Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014

With just 10 days to go before your tax returns are due, procrastinating taxpayers are truly coming down to the last minute. But just because you're late to the game doesn't mean you should pay even a penny more in tax than you absolutely need to.

As a guide for late filers everywhere, here are five absolute last-minute things to keep in mind as you scurry to meet the April 15 deadline.

1. Attach only what you need to attach to your return.
Usually, the only forms you'll attach with your return are W-2s from your work, and other forms that include amounts of tax that were withheld. Most other supporting documentation shouldn't be attached, although you should make sure you retain them in your own records in case you're audited.

2. Should you itemize or take the standard deduction?
Once you've calculated your total income, most taxpayers are allowed to take either a standard deduction, or to itemize specific deductible items. What's important to remember is that you have a choice between those two options, and you can pick whichever one will save you the most. Making the wrong choice can cost you.

Top Electric Utility Companies To Buy For 2015: Zygo Corporation(ZIGO)

Zygo Corporation designs, develops, and manufactures ultra-high precision measurement solutions to enhance its customers? manufacturing yields, and optical sub-systems and components for original equipment manufacturer and end-user applications in the Americas, the Far East, and Europe. It operates in two segments, Metrology Solutions and Optical Systems. The Metrology Solutions segment offers 3-Dimensional surface metrology products, precision positioning systems, and custom engineered solutions that are used to measure surface characteristics and critical parameters, including topography and roughness, shape, dimension, thickness, optical characteristics, and defects. This segment primarily provides NewView Series 3D Optical Profilers for fuel injector components; ZeGage to measure and visualize various materials, including rubber, paper, metal, plastic, and ceramics; VeriFire Asphere system that provides high resolution 3-Dimensional surface metrology for aspheric shap ed surfaces; VeriFire Systems, which are optical systems; GPI and VeriFire systems for the defense/aerospace market; and semiconductor products. It serves automotive, consumer electronics, medical, aerospace, military, materials research, optics, flat panel displays, and semiconductor industries. The Optical Systems segment manufactures high precision optical components and electro-optical systems used in the semiconductor, defense, life-sciences, and research markets. It offers defense-related products comprising lenses, windows, freeform optics and assemblies, and meter class optical components; life-science products, such as laser eye correction, dental 3D imaging, and genomic analysis instruments; and custom components and assemblies used in the manufacture of semiconductor chips. The company markets its products through direct sales force, as well as through independent agents and distributors. Zygo Corporation was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Middlefield, Co nnecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Zygo (NASDAQ: ZIGO) shares gained 31.06% to touch a new 52-week high of $19.24 after Ametek (NYSE: AME) announced its plans to buy Zygo for about $364 million.

Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings(AAWW)

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. provides air cargo and outsourced aircraft operating solutions worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, and Insurance (ACMI); Air Mobility Command (AMC) Charter; Commercial Charter; and Dry Leasing. The ACMI segment offers aircraft that is crewed, maintained, and insured by the company for lease. The AMC Charter segment provides full planeload charter flights to the U.S. military. The Commercial Charter segment provides planeload of capacity charter services to charter brokers, freight forwarders, direct shippers, and airlines. The Dry Leasing segment provides for the leasing of aircraft and/or engines to customers. The company operates a fleet of Boeing 747 freighters. Its customers include airlines, express delivery providers, freight forwarders, the U.S. military, and charter brokers. It operates in Asia, the Middle-East, Australia, Europe, South America, Africa, and North America. As of Decem ber 31, 2009, the company operated a fleet of 747-400 freighter aircraft. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings was founded in 1992 and is based in Purchase, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  UPS’s (UPS) big miss got the attention today–sending its shares down 1%–but that’s nothing compared to what’s happened to Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW).

• [By Anders Bylund]

  Jet chartering service Atlas Air Worldwide (NASDAQ: AAWW  ) started a poison pill in 2009 "during a period of turmoil," only to cancel it a year later when the risk of hostile takeover attempts had waned. Shares of Atlas have fallen 20% since the cancellation, while the S&P 500 surged 66% higher, but Atlas is most certainly an independent company today.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW) has plunged 21% to $38.63 following its announcement that it would earn less this year than it had previously expected.

  Oshkosh has dropped 12% to $46.25 after it reported a profit of 49 cents a share, missing forecasts for 590 cents, as sales of military vehicles plunged.

Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: KKR(KKR)

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and mezzanine investments in large cap companies. The firm will consider investments in all industries globally, with a focus on financial services, infrastructure, and renewable energy. It seeks a board seat in its portfolio companies. The firm holds a controlling interest in its portfolio companies after they go public. It typically holds its investment for a period of five years and more and exits through initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and sales to strategic buyers. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was founded in 1976 and is based at New York, New York with additional offices across United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  In this segment from Thursday's episode of The Motley Fool's everything-financials show,�Where the Money Is, banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson go through a rapid-fire round of three top headlines. The newsmakers included�KKR (NYSE: KKR  ) ,�Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) ,�Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS  ) ,�Lazard (NYSE: LAZ  ) , and�Evercore (NYSE: EVR  ) .

