Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014

LONDON -- It's been called the Great Rotation, the switching of investors' appetite from government bonds into equities.

Investors have been losing faith in the safety of bonds, as quantitative easing has pushed interest rates to unprecedented lows and stoked fears of future inflation. At the same time, the newly minted money has found a home in equities, especially since Mario Draghi reduced tail risk by saying the European Central Bank would do whatever it took to save the euro.

A significant feature is the preference of investors for shares in defensive sectors that are paying decent yields. They enable shareholders to enjoy the income and relative safety associated with bonds in more normal times.

That's chased the price of such stocks to exceptional highs. Fortunately, the growth opportunities for defensive sectors in emerging markets mean investors don't need to be unduly concerned about valuations.

Diageo
Diageo� (LSE: DGE  ) (NYSE: DEO  ) is a perfect example. Its shares are trading on a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 27, nearly double the FTSE 100 average P/E. According to my data, which shows the historic year-end P/Es, the shares are as highly rated as they ever have been this century.

Top International Companies To Buy For 2015: Xueda Education Group(XUE)

Xueda Education Group provides tutoring services for primary and secondary school students in the People?s Republic of China with a focus on offering personalized tutoring services. Its services include consultation and assessment, formulation of a customized study plan, personalized tutoring, and delivery of supporting services. The company also provides course offerings that cover various academic subjects taught in primary and secondary schools, such as mathematics, English, physics, Chinese, and chemistry; and self-designed courses beyond the standard curriculum in certain subjects, as well as in subjects not taught at public primary and secondary schools. As of December 31, 2010, its tutoring service network comprised 207 learning centers and approximately 9,650 full-time service professionals, serving customers located in 53 economically developed cities across 27 of China?s 31 provinces and municipalities. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Beij ing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares fell 0.45 percent on Tuesday. Top losers in the sector included Diamond Foods (NASDAQ: DMND), down 3.4 percent, and Xueda Education Group (NYSE: XUE), off 2.6 percent.

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (BRF)

Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap Index (the Index). The Index is a rules-based, modified market capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted index consisting of publicly traded small-capitalization companies that are domiciled and primarily listed on an exchange in Brazil, or that generate at least 50% of their revenues in Brazil. The Index is the exclusive property of 4asset-management GmbH, which has contracted with Standard & Poor��, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. to maintain and calculate the Index. The Fund is passively managed and may not hold each Index component in the same weighting as the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Van Eck Associates Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Hilary Kramer]

  Brasil Foods SA (BRF) is South America�� largest food processing company, involved in everything from meat and dairy products to pasta, frozen vegetables and soybean-related products. The company has been around since 1939, and Forbes ranked it 39th on its list of the world�� most innovative companies. It brings in about $13 billion in sales each year, and analysts are estimating that earnings will grow from 94 cents per share in 2012 to $1.94 for all of 2013, with additional growth to $2.78 in 2014.

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Morgans Hotel Group Co.(MHGC)

Morgans Hotel Group Co., a hospitality company, engages in the acquisition, ownership, operation, development, and redevelopment boutique hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, bars, and other food and beverage venues. It has operations primarily in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Morgans Hotel Group (MHGC) operates, owns, acquires, develops and redevelops boutique hotels, primarily in gateway cities and select resort markets in the U.S., Europe and other international locations and nightclubs, restaurants. This stock closed up 3.8% to $6.99 in Tuesday's trading session.

  Tuesday's Range: $6.73-$7.06
  
  52-Week Range: $4.66-$8.15
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 388,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 196,219

  From a technical perspective, MHGC spiked higher here right above its 200-day moving average of $6.45 with above-average volume. This move is quickly pushing shares of MHGC within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if MHGC manages to take out Tuesday's high of $7.06 and then once it takes out more near-term resistance at $7.20 with high volume.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in MHGC as long as it's trending above its 200-day at $6.41 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 196,219 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then MHGC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8 to its 52-week high at $8.15. Any high-volume move above those levels will then give MHGC a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $9 to $10.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Michael Tullberg/Getty Images Los Angeles County's fabled Sunset Strip -- home to numerous legendary nightclubs -- is going corporate. Goodbye, Rat Pack and Guns N' Roses; hello, Marriott International (MAR). Gangsters and Guitarists Through a quirk of urban planning, the Strip -- a 1.6-mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard -- was part of unincorporated land within Los Angeles city limits (these days, it belongs to the micro-city of West Hollywood). As such, it was overseen not by the L.A. Police Department, but by the more lax County Sheriff's department. Entrepreneurs took advantage of this, and in the early 20th century the Strip soon became the hottest entertainment destination in the L.A. area, home to clubs, bars and the occasional house of ill repute. In the 1940s and 1950s its nightclubs frequently hosted the top stars of the era. Many a band across the subsequent decades rose to prominence playing joints like The Roxy, Whisky A Go Go (still going strong at 50), and the Viper Room. Throughout the world, the Strip was nearly synonymous with nightlife. So much so that, according to some, its name was cribbed by the burgeoning city of Las Vegas to title the strategic section of its main thoroughfare. For many years now, the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard has been known simply as "The Strip." The City That Sometimes Sleeps The Strip is not the only game in town for visitors. Close by is the gay mecca of West Hollywood's "Boy's Town" neighborhood, while the tiny city's location in the kernel of L.A. makes it the perfect springboard for visiting Hollywood, L.A.'s beaches, and the neighboring Beverly Hills. Tourism is big business for West Hollywood. Twenty percent of the municipality's fiscal 2013 take came from the transient occupancy (i.e., lodging) taxes levied on those visitors. This brought in a cool $18 million that year -- 18 percent higher year over year, by the way -- making it WeHo's No. 2 revenue source. And there's more where that came from. Las

