From Barron's 6-18-07: "Our analysts like Valero. It offers exposure to a favorable refining cycle. Refining capacity is constrained, and many projects that had been expected to come on stream have been delayed. Demand remains quite resilient. Our analyst concludes refining margins will stay strong, though there will be short-term volatility. Also, Valero is expected to buy back shares. Goldman's earnings estimates for this year are notably above the consensus. We think the company could do $12.25 a share, which implies a P/E of about six times earnings.:

From Barron's 6-18-07: "Hewlett-Packard [HPQ] is another margin-improvement story. Margins will improve in large part because of cost reductions, and earnings will grow in excess of revenue in the next few years. There will also be some revenue growth. HP is doing well in its core business, printers, and has gained share in software. It is also buying back stock."

From Barron's 6-18-07: "Another stock we like -- it's a new recommendation from Goldman Sachs -- is Pier 1 Imports [PIR], a turnaround situation. Pier 1 and its shareholders have gone through a difficult four years, and the stock is down 70%...There is still the possibility of failure at Pier 1, but we feel increasingly comfortable the new management will be able to execute a turnaround."