Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now

Which biotech stocks should investors take a hard look at buying now? Health care analyst Max Macaluso sat down with Fool.com contributor Keith Speights recently to find out which stocks he likes in the biotech sector. Two big biotechs that Keith recommends are�Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB  ) and Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG  ) .�

Biogen and Celgene are both established companies with solid revenue. Biogen's multiple sclerosis drugs position it as a leader in that market. Likewise, Celgene's Revlimid stands at the top in treating multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes.�Biogen and Celgene�also count promising new drugs that have the potential to drive revenue even higher.

Both of these biotechs are red hot these days. Biogen shares are up over 33% so far in 2013. Celgene is up even more, rising 50% year-to-date. In this video interview, Max talks with Keith about why these hot biotech stocks should continue to do well over the long run.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Own For 2015: Echo Therapeutics Inc (ECTE)

Echo Therapeutics, Inc. (Echo), incorporated on September 10, 2007, is a transdermal medical device company. The Company is developing Prelude SkinPrep System (Prelude) as a technology to allow for painless and skin permeation that enable both analyte extraction and needle-free drug delivery. The Company is developing its Symphony CGM System (Symphony) as a non-invasive, wireless continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for use in hospital critical care units and for people with diabetes. The Prelude SkinPrep System (Prelude), a component of its Symphony CGM System, allows for skin permeation that enables extraction of analytes such as glucose. Prelude�� platform skin preparation technology also allows for needle-free, transdermal drug delivery.

Symphony CGM System

The Symphony CGM System incorporates a Prelude skin preparation device, transdermal sensor, wireless transmitter and data display monitor. When the electro-chemical glucose sensor is placed on the prepared site, it uses glucose oxidase to generate a continuous current that is proportional to the concentration of blood glucose in the vessels beneath the epidermis. The signals are then wirelessly transmitted to a remote monitor. The monitor, calibrated periodically with a reference blood glucose measurement, converts the data to a glucose measurement based on the reference value. The monitor displays glucose readings and also contains customizable early-warning alarms for hypo- or hyperglycemia.

Prelude SkinPrep System

The Company is developing Prelude as a transdermal skin preparation device for Symphony to improve the access to the interstitial fluids and the flow of molecules across the protective membrane of the stratum corneum, the outmost protective layer of the skin. Prelude incorporates the Company's skin abrasion control technology into a hand-held device used to prepare a small area of the skin. The non-invasive sensor is applied to this prepared area in order to measure the in! terstitial glucose levels.

Specialty Pharmaceuticals

The Company�� specialty pharmaceuticals pipeline is based on itsAzone transdermal drug reformulation technology. AzoneTS is a nontoxic, nonirritating skin penetration that is intended to enable topical application of food and drug administration (FDA) -approved drugs, including pharmaceutical products that previously could only be administered systemically. Its advanced drug candidate is Durhalieve, an AzoneTS formulation of triamcinolone acetonide, medium potency corticosteroid approved by the FDA for treatment of corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses. AzoneTS increases lipid membrane fluidity in the stratum corneum layer of the skin, thereby decreasing resistance to topically applied therapeutics.

The Company competes with Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Abbott Laboratories , DexCom, Inc., Medtronic, Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Optiscan Biomedical Corp., Medtronic, Glysure, Glumetrics Inc., Maquet and A. Menarini Diagnostics S.r.l.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Another under-$10 health care player that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Echo Therapeutics (ECTE), which is a transdermal medical device company with skin permeation technology. This stock has been destroyed by the bears so far in 2013, with shares off huge by 70%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Echo Therapeutics, you'll notice that this stock has been uptrending strong for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $2.14 to its intraday high of $3.06 a share. During that uptrend, shares of ECTE have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has pushed shares of ECTE back above its 50-day moving average at $2.65 a share, and it's just starting to push ECTE into breakout territory, since the stock has cleared some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $2.98 to $2.99 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of ECTE within range of triggering an even bigger breakout trade.

