Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018


Closed-end funds have become popular in recent years as bond yields have dropped precipitously. As a result, income investors have gone further out on the yield curve to find the kind of yields with CEFs they used to enjoy in the days when bonds were offering higher interest payments.

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One of the things my stock advisory newsletter, The Liberty Portfolio, does is find securities that deliver better risk-adjusted returns than you’ll find in the market. This is not an easy task because most investors don’t realize just how much risk they are taking on so-called “safe investments,” even with CEFs.

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Costco Wholesale Corporation(COST)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Shanthi Rexaline]

    Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) are among the other retailers that significantly benefit from SNAP.


    Although estimates are not available, beverage giants such as PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP), Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE: DPS) and The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) also benefit from SNAP. When there was a move in 2011 to bring about restrictions on SNAP purchases, Pepsi reportedly spent $750,000 in the third quarter of 2011 on lobbying alone.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Costco Wholesale (COST) has risen 9% during the past 12 months of trading, less than half the S&P 500′s 21% gain during the same period. But that underperformance didn’t stop Barron’s Teresa Rivas from urging investors to “put Costco in your shopping cart” in December, or Oppenheimer from calling Costco one of the most intriguing names in large-cap retail last week. Now Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler and team have added Costco to the firm’s Conviction List, while reiterating their Buy rating. They explain why:


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    We believe the company is on the cusp of the earnings acceleration we cited when we upgraded the stock to Buy last spring, aided by its recent credit card deal both the incremental traffic associated with more attractive cashback incentives and expense cushion associated with new terms. We also like the firms attractive positioning as a low-cost/low-priced operator in the challenging retail environment. Our estimates stand above consensus. The stock is trading below long-run relative P/E averages despite the anticipated earnings recovery. Our $187, 12-month price target implies 14% upside.


    Shares of Costco Wholesale aren’t getting a boost from the upgrade this morning, however. Its shares have dipped 0.2% to $163.98 at 10:17 a.m. today.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Retail giant Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) has been an innovator in the big-box retail industry, pioneering and refining the warehouse-shopping concept and honing it into a hugely successful business. Yet even Costco has run into some challenges lately, and coming into Wednesday’s fiscal second-quarter financial report, Costco investors wanted reassurances that the warehouse retailer would be able to sustain its growth. On that front, the retailer disappointed its investors, posting a substantial decline in net income that spurred the company to take action to shore up its main profit center going forward.

  • [By Daniel B. Kline]

    Costco (NASDAQ:COST) continues to squander an opportunity by operating as if the internet has not become a major factor in retail.

    The company has proven resilient in the face of digital competitors led by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). While other retailers are shuttering stores, losing sales, and generally fighting for survival, the warehouse chain has not had that problem.

  • [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]

    This one could be the easiest of advances, both because credit losses are down big and because its credit-card brethren — Capital One Financial, Discover, Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) — have all had significant rallies. I actually regard this stock as inexpensive and think it can be bought here now that it has fully absorbed the loss of the Costco (COST) business to Visa and Citigroup (C) .

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Move Inc.(MOVE)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Renu Singh]

    Aruba Networks (ARUN) is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for mobile enterprise. The company’s Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture unifies wired and wireless network infrastructures into one seamless access solution for corporate headquarters, mobile business professionals, remote workers and guests. This unified approach to access networks enables IT organizations and users to securely address the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon, dramatically improving productivity and lowering capital and operational costs.

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Square, Inc.(SQ)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Leo Sun]

    Dorsey subsequently co-founded online payments company Square (NYSE:SQ) in 2009, and he was promoted from passive member to executive chairman of Twitter’s board in 2010, after Dick Costolo replaced Evan Williams.

  • [By Chris Lange]

    Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) reported second-quarter financial results after markets closed Wednesday. The company said that it had a $0.07 in earnings per share (EPS) and $552 million in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for a net loss of $0.05 per share and $536.27 million in revenue. The same period from last year had a net loss of $0.08 per share and $438.53 million in revenue.

  • [By Elizabeth Balboa]

    Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ: WDC) lost 16 percent over the last eight trading sessions, and Square Inc (NYSE: SQ), after a 264-percent run, conceded 24 percent.

