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Strategies & Market Trends : Zeev's Turnips - No Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lh56 who wrote (7931)	11/26/2001 12:51:28 AM
From: lh56	Respond to of 99280

smartmoney picks from wsj today. i'm buying some puts on GM. i think it'll pay for my retirement beemer next april. There Are Still Some Bargains, But the Trick Is Finding Them By RUSSELL PEARLMAN sacbee.wsj.com This year's slowing economy has clobbered big-name stocks in nearly every sector: Intel, General Motors, and Coca-Cola among them. Of course, some of the free fall was justified. Earnings of large corporations crumbled in 2001, and now Sept. 11 has cast an even greater cloud over the stock market. But there are some real bargains among the ruins. Take General Electric. The world's largest corporation rang up more than $12.7 billion in profit in 2000, and earnings have kept rising this year. The trick, of course, is separating the bargains from the dogs. To help you do that, SmartMoney magazine's editors and writers handicapped 21 of America's favorite large-company stocks for 2002. Buy, sell or hold? AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP: The terrorist attacks will bring hefty insurance-premium price increases that more than compensate for losses. Buy. AOL TIME WARNER: The weak advertising market is likely to keep this media giant from growing as fast as it hopes. Hold. AT&T: It's not worth the aggravation of owning the once-glorious phone company as it considers breaking itself up. Sell. BOEING: The hope is that its military and satellite businesses will support the stock amid a plunge in commercial plane orders. Hold. CISCO SYSTEMS: The networker is cutting costs, but sales are falling and the stock is still pricey. Hold. CITIGROUP: Cost cutting saved profits this summer, and global diversification will propel growth in 2002. Buy. COCA-COLA: Ample cash on hand and, finally, a smart plan to build brands besides Coke. Buy. DELL COMPUTER: It's leading the personal-computer price war to gain market share, but at the expense of near-term profit. Hold. EXXON MOBIL: Oil prices have come way down, and will take the company's profit down with them. Still, this company is too well-run to not own. Hold. GENERAL ELECTRIC: In this recession, the conglomerate has enough growing segments to compensate for its faltering ones. Buy. GENERAL MOTORS: Who will buy a car once zero-percent financing deals end? Expect profits to tank next year. Sell. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES: Big Blue won't skyrocket if the economy perks up, but won't fall apart if recession worsens. Hold. INTEL: Declines in PC sales have killed the chip maker's earnings, and the stock is still highly valued. Hold. JDS UNIPHASE: Customers bought too much telecom fiber. But the stock won't go much lower. Hold. MERCK: Four big drugs lose their patents soon, and it's not certain if there are any clear blockbusters in the pipeline. Hold. MICROSOFT: The decline in PC sales will keep Bill Gates Inc. from growing as fast as usual, but the stock is cheap and the company has lots of cash. Buy. MOTOROLA: Nearly all its businesses faltered in 2001. It has to hope mobile phones can prop up profit until chip sales perk up. Hold. PROCTER & GAMBLE: Most of the earnings growth is going to come through cost cutting. That's fine for a time, but not a solid reason to get into the stock. Hold. SUN MICROSYSTEMS: Sales fell off a cliff, but it still has a major market share in servers, is cutting costs and is dirt cheap. Buy. VERIZON: Already a dominant phone force in New York, it's expanding into other states. Buy. WAL-MART STORES: Sales actually rose after Sept. 11. Stores have lower costs and higher sales per square foot than rivals. Buy. -- Russell Pearlman is a reporter for SmartMoney.com. You may send e-mail to: letters@smartmoney.com.