  Market players should now look for long-biased trades in ECTE if it manages to break out above some major near-term overhead resistance at $3.30 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that registers near or above its three-month average volume of 211,103 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ECTE will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $4 to $4.50 a share, or possibly even $5 to $6 a share.

  Traders can look to buy ECTE off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day at $2.65 a share, or right below more near-term support at $2.50 a share. One can also buy ECTE off strength once it clears $3.30 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Truth be told, Echo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ECTE) doesn't look like a particularly impressive stock right now. At $2.92 per share, ECTE is just trading right around where it was a few days ago, not to mention a few weeks ago. And, without any real "news" from the company in months, it's tough to think the market's going to be getting excited about the stock anytime soon. When you take a closer look at Echo Therapeutics though, a few subtle-but-compelling clues start to appear.

Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now: Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY)

Berry Plastics Group, Inc. (Berry), incorporated on November 18, 2005, is a provider of plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials. Berry owns 100% interest of Berry Plastics Corporation. Berry sells its solutions predominantly into end markets, such as food and beverage, healthcare and personal care. The Company operates in three segments: Rigid Packaging, Engineered Materials and Flexible Packaging. As of September 19, 2012, the Company supplied its customers through 82 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States (68 locations) and select international locations (14 locations). In June 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest of Frans Nooren Beheer B.V. and its operating companies (Stopaq). In September 2011, the Company acquired 100% interests of Rexam Closures Kentucky Inc., Rexam Delta Inc., Rexam Closures LLC, Rexam Closure Systems LLC, Rexam de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Rexam Singapore PTE Ltd., Rexam Participacoes Ltda. and Rexam Plasticos do Brasil Ltda. (collectively, Rexam SBC). In August 2011, Berry acquired 100% interest of LINPAC Packaging Filmco, Inc.

Rigid Packaging

The Company�� Rigid Packaging business consists of containers, foodservice items, house wares, closures, over caps, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The end uses for these products are consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverage, retail mass marketers, healthcare, personal care and household chemical. The Company manufactures a collection of container products. The Company produces 32 ounce or thermoformed polypropylene (PP) drink cups and offers a product line with sizes ranging from 12 to 52 ounces. The Company�� products of house wares market is focused on producing semi-disposable plastic home and party and plastic garden products. The Company produces closures and over caps across several of its product lines, including continuous-thread and child-resistant closures, as well as aerosol over caps. The Company also provides a range of custom closure ! solutions including fitments and plugs for medical applications, cups and spouts for liquid laundry detergent, and dropper bulb assemblies for medical and personal care applications.

The Company competes with Airlite, Letica, Polytainers, Silgan, Aptar Group and Reynolds.

Engineered Materials

Berry�� Engineered Materials business primarily consists of pipeline corrosion protection solutions, specialty tapes and adhesives, polyethylene-based film products, and can liners served to a variety of end markets including oil, water and gas infrastructure, industrial and consumer-oriented end markets. The Company produces anti-corrosion products to infrastructure, rehabilitation and pipeline projects throughout the world. Products include heat-shrinkable coatings, single- and multi-layer sleeves, pipeline coating tapes, anode systems for cathodic protection and epoxy coatings. These products are used in oil, gas and water supply and construction applications.

Berry is the manufacturer of cloth and foil tape products. Other tape products include range of splicing and laminating tapes, flame-retardant tapes, vinyl-coated and carton sealing tapes, electrical, double-faced cloth, masking, mounting, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) medical and specialty tapes. These products are sold under the National, Nashua and Polyken brands in the United States. The Company manufactures and sells a portfolio of PE-based film products to end users in the retail markets. These products are sold under brands, such as Ruffies and Film-Gard. Its products include drop cloths and retail trash bags. The Company manufactures customized PP-based, woven and sewn containers for the transportation and storage of raw materials, such as seeds, titanium dioxide, clay and resin pellets.

