It's Time to Build a List of Trustworthy Stocks

Apache (APA) is really good at getting oil out of the ground, both from mature fields and from new finds like those the company recently announced in Egypt. That's why the stock has the potential as an investment to wind up on this list.

But it's the conservative nature of Apache's culture that makes me put the Houston company forward for a list of clean stocks. Apache is among the most conservative oil companies when it comes to accounting for reserves, a big plus, because it reduces the likelihood that investors will be disappointed. Financial accounting is just as conservative, with the company recording all revenue in U.S. dollars, which eliminates substantial exchange rate fluctuation, and hedging much of recent production.

Apache's board isn't especially strong or terribly independent, and that is certainly a matter of concern. But with a relatively simple corporate structure and relatively straightforward books, it doesn't worry me excessively.

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So those are my three candidates for the first members of the registry of clean stocks.

Rip into them. Turn those financials upside down. Find details I've missed. And don't worry about my feelings if you disagree. The point is to put our heads together and come up with the best names that we can -- out of whatever collective wisdom we can muster.

Send me those emails on these three stocks. Email me at [e-mail]. And propose your own candidates for the next group of three.

I'll report next in early August.

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