These days, you generally have three options: large-cap stocks with long dividend histories, municipal bonds and US Treasuries.
Treasuries are considered the safest of that group, and large-cap stocks the riskiest, but they’re still much safer than plenty of other investments, such as small caps and junk bonds.
I’ll show you two low-risk investments that are great buys now in a moment. But first, I want to tell you why recent events have called the safety of some of the options I just named into question.
Let’s start by looking at the following chart:
“Safe” Assets Turn Volatile
First, note how the iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund (MUB), a good proxy for municipal bonds as a whole, is the least volatile of the three funds shown above. But right now, it faces a steep downturn relative to its earlier stability.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Match Group, Inc.(MTCH)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]Small cap dating site stock Match Group Inc (NASDAQ: MTCH), which was spun off from media and Internet stock IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IAC) and is a peer or remaining dating stock Spark Networks Inc (NYSEMKT: LOV), is the eight most shorted stock on the聽NASDAQ with short interest of 43.96% according to Highshortnterest.com.
- [By Jeremy Bowman]In its first full year as a publicly traded company, online dating conglomerate聽Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) surged past expectations, climbing 26%.
A number of factors led to its standout performance, including blockbuster growth from Tinder, strong operating leverage, and consistently beaten earnings estimates. Let's take a closer look at how things played out in 2016.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: G&K Services, Inc.(GK)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]Cintas (CTAS) soared to the top of the S&P 500 today after the uniform provider received the go-ahead for its purchase of G&K Services (GK).
- [By Ben Levisohn]We maintain our positive view toward Cintas, particularly as G&K Services (GK) is likely to bolster Cintas’s growth potential over the next few years. However, after strong appreciation since the G&K announcement last August, we believe that much of the good news is already priced in at 25x/22x our pro-forma FY18/FY19 adjusted EPS estimates. As a result, we rate CTAS Sector Perform and await a better entry point.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Trinity Industries Inc.(TRN)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Craig Jones]On CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report", Pete Najarian spoke about high options activity in Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE: TRN).
He said that options traders bought 5,200 contracts of the January 36 calls for $1.15 in the first half of the trading session. The trade breaks even at $37.15 or 3.17 percent above the closing price Monday. Najarian believes the stock is going to break out on the upside and he decided to follow the trade and buy the January calls. He is going to hold the position for two weeks. - [By Lisa Levin]Benzinga's newsdesk monitors options activity to notice unusual patterns. These large volume (and often out of the money) trades were initially published intraday in Benzinga Professional . These trades were placed during Thursday’s regular session.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]Also seen as聽winners are equipment and fixtures makers, from construction to rail to transports. Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRN), largely considered a rail winner, was up 1.4% at $27.20 late on Monday.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: Shenandoah Telecommunications Co(SHEN)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]In trading on Monday, telecommunications services shares fell 0.45 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (NASDAQ: SHEN), down 3 percent, and TIM Participacoes SA (ADR) (NYSE: TSU) down 2 percent.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]Cramer said that Shenandoah Telecommunications (SHEN) is expensive at 60 times earnings, and without a dividend, he also took a pass on that one.
Finally, Cramer said Hudson Technologies (HDSN) was a great stock to own in 2016, when shares soared 170%, but this year, he cannot recommend this high-flying refrigeration company. - [By Lisa Levin]In trading on Friday, telecommunications services shares fell by 0.99 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: CHT), down 3 percent, and Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (NASDAQ: SHEN), down 4 percent.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: CSI Compressco LP(CCLP)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]CSI Compressco LP (NYSE: CCLP) shares dropped 15 percent to $7.90. CSI Compressco lowered its quarterly cash distribution to $0.1875 per outstanding common unit. CSI Compressco is expected to release its Q1 earnings results on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.
Best Safest Stocks To Buy For 2018: URS Corporation(URS)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]Fidelty’s John Mirshekari聽took a look at URS聽(URS) today 聽at the Value Investing Congress.聽His takeaway: The stock could double in two years.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesHis analysis started with URS’s use of its free cash. During the past, it hasn’t been pretty. They spent 6.3 billion on eight acquisitions, they’ve bought companies at valuations higher than own stock and return-on-equity has dropped from high teens to just 6%.
The problem hasn’t been its business: Its return on tangible capital is 17%. Instead, the problem is that its management hasn’t maximized value through capital allocation. URS has lowest valuation: 9x 2013 cash earnings in its industry.
Part of the problem: Management incentives are based on net income. This year, however, relative total shareholder return was added., something Mirshekari calls聽”a step in the right direction.” In May, URS filed an amended proxy which says it will look to change incentives from net income to return on equity and earnings per share. More importantly, it said acquisitions would end.
If all goes right, URS could double in two years,聽Mirshekari says, comparing it to AECOM Technology (ACM).
Looks a lot like AECOMM, which did something similar and rallied. - [By Ian Wyatt, Publisher & Chief Investment Strategist, Wyatt Investment Research]Fund manager John Mirshekari, of the Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund, recommended shares of URS (URS), an engineering and construction contractor.
