Billions of investment dollars are sitting on the sidelines for fear of entering the market at the wrong time and losing more money after taking a bath last year. However, the market seems to have hit bottom last March and many investors missed the 40% gain from that point to now.

Market prognosticators are spewing out opinions faster than the public can grasp, or understand. I choose to stick with basic fundamental value propositions and ignore the noise.

I have been buying for the past eight months and riding the market waves, good and bad, to huge gains -- so far. Maybe I will be giving some back, maybe not, but I have also been encouraging readers to take something off the table, in several recent posts.

Most people probably have not heard of the Olin Corp (NYSE: OLN), even though it has been in business in the United States since 1892 (127 years!), and has been selling ammunition under the 140-year-old Winchester brand since it acquired the company 76 years ago.

While Olin has been around a long time, it does not get much attention. It is only capitalized at $1 billion and much of what it sells is far from glamorous. It also does more wholesale than retail business. However, investors should remember this: Olin pays a safe 5% yield!

When I look at the numbers for Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO), it is hard for me to believe the company has not been bought out already. Capitalized at $22 billion, it would be easy for most of the major oil companies to swallow whole.

Contrarian that I am, my view differs from that of Credit Suisse, which downgraded the stock yesterday based on valuation and lack of a visible catalyst for near-term growth.

This is the final post on why I believe you would be better off investing in the Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) than you would in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), or Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B).

I hope I made the case this week outlining the deeper value proposition, competitive advantages, reduced risk, and of course the dividend that make Williams the preferable investment for the long term.

This week I have been evaluating the Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB), a stock that I think would make a good core holding for anyone seeking a dependable dividend, growth potential, and relatively low risk given its current price.

The price was $13.77 when I started the series and $13.00 when I myself bought in.

After the first three posts, I hope the case has been made, but we will continue nevertheless looking at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) for more supporting evidence.

Over the past three years, I have found occasion to recommend these stocks and to pan them when their prices became ridiculous, not always with perfect timing. This week I have been expressing my preference for one over the rest, the Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB).

Part 3 continues to compare Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) , Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) to Williams using a variety of common criteria.

In my first post on the subject yesterday, I discussed some of the advantages that Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) might have over more popular stock "brands" like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) -- all great companies.

I highlighted the yield, book value, and spread between natural gas and oil, concluding that even "my pal Warren" would prefer Williams. Today I continue to look at the various valuation metrics one might contemplate in examining a stock's potential.

If I write about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) or even one of my favorites Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B). I know that readership will be higher than if I write about less popular names.

Most recently this happened when I wrote about Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) and to my disappointment interest was not high. Maybe it was the header: Chasing Value: Williams has the pipes and it's not blowing smoke -- go back and read it.

My core investment strategy of trading strong penny stocks (which earned me 197% last year) has clearly benefited from the overall market's strength of the past few days. While I'm looking at these following five names, I'm not rushing into them just yet. Each has a different story to tell:

Ferro Corp. (NYSE: FOE), a struggling industrial materials maker whose stock price has plummeted in the past six months from the $20s to $1, basically doubled to $2 after the company amended its financing agreement -- meaning its lenders gave it some breathing room.