Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014

In a recent poll by American Banker, financial institutions scored second to last in industry reputation. Who could possibly be worse? Congress. For banks, this is not good.

In many ways the financial industry let down the American public leading up to and through the financial crisis. Greed overwhelmed prudence and gave way to the systemic near-collapse we are all now familiar with. Things only got worse as the crisis progressed and then abated, with bad behavior becoming the expectation for banks, which now seem to be constantly on the defensive.�

In the video below, Motley Fool contributor Jay Jenkins discusses the survey's results and its implications for the largest U.S. banks like Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) .

Many investors are terrified about investing in big banking stocks after the crash, but the sector has one notable stand-out. In a sea of mismanaged and dangerous peers, it rises above as "The Only Big Bank Built to Last." You can uncover the top pick that Warren Buffett loves in The Motley Fool's�new report. It's free, so click here to access it now.

10 Best Solar Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aetrium Incorporated(ATRM)

Aetrium Incorporated designs, manufactures, and markets electromechanical equipment for the semiconductor industry to handle and test integrated circuits (ICs). The company provides test handler products, which incorporates thermal conditioning, contacting, and automated handling technologies to provide automated handling of ICs during production of test cycles; change kits to adapt test handlers to various IC package configurations or to upgrade installed equipment; and gravity feed test handlers. It also offers reliability test equipment, which provides structural performance data to aid in the evaluation and improvement of IC designs and manufacturing processes. The company sells its products to semiconductor manufacturers, and their assembly and test subcontractors through direct salespeople, independent sales representatives, and distributors in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, a nd the Philippines. Aetrium Incorporated was founded in 1982 and is based in North St. Paul, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the Move: Aetrium Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRM) is up 156.2% at $12.40 following a positive report based on a recent management change and new products. Mediabistro Inc. (NASDAQ: MBIS) is down 17.4% at $3.41 as the stock gives back some of the 87% gain it scored yesterday. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is up 7.7% at $10.08 on momentum from an insider stock purchase earlier this week.

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Guggenheim CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE)

Guggenheim CurrencyShares Euro Trust, formerly CurrencyShares Euro Trust, is a grantor trust. The Trust issues shares (the Shares) in blocks of 50,000 (a Basket) in exchange for deposits of euro and distributes euro in connection with the redemption of Baskets. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the price of euro plus accrued interest. The Shares are intended to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the market for the euro through an investment in securities. The Shares are bought and sold on NYSE Arca. The Shares are backed by the assets of the Trust, which does not hold or use derivative products. The Trust holds euro and, from time to time, issues Baskets in exchange for deposits of euro and distributes euro in connection with redemptions of Baskets.

The Sponsor is Rydex Specialized Products LLC. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the Trustee. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch is the Depository. The Depository maintains two deposit accounts for the Trust, a primary deposit account which may earn interest and a secondary deposit account which does not earn interest (Deposit Accounts). The secondary deposit account is used to account for interest received and paid out on creations and redemptions of Baskets. The secondary account is also used to account for interest, if any, earned on the primary deposit account, pay Trust expenses and distribute any excess interest to Shareholders on a monthly basis.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Cox]

  Elsewhere, similar market reactions could were seen after last week's monetary policy meeting at the European Central Bank [ECB]. The ECB also did little to signal changes to its own stimulus programs, which was not a total surprise, given the fact that the bank reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to new all-time lows at 0.75% at last month's meeting. The main potential for surprise, however, came from the possibility that the central bank would announce the implementation of negative interest rates (the rate paid to commercial banks when holding money). Since this would have been a bearish outcome for the EUR/USD, markets have since bought the Euro, pushing the CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF (FXE) higher.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The euro has dropped about 0.8% against the dollar, while the CurrencyShares Euro Trust ETF (FXE) has dropped 0.7% to $136.71 and the Currency Shares Japanese Yen Trust ETF (FXY) has fallen 1%. The ProShares UltrasShort Euro ETF (EUO) has gained 1.3% to $16.77, while the ProShares UltraShort Yen (YCS) has gained 1.9% to $66.58.

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co.(RS)

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. operates as a metals service center company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides metals processing services and distributes a line of approximately 100,000 metal products, including alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and specialty steel products to mills and original equipment manufacturers. Its processing services comprise cutting, leveling, sawing, machining, or electropolishing. The company also offers a range of metal perforating and fabrication services; and steel and alloy pipes, tube and bar products, and precision manufacturing of various tools designed for the global energy service companies. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. serves manufacturers and end-users in the general manufacturing, non-residential construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, electronics, and semiconductor fabrication and related industries. As of December 31, 2011, it maintained approximately 220 metals service center processing and distribution facilities in the United States, Belgium, Canada, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Kelley Wright]

  Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS)��ielding 1.8%.

  The Timely Ten is comprised of stocks from the Undervalued category, based on dividend parameters. They generally have an S&P Dividend & Earnings Quality ranking of A- or better, and show exemplary long-term dividend growth.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS  ) .

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  That dynamic means that companies that can benefit from construction strength and cut costs will outperform others. For that reason, Murphy keeps Nucor (NUE) and�Steel Dynamics (STLD) at Buy. He wasn’t so kind to Reliance Steel (RS), US Steel (X) and AK Steel (AKS), which were all cut, though for different reasons.

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Penn Virginia Corporation(PVA)

Penn Virginia Corporation, an independent oil and gas company, primarily engages in the exploration and development of natural gas and oil properties in various onshore regions of the United States. The company is involved in the production and sale of natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquid products. It primarily focuses on developing the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas; and the horizontal Granite Wash play in the Mid-Continent region. The company also drills exploratory wells in the Marcellus Shale play in Pennsylvania; and has interests in the natural gas properties in the Haynesville Shale and Cotton Valley Sands in east Texas, and Selma Chalk in Mississippi. As of December 31, 2011, it had proved natural gas and oil reserves of approximately 883 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent; and owned approximately 1.1 million net acres of leasehold and royalty interests. The company sells its products using short-term floating price physical and spot marke t contracts. Penn Virginia Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Hunting for value
  Until recently, Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR  ) boasted operations in three of the top oil and gas growth plays in the nation. While its recent sale of a bulk of its Eagle Ford acreage to Penn Virginia (NYSE: PVA  ) knocks it out of that play, the company still has large positions in both the Marcellus, Utica, and Bakken. These core operations should drive the company's liquids-focused growth for years to come.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR  ) is officially no longer a presence in certain parts of Texas' massive Eagle Ford Shale play. The company announced it has closed the sale of its stakes in properties located in Gonzales and Lavaca counties to a subsidiary of Penn Virginia (NYSE: PVA  ) .