10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) is battling cheap knockoffs of its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. But these aren't the typical generic drugs offered for pennies on the dollar. Viagra is still under patent in the U.S., so generic drugs aren't available yet.

Instead, Pfizer is fighting against counterfeit medications, often sold on the Internet, which may not even contain the active drug. To battle back, the pharma is entering their realm, selling Viagra direct to consumers through its website. Pfizer won't fill the orders directly; they'll go through CVS Caremark's (NYSE: CVS  ) mail-order pharmacy, which will presumably get a cut of the sales.

Patients will still need a prescription, so it isn't particularly more convenient than going to the pharmacy. For bashful patients, though, at least the mailman won't know what's in the package, unlike the pharmacist at the counter.

Through Pfizer's website, standard shipping is free. But if you've got a hot date this weekend, you'll have to pay extra for expedited shipping.

Top 10 Defense Stocks To Buy Right Now: Progress Software Corporation(PRGS)

Progress Software Corporation operates as an enterprise software company worldwide. Its products include Progress OpenEdge platform, which offers development tools, application servers, application management tools, and an embedded database; Progress Orbix to address enterprise integration problems with standards-based solutions; and Progress ObjectStore, an object data management system to store data faster than relational database management system or file-based storage system. The company?s products also comprise Progress Responsiveness Process Management suite for business users; Progress Control Tower, an interactive business control panel; Progress Sonic, which comprises an enterprise messaging system and the enterprise service buses; Progress Actional that provides operational and business visibility, root cause analysis, and policy-based security and control of services; Progress Apama, which offers tools for creating, testing, and deploying strategies for applicat ions, including algorithmic trading, market aggregation, smart order routing, market surveillance and monitoring, and risk management; Progress Savvion BusinessManager, a business process management software; and Fuse products that provide customers with access to professional open source integration and messaging software. In addition, it offers Progress DataDirect Connect products, which provide data connectivity components; Progress DataDirect Shadow to provide foundation architecture for standards-based mainframe integration; and Progress Data Services product set that offers data integration for distributed applications. Further, the company provides maintenance, consulting, training, and customer support services. Progress Software Corporation sells its products to independent software vendors, original equipment manufacturers, and system integrators through direct sales force and independent distributors. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Bedford, Massac husetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Progress Software (NASDAQ: PRGS) shares tumbled 11.15 percent to $22.82 after the company issued a weak Q1 forecast.

  FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) was also down, falling 9.35 percent to $81.20 after the company's secondary offering lead to fear on the street.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: Compass Minerals Intl Inc(CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc., through its subsidiaries, produces and markets inorganic mineral products primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company operates in two segments, Salt and Specialty Fertilizer. The Salt segment produces salt and magnesium chloride for use in road deicing and dust control, food processing, water softeners, pool salt, and agricultural and industrial applications. This segment also purchases potassium chloride and sells as a finished product. The Specialty Fertilizer segment produces and markets sulphate of potash crop nutrients and industrial grade sulfate of potash for use in the production of specialty fertilizers for vegetables, fruits, potatoes, nuts, tobacco, and turf grass. The company also produces and markets consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial food preparation, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural, and industrial applications. In ad dition, Compass Minerals provides records management services to businesses located in the U.K. The company operates rock salt mines in Goderich, Ontario, Canada; and Winsford, Chesire, the United Kingdom. It primarily serves producers of intermediate chemical products used in the production of vinyls and other chemicals, and pulp and paper, as well as water treatment and other industrial uses. The company markets its products through direct sales personnel, contract personnel, and a network of brokers or manufacturers? representatives. Compass Minerals International, Inc., formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation, was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  PotashCorp's difficulty sustaining its pricing power is underscored by recent reports from sulfate of potash (SOP) producer Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP  ) , which charged a hefty premium of almost $300 per ton against Potash Corp's prices for muriate of potash. Efforts to move away from SOP sales seem to be the right choice -- PotashCorp peer Intrepid Potash's�SOP sales fell by 37%, while the average price received has slumped nearly 14% in the last quarter. Even ore miner BHP Billiton�has recently jumped into the fertilizer industry with a $2.6 billion build-out of a potash mine in Canada, which is all but certain to produce further downward pressure on potash prices.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  One simple way of reducing your chances of developing a cardiovascular disease is by getting more preventative screenings. Based on a CDC report, nearly one-third of U.S. adults have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, making it all the more important that people take this preventative step. This sheds light on next-generation cholesterol-lowering medications like oft-highlighted Liptruzet which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May and could see a bump in sales if more people took this preventative step. Liptruzet, which combines the now generic LDL-fighting power of Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE  ) Lipitor, with the cholesterol absorption inhibiting prowess of Merck's (NYSE: MRK  ) Zetia, lowered LDL-cholesterol (the bad type) by 53% to 61% in patients -- a much bigger reduction than each drug delivered individually.

