Date updated:03-28-2009
An interview with Paul Hickey and Justin Walters: Bespoke Investment Group's co-founders see signs this rally might have legs.

-
MA
Mastercard Inc - $231.16
- +0.47%
- $229.74
Q: Let's talk about a few stock picks. A: One of these is MasterCard (MA). Even though consumer spending has declined, the percentage of transactions completed with plastic continues to rise. For every one of these transactions, whether it involves MasterCard, Visa or American Express, they collect a toll to complete the transaction. While American Express takes on credit risk, MasterCard and Visa have no credit exposure. So even if banks restrict credit-card issuance, consumers will still use debit cards, where MasterCard and Visa are large players. We find MasterCard more attractive than Visa because of its valuation, which is about 16 times this year's profit estimate. The growth of credit- and debit-card transactions versus cash is a secular shift.

-
ADM
Archer Daniels Md - $31.62
- +0.16%
- $31.43
Q: What else looks attractive? A: Walters: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is a weak-dollar play. If the dollar weakens, agricultural commodities will do well. Since bottoming in October, the stock has been in a steady uptrend without skipping a beat.

-
MO
Altria Group Inc - $18.98
- -1.20%
- $19.16
Another of our picks is Altria [MO], which yields about 7%. Tobacco is recession-resistant, and while there is always litigation and regulatory risk surrounding tobacco stocks, we believe this only helps keep the leaders entrenched in their positions, and no one is stronger than Altria. Also, while politicians like to portray tobacco companies as public enemy No. 1 behind the banks, federal and state governments generate an average of nearly $2.50 of taxes per pack of cigarettes, so politicians would be foolish to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

-
INTC
Intel Corporation - $19.24
- -0.31%
- $19.15
Q: One more pick, please. A: Walters: Chip maker Intel (INTC). While it barely made a bear-market low at the end of February, and therefore doesn't quite pass our basic test, the stock yields 3.55%. With cash making up 15% of its market cap, that is probably one of the safer dividends in the Standard & Poor's 500.
- Top Professional Portfolios
- 1. Fidelity Contrafund - ...
- 2. Navellier & Associ...
- 3. Calamos Advisors
- 4. Argus Management
- 5. Bernard L. Madoff Inve...
- show all
- Top Do-It-Yourself Portfolios
- » Joseph Russell Portfolio 1
- » Albo's First Portfolio
- » Darrell Werth Portfolio 1
- » Echo5Joker's Portfolio
- » jgroov Portfolio 1
- show all
- Most Viewed Portfolios
- » Warren Buffett
- » George Soros
- » T. Boone Pickens - BP Cap...
- » Carl Icahn
- » Renaissance Technologies
- show all
Not a Stockpickr member? Join the community today -- for free.Regardless of why a stock is in the news, it never hurts to hear what a professional investor has to say about...
By Roberto Pedone Posted on Nov. 20, 2009 According to Jim Cramer, options expiration is driving the current market selloff. He pointed out that the only stocks that we...
By Roberto Pedone Posted on Nov. 19, 2009 According to CNBC’s “Fast Money” traders, the stock market is showing no signs of stopping its current bull run. Joe Ter...
By Jonas Elmerraji Posted on Nov. 18, 2009 There are plenty of reasons for stocks to have the attention of short-sellers. Waning financials, a deteriorating business mo...
A. Here's another one:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/173986-s
hipping-three-high-risk-high-reward-opti
ons
Also, DSX, for instance moved up after
hours.
It might depend on your timeframe. The
related indexes appear to be trending
up. (this is not a recommendation).
A. The only one I own : SLX,
too hard pick a winner out all of them
Here are some stocks that moved up on unusual volume on Nov. 19, 2009. more
Here are some of the largest % gainers from Nov. 20, 2009. more
Unusually active options can often indicate that a major event in a stock is about to take place, or that unsophisticated investors (using options in lieu of leverage) are ... more











Comments not available