Investors have been nervous about the stock market's nearly straight-up movement over the past several months, as stocks have been remarkably resilient even in the face of past bad news. But today's onslaught of troubling items -- ranging from slowing Chinese economic growth and a nearly 10% plunge in gold prices to the deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon -- were enough to provoke a massive sell-off on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) closing down 266 points. The S&P 500 dropped more than 2%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index suffered a nearly 4% decline.
Not a single Dow component managed to post even the tiniest of gains, but a couple of stocks minimized their losses. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) finished down 0.1%, fulfilling its traditional role of holding up well as a defensive stock in light of potential threats to future economic growth. The company announced that it would boost its energy efficiency and commitment to renewable energy in an attempt to cut costs, but the discount retailer's strong performance in past recessionary times is likely the real reason behind its managing to hold up well today.
Top 5 Medical Companies To Watch For 2015: Peoples Bancorp Inc.(PEBO)
Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as a holding company for Peoples Bank, National Association that provides financial products and services. It offers commercial and retail banking, insurance, brokerage, and trust services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit; and provides commercial, consumer, and real estate mortgage loans, as well as lines of credit. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; corporate and personal trust services; safe deposit rental facilities; travelers checks, money orders, and cashier?s checks; and telephone and Internet-based banking services. In addition, the company provides a range of life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; and fiduciary and wealth management services. Further, it offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealer; and credit cards to consumers and business es, as well as provides merchant credit card processing services through joint marketing arrangements with third parties. The company offers its financial products and services through 47 financial service locations and 40 ATMs in southeastern Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, and northeastern Kentucky. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Marietta, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Marc Bastow]
Marietta, Ohio-based bank holding company Peoples Bancorp (PEBO) raised its quarterly dividend 7% to 15 cents per share, payable on Feb. 18 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 3.
PEBO Dividend Yield: 2.60%
Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd(XIN)
Xinyuan Real Estate Co. Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in residential real estate development in China. The company?s residential projects comprise various residential buildings that include multi-layer apartment buildings, sub-high-rise apartment buildings, or high-rise apartment buildings; auxiliary services and amenities, such as retail outlets, leisure and health facilities, kindergartens, and schools; and small scale residential properties. It also offers property management and other real estate related services, such as landscaping and installing intercom systems. In addition, the company leases properties, including an elementary school, a basement, three clubhouses, five kindergartens, and parking facilities. As of December 31, 2010, it had 21 completed projects with a total gross floor area (GFA) of approximately 2,049,460 square meters and comprising a total of 23,324 units, as well as 8 projects under construction with a total GFA of 1,804,946 sq uare meters. It primarily operates in seven tier II cities, comprising Hefei, Jinan, Kunshan, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Xuzhou, and Chengdu. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Benjamin Shepherd]
In the meantime though, I would avoid betting on a hard Chinese landing, a bet that has cost many investors dearly over the past few years. I would, however, avoid most of the leading Chinese real estate developers such as China Vanke (OTC: CVKEF) and Xinyuan Real Estate (NYSE: XIN) which are almost entirely dependent on the domestic markets.
- [By Tim Brugger]
Having completed the repurchase of approximately $12.6 million of the $20 million share buyback program started last year, Xinjuan Real Estate's (NYSE: XIN ) board of directors has authorized the repurchase of an additional $60 million of outstanding stock, the company announced today.
Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company(RRD)
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company provides pre-media, printing, logistics, and business process outsourcing products and services to private and public sectors worldwide. The company operates primarily in the commercial print portion of the printing industry, with related product and service offerings designed to offer customers solutions for communicating their messages to target audiences. Its products and related service offerings include magazines, catalogs, retail inserts, books, directories, financial print, direct mail, forms, labels, office products, statement printing, pre media, and logistics services. The company also offers business process outsourcing services that comprise transactional print and outsourcing services, statement printing, direct mail, and print management services; and product configuration, customized kitting, and order fulfillment for technology, medical device, and other companies. It distributes its products to end-users through the United Sta tes postal services, retail channels, electronically, or by direct shipment to customer facilities. R.R. Donnelley & Sons was founded in 1864 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Commercial printer R.R. Donnelley (NASDAQ: RRD ) , also up 28%, yields 7.3%. It sells labels, packaging, and more to the private and public sector and prints many thousands of forms for the SEC, too. Donnelley bought Edgar Online last year. Some have worried about the company's debt load, though it is free-cash-flow positive. (But it has posted net losses in recent years, too.) The company needs to do more digital business to succeed, which explains a recent eBook deal with Harlequin.
- [By John Udovich]
Printing and the various forms of marketing communications that need to be printed (like business cards and stationary) are fundamental to the needs of every business, meaning the recent share surge of small cap Standard Register Co (NYSE: SR) after it announced an acquisition along with its long-term performance against better known peers like RR Donnelley & Sons Co (NASDAQ: RRD) and VistaPrint Limited (NASDAQ: VPRT) is worth taking a closer look at. After all, Standard Register is up 363.2% since the start of the year verses a return of 113.4% for RR Donnelley & Sons Co and�75.9% for VistaPrint Limited.
Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Realty Income Corp (O&P)
Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income) is an equity real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is engaged in acquiring and owning freestanding retail and other properties that generate rental revenue under long-term lease agreements (primarily 10 to 20 years). The Company has in-house acquisition, leasing, legal, credit research, real estate research, portfolio management and capital markets. At December 31, 2011, it owned a diversified portfolio of 2,634 properties with an occupancy rate of 96.7%, or 2,547 properties leased and only 87 properties available for lease. It leased properties to 136 different retail and other commercial enterprises doing business in 38 separate industries. It properties are located in 49 states, with over 27.3 million square feet of leasable space, and with an average leasable space per property of approximately 10,400 square feet. Crest Net Lease, Inc., (Crest) is its wholly owned taxable REIT subsidiary. In January 2013, it acquired American Realty Capital Trust.
