advertisement
Article Tools
| Currency | US Dollar |
|---|---|
| British Pound to US Dollar | 1.661958 |
| Euro to US Dollar | 1.485002 |
| Japanese Yen to US Dollar | 0.011126 |
| Canadian Dollar to US Dollar | 0.930665 |
If you like a diversified portfolio, you will love StockScouter's April picks. Just about everything is contained in the list of 50 stocks that rate 10 or higher. Like the yellow metal? There's Anglo American PLC (AAUK, news, msgs), the big English gold producer. Something that caters to your need to pamper yourself? Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY, news, msgs) A little oil, perhaps? Occidental Petroleum (OXY, news, msgs) Restaurants? Try O'Charley's (CHUX, news, msgs) Need a cell phone? Try Motorola (MOT, news, msgs).
And lots and lots of financial companies: banks, insurances companies, savings and loans. Which is understandable given that 20% of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index is financial companies.
StockScouter is a proprietary computerized screening system built by MSN Money with Gradient Analytics. At the end of each month, the system is run to try to identify stocks with the best chances of producing outsized returns over the next six months.
The list has evolved month-to-month. A year ago, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything other than energy companies on the list. There were a few months last fall when all 50 stocks in the list were energy-related. And, so far, the system has performed fairly well. In 2005, for example, StockScouter's picks generated a 19.7% return (before transaction costs).
For more, see Jon Markman's column 22 StockScouter picks for 2006
April's list includes only a few energy companies, including Occidental Petroleum and BG Group (BRG, news, msgs), the British pipeline company. That's probably as pure a sign as you can find that energy stocks are either about to peak or about to come down.
Meanwhile, the April list is a celebration of, well everything. It has an organic food company Hain Celestial (HAIN, news, msgs), an exhibition services giant Viad (VVD, news, msgs). They do work at big conventions all over the country. PCTEL (PCTI, news, msgs) offers communications products to the wireless industry. Entravision (EVC, news, msgs) is a Spanish-language broadcasting company.
And if you really need to know what something is, there's Factset Research (FDS, news, msgs), which supplies financial intelligence to the global investment community.
So, here are April's picks. If you believe in diversification, here it is.
| Company | StockScouter rating | March 31 close |
|---|---|---|
| ACTUANT (ATU, news, msgs) | 10 | $61.41 |
| AIRGAS (ARG, news, msgs) | 10 | $39.00 |
| ALDERWOODS GROUP (AWG, news, msgs) | 10 | $17.29 |
| ALLIED WASTE INDUSTRIES (AW, news, msgs) | 10 | $11.94 |
| ANGLO AMERICAN PLC (AAUK, news, msgs) | 10 | $19.76 |
| ANSWERTHINK (ANSR, news, msgs) | 10 | $6.28 |
| ARACRUZ CELULOSE SA (ARA, news, msgs) | 10 | $52.06 |
| ARGON ST (STST, news, msgs) | 10 | $33.58 |
| BG GROUP PLC (BRG, news, msgs) | 10 | $63.27 |
| BEA SYSTEMS (BEAS, news, msgs) | 10 | $13.11 |
| BED BATH & BEYOND (BBBY, news, msgs) | 10 | $39.23 |
| BOWNE & CO. (BNE, news, msgs) | 10 | $16.54 |
| CEMEX SA (CX, news, msgs) | 10 | $64.75 |
| CENTRAL VIRGINIA BANKSHARES (CVBK, news, msgs) | 10 | $27.75 |
| CITRIX SYSTEMS (CTXS, news, msgs) | 10 | $36.65 |
| COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS (CTSH, news, msgs) | 10 | $59.57 |
| COMVERSE TECHNOLOGY (CMVT, news, msgs) | 10 | $23.28 |
| CORUS BANKSHARES (CORS, news, msgs) | 10 | $59.73 |
| EMC INSURANCE GROUP (EMCI, news, msgs) | 10 | $27.73 |
| E*TRADE FINANCIAL (ET, news, msgs) | 10 | $26.75 |
| ELECTRONIC CLEARING HOUSE (ECHO, news, msgs) | 10 | $12.45 |
| ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS (EVC, news, msgs) | 10 | $8.77 |
| EXTRA SPACE STORAGE (EXR, news, msgs) | 10 | $16.97 |
| FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS (FDS, news, msgs) | 10 | $43.84 |
| FIRST STATE BANCORPORATION (FSNM, news, msgs) | 10 | $26.87 |
| FIRSTFED FINANCIAL (FED, news, msgs) | 10 | $59.69 |
| GLADSTONE CAPITAL (GLAD, news, msgs) | 10 | $21.50 |
| GRACO (GGG, news, msgs) | 10 | $45.10 |
| HAIN CELESTIAL GROUP (HAIN, news, msgs) | 10 | $26.01 |
| HANCOCK HOLDING CO. (HBHC, news, msgs) | 10 | $46.16 |
| HIGHLAND HOSPITALITY (HIH, news, msgs) | 10 | $12.84 |
| ITT EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (ESI, news, msgs) | 10 | $64.43 |
| INVESTORS TITLE (ITIC, news, msgs) | 10 | $42.74 |
| LODGIAN (LGN, news, msgs) | 10 | $13.83 |
| MOTOROLA (MOT, news, msgs) | 10 | $22.96 |
| NETMANAGE (NETM, news, msgs) | 10 | $6.00 |
| O’CHARLEY’S (CHUX, news, msgs) | 10 | $18.49 |
| OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM (OXY, news, msgs) | 10 | $94.26 |
| PCTEL (PCTI, news, msgs) | 10 | $9.43 |
| PERCEPTRON (PRCP, news, msgs) | 10 | $8.55 |
| QUALCOMM (QCOM, news, msgs) | 10 | $50.85 |
| SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES (SAY, news, msgs) | 10 | $43.37 |
| SEACOR HOLDINGS (CKH, news, msgs) | 10 | $78.62 |
| TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (TXN, news, msgs) | 10 | $33.08 |
| UNITED AMERICA INDEMNITY (INDM, news, msgs) | 10 | $22.75 |
| UNITED COMMUNITY BANKS (UCBI, news, msgs) | 10 | $28.10 |
| UNIVERSAL FOREST PRODUCTS (UFPI, news, msgs) | 10 | $63.73 |
| VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS (VAR, news, msgs) | 10 | $55.92 |
| VIAD (VVI, news, msgs) | 10 | $34.15 |
| WATSCO (WSO, news, msgs) | 10 | $70.47 |
Rate this Article
High