Buckingham, John “Giant Industries (GI NYSE) has dipped below our buy limit of $4.88,” notes John Buckinghman, editor of The Prudent Speculator.  “The firm owns refineries, as well as a crude oil gathering pipeline system and a chain of retail service stations in the Southwest.  Giant posted a fourth quarter loss of $0.06 per share, but it has tremendous operating leverage. Meanwhile, management has been paring debt by selling non-strategic assets. With the stock trading for only 39% of book value and 3% of sales, far less than its peers, we think Giant Industries is a bargain.”

Kennedy, KevinIt certainly takes fortitude to buy a stock that has risen from $1 a share into the teens.  Nevertheless, the latest momentum play from Kevin Kennedy’s CoolcatReport.com is Brightpoint (CELL NASDAQ), with a relative strength ranking of 99. “Brightpoint is one of the world's largest distributors of mobile phones. Brightpoint's services include distribution, channel management, fulfillment, eBusiness solutions and other outsourced services.” For speculators only!

Stack, James“This year, Japan, along with other major world markets, have been vulnerable to developing geopolitical issues; hence our position in Scudder Japan (SJPNX) is down 7% year to date,” says Jim Stack, editor of The Invest]Tech Market Analyst.  “Still, from a contrarian standpoint, we feel a small position in Japan should offer an attractive profit opportunity once world markets start to recover.”

Leeb, StephenCoca-Cola (KO NYSE), founded in 1886, is one of the oldest and best-known consumer franchises in the world,” notes Stephen Leeb, editor of Personal Finance.  “International sales remain the firm’s strong point and the Asian market is a strong reason we expect low double-digit growth for the foreseeable future. The stock isn’t cheap on a p/e basis, and we’d prefer to buy on dips below 35.  But whenever you buy it, the only question is how long you have to wait before you see your investment turn extremely profitable. This is the ultimate ‘when’, not ‘whether’ stock.”

 

Lowell, JimFidelity Sector Investor is a great service for both traders and investors. It follows the scores of investment sectors covered by Fidelity funds, and then recommends both general and aggressive portfolios. Says editor Jim Lowell, "Our aggressive portfolio is split roughly evenly between Fidelity Select Software (FSCSX), Fidelity Select Medical Equipment (FSMEX), and Fidelity Select Wireless (FWRLX)."

 


Conrad, Roger"Arrow Financial (AROW NASDAQ) continues to prove that smaller is safer in the banking world," says Roger Conrad, editor of The Utility Forecaster. "Like other lenders, the upstate New York-based bank suffered from the compression of interest rate spreads in the quarter. But it nonetheless posted a 9.3% boost in first-quarter 2003 earnings, thanks to continued gains in loan growth and quality and by adding deposits. Deposits, the bedrock of assets, increased 13.3%. Arrow remains by far my favorite financial stock for income and growth."