Stocks for
Dad
ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Motley Fool delivers
the goods for Dads across the planet this week, offering its readers ten
investment ideas for Father's Day (six in this press release). The gesture
is an act of faith that there are still decent values on a stock market that
has appreciated a smashing 88% over the past thirty months.
The world's most popular online financial forum (www.fool.com) believes that,
even in this market environment, the best thing you can do for Dad this Sunday
is help make him an owner in some of America's greatest businesses. "After
all, the guy has invested in you his entire life -- ice skates, tuition,
bail money. It makes sense to return the favor," says Tom Gardner, a founding
partner of The Motley Fool.
The six highlighted stocks come at a time when many on Wall Street are growing
anxious about market valuations. Reminiscent of the early 1970's, many large
capitalization stocks are trading in excess of thirty times earnings. From
1973 to 1974, U.S. common stocks fell 30%. It took a full decade for Coca-Cola
stock to return to its 1972 highs. So there's fodder for skeptics. But The
Motley Fool believes there are always great values for people looking to
invest their money for the long-term.
What are the six stocks? The full write-ups are available at The Motley Fool
Online (AOL Keyword: Fool, http://www.fool.com), but here's an advance glance:
Capital One <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: COF)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: COF)") end if %> -- Dale Wettlaufer (News)
"I see a good value at Capital One, which is priced at 2.8 times book value
and 62% of gross loans and receivables. I also like Capital One's more
conservative credit loss reserves of 3.4% of loans and receivables, which
compares to 2.5% at First USA and only 1.9% at MBNA."
WorldCom <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WCOM)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WCOM)") end if %> -- Jeanie Macaulay (Research)
"The Company is making major investments in strategic long distance, crossborder
networks. Investors in this group should be keeping their eyes on the global
market. That's WorldCom's focus. Formidable competition will abound, presented
for instance by British Telecom in the bid for the Singapore business."
British Petroleum <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BP)") end if %> -- Gary Edmondsson (Research)
"The Company is a leader in deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and
is pioneering activities in the (West of Shetlands) area of the Atlantic.
BP has also announced a string of new field development projects in Alaska
in the last few months."
Cisco Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %> -- Paul Motter (Research)
"The Company currently has products representing 80% of the installed base
of routers on the Internet. It is also working on bringing cheaper ATM into
the marketplace."
WD-40 Company <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WDFC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: WDFC)") end if %> -- Jerry Thomas
"The Company has a strong cash position with negligible long-term debt, fat
15% profit margins, a generous 4.5% dividend yield, years of steady earnings
growth, and a strong brand name that dominates its category."
Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> -- Tom and David Gardner (Fools)
"The Company is spending dramatically more money on the development in operating
software, tools, and applications for the Internet than its competition.
With a sparkling balance sheet and aggressive young management, Microsoft's
rich valuation looks supportable."
"These six companies look like terrific long-term investments," says David
Gardner, founding partner of The Motley Fool. "They're just ideas; your Dad
should do his own homework before investing in anything. But we think he'll
get more out of these than a freakin' necktie."
The Motley Fool aims to educate and amuse the individual investor. The Fool
offers up investment strategies and ideas through its online forum (AOL Keyword
Fool, http://www.fool.com), its best-selling book The Motley Fool Investment
Guide (Simon & Schuster), and its partnerships with companies like Yahoo!,
Quicken, and USA Today.
SOURCE The Motley Fool
CO: The Motley Fool
ST: Virginia
IN: FIN
SU: |