• [By David Williamson and Michael Douglass]

  These two catalysts have caused analyst price targets to jump, with Piper Jaffray coming out and raising its target on the stock to $36; shares currently sit at $28. In this segment from Friday's Market Checkup, Motley Fool health-care analysts David Williamson and Michael Douglass discuss Endocyte's partnership with Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) on the drug, as well as just how much blockbuster potential the drug could have, and why even after a near double the stock is filled with upside.

• [By John Udovich]

  The latest biotech news or news surrounding small cap biotech stocks like Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IDIX), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) and TNI BioTech, Inc (OTCMKTS: TNIB) includes a merger, a CEO resignation and a steady stream of IPO filings:

  Merck Buys Idenix Pharmaceuticals. On Monday, Merck & Co, Inc (NYSE: MRK) and Idenix Pharmaceuticals announced that the companies had entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck will acquire Idenix for $24.50 per share in cash in a deal worth approximately $3.85B. The deal is being seen as a way for Merck bolster its arsenal of potential drugs in the competitive arena of hepatitis C treatments���a space where Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) is seen as a race leader�with Idenix Pharmaceuticals being a laggard. It should be noted that winning the race is important given that at least�3 million Americans and 150 million people worldwide have hepatitis C. The Captain Abandons the Dendreon Corporation Ship. On Monday, Dendreon Corporation, the financially troubled seller of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine,�announced that John H. Johnson (who was hired to turn things around)�had informed the Board of Directors of his plans to step down as president and CEO for ��ersonal reasons.��That�� not a good omen because as Adam Feuerstein noted in TheStreet, Dendreon Corporation�must repay $28 million in debt by June 15.�That will not be a�problem but with just $170 million in the bank at the end of the first quarter, Dendreon Corporation has no means right now to repay the $560 million in debt due in 2016. However and as Mad Money�� Jim Cramer has observed, the Idenix Pharmaceuticals deal gives some hope that a buyout could save shareholders. Shortage of R&D at Big Pharma Creates Demand for Small Cap Biotechs. Joseph Pantginis, Ph.D., a biotech analysts with ROTH Capital Partners, was recently interviewed by The Life Sciences Report where he commented:

  One thing that

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: Capstone Turbine Corporation(CPST)

Capstone Turbine Corporation develops, manufactures, markets, and services turbine generator sets and related parts for use in stationary distributed power generation applications. Its stationary distributed power generation applications include cogeneration combined heat and power (CHP), integrated (CHP), resource recovery, and secure power, as well as combined cooling, heat, and power; and its products are used as battery charging generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. The company primarily offers microturbine units, subassemblies, and components. It also provides various accessories, including rotary gas compressors with digital controls, heat recovery modules for CHP applications, dual mode controllers that allow automatic transition between grid connect and stand-alone modes, batteries with digital controls for stand-alone/dual-mode operations, power servers for multipacked installations, and protocol converters for Internet access, as well as frames, ex haust ducting, and installation hardware. Further, it remanufactures microturbine engines; and provides after-market parts and services, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, and factory and on-site training services. The company?s microturbines can be fueled by various sources, including natural gas, propane, sour gas, landfill or digester gas, kerosene, diesel, and biodiesel. It primarily sells its products directly to end users, as well as through distributors in North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Russian Federation, and South America. Capstone Turbine Corporation was founded in 1988 and is based in Chatsworth, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) -- $1.30
  Things are finally starting to happen for the microturbine maker. Revenue is growing at a healthy clip, and analysts see Capstone finally turning a quarterly profit later this year.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Fisher reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK  ) . Capstone is a smallish company, making low-emission microturbines used in power generation. Its top line has been growing by double digits over the past few years, and it's poised to profit from huge interest in shale oil, but it remains in the red. Still, it has recently announced a bunch of promising deals and some think the many folks short the stock will end up burned.

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  Over the past couple weeks Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) shares have launched into orbit on the news that the company had secured several orders for its microturbines. But 40% in a month? On the surface, it seems a bit silly that a company could gain that much on a couple news stories about sales. For a company like Capstone, which has struggled with sales, this kind of news is exactly what shareholders were looking for.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Beyond the fundamentals, though, news plays an important role in short-term stock movements. Outside the Dow, microturbine producer Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST  ) soared 8.8% after receiving its second large order in the past week. After getting word of a purchase from real-estate and investment firm Related Companies on Tuesday, Capstone got an order today from Southern California Gas to buy three of its C65 uninterruptible power-source units for use at the gas company's data center. Given the relatively small size of the business, which sports sales of only about $122 million over the past year, orders like this have a material effect on Capstone and also draw the attention of other prospective buyers.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: Whole Foods Market Inc.(WFM)

Whole Foods Market, Inc. engages in the ownership and operation of natural and organic food supermarkets. The company offers produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, coffee and tea, nutritional supplements, and vitamins. It also provides specialty products, such as beer, wine, and cheese; body care and educational products, such as books; and floral, pet, and household products. As of February 9, 2011, the company operated 302 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By William Bias]

