Hot Low Price Companies To Buy Right Now

Sometimes, obvious is best: go with a "recession-proof" player.

Are you worried about slowing economic growth, or worse, looming on the horizon? If so, it might be good to play with a company that managed to show EPS growth during both of America�� most recent official recessionary periods, in 2001 and 2008 to 2009.

What company managed to grow earnings even when the economy was tanking? It was the much-despised low price champion, Wal-Mart (WMT).

When recession struck in 2001 its EPS grew from $1.40 to $1.50. The more recent "Great Recession" barely slowed this juggernaut. EPS ticked up 7% to $3.66 in the year ended January 2009, then kept right on going, registering $4.07 the next year while the country hunkered down.

There has been no letup since. Wal-Mart�� board was smart enough to massively increase their share buyback activity during 2010 to 2013 while the stock was trading at only 11 to 13 times earnings.

Top Shipping Stocks To Watch Right Now: Evoke Pharma Inc (EVOK)

Evoke Pharma, Inc., incorporated on January 29, 2007, is a specialty pharmaceutical company. The Company is focused primarily on the development of drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI), disorders and diseases. The Company is developing EVK-001, a metoclopramide nasal spray for the relief of symptoms associated with acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis in women with diabetes mellitus. The Company�� lead product candidate, EVK-001, is in late stage clinical testing. EVK-001 is a formulation of this drug, designed to provide systemic delivery of metoclopramide through intranasal administration.

Gastroparesis is a condition of delayed gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction. Gastroparesis results in food remaining in the stomach for a longer time than normal, yielding a variety of symptoms. Gastroparesis is a common problem in individuals with diabetes, but also is observed in patients with prior gastric surgery, a preceding infectious illness, pseudo-obstruction, collagen vascular disorders and anorexia nervosa. EVK-001 is designed to effectively bypass the digestive system and allow for more predictable drug administration of its nasal spray formulation across the thin mucosa in the nasal cavity.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MONEYMORNING.COM]

  The first, Evoke Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: EVOK), will release data from a phase 3 trial of its experimental drug EVK-001, a potential treatment for women with recurrent diabetic gastroparesis. The data follows successful results from a previous phase 2 study of the drug.

Hot Low Price Companies To Buy Right Now: iShares MSCI Ireland Capped ETF (EIRL)

iShares MSCI Ireland Capped ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Ireland Capped Investable Market Index Fund (the Fund), seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Ireland Investable Market 25/50 Index (the Index). The Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 99% by market capitalization of equity securities listed on the stock exchanges in Ireland. BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) serves as the investment advisor of the Fund. BFA is a subsidiary of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Charles Sizemore]

  How does an investment manager reconcile all of the various prognostications he hears on a daily basis?Simple��gnore them.��eb Faber, Global ValueIf you��e never heard of Cambria Investment Management�� Meb Faber, then you have some serious catching up to do. I consider Faber one of the most innovative strategists in the business today, and I found his research on shareholder yield to be compelling enough to make the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD) a core, long-term holding in multiple ETF portfolios I manage. (For readers unfamiliar with the term, ��hareholder yield��is a holistic measure of shareholder friendliness that includes dividends paid, shares repurchased, and debt repaid.)Faber�� latest book, Global Value: How to Spot Bubbles, Avoid Market Crashes, and Earn Big Returns in the Stock Market, provides the research underpinnings for Cambria�� latest ETF offering, the Cambria Global Value ETF (GVAL).Faber is a ��uant��who ignores the news of the day and instead focuses on the raw numbers. At its core, Global Value is a roadmap for implementing the value investing concepts originally espoused by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd in their 1934 classic Security Analysis in a systematic, quantitative manner.Specifically, Faber uses the cyclically-adjusted price/earnings ratio (��APE��, a metric popularized by Yale economist Robert Shiller, as a valuation tool to rank countries. In Faber�� model, an investor buys the stocks of the cheapest countries as ranked by the CAPE.The CAPE divides the current market price by the average of annual earnings across the economic cycle, with 10 years being the most popular time interval.Why? Because using a single year�� earnings can massively skew the results based on where you are in the economic cycle. As an example, a collapse in earnings in 2008-2009 would have made the S&P 500 look expensive had you used a simple P/E calculation with 2008 earnings numbers, even though the market had los

Hot Low Price Companies To Buy Right Now: Westar Energy Inc.(WR)

