Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now

My Valuation Test

I am always on the lookout for companies with attractive prospects that have been unfairly discounted by the market. That means I typically shy away from stocks that have already made strong advances, or those that are cheap for a reason.

You will never see me buy into a company like Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA). While its prospects for success appear good, Tesla is commanding a premium on almost every valuation metric. The stock is trading at what I consider to be an irrationally exuberant level, and while it certainly may trend higher from here, I value fundamentals over bullish investor sentiment — which can change very quickly. So Tesla passes my test for ��ood prospects going forward�� but badly fails my value test.

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) is just the opposite. I was once an investor in this giant Brazilian integrated oil and gas company, whose stock has fallen by nearly two-thirds over the past five years. Over that same span, shares of US integrated majors Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) rallied 98 percent and 48 percent, respectively.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Invest In 2015: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) stock skyrocketed last week after news leaked that�Soros Fund Management had taken a big stake in the struggling retailer. And yes, with Penney selling today for close to book value, and a price-to-sales ratio less than half what rivals Kohl's (NYSE: KSS  ) and Macy's (NYSE: M  ) charge, you can see what might have attracted George Soros' attention.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  Next Page

  Top Potential Buyouts: #1, Kohl’s (KSS)
  

  Hands down, it�� got to be Kohl�� (KSS).

  Retail is sucking gas these days making for a lot of nervous executives. As Barron�� mentioned in its article, Kohl�� is coming off its worst quarterly sales performance (same-store sales down 3.4%) since March 2009. Things have got to be better if CEO Kevin Mansell wants to keep his job.

• [By Michael Lewis]

  Where from here?
  The stock pushed to new highs last week, and has seemed to stabilize above the $90 mark, giving it a forward P/E of 11.61 times. Now, the company is in much better shape and deserves higher valuation multiples than, say, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) , which has negative earnings but trades at just 0.32 times sales. But when comparing Dillard's to other, healthy department chains, such as Kohl's (NYSE: KSS  ) , we see a more interesting picture. Kohl's trades at 10.7 times forward earnings, and while it saw lower same-store sales due to bad weather, the company still beat estimates and is set to grow via new stores.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From the release of a new video game console to an earnings report out of the world's largest retailer, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street. Monday -- Host in the Machine: Most Internet users take web-hosting for granted, but leading websites and apps wouldn't be available if it wasn't for the growing fleet of servers manned by companies specializing in getting websites up and running. Rackspace (RAX) is a market darling among web hosts, and on Monday it will serve up its latest financials. This has become a competitive market as providers aim to host websites and cloud computing solutions. The end result is that analysts see Rackspace growing its revenue by a hearty 15 percent, but they also see profitability declining during the quarter. Tuesday -- KFC in China: Yum! Brands (YUM) is the parent company behind the fast food team of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC. A surprisingly large portion of Yum! Brands' business in recent years has come from expanding its chicken chain in China. But the market has been challenging lately. Same-store sales for Chinese KFC locations plunged 14 percent in its latest quarter. As a result of its poor performance in the world's most populous nation, Yum! Brands is temporarily offering monthly same-store sales updates. It will offer an update on how October went on Tuesday after the market close. Wednesday -- Panic at the Cisco: It may seem like a long time ago, but there was a brief moment in time -- just before the dot-com bubble popped -- that Cisco (CSCO) commanded the largest market capitalization in the country. The Internet was all the rage with investors, and Cisco was the leading provider of routers, switches, and other networking gear that kept the whole web connected. The past few years have been volatile for Cisco, with the tech bellwet

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now: MEDIWARE Information Systems Inc.(MEDW)

Mediware Information Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, and marketing of software solutions targeting specific processes within healthcare institutions. The company offers software systems consisting of company's proprietary application software, and third-party licensed software and hardware. It licenses, implements, and supports clinical and performance management, blood donor, and blood and biologic management products in the United States; and medication management solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and South Africa. The company?s blood and biologics management solutions include HCLL Transfusion and HCLL Donor, which address blood donor recruitment, blood processing, and transfusion activities for hospitals and medical centers; BloodSafe suite of hardware and software that enable healthcare facilities to store, monitor, distribute, and track blood products; LifeTrak software for blood centers; a nd BiologiCare, a bone, tissue, and cellular product tracking software. Its medication management products comprise WORx, a pharmacy information system to manage inpatient and outpatient pharmacy operations; MediCOE, a physician order entry module; MediMAR, a nurse point-of-care administration and bedside documentation module; MediREC, which assists in achieving compliance with a Joint Commission mandate; and pharmacy management and electronic prescribing systems. The company?s performance management products include InSight software that tracks performance metrics to assist healthcare managers to manage performance. It also provides software installation and maintenance services, as well as billing and collection services to home infusion and home/durable medical equipment markets. The company markets its products primarily through its direct sales force. Mediware Information Systems, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Mediware Information Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:MEDW) plans to acquire the assets of Indianapolis-based Strategic Healthcare Group LLC (SHG), a leading provider of blood management consulting, education and informatics solutions.

