Best Financial Companies To Invest In Right Now

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Chinese stocks fell in early Thursday action ahead of closely watched manufacturing data, with bank shares extending losses amid concerns over the health of major mainland China lenders. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) lost 0.8% to 22,828.57, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index off 1%, while the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) dropped 0.5%. Coming a day after reports of climbing bad loans at the largest mainland Chinese banks, the People's Bank of China declined to add liquidity to the financial system Thursday, according to Dow Jones Newswires. In Hong Kong trade, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1398) (IDCBF) (CN:601398) fell 1.1%, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (HK:1288) (ACGBF) (CN:601288) gave up 2%, China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) (CN:601939) retreated 1.4%, and Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988) (BACHY) (CN:601988) traded 0.9% lower. Losses were somewhat milder in Shanghai, where ICBC eased 0.3%, AgBank traded off 0.4%, and Bank of China declined 0.7%. The moves came ahead of a preliminary reading of China's manufacturing activity for October, due out later in the morning from HSBC and Markit.

Top 5 Defense Stocks To Invest In Right Now: The Bancorp Inc.(TBBK)

The Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for The Bancorp Bank that provides various commercial and retail banking and related products and services to small and mid-size businesses and their principals. The company?s deposit products include checking accounts, savings accounts, health savings accounts, money market accounts, individual retirement accounts, certificates of deposit, and stored value and payroll cards, as well as commercial accounts, such as general commercial checking, small business checking, business savings, and business money market accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial term loans, commercial mortgage loans, commercial lines of credit, 1-4 family construction loans, direct lease financing, and commercial construction, acquisition, and development loans; and consumer loans comprising loans for consumers to finance personal residences, automobiles, home improvements, and for other purposes. The company also provides other banking serv ices, which include private label banking and merchant card processing services; and Internet banking services. It serves Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania; New Castle county in Delaware; and Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Ocean, and Cape May counties in New Jersey. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The Bancorp (TBBK) plunged 30% to $11.37 this week, earning it the honor of the biggest loser in the Russell 2000. The Bancorp said in a filing that the FDIC had demanded it to more to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act.

Best Financial Companies To Invest In Right Now: Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp (WMC)

Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation is focused on investing in, financing and managing primarily residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), which are not issued or guaranteed by a United States Government agency or federally chartered corporation, or non-Agency RMBS. The Company also focuses on investing in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other asset-backed securities (ABS), as well as RMBS for which a United States Government agency or federally chartered corporation guarantees payments of principal and interest on the securities, or Agency RMBS.

The Company is managed and advised by Western Asset Management Company. As of June 12, 2009, the Company had not made any investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  Today, we’re looking at three dividend stocks with sky-high dividend yields to see whether they’re safe.

  Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation (WMC)

  Dividend Yield: 19.8%

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Second-quarter upset
  As if that news wasn't bad enough, book value took a nasty hit, too. The drop from $12.87 at the end of March to $10.20 at the end of June was huge, even considering the $0.34 dividend paid on June 10. Earlier in the day, Deutsche Bank had downgraded a handful of mREITs, including Western Asset Mortgage (NYSE: WMC  ) , based on book value declines of up to 16% during the second quarter. CYS, even factoring in its payout, suffered a drop of closer to 19%.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Western Asset Mortgage Capital (NYSE: WMC  ) is also beefing up its yield. The REIT that snaps up residential mortgage-backed securities and shells out most of the housing payments to its stakeholders is boosting its quarterly rate by 5% to $0.95 a share.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Western Asset Mortgage Capital (NYSE: WMC  ) has shaved its dividend. The company has declared a payout for its Q2 of $0.90 per share, to be paid on July 29 to shareholders of record as of July 1. That amount is $0.05, or 5%, lower than the mortgage REIT's previous distribution of $0.95, which was handed out at the end of April.

