Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015

For a consumption based economy to grow, the median family spending money must continue to grow. The disposable income headlines misleadingly infer income is growing.

There are facts, and then there are facts. The headline numbers from the U.S. Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis are either gross numbers for the entire economy or the gross number divided by the population (per capita). When you view this headline data, either you believe the average person is doing better - or you feel the government is lying because you and everyone around you are worse off.

Chart 1 - Per Capita Real Disposable Income

(click to enlarge)

In a consumption based economy, the amount of money in the hands of the consumer is the economic driver. If consumers are flooded with money, often they will buy the best car. If the consumers are poor, they will buy the cheapest car and only when necessary.

Hot Low Price Companies To Own For 2016: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HDD)

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is a German producer of solutions for the print media industry. The Company divides its activities into the three business segments Heidelberg Equipment, Heidelberg Services as well as Heidelberg Financial Services. Its product portfolio includes the prepress area with the Suprasetter product family; the press area, which comprises Speedmaster product families, that are used for classical offset printing, as well as for special applications, such as ultraviolet (UV) printing; as well as the postpress area, that includes cutters, folders, saddle stitchers, adhesive binders, die-cutting products, folding carton gluing machines and label systems. The Company also offers a range of spare parts and used equipment, as well as training programs and its own printing process automation software, Prinect. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated three domestic subsidiaries and a number of foreign subsidiaries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Brazil, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HDD) jumped 14 percent to 2.20 euros, its biggest gain since February 2009, as it announced a digital partnership with Fujifilm Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, Heidelberger Druck will gain access to Fujifilm�� inkjet technology and its partner will in return benefit from the German company�� engineering and manufacturing activities, Heidelberger Druck said.

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015: NewLink Genetics Corp (NLNK)

NewLink Genetics Corporation (NewLink), incorporated on June 4, 1999, is a development-stage company. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing immunotherapeutic products for cancer treatment. Its portfolio includes biologic and small-molecule immunotherapy product candidates focused to treat a range of oncology indications. Its product candidate, HyperAcute Pancreas cancer immunotherapy (HyperAcute Pancreas), is being studied in a Phase-III clinical trial in surgically-resected pancreatic cancer patients that is being performed under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA), with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has three additional product candidates in clinical development, including its HyperAcute Lung cancer immunotherapy (HyperAcute Lung), which is being studied in a Phase-I/II clinical trial conducted at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and its HyperAcute Melanoma cancer immunotherapy (HyperAcute Melanoma), which is being studied in an investigator-initiated Phase-II clinical trial.

The Company�� HyperAcute product candidates are based on its HyperAcute immunotherapy technology, which is designed to stimulate the human immune system. It is also conducting small-molecule based research and development to produce new drugs capable of breaking the immune system's tolerance to cancer through inhibition of the indoleamine-(2,3)-dioxygenase (IDO), pathway. It is engaged in the study of IDO pathway inhibitor product candidate, d-1-methyltryptophan (D-1MT), in collaboration with the NCI, in two Phase 1B/II clinical trials.

HyperAcute Cancer Immunotherapy Product Candidates

In May 2010, the Company initiated Phase-III clinical trial for HyperAcute Pancreas. Its second product candidate, HyperAcute Lung, is in a Phase I/II clinical trial that is enrolled with 54 patients for the treatment of refractory, recurrent or metastatic nonresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Its Hyper! Acute Melanoma product candidate is being studied in an investigator-initiated, fully enrolled 25 patient Phase-II clinical trial for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

HyperAcute Cancer Immunotherapy Technology

The Company�� HyperAcute immunotherapies operate by exploiting a natural barrier present in humans that protects against infection being transmitted from other mammals. This barrier is related to the enzyme, alpha (1,3) galactosyl transferase, which is expressed in the cells of lower mammals. The presence of this enzyme results in the expression of a non-human form of carbohydrate called alpha (1,3) galactosyl carbohydrates (a-Gal), on the surface of affected cells. Its HyperAcute immunotherapy product candidates are composed of irradiated, live, allogeneic human cancer cells modified to express the gene that makes a-Gal epitopes. This exposure to a-Gal stimulates the human immune system to attack and destroy the immunotherapy cells on, which a-Gal is present by activating complement.

IDO Pathway Inhibitor Product Candidate

The Company is developing D-1MT, a small-molecule, orally bioavailable product candidate designed to inhibit the IDO pathway. In preclinical models, IDO pathway inhibitors have shown anti-tumor effects in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy. Through its collaboration with the NCI, it is studying D-1MT in two Phase 1B/II safety and efficacy clinical trials in various chemotherapy and immunotherapy combinations. One clinical trial combines D-1MT with an Ad-p53 autologous dendritic cell vaccine for solid malignancies with p53 mutations, such as lung, breast and colon cancers. The other clinical trial involves the combined use of D-1MT and Taxotere for patients with advanced stage solid tumors, for which Taxotere is the standard-of-care treatment, such as metastatic breast, prostate, ovarian and lung cancers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Egan]

  Another big winner on Wednesday is NewLink Genetics (NLNK), which has the exclusive license to an experimental Ebola vaccine developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The FDA recently gave approval for Phase 1 clinical trials on the drug. Shares of NewLink are up 8%.

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015: Simon Property Group Inc.(SPG)

Simon Property Group, Inc. is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in investment, ownership, and management of properties. It invests in the real estate markets across the globe. The firm?s portfolio includes regional malls, premium outlet centers, the mills, community / lifestyle centers, and international properties. Simon Property Group was founded in 1960 and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Another tax-law provision gives favorable tax status to real-estate investment trusts. REITs make investments in real estate-related assets, and they're required to pay out almost all their income to their shareholders annually. Simon Property Group (SPG) is one of the biggest REITs, focusing on shopping malls and paying a 3 percent yield. But other specialty areas of the REIT universe pay much higher dividends, with REITs like Annaly Capital (NLY) that invest in mortgage-backed securities topping the list with double-digit percentage yields.

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015: Longreach Oil and Gas Ltd (LOI)

Longreach Oil And Gas Limited (Longreach) is an exploration-stage company. The Company�� projects include Sidi Moktar Onshore, Foum Draa Offshore and Sidi Moussa Offshore, Tarfaya Onshore and Zag Onshore. Sidi Moktar Onshore is consists of three blocks (Sidi Moktar West, Sidi Moktar South and Sidi Moktar North) totalling 4,711 square kilometres, which covers the majority of the hydrocarbon basin of Essaouira, located in central onshore Morocco. Foum Draa Offshore and Sidi Moussa Offshore is located directly west of Agadir, the licences cover an area of approximately 12,714 square kilometers (3.14 million acres). Tarfaya Onshore has a total of 608 kilometers of two-dimensional (2D) seismic was shot, beyond the minimum work programme requirement of 500 kilometers. Zag Onshore is a 15,000 square kilometers aeromagnetic survey has been completed on the licence. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By kcpl]

  Transocean has been facing customer drops as a result of prevailing stiff market conditions and over supply. The company announced that it had letters of intent (LOI) for four deepwater rigs to work in West Africa and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which were ultimately canceled due to the operators postponing drilling programs to 2015. This is a tough situation for Transocean.

Top Cheapest Companies To Watch For 2015: 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.