Top 5 Railroad Companies To Watch For 2014

Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy is heavily invested in alternative fuels. Will BNSF follow suit with LNG? Source: BNSF.

Last year,�Berkshire Hathaway�subsidiary BNSF Railway announced that it would begin testing liquefied natural gas-powered locomotives toward the end of 2013. BNSF CEO Matt Rose had this to say:

The use of liquefied natural gas as an alternative fuel is a potential transformational change for our railroad and for our industry ... While there are daunting technical and regulatory challenges still to be faced, this pilot project is an important first step that will allow BNSF to evaluate the technical and economic viability of the use of liquefied natural gas in through-freight service, potentially reducing fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions, thereby providing environmental and energy security benefits to our nation.

Consider, on top of that, that Berkshire has more than $6 billion invested in companies heavily involved in natural gas production and distribution, and�it's not a stretch to see Warren Buffett having reached the conclusion that domestic production of oil and natural gas will continue to be strong, and that natural gas will keep gaining traction as a transportation fuel. How big is this to Berkshire?�

Hot Logistics Stocks To Watch Right Now: HealthSouth Corporation (HLS)

HealthSouth Corporation offers inpatient rehabilitative healthcare services in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company primarily operates inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and long-term acute care hospitals, which provide treatment on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. Its inpatient rehabilitation hospitals offer services to patients who require institutional rehabilitation care, and patient care is provided by nursing and therapy staff as directed by a physician order. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 97 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, including 68 owned hospitals and 29 jointly owned hospitals; 6 freestanding long-term acute care hospitals; 32 outpatient rehabilitation satellite clinics; 25 licensed hospital-based home health agencies; and managed 4 inpatient rehabilitation units through management contracts. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  HealthSouth Corp.(HLS) said it expects to exceed its earnings projections after it increased its ownership interest in Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, in Worcester, Mass.

• [By Brad Thomas]

  As the only healthcare REIT with a "hospital-focused" platform, MPW is a relatively new REIT that was formed (in 2004) to lease from many of the nation's leading hospital operators, including Prime Healthcare Services, Kindred Healthcare (KND), HealthSouth (HLS), Health Management Associates (HMA), Community Health Systems (CYH), Vibra Healthcare, Ernest Health Inc., and IASIS Healthcare.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Rehab hospital operator�HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS  ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend on its 6.5% Series A convertible perpetual preferred stock�of $16.25�per share.

Top 5 Railroad Companies To Watch For 2014: Dejour Energy Inc (DEJ)

Dejour Energy Inc. is engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing energy projects with a focus on oil and gas exploration in Canada and the United States. The Company holds approximately 113,000 net acres of oil and gas leases in the Peace River Arch of northwestern British Columbia and northeastern Alberta, Canada and the Piceance, Paradox and Uinta Basins in the United States Rocky Mountains. The Company has 71.43% working interest in this 3,014 acre (gross) project located south of Roan Creek. The Company also has 71.43% working interest in this 18,000 acre (gross) project located north of the Rangely Field, is prospective for oil in the Lower Mancos (Niobrara), Dakota, Morrison and Phosphoria formations. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Vancouver, BC, Dec. 16, 2013 — (CRWE Press Release) — Dejour Energy Inc. (NYSE MKT:DEJ) (TSX:DEJ), an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company operating in North America’s Piceance Basin and Peace River Arch regions, today announces that it has signed a Letter of Intent to create a strategic joint venture partnership with a private Singapore based energy company (��ECO�� to develop the company�� Colorado oil and gas assets.

  Upon completion of due diligence, legal documentation and requisite approvals expected prior to January 31, 2014, SECO will invest an initial sum of up to $27.5mm in 2014 and 2015 to earn an 85% share in Dejour�� interests in its Colorado properties, primarily Kokopelli, subject to certain interest claw backs available to Dejour. Following this capital investment by SECO, the partners will continue to judiciously develop the reserves on a pro rata basis.

  The terms of the agreement include a capital injection to Dejour of approximately US$ 4.5mm, including cash and assumption of certain liability agreements on outstanding debt and the 100% development funding of an initial $10.5mm in capital expenditures in 2014 with a further $12mm in 2015, targeting Kokopelli, subject to certain provisions. Additionally, SECO will assume 85% of the ongoing overhead of Dejour�� U.S. operations and joint project management during the initial period. SECO will also share responsibility to maintain the other Dejour U.S. leases in good standing on a pro rata ownership basis or return them to Dejour in a timely fashion. Dejour will remain the operator of record.

  ��ECO shares Dejour�� value proposition relating to the company�� U.S. E&P portfolio. This partnership will bring many strategic advantages to Dejour: minimizing capital requirement in the short term, bolstering the company�� balance sheet and long term US cash flow, the provision of flexibility for Dejour to pursue new

Top 5 Railroad Companies To Watch For 2014: Atlas Pipeline Partners L.P.(APL)

Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. engages in gathering and processing natural gas in the Mid-Continent and Appalachia regions; and transporting natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Mid-Continent region. The company owns and operates approximately 9,100 miles of intrastate natural gas gathering systems located in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Tennessee that gather gas from wells and central delivery points, and deliver natural gas to the company?s natural gas processing plants, as well as to the third-party pipelines; approximately 100 miles of active natural gas gathering systems located in Tennessee; and 7 natural gas processing plants with an aggregate capacity of approximately 610 million cubic feet per day in Oklahoma and Texas. It provides natural gas gathering and processing services in the Permian, Anadarko, and Appalachian Basins. The company also owns approximately 2,200 mile common-carrier pipeline system that transports NGLs from New Mexico and Texas to Mont Belvieu, Te xas. Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. was founded in 1999 and is based in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE: APL  ) has completed an agreement to acquire TEAK Midstream, a privately owned company active in the massive Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas play in Texas. The price is $1 billion in cash.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE: APL  ) stands to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from an upcoming public share offering. The company has priced the issue of 10.3 million common units at $34 apiece. Additionally, the offering's underwriters have been granted a 30-day purchase option for up to an additional 1.545 million units.

Top 5 Railroad Companies To Watch For 2014: Sprint Corp (S&LS)

Sprint Corporation, incorporated on May 10, 2012, offers a range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumers, businesses and government users. On July 10, 2013, the Company, SoftBank Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corporation (Sprint Nextel) completed the merger. In the Merger, Sprint Corporation was merged into Sprint Nextel, New Sprint became the parent company of Sprint Nextel, with Sprint Nextel becoming its direct wholly owned subsidiary, and Sprint Nextel changed its name to Sprint Communications, Inc.

The Company develops, engineers and deploys technologies, including the first wireless fourth generation (4G) service from a national carrier in the United States; offering mobile data services, prepaid brands, including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities, and a global Tier 1 Internet Service. The Company also offers unlimited data services.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Since Wilmers & Co. took over M&T Bank in 1983 the bank has acquired 23 banks and Savings and Loans (S&Ls) ��expanding from a single state to seven ��and assets have grown from $2 billion to $110 billion. M&T's branch count has grown from 60 to over 870. The bank currently boasts a customer base of over 2 million retail household customers and nearly 220,000 commercial customers.