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MoneyHeavy Portfolio
The Chosen Qualities

The stocks that follow have been selected because they represent companies that have posted strong sales and earnings growth over the past five years. They have shown no need to borrow money to support operations. They have more than $300 million in the bank.

These are also companies that are aggressively managing operations and cash flow. Here's one ratio: subtract cash and marketable securities from current assets. Then divide that by current liabilities. If it's below 1.0, you have an aggressive CFO. You have a business that is tightly managing inventories and receivables, as it holds off payables. That's what I think an investor in the giants should look for.

Additionally, almost all of these companies sell directly through to the consumer, and thus have brand values which I believe the investing community underrates -- sometimes dramatically. Because these companies have a wide range of buyers, they're protected against the loss of any one or few customers. Yesterday's Daily Trouble on GALILEO CORP <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GAEO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: GAEO)") end if %> rather perfectly showed what happens to even great companies that have few buyers, few sources for distribution. Lose one or two, and blammo! It may take years to heal those wounds. When you're running the football downfield against the Chicago Bears, you want as many strong blockers (buyers) as possible. Billions, if possible.

So this model is rather simple, and duplicable by anyone with access to an S&P Stock Guide and Zacks' Analyst Watch. Simply weed out companies without the $300 million in cash; remove any companies with less than 7% profit margins; strip away any businesses with more long-term debt than cash; and cast very skeptical eyes on any businesses with a high current-ratio. You'll want inventories and accounts receivable as low as possible. Once you add in consumer-demand element to the equation, you might well end up with a list that looks something like this:

Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %>
Coca-Cola <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") end if %>
Gillette <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: G)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: G)") end if %>
Intel <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %>
Oxford Health Plans <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: OXHP)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: OXHP)") end if %>
Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %>
Gap <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") end if %>
Cisco Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %>
Johnson & Johnson <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: JNJ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: JNJ)") end if %>
Pioneer Hi-Bred International <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PHB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PHB)") end if %>

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