Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on International Speedway (Nasdaq: ISCA  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014: Alleghany Corporation(Y)

Alleghany Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty, and surety insurance business in the United States. It underwrites specialty insurance coverages in the property, umbrella/excess, general liability, directors and officers liability, professional liability lines of business, and homeowners insurance. The company also writes surety products, such as commercial surety bonds and contract surety bonds. In addition, Alleghany Corporation owns and manages improved and unimproved commercial land, and residential lots in the Sacramento, California. As of December 31, 2010, the company owned approximately 320 acres of property in various land use categories. Further, it engages in the oil and gas exploration and production business. The company was founded in 1929 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rahemtulla]

  Alleghany(Y) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

  Alleghany Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty, and surety insurance business. The company has a P/E ratio of 16.1, equal to the average insurance industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Alleghany Corp DEL has a market cap of $2.6 billion and is part of the financial sector and insurance industry. Shares are down 7.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

Best Forestry Stocks To Own For 2014: Volcano Corporation(VOLC)

Volcano Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and commercializes intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) products used in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular and structural heart disease. It offers multi-modality consoles, which are marketed as stand-alone units that can be integrated into hospital-based interventional surgical suites, such as catheterization laboratories. The company provides IVUS products, including single-procedure disposable phased array and rotational IVUS imaging catheters; and additional functionality options comprising virtual histology tissue characterization, and ChromaFlo stent apposition analysis. It also offers FFR products, such as pressure and flow consoles, and single-procedure disposable pressure and flow guide wires used to measure the pressure and flow characteristics of blood around plaque enabling physicians to gauge the plaque?s physiological impact on blood flow and pressure. In addition, the com pany develops and manufactures optical monitors for the telecommunication industry; laser and non-laser light sources; optical engines used in the medical OCT imaging systems and advanced photonic components; and sub-systems used in spectroscopy and other industrial applications. Its products under development include image-guided therapy device and micro and thrombectomy catheters. The company?s ongoing clinical studies comprise assessment of dual anti-platelet therapy with drug-eluting stents; vascular evaluation for revascularization; fractional flow reserve and intravascular ultrasound relationship study; adensonine vasodilation independent stenosis evaluation; and evaluation of XIENCE PRIME. It sells its products through direct sales force and distributors, as well as through third parties supply and distribution agreements primarily in the United States, Japan, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered i n San Diego, California.

5 Best Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: ImmunoGen Inc.(IMGN)

ImmunoGen, Inc. engages in the research and development of targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer using cancer biology, monoclonal antibodies, and highly potent cell-killing agents. The company develops its products using its Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology. Its product candidates include Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), a Phase III clinical trial product for HER2+ breast cancer; lorvotuzumab mertansine (IMGN901), a Phase I clinical trial product, which targets CD56 found on small-cell lung cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, multiple myeloma, ovarian cancers, carcinoid tumors, and other cancers of neuroendocrine origin; IMGN529, a pre-investigational new drug stage drug for CD37+ B-cell malignancies, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and IMGN853, a preclinical stage product for cancers that overexpress folate receptor 1, including ovarian cancer. The company?s earlier-stage compounds in development stage comprise SAR3419, a Phase I clinical trial product for CD19+ B-cell malignancies, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; SAR650984, a Phase I clinical trial product for CD38+ hematological malignancies; SAR566658, a phase one clinical trial product for DS6+ solid tumors; and BT-062, a Phase I product for multiple myeloma. It has collaboration agreements with Amgen, Inc.; Bayer Schering Pharma AG; Biogen Idec MA Inc.; Biotest AG; Genentech, Inc.; Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc.; and sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC. ImmunoGen, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.