Tuesday, December 30, 1997
The Daily Workshop
Report
by Robert Sheard
(TMF Sheard)
LEXINGTON, KY. (Dec. 30, 1997) -- A number of readers pointed out yesterday that a stock in the current Keystone rankings has merged recently and no longer trades under the same symbol, so let me try to sort out the mystery and explain how I'll handle it for the Keystone model we're about to launch in the 1998 Workshop.
CUC International changed names on December 18 after a merger with HFS Inc. The new company is called Cendant Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CD)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CD)") end if %>. The print version of Value Line listed this change Friday, but for some reason the Value Line for Windows database still lists the stock as CUC International and the symbol as CU.
I'm a bit surprised this stock showed up in the Keystone screens at all because typically Value Line eliminates the Timeliness ranking for stocks involved in a merger. But even more disturbing is that a number of other Value Line for Windows subscribers have a different value listed for CUC International's 26-week return than the value that appears in my downloaded version. The other 29 Keystone stocks, however, appear to carry identical return values in all of our versions. I can only guess that perhaps Value Line revised its numbers and we downloaded the database at different times.
Since the correct number for Cendant's 26-week return appears to place it further down the Keystone rankings than my database rankings have it, I am revising the list to drop Cendant out of the top ten this week. This is important in that the list we have now is the "official" Keystone portfolio for the 1998 Workshop records.
Here, then, are the ten stocks I'll be including for Keystone in 1998, in order of their 26-week returns:
Fifth Third Bancorp <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FITB)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: FITB)") end if %>
Coca-Cola Enterprises <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CCE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CCE)") end if %>
The Gap <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") end if %>
AirTouch Communication <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ATI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ATI)") end if %>
Computer Associates <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") end if %>
Compaq Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") end if %>
Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %>
Pfizer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PFE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PFE)") end if %>
Norwest Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NOB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NOB)") end if %>
Safeway <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SWY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SWY)") end if %>
Our group of ten Keystone stocks from the beginning of 1997 have given up some of their earlier impressive gains recently, but the portfolio is still considerably ahead of the S&P 500 Index, which is the best performing of the major indices this year. The top five stocks have recorded a gain of 52.0% through December 23. The top ten stocks have posted a gain of 40.4%. The S&P 500 has gained 28.8% over the same period.
Here are the individual stocks that comprised the Keystone Ten at the beginning of the year. They are listed in order by their ranking last January first.
7.4% Intel <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %>
83.4% Compaq Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") end if %>
49.2% Microsoft <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %>
74.9% Travelers Group <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: TRV)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: TRV)") end if %>
45.1% BankAmerica <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BAC)") end if %>
52.2% FreddieMac <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FRE)") end if %>
26.9% Gillette <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: G)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: G)") end if %>
21.5% Citicorp <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CCI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CCI)") end if %>
33.6% Merck <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MRK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MRK)") end if %>
9.5% Monsanto <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MTC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MTC)") end if %>
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