Top 5 Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014

For a company that trades largely on the basis of being a defensive stock with strong margins, 3M's (NYSE:MMM) repeated margin weakness in the second quarter is starting to become a cause for concern. Moreover, while 3M's growth doesn't look too bad compared to many of its peers, the relative comps are likely to get less favorable and 3M isn't really built to produce growth spurts. Much as I like and respect this company, the shares too look overpriced today and I'm considering selling my own shares.

Not A Very Good Quarter By Most Measures
3M gets a lot of credit for its strong margins, its defensive characteristics, and its strong global footprint. All of that may be true on balance, but it's hard to say that performance isn't eroding.

Revenue was up 3% this quarter, or a little more than 2% on an organic basis, with about three-quarters of that growth fueled by volume gains. Three of the five business units reported organic growth (with Industrial and Consumer at 3% and Health Care at 6%), while Safety/Graphics and Electronics/Energy both declined 2%.

Best Valued Companies To Invest In Right Now: Monster Worldwide Inc. (MWW)

Monster Worldwide, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides online and mobile employment solutions worldwide. It offers customized solutions and technologies across a range of public and private sectors. The company utilizes the Web, mobile apps, and social media to connect employers with job seekers at all levels in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Its services and solutions include searchable job postings, resume database access, recruitment media solutions, and other career-related content. Monster Worldwide, Inc. also facilitates jobseekers to search job postings and post their resumes on its career Websites; and employers and human resources companies to advertise jobs, search its resume database, and utilize career site hosting and other services, such as recruitment media. The company provides solutions and technology to simplify the hiring process for employers; and work-related content, services, and advice for job seekers. It serves individuals, small and me dium-sized organizations, enterprise organizations, and educational institutions; and federal, state, and local government agencies through a field sales force, telephone sales force, and an online service. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW  ) fit the bill? Let's look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Steve Symington]

  What:�Shares of Monster Worldwide� (NYSE: MWW  ) plunged more than 18% early Thursday after the company released weaker-than-expected first-quarter results.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Unlike blanket sites like HotJobs from Yahoo (YHOO) or Monster Worldwide (MWW), Dice is compartmentalized with properties that includes tech portal Slashdot, oil and gas site Rigzone and finance site eFinancial Careers and medical career site Health Callings.

Top 5 Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Continental Gold Ltd (CGOOF.PK)

Continental Gold Limited is an exploration-stage company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, evaluation and development of principally gold resource properties in Colombia. The Company holds the rights to explore and develop six properties in Colombia totaling approximately 122,317 hectares. The Buritica project encompasses an aggregate area of 57,588 hectares and is located about 75 kilometers northwest of Medellin in the Antioquia Department of north-western Colombia. The Berlin project covers an aggregate area of 25,059 hectares. The project area is located 90 kilometers north of Medellin in the Antioquia Department. The Dominical project encompasses an aggregate area of 24,327 hectares and is located in southern Colombia in the Cauca Department. The project area is consists of four registered concessions totaling 5,590 hectares, five pending registration concessions totaling 3,426 hectares and 10 concession applications covering 15,311 hectares. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Markus Aarnio]

  Other gold miners that have seen intensive insider buying during the past four months include St. Andrew Goldfields (STADF.PK), Continental Gold (CGOOF.PK), Kinross (KGC) and Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM).

Top 5 Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited(AEM)

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties in Canada, Finland, and Mexico. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Its flagship property includes the LaRonde mine located in the southern portion of the Abitibi volcanic belt, Canada. The company was founded in 1953 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  As a result, Chidley and team upgraded Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and�Yamana Gold (AUY) to Neutral from Underweight, and raised Barrick Gold (ABX), Goldcorp (GG) and Iamgold (IAG) to Overweight from Neutral.�Gold Fields (GFI) was downgraded “due to increased risk and also reduced expectations for the South Deep operation,” Chidley says.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) runs mineral properties in Canada, Finland and Mexico. Gold is AEM�� primary focus but it also looks for and mines silver, copper, zinc and lead.

Top 5 Defensive Stocks To Own For 2014: Zargon Oil & Gas Ltd (ZARFF.PK)

Zargon Oil & Gas Ltd. (Zargon), formerly Zargon Energy Trust, is engaged in the business of oil and natural gas exploration, exploitation, development, acquisition and production in Canada and the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Zargon�� average daily production were 9,879 barrels of oil equivalent. Its properties are concentrated within the Western Provinces in Canada and in North Dakota in the United States. Its Williston Basin core area encompasses a portion of southeast Saskatchewan, southwest Manitoba and three counties of North Dakota. During 2010, it accounted 51% of its oil and liquids production. During 2010, its Alberta Plains South core area contributed 27% of its oil and liquids production. In June 2012, the Company sold 275 barrels of oil per day pertaining to all of its southwest Manitoba assets and selected properties in the Elswick area of southeast Saskatchewan. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MLP Trader]

  Here are the current top five companies in the list:

  CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5X

  Of the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.