During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company invested in 164 new properties, and properties under development, with an initial weighted average contractual lease rate of 7.8%. These 164 new properties, and properties under development, are located in 26 states, contain over 6.2 million leasable square feet, and are 100% leased with an average lease term of 13.4 years. During 2011, 89 properties with expiring leases were leased to either existing or new tenants. Of the 2,634 properties in the portfolio, 2,619, or 99.4%, are single-tenant properties, and the remaining 15 are multi-tenant properties. At December 31, 2011, of the 2,619 single-tenant properties, 2,533 were leased with a weighted average remaining lease term (excluding rights to extend a lease at the option of the tenant) of approximately 11.3 years. The Company typically acquire properties under long-term leases with regional and national retailers and other commercial enterprises. Its net-lease agreements are for initi! al terms of 10 to 20 years.
In January 2012, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation (Friendly��), one of its tenants, announced that it was emerging from voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (which they had filed for in October 2011). Pursuant to the bankruptcy proceedings, Friendly�� accepted 102 of their 121 leases with the Company. Friendly�� rejected 19 leases with the Company. Additionally, in January 2012, Buffets Holding, Inc., or Buffets, another one of its tenants, filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. As of December 31, 2011, Buffets leased 86 properties from the Company. Buffets rejected the leases on seven of its 86 properties.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By apolloportfolio]
Hanger, Inc. provides orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) patient care services, distributes O&P devices and components, manages O&P networks and offers therapeutic solutions in the United States. It operates in two segments:�Patient Care (83% of sales) and Products & Services (17% of sales). HGR has a history dating back to 150 years ago. A history timeline from the company website can give more details about how HGR evolves over time.
Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Merit Medical Systems Inc.(MMSI)
Merit Medical Systems, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in interventional and diagnostic procedures worldwide. It offers cardiology and radiology devices, which assist in diagnosing and treating coronary arterial disease, peripheral vascular disease, and other non-vascular diseases. The company?s cardiology and radiology devices include inflation devices; hemostasis valves; vascular retrieval devices; vascular access products; diagnostic catheters; guide wires and torque devices; and angiography and angioplasty accessories. Its cardiology and radiology devices also comprise safety and waste management systems; radial artery compression devices; drainage catheters and accessories; paracentesis, thoracentesis, and pericardiocentesis catheters; therapeutic infusion catheters; embolic microspheres; multipurpose microcatheters; and dialysis and interventional nephrology products. The company also provides gastroenterology and pulmonolog y devices that assist in the palliative treatment of expanding esophageal, tracheobronchial, and biliary strictures caused by malignant tumors. Its gastroenterology and pulmonology devices consist of airway, esophageal, and biliary stents; stent sizing devices; guide wires for non-vascular procedures; bipolar coagulation probes; inflation devices; and cholangiography rapid refill continuous injection kits, as well as specialty devices and accessories, such as discography products and pressure sensors. The company sells its products through direct sales force, distributors, original equipment manufacturer partners, and custom procedure tray manufacturers. Its customers include hospitals and clinic-based cardiologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists, physiatrists, neurologists, nephrologists, vascular surgeons, interventional gastroenterologists and pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, technicians, and nurses. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Garrett Cook]
Shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ: MMSI) were down 13.64 percent to $12.75 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results and issued a weak FY14 forecast.
- [By Garrett Cook]
Shares of Merit Medical Systems (NASDAQ: MMSI) were down 15.40 percent to $12.47 after the company reported downbeat quarterly results and issued a weak FY14 forecast.
Hot Defensive Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Renegade Petroleum Ltd (RPL)
Renegade Petroleum Ltd. (Renegade) is an exploitation and exploration focused light oil producer. Renegade's primary focus areas are located in southeast Saskatchewan in various pools, such as Bakken, Souris Valley, Frobisher, Midale and Kisby, as well as the Dodsland area of the Viking play in west-central Saskatchewan. It also has working interests in North Dakota pursuant to a farm-in agreement respecting land in Renville County that is prospective for Bakken, Threeforks/Sanish and Frobisher light oil. In addition the Company has a light oil opportunity in the Spearfish play in Manitoba. It has two geographic segments: western Canada and the State of North Dakota, the United Sates. In December 2012, the Company acquired certain strategic light oil assets. In February 2014, the Company closed the disposition of certain oil and gas assets in southeast Saskatchewan. Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Many American oil and gas investors are probably familiar with the major large and small cap players in the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana, but few American investors are probably familiar with�the active players further to the north in the�oil and gas rich Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta�with small cap stocks like Alexander Energy Ltd (CVE: ALX), Renegade Petroleum Ltd (CVE: RPL) and Centor Energy Inc (OTCBB: CNTO) along with large cap Suncor Energy Inc (NYSE: SU) being among those�pumping out their share of noteworthy news lately. I should point out that�Canada�� oil reserves are ranked #3 after to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia with over 95% of these reserves being the controversial�oil sands of Alberta while the neighboring province of Saskatchewan (which the Bakken formation actually stretches into) along with offshore areas of Newfoundland also containing substantial production and reserves. Moreover and excluding the oil sands, Alberta would have 39% of Canada�� remaining conventional oil reserves,�followed by�offshore Newfoundland with�28% and Saskatchewan with 27%.
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