  People love organic food which contains no unnatural ingredients such as pesticides or fertilizers. �They increasingly crave food that will allow them to live healthier, longer, and cheaper due to the rising cost of health care. Organic grocery store chains Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM  ) and Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ: SFM  ) certainly reap the benefit of this increasing consumer preference.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But the seeds of SUPERVALU's dividend woes had been sown much earlier. Traditional grocery store chains found themselves under huge amounts of pressure during the 2008 recession, as they were stuck in the middle of two competing trends. On one hand, Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM  ) had used its dominance in the organic and health-food segment to produce a much higher-margin business than SUPERVALU and other traditional grocery chains could earn. At the other end of the spectrum, though, increased competition from grocery offerings from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT  ) and other discount retailers prevented SUPERVALU and its peers from competing against Whole Foods purely on price.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: Cloud Peak Energy Inc(CLD)

Cloud Peak Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin of the United States. It produces sub-bituminous steam coal with low sulfur content for electric utilities and industrial customers. The company owns and operates Antelope surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; the Cordero Rojo surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; and the Spring Creek surface coal mine located in Montana. It also owns a 50% interest in the Decker surface coal mine located in Montana. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 970 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Gillette, Wyoming.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  As for specific stocks, the Goldman analysts issued five ratings changes:

  Upgrade CONSOL Energy to Buy given strong production growth at its E&P segment, improving cash flow from the coal business and potential for asset sales/restructuring to help realize its SOTP value. Downgrade Arch Coal to Sell due to high leverage, peak valuations and low free cash flow levels. Neutral Ratings on Cloud Peal Energy (CLD), Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and Walt Energy (WLT): Goldman downgrade Cloud to a Neutral given a lower production outlook and a reduced PRB price forecast. The firm upgraded Alpha and Walt to Neutral from Sell, predicting that met coal prices have bottomed.

  Arch Coal has fallen 5.7% to day to $4.26, followed by Cloud Pearl, down 3.4% to $14.68, and a 3% drop by Walt Energy to $14.10. Alpha Natural dropped 2.8% to $6.10. And CONSOL fell 0.9% to $33.46.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own Right Now: S&P Smallcap 600(PH)

Parker Hannifin Corporation manufactures fluid power systems, electromechanical controls, and related components worldwide. Its Industrial segment offers pneumatic and electromechanical components, and systems; filters, systems, and instruments to monitor and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors that control, transmit, and contain fluid; hydraulic components and systems for builders and users of industrial and mobile machinery and equipment; critical flow components for process instrumentation, healthcare, and ultra-high-purity applications; and static and dynamic sealing devices. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their replacement markets in the manufacturing, transportation, and processing industries. The company?s Aerospace segment provides flight control systems and components, including hydraulic, electrohydraulic, electric backup hydraulic, electrohydrostatic, and electro -mechanical components for precise control of aircraft rudders, elevators, ailerons, and other aerodynamic control surfaces. It also provides electronics thermal management heat rejection systems, and single-phase and two-phase heat collection systems for radar, ISAR, and power electronics. This segment markets its products primarily to OEMs in the commercial, military, and general aviation markets, as well as to end users. Its Climate and Industrial Controls segment offers systems and components primarily for use in the mobile and stationary refrigeration, and air conditioning industry; and in fluid control applications in various industries, such as processing, fuel dispensing, beverage dispensing, and mobile emissions. This segment serves OEMs and their replacement markets. Parker-Hannifin Corporation markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, wholesalers, and sales representatives. The company was founded in 1918 and is headquartered i n Cleveland, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephen Rosenman]

  Can you really take a company's yearly guidance seriously? Who can predict future events a year from now? It's so hard most companies skip the ordeal. Who can blame them? So many unforeseen events can derail a company's guidance. Yet, a few daredevil companies continue giving their yearly outlook. As far as I'm concerned, that's akin to writing the front page of next year's Wall Street Journal. I've already highlighted how Caterpillar (CAT) and Parker Hannifin (PH) - two excellent companies - almost never get their yearly guidance right.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Motion and control systems manufacturer Parker-Hannifin (PH) raised its quarterly dividend 4.6% to 45 cents per share, payable on Dec. 6 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 8. The increase marks the 57th consecutive annual dividend increase.
  PH Dividend Yield:�1.55%

• [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]

  Parker-Hannifin Corp. (PH) �shares climbed 5.2% after the motion and control technologies company reported its first-quarter earnings rose to $1.61 a share from $1.57 a share.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  But don’t just buy any company, DeBlase says. Instead, focus on those that have EPS momentum, which has generated outperformance in 10 of the past 11 years, DeBlase says. As a result, investors should prefer Terex (TEX), her top pick, and Agco (AGCO), which she rates Outperform. John Deere (DE) and Parker Hannifin (PH) get tarred with Underweight ratings.