Best US Companies To Buy Right Now

LONDON -- With the mining sector falling after fresh Chinese statistics put pressure on commodities prices, the�FTSE 100�has fallen back from last week's five-and-a-half-year highs today. Approaching midday, the index was down 14 points to 6,611. Whether the FTSE will manage to hang on to the 6,600 level remains to be seen, though the actual value of the index has no real meaning.

Which companies are depressing the FTSE today? Here are three whose share prices are falling:

Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group� (LSE: LLOY  ) (NYSE: LYG  ) shares fell 2.4% to 57.5 pence today after the bank told us that chairman Sir Winfried Bischoff is to step down this month and that no successor has yet been chosen. Sir Winfried said: "Whilst clearly some challenges remain, the performance of the Group is well on track."

Today's dip is but a small blip compared to the past year's performance, as the price has still almost doubled over the past 12 months. On forecasts for the year ending December, Lloyds shares are on a P/E of 13, which is close to the FTSE's long-term average of around 14 -- but expectations of stronger earnings growth for 2014 drop that to about 10.5.

Top 10 Defense Stocks To Buy For 2015: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 1,844.86, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 16,373.34. The Dow was dragged down by International Business Machines (IBM) and Caterpillar (CAT), while the S&P 500 got a lift from Textron (TXT), Best Buy (BBY) and Norfolk Southern (NSC).

Best US Companies To Buy Right Now: iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI)

iShares Lehman 3-7 Year Treasury Bond Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the intermediate-term sector of the United States Treasury market as defined by the Lehman Brothers 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index (the Index). The Index includes all publicly issued the United States Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to three years and less than seven years, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in United States dollars, and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible securities. Excluded from the Index are certain special issues, such as flower bonds, targeted investor notes, and state and local government series bonds, and coupon issues that have been stripped from assets that are already included in the Index.

The Index is a market capitalization-weighted index. The Fund invests in a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisor.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Donald van Deventer]

  Shorter-duration Treasury Exchange-Traded Funds: (SHY), (SHV), (IEI), (BIL), (TUZ), (FIVZ), (DTUL), (VGSH), (DTUS), (DFVS), (DFVL), (SST), (ISTB), (TBZ).

Best US Companies To Buy Right Now: Brandenburg Energy Corp (BBM)

Brandenburg Energy Corp. is engaged in the business of acquiring and exploring oil and gas properties. The Company�� properties include Holloman Cooper Basin Joint Venture, VG Mineral Claims, Senn Property, Exploration License No. 0932, Labana Property and African Properties. The Senn Property earns a 100% interest on the Senn Block of mineral claims (the Senn Property) located in the District of Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The Uganda-based East African Gold Sniffing Company Limited (EA Gold) is a holder of Mineral Exploration License No. 0932 (EL 0932) covers about two square kilometers. EL 0932 lies 287 kilometers southwest of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, 29 kilometers north of the city of Kasese, in Kasese province. The Labana Property consists of four oil and gas blocks in the Republic of Niger, which includes Dibeilla 1, Dibeilla 2, Dalo, and Mandaram. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Muhammad Bazil]

  The value of BlackBerry�� stock was at $7.44 as of yesterday�� (Jan. 1, 2014) close. Although this is still a far cry from its 52-week peak of $18.32, it does represent a month-long recovery coming shortly after the launch of its new BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) application for iPhones and Android devices.

Best US Companies To Buy 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.

Best US Companies To Buy Right Now: B2Gold Corp (BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (B2Gold) is a gold producer with mining operations in Nicaragua and a portfolio of development and exploration assets in Colombia, Nicaragua and Uruguay. It operates the Libertad Mine and the Limon Mine in Nicaragua. It owns or has an interest in the Gramalote and Mocoa properties in Colombia, and the Bellavista property in Costa Rica. La Libertad Mine is located 110 kilometers east of Managua. The Limon Mine is located approximately 100 kilometers northwest of Managua and 20 kilometers from the Pan- American Highway. The Otjikoto gold project is located approximately 300 kilometers north of Namibia�� capital city, Windhoek. The Gramalote property is located approximately 230 kilometers northwest of the Colombian capital of Bogota and approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Medellin. The Gramalote property area is covered by 31 contiguous claim blocks totaling 42,790.09 hectares. In Jnauary 2013, the Company acquired CGA Mining Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Analyst John Bridges and his team like Goldcorp (GG), B2Gold (BTG) and Eldorado (EGO), and feel Buenaventura (BVN) is a serious laggard with likely improved results in the second half of 2014. They write:

Best US Companies To Buy Right Now: URS Corporation(URS)

URS Corporation provides engineering, construction, and technical services to the power, infrastructure, federal, and industrial and commercial market sectors in the United States and internationally. Its services for power sector include planning, designing, engineering, constructing, retrofitting, and maintaining a range of power-generating facilities; and the systems that transmit and distribute electricity, as well as the development and installation of clean air technologies that reduce emissions at fossil fuel power plants. The company?s services for infrastructure sector comprise program management, planning, architect, engineering, general contracting, construction, and construction management for surface, air, and rail transportation networks; ports and harbors; and water supply, and treatment and conveyance systems. Its services for federal sector consist of program management; planning, design, and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance to con struction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure primarily for the United States federal government and national governments of other countries. URS Corporation?s services for industrial and commercial sector include front-end studies, engineering and process design, procurement, construction and construction management, facility management, and operations and maintenance, as well as due diligence, permitting, compliance, environmental management, pollution control, health and safety, waste management, and hazardous waste remediation. The company was formerly known as Broadview Research Corporation and changed its name to URS Corporation in 1976. URS Corporation was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  This umbrella contract authorizes four separate contractors -- privately held CH2M Hill Constructors and Environmental Chemical Corp, and publicly traded KBR (NYSE: KBR  ) and URS (NYSE: URS  ) -- to bid for individual task orders under it. In total, across the contract's one-year "base period" and the up to four subsequent one-year optional extensions, this contract is estimated to have a maximum dollar value of $800 million. It is not to exceed 60 months in duration and so should expire in June 2018.

• [By Ian Wyatt, Publisher & Chief Investment Strategist, Wyatt Investment Research]

  Fund manager John Mirshekari, of the Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund, recommended shares of URS (URS), an engineering and construction contractor.