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING]

  Almost all of Wall Street's big banks - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) - are trading at or very close to their post-crisis highs, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) being the only exception.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The ratings on Bank of American Corporation (BAC), Citigroup, Inc. (C), State Street Corporation (STT) and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) were left unchanged.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Both of the Dow bank component stocks are down this morning, with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM  ) down more than 1% so far in trading. Though the losses may not be tied directly to this morning's sales report, housing data has been extremely important for bank investors lately. JPMorgan is the second-largest mortgage originator in the country, and B of A has been fervently trying to gain more ground in the market, so a decline in potential sales (read: loans) is a problem for the banks, which rely on interest revenue heavily.

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ford Motor Credit Company(F)

Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services. The Automotive sector offers vehicles primarily under the Ford and Lincoln brand names. This sector markets cars, trucks, and parts through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. It also sells cars and trucks to dealers for sale to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. In addition, this sector provides retail customers with a range of after-sale vehicle services and products in the areas, such as maintenance and light repair, heavy repair, collision repair, vehicle accessories, and extended service contracts under the Ford Service, Lincoln Service, Ford Custom Accessories, Ford Extended Service Plan, and Motorcraft brand names. The Financial Services sector offers vari ous automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers. It offers retail financing, which includes retail installment contracts for new and used vehicles; direct financing leases; wholesale financing products that comprise loans to dealers to finance the purchase of vehicle inventory; loans to dealers to finance working capital, purchase real estate dealership, and/or make improvements to dealership facilities; and other financing products, as well as provides insurance services. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and is based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  They did, however, show passion for Autonation (AN), which gained 3.1% to $46.76, benefiting, I suppose, from demand for Ford’s (F) Fusion. Biotech stocks continued their strong run today. Biogen (BIIB) gained 2.1% to $214.13, while Celgene (CELG) rose 2.5% to $142.58.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) was the second biggest loser of the day, with its shares down 2% at $35.68 in the final minutes of trading on Wednesday. The disappointment here is that Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is staying on and will not�take the helm to replace Steve Ballmer as CEO. That is good for Ford (it rose 1%)� but is bad for Microsoft. Another issue is that Microsoft simply remains above what most analysts think it is worth.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Ford (NYSE: F) was also falling on Wednesday's session, dropping 6.23 percent t $15.66 after the company announced that it sees its fiscal year 2014 automotive revenue roughly equivalent to 2013, while it expects a lower pre-tax profit.

• [By MarketWatch]

  General Motors Co. (GM) �and Ford Motor Co. (F) �are scheduled to report monthly U.S. auto sales figures on Monday. Industry analysts predict the unexpectedly harsh weather in certain parts of the country to have dampened car shopping , with February auto sales up 0.8%, according to Edmunds.com.

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Capstone Turbine Corporation(CPST)

Capstone Turbine Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, and services turbine generator sets and related parts for use in stationary distributed power generation applications. Its stationary distributed power generation applications include cogeneration combined heat and power (CHP), integrated (CHP), resource recovery, and secure power, as well as combined cooling, heat, and power; and its products are used as battery charging generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. The company primarily offers microturbine units, subassemblies, and components. It also provides various accessories, including rotary gas compressors with digital controls, heat recovery modules for CHP applications, dual mode controllers that allow automatic transition between grid connect and stand-alone modes, batteries with digital controls for stand-alone/dual-mode operations, power servers for multipacked installations, and protocol converters for Internet access, as well as frames, ex haust ducting, and installation hardware. Further, it remanufactures microturbine engines; and provides after-market parts and services, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, and factory and on-site training services. The company?s microturbines can be fueled by various sources, including natural gas, propane, sour gas, landfill or digester gas, kerosene, diesel, and biodiesel. It primarily sells its products directly to end users, as well as through distributors in North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Russian Federation, and South America. Capstone Turbine Corporation was founded in 1988 and is based in Chatsworth, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  But to focus simply on renewables for distributed power would do some other parts of the industry a disservice, because companies such as Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) are proving that localized generation of natural gas can be just as efficient as a big centralized utility plant. This one-two punch of renewable power as the primary energy source with localized natural gas generation as a backup for when solar or wind can't generate power could be a big threat to the utilities sector.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Thursday, Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) will release its latest quarterly results. But lately, investors have already anticipated some huge results from the company, having bid the shares up by about 50% in just the past several weeks. Can Capstone deliver on what investors want to see?

