund), formerly Alliance World Dollar Government Fund II, Inc. is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. This Fund seeks high current income and secondarily, capital appreciation. Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 65% of its total assets in sovereign debt obligations issued or guaranteed by foreign governments. Up to 35% of the Fund's investments may comprise high-yielding, high-risk fixed-income securities issued by United States corporations. AllianceBernstein Investments, Inc., an affiliate of AllianceBernstein L.P., is the manager of the Fund.

The Fund is permitted to invest, without limit, in securities denominated in non-United States currencies, as well as those denominated in the United States dollar. The Fund may also invest, without limit, in sovereign debt securities issued by emerging and developed nations and in debt securities of United States and non-United States corporate issuers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Aloisi]

  The following chart takes a comparative look at some widely held ETFs/CEFs holding different types of bonds. The objective is to visualize not only how much these products cost, but also to break down the percent of total yield depleted by management fees. I define total yield as current annualized yield plus net fees - in other words the yield of the fund if there were no management fees attached. The funds we will examine are aforementioned BND, iShares 20+ Treasury Bond (TLT), iShares High-Yield Corporate (HYG), Nuveen Municipal Value (NUV), Eaton Vance Limited Duration (EVV) and Alliance Bernstein Global High-Yield (AWF).

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd.(CHTP)

Chelsea Therapeutics International, Ltd., a development-stage pharmaceutical company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of therapeutic products for the treatment of various human diseases. It is involved in developing Droxidopa, a therapeutic agent for the treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (NOH) associated with primary autonomic failure and falls related to NOH in Parkinson?s Disease (PD), as well as other norepinephrine-related conditions and diseases, including intradialytic hypotension, fibromyalgia, adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, and freezing of gait in PD and down syndrome. The company intends to market its Droxidopa drug under the Northera brand name. It also engages in developing a portfolio of molecules for the treatment of various autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn?s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, uveitis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and other immunological disorders. The company?s molecule products include a portfolio of metabolically inert antifolate molecules consisting of CH-1504 and CH-4051, which are orally available molecules with anti-inflammatory, autoimmune, and anti-tumor properties that inhibit various key enzymes required for cell proliferation; and a portfolio of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, known as the I-3D portfolio, for applications in autoimmune diseases and transplantation. Chelsea Therapeutics International, Ltd. was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  The FDA is scheduled to make a decision on Chelsea's drug, Northera, on Feb. 14.

  Chelsea's (CHTP) Northera Drug

  Northera is used to treat patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH), a rare, lingering type of low blood pressure. nOH typically occurs upon standing and is commonly experienced by those with certain neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease. Nearly 300,000 patients presently suffer from nOH in the U.S. and EU combined.

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, incorporated on August 2, 1977, is a brewing company. The Company produces, markets, distributes and sells a balanced portfolio of approximately 200 beer brands. These include global flagship brands Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck��; multi-country brands, such as Leffe and Hoegaarden, and many local champions, such as Bud Light, Skol, Brahma, Quilmes, Michelob, Harbin, Sedrin, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, Chernigivske and Jupiler. The Company also produces and distributes soft drinks, particularly in Latin America. The Company operates in seven segments: North America, Latin America North, Latin America South, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Global Export & Holding Companies. On October 20, 2010, Companhia de Bebidas das Americas-AmBev (AmBev) and Cerveceria Regional S.A. closed a transaction pursuant, to which they combined their businesses in Venezuela, with Regional owning an 85% interest and AmBev owning the remaining 15% in the new company. On February 28, 2011, the Company closed a transaction with Dalian Daxue Group Co., Ltd and Kirin (China) Investment Co., Ltd to acquire a 100% equity interest in Liaoning Dalian Daxue Brewery Co., Ltd. The Company�� beer portfolio is divided into global, multi-country and local brands. Beer can be differentiated into the categories, such as premium brands; mainstream or core brands, and value, discount or sub-premium brands. The Company also has a presence in the soft drink market in Latin America through its subsidiary AmBev and in the United States through Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (Anheuser-Busch). Soft drinks include both carbonated soft and non-carbonated soft drinks. Its soft drinks business includes both its own production and agreements with PepsiCo related to bottling and distribution. The brands that are distributed under these agreements are Pepsi, 7UP and Gatorade. AmBev has long-term agreements with PepsiCo whereby AmBev has the exclusive right to bottle, sell and distribute certain brands of PepsiCo�� portfolio of carbonated soft drinks in Brazil. In the United States, Anheuser-Busch also produces non-alcoholic malt beverage products, including O��oul�� and O��oul�� Amber, energy drinks and related products. In the United States, its indirect subsidiary, Metal Container Corporation, manufactures beverage cans at eight plants and beverage can lids at three plants for sale to its Anheuser-Busch beer operations and United States soft drink customers. Anheuser-Busch also owns a recycling business, which buys and sells used beverage containers and recycles aluminum and plastic containers; a manufacturer of crown liner materials for sale to its North American beer operations, and a glass manufacturing plant which manufactures glass bottles for use by its North American beer operations. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]

