Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now

3M (MMM) recently released its second-quarter results. A quick glimpse into the quarterly report reveals this:

Revenue increased marginally compared to the comparable quarter in 2012.GAAP EPS also recorded growth. Overall margins fell across the board.Revenue Details

3M recorded revenues of $7.75 billion. This was lower than the $7.77 billion that was forecast by 11 analysts earlier polled by the S&P Capital IQ. GAAP sales equaled those of Q2 2012.
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EPS details
The EPS for the quarter was $1.71. This was equal to the earnings estimates provided by 16 analysts earlier polled by the S&P Capital IQ. The EPS was 3.0% higher than last year�� comparable quarter��.

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Margin details

Gross margin stood at 48.2%, 40 basis points lower than 2012Q2. The operating margin came in at 22%, 90 basis points lower than Q2 2012.Net margin stood at 15.4%,10 basis points lower than Q2 2012.

3M�� stock is considered a defensive stock that mainly trades on a strong-margins basis. 3M�� repeated margin weakness in the 2nd quarter has begun to become a source of worry for many investors. This does not mean that the stock is an outright loser; quite on the contrary, 3M�� growth measures up quite well when you compare it to its major peers.3M�� stock is not rated as a growth stock capable of huge growth spurts. Nevertheless, 3M shares still look overpriced right now.

Hot Energy Stocks To Buy For 2015: Recon Technology Ltd.(RCON)

Recon Technology, Ltd. provides hardware, software, and on-site services to companies in the petroleum mining and extraction industry in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers equipment, tools, and other hardware related to oilfield production and management; and develop and sell industrial automation control and information solutions. Its oil and gas production and transportation equipment comprise heating furnaces, burners, and separators. Recon Technology, Ltd.?s oil and gas development tools and equipment include packers of fracturing, production packers, and water injection packers; and oil and gas production increasing techniques consist of fissure shaper technique to increase perforation depth, sand prevention in oil and water well technique, water locating and plugging technique, fracture acidizing technique, and electronic broken-down service. Its automation systems and services comprise pumping unit controllers that monitors the pumping units and co llects data for load, pressure, voltage, startup, and shutdown control; RTU for monitoring natural gas wells and collecting gas well pressure data; wireless dynamometer and wireless pressure gauge; electric multi-way valve for oilfield metering station flow control; and natural gas flow computer system to measure the flow. The company?s automation systems and services also consist of Recon SCADA oilfield monitor and data acquisition system for supervision and data collection; EPC service of pipeline SCADA system for pipeline monitoring and data acquisition; EPC service of oil and gas wells SCADA system for monitoring and data acquisition of oil, and natural gas wells; EPC service of oilfield video surveillance and control system to control the oil and gas wellhead area and measure station area; and technique service for digital oilfield transformation. Recon Technology, Ltd. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Anybody who was lucky enough to get into a Recon Technology, Ltd. (NASDAQ:RCON) position before October 7th, then congratulations - you're up big-time. Now get out. Instead, a better use of that capital is Mitek Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITK). While RCON is overbought and ripe for a pullback, MITK is itching to stage a breakout.

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: North American Palladium Ltd (PAL)

North American Palladium Ltd. (NAP) is a precious metals producer that has been operating its flagship Lac des Iles mine (LDI) located in Ontario, Canada. The Company is in the business of exploring and mining palladium, platinum, gold and certain base metals. The Company�� 100%-owned subsidiary is the Lac des Iles Mines Ltd. (LDI).

The Company�� Lac des Iles (LDI) palladium mine is a palladium producer. The mine is located approximately 85 kilometers northwest of the city of Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada, and consists of open pit and underground mining operations and a 15,000 ton per day mill.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Are you a gambling man (or gambling woman, as the case may be)? Then now may be the right time to place a bet on North American Palladium Ltd (NYSEMKT:PAL) ... the micro cap precious metals miner that has watched its stock fall from just under $2.00 in early February to a low of 44 cents yesterday. That's a 78% drubbing, for those of you who are counting, with a big chunk of that loss coming yesterday when PAL shares lost 28% of their value on the heels of two... shall we say "less than flattering" articles about the company were posted? Yet, sometimes the very best trades are ideas that never looked good on paper.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  4. Platinum-group metals
  Platinum and palladium both fell sharply, losing 5% and 6% of their value, respectively. Those losses weren't as extreme as gold's, but they nevertheless represented a drop to levels not seen since late last year. The two major miners producing the white metals, Stillwater Mining (NYSE: SWC  ) and North American Palladium (NYSEMKT: PAL  ) , both lost more than 10% on the day.

