5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014

Thanks largely to the antics of former CEO Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK  ) has been one of the most maligned names in the energy sector. McClendon leveraged the company's future with debt, intertwined his personal finances with the company's, and engineered a land-buying program that received significant amounts of bad press topped off with negative portrayal of the industry in Matt Damon's movie, "Promised Land." The result has been a nearly 40% slide in Chesapeake Energy stock over the past two years.

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Natural gas on the rise
Despite the bad press, the overall position of the natural gas industry has never looked more promising. Companies ranging from Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE  ) to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A  ) are beginning to initiate programs that rely heavily on natural gas. In the case of Clean Energy, the company is undertaking a major push to create a corridor of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, filling stations across the country to allow trucks to carry freight on LNG power rather than diesel. This type of transition is likely to eventually trickle down to passenger vehicles, which currently are not fully viable as an LNG alternative. While Chesapeake Energy stock once benefited from the company's partial ownership of Clean Energy, that stake is likely to be sold to help meet debt obligations.

Hot Promising Companies To Watch In Right Now: Apartment Investment and Management Co (AIV)

Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco), incorporated on January 10, 1994, is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is engaged in the ownership and operation of a portfolio of apartment properties. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, AIMCO-GP, Inc. and AIMCO-LP Trust, it owns majority interests in AIMCO Properties, L.P., which it refers to as the Aimco Operating Partnership. The Company conducts substantially all of its business and owns substantially all of its assets through the Aimco Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2011, Aimco�� portfolio of owned and/or managed properties consisted of 518 properties with 93,694 apartment units.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company acquired limited partnership interests in 12 real estate partnerships that owned 15 properties and in which its affiliates served as general partner. During 2011, it acquired a vacant, 126-unit property located in Marin County, north of San Francisco, California. During 2011, it acquired 50% interest in entities that owned four contiguous properties with 142 units located in La Jolla, California. During 2011, it sold 67 consolidated properties. During 2011, the Company owned general and limited partner interests in real estate partnerships that owned approximately 123 properties.

Property Operations

The Company�� owned real estate portfolio consists of two business components: conventional and affordable property operations. Its conventional property operations consist of market-rate apartments with rents paid by the resident and included 198 properties with 62,834 units in which it held an average interest of 93% as of December 31, 2011. The Company�� affordable property operations consist of apartments with rents that are generally paid, in whole or part, by a government agency and consisted of 172 properties with 20,612 units in which it held an average interest of 59% as of December 31, 2011. The Compa! ny�� property operations are organized into two geographic areas, the West and East.

Portfolio Management

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� affordable portfolio included 172 properties with 20,612 units. As of December 31, 2011, its conventional portfolio included 198 properties with 62,834 units in 33 markets.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Apartment Investment & Management Co. (NYSE: AIV  )
  When long-term lending rates began rising dramatically just a few weeks ago, anything related to the housing sector dove, including apartment rental community operator Apartment Investment & Management, better known as AIMCO. Investors who sold may have made a big mistake, as rental communities look to be stronger than ever as the housing sector gets caught in a nasty catch-22.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Apartment Invest & Management (AIV)
  Ameriprise (AMP)
  Edison International (EIX)
  Host Hotels & Resorts (HST)
  Kimco Realty (KIM)
  Kroger (KR)
  Lincoln National (LNC)
  Newfield Exploration (NFX)
  Republic Services (RSG)
  UnitedHealth (UNH)
  Verizon (VZ)
  Wells Fargo (WFC)
  WellPoint (WLP)
  Wyndham Worldwide (WYN)
  Xcel Energy Utilities (XEL)

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Residential apartments real estate investment trust (REIT) Apartment Management and Investment Company (AIV) raised its quarterly dividend 8% to 26 cents per share, payable on Feb. 28 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 14.
  AVI Dividend Yield: 3.74%

5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014: International Star Inc (ILST)

International Star, Inc., incorporated October 28, 1993, is primarily engaged in the acquisition and exploration of precious and base metals mineral properties. The Company�� properties are located in Arizona. As of December 31, 2010, the Company held 43 claims in the adjacent northern Black Mountains in Mohave County, and its current exploration activities are focused on these claims and surrounding areas of interest. As of September 1, 2010, the Company no longer held any mining claims in its former Wikieup property. The Wikieup Property formerly consisted of 42 lode claims comprising approximately 840 acres in the Hualapai Mountain Range at Wikieup, Arizona.