The Company offers range of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) meat film and agricultural film. Berry�� products are used primarily to wrap fresh meats, poultry and produce for supermarket applic! ations. I! n addition, the Company offers a line of boxed products for food service and retail sales. Berry sells trash-can liners and food bags for offices, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, municipalities and manufacturing facilities. The Company also sells products under the Big City, Hospi-Tuff, Plas-Tuff, Rhino-X and Steel-Flex brands. The Company produces both hand and machine-wrap stretch films, which are used by end users to wrap products and packages for storage and shipping. It sells stretch film products to distributors and retail and industrial end users under the MaxTech and PalleTech brands.

The Company competes with AEP, Sigma and 3M.

Flexible Packaging

The Company�� Flexible Packaging business consists of barrier, multilayer film products, as well as finished flexible packages, such as printed bags and pouches. Berry manufactures and sells a range of film products ranging from mono layer to coextruded films having up to nine layers, lamination films sold primarily to flexible packaging converters and used for peelable lid stock, stand-up pouches, pillow pouches and other flexible packaging formats. The Company also manufactures barrier films used for cereal, cookie, cracker and dry mix packages that are sold directly to food manufacturers like Kraft and Pepsico. It also manufactures films for industrial applications ranging from lamination film for carpet padding to films used in solar panel construction.

The Company supplies component and packaging films used for personal care applications. Berry is a converter of printed bags, pouches and roll stock. Its manufacturing base includes integrated extrusion that combines with printing, laminating, bagmaking, Innolok and laser-score converting processes. The Company is a supplier of printed film products for the fresh bakery, tortilla and frozen vegetable markets with brands, such as SteamQuick Film, Freshview bags and Billboard. The Company manufactures specialty coated and laminated produ! cts for a! range of packaging applications. Its products are sold under the MarvelGuard and MarvelSeal brands and are sold to converters who transform them into finished goods.

The Company competes with Printpak, Tredegar and Bemis.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  One of the most famous scenes in the cult classic, the Graduate, was when Mr. McGuire�took Dustin Hoffman�� character aside and said�"Ben, I want to say one word to you, just one word: Plastics"; but what about the Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE: BERY) and its performance verses that of the�iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV), iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: IWR) and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IJR)? I should mention that plastics and the Berry Plastics Group was not the place to be yesterday as the stock took a tumble on reduced guidance.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  It's certainly not as big as Berry Plastics Group Inc. (NYSE:BERY). It's not even as big as Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG). There's one big way AEP Industries (NASDAQ:AEPI) can certainly compete head-on with BERY and TG right now, however... as an investment opportunity. Thanks to the bullish bump AEPI gave us last week, a long-standing selloff has been revered, and there's a whole lot of ground to make up.

Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now: Royce Focus Trust Inc. (FUND)

Royce Focus Trust, Inc. is a close-ended equity mutual fund launched and advised by Royce & Associates. The fund primarily invests in the public equity markets across the globe. It makes its investments across diversified sectors. The fund primarily invests in value stocks of small-cap companies. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolios against the Russell 2000 Index. The fund was formerly known as Royce Global Trust, Inc. Royce Focus Trust was formed on November 01, 1996 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Whitney George is Director of Investments, Managing Director, and a Portfolio Manager of Royce & Associates, LLC, investment advisor to The Royce Funds. He serves as portfolio manager for Royce Premier Fund (RPR), Royce Low-Priced Stock Fund (RLP), Royce Global Value Fund (RGV), Royce SMid-Cap Value Fund (RSV), and Royce Focus Trust (FUND). He also serves as assistant portfolio manager for Royce Micro-Cap Fund (RMC), Royce Value Fund (RVV), Royce Value Plus Fund (RVP), Royce Focus Value Fund (RFV), and Royce Capital Fund ��Micro-Cap Portfolio (RCM). Mr. George's thoughts in this interview concerning the stock market are solely his own and, of course, there can be no assurance with regard to future market movements.

Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now: Denny's Corporation(DENN)

Denny's Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of a chain of family-style restaurants. The company operates traditional American-style food restaurants under the Denny?s brand name. As of December 28, 2011, it had 1,479 franchised/licensed restaurants and 206 company-owned and operated restaurants in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Guam, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Ruby Tuesday have gained 4.8% to $7.59 this morning, making it the third-best performer in the S&P 1500 and outpacing other restaurant stocks. Jack in the Box (JACK) has dropped 0.8% to $38.76, DineEquity (DIN), which operates Applebee’s and IHOP, has gained 0.1%% to 66.12, Denny’s (DENN) has fallen 0.2% to $6.06 and recent-IPO Potbelly (PBPB) has gained 1.7% to $30.73.

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  Take, for example, Ruby's closet competitor by market capitalization,�Denny's (NASDAQ: DENN  ) . At the end of the second quarter, Denny's had $301 million in assets and $299 million in liabilities, which gives indicative shareholder equity of $2 million, a book value of $0.02 per share.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Cracker Barrel have gained 0.9% to $113.29 and�Biglari Holdings (BH), Sandar Biglari’s holding company, has fallen 0.4% to $516.96, on a day when DineEquity has advanced 1% to $85.03, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers (RRGB) has risen 0.5% to $76.64 and Denny’s (DENN) is up 0.7% at $7.45.

Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  But, have you ever stopped to consider which toothpaste is America's favorite? If you've walked down the toothpaste aisle in the grocery store you've probably noticed that it goes on forever, which can make choosing a toothpaste a chore. Well, here's a big hint toward the answer: America's favorite toothpaste comes down to either Colgate, which is made by Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL  ) , or Crest made by Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) .

Top Promising Companies To Invest In Right Now: ForeverGreen Worldwide Corp (FVRG)

ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation, incorporated on March 18, 1999, is a holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, ForeverGreen International, LLC. The Company's product philosophy is to develop, manufacture and market the science and nature through formulations as the Company produces and manufacture a wide arrays of whole foods, nutritional supplements, personal care products and essential oils. The Company provides health answers, not only through exclusive nutritional whole food beverages, but also by providing a broad product lines of delicious whole foods that can be eaten for every meal, instead of the processed, fatty and preservative-laden synthetic meals prevalent in society.

The Company provides the every-meal answer with a variety of appetizing healthy food products that allow its Members and customers to eat healthy for every meal and snack throughout the day. In addition, the Company provides healthy personal care products as an alternative to the chemical-laden and synthetic products in the marketplace that may potentially negatively impacts its health. The Company's products, along with a distinct and fresh corporate philosophy and message of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health through service to community and others, attract consumers as well as Members who wish to own a home-based business selling the Company's products and spreading its health message.

The Company's primary product is FrequenSea, a whole-food beverage consisting of a blend of marine phytoplankton, ionic sea minerals, frankincense, rose, ginger and aloe vera in a base of blueberry, cranberry and lime juice concentrate. soluble. FrequenSea is sold as a single bottle, in individual single-serving packets or even in four-bottle packs. The marine phytoplankton in FrequenSea contains more than 200 different sea algae that are all processed through patent-pending harvesting processes. Azul is a rich-in-antioxidant, delicious powdered blend of 24 raw whole foo! d and fruit ingredients and probiotics that are naturally dried and blended to preserve their natural integrity.The Company's whole food offerings consist of a variety of healthy, natural food products that are made onsite in the Company's whole-food manufacturing facility. Versativa Pulse based with hemp seed, consists of 17 different nuts, seeds, fruits, grains and other whole foods. Pulse is offered in various flavors, either loose in bags or in snack bars, and may be used as a snack or a meal replacement.

The Company competes with NuSkin, Neways, Young Living Essential Oils, Amway Corporation, Herbalife and NuSkin Enterprises.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, FVRG remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.780 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 10:06AM EDT August 12, 2013).

  ForeverGreen Worldwide Corporation previously reported that sales are continuing to flourish. Sales for July 2013 increased to in excess of $1.44 million compared to $1.04 million during July 2012, an increase of 38.1%. Sequentially, sales increased 12.3% compared to June 2013.