Anybody have capital gains to show this year? I didn't think so. Not unless you were shorting the market, and in particular financials. I got clobbered with everyone else. There were not many places to hide. Picking winners was like guessing where each piece of debris would land after the tornado moved through town.

The average crystal ball is looking quite foggy about now, nevertheless I have rummaged throughout the stock market to select nine stocks that I think offer more reward than risk. The market is priced for the worst in so many cases that I think the list could have included 50 companies without too much trouble.

In 2007 and 2008 I owned some but not all of the picks for the year. This year I own all of the stocks and they were all acquired in the latter part of the fourth quarter for a new portfolio.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 9 picks for 2009 -- APC, GE, ISRG, WFC and more

Chasing Value: 9 picks for 2009 -- APC, GE, ISRG, WFC and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.