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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (248888)	7/8/2003 3:54:45 PM
From: MythMan	Respond to of 436258

the entire version... >>This Heart's Set on Honeywell By James J. Cramer 07/08/2003 15:03 Asbestos litigation relief, the type that makes it so bankrupt companies can come back to life, may be in the offing. Some stocks are taking off, most notably USG USG , Georgia Pacific GP , Halliburton HAL and some of the excellent insurers, companies like Chubb CB and Hartford HIG . Don't get me wrong. I love those companies. But the one that I have my heart set on, my favorite stock, remains Honeywell HON . I never buy a stock for takeover. I can't trade. I have to own. I can't own calls. I have to be a shareholder. So I look for situations that are cheap as all get-out, where the dividend is good, where management is good and where I might get lucky. I think that after July 10, when the markup of the bill for asbestos litigation relief occurs, people are going to focus on Honeywell. And that focus will be right. Not that long ago, a couple of companies tried to buy Honeywell, most notably United Technologies UTX and General Electric GE . The latter had problems with European regulators, and while I don't think General Electric is in acquisition mode, United Technologies makes more sense than ever. So why hasn't it happened? Not long after the abortive bidding for Honeywell, it became clear to the market that the company had the ultimate poison pill: exploding asbestos liabilities. The company, or at least its previous management, went to incredible lengths to play down this poison pill, but anyone who did due diligence found it. (Those managers were hopping mad when I brought it up here and on television.) I want to own Honeywell because of David Cote, the former fearless leader of TRW . I want to own it because of the turn in aerospace. I want to own it because of defense. But you know what? I might want to own it because United Technologies might want to own it after the asbestos litigation reform takes hold -- presuming it will, and that's still a big if. Unlike Georgia Pacific and USG and the insurers, this stock has done nothing. It's still down substantially from where it was a few years ago. It's a Dow stock. Has a big dividend. Earnings seem OK. I don't know, tell me what I am missing. Or get long, of course.