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and changed its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Hanson]

  After�Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) took a $2 billion preferred stake in the nation's largest mortgage originator in the summer of 2007 and before B of A ultimately acquired the company outright, Mozilo sat down with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo for an interview riddled with irony, delusions, and surprisingly, prophecy. Following is the clip, as well as time stamps marking such comments.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Many banks, particularly large institutions like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , have been on a cost-cutting binge�for the last year or so, and one casualty has been bank branches. Indeed, as banks work to segue customers into online and mobile banking, many locations have been deemed an unnecessary drain on company resources. In 2012 alone, all U.S. banks closed nearly 2,300 branches, while opening only half that number.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Within the Dow, the big news came from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , which has dropped almost 5% after announcing earnings earlier this morning. The bank quadrupled its quarterly profit from the year-ago quarter, with loan-loss provisions continuing to fall and the bank's capitalization continuing to improve. Yet weakness in the mortgage-lending business contributed to an overall drop in revenue, and as interest rates start to bottom out, the refinancing activity that has made up most of B of A's mortgage-related revenue will likely start drying up, and pressure on net interest margins will intensify. JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM  ) faces many of the same problems, and its shares have declined almost 3% as investors fear that the entire banking sector could suffer from the disappearance of the favorable trends that have helped it recover from the financial crisis.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  The nation's biggest banks are jumping head-first into this market, with large regionals not far behind. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , for example, recently announced that it is bulking up its own C&I department in an effort to take on rivals JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) . Less than one month ago, the head of B of A's Baltimore, Md., market noted that pumping up business lending in that area is a top priority.

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: CommVault Systems Inc. (CVLT)

CommVault Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides data and information management software applications and related services primarily in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company develops, markets, and sells a suite of software applications and services under the Simpana brand. Its Simpana software suite includes solution for the backup and restoration of enterprise data for file systems, applications, databases, and virtual machine systems; integrated data archiving solution that optimizes data tiering and improves information governance; and enterprise-wide storage optimization for email and files reducing space on primary storage. The company also provides solutions for protection of critical applications and data with snapshots and real-time replication; solutions to analyze, discover, track, trend, and report on physical and virtual storage usage; and Web browser, which allows search, sort, select, and retrieval of corporate files and in formation from online, archive, and backup data copies. In addition, it offers assessment and design, implementation and post-deployment, training, consulting, and customer support services. The company markets and sells its software applications and related services directly to large enterprises, small and medium sized businesses, and government agencies, as well as indirectly through a network of value-added reseller partners, systems integrators, corporate resellers, and original equipment manufacturers. It licenses its software applications to customers in various industries, including banking, insurance and financial services, government, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and medical services, technology, legal, manufacturing, utilities, and energy. The company has strategic relationships with Dell, Inc.; Hitachi Data Systems; and NetApp. CommVault Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Oceanport, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included CommVault Systems (NASDAQ: CVLT), off 28 percent, and Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX), down 13 percent.

  Top Headline
  Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) reported a drop in its first-quarter profit. Ford's quarterly profit slipped to $989 million, or $0.24 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $1.61 billion, or $0.40 per share. Its revenue rose to $35.9 billion versus $35.6 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.31 per share on revenue of $34.54 billion.

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Bonavista Energy Corp (BNPUF.PK)

Bonavista Energy Corporation (Bonavista) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas assets. The Company operates approximately 87% of its assets which are concentrated within three core regions in western Canada. Each core region contains a well-balanced portfolio of oil and natural gas assets with considerable opportunities. Its operations are geographically focused within three regions of Western Canada, which includes Western region, Northern region and Eastern region. The Company�� subsidiaries include Bonavista Petroleum (BP), Bonavista Energy LP (BELP) and Bonavista Energy Inc. (BEI). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Cold Lake's most notable producers:

  Husky Energy (HUSK.PK), see article here.Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGH), see article here.Southern Pacific Resource (STPJF.PK), see article here.Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), see article here.Devon Energy (DVN), see article here.Imperial Oil (IMO), see article here.Baytex, see article here.Bonavista Energy (BNPUF.PK), see article here.

  Athabasca's most notable producers:

Best Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: ITV PLC (ITV)

ITV Public Company Limited (ITV) is a commercial television network in the United Kingdom. t also delivers content across multiple platforms either directly or through itv.com and ITV Player. It has two segments: ITV Studios and Broadcasting & Online��segment. Its broadcasting and online segment is responsible for commissioning and scheduling programs on the ITV channels, marketing and program publicity and online rights exploitation. It derives its revenue primarily from the sale of advertising airtime and sponsorship, and other sources of revenue are from participation revenue, online advertising and the digital terrestrial multiplex, SDN. ITV Studios is an international productions business. In February 2014, ITV Plc acquired a controlling stake in DiGa Vision, the New York based independent producer of reality and scripted programming including Teen Wolf. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  ITV Plc (ITV) climbed 2.1 percent to 183.4 pence, its highest price since at least February 2004. Media buyers are indicating accelerating growth in U.K. and German advertising, according to Nomura Holdings Inc., which highlighted ITV, the owner of the U.K.�� most-watched commercial TV station, as still offering potential for price increases.

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  ITV Plc (ITV) increased 3.7 percent to 134.2 pence, the biggest advance since February. Liberum Capital upgraded its price estimate on the U.K. broadcaster�� shares to 200 pence from 155 pence, citing ��tructurally resilient��free-to-air television advertisements and forecast growth in online and content revenue.