Four of My Favorite Stocks

I own stock in each of these companies and have never sold a share. I look to add to my positions when I think the prices are cheap. This is by no means a recommendation for you to buy these stocks. I just think that the information may be useful.

1. BP - This is my favorite oil and natural gas company. I love the growth prospects for the company and the dividend is great. BP has consistently increased the dividend for as long as I have owned the stock. I even buy my gas from BP because it makes me feel like I am paying myself
2. Nike (NKE) - The swoosh dominates the athletic apparel market. Nike continues to sell athletic gear both domestically and globally while leaving its competitors in the dust. Nike hasn’t been cheap enough for me to add shares in quite some time. The recent drop in price is giving me my best buying opportunity since 2006.
3. Costco (COST) - I love the Costco business model and the growth potential. Costco offers discounted goods and services while paying employees fair wages. I think that Costco could potentially open hundreds of new stores domestically over the next decade. I must like Costco a lot considering that I have held it through the beating that retail has taken.
4. Burlington Northern (BNI) - I must admit that I only found Burlington Northern because Buffett was buying the stock. Even though the stock is near its 52 week low and transports are declining; I am looking to add shares. The railroad business has been the most cost efficient way to transport basic materials for years and should continue to be so.

Comments

[Michael Del...:]

Mark,

All of your stocks are sensitive to the economy. Add a fifth stock in the healthcare area (GILD?, JNJ?, ABT?, SGP?) and you will be able to weather the rough spots a little better. Just a suggestion.

Jan 19 11:27 AM

[ain't no fo...:]

Good picks... altho I personally no longer accept the "buy and hold" philosophy of stock investing, nor have I found it to be profitable to "average down" in a market meltdown scenario... the "catching of the falling knife" metaphor sticks in my mind.

So I believe the best of both worlds in this environment is to find good fundamentally valued stocks and use technical analysis to try to time your trades... looking for extreme oversold conditions to catch a pop, and getting out after a nice quick run.

Maybe someday one can hold a stock for more than a couple of weeks, but that sure hasn't enriched many people the past 18 months.

Jan 19 12:14 PM

[SAF:]

From time to time I spend periods in rural Arkansas. There are train tracks that run near where I stay and the number of passing trains has greatly diminished from May to November and even more so between November and now. They used to wake me up going through town. Now I hardly ever here them.

Hard to believe we are at a bottom yet with such a perceptible decrease in traffic, anecdotal as this may be.

Jan 19 02:57 PM

[Urbane Gori...:]

Re: the "catching of the falling knife" metaphor sticks in my mind...... Shouldn't it stick in your hand? Just a thought... jegan ;-)

On Jan 19 12:14 PM wpdragon wrote:

> Good picks... altho I personally no longer accept the "buy and hold"
> philosophy of stock investing, nor have I found it to be profitable
> to "average down" in a market meltdown scenario... the "catching
> of the falling knife" metaphor sticks in my mind.
>
> So I believe the best of both worlds in this environment is to find
> good fundamentally valued stocks and use technical analysis to try
> to time your trades... looking for extreme oversold conditions to
> catch a pop, and getting out after a nice quick run.
>
> Maybe someday one can hold a stock for more than a couple of weeks,
> but that sure hasn't enriched many people the past 18 months.
>

Jan 19 04:13 PM

[Bryan Kautzman:]

I'm watching BNI at the moment with bated breath. Yes, I like the stock at its current price. It might take a couple of years for the price of gas to go up, but when it does, the rails will be overpopulated once again.

Last summer, I took a drive through Gillette, WY, and the sheer number of loaded trains waiting for open tracks to transport coal was absolutely astounding. This was in June. I wanted to buy BNI then, but I knew that the price of gas couldn't go up forever...and once it did hit some resistance, the price of BNI would come down with it.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect it to drop this far. With an earnings report due on Wednesday, though, I am waiting to dip my ladle into the pot. If they miss earnings expectations, which is extremely likely, they very well could end up being the value play of the year.

Jan 19 09:00 PM