Top Long Term Companies To Invest In 2014

In the fallout of the financial crisis, many entered, stayed in, or returned to school. With more students, student debt skyrocketed, and at $1 trillion it's second only to housing debt. However, not all the student loans have contributed to a degree and thus increased earning power. Many students in for-profit colleges, where withdrawal rates can near 80%, ended up paying for a few classes before dropping out, putting them in a worse situation than before -- with the same employment opportunities and more debt.

While this increased student-debt load hurts the economy in the near term, it has taught those who bear it one thing: Don't live beyond your means. And in the long term, that will help the economy.

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The student debt figures need little comment:

Top Long Term Companies To Invest In 2014: Electrometals Technologies Ltd(EMM.AX)

Electrometals Technologies Limited designs, manufactures, and sells patented EMEW electrowinning equipment for the metals processing industry primarily in Australia and Canada. The company?s EMEW technology is used for the recovery of metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, tin, zinc, lead, manganese, and various other metals. It also offers various services that include laboratory and test programs, pilot programs, flowsheet and general process development, feasibility studies, and general mining and industrial metal recovery consulting. The company markets its products directly and through agents and partners. Electrometals Technologies Limited is headquartered in Ashmore, Australia. As of June 1, 2011, Electrometals Technologies Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Waverton Holdings, Ltd.

Top Long Term Companies To Invest In 2014: Marconi (MONI.L)

Marconi : taking on the inheritance.Wearing the name of the renowned pioneer of telecommunications and the world of the wireless data transmission, the Nobel Prize laureate Guglielmo Marconi could have been pure chance, or a mere commercial asset. Such is not the case with the Marconi group (formerly called The General Electric Company), which was always able, despite all the jolts of its history, to challenge the inheritance of this famous patronymic.It is little to say that our present universe has evolved. It is impossible to imagine what a world without mobile telecommunications solutions, multimedia data transfer, mobile telephone systems, Internet would be like. But behind this technologist revolution are groups, among which Marconi.A major actor in the conception and marketing of telecommunication dedicated softwares as well as in the concrete hardware market, Marconi can, as a manufacturer, supply both faces (software and hardware) of what has always been called 't he information highways'.Therefore, companies as well-known as Cable & Wireless, UUNET Technologies, Level 3 Communications, MCI/WorldCom or Qwest call on an evolutional know-how, specialized (Ethernet, Internet, optical networks among others) available in more than 100 countries around the world.

Best Consumer Service Stocks To Watch For 2014: Hawkins Inc. (HWKN)

Hawkins, Inc. distributes bulk chemicals, as well as blends, manufactures, and distributes specialty chemicals. The company operates through two segments, Industrial and Water Treatment. The Industrial segment provides industrial chemicals, products, and services primarily to the agriculture, energy, electronics, food, chemical processing, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, medical device, and plating industries. This segment primarily offers acids, alkalis, and industrial and food-grade salts; and receives, stores, and distributes various chemicals, including liquid caustic soda, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium hydroxide, and aqua ammonia. In addition, it manufactures sodium hypochlorite, agricultural products, and certain food-grade products comprising Cheese-Phos liquid phosphate, lactates, and other blended products; repackages water treatment and bulk industrial chemicals; and performs custom blending of certain chemicals, and contract and pr ivate label packaging for household chemicals. This segment primarily conducts its operations through distribution centers and terminal operations. The Water Treatment segment provides chemicals, equipment, and solutions for potable water, municipal and industrial wastewater, industrial process water, and non-residential swimming pool water. Hawkins, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Top Long Term Companies To Invest In 2014: ViroPharma Incorporated(VPHM)

ViroPharma Incorporated, a biotechnology company, develops and commercializes therapeutic products that address serious diseases in the United States and internationally. It focuses on developing products used by physician specialists or in hospital settings. The company markets and sells Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor therapy for the routine prophylaxis against angioedema attacks in adolescent and adult patients with hereditary angioedema, a life-threatening genetic disorder; and Vancocin HCl capsule, an oral capsule formulation for the treatment of C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and to treat enterocolitis caused by staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains. It also offers Plenadren, an orphan drug for treatment of adrenal insufficiency in adults; Buccolam, a oromucosal solution for treatment of prolonged, acute, and convulsive seizures in infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents; and maribavir, an antiviral compound for the treatment o f CMV disease through a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline. The company?s primary development programs include Cinryze, a C1 esterase inhibitor for management of hereditary angioedema; and VP 20621, a non-toxigenic strain of C. difficile. Its clinical stage drug candidate comprises VP-20629 for the treatment of Friedreich?s Ataxia. The company sells its products directly to wholesale drug distributors and specialty pharmacies/distributors. ViroPharma Incorporated was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harding]

  ViroPharma Inc. specializes in drug development and commercialization for medications to treat C. difficile, Staph. aureus and other infectious diseases found in hospital settings. Their pipeline includes a number of products in Phase II and III trials, two on the market, and they have strategic relations with giants like EliLilly and GlaxoSmithKline. VPHM stock, worth about $8 in January 2012, is priced at nearly $13 today, and is still steadily climbing. The company, founded in 1994, employs 170 people.