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Many investors who like to "find" their own stock to invest in use stock screens. Some are available on the internet financial sites. One of my favorites is on Yahoo. Another I have respect for are recommendation lists provided by Schwab brokerage.

Not being a trader and being more conservative to approach, I have become very disappointed in the performance of my fixed income securities. To reinvest the proceeds from called preferred stocks and bond maturities into similar investments I can't match anywhere near the yields they have provided in the past. This has required me to change my approach to shift portfolio weighting more toward common stocks.

Looking at index performance, the traditionally riskier stocks are the smaller capital companies. I looked at the Russell 2000 Index and saw how it has been performing compared to most other stock indices. I downloaded all 2000 stocks into a spreadsheet. That alone was a time consuming task but to then analyze each company to make an investment decision would be daunting.

I used Yahoo to narrow down the list.

http://screener.finance.yahoo.com/stocks.html

The Yahoo screener has the S&P 600 as a criteria that overlaps almost all of the Russell 2000 and to my more conservative orientation I added a low beta range of .5 - 1.5 and that there must be a dividend. This screen was sorted against the Russell 2000 list and those not matching discarded. Finally I downloaded the Schwab recommendation list selecting only those that were rated A or B.

To match against my Yahoo screen, I used a cross matrix of Schwab list symbols in the top line with the Yahoo screen symbols ad associated data for beta, P/E, dividend yield, and market cap. The matrix is comprised of "IF" statements with a "1" result for a match. I then coded the positive match codes with into the Schwab list with other data for my final list.

