Equities—The 'Best House' in a Bad Neighborhood

Stocks slipped Thursday after a report showed an unexpected rise in jobless claims last week. How should investors position themselves right now? Sean Kraus, senior vice president and chief investment officer of Citizens Trust, and Lawrence Glazer, managing director at Mayflower Advisors, shared their insights.

“We’re buying companies that are doing well in their industries...such as Apple ,” Kraus told CNBC.

Kraus said he focuses on companies that provide proprietary products which don’t have substitutes and don’t have cost or pricing pressure over the longer term.

In the meantime, Glazer said he sees a silver lining to equities, “which may be the best house in a bad neighborhood.”

“I don’t want to be committing equities to the market and money to equities when people feel confident and great about the world,” he said. “I’d rather do it when you have a little dismal despair and that’s what we have today.”

Glazer Likes:

iShares Trust iShares MSCI EAFE

Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF

PowerShares S&P 500 BuyWrite

iPath CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index ETN

______________________________
Scorecard—What They Said:

• Glazer's Previous Appearance on CNBC (May 14, 2010)
• Kraus' Previous Appearance on CNBC (Apr. 27, 2010)

______________________________
Market Views—Across the Board:

• 10 Speculative Small-Caps That Are Soaring

• Art Cashin: Markets Are 'Forming a Top'

• Expect S&P to Hit 1250-1300 by Year-End: Kotok

______________________________
CNBC Data Pages:

• Dow 30 Stocks—In Real Time
• Oil, Gold, Natural Gas Prices Now
• Where's the US Dollar Today?

______________________________
CNBC Slideshows:

• Cramer’s Top 6 Comeback Stocks for 2010

______________________________

______________________________
Disclosures:

No immediate information was available for Glazer or Kraus.

______________________________

Disclaimer