Mohave County, Arizona Property

The mineral property consists of approximately 1.4 square miles of land located in the northern Black Mountains in Mohave County, Arizona, approximately 56 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, and 22 miles south of the Hoover Dam on United States Highway 93 (the Black Mountains Property). The property is easily accessed by partially paved entry off Highway 93 and has availability to electricity and water. Its Black Mountains Property consists of approximately 43 lode claims. Its claim holdings in this area began with placer claims in the adjacent Detrital Wash area. The Black Mountains Property is underlain by three basic rock units or packages of rocks. The oldest rock unit consists of Precambrian schist and gneissic rocks, which are the reconstituted (metamorphic) equivalents of former shale, siltstone, and volcanic rocks.

The property exhibits features of a metamorphic core complex. These features include the somewhat arch-like, cross-sectional (east-west) profile of this area of the Black Mountains, detached cover rocks, a preponderance of shallow-dipping penetrative structures (foliations) in the plutonic/metamorphic basement, and the composition of the plutonic rocks. The Company�� exploration efforts are primarily focused on the establishment of gold reserves with a seco! ndary focus on copper and other minerals. During the year ended December 1, 2010, the Company conducted drilling and additional sampling and mapping work on certain areas of its Black Mountains Property showing high mineralization results. During 2010, it allowed approximately 60 of its previously filed claims to expire and added approximately 25 claims covering nearby areas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap mining stocks International Star Inc (OTCMKTS: ILST) and Mining Minerals of Mexico Corp (OTCMKTS: WIIM) sank 13.33% and 24.9%, respectively, today, with at least one of these small cap stocks being the subject of paid promotions or investor relations type of activities while the other has had no news since last summer. So should you dig into these small cap mining stocks which just dug a hole for investors and traders alike? Here is a closer look to help you decide:

5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014: Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD8)

Kabel Deutschland Holding AG is a Germany-based holding company and cable network operator. Through its operating entitities, the primarily being Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH and Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH, the Company provides analogue and digital television, broad band Internet and cable-based telecommunication services throughout Germany. The Company's activities are divided into two business segments: TV Business, the Company's dominant segment which includes cable-based television products such as analogue and digital cable television and radio, as well as digital pay-TV and related products. The second segment, Internet and Phone, offers broadband Internet access, fixed-line and mobile phone services, mobile data services, as well as additional options to those homes which can be connected to the Company's upgraded network. In October 2013, Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, a subsidiary of Vodafone Group PLC, acquired 76.57% interest in the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amy Thomson]

  Vodafone has already expanded beyond wireless service, and in June beat John Malone�� Liberty Global (LBTYA) Plc to take over Germany�� Kabel Deutschland Holding AG. (KD8) Vodafone and Verizon accelerated talks on the stake sale after the Kabel Deutschland offer, which put additional pressure on the British company�� finances, a person familiar with the matter said.

• [By Alex Webb]

  Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)�� 7.7 billion-euro ($10.2 billion) bid for Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (KD8) cleared a major hurdle by winning the backing of at least 75 percent of the German company�� shareholders.

5 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014: Industrias CH SAB de CV (ICHB)

Industrias CH SAB de CV (ICH) is a Mexico-based holding company engaged, together with its subsidiaries, in the steel industry. The Company's activities include the production, processing and distribution of special bar quality (SBQ) steel products; coated and uncoated seamed pipes; structural steel products, such as beams, channels, flat bars and angles; light structurals, such as angles, flat and merchant bars; as well as reinforced and corrugated steel bars. The Company�� facilities include production and processing plants in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Julia Leite]

  The IPC rose 2.5 percent to 40,623.30 at the close in Mexico City. The index gained 6.8 percent on the week, the most since July 2009. Steelmaker Industrias CH SAB (ICHB) was the biggest gainer today, while homebuilders Desarrolladora Homex SAB, Urbi Desarrollos Urbanos SAB, and Corp. Geo SAB were the week�� best performers.