• [By Tim Brugger]

  After six years as CEO and managing director of�KKR's� (NYSE: KKR  ) �Japan operations, Shusaku Minoda has been named the division's new executive chairman, the company�announced Tuesday. Succeeding Minoda as CEO and managing director of KKR Japan is Hirofumi Hirano. The appointments become effective April 15.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Homebuilders have seen their fortunes rise, too, particularly those playing either end of this particular boom. Luxury builder Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL  ) reported a sweet 46% increase in net income�from the first quarter of 2012, aided by an ability to tack on price increases averaging $26,000 per house�-- bringing the average price of a Toll house to a cool $577,000. Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH  ) is playing the single-family rental end of things, via its Pre-Owned Homes Division, a two-year old venture it started with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (NYSE: KKR  ) .

• [By Jose Pagliery]

  What's going on? The company's still recovering from a bad stretch. It was mired in debt back in 2011, when three private equity firms came to the rescue: KKR & Co. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.

Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Littelfuse Inc.(LFUS)

Littelfuse, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells circuit protection devices for use in the automotive, electronic, and electrical markets in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. The company offers electronic circuit protection products, such as fuses and protectors, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, varistors, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, discrete transient voltage suppression diodes, TVS diode arrays and protection thyristors, gas discharge tubes, and power switching components, as well as fuseholders, blocks, and related accessories under PICO II, and NANO2 SMF, TECCOR, SIDACtor, and Battrax brand names. It offers its electronic circuit protection products for use in wireless telephones, consumer electronics, computers, modems, telecommunications equipment, telephones, data transmission lines, and alarm systems. The company also provides automotive fuses that are used in automobiles, trucks, buses, and off-road equipment to protec t electrical circuits and the wires that supply electrical power to operate lights, heating, air conditioning, radios, windows, and other controls, as well as offers fuses for the protection of electric and hybrid vehicles. It markets its automotive fuse products under ATO, MINI, MAXI, MIDI, MEGA, MasterFuse, JCASE, and CablePro brand names. In addition, Littelfuse manufactures various low-voltage and medium-voltage circuit protection products, such as power fuses that are used in the protection from over-load and short-circuit currents in motor branch circuits, heating and cooling systems, control systems, lighting circuits, and electrical distribution networks to electrical distributors and their customers in the construction, original equipment manufacturers, and industrial maintenance and repair and operating supplies markets. Littelfuse sells its products through direct sales force and manufacturers? representatives. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Littelfuse (NASDAQ: LFUS  ) has signed an agreement to acquire Key Safety Systems' Hamlin subsidiary for $145 million in cash, Littelfuse announced Monday.

Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS)

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble), incorporated on November 19, 1986, is a bookseller. The Company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of April 27, 2013, it operated 1,361 bookstores in 50 states, 686 bookstores on college campuses, and operates one of the Web eCommerce sites, and develops digital content products and software. Barnes & Noble operates in three segments: B&N Retail, B&N College and NOOK. The Company�� principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), children�� books, eBooks and other digital content, NOOK and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, educational toys & games, music and movies direct to customers through its bookstores or on barnesandnoble.com.

Of the Company�� 1,361 bookstores, 675 operate primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC (B&N College), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 686 college bookstores at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble Retail (B&N Retail) operates the 675 retail bookstores. Retail also includes the Company�� eCommerce site and Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling or Sterling Publishing), a leader in general trade book publishing.

B&N Retail

This segment includes 675 bookstores as of April 27, 2013, primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. These stores generally offer a dedicated NOOK area, a comprehensive trade book title base, a cafe, and departments dedicated to Juvenile, Toys & Games, DVDs, Music, Gift, Magazine and Bargain products. The stores also offer a calendar of ongoing events, including author appearances and children�� activities. The B&! N Retail segment also includes the Company�� eCommerce website, barnesandnoble.com, and its publishing operation, Sterling Publishing. Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet depending upon market size, with an overall average store size of 26,000 square feet. During the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 (fiscal), the Company reduced the Barnes & Noble store base by 0.3 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to 17.7 million square feet. The Company�� B&N Retail segment purchases physical books on a regular basis from over 800 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. As of April 27, 2013, Barnes & Noble had stores in 162 of the total 210 Designated Market Area markets.

Sterling Publishing is a publisher of non-fiction trade titles. It is a range of non-fiction and illustrated books and kits across a range of imprints, in categories, such as health and wellness, music and culture, food and wine, crafts and photography, puzzles and games, history and current affairs, as well as a children�� books.

B&N College

B&N College sells new and used textbooks in campus bookstores and online. As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operated 686 stores nationwide. The Company�� customer base, which is mainly consisted of students and faculty, can purchase various items from their campus stores, including textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, NOOK products and related accessories, school and dorm supplies, convenience and cafe items.

