Too Far, Too Fast: Arron S Over
Too Far, Too Fast: Arron S Over
BARRON'S COVER
Our panelists foretold the recent rally. Now they say the market has gotten ahead of
itself. Their picks, pans -- and sage advice: Stake a claim in gold.
IT'S A PANDEMIC, ALL RIGHT -- A PANDEMIC of bullishness that is sweeping stock markets here and elsewhere
around the world. The Standard & Poor's 500, to take the example nearest to home, has rallied more than 41%, to
945, from its intraday low of 666 in March, in celebration of the fact that our financial system somehow survived the
swinish behavior of the past six years. Asian markets have caught the bug, too, and are off to the races on hopes
that a global economic recovery will spur demand for
the stuff the region's factories make. Commodities appear to be infected with a strain of the same ebullience; how
else to explain why oil has more than doubled in price in the past four months, to $72 a barrel?
Even the members of the Barron's Roundtable aren't completely immune, although a round of phone calls to our
distinguished panelists in the past two weeks confirms they've contracted a less virulent strain. Many predicted at
our Jan. 5 confab that the stock market, oversold and under-loved, was due for a major bounce. Now they think
stock prices have overshot corporate fundamentals and a correction is in order, but
it won't take the Dow Jones industrials, the S&P and other market measures back to the March lows. That's because
the economy could get a much-needed boost in coming months from the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus
unleashed to support it.
Down the road many of our 10 investment experts fear there will be a bitter price to pay for today's spending, in the
form of hyperinflation and a run on the dollar. Hence, their fondness for that great inflation hedge, gold. In the near
term, alas, the only other corrective for the debt-fueled binge of the past decade would be a great cleansing of the
economy and the markets, and that's not something politicians -- or the folks who elect them -- want to bear.
So, where does that leave us? With POSP, or plain-old stockpicking, as Mario Gabelli likes to call it. And in that, our
panelists don't disappoint. The pages that follow are filled with their best investment ideas for the back half of 2009,
including some energy and technology stocks, a few financial shares, several emerging-market funds and much,
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 2 of 17
much more. You'll also find a statistical update on their January picks, for which they should take a collective bow.
For the details, please read on.
FRED HICKEY
Hickey: The parallels are eerie so far, but what happens next is
complicated. The market has rallied about 40% off its lows, led by the
riskiest stuff. A selloff is coming because the fundamentals don't match
Wall Street's perception. Retail sales were terrible in May; two-thirds of
companies reporting came in below forecasts. The rebound in stocks has
been based on inventory restocking, but end markets haven't improved.
Brad Trent for Barron's
Fred Hickey and other panelists are bullish on
gold.
The savings rate rose to 5.7% in May, a 14-year high. Gasoline is up in recent weeks by about 40 cents a gallon.
People are losing their jobs. Housing prices haven't stopped falling. Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are up.
One of every 10 homeowners is in trouble. A year ago we were handing out $90 billion of rebate checks; that's over,
too.
If things were to follow the "little bull market" pattern, stocks would fall to single-digit price/earnings multiples. That
would mean 4,000 or 5,000 on the Dow, versus 8,800 now. But that won't happen; the variables are different
today.
PRECIOUS METALS Federal Reserve cut interest rates. Now not just the
Market Vect Gold Miners ETF GDX $40.80 Fed but other central banks are pumping money into
Not printing money and letting the system cleanse itself would be very painful. It would mean a great recession --
not something politicians like. Therefore, the discipline will have to come from an external source -- the Chinese.
Ultimately, the dollar will collapse and we will be forced to defend it, as happened in the 1930s. Or, we will have
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 3 of 17
Buy value, and protect yourself against the threat of the dollar's collapse and the return of inflation. I've been riding
the gold wave for a decade, and the major secular bull market in gold isn't over. I'm twice as adamant now as in
January about the need to own gold. I continue to like the mining companies. The GDX, or Market Vectors Gold
Miners ETF [exchange-traded fund], is a diversified fund of some 30 mining stocks. I still like Agnico-Eagle Mines ,
and bullion, which you can own through the GLD, or SPDR Gold Shares ETF. My favorite gold miner is Yamana Gold .
It is based in Canada but operates in Brazil, Mexico and Chile. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange. It rallied
to 11 a share from 4, but is down from a year-ago peak of 19, even though the price of gold has recovered to
almost $1,000 an ounce. The P/E is reasonable. The company has new mines coming on, and it is benefiting from
lower costs.
