BigOlDave

When Timing Meets Opportunity: Which Dividend Achievers Are at a 52-Week Low?

Interesting analysis.

I'd shop for good value in the right hand column (worst performers). A couple there are owned or on my watch list already.

Dave

Pair Trades: Bard and Intuitive Surgical

Regarding Jim Cramer, everybody loves to beat him up. He basks in the negative publicity. Meaning, Cramer is a colorful showman, but not a very useful investment advisor. The Motley Fool ranks Cramer 85th of 177 Wall Street stock pickers …with 45.7% accuracy (128th of 177).

So Jim Cramer has demonstrably below-average for someone who makes long recommendations for a living. In fairness to Cramer, he has 1,633 active picks to his name, 3X the next highest Wall Streeter, suggesting that nobody maintains a running inquiry with him that he would no longer own some of the stocks.

I’ve just signed up at your website ( www.investbymodel.com/ ) and will see how you stack up. Your “Top 20” portfolio is absolutely scalding the S&P 500 by over 23 percentage points. I expect that you will continue to beat the Wall Street crowd by a handsome margin. The Conservative Growth / Balanced portfolio might also be of interest. I’ve subscribed to an AB Analytical Services trial for DIY investors.

You run interesting screens for potential out performers or losers, then grind down into the fundamentals and key drivers. I like that about your SA posts. You’d bring an interesting freshness to a talking-head TV show based on investment screening and a pick or two, along with your thesis for it. This would be a combination of technical analysis, granular fundamentals and horse sense.

I bet you would be a bigger star than Cramer.

But you’d be subjected to even more critics like Cretin.

Dave

Pair Trades: Bard and Intuitive Surgical

Alan: You are one of my favorites. And I agree that Cetin has never had a thought I’d consider worth sharing.

I own 200 shares of Bard (BCR). Seeing it compared with ISRG was interesting, but it would seem that – except for the fact that both sell to hospitals – they are very different companies.

In terms of metrics, what appealed to me about BCR compared to all other investments out there (I passed over MOS and POT recently in favor of BCR) is its low beta (0.36), high gross margins (62%), low P/E (17), solid growth (9.5% CAGR, with 14% expected in the future, certainly less flashy than ISRG), a stunningly high S&P IQ (223/250) and very low debt/equity (0.08, though it is hard to beat zero).

I felt I needed Healthcare exposure (Bard is in patient care devises & supplies) to give my portfolio balance in a sector expected to perform well in a recessionary economy. BCR showed up on screens using metrics like the above that are important to me.

Other analysts also like BCR. S&P gives it 5 stars (Strong Buy); Reuters rates it “Outperform”; and FirstCall has it “Buy”. ValueLine has it top rated for Timeliness and Safety. Among the shareholder masses, The Motley Fool community gives both 4 stars (out of 5).

Recently BCR shares are seeing relatively heavy institutional accumulation. Compare the charts of ISRG and BCR and you also find that BCR is the Steady Eddie of the pair.

Thanks again, Alan, for your interesting analyses.

Dave