5 Best Financial Stocks For 2014

Let me tell you about a guy I know named Nat.

Nat's known for enjoying the finer things in life. His 40th birthday was held at a marina in billionaire hotspot Montenegro. Palm trees were flown in from Uruguay. Caterers were brought in specially from London. Billionaires from across the globe were in attendance.

How did Nat join the billionaire elite?

On the surface, he appears to have built his more than $1.5 billion personal fortune in the metals and mining industries.

But look a little deeper and you'll see that Nat's biggest advantage has been his family's reputation and financial backing.

 

That's because Nat is short for Nathaniel. His full name is Nathaniel Philip Victor James Rothschild. He's the latest descendant of the legendary Rothschild family... one of the world's most powerful dynasties since the late 18th century.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: WisdomTree International Dividend Ex Financial Fund (DOO)

WisdomTree International Dividend Top 100 Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Dividend Top 100 Index (The Index). The fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.

The Index measures the performance of the 100 highest dividend-yielding companies in the WisdomTree International LargeCap Dividend Index. The Index is created by selecting the top 100 companies ranked by highest dividend yield from the WisdomTree International LargeCap Dividend Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  ��ompanies that come to market are coming from sectors that work,��said Brian Huen, managing partner at Red Sky Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. He helps manage C$220 million with the firm, and participated in the offerings for Choice Properties, Information Services Corp., and Ski-Doo maker BRP Inc. (DOO) ��eople certainly aren�� bringing any gold IPOs to market. So investors are focusing on buying deals in the right markets, as opposed to the wider market which has exposure to resources.��

5 Best Financial Stocks For 2014: Bank of South Carolina Corp.(BKSC)

Bank of South Carolina Corporation operates as the holding company for The Bank of South Carolina that provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, and small and medium-sized businesses in South Carolina. The company accepts a range of deposit products, which include checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, and other time deposits, such as daily money market accounts and longer-term certificates of deposit. It also offers various commercial loans, including secured and unsecured loans for working capital, business expansion, and purchasing machinery and equipment; mortgage loans; industrial loans; real estate loans; loans to individuals for household, family, and other personal expenditures; and other loans, including overdrafts. In addition, the company provides Internet banking services, including online bill pay and remote deposit capture; credit cards; check card services; and saf e deposit boxes, letters of credit, travelers checks, direct deposit of payroll, social security and dividend payments, and automatic payment of insurance premiums and mortgage loans. Further, it offers a courier service and ACH origination service as part of its deposit services for commercial customers; and a portfolio of wealth management/trust, investment, and retirement services. The company has four banking house locations in Charleston, Summerville, and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. It serves customers in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Financial institutions holding company Bank of South Carolina (BKSC) raised its dividend 8.3% to 13 cents per share, payable on Oct. 31 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 7.
  BKSC Dividend Yield: 3.72%

5 Best Financial Stocks For 2014: CSB Bancorp Inc (CSBB)

CSB Bancorp, Inc. (CSB), incorporated in 1991, is a financial holding company. The Commercial and Savings Bank of Millersburg, Ohio (the Bank) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. CSB operates primarily through the Bank and its other subsidiaries, providing a range of banking, trust, financial and brokerage services to corporate, institutional and individual customers throughout northeast Ohio. The Bank provides retail and commercial banking services to its customers, including checking and savings accounts, time deposits, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), safe deposit facilities, personal loans, commercial loans, real estate mortgage loans, installment loans, night depository facilities, brokerage and trust services.

Lending Activities

The Bank provides residential real estate, commercial real estate, commercial and consumer loans to customers located primarily in Holmes, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Stark and portions of surrounding counties in Ohio. Commercial loan rates are variable as well as fixed, and include operating lines of credit and term loans made to small businesses, primarily based on their ability to repay the loan from the cash flow of the business. Business assets, such as equipment, accounts receivable and inventory typically secure such loans. Commercial real estate loans are primarily secured by borrower-occupied business real estate. Commercial real estate loans are generally originated with a loan-to-value ratio of 80% or less. Commercial construction loans are secured by commercial real estate and in most cases the Bank also provides the permanent financing. Residential real estate loans carry both fixed and variable rates and are secured by the borrower�� residence. Home equity lines of credit are made to individuals and are secured by second or first mortgages on the borrower�� residence. Installment loans to individuals include loans secured by automobiles and other consumer assets, including second mortgages on personal residences.