Microsoft is unloved at 22, because of competitive threats from Google [ticker: GOOG] and an antitrust problem
with the European Union. It is the best play in the tech world right now. It trades for 12 times earnings, something
you don't ever see. The catalyst for the stock is Microsoft's best upgrade cycle ever. In the next 12 months the
company will introduce about a dozen new products or upgrades. Windows 7 will ship on Oct. 22. It will kick off an
upgrade cycle for the whole computer industry.
The other safe way to play tech is Verizon Communications . It will offer the Palm Pre in about six months, and new
Nokia phones, and probably the iPhone. Just as eyeballs excited everyone in 2000, earlobes should excite them
today. Verizon has 87 million wireless-communications customers. It has the biggest network in the country, and
the best. The company has mostly built out FiOS, its fiber-optic telecom service. It yields 6.3%. Microsoft and
Verizon are a lot safer than trying to catch Apple [AAPL] at $150 a share.
MARIO GABELLI
The economy is benefiting from the absence of a drag from inventory reduction. Once the stimulus package kicks in,
the recovery will have legs. The remaining drags are oil is up to $71 a barrel, and interest rates are starting to rise
because of the bond vigilantes. But, on balance, the economic stimulus is coordinated and global, and powerful. The
U.S. economy will continue to improve in 2010, helped by an uptick in auto spending and improvements in housing
and capital investment. Exports could improve as the dollar weakens. There is upside leverage in earnings, partly
due to cost cuts. In January I said the stock market would end the year up zero to 5%, and I'm sticking with that
forecast.
The secular themes are the U.S. deleverages and transfers its wealth to China. As a result, the strong get stronger.
That is true in the auto sector, where General Motors [GMGMQ] and Chrysler now will follow the Toyota [TM] model
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 4 of 17
in supporting one strong dealer in a given market. As capital is reduced in the industry, the remaining, entrenched
capital will produce above-average returns. Another example, in markets like Las Vegas, is Wynn Resorts [WYNN],
which delivers a quality product and has an OK balance sheet. It will gain a share of the upper-end customer.
In some cases. I still like the stocks I recommended in January. Among new names, Legg Mason sold its brokerage
to Citigroup [C] in 2005, and bought Citi's money-management arm. Legg is selling at 24. There are 143 million
shares outstanding, and the company has to issue another 23 million in connection with an equity instrument that
matures in 2011. Assuming 166 million shares, the company has an enterprise value of $3.7 billion. It has about $2
billion of cash and $2 billion of debt.
CEO Mark Fetting is doing a terrific job of overseeing the different businesses, which include Legg Mason Capital
Management, run by Bill Miller, and other fund groups run by Chuck Royce, Buzz Zaino, Whitney George and others.
The biggest, based on assets under management, is Western Asset Management, the fixed-income specialist. The
businesses have benefited from coordinated marketing.
Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] will be $800 million to $1 billion in three or
four years. Legg could earn 80 cents for the year ending March 2010 and $2 the following year. You have focused
management, an improved balance sheet, the elimination of problems that were bogging the company down, and
products that could enjoy significant growth. You could get a double in the stock.
I recommended O'Reilly Automotive , an auto-parts retailer, in January, and nothing has changed except the stock,
which is up to around 37.50 from 31. The integration of CSK Auto, which it bought last year, is going well. In real
estate, O'Reilly is getting better locations at more reasonable prices, to buy or lease. The company could earn $2 a
share this year. There are 250 million cars on the road. The guy who owns a 14-year-old car trades it for a nine-
year-old car, and that guy trades his car for a six-year-old car. That is good for O'Reilly, the leader in the business.
Sumner Redstone controls Viacom through the A shares, which we own. We also own the B shares, which are more
liquid but have fewer votes. There are 610 million shares, and the B shares trade for 23. I have been following this
company for 36 years. Sumner took control in the mid-1980s. Viacom owns cable networks such as MTV, and
Paramount Pictures. Today there are seven or eight motion-picture studios. A round of consolidation will occur in the
next six to 12 months because of the costs of financing, prints and advertising, the benefits of globalization and
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 5 of 17
such. We hear talk of something going on. Paramount will merge with someone -- maybe Sony Pictures or Universal
Studios. This year Viacom could earn about $2 a share, going to $2.40 next year. It could be a 20% grower for
three or four years. It sells for 6.5 times Ebitda, and capital spending is de minimis. The company is a terrific cash
generator and the balance sheet will improve. They might buy back stock.
Next, U.S. Cellular has 87 million shares, and 71 million are owned by Telephone & Data Systems [TDS]. U.S.
Cellular has 6.2 million wireless customers, in contrast with Verizon and AT&T [T], which have 80 million-plus each.
