<FOOLISH WORKSHOP>

Three Experimental Screens

by Jim Stevens ([email protected])

Burlington, VT (Jan. 7, 1999) -- Readers who have been following the Workshop for a while have seen us write before about whimsical stock screens that haven't been backtested but that show great potential for divining winning stocks. Today I'm posting the Current Rankings for three such screens, which were identified in previous Workshop dailies but not followed by using a static list of companies over any historical time period.

I screened these stocks from the Value Line Investment Survey data as of 12/31/98 and I'm listing them with their closing prices as of that same day. Going forward, we can check in on these "idea screens" occasionally and see how the actual 1999 performances shake out. All three of them are listed in descending order of 26-week total return. Click on the screen title link to see the last update report on each of the methods. There you'll find explanations of the screens.

Bits & Bytes

Yahoo! Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: YHOO)") end if %> $236 15/16
America Online <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: AOL)") end if %> $155 1/8
Sun Microsystems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") end if %> $85 5/8
EMC Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: EMC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: EMC)") end if %> $85
Oracle Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> $43 1/8
Int'l Business Mach. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") end if %> $184 3/8
Intel Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %> $118 9/16
Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %> $73 3/16
Cisco Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %> $92 13/16
Compaq Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPQ)") end if %> $42
Texas Instruments <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: TXN)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: TXN)") end if %> $85 5/8
Lucent Technologies <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") end if %> $109 15/16
Microsoft Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> $138 11/16
Motorola Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: MOT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: MOT)") end if %> $61 1/16
Hewlett-Packard <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: HWP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: HWP)") end if %> $68 5/16

Plowback Ratio

Sun Microsystems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SUNW)") end if %> $85 5/8
Oracle Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: ORCL)") end if %> $43 1/8
Int'l Business Mach. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IBM)") end if %> $184 3/8
Intel Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: INTC)") end if %> $118 9/16
Dell Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: DELL)") end if %> $73 3/16
Amgen <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMGN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMGN)") end if %> $104 9/16
Cisco Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: CSCO)") end if %> $92 13/16
Safeway Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SWY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SWY)") end if %> $60 15/16
Guidant Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GDT)") end if %> $110
Gap (The) Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: GPS)") end if %> $56 1/8
Lucent Technologies <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: LU)") end if %> $109 15/16
Microsoft Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MSFT)") end if %> $138 11/16
Schering-Plough <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SGP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SGP)") end if %> $55 1/4
Abbott Labs. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ABT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ABT)") end if %> $49
Campbell Soup <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPB)") end if %> $55
Sara Lee Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SLE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SLE)") end if %> $28 3/16
Bestfoods <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BFO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BFO)") end if %> $53 1/4
Caterpillar Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CAT)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CAT)") end if %> $46
Coca-Cola <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KO)") end if %> $67
Computer Associates <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CA)") end if %> $42 5/8

Reasonable Runaways

Micro Warehouse <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MWHS)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: MWHS)") end if %> $33 13/16
Read-Rite <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RDRT)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: RDRT)") end if %> $14 25/32
Best Buy Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BBY)") end if %> $61 3/8
Owens & Minor <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: OMI)") end if %> $15 3/4
IBP Inc. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: IBP)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: IBP)") end if %> $29 1/8
Amer. Stores <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: ASC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: ASC)") end if %> $36 15/16
TRICON Global Restaurants <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: YUM)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: YUM)") end if %> $50 1/8
SCI Systems <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: SCI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: SCI)") end if %> $57 3/4
Genovese Drug 'A' <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(AMEX: GDX.A)") else Response.Write("(AMEX: GDX.A)") end if %> $28 1/2
Bindley Western <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BDY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BDY)") end if %> $49 1/4
Apple Computer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAPL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AAPL)") end if %> $40 15/16
Eagle Hardware <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EAGL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: EAGL)") end if %> $32 1/2
FDX Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FDX)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FDX)") end if %> $89 3/16
Bergen Brunswig <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: BBC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: BBC)") end if %> $34 7/8
Kroger Co. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KR)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KR)") end if %> $60 1/2
Fred Meyer <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: FMY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: FMY)") end if %> $60 1/4
Scholastic Corp. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SCHL)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: SCHL)") end if %> $53 5/8
Ruby Tuesday <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: RI)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: RI)") end if %> $21 1/4
Union Camp <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UCC)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UCC)") end if %> $67 1/8
Park Electrochemical <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PKE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PKE)") end if %> $28 5/8

I'm looking forward to seeing how these specialty items from the Workshop toolbox fare. Maybe 1999 will bring some insights and surprises. Here's to a few more surprises like Wednesday's market performance!

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Check out the latest file updates for the Workshop:
New Rankings | Workshop Returns | New Database