Date updated:08-02-2008
Summary of the bullish and bearish positions mentioned in the August 2nd, 2008 Barron's.

-
SFY
Swift Ergy (hldg - $21.23
- +7.28%
- $19.80
At 51 a share, Swift Energy trades for just 5.4 times expected earnings. The stock could be worth 65 if the company lifts oil and gas output, as planned. Several new wells should help.

-
CBI
Chgo Bridge & Iro - $11.80
- +5.08%
- $11.76
A recent earnings-miss flipped shares of Chicago Bridge and Iron into the bargain bin. Now around 33, the stock could rally to 40 in a year, and 75 in five years.

-
BNI
Burlingtn N Sante - $81.27
- +2.74%
- $79.56
Investors may want to hop aboard before the train leaves the station. Warren Buffett, for one, already has done so. Over the past 18 months, his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has built up an 18% equity stake in the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI), the second largest of the publicly traded U.S. freight railroads, along with smaller but substantial holdings in a number of other lines.

-
FDP
Fresh Del Monte P - $22.27
- -1.59%
- $22.64
For a picture rapidly to hate, punch up a one-year chart of Fresh Del Monte Produce (FDP) -- from 22 in late July 2007 to 40 this April and back to 22 today. Momentum types enamored of the trendy "agflation" theme rode the grower and distributor of fresh fruit until the cocktail-party chatter veered elsewhere. An announced acquisition and profit-margin concerns also took a toll. Yet with most of the company's shares having changed hands in three months on the way down, it's back to being a boring, cheap stock of a decent, $1.4 billion-market-value company navigating an admittedly tough business. It trades near book value, and book value here is a pretty hard number (ships, farmland carried at cost, etc.).Management has managed to earn industry-best returns on equity over time, and even following an earnings shortfall last week, the stock trades below 10 times projected earnings and far below where similar companies have been acquired in the past. Plenty, at least, to like, if not love.

-
WAB
Wabtec Corp - $40.06
- +0.98%
- $40.20
Wabtec is also worth a look. The brakes concern, with a market value of $2.7 billion, is "well positioned to take advantage of the robust investments in global railroad infrastructure and the worldwide growth in passenger transit," investment-banking boutique Avondale Partners wrote recently in initiating coverage of the stock with a Market Outperform. The stock isn't cheap, trading at about 19 times year-ahead earnings. But bulls suggest it could rise to $66 from a recent $56.

-
CVC
Cablevision Syste - $16.93
- +1.50%
- $16.70
President James Dolan told analysts on a post-earnings conference call that the company "has a strong desire to close the value gap" between its stock price and what it considers to be the company's true worth. He disclosed that Cablevision is "considering and actively exploring alternatives that may close this gap." As Moffett says, it could start paying a regular dividend or declare a large one-time payout. It also could do a big share repurchase. It could spin off its cable channels -- among other things, it owns AMC, home of the red-hot series Mad Men. Or maybe the Dolans could try, for the third time, to take the company private. Moffett thinks the stock is worth more, maybe a lot more. His target price: $45, about $20 above last week's closing level.

-
CNI
Canadian Natl Rai - $40.92
- +4.39%
- $39.74
Canadian National looks like another winner. Its roughly 20,000 miles of track spans Canada and mid-America, connecting three coasts: Halifax on the Atlantic, Prince Rupert on the Pacific and cities on the Gulf of Mexico. By purchasing several short-line rails, CNI has gained access to better serve the tantalizing Alberta oil sands region. Canadian National generates the highest profit margins of any North American railroad, plus a better-than-average 19% return on equity.

-
EXTR
Extreme Networks - $2.18
- +1.40%
- $2.18
Back on March 17, I laid out the case for Extreme Networks (EXTR), which provides networking hardware. I asserted that Extreme, then around $3, looked way too cheap and suggested it might be acquired. Last week, it reported much better-than-expected June-quarter results, boosting the stock about 10%. The company has a business on the mend, and about two-thirds of its market cap in cash. Back out the value of its headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., and you get the company's operations for, well, not much. With the stock now at $3.11, my position hasn't changed. It still looks crazy cheap.
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A. for index, SPY gets you SandP 500
exposure. IWM gets you small cap US
stocks. EFA is a fund for Europe, Far
East Asia, EEM is for Emerging Markets.
if you go to ishares.com they have a lot
of different products. as a side note,
id say dont touch treasuries here, go
for corporates. especially if youve got
a lot of time head of you.
A. small trading before thrusday
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