Fifteen stocks have been reviewed, fifteen to go to complete the Dow Jones Industrials whittling. Of the first fifteen, five will be looked at again as possible value plays: Alcoa Aluminum (NYSE: AA), American International Group (NYSE: AIG), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Disney (Walt) Company (NYSE: DIS) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) . You can link to Part 1 of this series or Part 2 or Part 3 if you want to catch up. Comments are always welcome; on to the next five...

General Motors (NYSE: GM) has practically returned from the dead rising about 100% from it's lows 18 months ago, and it was the number one performing Dow stock last year. That's wonderful for shareholders and the UAW and the managers that steered the ship. Looking at it today as a stock investment I think it would take too much speculation to be an investor. I have no idea whether GM will produce some great car designs that will be appealing to future customers or whether they will effectively compete in the marketplace against worthy alternatives. I have no idea what will happen in UAW contract negotiations. When I look at the metrics it is a mess. All I can say is that for me GM stands for "Giant Mystery," and let others wiser than I support the shares.

I was just invited to a conference at the University of California at Los Angeles by Natalia Johnson of the economics division of the Consulate General of Poland and I thought I would share this tidbit with those that might be interested and live in the vicinity.

Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and its economy has been expanding rapidly even long before they became a member. Natalia informs me that last year Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) opened a large factory in Lodz, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) opened shop in Krakov, General Motors (NYSE: GM) has been operating at several locations and the list is growing.

In addition to the presentations from representatives from Poland there will be presentations and a panel discussion by members of the Czech, Hungarian, and Slovakian missions. The UCLA Kane Anderson School of Management has scheduled the lecture for April 18, 2007 - next Wednesday, in the Korn Convocation Hall.

I have written about opportunities in China and India and others have included Russia and Brazil as offering large opportunities for significant growth as well. Central and Eastern Europe receives less press than the other regions but should be included in discussions about economic prosperity and integration into the global community.

I chase opportunity wherever I find it and if I can get out of some meetings will be there at this conference. If you are interested in long-term value investing you should read Chasing Value and put it on your toolbar.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. Check out my other posts for BloggingStocks here.

In an earlier article this morning, Eric Buscemi wrote Time to build a position in Dell? My Answer is, ABSOLUTELY NOT! I will be short and sweet in my methodical reply to this question.

1. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) built its business in a world that does not exist today. When Michael Dell started he had a good idea, a good mind, a good work ethic and low overhead. Most importantly, he had a market place filled with hundreds of other manufacturers and computer assemblers that were inefficient and ineffective in competing with his enterprise. As Dell grew, he drove competitors out of the business, taking market share all the way. Today, few competitors are left, most of them large and well capitalized companies with strong management. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ), Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE), Gateway Inc. (NYSE:GTW) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will not be driven out of business very easily, leaving all companies to jockey for percentages of the market. This is a daily battle and while Dell may be equal to the task, growth will occur only with great effort.