Witmer: I have stocks at five times earnings, and then there is Amazon.com [AMZN] at around 40 times earnings. Amazon has an attractive business, but not that attractive.

Q: Do they supply parts for corporate jets? Witmer: They do, although this business is small. There are a lot of orders outstanding from airlines, and a lot of planes getting built are using a lot more product from Kaiser. The company will be in the sweet spot for years to come. Let's say they make $5 a share and trade for 10 times earnings. Add back the value of the tax assets and you get a target price of more than $60. Kaiser has a market capitalization of $500 million. Their rolling mill alone, not including other assets, would cost $1.5 billion to replace. The company is selling at a huge discount to replacement value.

Witmer: Allegheny had a lot of trouble getting this transmission line through. In the end, the unions talked to the governors of the states involved about the jobs it would create. In 2011 the electricity Allegheny generates in Pennsylvania will start selling at market rates, which accounts for the large range of my earnings estimates for that year. The stock could trade for a minimum of 10 to 11 times earnings at that point, giving us a two-year target of 50 to 60 a share. The dividend yield is a relatively modest 1.7%, but the company should be able to increase it. Most of Allegheny's production will move to market rate, except in West Virginia. In Pennsylvania they get 7 cents per kilowatt hour, which is very low. In New York utilities get 13 to 14 cents. They cut a deal years ago to bring rates up to market over time, and the benefits are finally kicking in. They are installing the scrubbers this year. After that, in 2010, the cash starts coming in.

Q: What are the other business lines? Witmer: It issues warranty-service contracts on appliances, consumer electronics and the like, another attractive business. It also has a nice employee-benefit business, which focuses on helping small and mid-sized businesses provide insurance for employees. It has a health-insurance business for individuals and small businesses. Trailing earnings per share is more than $6, so the stock trades for less than five times earnings. Even if you take out what may be excess earnings from the home-insurance business, which we estimate would bring earnings down to $4.25, the stock trades for seven times earnings. But the high level of earnings could persist for many years. Plus, Assurant has other growth initiatives, such as the auto business, and some international opportunities. Book value was more than $31 a share as of Sept. 30, after taking write-downs on the portfolio. Assurant traded above 70 per share in the past, but 50 is a reasonable target in the next year or so.

Q: What are they going to report this year? Witmer: There is noise in the numbers, and they are building reserves. They could earn $1.70 to $2 a share, excluding one-time stuff. As the U.S. consumer continues righting his balance sheet, Discover will trade closer to 15 to 20 a share.

MacAllaster: How would you compare Google [GOOG] to Microsoft? Hickey: Google's stock went from 700 to 300. Even so, I would rather own Microsoft. The stock could go back up to 30 within a year, though it depends if the market makes a bottom in the fall.

MacAllaster: How would you compare Google [GOOG] to Microsoft? Hickey: Google's stock went from 700 to 300. Even so, I would rather own Microsoft. The stock could go back up to 30 within a year, though it depends if the market makes a bottom in the fall.

MacAllaster: How would you compare Google [GOOG] to Microsoft? Hickey: Google's stock went from 700 to 300. Even so, I would rather own Microsoft. The stock could go back up to 30 within a year, though it depends if the market makes a bottom in the fall.