Hot Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014

Banking has been big business for thousands of years, and as such, banks tend to avoid rocking the boat (subprime mortgage-backed securities notwithstanding). That is, until now.�

A consortium of banks, lead by Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , BB&T (NYSE: BBT  ) , U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB  ) , and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY  ) have joined forces to develop critical technology to pave the way for true mobile banking.�

In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jay Jenkins discusses how this new technology could free consumers from bulky wallets and plastic cards, and how these leading banks stand to cash in.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

5 Best Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now: The Ultimate Software Group Inc.(ULTI)

The Ultimate Software Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets unified human capital management software-as-a-service solutions to businesses in the United States and Canada. Its UltiPro software solution offers businesses with cloud-based functionality to manage the employment life cycle from recruitment to retirement. The UltiPro solution includes feature sets for talent acquisition and onboarding, human resource management and compliance, benefits management and online enrollment, payroll, performance management, salary planning and budgeting for compensation management, succession management, reporting and analytical decision-making tools, and time and attendance, as well as role-based access for executives, managers, administrators, and employees. The company offers its products and services for various industries, including manufacturing, food services, sports, technology, finance, insurance, retail, real estate, transportation, com munications, healthcare, and other services. It also provides implementation, training, maintenance, and technical support services. The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. markets its products under the UltiPro Enterprise and UltiPro Workplace brand names through its direct sales teams. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Weston, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  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 Ultimate Software Group (Nasdaq: ULTI  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Ultimate Software (NASDAQ: ULTI  ) were screaming "Ultimate!" today, gaining as much as 17% after topping estimates in its quarterly report.

Hot Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014: France Telecom S.A.(FTE)

France Telecom provides fixed telephony and mobile telecommunications, data transmission, Internet and multimedia, and other value-added services to consumers, businesses, and telecommunications operators. It also offers personal and home communication services, business network services, international carriers and shared services, and integration and outsourcing services for communication applications. The company operates in France, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. France Telecom was founded in 1990 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Barclays Plc (BARC) fell to a one-month low as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. sold a stake in the lender. Fiat SpA lost 6.5 percent as Chrysler Group LLC went in for a vehicle recall. France Telecom SA (FTE) rose after its Orange Business Services unit won a five-year deal to deploy a private network for Heineken NV. Johnson Matthey Plc (JMAT) jumped to its highest price in at least 23 years after posting full-year profit that beat estimates.

Hot Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014: Guidance Software Inc.(GUID)

Guidance Software, Inc. provides digital investigative solutions to government agencies and corporations primarily in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia/the Pacific Rim. It offers EnCase platform for organizations to search, collect, and analyze electronically stored information to address human resources matters, litigation matters, allegations of fraud, suspicious network endpoint activity, and defend their data assets. The company?s EnCase Enterprise software provides visibility into laptops, desktops, and file servers to conduct internal investigations and determine the root cause of suspicious network activity; and EnCase eDiscovery solution to automatically perform search, collection, preservation, and processing of electronically stored information from unstructured and semi-structured data stores. Its EnCase Cybersecurity forensic solution to expose, triage, and remediate threats, and to enforce data policy compliance on endpoints; EnCase Fore nsic computer investigation solution allows examiners to acquire data from various devices and unearth potential evidence, and craft reports on their findings; and EnCase Portable solution allows forensic professionals and non-experts to triage and collect digital evidence forensically. The company also offers hardware products, including write blockers, forensic duplicators, and storage devices; professional services, such as eDiscovery, network security incident response, civil/criminal digital investigation, and implementation services; and packaged services. It serves various industries, such as financial and insurance services, technology, defense contracting, telecom, pharmaceutical, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. The company sells its software products and services primarily through its direct sales force; and hardware products principally through resellers. Guidance Software, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Guidance Software (NASDAQ: GUID  ) got crushed today -- down by 25% at the low -- after the company reported first-quarter results.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  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 Guidance Software (Nasdaq: GUID  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Tech Stocks To Buy For 2014: ADVA Optical Networking SE (ADV)

ADVA Optical Networking SE is a Germany-based company that develops, manufactures and sells optical and Ethernet-based networking solutions to telecommunications carriers and enterprises to deploy, manage and deliver data storage, voice and video services in metropolitan areas. Its optical transmission solutions are based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology. Its Ethernet-optimized transmission solutions for fiber- or copper-based lines are used to provide access for enterprises into a carrier's network. Its systems are used by telecommunications services providers, companies, universities and government agencies worldwide. It sells its product portfolio both directly and through an international network of distribution partners. Its optical and Ethernet-based network solutions have been deployed by more than 250 carriers and more than 10,000 enterprises. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 13 wholly owned subsidiaries across Europe, Asia, North and Latin America. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  We re-established an investment in CME Group, Inc. (CME) during the period. CME is the largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace in the U.S. Its exchanges support trading across a variety of asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, energy, agricultural commodities, foreign exchange and metals. We believe CME has the opportunity to significantly accelerate its growth rates due to the eventual normalization of interest rates and the attendant interest rate volatility. CME's interest rate trading volumes (ADV) have been depressed as a result of the Fed's zero interest rate policy and low interest rate volatility. For example, interest rate ADV was 4.8 million in 2012compared to 7.1 million in 2007, before the financial crisis. However, given the Fed's recent policy statements (discussed above), market participants are starting to anticipate an end to quantitative easing (QE). On May 30, CME experienced record volume for interest rate derivatives with ADV of 19.4 million. With the globalization of CME's business, a host of new products, and the regulatory requirement for interest rate swaps to be cleared on an exchange, we believe CME's interest rate volumes can surpass their prior peak, significantly driving earnings growth for the company.

• [By Adrian Day]

  Adrian Day: Yes, yes, I like the concept of looking up the secondary plays. I mean, you know we own Altius (ALS) for example, rather than Alderon (ADV). Altius owns 30% of Alderon, that is more diversified, has a better balance sheet. If Alderon succeeds, Atius will succeed.