Sprint Nextel [S] has about 50 million, and T-Mobile 30 million. A next-generation technology is LTE, or long-term
evolution. Smaller companies like U.S. Cellular have to take advantage of it or sell out. U.S. Cellular will earn $2.50
a share in 2009 and grow by 15% a year for the next three or four years. It has a hidden asset in that margins are
well below the industry average. Capital spending is flattening, and the balance sheet is in good shape. The stock is
43, and the value of the company is close to $100 a share. TDS elected two directors that we proposed.
The Carlson family has been running TDS for almost 30 years. They have a strong economic interest, but an even
bigger voting interest. There was speculation that U.S. Cellular had a buyer a year ago, but the company still
doesn't acknowledge that. At some point Telephone & Data will have to harvest this asset.
FELIX ZULAUF
Zulauf: The structural forces in the global economy are unchanged from the past few quarters. A long-term
imbalance remains between overspending in the U.S. and over-producing in China. The financial crisis was the start
of a move to greater balance that implies lower growth for both sides. The deleveraging process also continues in
many economies, with the exception of the U.K.. This process has only started. It will run for several years. We are
shifting debt from the private sector to the government sector, which will lever up. These structural forces will
continue to be a major restrictive factor in the world economy. In the cyclical arena, things look a little better, but
not as good as you might think from the media reports.
The green shoots are primarily the result of inventory restocking. Inventories have been cut around the world, and
in Asia they have been cut to the bone. Now production is ramping up to get in line with demand. Inventories are
being restocked in many industries. The process is far along in technology, but way behind in capital goods. The
U.S. economy will look a little better in the next two to three quarters, due to inventory restocking and fiscal
stimulus. But the improvement won't continue after mid-2010, when the economy turns bumpy again.
In Europe, Germany has structural problems, but virtually no cyclical imbalances. It is one-third of the European
economy. The weaker parts of the Eurozone -- Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain -- are trapped in a Euro-
denominated system and should devalue their currencies to help their economies. They can't, and therefore will
deflate. They'll be the poor guys for the next 12 months. The U.K. hasn't even started to adjust. Consumers there
continue to borrow and spend. In the next year they will go through the same thing U.S. consumers have gone
through.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 6 of 17
Governments and central banks will continue to support the economy. Short-term interest rates will stay low.
Government-bond yields are rising for cyclical reasons. Around the start of this year, 10-year Treasuries were
yielding 2.25%. Now yields have risen to 3.94% and could go to 4.5%. They won't go beyond that because the
economy won't be robust. The bond market is normalizing after the threat of systemic collapse. Bonds aren't
attractive.
Investors are underinvested in equities. Money-market funds are bigger than ever when expressed as a percentage
of global equity capitalization. That money is yielding virtually nothing, and a lot of it is in the hands of professional
portfolio managers who have to perform. Eventually it will get redeployed into equities, which means economic and
market developments for a time will move far apart. The market undershot into March, and will probably overshoot
in the first half of next year. The first rally is just about done. The market might climb into July, but it will correct in
the fall, with stocks retracing maybe 50% of the recent advance. That will provide an opportunity to buy for a rally
next spring or summer. That's the whole mini-bull market. Economic conditions won't support more than that.
Yes. We'll enter another bear-market cycle. I don't know how low it will go. In March the market made a cyclical low
in valuation, but it wasn't a secular low. When the market makes a secular low, lack of interest in equities will be
high.
Previously I advised buying financials and metals. Now the financials are done, perhaps for a couple of years. Bank
balance sheets aren't repaired. It's just camouflage. Today I like emerging markets and natural resources -- after a
correction of 15%. Investors believe in the long-term prospects for emerging markets, due to demographics and
structural issues. That's where the money will go that is on the sidelines. Among ETFs I like the iShares MSCI
Emerging Markets Index, the iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index and the iShares MSCI Singapore Index. In energy I
like the SPDR S&P Metals and Mining Index, and in oil services, the Oil Services HOLDRs and the Energy Select
Sector SPDR . Again, buy on corrections. Also, you have to own gold because governments have no solution but to
reflate. Currencies will be debased, and gold will go higher. But don't buy bullion until it drops to around $850 an
ounce. It is $950 now.
Thanks, Felix.
OSCAR SCHAFER
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 7 of 17
Schafer: I'm surprised the S&P 500 is up 40% from its March low,
because the companies we speak to have seen their business go down
and stay down. In many cases, April was even worse than March. In
addition, there has been a huge increase in bond issuance. The
government has done a great job of liquefying the system, but that
hasn't led to a lot of lending.
