Invest Better Than Bill Gates

Otter pays a dividend of nearly 4%. With a P/E of 21 and a PEG north of 4, it's more than fully valued, especially compared with the 17 P/E and 2 PEG average for electric utilities. I can do better than 4% in a CD, and Otter is more like a price depreciation play. I'll avoid it in my Better Than Bill Gates portfolio.

Six Flags (SIX) is a theme park operator that posted impressive first-quarter results on May 9, showing a 7% increase in attendance at its parks as well as a 7% increase in per capita guest spending. Cramer interviewed Six Flags' CEO, Mark Shapiro, on May 11 for "Mad Money."

Six Flags is spending $10 million on modernizing its theme parks, trimming unnecessary expenses, and training and recruiting staff. However, the first quarter only represents 5% of yearly revenue; the real action is between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Six Flags was trading around $6.10 on May 11 and is virtually unchanged now in mid-July. The results won't really be known until mid-September, when the summer season is factored in. Cramer's interview with Shapiro convinced me that management is doing the right things. I see Six Flags as a good speculative play, especially compared with Cedar Fair (FUN), a troubled theme park rumored to be a buyout candidate.

Cascade disclosed in a July 13 regulatory filing that it holds a 12.8% stake in the common stock of online media company PlanetOut (LGBT). It turns out that PlanetOut is laying off 15% of its staff and closing offices in Buenos Aires and London. It trades at under $2. This appears to be a Cascade loser. Even Bill Gates loses money sometimes.

I included these Cascade portfolio stocks along with my analysis for each in my Better Than Bill Gates portfolio. You can do your own analysis by creating your own portfolio at Stockpickr.com.

And remember, at Stockpickr Answers. You can ask questions and answer them, and you can see the "Top analysts" as well as Jim Cramer's latest answers.

At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.

James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for The Financial Times and the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett and SuperCa$h. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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