As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operates 651 traditional college bookstores and 35 academic superstores, which are generally larger in size, offer cafes and provide a sense of community that engages the surrounding campus and local communities in college activities and culture. The traditional bookstores range in size from 500 to 48,000 square feet. The academic superstores range in size from 8,000 to 75,000 square feet. B&! N College! �� three customer constituencies are students, faculty members and campus administrators.

NOOK

This segment includes the Company�� digital business, which includes the Company�� eBookstore, digital newsstand and sales of NOOK devices and accessories to third party distribution partners, as well as to B&N Retail and B&N College. Barnes & Noble�� NOOK digital bookstore and Reading Apps provide customers the ability to purchase and read their digital content and access to their Lifetime Library on a range of digital platforms, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, iPad, iPhone , Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac. Barnes & Noble has implemented features on its digital platform to ensure that customers can access their NOOK content from almost all of today�� most popular devices.

The Company competes with Target, Books-A-Million, Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, Apple, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Andrew Marder]

  When, in my youth, I left a job, I imagined that the whole thing fell into a shambling chaos immediately afterward. In reality, things probably got better. So I guess I feel the pain that William Lynch must be feeling the day after his resignation hit the press. Overnight, the market reacted in typical fashion, plunging the share price into a spiral, and, at the time of this writing...�Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) was up almost 4%. Ouch.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Earnings Expected: From�Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), Tiffany & Co., Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), TiVo Inc., Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI), Hewlett-Packard Company.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  AP/Jae C. Hong Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a book lover's tablet continuing to fade in the marketplace to a strong year for satellite radio, here's a rundown of the week's best and worst in the business world. Nook -- Loser Barnes & Noble (BKS) has seen the popularity of its Nook line of e-readers and tablets fade in recent quarters, but things have never slipped so sharply as they did during the holiday season. The bookseller is reporting a 60.5 percent plunge in Nook sales for the nine weeks ending Dec. 28. In short, there weren't a lot of Nooks in Santa's sleigh this year. The news is grim on the hardware end with devices and accessories off a steep 66.7 percent, but even digital sales fell a disappointing 27.3 percent. The Nook was supposed to be Barnes & Noble's catalyst for growth in a future in which consumers have tired of hardcovers and paperbacks. But now it's making up just 11 percent of the superstore chain's sales -- and falling fast. Something tells me there won't be a storybook ending for the Nook. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) -- Winner Sirius XM Radio began the week moving higher after receiving an offer over the weekend to be acquired by majority investor Liberty Media (LMCA). It wasn't much of a premium, but that's what can happen when a company owns more than 51 percent of another. Then the satellite radio provider announced that it closed out 2013 with a better than expected 25.56 million subscribers. Sirius XM's previous outlook was to close out the year with 1.6 million net additions. It wound up adding 1.66 million net subscribers in 2013. Michael Bay -- Loser There are many opinions out there on the winners and losers during this week's CES expo as consumer tech companies introduce their latest gadgetry, but it's hard to beat Samsung's presentation where Hollywood director Michael Bay abandoned the stage when the teleprompter stopped working. "

Best Integrated Utility Companies To Invest In 2014: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.(MRVL)

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. designs, develops, and markets analog, mixed-signal, digital signal processing, and embedded and standalone ARM-based microprocessor integrated circuits. It offers mobile and wireless products, including communications processors, applications processors, and standalone wireless products, as well as combination devices, which incorporate wireless, Bluetooth, and FM radio capability. The company also provides storage products comprising tape drive controllers, read channel, hard disk controllers, solid-state drive controllers, hybrid drive controllers, and storage-system products for hard disk drives, tape drive electronics, optical disk drives, solid-state flash drives, hybrid drives, and storage subsystems technology. In addition, it offers networking, such as switching products that enable voice, video, and data traffic to be carried through the network for the enterprise networking, carrier access, and small office/home office/residential n etworking markets; communications controller and embedded processor products; and enterprise transceiver and Ethernet connectivity products. Further, the company provides printing ASIC products; digital video processing products; and power management and green technology products, such as DSP switcher integrated regulators, analog switching regulators, and mixed-signal light-emitting diode drivers. It operates in the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  We have tracked the key short interest changes as of September 30 in the following semiconductor leaders: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL), Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT). We also chose to look at how the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEMKT: SMH) has held up.

• [By Ben Eisen]

  Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) � will hold a developer conference next week that coincides with its earnings announcement on Monday. Also on the tech earnings calendar: online radio firm Pandora Media Inc. (P) , data-software firm Splunk Inc (SPLK) , and Marvell Tech (MRVL) �on Thursday.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) is up 20.5% at $10.10 after earnings and signing deal to supply Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) with sapphire glass. Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is up 8.5% at $13.03 following reports of an investment by KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR). Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OXBT) is up 62.7% at $8.38 along with other biotech stocks making big moves today.