TheStreet.com Power Stock Rankings: April 1
During the week of March 24,
TheStreet.com
readers searched for 10 stocks more than any others. Research associate Patrick Schultz makes the buy, sell or hold calls on them below, in the order of their popularity.
1. Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
: Sometimes the best way to demonstrate the raw power of the Apple brand and insatiable demand for its products is through an anecdote. I have a group of friends from Brazil who just visited New York City and immediately went to buy iPhones and also bought an extra one to sell in Brazil. This immediately caught the attention of my inner trader. They said people in Brazil are "crazy for the iPhone" and they could easily sell 10 of them at home. What is the expression for "holy cow" in Portuguese? ---
BUY
Top Ten Most Searched Stocks on TheStreet.com |
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2. Visa
(V) - Get Report
: Why does everybody view Visa as the second coming of
MasterCard
(MA) - Get Report
? Folks, it is not. Visa is already more expensive than MasterCard on a valuation basis. Visa has a market cap of roughly $50 billion and is trading at a P/E of 49 times 2007 earnings per share. MasterCard has a market cap of roughly $28 billion and equivalent P/E of 38 times. Please don't be fooled by the absolute price of Visa in the $60s and Mastercard over $200 as meaning that Visa is cheaper. -- SELL
3. Sirius Satellite Radio
(SIRI) - Get Report
: Finally, we get some progress in the proposed merger of Sirius and
XM Satellite
(XMSR)
. Last week, the Justice Department signed off on the deal, and now we're just awaiting the same from the FCC. I would be an aggressive buyer of shares here. -- BUY
4. Bear Stearns
(BSC)
: Jimmy Cayne sold
all
his shares, and so should you. -- SELL
5. Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
: Gold prices up, good for Yamana. Gold prices down, bad for Yamana. Very simple concept, get it? Gold and Yamana had a big pullback, and I am now changing my tune and would be a buyer here (I said hold last week). Anything below $15 looks attractive. --
BUY
6. Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
: Meredith Whitney, the banking analyst from Oppenheimer, is the hottest hand (or should I say dagger, with all the number cuts she sees) on Wall Street right now. She was right the whole way down on Citi, and she continues her bearish stance. She makes a lot of frightening commentary about the whole financial sector, but I question how much of this news is already baked into the consensus view and expectations. Seriously, who does not know that Citigroup has some problems to tackle? I am going to take an extra Dramamine and hang on for the ride. --
HOLD
7. Google
(GOOG) - Get Report
: For Google, it's range-bound trading, which means a whole lot of nothing is happening. I see $470 on the upside and $410 on the downside. Yawn. --
HOLD
8. Research In Motion
(RIMM)
: Stop the presses. Hear ye, hear ye. We have a tech stock that is working and actually trading higher. Over the past month, shares of RIM are up more than 9%, while the S&P is down a bit over 1%. Last week, RBC raised its price target to $150 from $140 and said global checks confirmed strong momentum for the first quarter. -- BUY
9. Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
: Last week, I said to wait for a pullback below $170 after a 40% run -- and here we are. It is time to start buying back into the Golden Child. But don't even for a second think that the volatility in Goldman will abate. Headline worries and political sniper fire will keep the shares trading in a wide range. However, if you recognize the market's current tendencies for wild swings, then you can play it to your advantage. The key is to widen the scale of your buy orders (limit orders, of course!). Pick at some here and wait for a price level in the $150s for the next tranche. --
BUY
10. EMC
(EMC)
-- The fate of EMC lies with the performance of
VMWare
(VMW) - Get Report
. Recent estimate cuts at majority-owned VMWare are putting downward pressure on EMC shares. The blowup of VMWare's stock in late January is putting fears of a repeat announcement coming up. I want to see another quarterly report for VMWare before putting fresh money into the name. -- HOLD
Patrick Schultz is a research associate at TheStreet.com. In keeping with TSC's editorial policy, he doesn't own or short individual stocks. He also doesn't invest in hedge funds or other private investment partnerships. He has previously obtained Securities licenses under the NASD's Series 7, Series 24, Series 52, and Series 63 exams and has worked in the financial markets on various trading desks in addition to trading for his own account. Schultz appreciates your feedback;
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