A New Year, a New Barrel

Last year was a good one for stocks and, by association, for the Bottom of the Barrel portfolio. The Barrel is an eclectic selection of small-cap stocks that are undercovered by traditional analysts and, in many cases, underowned by institutional investors.

As we begin 2004, I've eliminated a number of stocks from the portfolio. Although some of the decisions were difficult, it was time to make room for some new names. I based the decisions partly on performance but also on relevance, taking into account the number of reader responses I received on a particular stock, the industry it's in and its potential to be interesting in the year ahead. Here's the short list:

A New Year in the Barrel Cleaning out the Barrel for 2004
Barrels	Company/Ticker	Date of Mention	Recent Price	Mention Price	Change	Dividend Yield
	Moog (MOGa:NYSE)	11/7/2003	$54.16	$43.12	25.6%
	Boston Beer (SAM:NYSE)	3/5/2003	18.61	12.55	48.3
	Wild Oats (OATS:Nasdaq)	2/20/2003	13.20	7.25	82.1
	Maverick Tube (MVK:NYSE)	1/23/2003	18.36	14.08	30.4
	Energy Partners (EPL:NYSE)	12/5/2002	14.29	9.40	52.0
	Men's Wearhouse (MW:NYSE)	11/20/2002	23.44	16.22	44.5
	Coachmen (COA:NYSE)	8/21/2002	18.71	15.05	24.3
	Superior Industries (SUP:NYSE)	7/10/2002	43.00	43.87	-2.0
	Fidelity National (LION:Nasdaq)	5/8/2002	13.20	10.58	24.8
	Cost Plus (CPWM:Nasdaq)	3/6/2002	43.15	25.83	67.1
	Rare Hospitality (RARE:Nasdaq)*	2/20/2002	25.88	17.15	50.9
	Hibbett Sports (HIBB:Nasdaq)*	10/24/2001	32.95	13.36	146.6
Bottom of the Barrel Income Portfolio
Barrels	Company/Ticker	Date of Mention	Recent Price	Mention Price	Change	Dividend Yield
	South Jersey Industries (SJI:NYSE)	6/25/2003	$41.40	$36.90	12.2%	3.91%
	Ameron (AMN:NYSE)*	11/6/2002	37.84	25.30	49.6	2.11
	Hawaiian Electric (HE:NYSE)	7/31/2002	49.39	41.86	18.0	5.02
	UGI Corp (UGI:NYSE)*	6/26/2002	33.74	19.24	75.4	3.38
	Acadia Realty (AKR:NYSE)	6/5/2002	12.41	7.03	76.5	5.16
	Capital Automotive (CARS:Nasdaq)	4/3/2002	33.91	22.95	47.8	4.91
	Alexandria Real Estate (ARE:NYSE)	2/13/2002	58.33	40.25	44.9	3.98
	Integra Bancorp (IBNK:Nasdaq)	1/2/2002	23.00	20.75	10.8	4.09
* Adjusted for Stock Split. Source: Bloomberg, Company Reports, TSC Research

The names being removed from the portfolio -- in no particular order -- are: ...