Yahoo link Company Schwab Market Cap: P/E (TTM): EPS : Div & Yield: COKE COKE Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolid A 626.16M 23.28 2.91 1.00 (1.50% FDEF FDEF First Defiance Financial Corp. A 170.01M 12.49 1.4 0.20 (1.10%) FIBK FIBK First Interstate BancSystem, In A 664.85M 14.02 1.1 0.48 (3.10%) SAFT SAFT Safety Insurance Group, Inc. B 695.35M 14.51 3.13 2.40 (5.20%) QUAD QUAD Quad Graphics, Inc Class A Comm B 802.46M N/A -0.07 1.00 (5.60% ELRC ELRC Electro Rent Corporation B 431.43M 16.8 1.07 0.80 (4.50%) UVSP UVSP Univest Corporation of Pennsylv B 304.01M 14.8 1.23 0.80 (4.50%) DEST DEST Destination Maternity Corporati B 253.25M 14.89 1.27 0.70 (3.70%) CTBI CTBI Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. B 558.55M 12.47 2.9 1.26 (3.50%) CWCO CWCO Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. B 122.47M 19.09 0.44 0.30 (3.60%) ECOL ECOL US Ecology, Inc. B 379.82M 17.79 1.17 0.72 (3.40% MHLD MHLD Maiden Holdings, Ltd. B 651.79M 9.6 0.94 0.32 (3.50%) RNST RNST Renasant Corporation B 483.43M 19.64 0.98 0.68 (3.60%) WASH WASH Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. B 438.36M 13.53 1.98 0.96 (3.60%) CHFC CHFC Chemical Financial Corporation B 669.00M 13.67 1.78 0.84 (3.40% WSBC WSBC WesBanco, Inc. B 560.21M 12.26 1.71 0.72 (3.40%) OCFC OCFC OceanFirst Financial Corp. B 262.95M 12.35 1.19 0.48 (3.30%) NKSH NKSH National Bankshares, Inc. B 248.55M 13.72 2.61 1.06 (3.10%) SRCE SRCE 1st Source Corporation B 543.78M 11.73 1.91 0.68 (3.00% CVBF CVBF CVB Financial Corporation B 1.26B 14.03 0.86 0.34 (2.80% FCBC FCBC First Community Bancshares, Inc B 311.32M 16.17 0.96 0.44 (2.80%) BANF BANF BancFirst Corporation B 659.66M 13.47 3.23 1.16 (2.70%) EPIQ EPIQ EPIQ Systems, Inc. B 478.18M 36.77 0.36 0.36 (2.70%) PCBK PCBK Pacific Continental Corporation B 162.15M 21.98 0.41 0.24 (2.70% STSA STSA Sterling Financial Corporation B 1.39B 3.88 5.77 0.60 (2.70%) ALTE ALTE Alterra Capital Holdings Limite B 2.34B 10.76 2.26 0.64 (2.60%) EBTC EBTC Enterprise Bancorp Inc B 161.77M 13.58 1.24 0.44 (2.60% UBSH UBSH Union First Market Bankshares C B 404.85M 12.59 1.24 0.40 (2.60%) WBCO WBCO Washington Banking Company B 223.83M 14.39 1.01 0.36 (2.50% ESIO ESIO Electro Scientific Industries, B 363.46M N/A -0.07 0.32 (2.50% BKYF BKYF The Bank of Kentucky Financial B 201.56M 11.49 2.35 0.64 (2.40% CBRL CBRL Cracker Barrel Old Country Stor B 1.57B 15.18 4.4 2.00 (3.00% DAKT DAKT Daktronics, Inc. B 399.26M 33.93 0.28 0.23 (2.40%) ATNI ATNI Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc. B 669.67M 18.98 2.27 1.00 (2.30%) CRDN CRDN Ceradyne, Inc. B 593.38M 11.56 2.12 0.60 (2.40%) GSBC GSBC Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. B 419.89M 9.3 3.33 0.72 (2.30%) MTSC MTSC MTS Systems Corporation B 845.75M 16.37 3.21 1.20 (2.30%) NRCI NRCI National Research Corporation B 344.91M 25.84 1.96 1.04 (2.10%) BSRR BSRR Sierra Bancorp B 175.58M 20.58 0.61 0.24 (1.90%) RELL RELL Richardson Electronics, Ltd. B 189.67M 28.49 0.43 0.24 (2.00%) CECE CECE CECO Environmental Corp. B 139.91M 16.53 0.58 0.18 (1.80%) COLB COLB Columbia Banking System, Inc. B 705.51M 12.94 1.37 0.36 (1.90%) PEBO PEBO Peoples Bancorp Inc. B 248.91M 13.02 1.79 0.44 (1.90%) STEI STEI Stewart Enterprises, Inc. B 704.41M 20.68 0.4 0.16 (1.90%) BMRC BMRC Bank of Marin Bancorp B 225.93M 13.1 3.23 0.72 (1.70%) EIHI EIHI Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc B 125.83M 16.3 1.03 0.28 (1.70%) RCII RCII Rent-A-Center Inc. B 2.09B 11.97 2.95 0.64 (1.80%) EFSC EFSC Enterprise Financial Services C B 242.73M 9.71 1.4 0.21 (1.50%) HTLF HTLF Heartland Financial USA, Inc. B 465.21M 14.08 2 0.40 (1.40% SCHL SCHL Scholastic Corporation B 1.02B 10.65 3.03 0.50 (1.50% SKYW SKYW SkyWest, Inc. B 540.72M N/A -0.33 0.16 (2.20% USPH USPH U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. Com B 332.05M 15.45 1.82 0.36 (1.30%) HBOS HBOS Heritage Financial Group B 108.96M 20.27 0.67 0.16 (1.20% CFNL CFNL Cardinal Financial Corporation B 418.62M 12.34 1.16 0.16 (1.10%) COBZ COBZ CoBiz Financial Inc. B 274.65M 8.26 0.85 0.08 (1.10%) JJSF JJSF J & J Snack Foods Corp. B 1.08B 21.39 2.68 0.52 (0.90% ENSG ENSG The Ensign Group, Inc. B 643.40M 13.75 2.18 0.24 (0.80%) FRME FRME First Merchants Corporation B 436.05M 20.11 0.76 0.12 (0.80%) ISCA ISCA International Speedway Corporat B 1.32B 19.98 1.43 0.20 (0.70%) ALCO ALCO Alico, Inc. B 231.69M 13.3 2.37 0.16 (0.50%) ALOG ALOG Analogic Corporation B 963.51M 23.08 3.42 0.40 (0.50%) BFIN BFIN BankFinancial Corporation B 178.14M N/A -2.31 0.04 (0.40%) CSFL CSFL CenterState Banks, Inc. B 264.62M 15.74 0.56 0.04 (0.50%) SYNT SYNT Syntel, Inc. B 2.59B 16.79 3.69 0.24 (0.40% FICO FICO Fair, Isaac, Incorporated Commo B 1.51B 17.21 2.59 0.08 (0.20%