Best Defensive Stocks To Invest In 2014: Drew Industries Inc (DW)

Drew Industries Incorporated, incorporated on March 20, 1984, is a supplier of components for recreational vehicle (RVs) and manufactured housing. The Company operates in two segments: the RV products segment (RV Segment), and the manufactured housing products segment (MH Segment). The Company�� operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Lippert Components, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Lippert) and Kinro, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Kinro), each of which has operations in both the RV Segment and the MH Segment. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the RV Segment accounted for 87% of net sales and the MH segment accounted for 13% of net sales. On February 21, 2012, the Company acquired the business and certain assets of the United States RV entry door operation of Euramax International, Inc. In February 2014, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Lippert Components, Inc has acquired Innovative Design Solutions, Inc. (IDS).

RV Segment

The Company through its wholly owned subsidiaries manufactures and markets a variety of products used in the production of RVs, including steel chassis for towable RVs, axles and suspension solutions for towable RVs, slide-out mechanisms and solutions, thermoformed bath, kitchen and other products, manual, electric and hydraulic stabilizer and lifting systems, aluminum windows and screens, chassis components, furniture and mattresses, entry, baggage, patio and ramp doors, entry steps, awnings, and other accessories. The Company also supplies certain of these products to the RV aftermarket, and to adjacent industries, including manufacturers of truck caps, buses and trailers used to haul boats, livestock, equipment and other cargo. Operations of the Company's RV Segment consist primarily of fabricating, welding, painting and assembling components into finished products. The Company's RV Segment operations are conducted at 23 manufacturing and warehouse facilities throughout the United States, located in proximity to the cus! tomers they serve. Of these facilities, six also conduct operations in the Company's MH Segment. It markets extruded aluminum parts to manufacturers in other industries. The Company's RV Segment products are sold primarily to manufacturers of RVs such as Thor Industries Forest River (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and to distributors of aftermarket products.

MH Segment

The Company through its wholly owned subsidiaries manufactures and markets a variety of products used in the production of manufactured homes and to modular housing and mobile office units, including vinyl and aluminum windows and screens, steel chassis, steel chassis parts, axles, thermoformed bath and kitchen products, steel and fiberglass entry doors, and aluminum and vinyl patio doors. The Company also supplies windows, doors, and thermoformed bath products as replacement parts to the manufactured housing aftermarket, and to adjacent industries. MH Segment customers manufacture both manufactured homes and modular homes, and certain of the products manufactured by the Company are suitable for both types of homes. Operations of the Company's MH Segment consist primarily of fabricating, welding, thermoforming, painting and assembling components into finished products. The Company's MH Segment operations are conducted at 13 manufacturing and warehouse facilities throughout the United States, located in proximity to the customers they serve. Of these facilities, six also conduct operations in the Company's RV Segment. The Company's manufactured housing products are sold primarily to producers of manufactured homes such as Clayton Homes, Cavco Industries, Inc., Champion Home Builders, Inc., Skyline Corporation, and other OEMs, and to distributors of aftermarket products.

The Company competes with Kober Corporation and Dexter Axle Company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  The CEO of recreation vehicle (RV) stock Winnebago Industries, Inc (NYSE: WGO) recently appeared on CNBC to say that the economy is improving for RV makers, meaning its time to take a closer look at the stock plus take a look at the performance of other small cap RV stocks like Drew Industries, Inc (NYSE: DW), Skyline Corporation (NYSEMKT: SKY) and Thor Industries, Inc (NYSE: THO).

• [By Grace L. Williams]

  Shares of Winnebago have gained 4.4% to $28.47 today at 3pm. Thor Industries (THO), which also makes recreational vehicles, has ticked up 0.1% to $57.56, Drew Industries (DW) has risen 0.3% to $48.74, Arctic Cat (ACAT) has advanced 1% to $59.87 and Polaris Industries (PII) has fallen 0.3% to $132.08.