  Much like the wine industry in California, Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD  ) has made its opposition to hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in Germany well known. Due to purity laws dating back to the 1500s, German brewers are worried about the contamination of their water sources, which must remain absent of any unnatural additives.�

• [By Joel Elconin]

  Brochstein will not be out there shorting Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE: BUD) and the beverage companies, or anticipating the country turning into a ��unch of stoners.��/p>

Best Performing Companies To Buy Right Now: Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc (RVLT)

Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc., incorporated on December 16, 1993, designs, manufacture, market and sells commercial grade, light emitting diode (LED) replacement light bulbs and LED-based signage, channel letter and contour lighting products. The Company sells these products under the Seesmart, Array Lighting and Lumificient brand names. The Company operates in two segments: LED replacement lamps and fixtures and LED signage and lighting strips. On December 20, 2012, the Company acquired Seesmart Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Simi Valley, California. In August 2013, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Relume Technologies (Relume). In October 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired a portfolio of general illumination LED lighting products, including several product lines from CMG Energy Solutions (CMG). In November 2013, the Company acquired Tri-State LED.

The Company�� LED replacement lamps and fixtures segment include the Seesmart business and the Array business, which has been integrated with the Seesmart business. The LED signage and lighting strips segment is comprised of the Lumificient business.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stock Investor]

  First up we have Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc (RVLT). As of last week RVLT had a market cap of $280m. Revenues for the last year came in at $4.4m. The company is averaging a cash burn of approximately $7m per quarter over the last two quarters. If I give the company the benefit of the doubt and assume the $7.5m of investments they made last quarter was a one time event, the cash burn then drops to under $4m per quarter. In March RVLT raised $5m from the issuance of shares priced at $1.17. The company is still in need of additional financing, and with the stock price up 400% in the last three months, it would be wise for them to issue shares right now. This increases the risk for investors dramatically right now.

• [By Rich Smith]

  As you've probably heard by now, shares of LED lighting specialist Revolution Lighting� (NASDAQ: RVLT  ) popped by nearly 18% in Monday trading. But why?

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Without making too much fuss over a small-cap stock, Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RVLT) is seeing its share price rise by nearly 25% today after reporting results this Friday morning. Yahoo! Finance does not have any estimates for the company, but Revolution posted an operating loss of $3.1 million in the quarter, more than four times worse than its loss in the same period in 2012. Even with adjustments Revolution�� operating loss totaled $1.8 million.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another under-$10 stock that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Revolution Lightning Technologies (RVLT), which designs, manufactures, markets and sells, commercial grade, LED replacement lamps, LED fixtures and LED-based signage, channel-letter and contour lighting products. This stock has been a monster for the bulls so far in 2013, with shares up a whopping 445%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Revolution Lightning Technologies, you'll notice that this stock has recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $2.19 to $2.22 a share. Following that bottom, shares of RVLT exploded to the upside and hit a recent high of $3.96 a share with strong upside volume flows. Shares of RVLT are now finding some buying interest right around its 50-day moving average of $3.36 a share. If that level can hold, then RVLT will set up to resume its uptrend and potentially trigger another big breakout trade.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in RVLT if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $3.70 to $3.80 a share and then above more resistance at $3.96 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 1.21 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then RVLT will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4.94 to $5.50 a share.

  Traders can look to buy RVLT off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average at $3.36 a share, or around $3 a share. One can also buy RVLT off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.