Top 5 Promising Companies To Invest In 2015

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) investors have cheered the stock's remarkable gains this year, but the company's performance in the shadow of major patent expirations has been remarkable. New drugs have risen to supplant the firm's old blockbusters, and rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz, approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year, has led the charge as one of tomorrow's most promising therapies.

Unfortunately, European regulators didn't feel the same way. Late last week, Europe's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, recommended that Xeljanz not be approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis across the Atlantic. Should you be worried about Xeljanz's failure in Europe? Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll and health care analyst Max Macaluso tell you what you need to know in the video below.

Pfizer missed a chance to capture of Europe's rheumatoid arthritis market with Xeljanz, but it's still looking up to the biggest immunology drug on the market: AbbVie's Humira. However, is AbbVie safe, with this blockbuster making up a huge portion of its total sales? The Fool's brand new premium report on the company answers the high-profile questions that AbbVie investors are asking. Simply click here now to claim your copy today.

Top 10 Safest Companies To Watch In Right Now: Opexa Therapeutics Inc.(OPXA)

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops patient-specific cellular therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Its principal product includes Tovaxin, a personalized cellular immunotherapy treatment that completed Phase IIb clinical study for multiple sclerosis. Tovaxin is derived from T-cells isolated from peripheral blood, expanded ex vivo, and reintroduced into the patients via subcutaneous injections. The company was formerly known as PharmaFrontiers Corp. and changed its name to Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. in June 2006. Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is based in The Woodlands, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a biotechnology company developing a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), reported that the Company is rebranding its leading MS therapy with the new name Tcelna(TM).

Top 5 Promising Companies To Invest In 2015: Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG)

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (the Fund) is an open-end investment company, or mutual fund. It seeks to track the performance of an index that measures the investment return of common stocks of companies that have a record of increasing dividends over time. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (the Fund), which employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Dividend Achievers Select Index (the Index).

The Index is a subset of the Broad Dividend Achievers Index and is administered for Vanguard by Mergent, Inc. The Fund attempts to replicate the Index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Because of low bond yields, many retirees have turned to dividend-paying stocks for yield, but by doing so, they've also increased the risk that the 4% retirement rule won't work. Dividend ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) and iShares Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) both offer yields between 3% and 4%, but the average earnings multiples of the stocks they own have gotten fairly pricey recently, trading at around 16 and 19 times earnings respectively. Even the more conservative dividend ETF Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , which looks more at historical dividend growth rather than current yield in choosing stocks, has a multiple of 16 -- higher than you'd want from the slower-growth companies that often end up being the best dividend payers.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  5. Dividends, stock buy-backs, capex, and M&A all increase at a double-digit rate – This is led by a lot of cash flow, underleveraged balance sheets, and possible great places to use cash. The argument for higher cap-ex is as follows: “Pent-up demand and aging of plant, equipment and technology argue for increases in those key areas.”

  ETF Recommendation: Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEArca: VIG) for dividend growers, and PowerShares Buyback Achievers (NYSEArca: PKW) for buyback stocks. Hint: the buyback ETF rose by 45.5% in 2013 after dividend adjustments versus 28.8% for the dividend growth ETF.

  6. The U.S. dollar appreciates as U.S. energy and manufacturing trends continue to improve.

• [By Jim Pyke]

  Vanguard is a well known leader for cost effective investment solutions for retail investors. I've been using their products for almost 10 years now. Vanguard offers two well known dividend stock ETFs: the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) and the Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index ETF (VYM). These ETFs provide above market yields with potential upside. This past Friday (June 14), VIG closed at $67.72, with a trailing twelve month dividend of about $1.43, which provides a yield of 2.1%. In comparison, VYM closed at $57.36 with a trailing twelve month dividend of about $1.63, offering a yield of 2.8%. The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY), as a proxy for the broader market, closed at $163.18 with a trailing twelve month dividend of about $3.18, offering a yield of 1.9%. In terms of holdings, VIG has 147 stocks, while VYM has almost 400.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investing in dividend stocks is easy. Exchange-traded funds Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) , and SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) give you low-cost access to dozens or even hundreds of dividend-paying stocks, all within a single investment vehicle. If you prefer, you can also buy individual stocks, either through a broker or through direct investment plans. Blue-chip companies General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are just two of the hundreds of stocks that offer shares through direct plans and allow you to reinvest dividends automatically in additional shares at no fee.

