It's a market than remains the province of those who make astute calculations and who can tolerate moderate risk (or high risk). This market has demonstrated that it can certainly frustrate -- and humble -- institutional investor and individual investor alike.

Moreover, perhaps the most memorable dimension to the bear market that began in October 2007 will be its ability to take down the stocks of healthy companies with demonstrated business models.

Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) is one such business model. A global, engineering, procurement and construction company that specializes in turnkey projects for customers that produce, process, store and distribute the world's natural resources, the market hammered CBI as it became clear that emerging markets, a key CBI customer, had entered a recession. The First Call F2009/F2010 EPS estimates for CBI are $1.64 / $1.42.

Continue reading Chicago Bridge & Iron: A get-ahead-of-the-pack play

Chicago Bridge & Iron: A get-ahead-of-the-pack play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most of us would be thrilled to invest in a stock that doubles our money, but it certainly isn't easy to find these stocks. According to data provider Capital IQ, in the last year only 1.4% of 6,700 stocks trading on the U.S. exchanges were able to double their price.

BusinessWeek started hunting some of these potentially great stocks by asking fund managers to choose those firms expected to provide 100% returns in the next few years. Of course, the resulting list is by no means a sure thing, since major factors such as the ongoing credit crisis and challenging market conditions could affect results in unpredictable ways.

But let's look at some of the strategies used when picking high-potential stocks.

Mary Lisanti, portfolio manager at the Adams Harkness Small Cap Growth Fund, focuses on young companies in the small-cap segment. She points to stocks like Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN) and Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN), saying that investors can have a big advantage when they recognize potential before the market does.

Continue reading BusinessWeek picks stocks that could double

BusinessWeek picks stocks that could double originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 May 2008 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.