Brad Trent for Barron's
To Oscar Schafer, Plum Creek Timber's lofty
valuation is the greater-fool theory at work. Ben
How, then, do you explain such a powerful rally?
Bernanke is the most valuable player on the U.S.
team, says Scott Black.
We've removed a depression risk and are dealing with a recession. A huge amount of money on the sidelines has
gone into stocks and other assets. Many people think the stock market is a discounting mechanism, and the
recovery in the economy will be like past recoveries. But I don't see it, given the leverage around the world and
continued declines in home prices in the U.S. and other developed nations. You could make a bullish case for 1% to
1.5% growth and 3% or 4% inflation, but that may not justify a 40% increase in stock prices.
Metavante Technologies MV $27.22 housing refinancings slow. The maximum impact of tax
Nevertheless, we still find good ideas on the long and short sides of the market. Whereas [veteran hedge-fund
managers] George Noble, Art Samberg and Jim Pallotta are leaving the business, I'm just beginning to enjoy it.
Metavante Technologies [MV] recently announced it will be acquired by a larger competitor, Fidelity National
Information Services [FIS], in an all-stock deal. The combined company will trade as Fidelity Information Services.
It will have a pro forma market capitalization of $7.5 billion and will be the largest provider of transaction and
processing services to financial institutions.
The transaction preempts industry and customer consolidation and could generate significant shareholder returns.
Management expects to realize about $260 million in annual synergies, creating $1.7 billion in shareholder value.
The transaction also will allow both companies to cross-sell to each other's customers. The combined company is in
a much better position to take advantage of secular growth trends in process-outsourcing by banks, as well as the
global shift to card-based payments from cash.
Just to clarify, you're buying the combined company through Metavante, the seller, not FIS, the buyer.
Yes. One share of Metavante trades as if it is 1.34 shares of Fidelity. After the transaction, the combined company
should trade higher. The new FIS could trade for more than the current seven times Ebitda and command a higher
free-cash-flow yield than today's 11%. Historically, payment processors have traded for 18 to 22 times free cash
flow. Eighty-six percent of Fidelity's revenue is contractual and recurring and should grow by 6% to 8% a year.
You're also getting a free call option on an eventual sale to a large software provider such as IBM [IBM], Oracle
[ORCL] or Hewlett-Packard .
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 8 of 17
Plum Creek Timber is overpriced. This REIT [real-estate investment trust] is the largest private owner of timberland
in the U.S., with about 7.4 million acres in 19 states. The stock is trading for around 30 times consensus 2010
earnings estimates, and nearly 20 times estimated Ebitda.
At 35 a share, the market is valuing Plum Creek at more than $1,100 per acre. The company has tremendous assets
and a high-quality management team, but investors are mispricing timberland as an asset class and Plum Creek as
a stock. Our target price is $10 to $15 per share, or $600 an acre. Investors have bid up timberland prices to
irrational levels. In the past decade pension funds and endowments flooded into this very small market as they
sought to be like Harvard and Yale, early and successful investors in timber. Accordingly, timberland values have
doubled in five years and nearly tripled in 10. Buyers are getting a long-term, illiquid asset at a 2% yield, with the
hope that some land will be more valuable to a real-estate developer down the road.
Timber has a seductive investment pitch. It grows organically. It grows while you sleep. It's an inflation hedge, and
it's uncorrelated with other asset classes. The reality is the underlying cash flow is highly dependent on cyclical
industries like housing, paper and newspapers. It is also tough to hedge inflation when you are a buying at an
inflated price. This is the greater-fool theory at work.
Timberland returned 18.5% in 2007 and 9.5% in 2008, when other asset classes were down more than 40%. When
investors attempt to monetize the great returns they saw on their statements, it will create a race to the exits. Plum
Creek has done a phenomenal job of recognizing and taking advantage of this asset bubble. It has been a net seller
of timberland for the past three years. But the company's earnings quality is low, and its capital-allocation policy is
aggressive.
How so?
The core business of harvesting timber has been operating at break-even levels, while all the free cash flow is
generated by selling assets. Liquidating your productive asset isn't a sustainable strategy. Many Wall Street analysts
ignore the fact that timberland sales run through the income statement while timberland purchases run through the
cash-flow statement.
If you put a 10 to 15 multiple on mid-cycle cash flow of 65 cents a share, you're looking at single-digit equity
valuations. It would take unprecedented demand from real-estate developers to make up the difference. In six of
the past seven years, Plum Creek paid out more cash in dividends and share buybacks than it has generated.
Management achieved this in part by adding leverage. This isn't a sustainable strategy, either.