Best Financial Companies To Invest In Right Now: United States Steel Corporation(X)

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells steel mill products in North America and Central Europe. It operates in three segments: Flat-rolled Products (Flat-rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-rolled segment offers slabs, rounds, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke. This segment serves service center, conversion, transportation, construction, container, and appliance and electrical markets in North America. The USSE segment offers slabs, sheets, strip mill plates, tin mill products, and spiral welded pipes, as well as heating radiators and refractory ceramic materials. This segment serves the European construction, service center, conversion, container, transportation, and appliance and electrical, as well as and oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The Tubular segment offers seamless and electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing; and standard, and line pipe and mechanical tubing. It primarily serves customers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The company also provides transportation services, including railroad and barge operations. In addition, it owns, develops, and manages various real estate assets, which include approximately 200,000 acres of surface rights primarily in Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania; participates in joint ventures that are developing real estate projects in Alabama, Maryland, and Illinois; and owns approximately 4,000 acres of land in Ontario, Canada. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The news has hit Nucor’s shares today. Its stock has dropped 1.4% to $51.30, even as U.S. Steel (X) has gained 0.3% to $27.20, AK Steel (AKS) has gained 1.2% to $6.10 and Steel Dynamics (STLD) has decline 0.1% to $18.95. Encana is little changes at $17.95.

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  Shares of United States Steel (X) were climbing nearly 4% after hours, following the company�� second-quarter earnings report.

  The company swung to a loss of $78 million, or 54 cents a share, well ahead of the 79 cents that analysts expected the company to lose. However, revenue tumbled 11.7% to $4.43 billion, below the consensus of $4.58 billion.

  The company said that results at its flat-rolled and tubular unites should improve, but warned a planned blast furnace outage would weigh on its European segment in the third quarter.

  It said it expected its other businesses to decrease or stay flat from the second quarter.

  The shares are barely in the black for the past year, trailing the broader market.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  For the second quarter in a row, and the fifth over its last seven frames, metallurgy giant U.S. Steel (NYSE: X  ) has posted a net loss. The company's Q2 saw it record net sales of $4.4 billion, down from $5.0 billion in the same period the previous year. Net loss was $78 million ($0.54 per diluted share), compared to Q2 2012's profit of $101 million ($0.62).

Best Financial Companies To Invest In Right Now: Alps Jefferies TR/J CRB Global Commodty Eq Idx (CRBQ)

Jefferies | TR/J CRB Global Commodity Equity Index Fund (the Fund), formerly Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Global Commodity Equity Index Fund, is an exchange traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that replicate as closely as possible the price and yield performance of the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies In-The-Ground CRB Global Commodity Equity Index (the Index). The Index is a modified capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted, rules-based index designed to track the overall performance of a global universe of listed companies engaged in the production and distribution of commodities and commodity-related products and services in the sectors, such as agriculture, base/industrial metals, energy and precious metals. ALPS Advisors, Inc. is the investment adviser for the Fund. Arrow Investment Advisors, LLC is the investment sub-adviser for the Fund. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Richard Stavros]

  Whereas in the 1970s there were limited ways to hedge against inflation, now there is a cornucopia of currency and international commodities instruments that can not only hedge against inflation but other global shocks, such as market bubbles and even war.
  
  And it is these very scenarios that investors have been worried about. Since the beginning of the year, stocks, bonds and just about any investment you can think of have gyrated wildly at various times amid concerns of war, inflation and the possibility that the U.S. equity market is overvalued and headed for a correction.
  
  In response, some market analysts in Bloomberg news reports have offered any number of wildly unsubstantiated statements for why investors should ignore today’s perils. They dismiss the danger posed by Russia�� annexation of Ukraine�� Crimea region (��utin will stop short of other countries or war with the West��. They also argue that the Federal Reserve chairwoman misspoke (��anet Yellen really didn�� mean a rate hike is coming soon. Inflation is under control. It was a rookie mistake��.
  
  For my money, here’s the most outrageous: The Shiller Cyclically adjusted P/E metric which has predicted the 1929, 2000 and 2007 downturns doesn�� apply (��uggests only a slightly expensive market with low to moderate returns going forward on average��.
  
  With new records being set by the S&P 500 in the last few months, it stands to reason that some investors have not needed much convincing to stay all in and buying. This mindset has prevailed, even as the impact of a Russian war or conflict, runaway inflation or a market correction could be devastating to investor portfolios, taking years to recover.
  
  If you��e never thought of certain investments as “insurance,” it�� time to start now. Protecting wealth is as important as building wealth. And as previously mentioned, we have found that the Inflation Survival Letter�� Thri