"Most investors wouldn't give a fund described as 'relatively prosaic, dull, conservative' a second glance; that, however, is exactly how John Neff described the Windsor Fund that he headed for more than three decades," notes John Reese, an advisor who models specific portfolios designed around the stated investing strategies of many of the stock market's most legendary investors.

In his Validea newsletter, Reese explains, "And, while his style may not have been flashy or eye-catching, the returns he generated for clients were dazzling -- so dazzling that Neff's track record may be the greatest ever for a mutual fund manager.

"Over his 31-year tenure (1964-1995), Windsor averaged a 13.7 percent annual return, beating the market by an average of 3.1 percent per year.

Lyondell Chemical (NYSE: LYO) was mentioned twice as a stock to buy in this past weekend's Barron's Roundtable (subscription required), recommended by both Archie MacAllaster and John Neff. At $25, the stock is selling for 6.25x earnings, versus the S&P 500 which is selling for 15x to 16x earnings.

What is particularly attractive about Lyondell is that it bought out its Venezuelan partner's 41% stake in the Citgo refinery and now fully owns this sizable refinery. This asset should generate a lot of cash flow for Lyondell's shareholders for years to come.

Lyondell put a good chunk of debt on its balance sheet to purchase the Citgo refinery stake, but has already reduced debt by $2 to $3 billion, according to MacAllaster, who put a $40 price target on the stock.

Auto sales weren't so bad after all! we all agreed, shaking hands and congratulating the industry, feeling a bit smug (despite Toyota's walloping of all things American). And at first blush, it looked to be true: sales at Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) were actually up vs. September 2005, 4.7%, and sales at DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX) and General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) weren't down as much as many industry watchers feared.

That's all well and good, when you're looking at raw units sold. But Autoblog's John Neff went a little deeper and considered the way auto dealerships operate: in "selling days." September 2006 selling days were 26, vs. only 25 in September 2005. And if you know auto dealerships, the guys behind the desk are really looking at DSR: daily sales rate.

Were we all snookered into placidity by one of the oldest tricks in the car sales guys' book? Here's what John found when he looked at DSR instead of gross sales:

Who wouldn't want to follow in the footsteps of this century's great investors? SmartMoney tries to give its reader that opportunity in its August cover story profiling the likes (and the stock picks) of Warren Buffett, Bill Miller, Chris Davis and others.

It's a fascinating read and one that left me chomping at the bit to go invest my spare cash. Sears Holdings (SHLD), Merck (MRK), and News Corp (NWS) were the names that caught my eye. If I had any spare cash I would probably be doing some buying rather than writing this blog post. But since I don't, I'll instead enumerate the reasons why it may not make sense to follow the stock picks of the pros:

• They bought back then, but would they buy now? You just don't know. Buffett bought ConocoPhillips, General Electric (GE) and United Parcel Service (UPS) in the past year. But has he held onto them? Did he buy for reasons that have nothing to do with his view on their long-term potential (that's always a possibility with Wall Street pros)? My guess is the answer is "no" to both those questions, but we just can't be sure what Buffett was thinking when he bought and if he'd do the same thing today.
• What if they are due for a cool streak? Bill Miller has been an investing phenomenon, beating the S&P year after year. Some academics would argue that it's pure luck. The article points out that his bets on United Health Group (UNH) and Aetna (AET)aren't looking so good and a couple of his August cover picks -- Yahoo and Dell -- have stumbled badly lately. But Sears Holdings (SHLD) sounds like a decent idea to me.
• Are they playing it safe? Christopher Davis picks Wal-Mart and Microsoft. Those sound like fine choices for the core of a portfolio, but I doubt they are really his best ideas. News Corp (NWS), his third idea sounds like the smartest to me. And the stock is doing terrific this year.

The article is well worth reading and if you are looking for some good ideas, this is a great place to start. But just as with any investing article, it should just be the starting point for further research.