Best Stocks for 2008: Brookfield Asset Management (BAM)

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative stock for 2008 is Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM)," says Peter Slatin, editor of the Forbes/Slatin Real Estate Report.

"Here's a company that has it all: energy, timber and, mostly through its 50% ownership of Brookfield Properties (NYSE: BPO), top-quality commercial real estate in highly desirable markets such as London and New York.

"It also holds assets in emerging markets like Brazil, where it just acquired a major retail portfolio; and stable, well-performing Canada, including Calgary.

"Along with its office buildings in that energy and mineral boom town, BAM, which is traded on the New York and Toronto exchanges, also has a hefty stake in the region's vast oil sands.

"The company, with a market cap of more than $22 billion, is currently trading toward the higher end of its 52-week range, and its extremely professional management and well-balanced exposure to some key markets and industries will continue to make it a rock-steady performer in a very shaky world."