SCOTT BLACK
Black: The S&P 500 is trading for about 940. Analysts expect it to earn $54 this year. Strategists are using $43. On
a bottom-up basis the market trades for 17.5 times earnings; top-down, it trades for 22 times. Either way, it is
pretty expensive. Investors are chasing any glimmer of hope, such as fewer jobs lost in May, even though the
unemployment rate climbed to 9.4%. There was a lot of cash on the sidelines. The train started pulling out of the
station in April, and a lot of people missed the passenger cars, so they jumped on the caboose.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 9 of 17
The market is ripe for a pullback, though it won't retest the 666 low. We screen 11,000 U.S. equities. With the
exception of special situations, the market is picked over. The economy hasn't bottomed. Most of the $787 billion in
stimulus money went to transfer payments and tax rebates, and hasn't found its way into job creation. The savings
rate has climbed to about 5.7%. That's good for America in the long term, but not in the short.
On the positive side, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has done a good job. He got the federal-funds rate down to 25
basis points [a fourth of a percentage point]. He is probably the most valuable player on the American executive
team. Public policy under the Bush and Obama administrations isn't good. The money should have gone to
restructure the mortgages of people underwater on their homes -- 21.8% of the nation's 93 million homeowners.
Instead the government threw too many freebies to AIG [American International Group], Goldman Sachs and such.
It had no business saving AIG. It should have isolated the toxic assets and put them in a Resolution Trust-type
entity.
The patient was on life support last fall. The Fed and Treasury have done a good job of restoring confidence to the
markets.
I've got two stocks, both dividend-oriented, because you ought to have some protection if the market pulls back.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners is about 73%-owned by Loews Corp. [L], which is controlled by the Tisch family. It
sells for about 21, there are 177.8 million shares outstanding, and the market cap is $3.77 billion.
Exactly. It pays a dividend of $1.94 a share and yields about 9.2%. Historically, MLPs have yielded about three
percentage points above the 10-year Treasury yield, which is now 3.94%. Book value, excluding goodwill, is $17.12.
The stock sells for 1.2 times tangible book, which isn't expensive. The company has all new plant and equipment. It
operates three major pipelines running more than 14,200 miles in the Southwest and Southeast.
My earnings forecast is lower than the Street's. Revenue will rise 20% this year, to $942 million. Margins of 35.2%
get you to $332 million in operating income. Interest expense is $137 million, and profit before taxes, $195 million.
Earnings, fully diluted, will be $1.10 a share. The debt-coverage ratio is excellent at about 3.9 times. In the past
few years revenue has grown by 11.9%, compounded, while the dividend has risen about 10.5% a year. Plus,
Boardwalk has good bank lines of credit.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 10 of 17
The stock could rally to 28. That's 33% appreciation plus a 9% yield -- or an expected total return of 42%.
My next pick is Cal-Maine Foods . The stock is 24.81, there are 23.8 million shares and the market cap is about
$590 million. Cal-Maine is the No.1 egg producer in the U.S., with a 15.8% market share. In the May 2008 fiscal
year, it sold about 678 million dozen eggs -- 535 million dozen were produced in-house. They have 22 million hens,
whose laying life cycle is about two years. The stock fluctuates with the price of feed -- corn. In the past year it has
been as high as 48.80 and as low as 17. Earnings fluctuate, too. The company earned $6.40 a share in fiscal 2008,
and we estimate they did $4.15 in fiscal '09.
I see revenue of $1 billion in the coming year, up about 4%. Gross margins are 27.5%, or $275 million, and SG&A
[selling, general and administrative expenses] is $95 million. The net debt-to-equity ratio is only 16% and interest
expense is $6 million. Add it up and you get pretax profits of $174 million. Taxed at 35%, that's net income of $114
million, or $4.80 a share. The stock sells for 5.2 times earnings. That's ridiculous. Return on equity is 31%, and they
will generate about $120 million in free cash. The company pays out a third of income as dividends. The current
dividend is $1.72, the yield, 7%.
About 85% of Cal-Maine's customers are retailers; the biggest is Wal-Mart Stores [WMT]. If Cal-Maine earns $4.80 a
share in fiscal 2010 and trades for just eight times earnings, you've got a $38.50 stock, plus the yield.
You've been a buyer of energy and financial stocks. What is the outlook for both?