Top 5 Promising Companies To Invest In 2015: Diageo plc(DEO)

Diageo plc engages in producing, distilling, brewing, bottling, packaging, distributing, developing, and marketing spirits, beer, and wine products worldwide. It offers a range of brands, including Johnnie Walker scotch whiskies, Smirnoff vodka and Smirnoff ready to drink products, Baileys Original Irish Cream liqueur, Crown Royal Canadian whisky, Captain Morgan rum and rum based products, Jose Cuervo tequila, JeB scotch whisky, Buchanan?s scotch whisky, Windsor Premier scotch whisky, Ketel One vodka, Ciroc vodka, Tanqueray gin, Bushmills Irish whiskey, and Guinness stout. The company also provides other spirits brands that comprise Gordon?s gin and vodka, Old Parr scotch whisky, Bell?s scotch whisky, The Classic Malts scotch whiskies, Seagram?s 7 Crown whiskey and Seagram?s VO whisky, Cacique rum, White Horse scotch whisky, Don Julio tequila, and Bundaberg rum. In addition, it offers beer under various brands, such as Malta Guinness non-alcoholic malt, Harp lager, Tu sker lager, Smithwick?s ale, Senator lager, and Red Stripe lager; and wine under a range of brands, including Blossom Hill, Sterling Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Navarro Correas, Acacia Vineyard, Rosenblum Cellars, Piat d?Or, Chalone Vineyard, and Santa Rita. Further, Diageo plc owns the distribution rights for the Jose Cuervo tequila brands in North America and internationally. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  A better bet might be looking at stocks of consumer-goods companies. As China has witnessed, greater investment has led to a rising middle class with more disposable income. A similar trend might follow in Africa, with stocks such as Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM  ) , whose KFC restaurants have been expanding their presence, and Diageo (NYSE: DEO  ) , which may still sell more Guinness in Nigeria than it does in Ireland. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) also has a significant presence in Africa.

• [By Nicole Seghetti]

  Diageo's (NYSE: DEO  ) recently upped stake in India's United Spirits�gives the liquor behemoth the leading position in the largest global whiskey market. Will this deal ensure big things to come for Diageo? Or is competition in the brown spirits market just bubbling up?

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Strong consumer staples firms usually become market leaders as folks get giddy-drunk on a big bull market�� ascent. So buy one of the world�� largest boozemakers, Diageo (DEO). It�� a high-quality, moderate-growth story that has a 2.3% dividend yield. And if I�� wrong on the bull market? Consumer staples do relatively well during the early stages of a bear market as well.

• [By Roland Head]

  Today, I'm going to take a look at global drinks firm�Diageo� (LSE: DGE  ) (NYSE: DEO  ) , to see how attractive it looks on these two measures.

Top 5 Promising Companies To Invest In 2015: Bitauto Holdings Limited (BITA)

Bitauto Holdings Limited provides Internet content and marketing services for the automotive industry primarily in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers subscription services to new automobile dealers that enable them to list pricing and promotional information on its bitauto.com Website and partner Websites, and to interact with consumers through its virtual call center, as well as provides advertising service to dealers and automakers on its bitauto.com Website. It also offers listing services to used automobile dealers, which enable them to display used automobile inventory information through its ucar.cn Website and partner Websites; and advertising services to used automobile dealers and automakers with certified pre-owned automobile programs on its ucar.cn Website. In addition, the company provides digital marketing solutions, including Website creation and maintenance, online public relationship, online marketing campaigns, and advertising agent service s. Bitauto Holdings Limited was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY). Utilities shares dropped by 0.11 percent in the US market today.