Investment Activities

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� securities available-for-sale totaled $123,026,000. Its portfolio of securities available-for-sale includes the United States treasury securities, the United States Government corporations and agencies, mortgage-backed securities, obligations of states and political subdivisions, equity securities, and corporate bonds.

Sources of Funds

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� portfolio of deposits included noninterest-bearing demand, interest-bearing demand deposits, savings deposits and time deposits. Short-term borrowings consist of securities sold under agreements to repurchase, short-term advances through Federal Home Loan Bank and federal funds purchased.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, CSBB remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $18.75 thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 3:53PM EDT July 30, 2013).

  CSB Bancorp, Inc. previously reported second quarter 2013 net income of $1.25 million or $.45 per basic and diluted share, as compared to $1.14 million or $.41 per basic and diluted share for the same period in 2012.

  Annualized returns on average common equity (��OE�� and average assets (��OA�� for the quarter were 9.32% and 0.88%, respectively, compared with 8.98% and 0.82% for the second quarter of 2012.

  Eddie Steiner, President and CEO commented, ��e continue to focus on growing relationships with current and new customers. The bank�� average loan balances have increased 10% in the past year, and although margins remain tight, this growth has provided increases of approximately 4% in net interest income.��/p>

5 Best Financial Stocks For 2014: Citigroup Inc.(C)

Citigroup, Inc., a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services. The company operates through two segments, Citicorp and Citi Holdings. The Citicorp segment operates as a global bank for businesses and consumers with two primary businesses, Regional Consumer Banking and Institutional Clients Group. The Regional Consumer Banking business provides traditional banking services, including retail banking, and branded cards in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Institutional Clients Group business provides securities and banking services comprising investment banking and advisory services, lending, debt and equity sales and trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, cash instruments and related derivatives, and private banking; and transaction services consisting of treasury and trade solutions, and securiti es and fund services. The Citi Holdings segment operates Brokerage and Asset Management, Local Consumer Lending, and Special Asset Pool businesses. The Brokerage and Asset Management Business, through its 49% stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and Nikko Cordial Securities, offers retail brokerage and asset management services. The Local Consumer Lending business provides residential mortgage loans, retail partner card loans, personal loans, commercial real estate, and other consumer loans, as well as western European cards and retail banking services. The Special Asset Pool business is a portfolio of securities, loans, and other assets. Citigroup Inc. has approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in approximately 160 countries. The company was founded in 1812 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt Koppenheffer]

  Bank of America� (NYSE: BAC  ) ,�JPMorgan Chase� (NYSE: JPM  ) ,�Citigroup� (NYSE: C  ) ,�Wells Fargo� (NYSE: WFC  ) ,�Morgan Stanley� (NYSE: MS  ) , and�Goldman Sachs� (NYSE: GS  ) are the primary targets of the bill, as it would require a draconian capital buffer on any bank with assets above $500 billion. It would also do away with the use of risk-weighted assets, which allows banks to carry less capital for assets deemed less risky. It's essentially a big, blunt club that batters the biggest banks with a 15% capital requirement.

• [By John Grgurich]

  Up, up, and away
  But before we dive into that, here's a quick overview of where B of A and its peers are at the start of the trading day:

  B of A is up 1.16%. Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) is up 0.77%. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) is up 0.62%. And Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) -- never quite as volatile either up or down as its big-four peers--is up 0.54%.

  Foolish bottom line
  If you go to your favorite finance website, pull up each of the big four banks, and look at their performance on a graph over the last five business days, you'll see pretty much the same thing: big drops on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by slow climbs out of the basement on Friday and Monday, and sizable gains yesterday.

• [By Telis Demos]

  Alan Rifkin, who joins from Citigroup(C), will run the Americas unit of its Strategic Equity Solutions Group from New York starting in May, according to an internal memo.

• [By Jessica Alling]

  Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) gets 18% to 20% of its revenue from the Asian markets, and has fallen almost 2.9% in the first two hours of trading. Citi has already demonstrated in its first-quarter earnings report that its Asian markets had softened, so further deterioration of revenue streams from the region could hurt the bank's chances of offsetting those declines in other markets.