As fears of a double-dip recession and Europe's debt crisis gripped markets, investors got defensive and shifted into safe investments, including utilities and dividend-paying stocks. That dynamic favored shares of Tulsa-based Oneok, which distributes natural gas to more than 2 million customers throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, and pays a dividend of 3%.
Investors are particularly attracted to utility companies when the economic outlook seems dim, since consumers are always in need of gas and electricity.
The company also benefits from its stake in Oneok Partners, which gathers, processes, stores and transports natural gas across the country.
Oneok's stock began to take off in September, after the company raised its 2012 earnings forecast, citing a boost from recently completed projects in the Bakken Shale, Cana-Woodford Shale and Granite Wash oil fields.
It was a tough year for many major corporations, but this neglected bouquet of Fortune 500 companies stood out for particularly poor performance. From a bankrupt airline to an aging camera maker, here are the biggest losers.