Westar Energy, Inc., an electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It produces electricity through various sources, including coal, wind, nuclear, natural gas, oil, and diesel. As of October 26, 2011, it served approximately 687,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Kansas; and had approximately 7,100 megawatts of generating capacity, as well as operated and coordinated approximately 34,000 miles of electric distribution and transmission lines. Westar Energy, Inc. also engages in energy marketing, and in the purchase and sale of electricity. It serves public streets, highways, electric cooperatives, municipalities, and other electric utilities in central and northeastern Kansas, including the cities of Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina, and Hutchinson. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, electric utility Westar Energy (NYSE: WR  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Now don’t misunderstand. Gordon isn’t telling investors to avoid all regulated utilities. He has some favorites, including American Electric Power (AEP), Dominion Resources (D), ITC Holdings (ITC), Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) and Westar Energy (WR).

Hot Low Price Companies To Buy Right Now: Equity Residential (EQR)

Equity Residential (EQR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company is focused on the acquisition, development and management of multi-family residential properties, which includes the generation of rental and other related income through the leasing of apartment units to residents, in United States. ERP Operating Limited Partnership (or Operating Partnership), which is an Illinois limited partnership, conducts the multifamily residential property business of EQR. All of the Company's property ownership, development and related business operations are conducted through the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership holds all of the assets of the Company, including the Company's ownership interests in its joint ventures. As of December 31, 2011, the Company, directly or indirectly through investments in title holding entities, owned all or a portion of 427 properties located in 15 states and the District of Columbia consisting of 121,974 apartment units. In December 2012, it acquired four multifamily properties totaling 1,134 units.

The Company is structured as an umbrella partnership REIT (UPREIT). EQR is the general partner of, and, as of December 31, 2011, owned an approximate 95.7% ownership interest in ERPOP. The remaining 4.3% interest is owned by limited partners. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� wholly owned properties included 404 properties and 113,157 apartment units. Its consolidated partially owned properties include 21 properties and 3,916 apartment units. The Company�� military housing includes two properties and 4,901 apartment units. As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� properties had an average occupancy of approximately 94.2% (94.7% on a same store basis).

During the year ended December 31, 2011, EQR acquired apartment properties consisting of 20 consolidated properties and 6,103 apartment units and acquired five land parcels; acquired one vacant land parcel in New York City in a joint venture with Toll Brothers, and acquired o! ne unoccupied property in the San Francisco Bay Area consisting of 95 apartment units. During 2011, it also acquired a 97,000-square foot commercial building adjacent to its Harbor Steps apartment property in downtown Seattle, and sold consolidated apartment properties consisting of 47 properties and 14,345 apartment units. Subsequent to 2011, the Company acquired two land parcels, and sold one property consisting of 704 apartment units.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  With 93% of the multifamily units breaking ground in the first quarter slated for rental, apartment REITs like AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB  ) , Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS  ) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) are looking like a great way to invest in the new "renter nation".

• [By Sean Williams]

  To get a better idea of how RealPage is doing, it's always best to look at occupancy rates for some of the nation's biggest residential-REITs. In AvalonBay Communities' (NYSE: AVB  ) most recent quarter, the company reported a 5% increase in revenue attributable to a 4.7% boost in prices in established communities, and a 0.3% uptick in occupancy. For Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) it was much of the same, with revenue rising 5.4% in the fourth-quarter as occupancy rates rose 40 basis points to 95.4% from the year-ago period. Finally, Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS  ) delivered some of the strongest occupancy results of all, with 96.9% of its units occupied as of the end of January. The point is that with occupancy rates at their lowest levels in more than a decade, these residential REITs are driving growth by boosting prices because of rent scarcity.

• [By gurujx]

  Equity Residential (EQR) Reached the 3-year Low of $50.83

  The prices of Equity Residential (EQR) shares have declined to close to the 3-year low of $50.83, which is 26.3% off the 3-year high of $65.72.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Among real estate trusts:

  American Tower��(AMT),�the diversified �REIT, is the best performer in the index.�It was�up 4.6% after saying�Friday it will buy the parent of tower operator Global Tower Partners for $4.8 billion. HCP (HCP), a healthcare REIT, was�up 3.3%. Prologis (PLD) an industrial REIT, was�up 2.8%. Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) was�up 2.7%. Boston Properties (BXP), the office REIT, was�up 2.3%. Equity Residential (EQR), a residential REIT, was�up 2.4%. Ventas (VTR), a healthcare REIT, was�up 2%.