Top Oil Service Companies For 2014

There is a lot of buzz over recent energy activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC  ) and Eni (NYSE: E  ) making large gas finds off the coast of Mozambique, several majors are now looking to get in the game as well. BP plans to spend $540 million over the next five years to develop a part of this gas field that could hold well over 100 trillion cubic feet.�

Better drilling technology and relative political stability in the region have allowed several companies to start investing money in the region, and if some of these plays hit paydirt, some companies could be in for big paydays. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe talks with Aimee Duffy about some of the hot energy plays on the African continent and what we should expect from this region in the years to come. �

With more than 94% of its capital investments coming in the international markets for 2013, National Oilwell Varco is positioning itself to be the leader in oil services around the world. To help determine whether it could be a good fit for your portfolio, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's premium research report featuring in-depth analysis on whether NOV is a buy today. For instant access to this valuable investor's resource, simply click here now to claim your copy.

Top 10 Shipping Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ishares Trust Dow Jones United States (IDU)

iShares Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Sector Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the utilities sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes companies in industry groups, such as electricity and gas, water and multi-utilities. The Index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index and is capitalization weighted. The Index is reconstituted quarterly.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Stavros]

  In early August, Vanguard Utilities ETF (NYSE: VPU), iShares US Utilities (NYSE: IDU), and Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index ETF (NYSE: FUTY) added almost $250 million in new assets combined, more than enough to offset outflows from Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NSDQ: XLU).

Top Oil Service Companies For 2014: Johnson Controls Inc.(JCI)

Johnson Controls, Inc. engages in building efficiency, automotive experience, and power solutions businesses worldwide. Its building efficiency business designs, produces, markets, and installs integrated heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems, as well as building management systems, controls, and security and mechanical equipment. This business also provides technical services, energy management consulting, and operations of real estate portfolios for the non-residential buildings market. In addition, this business offers residential air conditioning and heating systems, and industrial refrigeration products. The company?s automotive experience business designs and manufactures interior products and systems for passenger cars and light trucks, including vans, pick-up trucks, and sport/crossover utility vehicles. It offers seating systems and components; cockpit systems comprising instrument panels and clusters, information displays, and body controllers; overh ead systems, such as headliners and electronic convenience features; floor consoles; and door systems. This business also produces automotive interior systems for original equipment manufacturers. Its power solutions business produces lead-acid automotive batteries serving automotive original equipment manufacturers and the general vehicle battery aftermarket. This business produces lead-acid batteries, as well as offers absorbent glass mat and lithium-ion battery technologies to power hybrid vehicles. The company was formerly known as Johnson Electric Service Company and changed its name to Johnson Controls, Inc. in 1974. Johnson Controls, Inc. was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  Due to the sale of stocks that cut their dividend (and buyouts), and reinvestment of this money into new positions, In January of 2009 the following three new stocks were purchased.

  Dover Corp. (DOV)Johnson Controls (JCI)Medtronics (MDT)

  In January of 2010, again, due to stock sales (and buyouts) a further four new stocks were bought.

• [By Sara Murphy]

  Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI  ) is involved in making buildings run more efficiently. Commercial buildings' energy intensity has dropped by more than 40% since 1980, but there is plenty of room left for further improvement. Johnson offers products and services that optimize buildings' energy and operational efficiencies, as well as lead-acid automotive batteries and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. In 2012, Johnson's building efficiency unit accounted for 35% of net sales.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Johnson Controls (JCI) has been in the spotlight lately, having just released its sales and earnings guidance for 2014. While the outlook came below analyst expectations, there have been a lot of positive things said about the auto parts maker. Is it time to buy JCI? Find out now.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But the big problem for Magna has come from Europe. Rival Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI  ) , which gets more of its revenue from Europe than from North America, has seen poor conditions in Europe weigh on its overall results. That's consistent with the big problems that major customers Ford (NYSE: F  ) and General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) have seen in their own European sales figures, with Ford having lost $1.75 billion last year in Europe and expecting that figure to balloon upward to $2 billion for 2013. Although GM managed to reduce its European losses in the first quarter to just $175 million, both it and Ford have a lot of work to do in order to get their operations on the continent back to profitability.

Top Oil Service Companies For 2014: KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC)

KLA-Tencor Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. It offers equipment comprising wafer and integrated circuit (IC) defect monitoring, review, and classification; reticle defect inspection and metrology; packaging and interconnect inspection; critical dimension metrology; pattern overlay metrology; film thickness, surface topography, and composition measurements; measurement of in-chamber process conditions, wafer shape, and stress metrology; computational lithography tools; and yield and fab-wide data management and analysis systems. The company also provides products that serve the high brightness light emitting diode, data storage, and photovoltaic industries, as well as general materials research. It primarily offers its products to wafer, IC, reticle, and disk manufacturers in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, Europe, Israel, Korea, and the Rest of Asia. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ashraf Eassa]

  KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC  ) , a major semiconductor equipment vendor, offered investors some insight into this issue on its April earnings call.�

Top Oil Service Companies For 2014: Investors Title Company(ITIC)

Investors Title Company, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance to residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. It underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and offers the reinsurance of title insurance risks to other title insurance companies. The company also provides tax-deferred real property exchange services, as well as serves as an exchange accommodation titleholder and holds property for exchangers in reverse exchange transactions; offers investment management and trust services to individuals, companies, banks, and trusts; and provides consulting services to title insurance agencies. Investors Title Company serves various customers in the residential and commercial market sectors of the real estate industry. It issues title insurance policies primarily through approved attorneys from underwriting offices, as well as through independent issuing agents in 24 states and the District of Columbia, the United States. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Investors Title Company (NASDAQ:ITIC), reported its results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Net income increased 110.0% to $3,349,488, or $1.57 per diluted share, compared with $1,594,805, or $0.74 per diluted share, for the prior year quarter.