Top 5 Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- With the Federal Reserve's decision to not taper, TheStreet's Jim Cramer told Mad Money research director Nicole Urken what sectors he thinks will finish strong this year.

Cramer suggested that investors stick with what's worked thus far in 2013, and likes high-growth biotech stocks in the low inflation environment. He likes Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Celgene (CELG), Gilead Sciences (GILD), and Biogen Idec (BIIB).

Consumer-discretionary stocks, particularly GameStop (GME), should continue to do well, especially with the launch of Grand Theft Auto V.

Cramer said that financial stocks, despite a flat yield curve, should also do well. Stocks such as E-Trade Financial (ETFC), Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) and Lincoln National (LNC) should all be bought, although Lincoln National has been under pressure, he admitted. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwell

Top Semiconductor Stocks To Watch For 2015: Credit Lyonnais SA (CLP)

Cr茅dit Lyonnais Group is engaged in retail financial services, asset management and investment and corporate banking. The Company's banking activities include personal banking, professional and small business banking, e-banking and middle market banking. The Company offers cash management and associated services, international business, advisory services and corporate finance. Its asset management services are involved in mutual funds, institutional clients and defining the investment strategy for the domestic private banking unit. The Company also offers structured finance, export finance and international trade finance. Cr茅dit Lyonnais has a network of 1,834 branches in France and operations in 55 countries worldwide. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Apartment-only real estate investment trust�Mid-America Apartment Communities� (NYSE: MAA  ) once again is snapping up properties, this time announcing Monday that it is adding�multifamily housing operator Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP  ) to its portfolio in an $8.6 billion transaction.�

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Multifamily real estate investment trust�Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP  ) announced yesterday its third-quarter dividend of $0.21 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past two quarters after raising the payout 17% from $0.18 per share.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Another growth driver looks to be its pending $8.6 billion merger with Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP  ) . The combined entity would become the second-largest U.S. based residential REIT, with 85,000 apartment units. Opposition to the deal from some of Colonial's shareholders does exist, but comparatively speaking, MAA is in great shape either way. It already has a high occupancy rate, and the addition of Colonial's properties would only further serve to enhance its rental pricing power.

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now: FBR & Co (FBRC)

FBR & Co., formerly FBR Capital Markets Corporation, is a full-service investment banking, institutional brokerage and asset management company. In addition, it makes principal investments, including merchant banking investments. The Company�� subsidiaries are FBR Capital Markets & Co. (FBR & Co.), FBR Capital Markets International, Ltd. (FBRIL), Financial Services Authority (FSA), and FBR Fund Advisers, Inc. (FBR Fund Advisers). Its segments include capital markets, which include investment banking and institutional brokerage and research; asset management, and principal investing, which includes merchant banking. It provides capital raising services, including underwriting and placement of public and private equity and debt; financial advisory services, including merger and acquisition advisory, restructuring, liability management, recapitalization and strategic alternative analysis; asset management services through a family of mutual funds; institutional sales and trading services focused on equities, equity-linked securities, listed options, high-yield bonds, senior debt and bank loans; and research coverage.

Capital Markets

The Company�� capital markets business is conducted by its investment banking and institutional brokerage professionals through its United States and United Kingdom broker-dealer subsidiaries. These professionals provide investment banking services, including capital raising and financial advisory services, and institutional brokerage services, including sales, trading, and research services, to its institutional clients across its core industry sectors.

Asset Management

The Company�� investment adviser subsidiaries principally manage a family of mutual funds. At December 31, 2011, it managed client assets through its 10 mutual fund product lines that cover a range of sectors and asset classes. Through attention to relative valuation and security selection, it manages mutual funds strive both to participate in rising m! arkets and preserve capital in down markets. It focuses on expanding its asset management business.