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(ICPT)

Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) dropped more than 17% Friday to post a new 52-week low of $60.97 after closing Thursday at $73.70. The 52-week high is $172.75. Volume of more than 10 million shares traded was about 12 times the daily average. The FDA on Thursday issued a warning letter on the company’s liver disease treatment.

  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap liver biopharmaceutical stock Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ICPT) reportedQ2 2017 earnings before the market opened on Monday with both the top and bottom lines beating expectations plus the Companyreported that amid-stage clinical trial met its primary endpoint; but sharesended the day down13.26%. Intercept Pharmaceuticals recognized $30.4 million of net sales of Ocaliva for Q2 2017 versus $75k and a net loss of $86.6 million versus a net loss of $77.3 million. Ocaliva was approved by the U.S.FDA in May 2016 for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in combination with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in adults with an inadequate response to UDCA or as monotherapy in adults unable to tolerate UDCA. As of June 30, 2017,the Companyhad cash, cash equivalents and investment securities available for sale of approximately $550.3 million versus$689.4 million as of December 31, 2016. The CEO commented:

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: American Superconductor Corporation(AMSC)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Lisa Levin] Gainers
    Marathon Patent Group Inc (NASDAQ: MARA) shares surged 30.2 percent to $5.01 after dropping 40.86 percent on Tuesday. Marathon Patent Group filed for sale of 1.85 million shares of common stock by selling stockholders.
    Capricor Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CAPR) shares jumped 17.2 percent to $2.25 after the company reported the FDA clearance of Investigational New Drug application for CAP-1002.
    Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) gained 13.2 percent to $2.15 following 16.5 percent rally on Tuesday.
    Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAB) shares climbed 11.8 percent to $10.45 after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
    China Distance Education Hldgs Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: DL) shares surged 11.3 percent to $8.67. China Distance Education reported Q4 profit of $5.9 million on revenue of $41.7 million.
    Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTK) shares gained 11 percent to $8.05 after falling 7.05 percent on Tuesday.
    Ooma Inc (NYSE: OOMA) shares surged 8.5 percent to $10.85 as the company posted strong Q3 results.
    Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) climbed 8 percent to $17.12 after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.
    American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC) surged 7.8 percent to $3.59 after the company reported $8 million in D-VAR system orders.
    Thermon Group Holdings Inc (NYSE: THR) rose 6.3 percent to $24.17. William Blair upgraded Thermon Group from Market Perform to Outperform.
    Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) surged 6.1 percent to $182.88. Nomura upgraded Domino's from Neutral to Buy.
    Xencor Inc (NASDAQ: XNCR) rose 5.9 percent to $21.17. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Xencor with an Overweight rating.
    Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: IDRA) gained 5.1 percent to $2.28 after the company disclosed that it has been granted FDA Fast Track designation for IMO-2125.
    Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) gained 5.1 percent to
  • [By William Romov]

    According to S&P Capital IQ, shares of TTOO have an average price target of $5.75, representing 40.24% upside from current levels.

    Penny Stocks to Buy for December 2017, No. 4: American Superconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: AMSC)

    Massachusetts-based American Superconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: AMSC) makes two-megawatt wind turbines under the Windtec Solutions brand. The company also sells products and services to connect electricity-generating equipment with the power grid.

Hot Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: L Brands, Inc.(LB)


Advisors’ Opinion:

  • [By Benzinga News Desk]

    On Thursday's edition of PreMarket Prep, we're discussing earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and L Brands Inc (NYSE: LB). Plus Nelson Peltz's battle with Proctor & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG) and the biggest ratings changes of the day. 

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) posted a new 52-week low of $43.09 on Wednesday, down about 1.6% compared with Tuesday’s closing price of $43.77. The stock’s 52-week high is $87.16. Volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 4.2 million shares. The company received a downgrade at Citigroup on Tuesday and is being included among those retailers that have too many stores.

  • [By Chris Lange]

    With Christmas just around the corner and Black Friday already in the bag, holiday shopping is picking up. And this is especially true at L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB), which recently reported its November sales.

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