Dykstra: The Heat Is On

I'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationale
But here you are in the ninth
Two men out and three men on
Nowhere to look but inside
Where we all respond to
Pressure

-- Billy Joel

In addition to being a musical genius, the "Piano Man" evidently understands baseball, too. In my present role, I continue to have a greater appreciation for the pressure faced by the pundits who give stock advice. I feel that pressure mounting, as the market has become a minefield in recent weeks. However, as in baseball, I believe that pressure in the markets creates unique opportunities.

Responding to the heat, here then are my picks for this week.

Home run: Yahoo! (YHOO Quote). Yahoo! provides the best Internet services in the world, and online advertising dollars will keep rising. This company will continue to grow and make money for many years to come.

Because I believe Yahoo! is a screaming buy down here near its 52-week low, you should do what I did and buy an option. In this case, that would be a call -- the right to buy the underlying stock at a specified strike price for a fixed period of time.

With regard to options, remember what I have been trying to drive home over the last three weeks: The way to win playing the dangerous game of options is to buy deep-in-the-money calls that give you plenty of time. If you buy a Yahoo! April 20 call, you will pay about $12.80 per contract. Buy 10 contracts and control 1,000 shares; you will have saved yourself almost $20,000 vs. the cost of buying the common stock in the open market.

Triple: Maverick Tube (MVK Quote). This oil and gas equipment service company manufactures products used in the energy industry for drilling, production, well servicing and line pipe applications, and industrial tubing for various applications. This is one of those companies you don't hear too much about, even though it's in one of the hottest sectors on the planet right now.