Best Stocks to Buy Roundup: A Digital Payment Stock "That's Ready to Run"

Best stocks to buy for the week ending April 4, 2014: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 159.84 points on Friday to finish at 16,412.71, marking a 0.55% rise over the week. The Nasdaq fell 110.01 points finish at 4,127.73, losing 0.67% over the week. The S&P 500 lost 23.67 points on Friday to close at 1,865.10, but was up 0.4% for the week.

Money Morning keeps readers current on the best stocks to buy now, and last week, opportunities in a few surging sectors - like biotech and energy - caught our experts' eyes. Here's where they found the latest, best ways to capture gains.

Money Morning's Best Stocks to Buy Now

• Last week, Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson told readers about a company in a hot new market whose stock is "ready to run." The market he's referring to is global digital transactions - in 2012, the sector came in at an astounding $4.6 trillion, according to the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA). By 2017, that figure will rise 58% to $7.3 trillion. Moreover, digital payment stocks have blown past the S&P 500. Had you invested $100 in the S&P 500 in early 2007, you'd have $130 to show for it. But that same money invested in digital payment stocks would have a value of $259. Readers can jump into this hot sector with this digital payment company's stock - due to a series of savvy acquisitions, Robinson sees its earnings doubling in just a little over two years...

• Robinson posed a challenge to readers: "Know thyself" - become aware of your own investment personality so as to better avoid investing losses and to capture higher gains. He categorized and described the different investment personalities: the "Race Car Driver," the "Banker," the "Power Player," the "Opportunist," and the "Good Time Charlie." Then, Robinson provided a stock pick that accomplishes each personality's goals, including a corporate turnaround pick for the Opportunist, and a classic income-generating tech stock for the Banker...

• Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors discussed the best natural gas stocks in 2014. Topping his list are companies involved with liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. That's because even the most conservative estimates acknowledge that the United States could be providing between 6% and 8% of all LNG exports worldwide by 2020. Moors discusses the federal regulations standing in the way of an all-out U.S. LNG export boom, a timeline of the sector's economic growth, and this top natural gas stock to own in 2014 - it's already garnered no fewer than five multi-billion dollar 20-year contracts with some of the largest European and Asian importers...

• In the pharmaceutical industry, a "blockbuster" is any drug that brings in $1 billion or more in revenue per year. It's the prize that every biotech hopes to win - and every biotech investor hopes to cash in on. On Friday, Money Morning BioScience Investment Specialist Ernie Tremblay told readers how they can reliably weed out companies in their search for the next blockbuster. Then he recommended a biotech in the pediatric space with "huge potential" - it has a strong drug candidate that could treat autism, a disorder that's currently without drug treatment whatsoever...

• Money Morning Resource Specialist Peter Krauth believes palladium, the precious metal so critical to consumer electronics, is about to undergo a profitable spike. "The bullish forces are picking up speed," he said last Monday. Palladium went from $710 per ounce in October to $800 per ounce on an intra-day basis at the end of March. The surge will continue as supply problems are cropping up in South Africa and Russia, where nearly 80% of the annual palladium supply is mined. Krauth advised readers they can take advantage of the spike with this exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does a good job tracking palladium prices with an annual net expense ratio of 0.60%...

• The big dividend news last week came from the banking sector on the heels of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stress test. Ten banks passed the test and were permitted to increase dividend payouts, including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), and U.S. Bancorp. (NYSE: USB). But a dozen more dividend-paying stocks also hiked payouts, including an energy investment company and an aerospace and defense company that raised their yields to 6.5% and 6.45% respectively...

• Mexico's economy is poised to profit from the recent overhaul of public policies related to the oil and gas industry - the move opens up increased competition and a break from monopolies that have strangled the market for decades. Gains are expected to reach $10 billion more per year in revenue from oil privatization. Money Morning Economist Garrett Baldwin discussed two ways readers can invest in Mexico's up-and-coming emerging market, including this ETF, which holds about $2.5 billion in assets and can be bought at a discount right now before the boom...

• Penny stocks have the ability to bring triple-digit gains in just days, but can also be risky - many aren't subject to the same strict financial filing standards as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. But for investors last month, the risks were worth it. We rounded up the top 10 penny stocks in March 2014, including a Quebec-based security company that raked in 1,977% gains and an oil and gas company with 400% gains...

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