5 Best Asian Stocks To Buy For 2015

As the Liberal-National Coalition pitched itself to Australia’s electorate during the past election season, one of its vows was to forge stronger bonds with regional Asian economies. In particular, they pledged to revive stalled bilateral free-trade agreements with countries such as China and South Korea. And so far at least, the newly ascendant government appears to be doing just that.

Of course, these negotiations have been underway for so long that it’s premature to celebrate any progress until a deal is finalized. For instance, Australia and China have been negotiating a free-trade agreement (FTA) since 2005. Since then, China has become Australia’s largest trading partner, with trade totaling AUD125.2 billion in 2012, so the economy’s prospects for future growth are closely aligned with the Middle Kingdom.

As such, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has placed a 12-month deadline for the two countries to put together an FTA. Beyond that, Trade Minister Andrew Robb hopes to sign FTAs with Japan and South Korea before the end of the Abbott government’s first term.

Top Managed Healthcare Companies To Watch In Right Now: Denny's Corporation(DENN)

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of a chain of family-style restaurants. The company operates traditional American-style food restaurants under the Denny?s brand name. As of December 28, 2011, it had 1,479 franchised/licensed restaurants and 206 company-owned and operated restaurants in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Guam, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jae Jun]

  1. Turnaround Story of Denny�� (DENN): Denny�� owns and is a franchiser of family diners. The company controls about 9% of the family dining market and competes directly with IHOP which controls 11%.

• [By Rich Smith]

  This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines include upgrades for both Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN  ) and Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT  ) . But stocks can reach buy ratings in ways other than actual upgrades. So before we get to those two, let's first take a quick look at why ...

5 Best Asian Stocks To Buy For 2015: Lojas Renner SA (LREN3)

Lojas Renner SA is a Brazil- based company primarily involved in the operation of department stores. The Company divides its business into two segments. The Retail segment is engaged in sale of women's, men's and children's apparels, underwear and shoes, as well as sportswear and other department stores' articles in the domestic market. The Company also sells household articles, bedding and bath items, furniture and decoration articles. The Financial products segment is involved in the intermediation of financial services, including brokerage of personal loans, sales financing, brokerage of insurance and bonds, and credit card processing, among others. The Company operates through a numerous subsidiaries, including Dromegon Participacoes Ltda, Renner Administradora de Cartoes de Credito Ltda, Renner Empreendimentos Ltda and Maxmix Comercial Ltda. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ney Hayashi]

  Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3) tumbled after Brazil�� antitrust regulator signaled it may limit the education company�� merger with competitor Kroton Educacional SA. (KROT3) Lojas Renner SA (LREN3) led retailers higher after a report showed Brazil�� industrial production expanded faster than expected in October, easing concern that growth is faltering.

5 Best Asian Stocks To Buy For 2015: James River Coal Company(JRCC)

James River Coal Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in mining, processing, and selling thermal and metallurgical coal in eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southern Indiana. It conducts its mining operations in Bell County, Bledsoe, Blue Diamond- Buckeye, Blue Diamond-Leatherwood, Hampden, McCoy Elkhorn, Laurel Mountain, and Triad mining complexes. As of December 31, 2011, the company had 8 mining complexes, including 25 underground mines, 12 surface mines, and 14 preparation plants, as well as controlled approximately 362.8 million tons of proven and probable coal reserves in Central Appalachia and Midwest regions. It sells its coal to utility, steel, and industrial markets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Walter Energy announced that it would sell�$200 million of senior secured notes due 2019 with a coupon of 9.500% a year, and priced its private offering of $350 million aggregate principal amount of 11.0%/12.0% Senior Secured Second Lien PIK Toggle Notes due 2020. Walter has a debt-equity ratio of 369, according to Bloomberg, more than twice Peabody Energy’s 152. Walter’s announcement comes just two days after�James River Coal (JRCC) missed a coupon payment on its own debt. Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed Walter Energy’s B-minus rating yesterday but said the outlook is negative.

• [By Robert Weinstein]

  Lawsuit after lawsuit, a billion dollars in cost overruns, taxpayer subsidies and the most expensive coal plant to operate causing electric rates to skyrocket, if this becomes the norm. The new project is called Plant Ratcliffe by Southern Co. Plant Ratcliffe is quite the boondoggle, but proponents say it always costs more to build the first one and costs will come down as the technology improves. More plants are in the planning stages and may bring a needed shot in the arm to mining stocks. Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), Walter Energy (WLT), Arch Coal (ACI), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Peabody Energy (BTU), and James River Coal (JRCC) are companies that may benefit from increased demand for coal. Not all coal or coal companies are equal, so it's crucial to discriminate based on your investment time-horizon goals. With that said, the announcement should have been followed by a deep sell-off in coal and utility related stocks. But something happened. Or, rather, didn't happen. The above coal stocks didn't sell off tremendously and are largely moving along with the rest of the market today. This is noteworthy because stocks don't bottom on good news, they reach a bottom on awful news. Let me explain: When a stock chart continues trending lower, what you're witnessing is investors throwing in the towel and moving on. Leaving aside bankruptcies for a moment, almost all stocks have a core group of investors that are commonly known as the "strong hands." A stock is at the bottom when the weak hands are gone. At some point, distressing news (like an unfavorable EPA announcement regarding coal) hits the wire and the related stock or stocks react with little or no movement. This is what we are witnessing right now in coal-related companies.

5 Best Asian Stocks To Buy For 2015: Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund Inc. (MSF)

Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. It invests in the public equity markets across the global emerging markets. The fund invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It makes its investments in companies across all market capitalizations. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the MSCI Emerging Markets Free Index. Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund Inc. was formed on November 1, 1991 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By George Putnam, Editor, New Generation Research, Inc.]

  Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund (MSF) is not an index-based fund, and therefore, its portfolio managers have a lot of latitude.

  Among their top ten holdings are a range of consumer and technology holdings, such as Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor, as well as financials. At current prices, the fund is trading at a roughly 10.5% discount to its net asset value (NAV).