The Company�� investing activity consists primarily of investments in merchant banking investments, investments in publicly traded companies, and investments in short-term liquid instruments. This strategy involves putting its capital to work alongside the capital of its institutional clients.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  Brian Smale/Microsoft via Getty ImagesNewly named Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. SAN FRANCISCO -- After compiling a list of more than 100 CEO candidates, Microsoft settled on Satya Nadella a homegrown leader who joined the software maker in the early 1990s. That's back when Google's founders were teenagers and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in elementary school. Tuesday's hiring of Nadella as Microsoft's CEO after a five-month search is a safe move that's likely to be greeted with sighs of relief around the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, industry analysts say. But the methodical, almost predictable decision is likely to reinforce perceptions that Microsoft (MSFT) is a plodding company reluctant to take risks as it competes against younger rivals who relish going out on a limb. While Google (GOOG) founder and CEO Larry Page boasts about his company taking "moon shots" and Zuckerberg promises to "move fast and break things," Microsoft has fallen behind the technological curve after underestimating the importance of Internet search more than a decade ago and reacting too slowly to the rise of mobile devices during the past seven years. Meanwhile, the sales of personal computers running on Microsoft's Windows software are shrinking. Microsoft's malaise may have narrowed the field of up-and-coming visionaries interested in running a company founded in 1975. Just as Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Apple (AAPL) founder Steve Jobs would never have considered working at IBM (IBM) in the 1980s, today's entrepreneurial whiz kids scoff at Microsoft's overtures. "Going to work at Microsoft could make it look like you are going back to the dark ages," says Richard Metheny, a management coach for the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer in Chicago. "It's a well-entrenched business that has had trouble lately figuring out how to play in this new world." Despite its challenges, Microsoft remains a moneymaking machine that sits atop an $84 billion cash pile. Tha

• [By Zachary Tracer]

  FBR & Co. (FBRC) is leading the sale, according to a regulatory filing today from Emeryville, California-based NMI. The company said it�� seeking to raise $25 million, a placeholder amount used to calculate registration fees, according to the document.

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now: Wilshire Bancorp Inc.(WIBC)

Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Wilshire State Bank that offers a range of financial products and services. It accepts various deposit products that include certificates of deposit, regular savings accounts, money market accounts, checking and negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, installment savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts. The company?s loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate and home mortgage loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including personal loans, auto loans, and other loans. It also provides trade finance services that include issuance and negotiation of letters of credit, handling of documentary collections, advising and negotiation of commercial letters of credit, transfer and issuance of back-to-back letters of credit, and trade finance lines of credit. In addition, the company offers Internet banking services, auto matic teller machines, and armored carrier services. It has 24 full-service branch offices in Southern California, Texas, New Jersey, and the greater New York City metropolitan area; and 6 loan production offices in Colorado, Georgia, Texas, New Jersey, and Virginia. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Los Angeles-based Wilshire Bancorp (NASDAQ: WIBC  ) is acquiring some Korean banking customers... in New Jersey.

  On Monday, Wilshire announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire�New Jersey's BankAsiana, a commercial bank�with three branches serving the Korean-American community in the New York/New Jersey market, boasting total assets of $207.3 million, total net loans of $161.2 million, and total deposits of $164.6 million.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Los-Angeles, California-based bank holding company Wilshire Bancorp (WIBC) raised its quarterly dividend 67% to 5 cents per share, payable April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 31.
  WIBC Dividend Yield: 1.77%

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now: FirstMerit Corporation(FMER)

FirstMerit Corporation operates as the bank holding company for FirstMerit Bank, N.A. that provides a range of banking, fiduciary, financial, insurance, and investment services to corporate, institutional, and individual customers in northern and central Ohio, and western Pennsylvania. The company?s commercial business offers commercial term loans, revolving credit arrangements, asset-based lending, leasing, commercial mortgages, real estate construction lending, letters of credit, cash management services, and other depository products. Its retail business provides various financial products and services, including consumer direct and indirect installment loans, debit and credit cards, debit gift cards, residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, fixed and variable annuities, and ATM network services, as well as deposit products comprising checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company?s wealth business provides a sset management, private banking, financial planning, estate settlement and administration, and credit and deposit products and services. FirstMerit Corporation also offers trust and investment services, including personal trust and planning, and investment management; retirement plan services; retail mutual funds, other securities, variable and fixed annuities, personal disability and life insurance products, and brokerage services; and private banking services, including credit, deposit, and asset management solutions. As of December 31, 2009, it operated a network of 160 full service banking offices and 182 ATMs. The company was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  The year ahead should be a great one for the smaller bank stocks. Larger regionals like Huntington Bancorp (HBAN) and Capital Ban Financial (CBF) have made it clear they intend to grow by acquisition in the years ahead. Banks like First Merit (FMER) and First Merchants (FRME) have done deals in the past year and are open to doing more to increase their market share and footprints. This should be the year the floodgates open and we see the first wave of merger activity in small banks.