JBL: Keep on Smokin'

Driving season and summer are almost over. Hurricane season is predicted to be not nearly as deadly as last year. The Fed has stopped raising rates for now. There is a cease-fire in the Middle East. A huge airline terror plot was foiled, and the stock market is arguably undervalued. These are good times.

I believe that it is time to get back into the market. I believe we could see some further relief in oil prices, as long as there is not a very disruptive hurricane.

A stock I have owned and recommended for some time is Altria (MO Quote). I have recommended it because I believed the trend for litigation was going the company's way, and that would clear a path for this company to be broken up into at least two parts and maybe three.

Altria could be valued as high as $100 per share when the breakup occurs. The drag on earnings is Kraft (KFT Quote), the No. 1 food company in the U.S., in which Altria has an 87% ownership stake.

Federal Judge Gladys Kessler, of the District of Columbia, ruled last week that while Altria was culpable in deceiving smokers about the health hazards of smoking, she did not have the ability to award substantial financial penalties. Altria jumped 4% on the news.

Altria could announce the spinoff of Kraft and split the tobacco portion of the company into Phillip Morris domestic and Phillip Morris International at the company's Aug. 30 board meeting. While the timing of any breakup announcement is speculative, I feel certain that they will.

To view John Layfield's video take of this column, click here.