Best Asian Companies To Watch In Right Now

Asian stocks rose, with Japan�� Nikkei 225 Stock Average closing at the highest in six years as the yen touched a sixth-month low against the dollar after U.S. employment and consumer confidence reports boosted optimism in the world�� largest economy.

Honda Motor Co. (7203), a carmaker that gets almost half its sales in the U.S. added 1.5 percent. Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. advanced 0.8 percent after Murray Goulburn Cooperative Co., Australia�� biggest milk processor, raised its takeover offer. Forge Group Ltd. slumped 84 percent in Sydney after the mining-services firm said it will report a 2014 loss.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.7 percent to 142.00 as of 5:04 p.m. in Hong Kong, with all 10 industry groups on the measure rising. More than $8 trillion has been added to the value of global equities this year, the biggest increase since 2009, as central banks took steps to shore up economies worldwide. The Asia-Pacific gauge jumped 9 percent in 2013 through yesterday, while falling 0.9 percent on the month.

Top Airline Companies To Watch For 2015: UTi Worldwide Inc.(UTIW)

UTi Worldwide Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a supply chain services and solutions company worldwide. Its supply chain planning and optimization services help its clients in designing and implementing solutions for their supply chains. The company operates in two segments, Freight Forwarding, and Contract Logistics and Distribution. The Freight Forwarding segment offers air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and other related services. This segment operates as an indirect carrier for its clients or as an authorized agent for airlines and ocean carriers by providing pick-up and delivery service between the carrier and the location of the shipper or recipient. Its customs brokerage services include preparing and filing formal documentation required for clearance through customs agencies, obtaining customs bonds, facilitating payment of import duties on behalf of the importer, arranging for payment of collect freight charges, assisting with determin ing and obtaining the commodity classifications for shipments, and performing other related services. The Contract Logistics and Distribution segment offers various services, which comprise receiving, deconsolidation and decontainerization, sorting, put away, consolidation, assembly, cargo loading and unloading, assembly of freight and protective packaging, warehousing, order management, and customized distribution and inventory management services, as well as outsourced services, such as inspection services, quality centers, and manufacturing support. This segment also provides various distribution, consultation, outsourced management services, planning and optimization services, coordination of purchase orders, and customized management services. The company serves various industries, such as pharmaceutical, retail, apparel, chemical, automotive, high technology, and electronics industries. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Road Town, the British Virg in Islands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: UTIW), Renesola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), Kroger Company (NYSE: KR), Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG), Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Economic Releases Expected: US factory orders, French unemployment rate, Bank of England interest rate decision, US GDP

  Friday

• [By Barbara Kollmeyer]

  Earnings are expected from Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) �and UTI Worldwide Inc. (UTIW) �ahead of the opening bell. See Facebook, Biogen, Cal-Maine are stocks to watch

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top Headline
  UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. UTi Worldwide posted a quarterly net loss of $50.7 million, or $0.48 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $142.8 million, or $1.38 per share.

Best Asian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A.(ASPS)

Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides services related to real estate and mortgage portfolio management, asset recovery, and customer relationship management primarily in the United States. Its Mortgage Services segment offers mortgage portfolio management services to loan originators and loan servicers. This segment provides asset management services that primarily include property preservation, property inspection, real estate owned (REO) asset management, and REO brokerage; residential property valuation; closing and title services; default management services, such as non-legal back-office support for foreclosure, bankruptcy, and eviction attorneys, as well as foreclosure trustee services. The company?s Financial Services segment offers unsecured asset recovery management services, including post-charge-off consumer debt collection that comprise credit cards, auto loans, and second mortgages; and customer relationship management services, such as customer care and early stage collection. Its Technology Services segment provides integrated technological solutions for loan servicing, vendor management, and invoice presentment and payment; and IT infrastructure services, such as desktop management, application support, network management, telephony, data center management, disaster recovery, helpdesk, and infrastructure security. This segment offers REALSuite of applications consisting of REALServicing, an enterprise residential mortgage loan servicing platform; REALTrans, an electronic business-to-business exchange that automates and simplifies the ordering, tracking, and fulfilling of mortgage and other services; and REALRemit, an electronic invoicing and payment system. The company serves sub-prime servicers, utility companies, commercial banks, servicers, mortgage bankers, and financial service companies, as well as hedge funds. Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. was incorporated in 1999 and is b ased in Luxembourg.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  While these companies are still heavily involved, there is also a new presence on the scene: the single-family home REIT. Last December, mortgage REIT Two Harbors (NYSE: TWO  ) spun off Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY  ) after selling its stable of 3,100 homes to Silver Bay prior to its initial public offering. Around the same time, Altisource Residential�was also born, spun off from Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS  ) .

• [By Amanda Alix]

  For Wall Street types, single-family foreclosures can be bought cheaply and in bulk, then fixed up and rented. Companies like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) and Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY  ) have been very active in this market, with the former purchasing 16,000 homes just last year, and the latter ramping up its own portfolio to approximately 7,000. This new industry has also spawned fresh entrants from the REIT field, Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY  ) and Altisource Residential, (NYSE: RESI  ) two trusts that were spun off earlier this year from parent companies Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO  ) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS  ) , specifically to take advantage of the boom in the foreclosure-to-rental market.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Friday, financials shares fell by 1.15 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Noah Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NOAH), down 8.6 percent, and Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (NASDAQ: ASPS), off 7.5 percent.

Best Asian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Nevsun Resources Ltd (NSU)

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is a Canadian mineral resource company. The Company, through its subsidiaries is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties. Its primary operating asset is the Bisha Mine located on the Bisha Property with gold, silver and base metal (copper and zinc) mineral resources and mineral reserves. In addition, the Company owns the Mogoraib exploration license containing 97.4 square kilometers of area located 16 kilometers southwest of the Bisha Mine, and a mining licence for the Harena deposit, located approximately 9 kilometers south of the Bisha Mine. The Bisha Mine is owned by BMSC, the voting securities of which are held 60% by the Company and 40% by ENAMCO. During the year ended December 31, 2012, diamond drilling programs were undertaken across Bisha Main, Bisha Hangingwall (HW) Copper, Harena and the Northwest (NW) Zone, for a total of approximately 115 holes and 19,432 meters. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  In a terse, 101-word announcement, Vancouver-based and Eritrea-operating gold-mining company Nevsun Resources (NYSEMKT: NSU  ) announced the departure of its CFO on Wednesday.

Best Asian Companies To Watch In Right Now: Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (RNF)

Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P. is a provider of clean energy solutions and nitrogen fertilizer, to own, operate and grow its nitrogen fertilizer business. The Company primarily produces anhydrous ammonia, or ammonia, and urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN), at the Company�� facility, using natural gas as its primary feedstock. In November 2012, the Company acquired Agrifos LLC.

The Company�� facility is located in the center of the Mid Corn Belt. The Mid Corn Belt includes the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio. The Company considers its market to be consisted of the States of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Neha Chamaria]

  That should help Mosaic grow its gross margin in the future even as nitrogen-centric companies like CF Industries (NYSE: CF  ) and Rentech Nitrogen Partners (NYSE: RNF  ) battle rising input costs. While CF's stock has lost nearly 17% in the past six months because of the recent uptick in natural gas prices, Rentech's shares plummeted 37% over the period for the same reasons. Both companies are relying on forward booking of gas prices to reduce risk.