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Capstone Turbine (CPST) develops, manufactures, markets, and services microturbine technology solutions for use in stationary distributed power generation applications worldwide. This stock closed up 2.5% to $1.22 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $1.19-$1.23
  52-Week Range: $1.07-$2.60
  Tuesday's Volume: 6.73 million
  Three-Month Average Volume: 3.66 million

  From a technical perspective, CPST bounced notably higher here right off some near-term support at $1.20 with strong upside volume flows. This stock has been uptrending marginally over the last week or so with heavy upside volume flows. This move has now pushed shares of CPST within range of triggering near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if CPST manages to take out Tuesday's intraday high of $1.23 to its recent gap-down-day high of $1.30 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in CPST as long as it's trending above its recent low of $1.11 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 3.66 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then CPST will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $1.42 to $1.45, or even $1.55 to $1.60.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) will release its quarterly report on Monday, and investors have been increasingly optimistic about the microturbine maker's immediate prospects. Yet, even though the company's stock rose recently to its best levels in almost three years, Capstone still has to demonstrate that its niche offerings give it a viable market that is too insignificant for larger rivals General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) to go after.

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy Right Now: S&P Smallcap 600(PH)

Parker Hannifin Corporation manufactures fluid power systems, electromechanical controls, and related components worldwide. Its Industrial segment offers pneumatic and electromechanical components, and systems; filters, systems, and instruments to monitor and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors that control, transmit, and contain fluid; hydraulic components and systems for builders and users of industrial and mobile machinery and equipment; critical flow components for process instrumentation, healthcare, and ultra-high-purity applications; and static and dynamic sealing devices. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their replacement markets in the manufacturing, transportation, and processing industries. The company?s Aerospace segment provides flight control systems and components, including hydraulic, electrohydraulic, electric backup hydraulic, electrohydrostatic, and electro -mechanical components for precise control of aircraft rudders, elevators, ailerons, and other aerodynamic control surfaces. It also provides electronics thermal management heat rejection systems, and single-phase and two-phase heat collection systems for radar, ISAR, and power electronics. This segment markets its products primarily to OEMs in the commercial, military, and general aviation markets, as well as to end users. Its Climate and Industrial Controls segment offers systems and components primarily for use in the mobile and stationary refrigeration, and air conditioning industry; and in fluid control applications in various industries, such as processing, fuel dispensing, beverage dispensing, and mobile emissions. This segment serves OEMs and their replacement markets. Parker-Hannifin Corporation markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, wholesalers, and sales representatives. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered i n Cleveland, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Mizrahi, President and CEO, Hampton Investors, Inc.]

  Parker Hannifin (PH) generates strong revenue from its aerospace division, while its primary industrial segment is lagging.

  Overall, we like the company's balanced portfolio. PH had solid order rates this past year with backlog of $3.6 billion between its industrial and aerospace segments.

• [By Tom Rojas var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach(func]

  Parker Hannifin Corp.(PH) said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 11% on higher results in its diversified industrial segment as the company continued its restructure efforts.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The market in aggregate might have gone nowhere, but that wasn’t for lack of big moves from individual stocks. Parker-Hannifin (PH) gained 2.4% to $115.06 after it was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, while Newmont Mining (NEM) gained 2.2% as gold miners headed higher today.

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Parker Hannifin Corp.'s(PH) fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 40% as the maker of motion and control equipment’s orders continued to grow and gains from a joint-venture agreement with General Electric Co.(GE) (GE) offset a costly write-down. Adjusted earnings were ahead of expectations, yet the company lowered its per-share earnings estimate for the year. Shares dropped 3.8% to $122 premarket.