In energy, you have to separate oil from natural gas. There are so many gas-producing shale plays in the U.S. that
we have a gas glut here. Gas is about $3.70 per million Btu and hasn't rallied with oil. I don't expect gas prices to
spike, but XTO Energy [XTO] recently noted the forward strip [forward price curve] is north of $6 for next year and
$7 two years out on expectations the economy will revive. When that happens, oil supplies will tighten. Crude could
trade above $100 a barrel in 12 months, versus $71 now. It is better to own pure energy-and-production companies
such as XTO, Whiting Petroleum [WLL] and Apache [APA] than the ExxonMobil s [XOM] of the world, which have
refining assets. We own offshore drillers such as Diamond Offshore [DO], Atwood Oceanics [ATW] and Ensco
International [ESV].
In financials, regional banks have run up. Most are selling at or near book value and are under-reserved. They own
lots of residential mortgages and the housing market is getting worse. A few look attractive, such as Prosperity
Bancshares [PRSP] in Houston and Bank of the Ozarks [OZRK] in Arkansas. The earnings power of the bigger banks
was based for a long time on proprietary trading. With less leverage and deal activity, earnings power will be
diminished. Also, many super-regionals are under-reserved. That tells me S&P 500 earnings are overstated.
Barron's: The S&P 500 has hit Goldman Sachs' year-end target of 940
with seven months to spare. Now what?
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 11 of 17
At this point people should stop worrying about what letter of the alphabet the recovery resembles. Is it going to be
a V-shaped recovery, or U-shaped, or the dreaded W? The pattern to think about is a staircase. When you look at
the recovery phases from real bear markets -- those associated with real recessions -- they look like a staircase.
First there is an upward step, a sigh-of-relief rally, which we've just had. Then you're stuck on the step awhile.
Think of these steps as trading ranges.
The likelihood of that happening has declined as the possibility recedes of the system going down a "black hole."
Both the actions taken by the Federal Reserve and the stimulus package have gained traction. Also, market volatility
has declined. Investors feel more comfortable. Equity issuance is up dramatically, as well, and demand is good.
Abby Joseph Cohen's Picks In November, December and January, almost all the
6/10/2009 issuance in the fixed-income market had some sort of
Company Ticker Price federal-government guarantee. In the past few
Hess HES $59.98 months there has been a significant increase in
Lenovo Group 992.Hong Kong HKD 3.02 issuance by entities without guarantees. Yield spreads
Source: Bloomberg have declined from record levels, another sign of
diminished anxiety. At the turn of the year Treasuries
and gold were viewed as the only safe havens. As nervousness recedes, investors have come back into equities and
commodities, and out of Treasuries.
Our economics department is forecasting a sluggish recovery in GDP. It will turn positive in the third quarter but
grow by only 1% or 2%. Given lackluster profit expectations, our six-to-12-month S&P outlook is 950 to 1,050.
Goldman is forecasting S&P 500 earnings before provisions of $63 in 2009 and $71 in 2010. Regardless of the
number, there is a discontinuity in the data. Some S&P 500 companies have disappeared, and recent quarters have
seen extraordinary write-offs. There will be a major inflection point for earnings in the third or fourth quarter. Our
analysts believe risk may be to the upside -- that is, profits may grow faster than previously forecast.
The picture is mixed. In the past two years the normal relationships between issuers of different quality were torn
asunder. Between 2004 and 2007, lower-quality issuers were able to borrow money for not much more than higher-
quality issuers, and it wasn't just in corporates. Last year the relationships flipped, and yield spreads over
Treasuries widened to unprecedented levels in low-quality corporates and municipal bonds. Recently there has been
a move toward more normalcy. Corporate bonds are still appealing, but are no longer as attractive as they were
early in the year, as they have had good returns, and Treasury yields no longer look so low.
Our energy team recently raised its price forecasts for crude oil and other energy commodities. This lifted the
earnings prospects for integrated oil and refining companies. Crude is expected to reach $80 per barrel next year
and $100 in 2011 due to demand recovery in the face of non-OPEC supply contraction. Hess benefits from the rise
in prices and its ability to deliver growth in production while others are supply-constrained. The shares are down
about 50% from year-ago levels. This year the company could earn $1.03 a share. Next year earnings could surge
to $5.30, suggesting a P/E ratio of about 11 at current prices.
Lenovo Group , known for personal computers including the Thinkpad, originally an IBM product, is expected to
benefit from recovering global demand. Lenovo's market share is about 27% in China, where growth is expected to
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 12 of 17
rebound due to economic stimulus, demand for 3G netbooks and subsidy programs. Our analysts expect a global
PC-upgrade cycle in 2010, bolstered by aging corporate PCs and Microsoft's introduction of Windows 7. Lenovo had
large losses early this year and has restructured. It could break even in fiscal 2010, which began in March, and earn
three cents in fiscal '11. The P/E is about 13. The stock has doubled since March to 3.02 Hong Kong dollars, but is
45% below year-ago levels.
