Seems that even this shortened week was full of news and happenings, in the U.S. and around the world. With Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) being bailed out by the U.S. government at the beginning of the week and China announcing fiscal and monetary stimulus plans, the Dow industrials finished in positive territory four days in a row.But as analysts and pundits, as well as each and every economic release -- in the U.S. and around the world -- remind us, we are not out of the woods yet and the rally has really been a bear-market rally.
Investors looking to take advantage of such rallies, or at least feel they hold stable long-term holdings, can search this week's BloggingStocks' contributors' picks:
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) and Devry Inc. (NYSE: DV) -- It's often been suggested that educators do well in times of recession and high unemployment as workers look to improve or change their education to get a better job. Leo Fasciocco thinks these two are poised for a breakout.
Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) reported stronger-than-expected earnings this week and also hiked its forecast. Not surprisingly, cash-strapped consumers turn more and more to discounters. Dollar Tree may continue to benefit from the economic downturn and the stock could also experience a short-squeeze rally.
BP (NYSE: BP) -- Play natural gas as prices will not go down further this winter, says Jim Cramer, with these stocks: Equitable (NYSE: EQT) has a decent dividend, conservatives can play it with the Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) preferred, Ultra (NYSE: UPL) could have nice growth as can Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC). But best is BP as it has the best yield, and if oil stabilizes you have some real upside.
Allegheny Technologies (NYSE: ATI) is a diversified specialty metals producer with a rising trend in the reported earnings and low valuation, high dividend payout ratio and high ROE. All these make ATI a strong contrarian play, says David Dreman.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) -- Sheldon Liber keeps pounding the table on that one, reminding investors that not only did Warren Buffett prop it up recently, it also remains a world leader in water and power projects. GE also pays a decent dividend and the valuation is cheap.
Saks (NYSE: SKS), Citigroup (NYSE: C) -- Billionaire investor Carlos Slim has not made his fortune by making mostly stupid moves. This week it was revealed he snapped up shares in Saks and Citi. Should you follow him?
Phillip Morris International (NYSE: PM), Altria Group (NYSE: MO) were among the several consumer staples Ron Rowland and Brandon Clay suggested as defensive plays. Consumers will not stop smoking, buying groceries and pop, they say. Other defensive stocks they mention include Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Safeway (NYSE: SWY).
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) has cleverly locked in commodity prices at low levels, yet managed to raise prices without losing demand as it benefited from a trend of more consumers eating at home in a slumping economy. While it may be worth a bite, Peter Cohan also warns it's not cheap.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) seems to be a favorite of many BloggingStocks contributors, as almost every week at least one blogger mentions what a good buy it is. This week, Bill Martin says that his "bullish thesis on Apple revolves around cash; both the cash on its balance sheet and the cash it is able to generate."
Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) is a multinational biopharmaceutical company with a $29 billion market cap and no debt and a blockbuster drug with multi-billion dollar potential. Dave Dyer calls this one a recession-resistant company.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) sadly feels the gloom of the economic slowdown perhaps more than other companies. In fact, it insists it feels it more than you! Sarah Gilbert wonders whether coffee is the right business to be in.
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), PACCAR (NASDAQ: PCAR) -- Interestingly, value guy Vitaliy Katsenelson of Minyanville will not buy what he calls "stuff" stocks now. He'll buy them when everyone stops telling him how cheap they are.
Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday
Tiffany's serves up solid quarterly earnings
Cramer on BloggingStocks: This bullish retail story looks like a good fit 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-29-2008 @ 6:29AM
dave said...
What do the federal reserve, the international bankers, the bailouts, the central fractionalized banking system, globalization, the new world order, the war in Iraq, high taxes on everything imaginable, tainted food, vaccines, and our choices for president all have in common????? They were all forced upon America without the peoples consent. In fact, the people didn't even know the truth about any of it. infoforamericans.com