Dykstra: Making MVP Picks

Albert Pujols won his second Most Valuable Player Award yesterday. He has finished in the top four of MVP voting every year except 2007, an impressive feat.

It seems with Pujols, you can expect certain numbers from him every year. Bank on at least a .325 average, 35 home runs and more than 100 RBIs consistently. Now, while not dismissing his surrounding cast, imagine if he had another masher like himself in that line up? Pujols seems to be almost alone, which makes his season even more remarkable. Throw in his outstanding defense every season, and he is the definition of a complete player.

Looking at his postseason numbers, Prince Albert doesn't break a sweat. They are in line with his regular season stats. It is like he is a machine whose job is to punish pitchers.

My job, as an investor, is similar in that I like to punish the operators on Wall Street each and every day. I also like to look for companies with consistent numbers. However, I am not looking at the stocks that are performing at the top of their games. I'm looking for solid companies that have been beaten down but have what it takes to become MVPs for me and subscribers to my newsletter, Nails on the Numbers.

Many players have clauses in their contracts that trigger bonuses for earning the MVP honor. In my system, I get the "bonus check" of $1,000 for turning stocks into MVPs after they hit my good-till-cancel (GTC) sell price.