Thus far I have made pilot purchases of the following: CRDN, MHLD (I chose to buy their preferred) and FIBK. I was pleased to see that CRDN is to be bought out by MMM this not known when I made the purchase. Could there be other undervalued companies in this list can be a buyout target?

Disclosure: I am long CRDN, FIBK. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

DUK Annual Meeting was a very well run and calm affair.

This is the first annual meeting that I have ever attended for a major corporation. Besides being a stockholder, I decided to attend for it being close. I am now a resident of Charlotte, NC.

The participants were not as many as I expected - stockholders seemed to be in the minority. The meeting was assisted by a private company where the helpers had "host" tags on their lapels. Security was not as stringent as I expected and I was allowed entry without any special scrutiny that I could see.

I was not asked for any identification - only asked to fill out a simple form with basic information and how many shares I owned. Parking was nearby with the parking garage full of police vehicles and uniformed officers lounging around on chairs "protecting" the premises.

News Reports in the Charlotte Observer had it that this along with the Bank of America annual meeting to be held Saturday (May 5) was a test for protecting participants from demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention to be held this year in Charlotte. And yes, there were some demonstrators sitting on the sidewalk after I left the meeting. The demonstrators were fewer than the stockholders at the meeting and offered no obstruction nor did I feel threatened by them in any way. The news reports of being prepared for confrontation with demonstrators may have kept some stockholders away from the meeting.

The actual meeting followed a tight agenda and it ran on time start to finish. A Continental breakfast was available. Duke employees greeted us warmly with table displays showing the latest power plants being constructed and a sustainability report that emphasized alternative power projects. I made a contact with the Manager of Shareholder Communications - we exchanged cards.

As I entered the meeting hall, most of the seats were not being filled. I thought I'd be sitting alone even after the CEO Jim Rogers came over to me to introduce himself. That warm touch just floored me! Then another holder sat next me introducing himself - a retired employee of Duke.

After the usual meeting business the bulk of time was devoted to Q & A from shareholders. All of the questioners seemed to be minority holders except for one union representative. Most of the time was spent allowing these people to gripe about environmental and health issues where they wanted to point the blame on Duke for respiratory disease, cancer, water pollution and global warming.

I was very impressed with the way Jim Rogers responded to these "questions." He was highly personable in speaking to these very difficult people. His emphasis in response to the environmental problems was that it was his responsibility to "get the balance right."

Overall, I was left with the impression that Duke was in the business of providing the electric power that we need at the lowest possible cost within the constraint of existing environmental regulation. It would not be responsible to go beyond what is needed to provide power in what is now considered a safe and responsible manner. They are in compliance with all environmental regulations. If these protestors feel that environmental regulations need improvement, they need to lobby the EPA to increase them.

Disclosure: I am long DUK.

Recent Q report and worry over Venezuela has taken its toll.  What is being missed is that their overall business is stable or growing slightly on a volume basis. 

I question the decline in margins. 

With a declining corn price during the quarter, would inventories now be valued lower?  And, with the current quarter's decline in inventory, is it due to decreased stocks of grain or more so from lower priced inventory?  The margin decline, is it due to first in first out inventory accounting where the higher cost of grain at the start of the quarter was not adequately hedged?  Then with lower corn prices can we expect margins to again expand?

We need to wait for a pencil pushing analyst to give some answers.  If my suspects are true, this was not as bad a quarter as the market is saying in punishing the stock price.

Bottom line - this could be the last grand opportunity to add to positions.

As for myself, I have a full position and want to see some price increase to sell as prices advance later this month when my initial purchases are in the long-term holding column.




Disclosure: Long