Frankly, it seems like the debt markets are a bit more rational than the equity markets right now. That said, we found where Chesapeake Energy's ( CHK) debt was trading to be quite refreshing given the strong balance sheet the company has built the past few years. This only strengthened our conviction on the name; which is already a Best Idea. Others holding up well include financially strong players like Cimerax Energy ( XEC), Concho Resources ( CXO), Energen Corp. ( EGN), EOG Resources ( EOG), Gulfport Energy ( GPOR), MasTec, Inc. ( MTZ), Noble Energy ( NBL), Patterson-UTI Energy ( PTEN), PDC Energy ( PDCE), Pioneer Natural Resources ( PXD), and Rosetta Resources ( ROSE).
 
  In other cases, the debt is providing "equity-like returns" for investors who want to move out of stocks and into bonds, Wangler says:
 
  We feel there are equity-like returns in multiple vehicles while still allowing an investor to move up the capital structure. Remaining consistent with our equity valuations/theses, we believe names like [Hold-rated] Approach Resources ( AREX), [Buy-rated] Bill Barrett Corp. ( BBG),...[Buy-rated] Clayton Williams Energy ( CWEI) and [Hold-rated] Northern Oil & Gas ( NOG) show some solid potential yield-to-worst (YTW) returns (around 10%) at the current pricing levels and that the companies are in solid financial position. Further, the ability to go up the capital structure and see capital appreciation seems to be a nice risk/reward proposal.
 
  Shares of Chesapeake Energy have dropped 1.9% to $20.10 at 2:34 p.m. today, while Bill Barrett has plunged 11% to $11.12, EOG Resources has fallen 1.3% to $94.70, Pioneer Natural Resources has declined 0.8% to $152.93, and Noble Energy has advanced 0.6% to $47.26.