In Part 6, we're going back for seconds: our second alcohol company, energy company and medical company. The reasons should be apparent, but in case they aren't: I think all three are essential -- maybe alcohol more than the other two. Ironically alcohol can be substituted for the other two, and often has been.

All three companies are well-established and U.S. based, lead their respective industries, have top flight management in the judgment of their peers and the investment community, pay dividends and have a long history of high return-on-equity.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 6

Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 6 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My top conservative pick for 2008 is Fidelity Large Cap Stock (NASDAQ: FLCSX)," says Jim Lowell, mutual fund expert and editor of The Fidelity Investor.

"Unlike most every diversified growth fund from any fund family, you won't find small-cap stocks in this portfolio. You will find companies with established growth records (based on actual products and actual earnings).

"A top-ranked manager, according to our proprietary manager ranking system, Mat Fruhan came to this fund back in May of 2005 by way of having successfully managed several Fidelity sector funds (including Financial Services, Air Transport, Cyclical Industries, Defense & Aerospace and Consumer Staples, called Food & Agriculture when he ran it back in 2001).

"The fund isn't as growth-oriented as some in his peer group, but despite having financials rule his sector-weighting roost, he's managed to deliver reasonable returns.

"His concentrated portfolio (190 names) and focus on his top ten picks (28% of the fund's assets are invested therein), make this fund a solid choice for participating in what is likely to remain a general flight to quality (ie., a continued climb up the capitalization ladder) in 2008."

Best Stocks for 2008: Established growth from Fidelity Large Cap (FLCSX) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We are all reading story after story about this relatively new company called Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which now has a valuation exceeding $145 billion ($190B counting A&B shares) after closing today around $625, adding almost $10 from yesterday's all-time high. In the past year, I probably have done at least 20 stories myself, and the public fascination continues.

Google has very quickly built an empire that even the mighty Microsoft Corp.(NASDAQ: MSFT) is losing sleep over. Microsoft Chairman Steve Ballmer is tired of having to field questions about Google at what are supposed to be Microsoft meetings. However, despite all the good news, I think things are getting a tad pricey right now. But you still hear numbers literally being thrown into the media current by silly guys in need of attention (Henry Blodget) who have long been considered passé, most recently to the tune of Google achieving a $2,000 price tag. Of course, no time frame was associated with this prediction, so it is pretty much worthless gossip.

If Google was $2,000 per share, it would have a capitalization of $470 billion. For comparison, General Electric (NYSE: GE) is valued at $430 billion, and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is valued at $516 billion, so it would be jockeying for position as the largest company in the world.

As it stands today, you could trade Google for all of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) -- valued at $135 billion -- and have money left over to buy all $9.8 billion worth of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG), still leaving a few bucks for a lifetime of fine dining. This comes to mind because this is what I have actually done instead. The combination has destroyed Google in terms of stock appreciation. Nevertheless I am gaining appreciation for Google in many ways. I think the company has done, and is doing, many smart things. Many of its adventures have not borne fruit yet, but it has carved out a HUGE swath of the internet that will not be rivaled anytime soon, and it is still growing. Does this growth and these investments (expenditures) justify the price today? The answer to that question in my opinion is no, not today. I think Google will pull back again after its October 18th earnings report.

Continue reading Serious Money: Google (GOOG) $2,000? No way, it's too high now!

Serious Money: Google (GOOG) $2,000? No way, it's too high now! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.