BILL GROSS
Barron's: Treasuries have entered a bear market and other bonds look rich. What's an investor to do?
Gross: Treasuries offer paltry returns relative not only to other types of bonds, but also other asset categories such
as stocks, commodities or real estate. The 10-year is yielding 3.88%, and even the 30-year bond, at 4.68%, doesn't
offer much relative to the potential for greater inflation in 2012, '13 and '14. Treasuries have had an enormous
problem this year in terms of supply: There will be $3 trillion of gross issuance and $2 trillion of net issuance, four
times last year's number. That's one reason yields have gone up.
None at all. But the danger in injecting so much money to support the financial system is that the hangover, when it
comes, could be worse than the original problem. The Fed is buying $400 billion of Treasuries. That leaves $1.6
trillion of the net $2 trillion to be purchased by you, me and the Chinese.
Agency mortgages have done so well since January that they don't make much sense, either. They yield around
4.50%. High-yield bonds, corporate bonds and even municipals and TIPS [Treasury inflation-protected securities]
have some attraction, but they too have done well in the past five months.
Barclays [BCS] has an attractive subordinated preferred with a 14% coupon and a 2049 maturity. It can be bought
around 110, so the current yield is 13%. We have been buying it recently. That's an excellent yield for an A-rated
security. So, yes, there are sporadic values, but high-yield and corporate bonds in general, and Treasuries and even
mortgage securities, are mediocre investments at the moment. An investor probably should expect 4% to 5% to 6%
returns from the genre -- nothing super.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 13 of 17
Thank you.
ARCHIE MacALLASTER
Barron's: Your usual optimism has paid off, Archie, at least since
March. Are you still finding what to buy?
Brad Trent for Barron's
Bank of America would be crazy to fire CEO Ken MacAllaster: The market was cheap in January, and it is almost the
same price now. This is the worst market I have seen in more than 50
Lewis, says Archie MacAllaster. Meryle Witmer is
a fan of Microsoft and its new search engine. Bing.
years in the business. But a lot of stocks are near a bottom based on multiples of future earnings. Some companies
have even started to raise dividends instead of cutting them. The savings rate in the U.S. has risen. A lot of money
was extracted from the market as people started losing much of their net worth, so there is a lot available to come
back in. What we don't know is how big the deficit will grow, and what kinds of problems that poses for the
economy, the dollar and the world itself.
Archie MacAllaster's Picks Most people will disagree with me about the financials,
6/10/2009 but they still are cheap. You'll do well if you can hang
Company Ticker Price on for two or three years. Bank of America [BAC]
Bank of America BAC $11.98 trades for 12 a share. The 12-month range is 2.50 to
Protective Life PL 12.66 39.50. The bank earned 44 cents a share in the first
Source: Bloomberg quarter and probably won't do more than a dollar for
the year. The dividend was cut to four cents from
$2.56. Bank of America has the largest deposit base of any bank in America: more than 10% of all deposits. It used
to make more than $4 a share and sell for 52 to 53, and yield 5%. The whole banking business will have to be run
on a different basis, and relative to three or four years ago, Bank of America will be overcapitalized. In two or three
years it will earn three bucks a share, and sell around 30. It might pay a dividend of $1.50 a share.
They would be crazy to fire him. The company will have an enormous earnings base, including Countrywide
Financial and Merrill Lynch. Bank of America is a good speculation.
My second pick is Protective Life . It has been around at least 100 years. Like other life insurers, it has had
problems with its investments; book value was cut in half in the past 18 months. The company sold 13.5 million
shares at 9 apiece last month, raising about $120 million of new capital. There are 85 million shares outstanding. In
the past five years earnings have varied between $3.37 a share and $4.05. Last year they showed a net loss due to
the re-valuation of investments, but operating earnings were $3.37 a share. This year the estimate is about three
bucks -- the worst operating results in six years. The company cut its dividend but still pays 12 cents per quarter.
The yield is around 4%. The stock trades for about 12.50. That's four to five times earnings, and around book value.
In two to three years the stock could be 30 a share.
Financial stocks have had a pretty good rebound, but insurance companies such as Lincoln National [LNC], Hartford
Financial Services [HIG] and Protective Life are cheap. If the stock market gets a lot weaker they will have trouble,
but they are selling around book value, compared with a traditional valuation of closer to two times book. The other
banks I like are Wells Fargo [WFC] and JPMorgan. The big banks will be more heavily capitalized, and make a
smaller return on capital, but the returns will be decent.
Thanks, Archie.
MARC FABER
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 14 of 17
Faber: The S&P 500 has risen more than 40% from its March 6 low of
666. It could correct soon, maybe from higher levels. If it rallies to
1,000-1,050 by July, that could be the high for the year because the
index is not inexpensive. But we don't see new lows. The 666 low is
likely to hold, as is the Nov. 21, 2008, low of 741. The market won't fall
below 800 for the time being.
Brad Trent for Barron's
Today the economy looks to be stabilizing after falling off a cliff. It probably troughed in February or March.
Replacement demand is kicking in, but we won't return to the peak activity of 2006 any time soon.
If things deteriorate, the Fed will print more money. Mr. Bernanke talked a few years ago about dropping dollars
from helicopters to stimulate the economy. It would be wrong not to take this statement seriously because that is
the thinking among policymakers in the U.S. It is a disastrous policy but it can really make stocks go up --
commodities, too. Since the lows in December, oil is up more than 100%. A lot of liquidity has flowed into
commodities, which is a sign investors are concerned about the value of paper money.
Emerging markets have been especially strong. Are the gains justified?
The opportunities are far better than in the U.S. When hedge funds and funds of funds had massive liquidations last
fall, Asian markets such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan fell to generational lows. Investors should use setbacks
in these markets to accumulate shares. Many stocks are yielding between 6% and 10%. Secondly, the world is
undergoing a major shift in consumption. In March car sales in emerging economies began to exceed those in
developed countries. China, Brazil and India have become important simply because of the size and growth of their
populations.
Marc Faber's Picks There has been renewed interest in asset plays of all
6/10/09 types. Stocks like Newmont Mining [NEM] and
EMERGING MARKETS Ticker Price Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold [FCX] have soared.
SINGAPORE Along the same lines, there is renewed interest in
Parkway Life REIT PREIT.Singapore S$0.96 Asian real estate, which isn't expensive. Prices are
ARA Asset Mgmt ARA.Singapore 0.60 lower than they were in 1997. I like Asian REITs [real-
Hyflux Water Trust HYFT.Singapore 0.52 estate investment trusts] such as Parkway Life in
Raffles Education RLS.Singapore 0.68 Singapore and ARA Asset Management, a Singapore
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 15 of 17
I would short U.S. Treasury bonds when the yield declines to 2.8% to 3% on 10-year notes.
MERYL WITMER
Witmer: I see some stocks to short, and some decent longs, but a lot of our focus has been in the debt arena
recently. The stock market seems about right, but you have to be prepared to buy on the downdrafts and sell on
those days when the market goes up dramatically. The volatility is being driven somewhat by the popularity of
leveraged exchange-traded funds. On the economy, I spoke with a CEO who met recently with a large group of
CEOs. The consensus among this group was that things have stopped going down, but growth is questionable.
The market went down too much, and now it has retraced much of the downdraft since the beginning of the year.
We like Microsoft at 22 a share. The obvious reasons to buy it are its bulletproof balance sheet and lots of earnings.
It could have $3 a share of net cash as of June 30, the end of its fiscal year, and earn $1.71. The Street estimates
earnings of $1.90 in fiscal 2010. Net of cash, it is trading at 10 times earnings. It is very inexpensive. Three things
have gotten my attention beyond the P/E and the cash. Microsoft is in front of a product cycle in its client division,
which sells personal-computer operating systems. Microsoft is coming out with Windows 7 for the 2009 holiday
season. Win 7, as they call it, has gotten great reviews, and the company has bent over backward to damp
expectations about upgrade revenue. It could surprise on the upside, as corporations didn't upgrade en masse to
Vista, the prior operating system.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 16 of 17
It doesn't have to, because of the third thing that excites us: a new search engine, Bing. The look is clearer than
Google, and you can preview search results by hovering your cursor over the link. It saves you from clicking pages
and waiting for them to load. Most important, shopping on Bing is great because of a cash-back rewards program.
Rewards tend to run from 5% to 10% of the purchase price of an item, and you get Bing cash, which you can use
on many sites. The early results are good; Bing's market share is up to 11% just five days after the launch.
Figure Microsoft earns an adjusted $2.05 a share in fiscal 2010. Unlike Google, it expenses options, so the earnings
are real. Say it deserves to trade at 13 times earnings. Add back the $3 in cash, and a dollar or two for the Xbox
division, and you get a target price of 31. There is further upside if Bing gains momentum. You could make 40% or
more.
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by
our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please
contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009
Barron's Online#mod=BOL_hpp_popview Page 17 of 17
http://online.barrons.com/article_print/SB124474397599607023.html 6/16/2009